Shhhh... don't tell anyone

I posted a while ago about xmas pressie things.. well here are some sample secret shots. You can't tell what they are.. one day you'll get the full picture...

New Camera

I got an early birthday/xmas present from L. I am the happiest girl in the world. I have a brand spanking new canon G10. I'm totally in love with it. We picked it up in duty free (well, tax free) on the way to Aberdeen for the weekend. It takes lovely pics, so hopefully from now on my photos on this blog will be excellent! Here are some nice ones I've taken.

check out the macro- taken at the Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Lovely Light.

I really like this shot of G&S

This is one of the cats that visits my garden. There are about 5 different ones that come by every day to say hi and play with each other.

Crazy Scottish person - going surfing in the snow.

We made some snow men in Aberdeen. Snow is a real novelty for Aussies.

My moment of happiness when I got my hands on my new camera.

A lesson and some lunch

D and I had an impromptu knitting day and some lunch on friday.

Firstly I taught her to crochet, and she made a great hat from Garn Studios / Drops Design (I've made it before as well, but more on that later). She used the yummy maggi knits tweed and it came up really well. She's a natural. Hope to see more of her creations in the future. She picked it up in no time, and was totally surprised when she finished the hat before she went home. Crochet is pretty quick sometimes.. even for a beginner.

We then headed out to Shanghai on Kingsland Rd for Dim Sum (or yum cha) happy hour. Everything is just under 2 quid each, and it totally yummy and fresh. The place is pretty cool, it's build in an old eel and pie shop, so looks kinda old-ee english cutesy. with nice tiles and mirrors. Very strange for a yum cha place. We've been a few times now and it's always been pretty good.

Vegetable dumplings made with carrot juice.

Strange goopey prawn and chive things - I think they're called Fun

Turnip cakes - they were ok, one of D's favs.

BBQ Pork Buns. They're pretty good.

Soupy Sundays

I love making soup on sundays.

It just seems like the right thing to do after the weekend, and to prepare for the next week. 

It kinda reminds me of when I was a little kid and on Sundays evening while other families would be making heavy sunday roasts, my family would make omelets - something light and easy.

For me, there is nothing easier than chucking a bunch of ingredients in a pot at lunchtime and letting it cook for a few hours. Sometimes we make up recipes, with a huge tendency of them to turn into brown-mush, you know that type of soup. But our fav soup to make would be a recipe from the Moro Cookbook (from a great restaurant in London). Even those people who don't like soup have fallen for this one's charm. It's very easy, Lentil and Cumin soup: fry some onions, and whole cumin seeds, add a bunch of lentils and water and cook for a an hour or so. When they're all soft and mushy (and yes, brown) blend the soup smooth. Then wilt-fry up some garlic and spinach, chop very finely and mix with the soup. Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt and a squeeze of lemon. It's yummy.

I just discovered another great recipe on 101 Cookbooks, a great food website I love to look at. It's for Baby Lima Soup with chipolte broth. It looks delish! Can't wait to make this one, I wonder where I can find baby lima beans over here in London.

 

I made up a recipe the other day for Fresh Autumn soup. Or Green Soup. It was kinda yummy, and took no time at all to cook.

You'll need:

1 medium sized leek

300 grams fresh peas

half a head of broccoli

3 cups of baby spinach

a few gloves of garlic, chopped

500 ml chicken stock (homemade if you've got it)

1 tsp of freshly ground nutmeg

Gently cook the leek in a little butter until soft, add the rest of the garlic, peas and broccoli and the stock, and half a cup of water. Season with salt & pepper, and the nutmeg. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 mins. Add the spinach and cook until it is wilted (probably about 3 mins). Remove from stove and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve with a spoon of greek yogurt and freshly ground pepper.

Once again, I'm sorry about the crappy picture quality - our camera is STILL broken, well it's not really going to get fixed, but it is taking rather yucky photos.

Making secrets

It's kind so annoying really that its Christmas. It's not just about my usual dislike for the festive season - this year it's more than that. Since getting all crafty with it lately I decided to make some presents for people. However, I can't put pictures of the finished items or my Work In Progress up here on my blog in case the people I'm making for see them and then where would the surprise be? And so far I'm pretty happy with what I'm making!

Some people, like A Steno Pad For My Thoughts has so many great ideas for what she's making for her friends and family and posts about them as well. My fav things she's made is this recipe book that she's pulled together from her Grandma's old hand-written cook book to give to all her family. Its such a great idea (and since I'm still in the experimental stage with my recipe filing system) I'm jealous - only problem is, she has really neat and lovely hand writing, while everyone knows I write like a 14 year old teenage boy.

So the main thing is - I am making stuff, you all just can't see it yet! ok!

Rainy Saturday Afternoon

No surprise there, but it was raining and horrible on Saturday. That's London for you. I was meant to be having some people around for dinner, and planning on making pizza dough so we could make our own pizzas, but I guess because of the rain and horribleness of the day people just wanted to stay inside. I know that I did. However, after spending most of the week inside (probably going a little stir crazy) I knew it would be good for me to get out.

