Crochet update....

 

Aah, crochet. As the nights get darker earlier, so the littlest Chanders' go to sleep a little earlier, and I can gather the wool and hook in my arms, to cosy into the sofa and do a little crochet before bed beckons. But still, not as much as I'd like, as Mr Chanders is on night duty and by the time I have all the household necessaires completed, I'm often flagging. Anyway, this isn't a moaning post, rather a little reminder of what I have started; and what remains to be done.

1. The "Big Round" Blanket.... a rather satisfying little project; so far I have 11 squares completed. I'm happy with the colours and the pattern thus far; but it has taken a little bit of a backseat for...

2. Baby blankets - I realised, last week, that two of my closest chums are both expecting little ones soon; so I have started one baby blanket - the usual suspects of colour (namely, my Cath K inspired colours), although the yellow is a little more sunshine than the usual lemon. The yarn, however, is acrylic: I was so pleased with my previous experience that I'm happy to use it for gifts.

3. The "South Bay Shawlette" - nothing has changed with this; but I'm putting it on to (gently) encourage me to get a MOVE ON and finish this (particularly as this will form part of a pressie for a dear one come Christmas)

4. The girlie blanket : again, another potential gift for December for a special young lady - I'm now onto my second square, as you can see. I just love the simplicity of granny squares; I never get bored from them.

 

5. And finally: a new stash - this is some Debbie Bliss "Prima" cotton that I procured from my favourite eBay seller, aileen55, over the past while. I'm loving the colours; a little muted compared to my regular taste - I'm hoping to use these for either some Chrimbo gifts, or failing this, a cushion cover or two.

 

Anyway, that's the latest goings on in my woollen wonderland. We shall see how things pan out over the next month or two. Have a super weekend. Em

The princess of china...

 

Good Monday folks, I hope you are all well.  I just thought I would share a little car-boot and charity shopping with you.  Mr Chanders (for the first time and probably the last) joined me with the little ones early on Saturday morning to our local sale; not early enough for me; but I made an exception as such enthusiasm should not be trampled on.  And then, we went to a couple of local favourite charity shops.  The plate above was from one of the shops; I love it because my mum has the exact plate; a gift from my paternal grandfather as she admired it , when he lived in England.  So I was rather pleased to snap it up; perfect and with a plate hanger already attached.  Maybe the two plates shall  be reunited one day....

 

 

This is a much larger plate; very simple in style; again in another charity shop; for a few pence.  A lovely, simple design; not fussy and will hold a few sandwiches or buns; and in perfect condition.

 

 

Finally, my favourite. I love jugs, with a mini collection on my kitchen windowsill; and managed to pick up this lovely blue and white Spode example at the car boot from a lovely lady. It had a little chip already fixed; but nothing bad enough to put me off for a pound or two. I love the blue and white china; but it's getting harder and harder to find at boot sales and charity shops. So the windowsill has a new recruit to the Jug brigade; and I am two plates richer. Anyway, time to go; my sofa, two little chaps, a book and a blanket are calling.....take care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs Chanders Bakes - Mark two....

Hello all, and welcome.  What a very quiet week it has been, full of fun and mundane:  train looking and cooking; dinosaur bashing and washing.  And a bit of baking.

 



It was my mum's birthday this week.  Yesterday to be precise.   I had already given her a delicious linen clutch courtesy of Ms L Guinness for a birthday present (markedly reduced courtesy of a sales website) in August, so she could use it on her hols.   But I didn't want to go to see her yesterday "with my arms the one length", so I rustled up this little beauty.

 

 

It's exactly the same as the anniversary cake I made in July for the "Ruby Murray Curry Night", but with pastel flowers and ribbon, instead of red.  And an obligatory doily.

 



 

Inside, a delectable victoria sponge with buttercream, recipe courtesy of my old favourite, Mary Berry. I knew it was tasty enough when Dad said "Aye, it's not bad".  I was a little sad to eat her, to be honest.  Anyway, looking forward to the weekend - Mr Chander is off; no studying to be done; might even get to the local car boot sale.  To be honest, I'd be happy with the whole family, snuggled on the settee, watching a film..... 

 

Vegetable soup....

 

A little Friday foodie post, if that's okay today. I love to cook nowadays - when I was a student, I would burn toast; but when you have to feed a family your culinary skills have no option but to improve. I know I definitely have - I've also lost "the fear" - the fear of messing up, of your food tasting like the culinary equivalent of the bad auditions in the X factor. It's also the fear of the unknown - of not knowing how to make something, thereby thinking it must be tricky.

Take soups, for example. I love soups for lunch, and if I'm out and want something light, I'll often go for a soup option, particularly those fancy blended varieties, with a bit of homemade bread. My mum makes one type of soup - vegetable broth made with some shin and stock; she makes it every Saturday in the winter; and her mother before her. It's my childhood in a bowl.

