We’ve been away.
I wish we were still there.
Away and back
Kefir, berry and yoghurt smoothie
My children are addicted to these smoothies and it’s all my fault!
I must admit that I’m delighted they love them so much and it’s a great way to disguise the taste of kefir, which none of them like.
I don’t have an exact recipe, it’s mostly dictated by what I have at the time.
But here is an overview of ingredients for a full batch for 5-6 people:
2 bananas
1/2 cup yoghurt (I usually use my natural homemade but any yoghurt is fine)
As much kefir as I have available, usually 1/2 – 1 cup
1 tablespoon honey
handful of berries or other fruit that I have
Fill up the rest with milk
Process the fruit, honey and yoghurt first. Then tip everything else in and process till smooth.
You can add all sorts of other ingredients. For a breakfast smoothie, add 1 – 2 vita brits. LSA mix. Crushed ice. A little fruit juice. With yoghurt. Without yoghurt. With kefir. Without kefir. Get the picture? So easy and adaptable.
As my children grow older I’m finding it more challenging to satisfy their appetites and smoothies are a great way to either boost a lighter meal or as an inbetween meal snack.
Would you like to know more about milk kefir? Google will give you a lot of results to sift through, but I’m happy to share my knowledge and experience thus far if anyone is interested – just let me know š
Log cabin cot quilt
I can show you this now it has been gifted to my newest nephew whom I had the privilege of meeting today.
I started out using a log cabin pattern from Lincraft, but as I often find it difficult to follow instructions I ended up going my own way, as usual.
Many thanks to Hilary for helping me to pick out a design and colours, and to Robyn for suggesting some applique which really helped to fill in the white space.
He is beautiful! Babies are such a precious blessing, I do so love them š
Wholemeal, rye and linseed bread
I’m back into baking (at least on the cooler days anyway!) and that means more experiments for me. I still dream of having my own grain mill and grinding my own grain. I’m having another go at a sourdough starter too, hopefully with more success this time around.
Imagine baking with your own sourdough starter + freshly ground flour, now wouldn’t that feel authentic!
So, here is what I came up with yesterday – Wholemeal, rye and linseed loaf.
200g wholemeal flour
100g rye flour (I used organic)
700g good quality unbleached plain flour
1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 tablespoons linseeds (whole)
2.5 tablespoons sunflower oil
2.5 teaspoons salt
around 700 ml warm water – you may need less or more.
Mix flours, seeds and yeast in a mixmaster bowl. Attach dough mixers and arrange bowl ready for the machine to mix it. Start the machine mixing on low. Start to slowly pour in the water, taking several breaks to observe the wetness of the dough. Don’t add in all the water yet. Add the oil, allow to mix in, then add the salt.
* I do the water by feel. What you want with this dough, given that it has rye and wholemeal components which have the potential to be dry, is a nice moist dough. Keep adding the water until you’re happy the dough is moist enough. It should look sticky. I make this dough much wetter than my usual white loaf.
Keep it mixing for about 10 minutes.
Turn out onto an oiled surface and knead the dough – stretching it out and pulling it in. This part is not absolutely necessary but I always do it to get a feel for the dough. It shouldn’t feel too stiff and definitely shouldn’t feel dry. It should be sticky and firm but stretchy to handle.
Place in an oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling wrap. Now, this is important: this dough requires a long rising time as we only used a little yeast. The long rising time also allows the flavours to develop beautifully. I won’t give you a perfect time frame, it depends on the weather, but at least a few hours rising time to double in size.
When doubled in size turn out onto the oiled surface again and press and shape into loaves. You can make just freeform loaves on a tray or place them in loaf tins as I did. Cover with the same oiled wrap and set aside to rise again, until the dough is high in the tin or doubled again on the tray. Lets say about an hour š While the second rise is happening, preheat the oven to 240 degrees (C).
Slash the loaves with a sharp knife.
Place in the very hot oven for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes, turn the oven down to 190 deg. (C) and continue to cook for another 20 minutes.
Turn out onto baking racks and cool.
This year….
