Claire | Things we make

Browsing All Posts filed under »Claire«

Autumn 2010

October 10, 2010

It’s getting to the time of year when I reflect upon how the garden has shaped up. There are still a few bits of colour around: a few grapes on the vine, the pink japanese anemones, some self seeded violas in with the vegetables. My favourite Verbena Bonariensis has been really feeble though. Anyone else […]

Making Whoopie

September 30, 2010

So far I have managed to resist the urge to make Whoopie Pies. Partly, because they are a bit fashionable but also because a lot of the recipes didn’t make sense to me. Then I saw Mowie’s recipe for red velvet Whoopies with orange buttercream. Here are the factors that led to me making them: I’ve […]

Polenta Bread

September 28, 2010

It occured to me that some of you may be getting bored of my monthly bread baking posts for Fresh From the Oven. So I will try to keep it brief and breezy but I won’t be offended if you don’t look at it. Stop looking. You don’t need to see this. Are you still here? […]

Decisions Decisions

September 24, 2010

I made some cakes today so that Nell and Evie could decorate them as a little extra treat for their 3rd Birthday. Decorating cakes is a very serious business indeed and Nell concentrated on getting it just right. Meanwhile Evie was more inclined to eat the icing. I can’t blame her. I had a few spoonfuls too. […]

Letterpress Logo

September 21, 2010

Today’s post is about someone who made something for me. Through the wonderful world of Twitter I recently came across Jacqui from Print for Love of Wood. I love Jacqui’s work and have spent a good while leafing through her Flickr photos of antique letterpress machines and wood letters. I have a fascination for print, and although […]

Honey Yoghurt Cheese

September 18, 2010

I like the ridges in this; like a fresh ricotta. You'd really never know that this can be fat-free as it is really creamy and 'heavy'. So there you go. Honey Yoghurt Cheese. Who knew?

Chutney 2010

September 16, 2010

A fab chutney to use up all those green tomatoes.

Brown Sugar and Yoghurt Cake

September 13, 2010

This Brown Sugar Cake is reminiscent of a brownie, yet it’s not chocolatey. George thinks it’s the best cake ever! He IS my biggest fan. The main flavour comes from the 3 types of sugar: Demerara, granulated and muscovado. Plus some depth from vanilla extract and lemon zest. Then a couple of eggs, followed by flour and […]

Summer Break #2

September 9, 2010

Disneyland Paris was excellent. We were very lucky, the skies were so blue. More photos in our Flickr set. I have started to collate a list of hints and tips to stay sane at Disney. All photos taken on our pocket Pentax or iPhone.

Summer Break #1

September 9, 2010

A few images of our trip to North Wales in late August 2010. Just to keep with the things we make tradition I took the leftover crumble topping from the bramble crumble post. I added an extra spoonful of butter then molded them into cookies and baked them on the oven for 10 minutes. Bonus oaty […]

Beautiful Vegetables

September 5, 2010

After returning from our recent trips away there were some interesting crops to collect from the garden. If there is something in the garden more beautiful than cream coloured borlotti beans, speckled with scarlet, in their scarlet pods speckled with cream, then I have yet to find it. Then there is the collection of crazy […]

Behind the Photos

August 31, 2010

I was on the phone to Deb from FabulousPlaces.co.uk the other day, confirming details of the props we needed for a photo shoot at Amanda Hamilton’s lovely cottage in Duffield. I suddenly heard a squeal. I thought Deb had trodden on a kitten, but no, she had spotted that The Derbyshire Magazine had used one […]

Brioche

August 28, 2010

Here is the result of August’s Fresh From The Oven baking challenge: Brioche. As the recipe in The River Cottage Bread Guide says it is a very wet dough. It’s a real ‘stir it with a wooden spoon’ job rather than ‘knead it on the worktop.’ Eventually with the addition of a good handful of […]

Bramble Crumble

August 22, 2010

It started with these berries. Found this little lot just at the end of the garden, sneaking over the fence. They were so gorgeous we had to pick them. Found these plums. They were destined to be together. And a few raspberries too…just because. Added a crumble topping. 25 minutes in a hot oven It’s […]

Gyoza

August 13, 2010

We’ve loved Gyoza, or pot sticker dumplings, since we first tried them. We make a regular trip to Wagamama’s or Yo Sushi! for a fix. After a visit to the chinese supermarket in Derby with Apryl of Meridian Ariel we finally had some dumpling wrappers so I set about making them myself. I was a […]

Riddle me ree

August 10, 2010

You may have seen in my Guest post for Fennel and Fern that I spoke of my life changing experience with this borrowed soil riddle made from an old drawer. Well I say life changing, maybe more soil changing. You see we have stones…oh, so many stones. We take buckets of stones to the tip […]

Fennel and Fern

August 8, 2010

Issy at Fennel and Fern asked if we would write a guest post for their updated gardening site. I wrote about how we got on this year with our raised beds. Take a look and have a browse around the rest of Fennel and Fern too. Here’s the link.

Sandwich

August 5, 2010

This is not so much a blog post as some photographs of a man made sandwich. Occasionally Ed manages to escape the office and come home for lunch. As he travels around the country to different construction sites for his job he doesn’t manage to do that too often so it’s a nice treat.

Redcurrant Jelly

August 3, 2010

Once upon a time our garden was full of fruit bushes. With a small boy to amuse we had to pulled up the fruit bushes so that he had a lawn to play on. There is only one redcurrant bush left and this year I built a fortress around it to stop the blackbirds eating the […]