bee handmade

more photos but less crafting

I'll have some crafting to share soon but in the meantime some pictures, mostly hipstamatic.

A view of the Tyne from the train

Oatmeal pancakes courtesy of Orangette. Served with blueberries and maple syrup. Delicious. I'd now like to try her recipe for raspberry yoghurt popsicles. I'm so hot all the time (due to the ever growing human inside me) that I'm craving tart, refreshing flavours.

May relaxing in the heat

 

Kite flying on Dunstable Downs

Afternoon tea mini baby shower at the Soho Hotel organised by my lovely friends. Note the glass of champagne!

catch up

The sun is here! May had a lovely time in the garden the other day. As you can see I'm still playing with my Hipstamatic app.

 

We celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's two years already. Crazy. We had a lovely dinner at The French House in Soho, selected because we met there for a drink on our first date. We are about to tuck into steak with bernaise sauce. I really need to get our wedding pictures organised. I still haven't had prints made of any of them. Very slack.

 

I made a cake for a friend's birthday. I deliberated about what flavour to do and settled on a rosewater and pistachio recipe I cut out of a magazine a while ago. Unfortunately I forgot to make a note of where I got it from but I think it may be a Nigel Slater recipe. It was lovely and moist and not too sweet. Looked pretty too.

And finally a picture of some fabric for my next quilting project. I need to collect a few more but I'm pleased with the start. My plan is to do a more traditional square patch quilt on one side and then a free form abstract design on the reverse. I particularly like the second one down on the right. It's from the V&A shop. They don't have a huge selection but I really liked this design and the quality of the cotton is lovely. The others were all ordered from Cotton Patch or ebay.

sunshine

Gosh sunshine - what can I say ... It makes such a difference. It's been a beautiful weekend and that welcome spring sunshine encourages your body to relax and your face wear a smile.

Some hipstamatic pictures of the first bbq of 2010

 

The ripple blanket is growing. It's quite meditative as the pattern is so easy - very handy as I can't be bothered with anything too taxing.

And finally a prototype pompom mobile. I'm not totally happy with the design. I need to rethink things and work out a way of giving the pompoms more room to breathe but I like the basic idea.

plodding

Well morning sickness certainly isn't conducive to productivity. I'm about 18 weeks pregnant and still feel sick and lethargic for the majority of the time. If anyone has any miracle cures please let me know. The enduring refrain in my house is as follows:

"Guess what? I still feel sick"

"Don't worry, it won't last forever ..."

At least one of us is able to be optimistic!

I really haven't been up to beavering away on my sewing machine but I have managed to start this ripple blanket. The good news is that it grows pretty quickly. I just need to actually muster the energy to get on with it.

We also had a week in Andalucia which was lovely. We stayed at the warm, welcoming and secluded Casa Olea and it was fabulous to see some sunshine.

This is a view from the hotel terrace. It was taken using the Hipstamatic app on my iphone. It's the best app I've downloaded so far and I'd really recommend it if you like retro looking pictures.

We were surrounded by olive strewn countryside. The oil and the olives themselves were delicious.

More pictures to come when I get my lomo films developed.

Oh, and I've just noticed that the ripple blanket accidentally echoes the colours of the picture below it. Serendipity!

popping in

No crafting to share unfortunately but I have been cooking quite a lot. The continuing cold weather has led me to Jamie Oliver's southern recipes in his America book.

I made the gumbo and it was delicious, particularly when heated up the next day as the flavours seem to gain more depth and piquance.

 

I'll leave you with a picture of the beautiful amaryllis plant that my parents got me for Christmas. It's pretty magnificent.

an NYC taster

I really loved New York. It was fun, friendly, interesting and so much less hassly than London. We had a fabulous time and some really scrumptious food. I swear that I literally expanded my waistline on a day by day basis. We went to a great diner called the Lexington Candy Shop and had delicious french toast while soaking up its 1940s interior.

