Welcome Blog Tourists!

Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to my blog. I hope you are all enjoying the Blog Tour and picking up loads of ideas, freebies and discounts along the way. My blog is all about my creative passions of cooking, baking and sewing. So for today's tour stop, I'm giving you a little bit of everything, a 10% discount for any purchases from my website and the chance to win a little something!



Make of the week
Inspired by the hot weather I've been making picnic accessories this week...

My cutlery roll has space enough for 12 pieces of cutlery. Perfect to pop into your cool bag or hamper. I've used Designers Guild Miami fabric here. It's a thick loose weave cotton in crisp white with a vibrant geometric print in blue, red, orange and green. I'm busy working on a matching bag, which would be finished if my pesky daughter would return my toolbox...

You'll find my cutlery roll in Homewares on my website.

Today's recipe

Just in case the weather isn't holding up, here's a lovely summery recipe to enjoy at home indoors!

This fresh fruit tart is delicious and so easy to make. You can use whichever soft fruit you like - strawberries, raspberries and blueberries would be brilliant here.

Nectarine Tart

• 1 x 18cm sweet shortcrust pastry case - either make your own or buy ready baked
• 1 large egg
• 25g sugar
• 200ml whole milk
• 25g plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 2 ripe nectarines sliced, or whichever soft fruit you like (you can leave small fruits and berries whole)

1. Begin with the pastry case. If you're using ready made then you're done! If you're making your own, use a sweetened shortcrust recipe and bake blind until golden and crisp. Leave to cool.
2. Next make the pastry cream. Put the milk in a small saucepan and heat gently. Meanwhile, whisk the egg and sugar until thick and creamy. Add the flour and whisk thoroughly. When the milk comes up to boil, pour it into the egg mixture and whisk together. Return the mixture to the pan and heat gently whisking vigorously until it becomes very thick. Remove from the heat and place in a clean bowl. Whisk in the vanilla, then cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool a little then place in the fridge until completely cold.
3. Assemble the tart by spreading the pastry cream over the pastry case and top with your chosen fruit. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.

Don't forget to make time for Creative Crafting magazine where you'll find more of my recipes

Grab some goodies!
As a special thank you for visiting my blog, leave a comment and share my blog for a chance to win this rosebud cushion cover with fabric covered buttons.

And if you'd like to buy anything from my site or place a bespoke order click here to email and quote "Blog Tour" to get 10% off your order. Visit my website Personal Space Interiors for details of my ready to buy items and bespoke services.

Thanks for visiting everyone, it's been lovely having you. Please call again soon :)

It's Creative Crafting time!

Time to pop the kettle on, sit back and relax with the latest edition of Creative Crafting, our fabulous free online craft magazine.

Enjoy!

It's Christmas Cake time!

Well it's been so long since I've posted a recipe, I may as well go with THE BIG ONE otherwise known as the Christmas cake of course.

I'm the only one in our house who loves a bit of Christmas cake, but I refuse to miss out on this spiced annual treat. So every year, I make myself a modest cake, safe in the knowledge that it will be far superior than any shop bought affair. Besides, nothing can replace that mellow, spiced fug coming from the oven as the cake slowly bakes...

This recipe will make one 18cm round cake which, if you must, is plenty big enough to share...

• 500g pack luxury dried fruits (Aldi luxury fruits are lovely and such good value)
• grated zest of an orange and a lemon
• 100ml brandy
• 100ml strong breakfast tea (black)
• 75g chopped nuts - whatever you prefer
• 150g soft unsalted butter
• 90g soft dark brown or molasses sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp treacle
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 150g plain flour
• 75g ground almonds
• 1 tsp spice of your choice (I like a mixture of cinnamon and ginger, but you could add ground cloves or use mixed spice)

1. Grease a deep 18cm cake tin and double line with baking parchment, making sure the parchment comes up 10cm higher than the tin. You can also wrap brown paper around the tin if you are worried the cake may brown too quickly. 

2. Place the dried fruit and zests in a small saucepan with the tea and bring to the boil. Simmer  until the tea evaporates, then turn off the heat and add the brandy. Cover and leave to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 150ºC (gas mark 2).  

4. Cream the butter and sugar and gradually beat in the eggs, treacle and almond extract.  

5. Sift the flour and spices together and mix with the ground almonds and nuts.  

6. Gently fold a spoonful of dried fruit into the creamed mixture, followed by a spoonful of the flour mix and repeat until all of the ingredients are combined.

 
7. Pour into the cake tin and level the top of the cake.

8. Bake for 2 hours (test with a skewer and bake a little longer if needed).

9. Allow to cool in the tin, then wrap tightly in the baking parchment and foil.  

10. Store in a cool dark place, and feed weekly with a tbsp brandy.

And as we get closer to Christmas, look out for my next installment on covering the cake with marzipan and icing...

Fiddling and twiddling

Nothing like a bit of tweaking and fiddling about to start the week. Do you like my new look blog? I do - well I would, wouldn't I?!

I much happier with the design, layout and feel now so maybe, just maybe I'll actually be driven to write like I keep promising I will...

What am I up to today? I've got some gorgeous vintage 1950s linen fabric with a beautiful rose print in reds and golds to play with so I'm going to make some lovely cushions with it today. I'll post the pics tomorrow when I'm done. Actually, the fabric would make a stunning dress. I've seen quite a few vintage dress patterns available on eBay recently but I'm not a dress maker so I wouldn't know where to start really. I suppose it's just a case of following instructions and measuring properly so maybe I'll give it a go.

What's for pudding?

Rhubarb, ginger and orange crumble

500g rhubarb washed and cut into 4cm chunks
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
zest and juice of an orange
3 heaped tbsps sugar

110g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g butter
75g sugar
100g flaked almonds

• Preheat the oven to 180c
• Place the rhubarb in a casserole dish and cimbine with the ginger, sugar, orange zest and juice
• Add the baking powder to the flour
• Rub the butter into the flour to form golden crumbs
• Add the sugar and flaked almonds and mix well
• Sprinkle the crumble topping over the rhubarb
• Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and leave to cool for 10 minutes
• Serve warm with creme fraiche

Eurovision joy

Well as always Eurovision didn't fail to amaze on any level - from the cringingly awful to the downright weird, it was three hours of TV heaven. I can't help it, I just love it. I think everyone should release their inner camp and embrace the joy that is Eurovision. If you missed it this year, you'll never know the joy of the Albanian howling woman with hair like a Danish pastry, or the Moldovan entry lyrics "You have never been to my show, you haven't seen before how looks the trumpet" Answers on a postcard...

Out for lunch with the in-laws today. My but it was mighty hot. The weather that is, sadly the same cannot be said for the food. It's such a disappointment when you eat out and it just doesn't live up to expectations. Never mind, here's a little something to liven the tastebuds.

What's for pudding?

Eton Mess Makeover

Serves 4

One packet of small meringue nests
300ml tub of half fat creme fraiche
4 stems of rhubarb
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp elderflower cordial

• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Wash the rhubarb, cut into 3cm lengths and place on a foil lined baking tray
• Sprinkle thr rhubarb with the sugar and bake for 10 mins or until just softened and set aside to cool
• In a large bowl, mix the elderflower cordial and the creme fraiche
• use a slotted spoon to add the rhubarb to the creme fraiche
• crumble in the meringues and mix lightly
• serve in sundae dishes and drizzle with the rhubarb juices