Happy Easter!

I made some Easter biscuits this week - we always without fail go for an Easter picnic with the whole family. This year it will be waterproofs and sledges but we will be there rolling our eggs in the snow!  I got alphabet cutters the other week and I have been dying to use them.  I love to make biscuits - decorating does get me stressed out but I love the idea.  Check out my pinterest board on biscuits / cookies.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE cutters.  I have a real obsession.


This is the box that arrived the other day of cutters!  I already struggle to fit the ones I have in my cupboards!  It is ridiculous.  Like my ribbon obsession I can't stop myself!  This box doesn't even include the alphabet set!









The Easter biscuits or sugar cookies recipe I used was adapted from Kate Shirazi Cookie Magic.  Usually I use her recipe and the biscuits always work out but I read somewhere online about changing quantities to stop problems with crumbliness so I adapted and these worked out really well.

 I had fun with Finlay making up words out of the Easter biscuit letters...

For the icing I had read about using corn syrup to make a hard icing that could be stacked but I live in Scotland and to get corn syrup you need to go to a specialist shop - I don't do planning for baking and buying in advance so I knew I would never get round to doing that.  I looked online and found you could use golden syrup - which I always have - or "sybit" as Eliza likes on her toast but I was very dubious.  Milk and syrup mixed with icing sugar and a drop of lemon juice...sounds wrong to me.  But it worked!!!.  My photos look terrible as usual with flashback I really need to learn but the icing has set very hard and isn't wet like it looks on here!


I have not attempted to freeze these but I have regularly frozen Kate Shitrazi recipe biscuit dough as soon as I have made it and it works really well.  You can also freeze them already cut.  How I would love to have a stash of every letter of the alphabet in my freezer for when I'm having an ass of a day.....

Tee hee.....Finlay thought this was the best combination.  Haha.  I teach him such great life lessons.  Bite my ass.....



Recipe I used for biscuits
225g unsalted butter
200g icing sugar (sifted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
375g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven 175°C.   Cream together butter and sugar, add in vanilla.  Add egg.  Add baking powder/flour.  Chill half an hour.  Roll, cut, place on baking paper, chill 5 minutes, bake at 175 °C on same baking paper.  Remove after about 10 minutes when just browning.  Allow to cool on same baking paper.  Move to cooling rack on baking paper and leave to harden.  I tried to move these with a spatula and they broke every time so I couldn't use my Pampered Chef stoneware for these whereas the original Kate Shirazi recipe allowed these to be picked up almost immediately.  These biscuits that I made though seem to taste better (in Finlay's opinion anyway - and he eats them without icing as he doesn't like it)

Icing recipe for those who do
I just threw together what I thought for quantities but I just looked online and there is a recipe similar:
1 cup icing sugar
1 tbs milk
1tbs syrup (they say corn but golden worked well - has a slightly yellow colour though so white icing may be a problem)
1 drop lemon juice

If you need a cutter I am bound to have it.....

Marshmallow Fluff Fudge or Flu-dge :)

Months ago I came across a recipe I was writing down when I came to marshmallow fluff so stopped there - an American ingredient I couldn't get in the UK.

Then I found this...and I had to buy it of course:)

But I couldn't find the recipe I first saw the ingredient in :(

I couldn't even remember what kind of recipe it was....and I have spent so much time on the internet looking at TONS of recipes I have no hope of ever finding it again.  My first check was through my pinned foods but no luck.  It could even have been pre-pinterest!

So the marshmallow fluff sat about in my cupboard for a few weeks wondering what to do with itself .  Today I found 5 spare minutes away from my newest hobby - Mario on the 3DS!!  I can't get enough of it.  Obsessive tendencies coming through again I know!

I found a recipe for marshmallow fluff fudge here.  I got a new sugar thermometer for my Christmas itching to be used










I set about making my marshmallow flu-dge ;)

 Look how white and Christmas-sy this looks

It smelt delicious :) Finlay thought I was making him custard!

 Brought to boil for 10 minutes - soft ball on my new thermometer :) How did I ever make anything like this before I had the thermometer?? And look how brown it turned!

And it feels sooooo soft!  It slipped out of my pan so easily and cut smoothly.

