the swing seat, our favourite place at the moment

a few days of sunshine

this place is like a different country! everybody's in a great mood and determined to make the most of the time, i think the day after tomorrow the rain will be back... we went to 2 BBQs at the weekend, had one at home and had another evening of al fresco dining. it's nearly like summer at home!

stitch and bitch birthday

chocolate and peach cake
my friend c made these! how cute! see the letter 'p' that's a hank of embroidery thread? there were balloons at the door, too! nice to get a little attention for a birthday, even though i've pretty much stopped counting!

as you can see, c, who's hosting, is a big emma bridgewater fan!

better bib - success!

yes, it's definitely working! so tonight at stitch and bitch i'll be finishing the edges!

breadsticks for the baby!

i made these with

1 cup water (250ml)
1 tblsp oil
1 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp date syrup (instead of sugar)
1/4 tsp salt
and enough white spelt flour to make dough.

the breadsticks and mini flat breads i baked for 15 min at 200C, but the flat breads could have done with less, they are more like teething biscuits now. the rusks (zwieback) i baked for 20 min at 200C, then cut into slices, then baked again at 100C for about half an hour. (i think i'll have the rusks myself, with milky coffee in the morning!

i know we're not supposed to use salt for babies, but with the amount of salt i put in she could eat the whole lot over a day and a half and just about reach her salt limit. even i couldn't eat that many breadsticks! next time i might actually put 1/2 tsp salt in, they could do with a little more... (she'd never eat that much in 3 days either!!)
the rusks i might make again, with a milkier and sweeter dough.

better bib project....

today emm decided to have some of my carrot soup and destroyed the sleeves of a lovely top, so i decided to try my hand at making a better bib. i made a raglan pattern using one of the tops that are still to big for her for reference. i got some lovely fluffy cupcake tea towels in penneys (aka primark), 2 for 3€, so if i can make 4 bibs out of them, that's not too bad! for the sleeves i'm using an old top of mine, the embroidery actually matches the colours of the tea towel!



the sleeves are deliverately long, so i can roll them up a little, the idea is that they will push up the sleeves underneath it and hence keep them clean! BLW safe!


as the little one is asleep, i just attached two fabric pieces as ties for now, and left the edges unfinished. we'll try it tomorrow morning for breakfast, and if it works well then i'll finish the edges and make ties using bias tape!


i could see these working with slightly puffier sleeves, with elastic in the cuff!

summer is here!

oh dear, those birkenstocks need cleaning... how do you clean suede??

new curtains for emm's room

i am planning to trim the curtain to just below the top of the radiator, or should i leave them long? i was thinking of usingthe leftover fabric for cushions, and the pink and turquoise bird fabric (on top of the trunk) fur either bedlinen for emm (maybe some appliqué on plain white bedlinen?) or also cushions? or to cover a notice board? the bird fabric was the inspiration for the curtains in the first place!

new curtains for the bedroom

hopefully these 'aubergine' coloured lined cotton curtains will make it a little darker in the mornings, so emm might sleep a little longer! i B&Q'd it for these curtains, after trawling some curtain shops and getting depressed by the choice of dowdy beiges, old fashioned florals and tacky taffetas and deciding to wait for ikea to come to ireland! looking for storage boxes i accidentally wandered into the curtain isle in the big hardware retailer, and low and behold, decent prints and lovely coloured plains! i chose the purple for us, to go with the 'tarnished bronze' bedstead, and for emm's room i chose 'hot pink'! it'll be gorgeous with her aqua walls and white woodwork.

our room will need painting, the 'buttermilk' walls are scratched and grubby, and really don't go with my decadent luxurious bronze and purple colour scheme! i still had the bedlinen and dark purple cushions (dunnes). i'm thinking a plain off white for most walls, like the 'shimmering' we used in the kitchen/dining area, and a soft warm purple for one feature wall, (have a sample of crown's 'warm velvet armagnac' and shade cards for dulux 'mellow heather' and 'twilight cinders'. or would that be purple overload? hm, is there a contrasting colour for purple?

i hope i'll be able to get this room finished without going to 'boudoir' like, i do like simple lines and contemporary design... but i also like pattern and colour, i wouldn't mind some embroidered cushions... i'd like an interesting bedside lamp (and a different ceiling lamp, too!). yeah, then i'd also like nicer bedside tables (once emm has moved into her own room), a painting or print, i should keep a book just for my room ideas so i stay focused and can be let loose at flea markets and car boot sales without buying lots of uninspired junk!

