Amaretto Mulled Wine

Just a quickie here. I saw this recipe for Amaretto Mulled Wine on the Domestic Sluttery blog and all I can say is DO THIS NOW*. For one, Amaretto is great and wonderful, and for two adding it to mulled wine makes it one hundred times more Christmassy. You should preferably have it with some Christmassy biscuits like I did.

Hope all my readers have a Merry Christmas!

*Ok maybe not now if you are reading this blog post just as I've written it at 11am. But you know, maybe you should, it is Christmas.

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Parsnip & Sage Soup

It's December so every restaurant menu is awash with parsnip soup with various additions and of varying quality. Inspired by many disappointing parsnip soups I've had in Christmasses past, I thought I'd whip up this festive version with a bit more punch than your average Christmas pub menu soup.

I think this soup would be a great way to use up leftover roast parsnips from Christmas Day, to make a nutritious and virtuous Boxing Day lunch. My parsnips were raw chopped ones boiled but I think roasted ones used the same way (but cooked for less time) would be fantastic.

Parsnip & Sage Soup
Serves 4 (2 for dinner and 2 lunch sized portions!)

Olive oil
1/2 white onion
3 large parsnips
Handful of fresh sage
3/4 litre of vegetable or chicken stock
mascarpone and your favourite bread to finish

Heat oil in a large saucepan, roughly chop your onion and fry it in the oil for a few minutes on a medium high heat. Peel and roughly chop the parsnips and add to the pan, fry for a couple of minutes til they start to get a bit of colour. Season well and then chuck in in the sage (stems and leaves are fine) and pour over the stock - you want the stock to go about an inch over the top of the vegetables.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes til the parsnips are very soft. Blend with a stick blender, check for seasoning. If it seems a little thick add some more stock to thin, or a little cream if you are feel fancy.

Serve with a nice dollop of mascarpone and toasted bread. I had some lovely pumpkin seed and cranberry bread from Morrison's (thank you Miss Sue Flay for the tip!) which is nice and festive as well as being yummy.

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Christmas Telly! Nigella, Bake Off, Nigel Slater and more...

It's Christmas Food programmes week! Over the last few days I've seen loads of adverts for various Christmas specials, so in order to do a service to you, my lovely readers, I thought I'd do a round-up so you don't miss out on Mary Berry's top tips, Nigella and her soft focus kitchen or those rather fabulous baker brothers.

Nigellissima  - An Italian Inspired Christmas
BBC2, Monday 17th, 8pm

I've enjoyed the Nigellisima series, she has toned down the ridiculous and I've tried a few of the recipes which have been good, although I don't think I'll be giving her Meatzza a go anytime soon. Hoping the Christmas special will be good, and that she might do some edible gifts as I have some to make still! Also, if someone can tell me where her dotted top is, that would be great. 

The Fabulous Baker Brothers Do Christmas

More4, Monday 17th, 9pm

Being advertised as Christmas with a twist 'with not a sprout in sight.' Seems like less of the baking this time and more about general Christmas recipes including spiced mulled cider, lobster and the ultimate Christmas hangover cure. Sounds greedy!

Great British Bake Off Christmas Special
BBC2, Tuesday 18th, 8pm

Another masterclass episode from Mary and Paul, I've already mastered mince pies but I'll be looking forward to their tips anyway! They're also making Christmas pudding and cake so if you need to improve this years effort, makes some notes for 2013's festivities.

Heston's Fantastical Christmas
Channel 4, Wednesday 19th, 9pm

Heston being crazy and trying hard to use up his massive budget again. I've found his latest series a bit too silly, but it has been interesting sometimes. In this episode, he has challenged himself to make the biggest Christmas pudding ever, as you were probably expecting. That or a mince pie.


Nigel Slater's 12 Tastes of Christmas
BBC2, Friday 21st, 7.30pm

This is episode 2 of 2, I missed one but I'll be catching up on iPlayer whilst making jewellery one evening this week. For me the latest series, Nigel's done, Dish of the Day, has been a bit bonkers (banana in a crumble anyone? Almond lentil stew? Not sure) so I'm not expecting great things from the usually great man. But I am addicted to food programmes so I shall tune in nonetheless. Am not coveting his Christmas jumper the same way as Nigella's top though.

The River Cottage Christmas special was also on on Sunday night, with Steven Mangan, Mark Heap and Kathy Burke - some good recipes and the programme was quite funny too - catch up on 4oD.

