mini lemon meringue tarts

I'm back into the cooking and baking big time at the moment. I've had a bit of a craze on lemons just lately and thought I'd try using the usual lemon meringue recipe to make mini pies or tarts. I used a recipe from my Mum's old cook book and made sure I followed her little handwritten notes that she had scribbled next to the recipe.

They turned out okay, very tasty actually but not how I hoped they would look. I got the piping bag out and planned to pipe pretty swirls of meringue on top...sadly it didn't hold it's shape enough. I remember from food and nutrition lessons at the school that you must have an absolutely scrupulously clean bowl with no hint of grease at all for meringue and ensured this was the case....so I can only assume that I didn't beat it enough. Oh well, as my old Dad used to say " the proof of the pudding is in the eating" and we certainly enjoyed them even if they weren't that pretty! The usual recipe made 7 tartlets, not bad really, I think if it had been the normal sized pie we would have just had 3 very big servings instead of making them last 2 days lol.

Last weekend I started a little project I've been meaning to try for quite a while...a mini patchwork quilt made by recycling old items of clothing. I've got as far as the top.

In real life the pink does not overpower as much as it does in the photo

 The hardest part was trying to find fabric that would match.  It took me two evenings to cut out the pieces and arrange them, but the actual sewing I did in just an evening . The look has turned out quite old-fashioned but that delights me as I like the vintage look. I haven't bought the batting/wadding yet. I think I want to bind the edges in white....so it may look vintage but will look fresh at the same time.

I cut up a dress, a top and a skirt, you can see these at the top of this picture. The skirt ( fabric at the top  right in pic  ) was originally a child's dress which I had combined with the top of a pair of jeans, remember that idea was all the rage a few years back?...well I think I only wore it once lol...anyway that fabric is on it's 3rd life now so is quite used to being recycled lol.

It's a miserable day here, rainy and windy so I think I will spend the afternoon cutting up more rectangles from my fabric stash in preparation for making more of these. It's the kind of thing you can do bit by bit...I'll put the rectangles in a box and then one evening if I have enough and the mood takes me I can get stuck into the sewing.

Not long until the festive season now...my how time flies, I don't know where this year has gone. I should really get my butt in gear and start making some gifts. Not sure what I'm going to do this year, although one person has requested something with owls so that gives me a starting point :)

Rather awesome paper weaving blog!

Have you been over to PaperMatrix, OMGoodness me there are some wonderful projects over there! I think I will start with a heart garland. Check out the home page here

fabric book cover...

I really want to make some fabric book covers...I mucked up the link before and went straight to the pdf...edited now...here is the link to sewing.com :) click here 

Great site with some lovely things. I like the diaper stacker too, I bought one of these years ago and used it in my kitchen as a hanging shelf for tea towels, might make one for that same use again :)

Our new babies...

New Dobie Boy

We have 2 new dobies...well they are new to us. One had been in rescue for nearly a year and the other was being threatened with euthanasia just because he was unwanted. Both are absolute darlings and have enriched our lives no end.

Our new Dobie girl

 

 

Where on earth we are supposed to sleep this days I just don't know lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for tea....

...and a slice or two of cherry cake

 

 

 I made a recipe from my Mum's old cookery book. It was just as lovely as when she used to make it. The smell of it cooking transported me right back to my childhood...and of course it tasted divine! Have a go at making something from your childhood? It's a real 'feel good' thing to do!

Test post

This is a test post to see if I can add posts remotely.

New friends...

...Not only for me but for Elliot too :)

This is Buzz ( yellow face, grey, greywing budgie )

Now he has a blue cere, but this was on the day we got him when he was only about 6 weeks old. He is a lovely gentle character and adores Elliot.

These two beauties are Suki ( albino budgie ) and Timmy  ( sky blue normal budgie ).

