Thursday 19 May 2011

Please help save Daisy.

I have a lovely friend called Janey who struggles immensely with her own health not to mention being mother to a great (but mentally tiring) son, Tom, who suffers from Aspergers.  Tom has a gorgeous little Jack Russell called Daisy who injured herself really badly earlier this week and now needs an operation to repair her cruciate ligament (you'll have heard of that injury no doubt from the football world, which can, and has ended the careers of footballers).


To add to everything Janey has to put up with and cope with in life, she doesn't have the spare funds each month to pay for Pet Insurance (which it turns out probably wouldn't have covered this operation for her anyway) and as Daisy's operation tomorrow (20th May) is going to cost approx. £1600 (yes, I know... that's a bloody huge amount of money!) a lovely lady called Kirsty Wiseman has organised a little raffle to raise funds for Daisy's operation.  The tickets are £2.00 each and you don't just get a little, paltry, worthless prize.  Oh no sireeeeee!  If you're into crafting you will be A-MAZED at what this girl has managed to muster up from her contacts and friends in the craft world (totally generous bunch of peeps!)  Just take a look at her blog HERE to see what has currently been donated (the list continues to grow as I type).  The funds will be independently audited and any excess above the price of Daisy's operation will be split between two charities; one in support of Aspergers and the other a Dog's trust.

Please folks, go and have a look at Kirsty's blog to see how you can help give Daisy a future and return Tom's best friend to him, fit and healthy again.  Those that know how much emotional help a pet can give to a child with Aspergers will, I'm sure, appreciate what is trying to be done.

There are details on Kirsty's blog on how to donate.  Closing date is 24th May.  Please don't forget.

Saturday 14 May 2011

Freycob's Food Blog

Thanks to those who voted in my poll from last week to choose the recipe for me to create and share this week.

The option chosen by the majority was my tear & share sweet mincemeat tart, so that's what I'll be creating this week.  If you want to know how to make this...


Then you will have to pop over to Freycob's Food Blog tomorrow to see how it's made.  All I can say is that it didn't last very long in my house last time I made it! YUMMMMMM!!  ;-)

There's another poll over there where you can choose between the following:

Cheese & onion muffins
Chocolate tiffin
Chicken curry

Please go and cast your vote.

Thanks.

Rosie
x

Friday 13 May 2011

What shall I offer....

When I get to 30,000 page hits, I think I'll have to celebrate and offer up a freebie.  What shall it be?

You'll have to wait and see!  Less than 400 to go.

Thursday 12 May 2011

PaperPlay Challenges Wk19

Summer is on it's way folks so we're asking you to to help us 'Celebrate Summer' over on PaperPlay Challenges by showing us some of your creativity in our chosen theme.


We're kindly sponsored again this week by Meljen's Designs.  I chose to use Brooke at the Beach as my image.  I've made her a lovely pleated 'sun' that's providing her shine and making her smile.  She's coloured with my ever so amazingly versatile favourite Letraset Promarkers aka Big Girl Colouring Pens! The sunny, swirly background paper is another favourite manufacturer of mine; BasicGrey. Brooke's sand is simple corrugated card.

Nip over to the challenge blog to see the gorgeous creations of the other Design Team members.

Creative ingredients:
Patterened paper; BasicGrey - Colouring pens; Letraset Promarkers - Stamp; Inkadinkadoo - Inkpad; Versamagic - Ribbon - Computer generated greeting - Gems; Papermania

Monday 9 May 2011

Freycob's Food Blog

I've posted my first entry to Freycob's Food Blog and plan to upload a new recipe and pictures every week or so (depending on personal time restraints).

There is a poll currently running over there to see what you want to see next.  You have the option of the following:

* Cheese & onion muffins
* Carrot cake
* Tear and Share sweet mincemeat tart

If you fancy seeing one of the above recipes posted up, then please pop over to my Food Blog and cast your vote.  I will then make the most popular choice at the weekend to share with you all.

I'm thinking that a nice home made chicken curry could be an option the following week.....

Thanks!

