Home cooked Food!

Okay, so food DOES come under the category of creativity.  Or at least, it does for me anyway!  Today my boyfriend made some vegetable soup and as always it turned out delicious.  Its always different every time, because it just depends on what you put in it.  This time, he put in Leek, Onion, Parsnip, Carrot, Celery and Celeriac.  I think that was everything....!!  Anyway, it has a lovely autumnal root-vegetable sort of taste to it and there is LOADS left so its all frozen ready to eat when we are..!!! 
Anyhoo, I DISCOVERED a recipe on the internet, after reading about Walkers Sunbites on http://www.sunbites.co.uk/, looked at the recipes and discovered a Soda Bread recipe.  Last time I made bread, it was the usual stuff, I was at school, it came out black, fell out the tin and cracked a tile onthe floor.  Hmmm.  Not good!!

Anyway, THIS bread was really really easy to make, and it turned out fine.  The only thing was, it was a little moist in the centre so I think next time I sill pat if flatter on the baing sheet in the oven, and put it on the top shelf for 40 minutes (today I did it on the shelf just under the top).  I think our oven is pretty old anyway, but I shall stry that next time.  The bread is delicious, but VERY filling indeed, probably a result of using strong wholemeal flour and oatbran with buttermilk.  But its lovely, and if you decide to make it at home then I think its probably best that you just cut a couple of slices rather than try to eat a quarter of the loaf. . . . . !  Still, I think the birds enjoyed the leftovers.

The photo is of the bread and the soup, and the soup you will notice is topped with grated cheese.  You might frown at the idea but trust me - if you like cheese, and if you like soup - try it!  I also topped it off with some red cabbage sprouts which I have been growing in a jar in the kitchen - I love sprout growing!  Its really easy, and its real fast.  You can grow all sorts of sprouts all year round, you can put them on salads, soups, stir frys and they are very nitrutious.  Our favourite so far is Alfalfa.  Mmm mmMMm! :o)

Lost In Space

First of all, I must apologise in the delay of posting! I shall try to post more often now I have finished my scrapbook, which I shall also be including in this blog.

So, my brother's birthday was in August, and this is the card I created for him. I admit, I cheated by BUYING some "toppers" but I have to say that, when I saw the toppers in the store I couldn't resist buying them, as they made me think of him! He loves all things astronomy and space-related, and I thought this was quirkily appropriate.

The toppers I used were of a space-ship, and astronaut, a space-station, and I used a few star-shaped stickers of my own to add to it. First, I chose a brightly-coloured stripey paper from a pad of coloures papers (A5 size), and cut it to fit a tall card. After sticking that on as a background, I finished off the edges with peel-off silver trim.

Hints and tips: Finish off the edges with a peel-off trim BEFORE you put everything else on top - this prevents you having a very fiddly job if you leave it till the end.

After sticking the toppers on in the best arrangement I could create, I decided to stick the "3..2..1...." sticker at the bottom, finishing that off with silver trim instead of a "Happy Birthday". I thought it worked perfectly, and he loved it!