For a while it was just Buzz and Elliot, but Mr D fell in love with a couple of birdies when we went to a pet centre...quite a distance from home. I told him we had to walk away but he was so enthralled with them we made the journey again the next day to go and get them, thankfully they were still there! I was planning on getting more but maybe not for a while! I'm very glad we did though as they are lovely birds. Suki is more timid than Timmy but they do both come onto my hand for a feed :)

I gave them a quarantine period just in case! Yesterday however they were all officially out of quarantine and have been having fun together. We have 2 large cages now ( and a small starter cage ). I expect they will all end up in one cage eventually but they have the choice when they are out flying to go back to which one they feel happiest in. The sound of gentle chattering in the background is so soothing and makes the house feel so homely.

I am having to hoover 2ce a day as a lot of seed husks blow around from Elliot and Buzz's cage. Timmy and Suki are in a new design cage called a vision M02, there is practically no mess at all from their cage, I highly recommend it to anyone that was thinking of getting birds. I have the medium size as I only intended it for quarantine but if I got another I would get the L02 which would be larger.

Here's the latest picture of my baby...isn't she a darling? She's now choosing to fly out of the cage and land on my hand...the last couple of weeks she has also started to allow me to tickle her on the top of her head, she really seems to enjoy it, awww!

I have news...besides Elliot we have another addition to the family...I will try and get pics this weekend and post soon :)

On other subjects...At the moment we are having a heatwave...it may not be as hot as some countries but it has come in with a blast and we have not had time to acclimatise, phew! The forecasters say it will turn nasty next week though so we are all trying to make the most of the lovely weather. It is so odd, it is hot enough to get sunburnt but the Christmas trees are already appearing in the shops...this is most unlike England lol.

Today my friend J passed his driving test, both he and DS used 'my' driving instructor and we all passed first time :) so everyone is happy including our instructor :)

Sharp End is still with us...I won't say he is going strong but he does have his lively moments...usually when he knows food is around!

Yesterday my eldest sister came to visit. She has just got her first car after being without for about 30 years...it was lovely to see her and have her stay until late in the evening. We had a good natter and did a few crafts together, a lovely day :)

Well I think that is all for now.
Best wishes to you all out there in blogland
Dox :)

Look who paid us a visit!

Isn't he sweet?

I thought I'd imagined something sliding down the tree trunk a few minutes before...but when I was staring out of the window doing the washing up this little fellow popped into view! I think he is either a Wood Mouse or a Yellow Necked Mouse...we had the latter living in our loft a few years ago, but I couldn't see if this one had a 'necklace' on or not. It's so nice to think that even in Suburbia the wildlife still manages to survive :) I hope he comes to visit again it was great entertainment watching him having his breakfast.

Dox

The quest for a soft crust loaf...

We get through a lot of bread. I keep my bread in a breadbin these days but somehow it doesn't seem to keep like it used to, I am forever running to the shop because we've run out. I do freeze the odd loaf but somehow I think when it's defrosted, the keeping time is then even shorter. Something has to change, I hate wasting food and everytime I run to the shops, just like everyone else I buy much more than a loaf of bread!!!!

The obvious thing is to make our own but as I was discussing with a friend recently it can be difficult to achieve a soft crust like bought bread...the world and it's lobster seem to be intent on making the crustiest loaf out there but it's just not practical for everyday use!

Well I think I have cracked it. What you need is a milk loaf! Cook it so you only have a very pale crust...Follow that up with rubbing butter over the still hot freshly baked crust and get it into an airtight plastic bag as quick as you can!

get it in a bag quick!

cooking can be a social activity

soft enough to depress

no crustiness there, just the form of my finger!

I will report back on the taste as soon as the jury ( DH and DS ) have made their decision. If it is a success I'm going to work out just how much this will save me on the grocery bill each month...I'm thinking it will also save in fuel from not having to take those extra trips to the store. Hopefully the figures will be enough to keep me baking.

We do have a bakery around the corner. I used to be a loyal customer but IMHO the quality went down hill and not long after I stopped buying they closed, so I can't have been the only one that swapped to supermarket bread. In the last few weeks the bakery has opened again, revamped and under new management but I really would rather make my own if I can. :)

Pizza base...

