Laura Strutt's Blog, page 47

Carrot and Coriander Soup

With Christmas just around the corner, I’m starting to feel as though time is not on my side – with mountains of gifts to wrap, last minute shopping to do, visiting with family and friends, I’m sure I’m not alone feeling as though there is so much to do and so little time to do it.

The coming weeks will no doubt be full of lots of over indulgences; sweet treats,  diving drinks, and tasty foods,  so right now I’m looking for something tasty, healthful and that’s fuss-free to make. These are the times that nothing but a bowl of steaming hot soup will hit the spot.

This delicious recipe for Carrot and Coriander Soup is made in the slow cooker – so, after only a few minutes of chopping and prepping, this is left in the crock pot for around four hours to cook, leaving me free to get on with wrapping those gifts – what could be better than that?!

Grab your supplies…

40g (1½oz) butter

175g (6oz) leeks, trimmed and sliced

450g (1lb) carrots, sliced

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp plain flour

1 litre (1¾ pints) hot vegetable stock

150ml (¼ pint) single cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh coriander leaves, roughly torn, to serve 1 Melt the butter in a large pan. Stir in the leeks and carrots, then cover the pan and cook gently for 7–10 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften but not colour.

2 Stir in the ground coriander and flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

3  Add the hot stock and bring to the boil, stirring. Season with salt and ground black pepper, then transfer to the slow cooker, cover and cook on High for 3–4 hours until the vegetables are tender.

4 Leave the soup to cool a little, then whiz in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour into a clean pan and stir in the cream. Adjust the seasoning and reheat gently on the hob – do not boil. Ladle into warmed bowls, scatter with torn coriander leaves and serve.

What’s that you say, you don’t have a slow cooker? Don’t panic, you can make this amazing soup on the hob too!

Follow the recipe steps 1 and 2. In step 3, bring to the boil and leave the soup in the pan. Season with salt and ground black pepper, then reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Complete step 4 to finish the recipe.

 

♥ – ♥ – ♥

This recipe is just one of a tasty collection of slow cooked meals packed with flavour. Made Peachy readers can buy a copy of Slow Stoppers published by Collins & Brown for only £3.50 including free UK p&p. Call 0844 576 8122 and quote reference CH1799.

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Style Sunday: The Tulip Dress

I love floaty frocks as much as the next girl, but sometimes there is nothing more feminine and elegant that a tailored dress.

When I stumbled upon this A Wear Jacquard Tulip Dress, £50 Asos it got me thinking about how a tailored dress can create a striking silhouette. There is nothing more dramatic than the Tulip Dress, with its fitted bodice, nipped in waist and pleated petal shaped skirts.

There is a lot of ‘making’ involved in a dress like this. And, by making, I mean embracing a whole help of different sewing techniques. There is the darting around the bust for the fitted bodice, the fitting of a zip for the fastening, inserting a lining, creating neat box pleats for the tulip skirt. Yes, I know, it all sounds rather a lot of work. But, you know what, I think it’s all worth it. I mean, not only will you end up with a super stylish frock, you will also be brushing up on some of your dressmaking techniques – or even learning a few new ones! I adore the range of fashion-forward sewing patterns from By Hand London so when I got to thinking about creating a Tulip Dress this one was just calling out to me!

 

The Pattern

Ellisalex, By Hand, £12 Sewbox

This stunning dress has a scooped back, princess seamed bodice and pleated tulip skirt – fully lined for a truly stylish finish.

 The Fabrics

1 Medium Weight Robin White Jacquard, £4.67 per yard Fabric.com

2 Black Bamboo Jacquard, £3.22 per yard, FashionFabricsClub

3 China Gold Jacquard, £10.66 per meter, FabricDreams

I love how rich and glamorous these jacquard fabrics look, they will instantly give this dress the super hit of drama that this dress deserves! Could this be the perfect dress to wear on Christmas day?!

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Candy Cane Pepermint Creams

This weekend marks the beginning of our Christmas celebrations. And, let me tell you, I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks! This is finally the  time when all the planning and preparations start to pay off and you can get down to enjoying all the great parts of Christmas as they start to happen – our annual Friendmas celebrations, catching up with family and getting down to the important task of wrapping up all these lovely gifts!

