Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Where oh where has this year gone, and what has been happening to all my time? Last thing I remember it was the start of October and I had a few little sewing projects on the boil, the we hit 'wedding season' again (including a lovely little holiday to New Zealand), not to mention chasing around my now crawling baby. Then all of a sudden it was December, and people were putting up trees, playing carols, and posting Santa photos on Facebook... and I was completely disorganised! 

I offer many apologies for being so neglectful to you, and here is a little catch up on what I have been up to of late.

The sewing has been going in peaks and troughs the last few months, but here's what has been happening:

I am loving these sweet little cuddly elephant toys, and have given them to new babies and as Christmas presents too. The awesome PDF pattern is available from Retro Mama's Etsy store. 

I have patched a few more baby quilts, and working on a bias binding free version, which is much easier, and gives a pretty nice result. Watch out for a tutorial on those babies next year.

And lastly, a wee stocking for our beautiful girl's first Christmas, pattern courtesy of Noodlehead. This was a pretty easy little pattern, though it took me forever as I kept putting off the hand embroidering of the name. This one taught me the valuable lesson of sometimes just follow the pattern, as I did my own thing and messed up the lining so had to do it twice.

The Christmas baking has been a little lower key this year than last, but the customary Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam and Russian tea cakes have of course been coming out of my kitchen hard and fast this month. 

We are hosting my family for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner this year, my first year as host, which will be lovely. We always have a big platter of prawns with Mum's seafood sauce for starters, then the big hot Christmas dinner, and if there is any room left some amazing sweet my sister has concocted. It's been our little tradition for years now, and is so nice because we then all get Christmas morning together too before heading off to our partners families for Christmas day. 

That is what it is all about after all. Being together. Sharing food and happiness with the ones you love most. 

And so, from our family to yours, may your days be merry and bright while you enjoy a safe and happy holiday season.

xx

Jamie Oliver inspired Chilli con carne meatballs

Having rediscovered my 'Jamie's 30 minute meals' cookbook this year, I was very intrigued to watch Jamie's new 15 minute meals. The first episode I saw featured chilli con carne meatballs. Unfortunately, I didn't actually get to see his whole recipe, but managed to catch a few of his techniques, and so created a similar dish myself. Here is my recipe for 'Jamie Oliver inspired chilli con carne meatballs' - Jamie's concept, my flavours.

Ingredients:

• 500gm lean beef mince
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon each cayenne pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander, and paprika

For the sauce

• 500gm tomato passata 
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• small onion, diced
• small red capsicum, diced
• 250gm tinned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 tsp each cayenne pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika and chilli flakes

1. Place the minced beef in a large bowl with the minced garlic and spices and mix with your hands until well combined.
2. Roll mix into 20 even sized balls
3. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, and add the meatballs.
4. Cook the meatballs for about 10 minutes, or until well browned all over. Don't forget to turn them regularly.
5. While they are cooking, heat a little olive oil in a medium sized saucepan, then add the onion and cook for a minute or so until starting to soften.
6. Add the garlic, chilli flakes and spices, and capsicum and stir for another minute.
7. Add the passata and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, and add extra spices to suit personal taste, then pop a lid on and simmer until meatballs are cooked. 
8. When meatballs are ready, add them to the sauce and leave to simmer. 
9. Using the pan the meatballs were cooked in, throw the drained kidney beans in and cook for a few minutes. They will start to split open a bit, and go a little crispy and delicious from all the meatball flavours still in the pan. After a few minutes, stir them through your sauce and you are done.
10. Serve with rice or cous cous, fresh coriander, fresh guacamole (I use advocado, diced tomato, a clove of garlic, fresh coriander, a sprinkle of cumin, and a squeeze of lime) and tobasco sauce.

Enjoy xx

A spring in my step: Rosemary pesto lamb rack

There has been a change around here of late. I can't say for certain if it is the turn of the season, with the blossoms of spring all around me and the sun peeking out with it's promise of summer to come, or that I am simply finding a balance in my life, but I am definitely feeling more like myself. And with the return of myself comes the call of the kitchen. This call is made all the louder by the fact that all the new recipes I was trying were coming from "Feeding your baby and toddler". It was time to get my gastronomical groove back on.

