Our Home Made Christmas Presents Received

Woo hoo! first blog post of 2012!! How very efficient of me!

Here is Our Home Made Christmas Presents Received blog to follow on from our 'Given' blog a few days ago.

Considering the time restraints with this little project I think we all did a jolly good job!

From mum and dad we got a chicken clock, here's a picture of it sat next to my brothers VW home made version he got from them.

My mum went on a felting course last year and she put the things she learnt to good use on this bag, absolutely love it!

The best gifts I have to admit came from my brother and his girlfriend Katie.

The first of which was this creation;

I've wanted a bird table in my front garden for a while so this was just perfect, and Mr Robin our main front garden resident has already staked his claim on it. It will be interesting to see what other birds attend the garden over the next few months.

We also got this stunning chopping board - perfect for our kitchen and its chicken parafanalia!

Katie also made me some of her lovely soap. Katie makes all of her soaps at home and sells them (Helping Hands Company), she is a truly talented lady. For presents I got Cucumber and Mint soap, and Apple and cinnamon. She does many different types if you would like more information on her or any if her soaps please contact her at the following email address, katie.soaps@gmail.com

They make great favours at weddings etc for all of you that are getting married at some point soon! ;)

Son qall in all I love all of my presents that were made! Roll on this year, apparently the mission is home decorated festive jumpers!! Should be highly entertaining!!!! Maybe Mel and I should make each other one for gifts!?

All the best!

Claire
xxx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Christmas Wreath - Home Made

We also made Christmas Wreath’s together this year, Mel, her mum Monica, my mum and our friend Jo. Last year we went to the wonderful Harriet from Flora’s garden workshop but this year we couldn’t make it due to work commitments etc.

So we thought we would give it a bash ourselves. We had a lovely lunch courtesy of my mum;

So courtesy of ebay we got some wreath rings, and used a local florist for the flowers and also foraged some materials. Some holly, foliage, fir cones etc.

Mel also had a little helper, her son the adorable Kenzie came along for the afternoon.

Considering we all had access to the same materials the difference in all of the wreathes was incredible, and we had a wonderful afternoon giggling, reminicing, gossiping, and being creative, here are the results;

And I cannot emphasise enough how great Harriett at Flora's Garden is, and if she is doing a workshop in your area do book and go along, you will not be dissapointed!
Here are her details;

http://www.floras-garden.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/FlorasGarden

http://twitter.com/FlorasGarden

All the best!

Claire
xxx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Our Home Made Christmas Presents Given

In my previous blog I explained that my brother came up with the wonderful (kind of last minute) idea of making Christmas presents for each other this year because money was tight etc, if you didn’t read it here is a link to it.


http://honestlyitseasy.blogspot.com/2011/12/xmas-presents-2011.html

So Boxing Day came (we celebrate as a family on Boxing Day rather than Christmas Day, things get too complicated trying to arrange to see everyone on one day).
So for my mum I made a decorated mirror. I decorated it with fabric flowers that I cut out of material and clipped together with a brad and then attached to the mirror. Here is the final article;

My mum and dad camp a lot in their caravan, and dad likes to refer to the van on site in a pub fashion ‘George and the Dragon’. My dad had kept a drawing board that he had made for a project when he was at school many moons ago, so I recycled it and made it into the sign for him;

Nothing like a bit of recycling! For my brother and his girlfriend I created two sets of colourful plant pots with herbs in. One set was for inside the hose at this time of year and the other was suitable for outside. Katie (my brothers girlfriend) makes incredible soap – more about that in our next blog post. O some of the herbs will come in handy for her. Inside ones were Coriander, parsley and aloe vera, and outside were wild garlic, Bay, Chocolate Mint, Apple mint, and Silver Thyme. I put the names if the herbs on metal spoons rather than the plastic labels that never last very long.

I also made some hand warmers for everyone, simple to do, basically 2 squares of felt sewn together and filled with ceramic beans. Place in microwave for 2 minutes and you have hand warmers!

So that was what we made for everyone’s presents, stay tuned to our next post later on to see what we got in return.

All the best!

Claire
xxx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

A Festive update!

This time of year is always quite hectic but I thought I would just drop a quick blog around to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I will update the blog again in the next couple of days letting you know how my family got in with the whole mke your christmas presents idea my brother came upo with as my last blog post detailed, but I can honestly say I am very surprised at the quality of the presents that came out of the whole experiment. But we will not be repeating the event! ;)

We've been enjoying great food, great drink (including some lemoncelo at the in laws - deffiantly making some of that at some point!) but more importantly we have spent some great time with family and friends, which lets face it, is what Christmas should be about!

So from both Melanie and I, we wish you a very merry christmas and hope that 2012 is a very successful year for you, and we hope you continue to follow us both and our journey's via out blog and facebook page etc.

