(The World’s Biggest) Cath Kidston Tea Cosy

I bought the materials for this project way back last November at the Knitting and Stitching Fair and have only just got round to making it. Whoops! It is, however, an appropriate make for the winter months. The pattern is from Cath Kidston’s Stitch! and I made sure to follow the instructions as I did not want to mess it up. The instructions were really easy to follow and I am really happy with the end result. The only thing that confuses me is the size of the thing! I increased the size of the material I used slightly to accommodate the count of the weave but other than that I can’t fathom it. Oh well, I will just have to buy a giant tea pot for it to cover!

Santa Christmas Decoration

I made this cute little Santa decoration from the brooch kit free with issue 285 of Cross Stitcher. I knew I wouldn’t wear the brooch so threaded some ribbon through the frame to make it into a hanging Christmas tree decoration.

Christmas Bunting

This was the free gift from issue 284 of Cross Stitcher and the first of my Christmas makes! I really liked the idea of Christmas bunting more than individual decorations because I don’t really have any where to hang the small ones plus I love cute bunting so it was a win win. I also loved the muted autumnal colours of the designs.

Pistachio Cake with Vanilla Cardamon Icing

Whilst scrolling through my bloglovin’ feed a few weeks ago and came across this recipe for pistachio cake. It looked so amazing and green! I am a fan of Ruby Tandoh’s blog and this recipe could not have been simpler. I like how the cake is like a drizzle cake and the icing is thin rather than a heavy buttercream.

Afternoon Tea at Auckland Castle

I read an article in Appetite, a regional magazine about food and eating out in the North East, about the reopening of Auckland Cstle to the public. This included a cafe in the library where afternoon tea is served. My sister and I decided to treat my mum to afternoon tea as we had never had it before. Lots of the ingredients used in the cafe is either grown in the castle garden or produced locally. The food was so delicious and being sat in the library was the perfect setting. We opted for afternoon tea with tea and coffee rather than Prosecco or Champagne which was £12 per person.Our afternoon tea consisted of four types of sandwiches (cucumber and mint, BLT, truffled egg salad and smoked salmon), cheese and fruit scones, three types of petit four (rhubarb and custard marshmallows, lemon and poppyseed muffins and chocolate-orange tunnock’s tea cakes) and vanilla pannacotta with blackberry jelly! The service was fantastic and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wanted to try out afternoon tea!

Curried Apple and Date Chutney

I love when we run out home-made chutney and I have to pick a new one to make. I chose one from my handy Dorling Kindersley book of jams and chutneys and settled on curried apple and date chutney; classic chutney flavours with a spicy twist.

Curried Apple and Date Chutney

Makes 4.5kg

• 1.5kg cooking apples
• 6 large onions
• 500g dried stoned dates (I used dried)
• 3 pieces stem ginger
• 6 plump garlic cloves
• 1.5 tbsp salt
• 875ml malt vinegar
• 2 tbsp Madras curry paste
• 1kg light muscavado sugar

Peel, core and chop the apples up into small pieces. Chop the onions, dates, ginger and garlic into small pieces. Put all the ingredients except the sugar in a large preserving pan and simmer for 20 minutes over a medium heat until the apples gave begun to soften. Add the sugar and simmer for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved.

Increase the heat and boil the chutney for 40-45 minutes, stirring often, until well reduced and thick.

Pour into hot sterilised jars, cover with vinegar-proof seals, and label.

Drying Chillis

My aunty gave us a chilli plant to look after and it has produced so many little chillis! We didn’t want to waste any so in an attempt to eat as many as possible we have hung some up to dry by threading them onto some cotton and hanging them in the window. For me, who isn’t a massive fan of heat, they have just a lovely amount of spice and you can use a few at a time.

Owl Family Greetings Card

The kit for this card came with Issue 279 of Cross Stitcher and I stitched it up for my aunty’s birthday.

Craster and Warkworth

 

On the weekend I went with my family to Craster. We have been going there on day trips for years and always do the same thing because we love it so much! First of all we go to The Jolly Fisherman for lunch, we always try to sit in the window so we can watch the sea and try to spot seals! We then go across the road to the smokery for some locally caught and smoked mackerel or crab. We finish up the afternoon by walking along the Northumbrian coast to Dunstanbrough Castle. Since we had time before we drove home we stopped off in Warkworth for a wander about and a look around the lovely shops.

Change of Address Cards

I made these change of address cards from the cover gift of Issue 281. I didn’t fancy using them as gift tags and since I am planning on moving to Liverpool soon I thought they would make great card decorations.