We have been very fortunate in the last few months to join a local food co op, and this has given us great access to fantastic organic produce. The beauty of the box, is that we try to buy as locally as possible, and are getting what is in season at the moment.

As tribute to all things spring, I recently cooked a lovely little lamb rack, with a rosemary pesto, served with Jamie Oliver's 'mushy peas' - a smash up of potatoes, broccoli, peas and a hint of mint. Our taste buds were very pleased with the result.

Rosemary Pesto Lamb Rack

1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons olive oil

500gm lamb rack

• Preheat oven to 220°C
• Place parsley, rosemary, parmesan cheese, and garlic in food processor, and blitz to a coarse pesto. With the processor still going, gradually add the oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Place the lamb on a baking tray, season with salt and pepper, the coat all over the top and sides with the pesto.
• Roast for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 200°C and roast for a remaining 10-15 minutes (medium rare) or longer, to your liking.
• Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes the slice (I reserve the resting juices for pouring over the meat when you serve it).

Recipe via of Epicurious

Jamie Oliver's Mushy Peas as seen on 'Jamie's 30 minute meals'

2 medium potatoes

1/2 a head of broccoli

250gm frozen peas

knob of butter

1-2 dessert spoons mint sauce

• Peel the potatoes and chop into 2cm chunks, add to a large saucepan with a pinch of salt and cover with boiling water, put a lid on and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
• Cut the very end off the broccoli and discard, then slice the rest of the stem and throw it in with the potatoes. Cut the head of the broccoli into florets and set aside.
• When the potatoes and stems have been on for about 10 minutes, add the broccoli florets and the peas and continue to bubble away for about 5 more minutes, or until everything is soft.
• When the veggies are ready, drain the water off and return to the pot, allowing them to steam ry a little. 
• Add a food knob of butter, a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper, and 1-2 dessert spoons of mint sauce, and then roughly mash about 10 times. It's quite a chunky mash so you should still have some whole peas in there.

All the quantities I have given are for two serves. When plating up, you could cut the rack into little chops if you prefer, I like the chunkier look so just kept the rack whole and sliced it in two. 

Enjoy.

xx

Chocolate cake with peppermint buttercream

It was my husband's birthday on the weekend and I, naturally, wanted to make him a cake. Every year around his birthday we have the same conversation. It goes like this:

I ask him "What sort of cake would you like?" 

And every year he says "Chocolate ripple cake."

Then I say "Wouldn't you like something a bit better than chocolate ripple cake?" 

And he says "What is better than chocolate ripple cake?"

So I end up making him chocolate ripple cake (for those who may not know, chocolate ripple cake is essentially a row of chocolate biscuits sandwiched together and covered all over with whipped cream).

This year we were going away with friends, and I was determined to make something other than the stock standard. Aaron loves chocolate and peppermint together, and this cake was a perfect combination of the two. Even better, it is ridiculously easy.

This would work with any chocolate cake recipe you like. I used old faithful Betty Crocker's extra moist chocolate cake (the packet mix... we're not too fancy for that), and simply split the batter between two pans.

For the frosting, I made peppermint buttercream using the recipe I got from Pip and Ebby's fabulous blog. Her version is for cupcakes, and it makes a lot of frosting, so you might want to make a half quantity and see how you go. I used the frosting in between the cakes and also on top and it was delicious but pretty intense. I think it would also be great with whipped cream in the middle, and the frosting on top.

And then, to jazz it up a little, I crushed up a peppermint crisp bar and piled that in the centre of the top. You could use and sort of choc mint bar, I guess, or even just shaved chocolate.

The mint flavouring was only in the frosting, you could do any other version you like. Caramel frosting with crushed up honeycomb on top, or strawberry frosting with fresh berries, or coffee frosting with those little choc coated beans on top... the options are endless.

