Caribbean Queen

I've got 2 of my favourite people coming for dinner, my friend Fiona and her other half Lee. I've decided to do Caribbean, so here's my menu:

Mojitos & party popcorn
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Corn on the cob
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Jamaican pork
Rice & peas
Pineapple, mint & chilli salsa
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Pineapple in rum
Coconut ice cream
(or possibly coconut creme brulee - not decided yet - will let Fee choose if she reads this)
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Any alternatives gratefully welcome, especially starters

I Promise...

... I haven't been as unproductive as this blog would imply, although most of the things I have to show today aren't quite finished.

Firstly, this is a ribbon necklace I've done, using some polymer clay beads I made over the Christmas holidays. I've always loved ribbons with jewellery, yet strangely this is the first piece I've made myself. The lentil shape beads are decorated with 2 sizes of a cane I made. I made the stripy spacers at the same time (and was a bit worried they would work together, but I think I like the look). I need to get some clear nail polish to seal the ends of the ribbon before I can wear it.

Unfortunately the photo's a bit blurred (I didn't realise until after I had packed my portable studio away).

Here's a little close-up of the beads:

I'm also working on this berry bracelet, from a kit Mum bought me for Christmas. I have another self-coloured strand to do (the strands are different colours, although I'm not sure that really shows in the photo), then onto the berries and leaves and twist and stitch the whole thing together. Would love to have this finished before I go on holiday. although also want to make a bracelet to go with the red and gold Crystal & Pearls necklace I've previously posted.

One of the things I had on my list to do this year was learn to crochet. My Mum used to do really lovely things, but I never seemed to quite grasp it (and I think she found it tricky trying to teach a lefty!!). Anyway, I have finally mastered it (thanks to some lefty instructions I found on Internet). It took my 3 nights to learn, which is a bit of a record for me, as normally I'm able to pick things up quickly - was extremely frusturating. Anyway thought I'd start with something simple and make a bag to keep my wool and hooks in. First couple of squares (unfortunately our local shop didn't have a good selection of cotton yarn, so this was the best colour combo I could get).

Finally, made this rye and white seeded loaf - I've done a couple of ones before using all rye flour, but they've come out really gluey and quite inedible. This one has a good feel, so hopefully it will taste nice too.
Thanks for looking.

Lisa xoxo

Christmas is Coming

Gosh, I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated - I have been doing stuff (honestly!!).

Trying to get into the Christmas spirit, as I felt it was lacking a bit last year after all the wedding excitement. Think I'll get my tree on Saturday, let it settle overnight and decorate it on Sunday. Off out on Saturday with a ton of friends to Arisaig in Glasgow -because there's 26 of us, I think we are going to get the whole of the balcony level to ourselves. After dinner, we're off to Maggie May's.

Made Christmas chutney last night - my first attempt at doing anything like this. Had a little teaspoon taste to see if it was nice; it was yummy scrummy. Made plenty for the family, but will probably end up making more for friends as well. Didn't have jars, so ended up buying half a dozen Asda value lemon curds (not exactly a Nigella moment, spooning lemon curd down the toilet dressed in jammies with eyelliner rubbed over my face - so definitely no pic of that).

Here's the finished article - need to go to a fabric shop to get something Christmassy to put over the lid.

It contains cranberries, apples, dates, ground cloves, ginger & cinnamon, with some cayenne pepper for kick.

Thanks for looking.

ChocoMint Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a friend's birthday. As it was my own recipe (butchered and added to from a few others), I'll post it here. I think these would work with any other chocolate cake, but as I'm not keen on chocolate cake I made mine with cocoa instead of real chocolate. Measurements seem a bit higgledy piggledy, but I try to use cups & spoons instead of weights where possible as it is much quicker (don't know why we don't use them more in the UK).


ChocoMint Cupcakes (makes 16)

Chocolate Cupcake
1.5 cups plain flour
1 cup cocoa powder (not hot choc mix)
2 cups caster sugar
1.25 tsps baking powder
1.25 tsps bicarb of soda
1 tsp salt
0.75 cup hot water
0.75 cup milk
2 large eggs
0.5 cup veg oil
1.5 tsps vanilla extract

ChocoMint Frosting
1 x 150g bar white chocolate
half a small tub of soft cheese (I used light, but full fat or extra light would prob work too)
4 x tbsps butter (unsalted)
Icing sugar (approx 3 cups)
1.5 tsps peppermint extract
Green food colouring (I used a tiny bit of holly green paste)

Make the Cakes
Sieve the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder and bicarb into food processor/mixer bowl.
Turn on and whilst processing add water, milk eggs, oil and vanilla. Mix until mixture is smooth (it will be runny).
Half fill paper cases in muffin tray and bake at 165 degrees for 15-20 minutes (I use a fan oven, so times/temps may have to be slightly increased).
Leave to cool once done.

Make the Frosting
Melt the chocolate in the microwave until just melted then stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
Mix the butter and cheese together (I use a food processer). Once combined add the chocolate and peppermint essence and mix again.
Add the icing sugar (I do this half a cup at a time until almost the right consistency, then quarter of a cup at a time until it is just right).
Once the frosting is the right consistency add the food colouring and mix well.
Spoon a generous desertspoonful onto each cake and use the back of the spoon to swirl.

Store and serve from the fridge - adds to the mint choc chip icecream taste if they are cold.