This time last year I had stars in my eyes and cotton wool in my head – at least that is how it seems in retrospect.
My resolutions were guided by the ways of the world – what I was going to achieve, what I would do for myself and how I was going to do all this.
Thankfully, during the year God started to tug on my sleeve. He cleared the rubbish away so I could see more clearly. He reminded me, in so many ways, that my life is not actually about me.
I’ve been meditating upon The Wedding at Cana and in particular Mary’s words:
…”His Mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you”
John 2
So this is my focus for the year – to listen carefully and obey.
Wishing you all a very blessed year.
Can I officially call myself a knitter now?
A belated Merry Christmas! With all the festivities I didn’t get a chance to do my usual Christmas post.
I’ve been knitting. A lot. And loving it!
This is my first knitting success story. Most arty/crafty stuff comes pretty naturally to me, but not knitting – I’ve had to really work at it. But finally it’s paying off š
The pattern is “Annie” by Tikki. The yarn is “luxury” in the colour lavender from Bendigo Woollen Mills.
I learned so much knitting this cardigan and the end result far surpasses what I thought I was capable of. Thanks be to God, my help and inspiration!
Isn’t the daisy stitch just beautiful. This is what I love about Tikki patterns – they are quite simple in design but have these little “highlights” to make it special. Most of her patterns are knit on circular needles, which I also love.
This cardi used just over 1x 200g ball of yarn and the buttons were from my stash, which makes the total cost about $15 AUD, what a bargain! OK, lots and lots of hours but so little money.
I’ve already ordered yarn for my next cardigan, this time for my eldest daughter and I must admit I’m feeling quite impatient for it to arrive so I can get started, I’m so loving knitting right now!
Changes…
Things have changed for me this year in so many ways. All are positive (I hope) but not necessarily easier. I feel God has answered many of my prayers but in His way – not mine. He is leading me in a different direction to what my wordly self had envisioned. So, there has to be a letting go. Of dreams, perceived wants, hopes. And an embracing of His dreams, wants and hopes for me. It is not all about me. It can’t be all about me. And if I think it is all about me then I am trapped in a vicious cycle that never ends and leads nowhere.
Thank you Heavenly Father for all you have shown me this year. For all your grace, love and constant attention. Thank you for giving me the strength to let go of useless things and to focus on the reality and purpose of my life.
Amen.
First soap batch :)
Woohoo, I finally did it! Something I’ve wanted to do but put off for years (too expensive an outlay for equipment, too scary!) Those were my excuses anyway.
After chatting with Julie I realise this was something I could do on a really tight budget. I got a cheap stockpot that was missing a lid, inexpensive silicon mould and stick blender, husband fashioned a curing rack for me out of bamboo from our backyard and probably the most expensive ingredient was the coconut oil, which I had to order online.
I used this basic recipe and found the whole process very easy (how cool to watch that beautiful saponification process!) Using lye is not fun but entirely manageable when you follow the safety precautions really carefully.
Now for the really hard part – waiting 4 weeks for the soap to cure!
Embroidered screen printed butterfly bag
During the year I was invited to partake in a collaboration – my first collaborative effort in fact!
Something I love about the handmade community is how skills and talents can be pooled to create something really awesome!
Margo from The Climbing Tree sent me a gorgeous linen piece with a screen printed butterfly from Thea & Sami with the idea that I could embroider it for a bag flap.
Margo used a Nicole Mallileu pattern to sew a gorgeous bag featuring the butterfly. I think the contrast is just beautiful!
Here is the completed piece before becoming a bag flap. I hand painted some segments and used a variety of embroidery stitches with silk, cotton, and swarovski crystals and beads.
The bag was snapped up by a very happy customer š
Margo makes all sorts of things including gorgeous children’s clothing, hats and bags. You can find her in the following places:
For beautiful screen printed fabrics and homewares:
And for bag and clothing patterns:
Adnil press re-opening and giveaway!
I’m so glad to see Adnil Press has re-opened for business after being a long term customer of theirs. To celebrate, Linda has 2 marvellous prize packs to giveaway on the new blog. Pop over to enter, I have!