I really want to eat this RIGHT NOW.

Another gem was Cafe Habana. Unfortunately I was way too busy stuffing my face with their grilled corn to take any pictures but here it is in all its glory on their blog.

The Staten Island ferry journey was full of atmosphere as the New York Yankies had just won the world series.

The view.

Visiting Purl Soho felt like some kind of pilgrimage to a crafting mecca.  It was twinkly, inviting and packed full of gorgeous things.

Last picture for now is Central Park.

I didn't take many pictures with my digital camera so am really looking forward to getting my lomo films developed. Watch this space.

I'm in a crochet hexagon vortex at the moment, hence the lack of crafting news. The blanket will be finished soon. Repeat to self, the blanket will be finished soon.

the big apple: part one

Soooo exciting. I'm in New York City!! I can hardly believe it. I've never been to America before and we are spending a week visiting friends.

My other half got us into the spirit of things by making this New York cheesecake. Apologies for the poor photograph but it was so dark in our kitchen when we were about to tuck into the meringue topped wonder. I was so impressed - how clever was he? This is a man who has never baked before.

I've delivered these to two little ladies.

 

And will be trying with all my might to channel some of this.

 

and this.

 

Wish me luck, I'm now off to have breakfast in a diner. Bring on the pancakes ...

cinnamon

My new fan assisted oven is conspiring against me, no matter how much I try to be its friend. I've been meaning to make cinnamon buns for ages and was inspired by Peonies and Polaroids' lovely post to finally give it a go. All went to plan using Nigella's recipe, I even used my new magimix to knead the dough.

Here they are all ready to go into the oven.

 

The smell was fabulous. Warm, cosy, happy, enticing ...

Then my oven got trigger happy and in a flash they were overdone. Damn.

 

They were, however, still tasty as hell, especially when still warm. The kind of thing that makes you think just one more (repeat ad infinitum). I'm definitely going to make them again. Next time I may try Tessa Kiros' recipe.

Trying to make them look a bit more pretty!

 

I'm off to eat another one now.

summer swansong

A trip up north with friends to my favourite place. Kippers from Seahouses for breakfast - scrumptious.

The wedding of friends. Sort of village fete meets hoedown (raspberry buns made by me and my mum).

Detail of the bride's dress. She looked beautiful. The dress was very 'Thomas Hardy Tess' and suited her prefectly.

Hog roaster made from scratch by the very talented groom (the rotation is powered by bike). The weather was absolutely glorious. Memories of the day include delicious crackling, setting off flying lanterns at dusk, a superb bluegrass band, very pokey jam jars of 'moonshine', chatting in the sun with friends, coconut shy, a fairy light and bunting filled village hall and, most importantly, a smiley bride and groom.

This is the card I made for the bride and groom. It was inspired by Katie cupcake's love note.

It's my birthday today and I'm off work, yay!  So I'm off to have a nice day in town and then dinner with my husband.

beetroot

More beetroot pictures. The colour was amazing.

 

I grated it

 

and turned it into this

 

 

I used this Allegra McEvedy recipe. I have 2 of Allegra's books (Leon and Colour) and would highly recommend them. I haven't encountered a dud recipe yet and am currently a bit obsessed with the Leon Gobi - easy AND delicious. The beetroot and chocolate cake was really good (and provides one of your five a day - ahem). I find baking so relaxing. I think it's because, unlike preparing a meal, you generally aren't cooking to a deadline. And you can't beat that smell. I usually get around the greed temptation by us eating a couple of slices at home and then taking the rest into work. Nobody seems to mind!

I've also been doing a little bit of sewing. I had (well still have, albeit in a tatty state) a felt mouse when I was a child. His name is Midge. I made a Midgette for a friend's baby. Here she is.

 

I love working with this 100% wool felt. It has such a nice feel, sturdy yet soft. Something this robust seems appropriate. Autumn is coming. Brrrr