Claire | Things we make

Browsing All Posts filed under »Claire«

Tayberry’s last chance

August 29, 2011

Me and the Tayberry are going to fall out. It promises fragrant purple berries, but at the moment the rewards are outweighed by the strife. In spring 2010 I planted a raspberry, a loganberry and a tayberry against the brick wall that runs alongside our vegetable beds. I wrote about the reasons for choosing the […]

Macarons: Fail

August 23, 2011

Cooking fashions come and go, but french macarons seem to be in for the long haul. I avoided them for a long while, but the regular MacTweets from Twitter friends like Sarah at Maison Cupcake led me to have a go early last year. I prepared by reading lots of blogposts, recipes and online tutorials and filled […]

Friendship Cake

August 21, 2011

Way back in my teenage years a neighbour passed me a strange bubbling bowl of goo. I was to stir it daily and 'don't forget to feed it.'

Baby Shower

August 10, 2011

As Deb’s baby is only a few weeks away, yesterday we had an impromptu baby shower type gathering at Housley & Co headquarters. As you can imagine…we weren’t short of a cake or two. The most impressive being the towering pastel confection made by Louise. I love the little flags and ‘shower clouds’ that she made […]

London Trip 2011

August 3, 2011

We have just returned from a Weekend in London. The first time the boy child has visited the capital. After arriving at the beautiful St Pancras we went South of the river to get on the Duck Bus. The Duck Bus is an amphibious vehicle used for the D Day landings in WWII. It took […]

Lavender

July 21, 2011

Our front lawn has barely any grass. It’s been taken over by ‘self heal’, daisies, buttercups and clover. Inspired by what seems to grow well in this sunny dry spot I filled my boot with lavender and thyme. I’ll let you know how my garden grows. _________________ Here is a little more about how it […]

These Foolish Things

July 11, 2011

Why I have never made a fool before I don't know. Light, tangy, sweet, fruity, creamy, easy, beautiful.

Muffaletta

July 3, 2011

As the days are getting warmer and you start to think about a picnic by the river, or even just lunch in the garden, you don’t want to go laden with pots of soggy salad and flaccid sandwiches. What you need is something that makes people go “Ooh, what’s that?” Then makes them smile when […]

Lime Syrup Drizzle Cakes

June 18, 2011

I am still learning the importance of a sense of order. I don’t mean having everything in its place, although that really helps. It’s about making sure that I do things in the right sequence. Every time I cook something I work out a better way…or rather I realise I have done something ‘arse about […]

Update on Ken

June 16, 2011

I have had my Kenwood Titanium Chef for 6 months now and people still arrive at things{we}make searching for Kenwood Vs KitchenAid information, so I thought I would offer an update. Note: Any underlined phrases link to where I have used the Kenwood Chef in a post. So, me and Ken are getting along just dandy. […]

Pork Thai Curry

June 8, 2011

When I slow roast a shoulder of pork to make pulled pork, there is always enough left for at least two more meals. I am the queen of making the most of leftovers. I have to be because I am greedy so I always prepare enough for 10 people. I had a notion that the […]

Tortilla de Patatas

June 3, 2011

Just a little ‘Something for the Weekend’. In the days before children, Ed used to often make something like this on a Friday night after work. Something to tide us over until dinner. The truth of the matter was, once we’d had this and a few beers, we rarely got round to bothering with dinner. […]

Spiral Loaf

May 27, 2011

This months Fresh From The Oven challenge was to share our favourite savoury bread recipe. ‘Something for picnics, summer sandwiches or barbecues.’ I must admit, the focaccia I often make for those sort of affairs starts as a packet of ciabatta mix. It gets punched and pounded and doused with herby olive oil and sundried […]

Not-so-mini Pavlovas

May 19, 2011

I have always, always loved pavlova. I think it stems from my delight at the frozen ones bought from the Cash & Carry back in the 70’s. A raspberry pavlova was the height of chic in those days, even though my Mum used to forget to get it out of the freezer so we ended up […]

On the up

May 19, 2011

There seems to be some good stuff happening for me this week that has left me all of a flutter. Firstly on Monday, whilst we were heading home from a Weekend away, an article about Things{we}make was published in the Foodie Bugle. I was very flattered to be asked to be featured in the new […]

Spring Promises and Hollandaise

May 11, 2011

When spring comes around I promise that we will change our wintery, comfort eating ways. We will eat fresh produce, lots of vegetables and salads and cut down on the carbs. With this in mind I bought some barnsley chops of spring lamb and the first British asparagus of the season. I also replenished our […]

Beanpoles

May 8, 2011

Ed created me a 'bean thing' with wood and bolts and stuff. It may not be beautiful, but it will mean my legumes can climb in safety.

Peach and Almond Cake

May 7, 2011

We have built a small raised deck at the end of the garden where a wooden gazebo once stood. I wanted it to be a quiet little place where you could go and sit, away from the house. Somewhere to ponder. So we have planted bamboo around it and an almond blossom tree to give […]

Wooden Bunting

April 29, 2011

The bunting is out across the country. Well, across George’s tree platform anyway. It may not be red, white and blue for the Royal Wedding, but it seems a fitting thing to post about today. I fancied some wooden bunting for various events we will be attending during the Summer to publicise etc. magazine so […]