another sling

i made another one, using lightweight cotton that i've been saving and looking at for ages (and a cream coloured sheet from 'penneys' for lining), i thought i might like a lighter coloured sling for the summer. i'm not so sure now about the print, it's probably a bit too small for wearing? does it look dowdy? M likes it, she is fascinated by the tiny flowers and circles..

painting the fireplace

before (yesterday morning)

some of our break times:
raspberry mascarpone cupcakes
smoked salmon and cream cheese on brown bread

roasted red pepper and carrot soup

the finished product, this afternoon!
weiss, passend zu den fussleisten und Tuer, und irgendwann gibt's dann auch mal ein buecherregal! i really like it, it brightens up the room and is lovely agains the light grey wall

No. 92 lamb

we had this today, it's really delicious!

No. 92 LAMB
(this was number 92 on the menu of a restaurant i used to work in as a student, the owner was iranian, so i suppose it's a persian dish! it's lamb with rice, green beans, a cold yoghurt sauce and a light salsa.

buy lamb shanks (or other cheap stewing lamb on the bone) at your local butcher, get him to split them for you. simmer for about 5 hours in salted water (we added carrot, celeriac, leek, onion, so we got a great lamb stock out of it, which we can use for stew another time). the meat should just fall off the bone!

fry cooked basmati rice and green beans in olive oil and butter, with some dill and parsley, salt and pepper. (the dill and parsley mix makes it so delicious)

for the yoghurt sauce mix 2 parts yoghurt with 1 part mayonnaise, season with salt, pepper, a bit of lemon juice and herbs (e.g. mint)

for the salsa chop onion, cucumber and tomato, add salt, pepper, mint and lemon juice. (you only need a small amount of this salsa)

i like to keep the 4 parts seperate on the plate, otherwise the sauce will cool down your meat and rice too quickly.

money saving tip: instead of buying dried mint from the herb section, get mint tea bags! much cheaper! or, grow mint in your garden, it grows like a weed!!

5 months already!!

Our little M is 5 months old already! I couldn't even tell you how many weeks she is exactly, it's that many!! (Life definitely gets in the way of posting) We've even started to think about weaning and have decided to give Baby Led Weaning (also referred to as BLW) a go. Looking forward to it, but a bit apprehensive of the mess, although apparently feeding Purees isn't all clean and tidy either i hear...

I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll make of broccoli. She's licking and chewing and sucking everything she can get her hands on. Her terry bibs are a favourite, and my knuckles, too! Imagine the fun she'd have with the texture of broccoli floret, and the taste!!

We're gonna stick with the breastfeeding for another while, it's become so easy since we've come off the nipple shields, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it now! Can't imagine wanting to stop and start her on formula at 6 months. Have gotten quite attached to the new Cup size, too, it would be a pity to loose it already!! I can only recommend it to anybody, the initial hard work pays off soon, and the longer you stick with it the more you get 'your money's worth'! losing the baby weight has been a breeze, i was back to pre pregnancy weight after about 14 weeks, and am now skinnier than in years!! I hope I won't get too many odd comments from friends and family if I don't stop at 6 months...

guinness and chocolate cupcakes

i baked guinness and chocolate buns today, they turned out lovely! i made some vanilla creme frosting to go with them, german style, which involves custard powder, milk, sugar, butter and icing sugar and makes for a lovely light but buttery topping. i'm not a hundred percent sure if it's ideal for the very rich chocolate buns, maybe a dark chocolate glaze would be better? maybe i plain buns would be better suited to the buttercreme?

either way, tomorrow morning i'm planning to ice the buns and bring them along to the mammies and babies coffee morning. the girls and babas are a lovely bunch and we have great chats, but the surroundings are grim (the local pub, smelling of shake'n'vac, selling instant coffee and tea) so i think some little cakes with sweet icing and sprinkles will lighten things up a little! if i have time i'll take a picture!

i interpreted several chocolate and guinness cake recipes (nigella has one, delia too) and made up my own version. recipes are such a mine field, all the different measurements, and the fact that to my german palate a lot of american and english baking tastes too sweet, so i often mess with sugar amounts. i think the difference is that in germany we eat cakes in the afternoon, several hours after lunch as a seperate meal, you'd have a big piece of cake, or two, with some coffee, whereas in a lot of other countries cakes are dessert, a small sweet treat directly after the meal.

don't get me wrong, germans have desserts, too, but they tend to be served in little glass bowls: custard and fruit, pudding and cream, yoghurt, ice cream... mmmh, i must write a post about all my favourite desserts from home, we had dessert with every dinner (lunch)!