All the best!

Claire
xxx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Xmas Presents 2011

I do echo Mel’s comments in the blog post above – things have gone particularly crazy over the last couple of months, I have managed to book an extra few days off work before the Christmas period to get myself back on track, so normal blogging procedure will resume and be much more regular in the future! I didn’t even manage to make the Good Food Show which Mel blogged about last time, which was annoying, but you have to pay the bills somehow!

So my wonderful, dearest brother came up with the idea that this year we should make our Christmas Presents for each other. Now, firstly I quite often make the Christmas presents I give out, because I think people appreciate the thought that goes into them and they are unique.

But this year I decided I was going to have a break, a bit of relaxation time in the lead up to Christmas as this year has been pretty hectic and next year is already looking chaotic! So over the last few months I've gradually been purchasing Christmas Presents.

Then my brother says 'for something different why don't we make each other Christmas Presents this year, it should work out a lot cheaper as well'.

This is the last time he gets a say in what we do/buy for Christmas. Because now that everyone else has to make presents it means that mine have got to be better than usual!

My brother and his girlfriend were very easy to sort out, my mum the same, but my dad is just a bit of a nightmare! He is exceptionally difficult to make for as I obviously cant's make him anything I have done before, so things like Whiskey Fudge, Jams, Chutney's, pickled onions and eggs etc are off the menu! We have finally figured out what we are going to do, but it will take more time than all the other present put together!

I do wish I could fill you in on everything we are doing but just incase any of the family end up reading this blog before the big day I can't post anything about it. You will however get fully updated as soon as the December 25th has been and gone.

Does anyone else make gifts for their families and friends for christmas, if so what do you make?

I'm also coming down with a cold, any natural remedies you can suggest would be very welcome, I really don't have time to be ill!!!

look forward to updating you all again soon - next week we are starting to gather things for our wreathes and table decorations for the festive period!

Deck the Halls - fa la la la la!!

All the best!

Claire
xxx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Make ahead Christmas Presents?

With the cost of living constantly rising and people trying to save money anyway possible we have been thinking about how we can save money on Christmas presents. Christmas is my favourite time of the year, it’s not the presents, its the fact that you see and spend time with people and family you may not have seen for a while.

Every year we go to my parents for Boxing Day to celebrate Christmas with them and my brother and his girlfriend join us for the day. This year in an effort to save money etc we have decided that all of our presents to each other will be hand made!! I have a few ideas already but if you have anymore that you would like to share please let me know – all ideas are welcome!!

We aren’t the only ones thing in a festive theme, in November’s issue of the Good Food Magazine there is a special section on ‘Make ahead Christmas Gifts’, my favourite recipe from this section is

Pistachio and Cranberry Cookies

Makes 22. Prep 15 mins plus cooking. Cook 15 mins

175g/6oz butter, softened
85g/3oz golden caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
225g/8ox plain flour
75g/2 ½ oz pistachios
75g/2 ½ oz dried cranberries

1. Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla extract with a wooden spoon. Stir in the flour, then tip in the pistachios and cranberries – you might need to get your hands in at this stage to bring the mix together as a dough. Halve the dough and shape each half into a log about 5cm across. Wrap in cling film, then chill for 1 hr or freeze for up to 3 months.

2. Heat oven to 180 c / 160 fan / gas 4. Slice the logs into 1cm thick rounds, place on baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 12-15 mins. Completely cool on tray.

Make ahead
Well wrapped, these dough logs will happily freeze for up to 3 months, meaning you can include freshly made biscuits in your Christmas hampers without any last minute effort. Simply defrost in the fridge overnight, then slice and cook as above.

So has anyone got any other make ahead recipes or home made gift ideas they want to share?

All the best

Claire
Xx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Cake Stands!

According to an article on the front page of the Daily Telegraph today Cake Stands are making a come back! So in celebration I thought I’d post a few of my faves I’ve found!

It’s not surprising that we are seeing a big rise in the sale of cake stands, department store John Lewis has said that sales of three-tier cake stands are up 46 per cent!

With some great baking shows on the TV, to name but a few The Great British Bake Off, The Hairy Biker’s with Mum’s Know Best and Home Cooking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale, baking is on the schedule almost every night!

Whether your cakes are beautiful rich Victoria sponges, indulgent chocolate, or dainty cup cakes, we love them all! Long live the cake!

4 TIER CUPCAKE DESSERT STAND NEW **HOLD 23 CUPCAKES**

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TIER-CUPCAKE-DESSERT-STAND-CUPCAKES/dp/B0041K5DV6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1317624545&sr=8-15

Lakeland do a great range too and even do matching cupcake papers!;

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/search/ks_cake-stand/q02.r16.1?src=ggkit&gclid=CK3bwpD2y6sCFbEntAodQhOO0w

They have a fabulous Halloween and Christmas themed stand as well! We may even try and make one ourselves! Look out for it in future blogs! ;)

All the Best!

