Cockermouth and Keswick

We had a day out to Cockermouth and Keswick.  We being myself, Mary-Jane, Auntie Annie, Cousin Elaine (Auntie Elaine to MJ) and Mum.  We had an early lunch at the Lakes Home Centre at Cockermouth.  I had a lovely cheese and relish toasted sandwich.  Mary-Jane had a ham sandwich but was far too taken up wiht everything going on around her.  I drooled over some of the things in the kitchen part, namely Mason Cash mixing bowls.  I do have a fancy for them.  There were some small ones, one pink that matched my big pink one, and a small red one that said 'God Save The Cream' on it.  I am trying not to think about them and how much I want them!

 

We then went on to Cockermouth.  The first shop we went into, a clothes shop, Mary-Jane walked straight up to the counter and asked the lady for a lollipop.  I was a bit taken aback!  In Chambers in Workington, they have a jar of sweeties that they offer children, the last two times I have taken Mary-Jane, she has had a lollipop.  The lady said she didn't have any lollipops but had a biscuit if that was alright?  Yes Please, said Mary-Jane.  The lady went into the back and came back with a tin of biscuits, gave Mary-Jane one, then put a good handful in a bag for her to take if she wanted one later!  She then put the bag in a carrier bag to make it easier for MJ to carry.  MJ then did a quick tour of the shop and headed straight for the door!

 

We then had a walk up the main road, and had a look in Fagans.  At the rear of the shop, they have a baking section.  With MJ in tow, I had a whistlestop look around.  Long enough for me to ooh and aah over cake papers and such like.  And long enough for MJ to find some cake papers with tractors on.

 

After Cockermouth, we headed to Keswick.  It seemed colder in Keswick.  It was around 1degree.  Crisp and cold.  The images are taken on the road between the two places.

In Keswick the market was on.  We had a look then went into the big chocolate shop.  Lots of temptation in there!

Mary-Jane enjoyed her day out.  She was quite tired when we got back.  She said she had fun and protested when it was bed time.  I haven't (touch wood) heard a peek out of her since!

Uncle Ken went home today.  Uncle Frank (Dad's brother) and his son Ian arrived early evening and are now down the pub with Dad.  Mary-Jane took quite a shine to Uncle Frank last time he was here.

My First Thanksgiving Weekend

Mary-Jane has got another cold.  She has had it for a few days now.  I think it may be breaking, fingers crossed.  Either that or it is taking hold of her and getting worse.  She had a bit of a temp most of the day and a runny nose.  Poor little things.  Her appetite is not too bad.  Yesterday she ate everything in sight, today, not quite as much, but still ate well.  She asked for super-duper-soupie for lunch - soup to everyone else.

 

On Saturday, we had a Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was my first.  I made pumpkin pie, with the pumpkin that Lee kindly sent me.  When I mixing the pumpkin filling, Mary-Jane wanted to be in the kitchen to help Mommy and put her pinny on.  I gave her the left over pastry to roll out, as she was getting excited about seeing the rolling pin.  She also needed distracting from eating the flour on the table!  I sat her in the chair and helped her to start rolling out, then I carried on with the pumpkin mix.  Grandad came through and began to encourage and help Mary-Jane with the rolling.  It was beautiful.  I watched.  The I was inspired as to what to use the spare pastry for.  I was going to do a fancy edging.  With a little of the pumkpin mix left over, there was only one thing to do - make a small pumpkin pie!  So obvious.  A Momma and Mary-Jane Pumpkin Pie Production!

As Mary-Jane wasn't feeling so clever, I decided not to take her to Calder Bridge Autumn Church Fayre.  I was disappointed that we couldn't go, both MJ and I like to go.  MJ's health comes first.  Granma, Grandad, Auntie Annie and Uncle Ken (no relation) went down.  They did very well on the raffles and tombola.  They bought MJ and I a strip of raffle tickets in our abscence, and this is what we won!  A beautiful and well made hand sewn quilt.  I have put it away for MJ, for time to come.  Someone must have been smiling down on us!

We are having heavy rain and high winds at the moment.  I can hear it over the monitor, rattling on Mary-Jane's window.  Her sleep gets quite disturbed with weather like this.

 

Mum, Auntie Annie and Uncle Ken are going to Lakeland tomorrow.  I must admit that I am green with envy.  I haven't been to Lakeland for well over 20 years and I would go like a shot.  I am telling myself that it is best that I don't go as I can't really get anything and I would be down in the dumps.  This line of thinking is only partially working!  I'd love to look round and drool over their baking section!  All in the fullness of time.  Lakeland is a good 50+ miles from here.  That might not sound much, but with the geography of the place, you are looking at maybe an hour and a half to get there.  Lots of fells and water between here and there!  I may be on a promise for a duo icing kit though, I'm smiling, I've been wanting one for months!