D called, and we arranged to meet in Islington - have lunch at the Afghan Kitchen (which was so yummy) and then look at Camden Passage antique markets then hit Loop.

I was good - didn't see anything I wanted at the antique market (which is amazing), then we heading to Loop. Which is an incredible yarn store on Cross St. I was nervous, obviously, about walking into a wool shop. What if I had to buy something? D wanted to get some wool and circular needles. Don't worry, I gave her a hard time about buying more stuff so soon after Ally Pally (we did go over board on that adventure, I have confirmed that now), but she was convinced - she must buy more wool.

We were in there for a while, touching things, as you do. D looked at me after about 5 mins and said "Han, have you breathed since we've been in here, you look shocked?". I laughed but inside I was dying as I was ogling over all the beautiful yarns - and I wanted them! Actually I was telling myself I needed them. But I held my breath and resisted the temptation.

I did however pick up some hooks - which I'm happy about (these handy padded hooks should help with the impeding RIS I'm sure is approaching). I've wanted some like these for a while! Yay - I got to buy something in the end.

We needed some cake and coffee after that, I can tell you. Which led to lovely conversations about our directions and in life - the eternal question of what the fuck am I doing with it all and so on. With some rather lovely outcomes. And some inspiration as well.

So, all in all - a lovely Saturday afternoon. a lovely day indeed.

Cracking Granny Squares

I've wanted to make Granny Squares for ages. In fact, its the reason I learnt to crochet. I dream of making a lovely blanket. But for so long now I just haven't been able to crack them. I can't get my head around them - I'm really bad at following patters, and am trying to rectify this. I have these two great books - one I got a while ago 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton and the other is an amazing Japanese motif design book I picked up in Paris at the Japanese book shop.

Maybe its insane trying to learn granny squares from a book that is not even in English - but the designs are so pretty I just had to try.

I found these inspirational posts here and here on Attic24's blog (which could be a new fav blog for me) and I was convinced. I had to give it a go! On Friday I was home along and it was pouring with rain, so what better time to struggle through and crack the granny squares. I started with a few misses rather than hits - they looks ugly, very ugly. I had bookmarked The Purl Bee's granny square project ages ago and she also helped me through the tough times.

I got so excited that I just kept going and going. They really don't take too long to churn through each square side. I was using up my oddments from ebay, unfortunately I had to stop as my little scraps of yarn are not long enough now to go round a whole square.

Watch this space - there will be more granny squares.

2 x 1hr scarfs for kids

L was heading off to Ireland this weekend to visit some kids who have twins, three year old girls, and at the last minute I remembered I hadn't made them anything as a token pressie.

So at the eleventh hour I got to work on these two crappy scarfs. They really aren't very good (I used up my oddments I purchased from ebay a while ago). I took my inspiration from Laughing Purple Goldfish's one hour crocheted scarf. Its a neat idea. Instead of crocheting the short side of the scarf - you chain the long side first and work sideways. It does (for some reason) make things go much quicker.

I'm not very happy with them due to the colours (limited choice of yarns in my ebay oddments stash), and since they are made from some synthetic yarns it makes me like them even less. However, its the thought that counts. I hope L takes a picture of the girls wearing them to post.

Once again, please excuse the terrible photo.. our camera is still broken...

Crumbs & Doilies - a cupcake challenge

I like cupcakes. I have for a long time. The remind me of when I was a kid and went to birthday parties, but more recently they take me back to when I was still an editor and I'd need a break from my edit suite and head down to the farmers market at Fox Studios for some sunshine and a cup cake. A good excuse for getting outside. 

You seem to get cupcakes everywhere these days.. but I know the best ones. My mate Jemma is making these amazingly tasty and wonderfully decorated cup cakes at Crumbs & Doilies - she's selling them all over the place. Anyway, she's set me a challenge. She wants me to crochet a cupcake for her. But what kind? Her blog highlights so many different types of decorated ones.... its gonna be hard to pick one design to do... 

I guess I'll just have to add it to the To Do List of things I need to make (it's getting rather long now that xmas is approaching)

Here are some of her designs - she makes each one my hand!

Hello - Buffy the Vampire Cup cake! I want to eat you!!

Pretty little cakes.. 

Punk cupcakes - who would of thought?

All these images come from Jemma's websites and are of her own creations.

I know its not crafts but I'm rambling

Train of thought as watching BBC News today:
Today's the day when America votes for their new president. I'm sitting here on the other side of the pond with baited breath. I hope that there are many Americans out there who feel as passionately about voting, having a voice, as I do. I come from Australia where it is compulsory to vote. Some think that's a good idea, others a bad one. I reckon that it makes you interested in politics younger - makes you want to have your say. That's what voting is - helping to shape the future of your country.

The American elections and politics in general in the past have left me cold and confused. The voting process is ridiculous at best - but that shouldn't stop people, it should encourage them to vote for change - to want to be heard!