The base was pretty thick!

I tried a new pizza base recipe...I had a go at the recipe from here.

Basically I took all the ingredients and chucked them in a food processor with a dough hook AFTER dissolving the yeast in the liquid, now I think about it, maybe I should have dissolved the sugar in the liquid too, didn't actually read the method, ooops lol.

After mixing/kneading the dough I just left it in the processor with the lid on for about an hour or so and then rolled it out to my needs and hey presto!

I rolled it out to about an inch thick and it cooked up a fair bit thicker. I'm guessing there was enough dough to make 6 individual snack portions. I just made the one pizza and it easily fed my two hungry men and a fairly hungry me! They both commented that it actually felt like they had had a meal, rather than when we have take-away pizza and it seems like a tasty but expensive snack!

My toppings were...

• spicy pickle/chutney on the base
• lots of cheese
• tomatoes
• chilli peppers
• yellow bell peppers
• herbs including rosemary and fresh chives.

Note, no meat...that wasn't intentional, I was going to try bacon but got a bit too busy with other things. Nobody seemed to miss it, so that was a saving in the grocery bill department!

The overall verdict was that they would both rather I made pizza than we order it!!!! I guess you can say it was a winner. From my point of view it was no effort and a heck of a lot cheaper than take-away or supermarket bought...oh and no packaging to get rid of!

I'm thinking of getting the breadmaker out again or buying a new one ( the paddle is stuck in mine and NOBODY can seem to shift it! ) we eat a lot of bread, so I am thinking we can make savings here...which of course I will squirrel away and spend on lovely craft stuff instead lol...

Dox

Homemade crackers

I made these crackers using a recipe from Joe Pasty's blog. They really are far superior to the kind I usually buy in the supermarket. I urge you to have a go, you'll be so pleased you did! He provides several recipes, so far I have only used the top/first one. I did these with rosemary and salt as a topping, very scrummy.

Dox 

Meet Elliot

"Hi, I'm Elliot."

"I love eating millet."

"Mum thinks I am the prettiest birdie in town"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my new baby. Isn't she a darling?

Only 8 and a bit weeks old. Her little character is already coming through and we are all very fond of her...even Mr D has a soft spot for her, awww!

Dox

My veggie boats

These are my veggie 'boats' made from an old water butt that used to be my Dad's We had it for years but last year it started leaking and I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away...it seemed such a waste of such a large container...so between us Mr D and I managed to produce a lovely pair of twin veggie boats!!!!

Now there is an arch going from one to the other against the greenhouse, I have some runner beans making their way up it....this pic was taken a good couple of months ago.

January update.

Still haven't got my new PC so not exactly being very prolific any of my blogs at present but thought I'd best do the rounds and do a few quickie updates.

Climbing is on hold for a bit as one of our belaying buddies had an accident last week and took the top of his thumb off....Eeek! The lads came in tonight and even though J is still bandaged up he is in good spirits bless him!

DS has passed his latest round of assessments education wise. He continues to amaze me with his dedication and enthusiasm. He is over taking me in many things and it feels weird to have reached that stage in life where your child does sometimes know better and can give you advice lol.

I have a new buddy to go out with on the photographic front. Is good to have someone else that totally understands if you stop to take a few pics of an interesting rock!!!

On the photographic front I have an exhibition to get ready for...only the second time around. I'm not sure how easy it will be considering I am PC-less at the moment!

De-junking is going fantastically well. Put together a rather nice mirrored shoe cupboard today which will mean less to trip over in the bedroom.

I was rather hoping to have revamped the blog by now but I'm rather limited with what I can do without a PC...love my iPad but long to get my own PC up and running again!

Hope all is well with everyone.

Dox x

Season's greetings

Happy christmas peeps!

Hope you are all having a laugh.