Anyway, I think he was pretty happy with the result and that is all that matters.

xx

Patchwork Baby Quilt Tutorial

As I am sure I have said before, it is baby season in our life at present, and I decided I was in need of a new challenge. With a friend's baby shower coming up, I decided to attempt making a small quilt for the baby to play on. With my Mum, the master quilter, on hand for advice, I was ready to begin, and I was quite elated at how the quilt turned out. I am a bit of a cheat as no actual hand quilting was involved, so this is a relatively easy little number to put together.

To make your own patchwork baby quilt (finished quilt measuring 92cm x 69cm or 36" x 27") you will need:

• 1 meter (1.5 yards) fabric for backing of quilt
• 75cm (1 yard) each of two other fabrics for the face of the quilt
• 1 meter (1.5 yards) of batting (we used 'Poly-down', a polyester, machine washable, non-allergenic batting available from quilt shops)
• 4 metres (4.5 yards) of bias binding tape to match your quilt
• cotton to match your fabrics
• Curved safety pins (from fabric shops)
• Masking tape

1. It's a good idea to wash, dry and iron all your fabric before you begin.

2. The quilt face is made up of 9 rectangles, 5 from one fabric and 4 from the other. Cut your pieces using a rotary cutter if you have one.

I wanted my finished quilt about 70cm x 90cm, so cut the blocks  32cm (12.5") x 25cm (9.5"), as we will include a 1/4" seam allowance.

3. Lay out the pieces in the pattern you would like them,

and then take the three pieces in each row, place them face to face and pin together. You should end up with three rows of three.

4. Using a 1/4" seam, sew the pieces together, then give a good iron.

5. Now place the rows face to face, pinning them in place, and then sew them together. Now you will have the completed face for the quilt.

6. Lay out the fabric for the backing of the quilt face down on a clean, flat surface and tape down the
edges with a little masking tape to secure.

If you like, you can spray the upward facing surface of the fabric with a quilt basting spray (available from fabric shops) which will leave the surface lightly tacky, and stop the batting moving around when you place it on.

  

7. Next we will lie the batting over the fabric and smooth it out. If using the spray, spray again before the next step.

8. Then lie the quilt top face up on top of the batting. The backing and the batting should overhang the edge of the face slightly as we haven't cut them to shape yet.

9. Now pin the three layers together. I used curved safety pins which make the job much easier, and pin all around the edge, along the seams and in the middle of each block.

10. Now we will sew along the seams of the quilt face to secure it in place. It is best to use a walking foot on your machine for this, as it helps feed the fabric through and prevents it bunching up.

11. Sew right along the seam lines of both the horizontal and vertical seams.

12. I was also wanting diagonal quilting on the face of the quilt. For this part, run a long line of masking tape from the corner of each square right across to the other corner and through to the other side of the quilt.

Make all the lines in one direction, then sew along the tape edge.

When all the lines are done, remove the tape and repeat for all the squares in the other direction.

13. Now run a seam an 1/8" in from the entire border of the quilt, then remove all the pins (if you haven't already done so). Don't worry about this seam, it will be hidden under the binding.

14. Next, trim up all the sides so you are left with a nice neat, straight edges.

15. Now pin the bottom edge of the binding just under half it's width form the quilt edge (eg. if it is 1" thick, pin it a little less than 1/2" form the edge). 

For a nice finish, use mitred corners. 

(see 'Sew to Speak' for how to do this). 

16. Sew the binding down by sewing along the top fold of the binding, then flip it over the top and pin to the backing.

I then machine sew the binding down from this side too (because I am lazy), and to do this you sew it from the front side, right along the bottom of the binding, and this captures the other side too. For good tips on attaching the bias binding by machine see 'Little Chicken's No Swearing Method'.

This method didn't leave as nice a finish as it would if you hand sew it, which is what I will do in future. 

17. You are finished! Now sit back, and enjoy the thrill of having made something lovely, all the while thinking of someone you treasure and the little someone about to bless their lives!

xx

Soft fabric children's book

I wanted to make a fabric book for my daughter, and was tossing up ideas about an alphabet book, or something with appliqué animals, then I found this fabric with fusible backing that you can print straight onto with your ink jet printer and then iron directly onto fabric, and I thought how nice it would be to make a book of our family, so when they are not with us we can continue to talk about them and show Ruby pictures.