Sunday 8 May 2011

Rosie's Banana & Choccie Chunkie Muffins

Had to get up early this morning as Jacob had an Athletics meet for the Air Cadets.  Not one to get up and then go back to bed, I decided that today was a baking day!  3 lots of muffins baked: Cheese & Red Onion, Philadelphia Blue (made up recipe but tasting good) and these, my banana and choccie chunkie muffins.


Those out there who LOVE Masterchef as much as me will know James Perry AKA The Tattooed Cook.  Well, James tells me that he struggles to make light and fluffy muffins, so at his request, I'm sharing my recipe with both him and you all out there.  You can see that the inside is really light, well risen and perfectly cooked.  (Click on the photos for a better look if you like).


So, James and everyone else, here's how to make these muffins:

10oz (280g) PLAIN flour.
1tsp (5ml) baking powder.
1tsp (5ml) bicarbonate of soda.
½tsp (2.5ml) salt.
4-5oz (110-140g) granulated sugar.
4-6oz (110-170g) white/milk chocolate chips/chunks.
3 large, well ripened bananas (about 1lb/450g) mashed.
1 egg, beaten.
3floz (90ml) corn oil (you can substitute melted butter for this, but remember the calories!).
2floz (60ml) milk (to reduce a few calories, you can use water instead, I suppose).

Oven: 200°C degrees (though I set my fan oven to 170°C).

1. Prepare your 12 cup deep muffin tin by lining it with paper cases.
2. In a large bowl mix the following: flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and chocolate.  Mix these together thoroughly with a fork to get some air into the dry mixture.
3. In another bowl mix together: Mashed bananas, beaten egg, corn oil and milk.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the full contents of the wet mixture.  Mix together quickly for no longer than 20-30 seconds until combined.  Make sure that you scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl properly to incorporate all of the dry mixture but DO NOT BEAT the mixture or worry about small lumps.
5. Fill each muffin cup to about 3/4 full.  This will then make 12 muffins.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are slightly browned and spring back when touched.
7. Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack until cold.

Tips & hints:
a) Buy bananas when they're reduced in the supermarket because they're over-ripe and they've gone a little bit brown on the skins.  These will give you the best, sweet flavour as the carbohydrate in the fruit will have turned from starch to sugar (which is why ripe bananas are easier to digest too).
b) You can freeze bananas for future use in baking.  The skins will go very dark brown/black but the fruit inside will stay creamy coloured.  If you do freeze bananas, make sure you defrost them thoroughly in a container as they WILL ooze juice.
c) Do NOT overmix the wet and dry ingredients together as this will start the chemical reaction with the gluten in the flour and cause your muffins to become dense & heavy.
d) Bake the muffins immediately after mixing as, again, a chemical reaction will start between the baking powder/bicarbonate of soda and the wet mixture.

If you do follow my recipe to make yourself some gorgeously light, fluffy and incredibly tasty muffins, please come back and leave me a comment and tell me how they turned out.  A photo of your creations would be great too!

Happy baking folks.

Rosie
x

Freycob's Food Blog

Those that know me well know how much I love to cook and bake.  Savoury, sweet, it really doesn't matter as long as the ingredients are good, fresh and that my food is appreciated afterwards.

So, on that note and with a little bit of a spur on from James Perry AKA The Tattooed Cook from BBC's Masterchef, I've started Freycob's Food Blog to share with you my photos, recipes and take on kitchen creativity.

I really hope you enjoy what I'm about to share with you and that you leave me feedback if you try my creations or follow my tips.

For now.... my first recipe will be Rosie's Banana & Choccie Chunkie Muffins... enjoy!

Rosie's Banana & Choccie Chunkie Muffins

Had to get up early this morning as Jacob had an Athletics meet for the Air Cadets.  Not one to get up and then go back to bed, I decided that today was a baking day!  3 lots of muffins baked: Cheese & Red Onion, Philadelphia Blue (made up recipe but tasting good) and these, my banana and choccie chunkie muffins.