Doxie

snow gone

Didn't think I'd be pleased to see it go but yesterday after doing some local christmas card posting and a general reckie of the roads on foot, I ventured out for the first time in a while in the Doxiemobile...got a few pressies. Bumped into my friend P when I was out and about, he is 82 ( though doesn't look it ) but he's still braving the cold weather bless him...after meeting him I bumped into our mutual friend J who I hadn't seen in eons ( yes another J, so many of my friends are J lol ) who is just as elderly...it was so nice to see they were both plucky enough to go out!

N and J came up Monday night...I answered the door in a mask which wasn't the right thing to do, gave N such a fright he thought I was an intruder and nearly decked me lol!  J's Mum who is J as well lol...had made me the most beautiful wreath to hang on the door but I'm gonna put it on my festive table, shhh, don't tell!
J was appalled to see I hadn't decorated tree number 2 after he spent forever untangling my decs last week, so I have to do that today as they are coming up again tonight...which may produce another post if all goes to plan.

Things are very laid back here at the mo...I have a few more bits and pieces to do, but not much and I am thinking surely I can't have got it all under control??? I guess Christmas will come whether you are prepared or not lol. As long as I am with friends, have food and warmth there's not much else a girl could ask for :)

Spare a thought for my friend C, her baby is due on the 29th! What a time of year to be so very close to D-day. I wonder if it will be a 2010 or 11 baby? If any lady who is truly glad the snow has gone, it's gotta be her

Enjoying Winter activities

We've been having a blast here in Doxieville :o)

My friend N took us up to a local beauty spot in the snow...might not sound like a big deal but we couldn't have got to it in a normal car as it was on top of a BIG hill lol...he has a lovely monster of a 4x4 so we did it easy!

DS followed his Mother's good example and had driving lessons in the snow!

We've been climbing, Woohoo! N and J have been threatening to take us for ages...last Monday after softening us up with a day of Xmas shopping and lunch out they sprung it on us that we were going that evening...they already had all their gear in the car, so there was no chickening out lol...it was a first for DS and I. I managed to get to the top and touch metal which I was mightily proud of!!! It was minus 4 degrees and with no gloves it was no mean feat! In the end the place closed a bit early because of the extreme cold!  N and J said I did really well and I surprised them by being totally ache free the next day, which I put down to the fact that I've been doing my weights again. I've also dropped to 8st 4lbs so I guess there is not much of me to heave up lol. Can't wait to go again :o) I was scared when I first thought of going but now I am mega keen!

This week it was our last chance to go skating before Christmas with a group of friends so I bundled DS and J into the Doxiemobile and we met up with everybody for a good hour of fun and exercise. It was more tiring than the climbing lol...later N joined us for dinner and we spent an amusing evening vegging in front of the television until they slunk off about midnight, oops!

I'm enjoying getting more active again, roll on the lighter evenings when you can cram more out of the day!

Hope everyone has been finding time to get out and about. I can't believe it is Christmas in a few weeks, I've kinda put all the preps on hold, but I'd rather be living in the now any way lol.

Dox x 

The North wind doth blow...

...and we shall have snow

What will Doxie do then, excited thing?
N will collect her in the truck and take her to take pictures of donkeys in the snow,
Lucky thing! :)

The other night N suggested we get together today to go out and take pics, which we did. 8 of us met locally and had a lovely COLD but festive walk in the woods. Sadly Mr D couldn't go but I did leave him eating his favourite meal of chilli so hopefully he wasn't too disappointed...we all missed him but hopefully he will get to go next time :) One of the 8 was an adorable little 2 year old... his giggles at us throwing leaves in the air was nothing short of infectious, awww!

With the prospect of snow it seems daft not to plan going out and making the most of it photographically. Doxie though, is not keen on driving in the snow even though she had a few lessons in the white stuff with her instructor...so N offered to come here and pick DS and I up. He knows where some tame donkeys are likely to be next week that we could take pics of, or failing that we will head for the New Forest.

I am so excited, what a lovely Christmassy picture Donkeys in the snow would make!

Hope you are all warm and snuggly wherever you are.

Dox