Happy Baking!!

Claire
Xx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Sunday Roast & Strawberry Cheescake!

We had my "soon to be" In-Laws over today, their first visit to our new house since we'd moved in, so we wanted to make it special!
The house was blitzed top to bottom yesterday, everything cleaned and polished, even the chickens got a scrub down!

We had a lovely day watching the pheasants in the field at the bottom of the garden and enjoyed seeing the kids running around in the sun, something that doesn't happen often enough in this country!!

My gorgeous other half cooked his impressive roast - A huge joint of Aberdeen Angus with all the trimmings inc. onion sauce & even pigs in blankets!! Yum! I was even asked to make my homemade onion gravy!!!
We finished off with a huge helping of my... (ok, my mums) Strawberry cheesecake which went down well with everyone!

I was super proud of myself as I'm not the domestic kitchen goddess, my other half is a much better cook than me, but I must say, the cheesecake was a hit and so was my onion gravy!!!!!!!

Overall our day has been uber pleasant!!

Mel

Twitter:
@honestlyitseasy
@Tikobear

P.S. And if you want my receipes for the onion gravy & cheesecake, here they are:

Onion Gravy

1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
2 Large Red Onion - Halved & finely chopped
1 Large White Onion - Halved & finely chopped
2 Cloves Garlic - chopped
3-4 Sage Leaves - chopped
400ml Beef Stock - Homemade or out the jar!!
Salt & Pepper

In a large frying pan, add the butter and oil and heat gently, once hot add the onion and fry for around 10 minutes until soft, add the garlic & sage and fry for another 5 minutes.

Now add the stock, turn up the heat and let it bubble away for around 20 minutes and not a minute before!!

Right at the last minute add salt & pepper to taste.

If the gravy seems a little "dry" just add some more water until you get the right consistency for you - Its all personal taste!

Thats it!! Now you can either use the gravy as is, or I like to blend mine up.

I find it is best to make this before anything else, even the day before. It can even be frozen. Perfect!

Strawberry Cheesecake

8 Digestive Biscuits
2oz Butter
1/2 pt double cream
3/4 cup Icing Sugar
8oz Light Philadelphia/Cream Cheese
Vanilla Essence
500g Strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Put the butter in a pan on a gentle heat, while this is melting pop the 8 digestive biscuits into a bag and take out any frustration on them! Crush them up until all crumbly. Add to the butter and mix well.
Pop this into the bottom of the pan/bowl you will be using and squash down, making sure its level, ready for the next layer. Pop in the fridge to set while doing the next step.

Now whisk the double cream until it forms soft peaks,
Then mix togwether the cream cheese, icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla essence. Fold into the cream.
Add to the pan/bowl again making your second layer to the cake.

Pop in the fridge for 2-3hrs.

Decorate with a few of the strawberries, leaving most for the coulis to be drizzled on top.

Heat the water, sugar & strawberries in a pan until bubbling. Once all the strawberries are super soft and mushy, transfer the mixture into a blender and blend until it makes a sauce.
Some people at this point like to strain this through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the strawberry seeds, I didn't bother!

Once this has cooled, dish up your cheesecake and pour over some coulis! Mmmmm absolutely beautiful!!!!

Toad in the Hole

In celebration of the sunshine arriving here is a last winter/comfort food recipe for you all!

Yorkshire Pudding – Toad In the Hole

Sift 125g (4oz) plainf lour and ½ tsp salt into a bowl. Mix in 150ml (1/4 pint) milk, then add 2 medium eggs, beaten, and season with pepper. Beat until smooth, then whisk in another 150ml (1/4 pint) milk. Poor a layer of vegetable oil into your tin you will be using and put it in a pre- heated oven 220 C (200 fan oven) for 5 minutes or until the fat is smoking.

Whilst the oil is heating in the oven, brown your sausages in a frying pan.

Pour the batter into the tin of hot oil, add your sausages. Bake for 15-20 minutes until well risen, golden and crisp.

Things are progressing nicely in the garden – spen mowed the grass in the back garden yesterday – it’s amazing what a difference it makes. The home made out of recycled windows greenhouse is slowly being filled. Tomato seedlings are doing well, as are the chillies! Such a great time of year – everything greening up and sprouting new growth, you’ve got to love it! Right now I’m off to enjoy sunshine with friends, yippee!! Have a great weekend everyone, enjoy the sunshine!

All the Best!

Claire

Claire
Xx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

We’ve also got chicks hatching out in the incubator this weekend – our very own lavender pekin bantams , very exciting – will post more about those tomorrow, they are pipping as I type!