Those out there who LOVE Masterchef as much as me will know James Perry AKA The Tattooed Cook.  Well, James tells me that he struggles to make light and fluffy muffins, so at his request, I'm sharing my recipe with both him and you all out there.  You can see that the inside is really light, well risen and perfectly cooked.  (Click on the photos for a better look if you like).


So, James and everyone else, here's how to make these muffins:

10oz (280g) PLAIN flour.
1tsp (5ml) baking powder.
1tsp (5ml) bicarbonate of soda.
½tsp (2.5ml) salt.
4-5oz (110-140g) granulated sugar.
4-6oz (110-170g) white/milk chocolate chips/chunks.
3 large, well ripened bananas (about 1lb/450g) mashed.
1 egg, beaten.
3floz (90ml) corn oil (you can substitute melted butter for this, but remember the calories!).
2floz (60ml) milk (to reduce a few calories, you can use water instead, I suppose).

Oven: 200°C degrees (though I set my fan oven to 170°C)

1. Prepare your 12 cup deep muffin tin by lining it with paper cases.
2. In a large bowl mix the following: flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and chocolate.  Mix these together thoroughly with a fork to get some air into the dry mixture.
3. In another bowl mix together: Mashed bananas, beaten egg, corn oil and milk.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the full contents of the wet mixture.  Mix together quickly for no longer than 20-30 seconds until combined.  Make sure that you scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl properly to incorporate all of the dry mixture but DO NOT BEAT the mixture or worry about small lumps.
5. Fill each muffin cup to about 3/4 full.  This will then make 12 muffins.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are slightly browned and spring back when touched.
7. Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack until cold.

Tips & hints:
a) Buy bananas when they're reduced in the supermarket because they're over-ripe and they've gone a little bit brown on the skins.  These will give you the best, sweet flavour as the carbohydrate in the fruit will have turned from starch to sugar (which is why ripe bananas are easier to digest too).
b) You can freeze bananas for future use in baking.  The skins will go very dark brown/black but the fruit inside will stay creamy coloured.  If you do freeze bananas, make sure you defrost them thoroughly in a container as they WILL ooze juice.
c) Do NOT overmix the wet and dry ingredients together as this will start the chemical reaction with the gluten in the flour and cause your muffins to become dense & heavy.
d) Bake the muffins immediately after mixing as, again, a chemical reaction will start between the baking powder/bicarbonate of soda and the wet mixture.

If you do follow my recipe to make yourself some gorgeously light, fluffy and incredibly tasty muffins, please come back and leave me a comment and tell me how they turned out.  A photo of your creations would be great too!

Happy baking folks.

Rosie
x

Monday 2 May 2011

Pencil Lines Sketch 235

Getting back into the swing of mojo-ness and scrapbooking as opposed to making cards all the while, I've taken part this week in the Pencil Lines Sketch.

My subjects are my gorgeous daughter and her adorable friend who have been close friends for many years; growing up together since they were toddlers.  Though they don't go to the same school, they live in the same street and sleep over / play together frequently.  Hopefully they will have a life-long friendship; they're very similar in nature, both polite, quiet, cheeky, hardworking girls with a wonderful sense of friendship and family. I love that they have each other so close at hand.


Creative ingredients:
Cardstock; Coredinations Whitewash - Alphas; BasicGrey; Spotty cardstock; My Minds Eye - Heart; Sizzix die - Buttons - Ribbon - Bakers Twine; The Twinery - Black & White journalling pens.

Sunday 1 May 2011

Kirby Hall

I've posted a couple of times in the past on visits to one of my local English Heritage site, Kirby Hall in North Northamptonshire.  Today I took Freya and her friend Beth over for a run around, and a little photo shoot.

We were amazed to see such a spectacular show from the Peacocks as he was trying to attract a mate.  Incredibly beautiful bird; so majestic.  The colours were picked up so brightly by the perfect weather, with cloudless blue skies.  All in all, a lovely couple of hours out with two perfectly behaved girls!

So, I thought I'd share a few of my peacock photos with you.











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