One of the things that I remember making as a Little in the run up to Christmas is peppermint creams. These retro little confections are so fun and simple to whip up. These little treats probably taste great the whole year round, but for me they will always be associated with Christmas. So, I decided to give them an extra festive feel with these Candy Cane Peppermint Creams -  the perfect ‘make and take’ recipe!

Grab you supplies…

1 large egg

500g/ 170z icing sugar

Teaspoon of peppermint essence

Splash of lemon juice

Candy Cane (or two)

Mini cookie cutters

In a large bowl, separate the white from the egg and whisk until it forms soft peaks. add a tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of peppermint essence and whisk until combined. With the whisk speed set to slow (and I mean S.L.O.W or you’ll end up an a could of sugar – which is tasty, but takes an age to clean up!) add in the icing sugar one spoonful at a time.

Continue to whisk in the sugar until the mixture forms a thick, rollable paste. Cover your surface with a generous dusting of more icing sugar and roll out to 1cm thickness. With your favourite mini cookie cutters – I adore these tiny star cutters c/o DotComGiftShop cut out the sweets from the sheet of peppermint creams.

Wrap the candy cane (or two) in a sheet of baking parchment and use the rolling pin to crush it into small pieces. As fun as it is to bash the candy cane, try to shake it around to get small, fairly even sized pieced and don’t go too crazy or you’ll just end up with dust!

Place the peppermint cream stars onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and sprinke with the crushed candy cane. Lightly press the smashed candy cane into the surface of the sweets, this will help to hold it in place when the sweets set. Place into the fridge for about an hour to set.

Once hardened, these little sweeties are ready to eat or can be wrapped up in brown paper ready to take as a little gift to a party. I’m pretty sure that everyone will love these super-sweet retro confections!

You know what else is really good? I discovered that floating one of these little beauties on top on hot chocolate is just amazing, stir it through to make a delicious peppermint hot chocolate! Enjoy!

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Christmas Gift Guide: The Girls Edition

How divine is this Merry Christmas Darling card, £2.51, katievaz? I’m pretty sure that we’d all be pretty stoked to be opening that sweet card on Christmas morning!

So, darlings, did you write out your list for Santa yet? What’s that you say? You’ve not had the chance; too busy with work, knitting that last Santa hat to gift, creating jolly merry garlands, and buying, making and wrapping everyone else’s present, to give your own wish list much thought. Well, whether you’re looking for gifts for your friends, mum or just to add a couple of treats to your letter to Santa, here’s the second part in my gift guide series of awesome gift ideas – both handmade & from the high street – in the Christmas Gift Guide The Girls Edition

1 Geometric iPhone Case • £13.82 • Toncase  

2 Walk by Faith Hand-painted Deer Print • £12.57 • BumblenBirch

3 Pip Studio Love Birds Cup & Saucer • £10 • LilyLemon

4 .60ct Diamond Stackable Eternity Ring, in 14k gold, white gold, rose gold • £188.52 per ring • Pompeii3 I’ll take one of those thank you – actually, can I get all three? I’m certain I’m on the Nice List!

5 Fox Gadget Sleeve • £12.95 • BelleandBlue

6 When in Doubt Just Add Glitter – printable • £1.26 • PrettyPrintShop - Yup! This is a printable you guys, so if you’re short on time, this is perfect!

7 10 Point Faux Deer Antlers-Rustic Jewellry Holder • £26.39 • ShabbrusticChic

8 Disaster Designs Fruit Tree Apple Wallet  • £4.95 • LilyLemon

9 Snowfairy Limited Edition Shower Gel • £3.50 – £10.95 • Lush Trust me on this, Christmas just isn’t the same without it!

Now, don’t tell me you wont be adding some of these to your Santa letter this year! Need a gift for the men in your life? Check out the Guys Gift Guide - and, remember there is final installment in the Guift Guide is coming soon!