A lovely slice of marshmallow flu-dge.  Can't wait for my cup of tea tonight:) 

I will parcel some of these up for First Foots too since we only have one more day of 2012 left -  I surely won't eat all of it by then?? :D 

Recipe for marshmallow flu-dge 

300ml condensed milk 

1 jar Vanilla Marshmallow Fluff  

350g caster sugar 

100g unsalted butter 

¼ tsp salt 

Mix all ingredients in pan over low heat until sugar dissolved and butter melted.  Bring to boil, boil for around 10 minutes  stirring continuously until sugar thermometer is at soft boil stage.  Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.  Pour into greased 8" tin.  

Halloween Party Table

I have really been useless at the blogging!  I am so busy all of the time I have about a million projects on the go not least is WEDDING planning!!  But more of that another day I am going to do better from now on!

For Halloween 2013 we had a child friendly desserts table.  Last minute decision as always for me!!

 Not very scary but very cute!  Jessie from Toy Story outfit.  I bought some cow print material and sewed it on to a pair of jeans.  Eliza NEVER wears jeans she hates trousers in fact so seeing her in these was so weird!!  I sewed on some red details like Jessie's cowgirl shirt onto a piece of yellow felt.  I attached one side of the felt by sewing it on and the other side with velcro so she could get in and out of her shirt.  I also sewed some cuffs with red details.  I found some brown boots in Asda and a red cowgirl hat in Argos - could only get an adult one so it is pretty large but I couldn't find a red children's one and Jessie needs a red hat!  My mum knitted some red hair on a hairband for her.

Haha this is the only photo I could find of just the hair :)

Holding little Jessie

 You know I love gingerbread houses!  How to incorporate a gingerbread house into a Halloween party.....haunted house! This suit me fine because I knew I didn't have to be neat - the house sides barely even attach to the roof and the piping work has a lot to answer for but I loved this house and the tiny skeletons :)

 The desserts table is pretty rough and ready not my favourite but very last minute and it did the job for the party.

 I made little jellies with chewy sweety worms sticking out - mostly my ideas were from my pinterest board as usual. How did we survive without pinterest?

I also have a mould for pumpkin shaped jellies I love to make these every year - it was from Tesco years ago and has pretty much lost all its shape now and has to be jammed shut or there is jelly everywhere hopefully I will find a new mould at some point.

 Some real food since it was over tea time - basic party food: hot dogs, cocktail sausages, pizza. finger cheese strings :)

Nothing fancy...

A few mini cupcakes and top hats - not a lot of home made for this party since I was last minute

Eliza  Jessie choosing what she is going to have next - she loves a party and this was one of the only ones she was not ill at!

Some of the usual party games - ducking for apples :) Such a fun and messy game.  The kids had a blast.

Halloween 2014

Skip forward  a year since I am a useless blogger and I decided to have another party

The beautiful year older Eliza as an owl this year - I hot glued felt feathers all over an old hoody - this took much longer and much more felt than I imagined! 

 A little owl mask with cute little eyelashes

 I just hot glued a sheet of felt under her arms to attach more feathers to for her to flap her wings and used leg warmers Eliza already has in her stash of very cute clothing and you can't really see from this photo but I attached little felt talons to the bottom of her leggings.  She was absolutely adorable even if I do say so myself :)

 Party table 2014!
Different position and different foods this year.

 I used my plate rack after removing all of my beautiful china cups I have been collecting this year - more on that another day!

 A few homemade edibles this year...

 Ghosty meringues

 A coffin full of top hats

 Skeleton biscuits

And my first attempt at toffee apples - not my finest moment I have to admit - hot sugar crisscrossing the kitchen across my laptop recipe....misreading I needed to put the pan in hot water not cold water resulting in a set toffee with no apple...but I got there second batch and I was very happy with them.  The recipe is on my Halloween board if you want to try for yourself - just read the recipe don't do anything I do :)

 I had to use my newest drinks dispenser - I have a real obsession with these - this takes 12 litres of liquid!!!  12!!  That is a lot of orange fanta - I don't even let Eliza have juice!

This is the cran-raspberry fizz I have made before for lots of occasions - recipe on this post - the sorbet makes it really scummy on top which is great for Halloween but pretty gross looking for any other event.  I will need to see what I can do to change this recipe but the kids love it.