Finally Finished

I finally finished the beaded bangle I was making. I'ts taken me 2 weeks to day, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm not even sure I like it that much. I don't know if it was because I changed the beads slightly or bause of my tension, but my spirals don't seem as sharp or tight as the ones in the pattern.
Despite the apparent negativity above, I would love to do another of these bangles, maybe in fuschia and purple next time.

I made these utterly decadent red velvet cupcakes last weekend for Phil's BBQ. They seemed to go down a treat, altough I only had a small bite of one as wasn't that hungry (think that was the start of me not feeling well).
I still have a couple of them left, so may treat myself to one later.

Off to a first birthday party armed with pirate ship and cove later, Yarr. Then when I get home I'm going to try to get the last of the sie 15 seed beeds I dropped out of the keyboard - damn you sticky keys.

What Lisa Did

Yesterday I baked some banana muffins using one of Nigella's recipes. I love love love Nigella - everything I make using her recipes just seems to turn out well. These muffins are lovely and soft, yet almost chewy.

For lunch we went through to The Boat House in South Queensferry for a nice lunch. First time we've been there and will definitely be back. Really nice atmosphere and great views.

In the evening we went to see Nickelback at the SECC in Glasgow. Absolutely fantastic - great show. Black Stone Cherry were supporting - they were a lot better than the last time I saw them.

Off to make a start on my new necklace. Also need to do some tidying in the spare room at some point (spare room is like painting the Forth Bridge - it just never seems to be done).

Thanks for looking.

Lisa xoxo

Spicy 3-Sausage Pasta

Although it's never going to win any beauty contests, this dish is one of my favourites (especially now that autumn is drawing in). It's hyper speedy to make and really tasty.

As well as some pasta (I just used dried 3-colour spirals as I had some in the cupboard), you will need 3 types of sausage (cocktail sausages, mini salami and hotdogs), bell pepper (any colour), hot sauce (at the moment I'm using Cholula, but Encona/Tabasco etc will do the same job), tomato puree and creme fraiche.

Chop the sausages and pepper into pieces approx 1.5". In a small/medium pan, heat some olive oil and gently fry the pepper for a couple of minutes. Throw in the sausage, a few dashes of balsamic vinegar and some sugar and continue to fry for a couple of minutes. Now start to boil the water for the pasta and throw pasta in once boiling. Add a good splodge of tomato puree (enougth to amply coat the sausages and pasta) and hot sauce (as much or little as you like!!), and cook a bit more. When pasta is just about ready to drain stir some creme fraiche into the sauce mixture. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Serve with some grated parmesan and black pepper.

Thanks for looking.

Lisa xoxo

A Bunch of Stuff

After a few weeks of not really making anything, managed to get a few things done this week.

I had a call from a colleague on Thursday who needed a pair of earrings to wear on Saturday night. As I was busy Thursday and working Saturday morning, I made them on Friday and she popped round to pick them up Saturday afternoon. I had never thought of putting these colours together (well would have put some of them together, but not the lilac), but they turned out really nice.

As it was a last-minute order, I had to scramble about and use stuff I had which fitted the colour remit of orange, red, yellow, black and lilac. She also wanted chunky. I've had these orangy/yellowy discs for a while and always liked them. The others were just picked from my jumble of beads. I threaded the discs on eyepins, the top section on eyebins and the bottom danglers on headpins and just hooked the lot together.

Thursday was Stu's birthday, so I made him a cake. I asked him what sort of cake he wanted and he decided on chocolate. I don't like chocolate cake, except for Black Forest Gateau, so made one of those - not the prettiest thing ever, but it tasted really nice. I didn't have any kirsch though and couldn't see any in the Asda next to work, so just added some vodka to the cherry juice!

I also made this card for him. I always struggle a bit with man cards (I think most people do), but did manage to find a nice Metallica font, which kept the rock god happy, especially since Death Magnetic was released on his birthday. I've used DCWV Rock Star papers, inked with dark peony Cat's Eye chalk inks. The font is Pastor of Muppets, with the last letters being Pastor of Muppets Flipped.

Treated myself to one of those little portable studios from Maplin everyone has been raving about and I love it (even though I've only used it once, to photograph the earrings). Still need to faff around with it a bit though, as I was getting quite a bit of reflection of the glass on the background, although I think it looks quite nice. Anyways, I'm great at faffing, so shouldn't be too much of a hardship.

Thanks for looking. Toodles xoxo

Turning Japanese

Part of the reason I've not been making many cards and have almost completely given up doing jewellery (although only on a temporary basis!!) is because I am so into cooking (and kitchen gadgets) at the moment. On my list is a decent food processor, a bread maker and an ice-cream maker. I tried out my first silicone baking tray at the weekend, and I loved it, so now I want a few more.

Anyways, on Saturday I decided to have a go at Sushi. I acquired a gadget called Sushi Magic and this was the result:

I was really pleased as it was the first time I've ever attempted it. But really it wasn't too difficult. The Californian rolls weren't quite right and I didn't have enough rice left over to make maki. The bowl in the top left has soy sauce and pickled ginger in the top right. I added some mini rice crackers in the middle bowl to balance things out. Obviously I made more than 4 pieces - here is the everything I made:

Stu the guinea-pig was well impressed. I think he thought at first it didn't look very much, but we couldn't finish it all between us as it was really filling.

I would definitely recommend having a go at making it, although I may have struggled without the Sushi Magic (it has moulds for the nigiri and has a rolling mat for the maki/Californian rolls, which was pretty easy to use.

Thanks for looking.

xoxo