 

 

 

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Gruyère and Mustard Bread Pudding

Everyone likes bread-and-butter pudding, but rather than making the traditional sweet version, why not surprise your friends and family with this savoury dish – it’s just as moreish. Serve with crispy bacon or sausages and a spicy chilly jam – this recipe for Gruyère and Mustard Bread Pudding is one of the best side dishes to hit the dinner table this wintertime!

Grab your supplies…

85g/3oz/1⁄4 cup softened butter

2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard

1⁄2 French stick, thickly sliced

300ml/1⁄2 pint/11⁄4 cups full-fat milk

3 medium eggs

4 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

large pinch cayenne pepper

125g/41⁄2oz/1 cup Gruyère cheese, grated

This recipe is cooked on a low setting in a slow cooker for four hours and will serve four people.

Use 25g/1oz butter to grease a 1.2 litre/2 pint heatproof dish that will easily fit into the base of your ceramic slow cooker pot.

Mix together the remaining butter and the mustard and spread it on one side of the sliced bread. Arrange the bread in a single overlapping layer in the heatproof dish, mustard side up.

Whisk the milk, eggs, half the Parmesan cheese, the cayenne and Gruyère together and pour over the bread. Push the bread into the liquid and set aside to soak for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan. Cover tightly with foil. Put an upturned saucer or metal cookie cutter into the base of the slow cooker pot and lower the heatproof dish onto the saucer or metal cookie cutter (using a wide folded strip of foil to make it easier to lift the hot dish out). Cover with the lid and cook on low for 4 hours.

Preheat a hot grill. Place the heatproof dish under the grill for 2–3 minutes, until the top is golden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This recipe is from The Essential Slow Cooker Cookbook by Lorna Brash (£14.99, Pavillion) which is packed with so many delicious recipes and exciting new ways to get the most from your slow cooker – which is a total blessing in our house during these winter months, when the slow cooker will be in action almost every day!

Now, here’s something else that’s a little tasty! Readers of Made Peachy can get a copy of The Essential Slow Cooker Cookbook by Lorna Brash for the exclusive price of £10 including free UK p&p! Simply call 0844 5768122 and quote CH1797 to bag yourself this amazing recipe book at a bargain price!

 

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DIY Jolly Merry Garland

I’m a big believer that Christmas decorations should be both jolly and merry – and this garland has jolly and merry written all over it! (Sorry, I actually couldn’t help myself!

Whatever style of Christmas decorations you like to adorn your home with, it’s always nice to make something quick and colourful to add a fresh twist to your collection of trusty decorations, or something to add that little extra something for a festive party!

When I got my hands on a pack of Glitter Foam Sheets, £3.99 for a pack of 10 c/o BakerRoss I just knew that these would be perfect for some quick-make, hassle-free decorations!  While this is a bit thicker than card, it is very lightweight, so it’ just perfect for making fun word garlands! These sheets actually have a self-adhesive backing – giving them so much versatility for crafting options – I decided I didn’t need this extra sticky – but if you’re hanging this in the window, or somewhere a little draughty, this sticky surface will come in super handy! There is a rainbow of glittery colours to choose from, but I decided on a bright and bold pink and purple for my Jolly Merry Garland because, well, why not?

Grab your supplies…

Pick out two colours of glitter foam sheets

Natural twine

Marker pen

Scissors

Hole punch

Trim the foam sheets into six even squares each – ok, so the words ‘Jolly’ and ‘Merry’ only have five letters each – but this leaves you with one space square in each colour, to fix any mistakes (which is always a god plan in my book!) or to add in any fancy motif that you fancy!

Working on the front of of one glitter square at a time, mark out the position of the first letter. Be sure not to make any of the elements of the letter too thin and simplify the shapes of each, if you wish, to make cutting them easier.

Using the scissors, neatly cut around the marker pen outline to create the letter. While the foam is much thicker than card, it is nice and soft and cutting it, even when snipping the shaping curves, is pretty easy!

Repeat until all the letters have been neatly cut out. I kept the lettering shapes super simplistic, and even left the ‘o’ as a solid shape – not only does this make the cutting a whole heap quicker, I love the way this lettering style looks! If you want to make your letters more precise, you might need to use a craft blade and cutting mat to be really precise.