Happy Watching & Eating! :)

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Mince Pies : 5 Top Tips

I am currently basking in the glory of having made a near perfect batch of mince pies*, so I thought I'd share with you some tips for making them. I blogged the recipe I use last year and the pastry is yet to fail me, which is saying something if you know about my pastry history before that.

1) Make or buy a jar of really good mincemeat
My Mother-in-Law very kindly gives me a jar or two of her homemade mincemeat once a year, which is excellent. If you can, make your own but if don't it is worth buying a good quality homemade mincemeat - farm shops, delis and local farmers markets have lots of choice. Supermarket mincemeat tends to be full of too much sugar,  which means the sugar caramelises in the oven and bubbles over the sides of your pies. And it also makes the pies stick to your tin if you are particularly unlucky.

2) Grate your butter, don't dice. 
This tip works for all pastry and also for crumble, it is so simple but it makes making pastry ten times easier, and keeps the butter cold. Freeze your butter beforehand if you can too as it makes it easier to grate. Another tip I picked up, which was from Mary Berry, is coating the butter in flour makes it easier to grate without getting in a big mess.

3) Thin pastry is better
It makes sense, a big thick lining of pastry is going to take ages to cook and you'll end up with claggy horrible mince pies. A nice thin layer of pastry, about 3-4mm is best for mince pies - that way your mince pies will stay crisp and will bake in 15 minutes.

4) CHILL
It is really important to chill your pastry after you've made it so that it doesn't shrink up or go all melty in the oven. The pastry recipe I use also doesn't contain any liquid but if you find it takes a while to come together a bit of ice cold water won't hurt, but it helps if you chill your pastry down for a bit longer to counteract shrinking/melty pastry. After filling and topping my mince pies I also give them another 15 minutes in the fridge for the same reason.

5) Don't use too much mincemeat
I'm starting to sound a bit mean now, aren't I? It's ok, you can just eat two instead of one. A scant teaspoon of mincemeat is enough, otherwise you'll have mincemeat bubbling over the edges of your pastry and your mince pies will burn on top and probably stick to the tin.

So there you are, happy mince pie making! I made a double batch of dough and the second half is waiting for me in the freezer so I'll be making another batch this weekend.

Merry Christmas!



* They lose marks for not being too pretty, but if it tastes good, who cares?

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Snowed Under!

I feel like I have been snowed under recently, with the weather and with shipping out jewellery orders (thank you to everyone that has given me their custom this Christmas) so my blog has been a tad neglected. Have you made mince pies since I last blogged?

I have made another batch since then, with slightly different pastry, delicious again.

We have had lots and lots of snow over the weekend, about 6-7 inches on the ground which is a lot considering the weather said 'light snow.'

Everyone has probably seen lots of snow pics but here are a few from me, and you get to see my new house a bit too. We are hoping to get away to Kent for Christmas, fingers crossed the roads are ok!

PS - Today is the last day to order from my shops for shipping tomorrow, after that I will be going on holiday til the 30th December.

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Easy Peasy Mince Pies

I love homemade mince pies, shop bought ones are always disappointing, too much filling and horrible dry pastry. Mince pies are also very satisfying to make, they seem like a big achievement but they can be really easy.

I was given a jar of homemade mincemeat which went into these pies, it was much lovelier than shop bought - not too sweet, boozy and well spiced.

The pastry contains no liquid, just butter, flour and sugar. A lot of butter, which is what makes it stick together. The resulting pastry case is very close to shortbread but crisper and sweeter. I think these took me just over an hour to make, most of the time was spent because I had to bake in two batches.

They are not the prettiest mince pies ever, not neat but what I like to call 'rustic'. They taste brilliant though, which is what matters!

I played around with the mincemeat, the first batch had pure mincemeat but the second I added some chopped hazlenuts and grated apple (spotted that tip on Kirstie and Phil's Christmas) which added lovely texture and also meant I could eke out the mincemeat more.

Makes approximately 16 - 18 mince pies
adapted from BBC Good Food

225g very cold butter
350g plain flour
100g granulated or caster sugar
1 jar (about 300g) mincemeat
egg or milk to brush over tops

Add your flour to a large mixing bowl, then grate in all of your butter. Grating cold butter means that you have finer strands in your flour which allows you to incorporate it better. Rub into the flour til you have a texture like fine crumble. Mix in your sugar and start to knead into a dough, the butter will be warmer now and so you will be able to work into a dough. Try not to add any liquid as your pastry will shrink in the oven later on.
Once it starts to form knead briefly and it is ready to use.

