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Hot Crosses and Big Buns
"24 BUNS! What am I going to do with 24 buns?" I asked myself. I didn't know the answer so I decided to make 8 chunky buns and a huge loaf sized one.
Peanut Wednesday
April 13, 2011
Today I feel the need for peanuts, and a peanut butter and jam sandwich just isn’t going to cut it. A while ago I made this very moreish Peanut Sauce within minutes of seeing it on David Lebovitz blog. The darkly roasted peanuts ground up with hot tea have an amazing aroma. It’s even better once you […]
We’ve Published!
April 7, 2011
For the first time I feel justified in putting an exclamation mark in the title of a post, because we have now published the first edition of our magazine! “etc.” magazine is full of articles about Derbyshire people and places, food, destinations and events. It is all put together by Deb and myself so it […]
Crazy Frosting
April 3, 2011
I’m a bit of a sucker for trying something that sounds like it can’t possibly work. This ‘frosting’ fell into that category as it starts with a cup of milk and 5 tablespoons of flour…being cooked up in a pan. Now, I’ll grant you, that doesn’t feel like the start of one of the dreamiest toppings. […]
Layer Bread
March 28, 2011
I baked these layered rolls, based on a recipe from Richard Bertinet’s ‘Dough’ this morning. We had them for lunch, fresh from the oven, with mozzarella, avocado, tomatoes, pesto and rocket. They are very easy to make as there is no shaping, just some random cutting and stacking. I made two batches of dough to […]
Kale Crisps
March 25, 2011
Surely not. It can’t be true that I never got around to writing about kale crisps. We’d better fix that. Right here, right now. Kale is the only edible thing valiantly flourishing away in the garden at the moment. I’m a bit of a fan of the stuff. Have you noticed? Ever since enjoying several […]
Man at Work
March 13, 2011
We have another work in progress. This dark corner of our study has had a makeshift bookcase in it for a few years, awaiting something better to be made. It’s a funny old space. It has a flue jutting into it from when the room was a kitchen and there was a huge boiler in […]
My Polenta Bread
March 5, 2011
This loaf gives you a light, even textured, superbly flavoured bread with a 'not too crusty' crust that's good for toast or sandwiches and lasts for several days.
Green
February 24, 2011
My Teacher Mrs Brookes sets us homework every week. She gives us one word and we can do what we want with it. This week the word was ‘Green’. I wanted to do some painting so I got Dad to spray over an old canvas with his new paint sprayer. First I drawed squiggles all […]
Posted in: George
Picture Post
February 22, 2011
It was Ed’s birthday last week and as well as bestowing upon him the crazy custard cake we gave him this: A drawing of our house by the very talented Lucy Sheeran, complete with little Ern on his window seat. Those who know me will already have heard the story of how I used to love […]
Ed’s Birthday Cake
February 17, 2011
If I ever ask Ed what cake he wants for his birthday, the answer is a victoria sponge, with buttercream in the middle and icing, sprinkles and a cherry on top. Quite specific really. This year though I had an ulterior motive as I wanted to enter a cake into the #nigellaforever challenge. With a […]
Magazine
February 11, 2011
For the last year I have been working with Deb from fabulousplaces.co.uk on a new magazine for Derbyshire called etc. We have had a lot of fun travelling around the county, meeting people, visiting fab places, writing articles and taking photos. It is a real labour of love as every single thing that you will […]
Posted in: Claire, Photography
“Improve me”
February 3, 2011
This is something that has been on my ‘to blog’ list for a while: Ice Cream Muffins. When I read that you can make muffins by just using Flour and Ice Cream I was intrigued. When you think about it, a good quality dairy ice cream has eggs, sugar and vanilla in it, as well as cream. Add […]
Khrushchev Dough
January 28, 2011
January’s Fresh From The Oven Challenge is Khrushchev Dough. Apparently this butter rich dough was the favourite bread recipe of the Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev. It was left up to us to decide how to shape and fill the bread. I rolled and stuffed some like Serbian Kiflice, tiny stuffed cheese rolls. I made one third with […]
Pimp My Blog
January 27, 2011
I am taking the lead for this post from looking at my WordPress stats. Instead of everyone searching for cake and woodwork, we have had a few thousand visitors recently looking at WordPress Blog Theme and customisation. It’s because things{we}make is in the ‘Who’s using this theme’ section in the WordPress Themes Showcase. So people […]
Ed’s Sausage Rolls
January 23, 2011
A food post? By me? Surely some mistake? It’s all true, I did indeed make the sausage rolls in the pictures. They were the product of a happy accident that grew out of the usual christmas fridge surplus, coupled with me having time on my hands. Add to that my closet weakness for savoury […]
Katie’s Cupcake Tower
January 17, 2011
On 1st December 2010 my very special friend, Katie was 40 years old. A magical masquerade ball was planned at Shottle Hall. Unfortunately due to the massive amount of snow we had in early December the party was postponed. Boo! Not to worry though as it was rescheduled to January and even more people could […]
Fitted Bookcases
January 11, 2011
Hello its me, I’m still here…. or in the words of Mark Twain, the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated. It seems to be some 3 months since I last posted anything, but here goes. This project marks an interesting landmark for me, as a first paid commission. The bookcases are made in […]
Chocolate Orange Cake
January 8, 2011
I make this cake quite a lot. It serves many purposes: Using clementines makes it feel a little bit festive George always asks for chocolate cake, but I find chocolate sponges a bit ‘meh’ It lasts for days in a tin It is flourless There is no butter in it The flavour is reminiscent of […]
utility shelves
antipasti plank
whisky cupboard
a case for books
favourite brownies
how to make a cajón!
funnel cakes
laab moo
reuben sandwich
Ed on the decks
massive meatballs
apple pie
sweetcorn fritters
all day pork
rillettes
just chilli
macaroons
Things we make 
April 24, 2011
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