We had lots of this cute fabric left over from covering hay bales at our wedding, so I used that and batting to make the book pages. I had to hand sew the pages together as the finished book was too fat to fit in my machine, but otherwise it was a pretty straight forward endeavour.

I love this little book, and think that as Ruby gets bigger she will too, it was already a hit with my 3 year old nephew.

My favourite part is the last page, where there is a little mirror so she can see herself. I love that whatever age she is, she will be able to look in and there she will be.

For tips on how to assemble a fabric book try Lella Boutique or Don't call me Betsy.

xx

Easy reversible baby dresses

I have been a little bit obsessed with Pinterest of late, so much so that I often find myself so busy pinning things to make that I run out of time to actually make anything. So, with an upcoming holiday to sunny Noosa a few weeks away I decided to try my hand at finally making an item of clothing for our little Ruby. I enjoyed it so much that I cracked on and made two!

This pattern I found on Pinterest, and it was very easy to follow. This pattern, and many other gorgeous kids patterns, can be purchased online from Tie Dye Diva Patterns.

xx

Handmade baby shoes

This has been my most challenging sewing attempt to date, so much so that I actually have not sewn anything since completing these little numbers. However, after seeing little Ruby wear these with her christening dress last week it was well worth the effort... and the swearing, and all the unpicking and re-sewing each shoe cost me. I especially loved my Mum's comment when I told her I had finished them, but that I had struggled quite a bit "Yes, I thought that might have been a bit over ambitious for you". 

Ah, hindsight - my old, dear friend. 

Note to self Holly: you are not yet 'intermediate' with your sewing ability, you would be best to stick to patterns that say 'beginner' or 'novice', or just return to the kitchen where things tend to run a little smoother (most of the time).

In saying all of this, the pattern for these shoes was brilliant and really easy to follow, and came with several different size options which I think I will make again in the future though for a slightly larger foot next time, so as not to be quite to fiddly. Also the fact I now know that 'fusible webbing' and 'fusible interface' are not, as I had assumed, the same thing I think the shoes will be much easier when they are not slightly sticking to each other as I try to sew them - major learning curve accomplished.

To make these shoes for yourself, the pattern can be purchased from Winter Peach Patterns on Etsy.

Happy stitching. 

xx

My baby's bunting

We recently had our beautiful Ruby Grace baptised, and celebrated with a small lunch back at our house. In her honour, I wanted to make something pretty for decoration and decide on some bunting to hang behind the food table, with the intention to then hang them in her nursery afterwards. I scoured the internet for a pattern that I liked, and after many slight variations this was how I got on.

For one 3 metre garland (2.3m of flags, with room at each end to tie) you will need:

• Cardboard triangle measuring 12.5cm along the base, and 17.5cm on the other two sides
• 7 different but complimentary fabrics
• 3 metres of inch wide bias tape

1. Wash, dry and press your fabrics and the bias tape.

2. Using your cardboard triangle template, cut six triangles (3 pairs) out of each of your fabrics.

 

3. Place two triangles of the same fabric face to face, and sew down the two long sides, from base to tip, leaving the base completely open.

4. Snip the tip off the end, and turn right side out. You may need to poke a pencil into the tip to get it to come to a nice point on the right side, then give it a really good iron. Trim any extra seams that poke out from base so you have a nice straight base edge.

5. Repeat with remaining pairs of triangles so you end up with 21 completed pendants.

6. Fold the bias tape in half and press well, then lie the tape out flat along the table (or floor if your table is shorter).

Leave a 35cm length of tape at each end (to be used later to tie up your bunting), then start placing the bases of the pendants corner to corner along the inner fold if the bias tape.

7. When you are happy with the order of your pendants, pin them into place and sew a seam all the way along the row, about 5mm from the edge of the tape. I actually sewed two seams one a few mm lower to make sure they are really secure.