 Eliza asked me for a haunted house pumpkin this year - again not my best attempt (I still love the superhero pumpkin from two years ago)

 It did look cute in the dark though

 Unlike this one :( Finlay's request was a bat - the combination of a foosty pumpkin with black bits all over it and my usual last minute right when the kids are supposed to be going to bed attempt resulted in this mess.  He took it well though.  I will try harder next year!  And hopefully I will not need a blog post of two Halloweens in a row because I will keep up to date with this :)  Yeah right by next year I am going to be weddinged out of my box - how exciting!!! I am definitely keeping photos of all my projects and I am getting better with the laptop and getting my photos back out of it so I will try!


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More sweet stuff

Another week has gone by without any real food to report on but more cakes and brownies :)

This time I made nutella swirl cupcakes.  I was ill and wanted cake but couldn't be bothered making icing - I hate that puff of icing sugar in my face everytime I make icing.  We make it all the time for cake orders so there is not much chance of me making it unless I am forced to these days.  Why is it soooo messy??

So I went with nutella swirl cupcakes so there was no need for icing - they are perfect without :)

I found the recipe from this pin but everything was measured in cups so I did what I could with that :) Recipe I used is below.  These cakes are made with a mixture of butter and oil - look how white the mix is!!

The nutella is added once the cakes are in their cases.  Melt the nutella slightly in the microwave to make it easier and swirl into the cakes - I don't think I put enough in I always want more nutella!  I didn't measure I just guessed as usual :)  

Here is one that came out with a nice swirl.  I ate them while still warm so they tasted amazing.  Cold ones later that night were also good the nutella stays soft in the middle and it is heavenly when you come across a big dollop :)


Another night I decided to make mini brownies.  My sister mentioned it and I couldn't get them out of my head so I had to make them.  Tiny little brownie bites.

These are the same recipe as I used on Christmas Craft night from this pin but this time I made them in the Pampered Chef mini-muffin tin. I didn't use cases this time because the mini muffin is non stick and works really well but these were not as good as the usual size ones - I will have to work on them :) Maybe baking them in a tiny case would help.

I love how small they are and a giant button fits perfectly on them

All of my posts have been about food recently!  I am still working very hard on my quiet book for my big boy since he wanted a book like his sister.  It will be finished very very soon.  I have worked on it almost every night of January and lots more before that!  They really are a labour of love.  I hadn't looked at pins for ages on quiet books but looked the other night and there are tons more ideas!!  I have my own ideas for Finlay's book but other people are so talented their sewing is amazing.  I wish I had more skill.  I have hand sewn all of this book because I can't face the sewing machine ever again!  One day I will look at it and see if it can be saved.  Until then I will keep on with my needle and thread....



Recipe for nutella swirl cupcakes (for non American cup users :) )
57g butter
56g rape seed oil
201g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
224g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup nutella - which I guessed :)

Beat butter oil and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together before adding half to butter. Mix slowly. Add milk and beat. Add rest of flour mixture and beat.   Divide between cases. Melt nutella in microwave in bursts until soft. Swirl nutella into cupcakes before baking at 180 ℃ for around 15 minutes.  Eat one or two (!?) while still warm you will love it!

Craft Night Christmas Special

On Saturday night we had craft night Christmas Special at my house.  We have had a few "craft nights" this year where we have never brought any crafts to show and rarely even discuss crafting it is just a chance to sit and chat without the interference of children for a change :) Although we do speak about our children and child birth a lot!!

So Saturday we had a special edition of craft night where we actually had to make a decoration.  Me and Gillian also decided it would be nice to put on a Christmas party table with a winter theme.  Lots of whites and gingerbread colours

Cheese and crackers, crisps and dips and various nuts for starters...

  And of course a new gingerbread house since the other one has been demolished :)

This time we made a chocolate gingerbread house and the people are staying inside out of the cold.  They have made a little snowman though and look at their little wreath on their door.  Not many sweets this time because I think that's why we couldn't resist eating the last one!  