I decided I wanted to make a bit of soup without meat - and couldn't believe how easy it was - I used Mary Berry's "Winter Vegetable Soup" for inspiration, and tweaked it a bit. Basically, I used a couple of leeks; celery (I love celery in soup); potatoes; a couple of garlic cloves; onions and a couple of carrots; I cooked the leeks in butter in a big saucepan for around 8 minutes; then added the rest of the chopped vegetables for the same time; and then added about 1.2L of chicken stock (just using stock cubes) and let it simmer for around 25 minutes. Then I blended the soup et voila!



A veritable feast of veggies.

 

The first time I made it, I couldn't believe how tasty and simple it was. And now I make my vegetable soup nearly every week. I tend to use whatever vegetables I have in the kitchen: always leeks and celery, onion and garlic; but I've added parsnips/carrots/potatoes/butternut squash/sweet potato (Master Chander likes the sweet potato variety!) - whatever I have that's fresh and available - it also makes it slightly different each time. It's great for hubby to bring to work as well; and healthy too. I've never frozen it (because there's usually not enough left) but I think it probably would be okay. To me, the blending makes it that little bit more delish but that's just a personal preference.

Next stop will be to make the bread with it! Take care...

 

 

Things I like: things I dislike

There seems to be lots of things I either really like or dislike this week - no grey; no in-between, no sitting on the fence. As clear as putting objects in a "red/blue/green/yellow" corner in school - things seem to sit very clearly in my mind as being liked or disliked.

Things I like:

1. The Paralympics: Unbelieveable. The quality of the athleticism is astounding - and seeing things I wouldn't have thought possible - if you get a chance, check out the F42 high jump. Just stunning.
 

2. Singing to Abba Gold whilst having my daily shower: I never tire of this - can't beat a bit of Abba (although I'm sure the neighbours would probably disagree). Can you hear me sing Fernando?
 

3. Monday night television - University Challenge on BBC2, swiftly followed by Only Connect on BBC4 - geekish, I know, but it helps to keep my brain ticking over whilst on maternity leave.
 

4. Mary Berry. Love her on Great British Bake Off (which I am also enjoying, but think everyone is taking it too seriously this year); but love her cookbook even more. Haven't had a bad recipe yet.

5.  Parade's End: Love the adaptation so much I ordered two Madox Ford books from Amazon.  Think I might start with The Good Soldier first though (as it's thinner).

Things I really dislike:

1. Poor customer service - on three occasions, in different stores, on the same day. I'm the kind of person who is almost apologetic for asking for something, and will forgive most things - but I have been really shocked recently by shop assistants being, well for the want of a better word, rude. Insincere. And no, I don't want to hear shop assistants effing and jeffing about their supervisors when buying my milk and bread, thank you very much.

2. Junk mail/people calling for no reason - for some reason, I seem to be getting lots of junk mail (the kind without my address on that everyone in the locality gets, you know the sort). And people knocking at the door to complete surveys/sell window glazing or internet film rental????? One woman wouldn't take no for an answer, I really thought I was going to have to prise her foot from my door! You think you would be safe in your own home.....

3. Adverts for "collecting" magazines - you know the sort (i.e. collect a plastic piece from your magazine weekly in order to make a boat/plane etc). There's a glut of the adverts on for these at the mo; I'm all for collecting things or developing new hobbies; but not if its going to cost them half a house to do it.

Sorry to rant, but I feel so much better for that. Must dash, going to make some pizza dough for this evening's tea, then maybe a little crochet.

A little bit of crochet..

Welcome all... It has been rather quiet here of late - the eldest Master Chander had his open day at nursery school, which was wonderful; Mr Chander has just done some professional exams (not so wonderful); and in the interim, I seem to have acquired a chest infection (wonderfully bad). Anyhow, the worst is over, and at least I have had the incredibly inspiring Paralympic games for company (although I wish Channel Four wouldn't insist on tv adverts at every turn). Every day I see another example of human endeavour at it's finest; I didn't think it was possible, but I think I prefer the Paralympics to the Olympics - despite the fact I knew more about the Olympic competitors at the beginning.
 

 

I have managed a little crochet and have started my squares with the Debbie Bliss Amalfi - it's not a bad cotton to work with, although I have noticed some colours seem more prone to knots than others; and now that I've done a few of the "Big Round" squares, I have got the hang of the pattern without having to check it every five minutes. I've had to stop as I didn't order enough Ecru shade (that's the cream one for the borders) and am willing my postman to stop every day with more supplies. Anyway, better go and watch some more Paralympics (there's only five more days to go.....)