That's it! I loved making these, and found it a really pleasant way to spend a Sunday "crafternoon", and they looked very pretty on the day.

xx

Carrot cake cookies

Just to prove I have not completely neglected my oven, here is a little taste of what we have been enjoying in our household of late. I love these cookies, but restrict myself to only baking them for very special occasions, and a friend's baby shower was the perfect excuse to bring them out... much to my husband's delight. This is a recipe my sister gave me, and I am sorry I can't credit it more than that (though if you knew my sister and her amazing baking that would be credit enough), and these little morsels are always a winner. There is just something about the fluffy cream cheese filling sandwiched between those soft, cakey cookies that is a real treat to devour.

Ingredients:

• 250gm softened butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 ½ cups self raising flour
• ½ teaspoon all spice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 ½ cups grated carrot
• ½ cup sultanas
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ cup chopped pecan nuts

Filling:

• 50gm butter, softened
• 75gm cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 2/3 cup icing sugar (sifted) 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C, and line 3 trays with baking paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well.
4. Stir in sifted flour, baking powder, all spice and cinnamon.
5. Add all remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
6. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Roll into balls (tablespoon size balls for big cookies/ dessert spoon size for a smaller treat), and place an inch apart on lined baking tray.
8. Bake for 12-20 minutes, depending on size, or until lightly browned.
9. Cool completely on wire racks.
10. Combine all filling ingredients until fluffy. Add more icing sugar to taste if you need it.
11. Sandwich biscuits together with the frosting, and dust with icing sugar.

I did dessert spoon size this time, and got about 30 of the completed cookies (60 individual biscuits).

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.

xx 

Fabric children's blocks

  

I love these squishy foam blocks as toys for little hands to play with. I have given something similar as gifts in the past and have now taken up making them myself. My initial attempt was not very successful, partly because I bought styrofoam cubes not cushion foam (will blame baby brain for that one) and partly because the instructions I had did not give any measurements, so my first, sad little 'Ruby' cube was unpicked and re-sewn I think 5 times and still looks a bit ragged but I am sure our little cherub won't mind. I have also started adding little bells into the blocks, which helps stimulate another of the wee ones senses when playing with them.

So here is how I go about throwing one of these cubes together. 

You will need:

• Foam cube (I use 10cm x 10cm, and the lovely chap at the foam shop cuts them to size for me)
• 6 different fabrics cut into 10cm x 10cm squares, or whatever size your foam is
• Needle and thread
• Fusible interface

1. Start by cutting your fabric squares. To personalise the block, I like to put the child's name on the blocks if I can (short names fit in one square, or I do 1 letter per square if 6 letters) so I trace their name onto fusible interface and cut it our of fabric to iron on. If you choose to do this, the fusible interface goes onto the back of the fabric so trace the letters inverted so they are backwards on the back of the fabric and the right way round on the right side (see below). I have also done ABC, numbers, and traced around cookie cutters for other shapes stick on to make the cube more interesting but you might just use lovely fabric and leave it plain.  
2. Once you have prepared your squares, start by taking two squares and lying them patterned sides together, and sew together along one edge, leaving about 8mm seam. (Don't worry that it won't fit with the block and squares the same size, it just makes for a nice snug fitting cover) 

3. Continue sewing the squares together to form a 'T' shape. 

4. Flip it over and give it a good press.

    5. Continue sewing the remaining sides together (inside out)  to form a cube

    leaving one side of one square unstitched. Pull the fabric out through the open side to right way out.

6. The next step is inserting the foam cube, and if you decide to put a bell in to the block do that
    now. I just use small embroidery scissors to cut a small slit about half an inch wide down halfway in
    to the cube. Then poke your finger in to stretch it out a bit and push a bell down into the hole. The    
    bells I had were only 12mm and the foam can dull the noise so I put in 3 of them which gave an
    effect I was happy with.

 

To put the foam in, just screw it up in a ball and shove it in, then just straighten the fabric around the block as it pops back into shape. 

7. To finish your cube, hand sew the last seam closed using a drawing stitch if you can do one, I can not so just did the best I could...

...and you are done.

Enjoy! 

xx