I think you can guess where this is going now…

Yup! You got it! Cut out the remaining letters from the other sheet of foam in exactly the same way. I like the fact that ‘jolly’ and ‘merry’ have the same number of letters,  I kinda like the easy balance it creates when it is hung up. But, this works just as well if you wanted to cut out the words ‘Merry Christmas’, ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Seasons Greetings’-  in fact, you don’t even have to stick with a single colour of foam per word, you cam make a whole glittering rainbow if you want to get real fancy!

With a hole punch, make two holes in each letter. Because the foam is pretty soft, you can do this with a standard desk hole punch, but I like to use a hand-held craft punch, I find it’s easier to position the holes evenly and (most importantly!) not too close to the top!

Once all the letters have a couple of holes punched in each, snip a length of twine to the desired length – remember to add on a length at either end for tying- and begin threading the letters onto the cord. By passing the twine down through the first hole, then back up the second hole in the letter, the length of twine is on the back of the letter, which makes the most of all that sparkly glitter!

Thread the letters of the second word onto a second length of twine, if you want one word to hang slightly lower than the other make sure that the length of twine is at least 20cm longer.

Side the letters across the twine to make use that they are central on the length and that they are all evenly spaced out and ready to hang!

All that is left to do is hang on the wall and enjoy! My very favourite thing about this kind of garland is that it is totally customisable and you can many lots of different garland and spell out quotes from your fave wintertime movie or celebrate your Little’s first Christmas. They are so quick and easy to so, I’m quite tempted to make a whole heap more! What festive words will you make on your garland?

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Cinnamon Spiced Crispy Apple Bites

There are some flavours that just instantly get me into the Christmas spirit and cinnamon is one of them.

Ok Full Disclosure: The taste and smell of cinnamon is my all time favourite, I will use it pretty much the whole year round, but let’s just pretend, for the sake of argument, that this is purely a wintertime combo!

While these taste amazing, they also fill the house with the most festive smell known to mankind – so, if you’ve got folks coming over for a wintertime gathering, slipping a couple of trays of these into the oven will turn your home into a Christmas Scented Grotto, all you’ll need to add is the fairy lights!

These Cinnamon Spiced Crispy Apple Bites are simple and satisfying to make and you can scale up the quantities to make a whole stack of them – because, trust me on this, once you start munching on them you’ll not be able to stop!

Grab your supplies…

The best part of this is that it is made completely with store cupboard ingredients – easy!

Apples – I just grabbed some juicy Braeburns from the fruit bowl, but this work just as well with other varieties too!

Cinnamon

All Spice

Icing sugar to serve (optional – but why would you not?!)

Using a very sharp knife, and being super careful of your fingers, begin cutting the apples into thin slices. Cut the apple through the centre, think of following the line of the equator on a globe. It’s pretty tricky, but try to keep the slices thin and even as you cut – this will help them to all bake evenly.

In a small bowl mix together a teaspoon of ground cinnamon with a teaspoon of ground all spice and dust over the apple slices. I like to use a hand-held flour sifter, because it helps to get a lovely even cover of spice over the surface of the fruit. (Its also great for dusting the icing sugar later too!)

Pre-heat the oven to 150c – 130C fan assisted – and bake slowly for one hour. After half an hour, flip the apple slices over and add an second dusting of spice mix and finish baking.

Once both sides are crisp and golden, remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack before dusting with icing sugar to serve.

Sweet wow! These moreish little bites will always be gobbled up fast – and are a great treat to serve along side some Spicy Mulled Cider!

I also have it on good authority, that if you have some left over (which I personally think is highly unlikely!) that these dried apple treats can also be strung with ribbons and added to the Christmas tree or a festive wreath for deliciously scented decorations. Beautiful, fragrant and delicious – it’s like the essence of Christmas all in one place!

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How to Use Vilene Quilter’s Grid

During the last couple of months I’ve been touring the country with the Knitting& Stitching Shows, working on the Vilene stand to share some of my makes, offer up some stitching advice and to demonstrate just some of the amazing things that can be made with the range of Vilene products.