Carrot Cupcakes With Caramel Frosting

I have been in the kitchen again today.  I have made Carrot Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting, especially for Auntie Annie.  Carrot cake is a favourite and seeing how it is Thanksgiving, these were a must.  I took a bit of time perusing for the right recipe.  The one I used was in Betty Crockers 'The Big Book of Cupcakes'.  It also has pineapple and raisins in.  The batter was very runny and I had doubts when I put it in the oven.  I should have more faith.  They turned out fine.  Not as carroty as I thought they would be but delicious all the same!  The frosting is something else.  I love it!  I have never made frosting like this before, but by gum, I shall make it again.

You melt your butter in a pan, then add the brown sugar till it dissolves, then bring it to the boil, stirring all the while.  The add the milk and bring back to the boil, then take it off the heat and leave it to cool to luke warm.  Then gradually add the icing sugar, stirring with a whisk.  Gorgeous.

 

I have also done my sugarcraft homework.  As it is my first attempt, there is room for improvement.  I liked doing this and can see where and why I need the practice and experience.  For my first go, it aint too bad at all! On Tuesday we shall be shown how to stack the three pieces to make it 3d, and then put some sparkle on it.  It will then rest on a pastillage plaque.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Boston Baked Bean Day

Auntie Annie and I have been beavering away in the kitchen and have made two dishes of Boston Baked Beans - one with bacon and one without.  I liked making these and enjoyed cooking with Auntue Annie.  It is another recipe I shall make again, I may tweek it a little here and there to make it mine.  HK would like buffalo sauce in it or hot pepper sauce to give it a bit of a kick.  HK and I had some for our tea, with chips and a pastie.  What doesn't get eaten tomorrow will go in the freezer.

I also had a visitor today - Sarah.  We haven't caught up for a few weeks, although we have seen each other in Gosforth, mainly when I have been driving and Sarah has been on foot.  I was able to give her her belated birthday present - the Shawlette.  She seem happy with it and it looked rather good on her.  She naturally wore the shawlette in many different ways that had not even crossed my mind, they all looked good.

 

I was going to do my sugarcraft tonight.  I had bought it all downstairs with me when I put Mary-Jane to bed.  When I came to it, I had left the tracer paper upstairs, so couldn't be 100% on which colour goes where.  I could've guessed, but I was still full from tea, so I decided instead of sneaking back upstairs, I'd do it tomorrow night instead - this is a must to get it to dry intime for next Tuesday.  I am itching to get my hands on some more waxed paper to experiment and play with this technique.  I know I can get some from my 'local' sugarcraft shop in Workington.  I am on a mega strict budget this month, so it will wait till next month, which in reality is only two weeks away!

 

Mary-Jane had a much better nights sleep last night, so it follows that HK and I did too.  Phew all round.

 

I have been typically naughty as well with my knitting, I must confess.  The aran jumper that I am undoing to re-knit, well, yes I have cast on this evening.  I need a bit of TV knitting and this kinda fits the bill.  Till I get to the cabling.  It is not an all over cable pattern.  The jacket is knitted all in one, although I didn't chose the pattern for this reason.  It is a Drops Design 109-3.  I do wonder if the yarn is a chunky aran, as what little I have done so far is making a dense-ish fabric.  I am sure it will look fab when it's done - and it will be lovely for the Spring.

Sugarcraft Week 9 - Royal Icing and Flooding

I have had another enjoyable Sugarcraft class this evening.  Despite not doing my homework, I quickly caught up.  What we focused on this evening was doing the outlines of our chosen figures.  These are going to be 3d, so I must do my homework this week, and before the weekend so it is dry for next Tuesday!  I found the piping made my thumb ache after a while, probably because I'm not used to using it this way.  The figure is piped using a 1.5 writing nozzle.  In this instance it can be done using black icing.  Once this is done, the tracer can be taken out from underneath the wax paper.

Before icing starts, prepare enough icing bags.  Disposable bags may work better than re-usable, as the hole at the end needs to be quite small and you don't need a nozzle to do the floodwork.  I made mine from greaseproof paper.  After doing the figure, prepare your different coloured icing.  Add the colour before letting the royal icing down. Put the icing in the bags then put the bags in sealed plastic bags until you come to use them.  Then the flooding starts.  You can't do two neighbouring sections at the same time incase they run.  Bigger areas can be done in a circular motion.  A cocktail stick can be used to bring the icing to the corners.  I started off by using too much icing, on the hat.  I suppose like anything, it comes with practice.

 

I am excited to learn this technique, as it has a lot of potential - you can do any design - and is fun to do.

 

I'm still undoing the seams of the aran jumper.  I did some today and got on a lot quicker than last night.  HK thinks I am wasting my time as he thinks the yarn won't be much good, he is now re-advised on this matter!

 

Mary-Jane had a rough night last night.  She was awake and crying a fair few times, though we couldn't quite pin down why she was upset.  Sometimes we can, or at least get a general idea.  During the night I was getting quite a bad head ache and this stayed with me most of the day, It's just a back ground headache at the moment. 

 

We went to playgroup this morning.  Mary-Jane really had fun and enjoyed it.  She has started inter-acting with a few of the other children and passing them toys etc, a first for her.  She usually cuddles in close to me when other children come near her.  I also had her playing with play-doh, the making of this is now going higher up my list of things to do!  MJ also called another child by her name, a follow on from last week.  She is making much progress and I'm proud of her for it.