When I hear about 6 hour long lines of people waiting to vote I wanta throw my fists up in anger and yell at the stupidity! How can a country have too many people voting? It seems they want to make it difficult for people to vote! Its absurd for a country who has put themselves on a global pedestal as "the ultimate democracy" to make voting such a bitch for so many people.

It's often a case in federal elections these days anywhere in the western world of choosing between the lesser of two evils... but somewhere you gotta hope that some people out there really do want change. I hope Obama is that man.

I wonder if Americans realised how important their vote is to the rest of the world?
I kinda wish I could vote.. every vote counts!

WIP: Chunky Baby Alpaca 5 hour throw

I got this pattern off ravelry, it's the Lion Brand 5 1/2 hour throw. Its lovely so far. I have made it a little differently, I have only used on strand on yarn - my chunky baby alpaca I purchased at Ally Pally. I saw this yarn and HAD TO HAVE IT, and I knew straight away I wanted to make a blanket out of it. It's just so soft and wonderful. I'm totally in love it. I think I need to buy some more so I can make the blanket really big and wonderful.


I figured since I only have 6 skeins of this wool, I'll just keep going until I finish.. then see if I can get some more. So far I'm pretty happy with it.

WIP: Red Scarf - nearly there

It's been taking me ages to finish this scarf. I'm so nearly there, just a few balls of yarn left.. but keep getting distracted by other projects.

This is all I have left, unless I take a trip back to La Droguerie to get some more!

I got this lovely yarn from Paris. Three different shades, a deep burnt red, a lighter red and a dark orange. They all went so well together. I doubled them up, putting either red with the orange, or the two reds together, just mixing it to create a kind of free-flowing. The stitch I did was easy, but I think it looks really nice.

(crochet) 2 row of Double Crochet
1 row of Treble Crochet

and repeat until finish.

I gotta finish it soon...

Knitting Nite #7

Another successful knitting nite, although I didn't get much done (I was too busy eating my empanadas and trying to work out what to do with my Baby Alpaca)


M started a new scarf, which is looking GOOD. One of these days she should make something for herself I think!



D started some new fingerless gloves, made from the lovely Purl Alpaca we got at Ally Pally, it really is very lovely yarn - i can't wait to do something with mine!



We had a special guest from Amsterdam visit, a fashion designer to help us out with the direction of our works.. lucky us!



D shows off her new scarf.. looking great!


Our newest member gets straight to business with his scarf - he's one to watch I think. What knitting style and talent. Puts the rest of us to shame.

Empanadas

I made empanadas the other day for our knitting group. I have to say, they were pretty tasty indeed.

I made two different types - one with spicy Mexican caramelised onions, the other (and by far the best) mushroom, ham, cheese and coriander. They went down a treat. Here's how I made them:

For the pastry:
This is a simple recipe for empanada dough - you can get more complicate ones, but its quick and easy and has great results!

300 grams plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
25 grams butter
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 egg
250 mls water

Heat the water, butter and oil with a pinch of salt in a saucepan - do not bring to boil but gentle melt the butter. Once warm remove from heat and sift in the flour and stir well. Add the egg and combine the mixture together in the pan (this takes a lot of good hard stirring). Once mixed together, turn it out onto a well floured surface and kneed well. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for at least 30 mins. Once this is done - roll out the pastry so its about 3mm or so think. Cut into circles to your desired size (I made little bit sized ones)


For the Mushroom Filing: makes about 20 small cocktail-sized empanadas.
5 or 6 field or large portobello mushrooms
4 slices of cooked ham (you can use Serrano ham for authentic Spanishness, but it has a much stronger flavour so you won't need as much)
a handful or two of grated cheese
half a cup of chopped coriander
Juice of one lime

In a food processor, mix the mushrooms, lime and ham to a medium paste. Mix in the cheese and coriander by hand, add a pinch of salt and pepper and combine well.

For the Spicy Onion Filling: makes about 10 small cocktail-sized empanadas.
One Spanish (red) onion, sliced
1 tsp Epazote (a Mexican herb)
a good pinch of Cayenne pepper
juice of 1 lime
olive oil
pinch of sugar

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer gently - the aim here is to caramelise the onions - not brown them. They must be soft and juicy, take care not to burn. It can take 20-30 mins to get the initial effects.

To make up the empanadas:
Once you have rolled out the pastry and cut out the desired circle size, put a small amount of the mixture on the middle of the round. Fold the pastry in half and pinch together with your fingers, and also use a folk to make sure that there are no holes and it is joined together properly.

Heat a wok or large pan with oil (I used peanut oil, but any kind of vegetable oil will do) and once the oil is hot enough (throw in a small piece of stale bread and it should sizzle and brown in about 30 sec - then its hot enough) add the empanadas in batches, and cook for 3-4 mins (depending on size) or until they are golden brown all over. Remove and rest on some kitchen towel, sprinkle with sea salt.

Then eat them - warm is best!