Whether you’re new to sewing or have been stitching for years, Vilene is probably a brand name that you’ll be pretty familiar with. In a nutshell, Vilene create a wide (trust me, it’s a colossal!) range of interlinings, fusible products and waddings that are used in many sewing projects from dressmaking and quilting, through to craft makes and even textile art.

The range of items that can be used for patchwork and quilting projects seems to really get folks attending the show excited, so I thought that I’d share some tips for using  Vilene Quilter’s Grid

Quilter’s Grid is a sheet of fusible interling that is printed with a 1 inch grid. This can be used for so many different makes, from fabric mosaics and watercolour designs to quick-make scrappy quilts. Whatever the project, the basic principle for using it is the same. The grid is used to make the placement of the fabrics easy and the fusible qualities allow the pieces to be secured (without pins or tacking) before stitching.

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Here I have used the Quilter’s Grid as the foundation for making a really quick and easy scrappy cot quilt – and when I say quick, what I mean is super quick! The grid is used for really accurate placement of the fabrics and then stitching, so that all of the areas where the seams intersect, will come together neatly each and every time! This basic Guide to Using Quilter’s Grid will get you started with the basic principles for using this amazing sewing product, allowing to create a whole host of exciting designs and projects.

[image error]The first step in the process to to cut the fabrics to the required size. In order to use the grid with ease, these should be cut in 1 inch increments. As these pieces are squares, I like to use a rotary cutter, ruler and mat to ensure that all the fabrics are cut to the same size with neat crisp edges.

[image error]Once the pieces of fabric have been cut, place the sheet of Quilter’s Grid with the fusible side uppermost. Working with the brown printed grid lines, place the fabrics, with the right sides uppermost, into a chosen arrangement. Once the fabrics are neatly positioned, with the raw edges all flush to the grid lines, fuse in place by pressing with a hot iron.

When fusing the fabrics to the sheet of Quilter’s Grid, think more positioning the iron onto the fabrics and holding it there for a few seconds to allow the heat to activate the adhesive and bond the fabrics – if you woosh and slide the iron about, as though you were pressing the wrinkles out of a frock, this can cause the fabrics to shift and slide about before they have been fully bonded and they may end up not being secured directly in line with the grid.

Once all of the fabrics have been bonded into place onto the Quilter’s Grid, you’re about ready to start stitching! The stitching is worked on the wrong side of the project. To position the seams, fold the project over so that the right sides are facing (touching each other) at the position where the raw edges of the two fabric pieces touch. With the fold being positioned over the raw edges the grid will be located along the top of the fold – this is the perfect guide for checking that the seam will be neat and straight.

Position the fold of the fabric into the machine ready to sew, align the folded edge with the relevant marker – I like to work a 1/4″ seam – and use this folded edge as a guide for working the seam. The seam will run along the wrong side of the project, with nothing but a neat join with no visible stitching on the front and the raw edges of fabric being hidden away (in an almost French seam style) inside the fold.

The seams are worked by completing all those that lie in one direction – from the top to the bottom – then in the other direction – the left to the right.

Once all the seams have been folded and stitched – both the horizontal and the vertical – there will be a neat grid of stitched tucked seams along the back of the project. While Quilter’s Grid is incredibly lightweight and soft, the simple fact that where the seams intersect there is a lot of fabric will create bulk. This can be easily reduced by snipping away the fabric where the seams meet – being super careful not to slice through any of the stiches of the seams!

Turn the project to the right side and press to neaten, as the seams and the folds will be neatly pressed flat on the wrong side. On the right side of the project, the fabrics will all be neatly aligned and all of the seams will match up accurately. Super quick, super neat and totally stress free!

[image error]Using Quilter’s Grid to create a quick and easy scrappy quit, once the seams have been stitched and pressed the quilt top is complete and ready to layer with wadding and backing and transformed into a baby quilt and finished with neat binding – too easy!

There are so many different applications for using Quilter’s Grid – just working on this simple quilt design has me itching to work on a whole heap of new and exciting makes – so, what will you create with Quilter’s Grid?

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