We also had a homemade hot chocolate mix adapted from Jamie Oliver's best ever hot chocolate - which we decided was not actually the best ever so we adapted and this one really is!!!  Sorry Jamie :)  We also had a mint chocolate mix which I have not tried yet but what a lovely little gift for someone - the craft night girls all took a mix away home with them.

 Marshmallows for the hot chocolate, flakes and other chocolate sweets displayed on our newest cake stands.  They can also be separated into three individual stands - what a great buy from Costco!  

Snowman marshmallows on sticks in the background and mini baileys cupcakes in the front.  

Meringues with vanilla cream

Chocolate gingerbread cheesecake bites - I saw a pin for these here however they used Pilsbury dough and I used my own chocolate gingerbread recipe (see below).  I baked these in the mini muffin pan from Pampered Chef  so I didn't need mini cases because it is so non-stick.  

Brownies following Inspired by Chocolate and Cakes recipe here 

I added galaxy bubbles, flake, toblerone and mars to these brownies but I have made them lots of times with other toppings like after eights, turkish delights, dime bars, snickers, caramels etc.  They are very rich and chocolatey.  I made them this time in square moulds from Lakeland but I usually make them in a cupcake case.  I liked these square moulds but the brownies were very big in these (which is not really a bad thing usually but we had a lot of food to get through on Saturday!)

We also had hot mince pies and hot mini doughnuts when we were drinking our hot chocolates but we seem to have forgotten to take photos of the rest of the night :) 

We needed some refreshments to help us consume all of this food so we had cran-raspberry fizz - a non-alcoholic cocktail or mocktail :)  A lovely refreshing festive drink.  The first time I made this I did follow a recipe but it made no sense so I now just throw ingredients together until it tastes ok :) (See below)  We also had a Ginger peach drink but there are no photos of this one.

And the crafts we all made were: 

    Gillian's very pretty red and gold wreath.

 And a little red felt heart with a button and a bell sewn on.

 Rhiannon's star garland

Ending in a big 3D star

And a colourful circle garland

She made these using the Cuttlebug die cutter to cut out lots of stars and circles and then sewed them together using her sewing machine.

My Christmas tree cinnamon stick - I also showed everyone my santa wreath and mini bell wreath and felt elves I already showed you here and my wire hanger

And Jody showed us what she painted when she was at Center Parcs earlier this month

This looks really lovely - I was at a pottery painting place earlier in the month too for a work night out and I painted a jug and bowl and they didn't turn out well like this 

You can see all the brush strokes :( Jody told me you need to do loads of coats to stop this happening.  I wish I knew that before I went!!

And finally Finlay showed everyone what he had been making for craft night Christmas special

We all had a vote and Finlay won the contest :) He was very pleased with himself.  He has caught the crafting bug now and has been busy this week working on a phone pocket at school using cross stitch and he made a little stocking at home 

So a very successful craft night - Rhiannon brought her cuttlebug to let us see how it works so we actually did some crafting and spoke about crafting at this craft night.  And we all had lots of Christmas-sy food.  We are going to do it again on Christmas Eve for other friends and we will make some different food.  What are you all up to for Christmas Eve?  We have a lot of cake orders to get ready for then plus we are on puddings for Christmas Day so it will be busy busy as usual but I love it :) 

   We decorated our soap too because the bathroom was really lacking Christmas decoration :) We hot glued various buttons onto a soap dispenser and filled it with white soap.  The hat and scarf are just wool wrapped round the dispenser.

  Recipes: 

Chocolate gingerbread

250g unsalted butter

200g light muscovado sugar

7 tbsp golden syrup

600g plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

8 tsp ground ginger

8 tsp cocoa

Melt butter sugar and syrup in pan over low heat.  Add to sieved flour, bicarb and ginger.  

Cran-raspberry Fizz Mocktail

Ginger ale

Cranberry juice

Raspberry sorbet, softened

Freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix all ingredients together (I use smoothie maker) to taste.  Decorate glasses (Wet the glass by rubbing lime around the rim, dip in a mixture of lime zest and sugar) before filling with the mocktail and serving with sliced lime.    

Ginger Peach

Peach juice

Ginger ale

Freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix all ingredients together and serve with ice.  

These could easily be adapted to alcoholic by adding alcohol of your choice to taste.