Two Batches of Cupcakes And An Aran Jumper

The weekend has been fairly steady.  HK has been feeling poorly again, he was quite bad yesterday and went to bed when I put Mary-Jane to bed, the same again tonight.  Last night he was insistent that I check on him during the evening.  This was worrying.  I checked on him a few times and he was sound asleep each time.  I hope he feels better by morning.

 

I have managed to do not one but two lots of baking.  The first was a batch of Orange Marmalade Cupcakes, made on Saturday.  The second I did this afternoon - Banana, Cinnamon and Walnut Cupcakes.  Both are taken from the highly recommended Eat Me!  by Xanthe Milton.  In the background you may notice some haricot beans soaking.  Auntie Annie and I shall be making Boston Baked Beans tomorrow afternoon after playgroup.  We will be making two lots - one with and one without bacon/pork.

I have also been looking at my baking books again.  I am having my appetite whetted by The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days and Betty Crockers The Big Book Of Cupcakes.  With the Betty Crocker book, I couldn't get on with this at all as it was written in American English and all the weights and measures were in cups and such like.  Since putting this book down previously, following a dismal attempt to convert it to English, I have overcome my mental block of Cups.  I can read the book anew and understand them.  So, I shall study it further with fresh eyes and see waht takes my fancy.  There are a couple already.  As we are having our Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday - a day that suits us all as Mum has a meeting to go to that afternoon - I said to Auntie Annie that I would bake her her favourite cupcakes for Thursday and use some Stars and Stripes cupcake papers.  It is going to be something carroty and something quite chocolately. 

 

I have sugarcraft tomorrow night and I haven't done my homework.  I feel a bit bad, but time hasn't really permitted.  In the evenings I have been tired, gone to bed early or needed the tranquil headtime that I get from knitting.  I am continuing with EZ Three Lace Pi Shawl.  The yarn is black and I find that I cant do more than two or three rounds before my eyes start stinging.  So I have started Decimal, a cardi from Knitty.com, via Ravelry.  I am using a chenille type yarn.  It is one that I got from the tat shop quite a while back, it's on a cone and there are no labels so I don't have a clue about manufacturer etc.  I just need to keep my fingers tightly crossed that there is enough yarn to do the project.  I think I shall be sailing very close to the wind on this one.

 

A few years ago, I was given a beautiful hand knitted cabled aran jumper.  It had been knitted as a gift for someone.  Unfortunately the proportions are a bit out.  The chest is at least 62 " and the length is 26".  I have been looking for a cable/aran pattern that I can re-use the yarn.  I have stated this evening to unpick the seams.  I am still unpicking.  I have only freed one sleeve and and slowly freeing the other.  I thought I could get it done so much quicker.  I do feel guilty about undoing someone elses work, but the blessed jumper will never be worn in it's current incarnation and I can't let all that aran yarn go to waste.

 

ASJ, PI and Auntie Annie

I finished my ASJ last night.  I am pleased with it and pleased that it is finished.  I need to sew buttons on, I didn't really get the chance today.  It is a bit on the big side.  It would look nice with some kind of shawlette of detachable hoodie as the neckline is broad at the front.  The sleeves are 3/4 length and look better than what I thought they would.  They would suit some long fingerless mitts.  Anther big project done with.  I just thought that if I had sewn the buttons on this evening I could've worn the jacket in the morning when we go to the library.  Never mind, it might be raining or I may get chance to do them in the morning.

 

I have been very good and not started another project.  There is not one that is calling or yelling at me to start, which is good.  I can concentrate on getting work done on others.  I was going to do Revontuli, but I couldn't easily place my hands on where exactly I had place the chart, and I couldn't be diddled to look for it.  So I took up the EZ Pi Three Lace Shawl and have been cracking on with that very well, and enjoying doing it.  I have done seven rounds .  For those of you that are familiar with the wonderful pattern, I am about to start round 11 of the second lace pattern.  There are 45 rounds.  Hmmm, looking at it, I find it difficult to believe that there are only 61 more rows/rounds till it is done.  I have a nagging voice in my head about this and will need to further consult the book about this.  At the moment all I have in front of me is a copied page to work from.

 

Auntie Annie aka AnnInAmerica arrived safe and sound yesterday evening.  It is good to see her again and to spend time together.  We are planning to make Boston Baked Beans Monday or Tuesday next week.   I am hoping to freeze some.  Auntie Annie also bought me lots and lots and lots of really pretty cupcake cases from the US, I was busting a gut nearly to do some baking last night, maybe tomorrow afternoon, fingers crossed.  The fruit cake is not far off devoured, so I can bake again with a clear conscience!

 

I have also done a personal first today, with HK's help.  Nothing spectacular, just something I have been meaning to do increasingly, for quite a long time - peel, chop and boil a butternut squash and make puree to bake with.  I now have 665g of butternut squash puree sat in the freezer, ready for use.  Initially I was going to use it, but after a chat with HK, and the way the day was panning out, that I may not be able to get in the kitchen to bake.  I feel like I have wised up to a regular everyday ingredient, I suppose I have done really!