Preaheat oven to 200c (180c fan) or gas mark 6.
Lightly grease a nonstick cup tin, you don't have to but I wasn't going to trust my tin entirely after last year!
To form the bottoms you can either form walnut sized pieces of dough, flatten and then spread out into each cup to form a base. Or you can roll out the dough carefully (using plenty of flour) and use pastry cutters. I found the pastry cutters a better method although a little more time consuming. Form tops using pastry cutters or small sized balls squashed out.
You can also go for a lattice effect (which may look neater than mine, I am sure) or top with chopped nuts - both of which are delicious.

Brush the tops with beaten egg or milk, bake for 20 minutes til golden brown.
Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before taking them out of the tins.

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Christmas!

Christmas has arrived in our house!
I have baked a batch of mince pies (recipe coming up in the next bloggage), the tree is up and the cats are very (too) interested in it. We have a real tree this year and it looks so lovely in our olde worlde house.

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my favourite shops - christmas gift guide

I spend a lot of time on Etsy, and I have to say probably a lot of money too. It is hard being a seller because you find yourself amongst all this loveliness all the time! I have lots of handmade things so I thought I would share with you some of my favourite sellers, just in time for Christmas!

Moo Cow Hand Knits

not only is moo awesome but she also knits the best! I have one of her oatmeal drop stitch scarves, a beautiful purple swing top , rose corsages and a cuddly cowl neck jumper. She also handknitted a beaded purple wrap for my wedding, and I have just ordered some pumpkin coloured armwarmers too! I have more moo things than I thought I did!

ffflowers
Fabulous fabric flowers!

A cute little orange spice flower adorns my windowsill in the living room and some ffflowers nearly always find their way amongst my christmas shopping. I have a tendency to kill every plant that I own, I have so far only kept one alive for about 3 years, with about a dozen being killed in that time, so I much prefer these because they always look fresh and nice. Helen also makes little brooches, ooh and hairpins.

Sweet Treats Bakery

Yummmmyyyy!
The yummiest foodie shop on Etsy. I have some smoked salted caramels winging their way to me right now, they aren't for a gift, I'm keeping them! I have bought their marshmallows before and they are to die for, the lemon meringue in particular. Go stock up on sweet things, I want to dunk my head in their caramel sauce.

Ink Me Up

Beautiful hand drawings turned into prints, lavendar bags and totes. I have a litle chicky drawing, a wren print and an avocet print, all beautiful! These are really well received gifts for bird lovers and the new kitties, chickens and foxes are cute!

Asking for Trouble

Pure cute! I have bought notebooks as gifts before and the little book marks, and cards. I love the Jammy Dodger mug!

Quercus Silver

I couldn't not include Su, she made my wedding ring! I really ought to buy some more of her jewellery, I love the juicy colours and also the simple silver work. I have my eye on some of her gold work too.

I hope you've found something lovely here and will shop handmade this Christmas, I am! :)

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Last Posting Dates for Christmas & Moving House

I think the Christmas spirit seems to be in the air now, don't you think?
I have lots of pretty things which would make perfect gifts and I would love for you to shop for a loved one in my shop this Christmas.

Please order early so I can make sure your order arrives in time. All of my orders are gift boxed and tied with satin ribbon. I can also add a tag with a message, free of charge, just let me know when you order.

Last Posting Dates - for ALL my shops (Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda, All Things Original):

3rd December – South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Far East (inc. Japan), Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

8th December – USA, Canada, Eastern Europe

9th December - Western Europe

19th December - United Kingdom (up to 22nd for Special Delivery at extra cost).

You may have heard through the grapevine, or mostly because of my twitter ramblings that I am moving house next week!
My shops will all be open but orders will be delayed by up to 2-3 days between 20th - 24th November, I will be in touch straight away to let you know when you order will be sent.

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Festivities

Hoping you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Due to various mishaps with blogger on my phone I wasn't able to blog any Christmas wishes before the day.

We had a very relaxing Christmas with family in Kent, lots of good food, conversation and presents. And I did quite well at Christmas Day Scrabble for a change!!

I am now settling into a lovely long week before I have to be at work again, I am hoping to bring you lots of new things on the jewellery front.
I'll also be starting a very special sale in my Etsy shop - watch out for some wonderful discounts later in the week, up to 50% off.

xx

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Last Minute Gifts!

If you are in the U.K. and still looking for a lovely gift to give this Christmas there is still time to order from my shop, hurrah!

Order dates for first class have passed but I can send orders via Special Delivery Next Day to reach you in time for Christmas. Contact me via my Etsy shop or at deepa@lazygiraffe.com if you'd like to add extra postage on to your order. Special delivery will cost £5 (converted to $8 in my Etsy Shop).

Saffron Earrings

The last date to order for this is the 22nd December, I will ship your gifts on the 23rd to arrive 24th.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

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Christmas is here..

The tree is up..

I do love this time of year, and I especially like seeing the tree up and our assorted decorations.
This year I've a few handmade additions -some lovely fabric decorations from summersville and a beautiful clay dove from Emma Passey (which has a perilous future if the cat continues to climb the tree, it may be moved!).

We also bought a smoking man from the Black Forest, you put a little incense cone where his belly is and little smoke comes out his mouth!

x

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a festive shop update...

Some new festive earrings for my etsy shop...

Snowball Earrings - sterling silver and vintage glass

Look out for another suitably Christmassy green glass necklace coming soon.

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Merry Christmas!

So its nearly here, I think I am prepared. The tree is up, presents are wrapped and I have a couple of my handmade presents to finish off. I've tried hard this year to either buy handmade gifts or make handmade gifts, I have some very special gifts that I made myself which I shall blog about once everyone has received them!

I have one more day left of my proper day job and then I am away for a few days for a relaxing family Christmas, I think it will be a well earned break. I am hoping for snow but I don't think we will be that lucky!

My Etsy and Folksy shops are now closed for the Christmas period, I've had a great festive season in both shops, thank you to everyone that shopped with me, I hope your loved ones enjoy their gifts.

Merry Christmas to all my customers, blog readers and fellow crafters!
I'll be blogging my Christmas crafty projects in the new year :)


xx

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Weekly Special!

I have begun a new special in my shop this week, every customer will receive a free pair of Turquoise Splash earrings with every purchase in my Etsy Shop. They will arrive gift boxed too!


I am also still gift wrapping my boxes with lovely satin ribbon and a handmade gift tag.

Happy Shopping! :)

P.S. - only last order date for customers in the USA, Canada and everywhere else is tomorrow.

xx

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For Your Hair

Just to let you know I'm doing a little promotion in my shop this weekend.

Every customer receives one pair of lovely rose hairpins, either a pair of Flamenco red hairpins or Emerald green hairpins. Just let me know when you checkout which pair you would like, if I don't have a message I will suprise you :)


Perfect for filling stockings! In my Etsy shop


xxx

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A new addiction

Decor Tape by RetroNaNa

Stationery! This is not good, the bead addiction (closely followed by the addiction to ribbon) is bad enough. I have been drooling over many things this week, in preparation for Christmas presents but also to add that extra touch to my orders.

Upcycled envelopes by GirlIndustriesShipping labels by the Craft Pantry

You should also stop over to Lupin's blog, she's been covering packaging much better than I have and there are some beautiful ideas on there! I very much agree with her about brown paper being lovely for packaging. :)

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Light in the Dark

So yes, the nights are drawing in. I love the bright and cold days of autumn, all the rusty colours from the falling leaves but I'm not a huge fan of winter. As much as I love a cosy night in by the fire, wooly jumpers and Christmas in reality winter is mostly a gloomy affair in this country! It has definitely felt like winter these past few days, with hardly any proper daylight today in particular, I miss autumn!


Its nice to be thinking of Christmas (I know, I said it, Christmas!) when its getting a bit gloomy which is what inspired my newest pair of earrings. These are fantastically festive, they glint and sparkle and are so feminine, perfect for Christmas parties. They are made with nice chunky brass chain and vintage glass pearls in a beautiful champagne gold colour, they are dimpled too which makes them really unique. In my Etsy shop right now!


Thank you also to snapdragonbeads for the vintage sheet music booklet she sent me, the cover makes for a gorgeous background for photographs, it really goes with my vintage jewellery.

I am working on Christmas gift upgrades this week, so I hope to have some nice pictures to show you what I have on offer for your gift wrapping needs. I have just ordered some really beautiful ribbon, in chocolate brown and also teal (not very Christmassy but I can't ever resist teal) for my orders. There is also an extra special addition to my gift upgrades, which I will be blogging about as soon as I receive them! I love packaging , can you tell?

xx

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