Christmas Cookies

I have to say, I am not the best cookie baker in the world, and my previous attemps usually leave a lot to be desired. These 'White Chocolate And Cranberry Cookies' turned out ridiculously well though, and we all enjoyed a little nibble of them on a cold and frosty November day. 

 

White chocolate and dried cranberry cookies

Ingredients

• 150 g butter


• 150 g plain flour


• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda


• 50 g ground almonds


• 50 g porridge oats


• 50 g dried cranberries, raisins, sultanas or currants


• 50 g brown sugar


• 50 g caster sugar, or 100g demerara sugar


• 100 g white chocolate, cut into chunks


• 1 large egg yolk, or 2 small egg yolks

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. 

2. Melt the butter, and allow to cool. 

3. Sift the flour and the bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. 

4. Add the ground almonds, oats, dried fruit, soft brown sugar, caster sugar and the chocolate chunks and mix well. 

5. Mix the cooled melted butter with the egg yolk and pour into the dry ingredients, stirring to combine. 

6. With your hands, form into walnut-sized balls and arrange slightly apart from each other on 2 baking trays. 

7. Gently flatten the biscuits slightly and place in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden. 

8. Allow to cool a little on the trays before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Valerie

xxx

Dont forget to check out my cute little Rag Dolls on Etsy

ETSY STORE HERE

 

Twilight - Not The Saga

The tail end of yesterday was turning into a disaster zone, best left un-described, so to ease tensions Oscar and I put 2 ginger loafs on a slow cook into the oven and took a walk as the sun was setting. I am pleased to say, it put us both in a better mood.

 

And the Department Store in the main Street held some interest for Oscar too.

 

Dont forget to check out my cute little Rag Dolls on Etsy

ETSY STORE HERE

Charlotte And Emily

 

With Christmas looming and costs rising, I have decided to try some hand made selling. I am not an expert at selling or pricing, so I would be interested in your thoughts, and of course I would love it if you buy something.

Let me introduce you to 

Charlotte And Emily

I expect I am biased, but I think they are both incredibly cute.

Info :

Charlotte and Emily are beautiful hand knitted Rag Dolls, waiting for new homes, to be loved and played with for many years to come.
They have no buttons or studs, so they suitable for very young children. They are knitted with love from a wool blend and have removable pretty coats and dresses, which are trimmed in white to make them extra cosy. Charlotte and Emily's insides and outsides are soft and machine washable (on a hand wash or low setting). They have little ribbons on their shoes and in their hair making them extra pretty. They measure 42cm from head to toes. (aprox)
Please contact me if you have any questions about charlotte and Emily.

You can buy my hand knitted dolls

ETSY STORE HERE

From my Etsy store from today. As I said before, feedback and sales (of course), very much appreciated.

Valerie

xxx

Home

Home is the place your heart resides
Home is the place that you decide
Home is the womb that holds the soul
Home is the place where one is whole

Home is a memory that follows your being
Home is a dream for those agreeing
Home is the place where reserves fall
Home is the place you yearn to call

Home is the glow you hold in your eye
Home is the emotion that makes you cry
Home is safe and a place of peace
Home is where all pressures cease

Home is all these wonderful things
Home is the place you develop wings
Home is the place that you’ll find one day
Home is the place where your heart will stay 

Cold wet days have made me really glad to get home lately, how about you?

Have a lovely weekend

Valerie

xxx

The Next Stage

Oscar started pre-school nursery today, and he skipped off quite happily. I had to stay today and fill in forms, so I was able to watch from a distance as he played with play-doh, painted pictures and sat in his group for stories. As always, I have mixed feeling on it. I know he needs contact with other children, but I still feel those huge pangs at leaving him.  What on earth will I do with a whole 2 1/2 hours to myself EVERY weekday?

 

Valerie

xxx

Yarn Along

I have not done a yarn along in a while so I thought I would start this bright and chilly November week off with some cosy woollies and a good book.

 

First of all, I have a confession to make. I absolutely HATE knitting on double pins, I hate it with a passion. It has taken me quite a while to find a basic knitting pattern for baby, child and adult mittens done on straight pins. Perseverance won out though and this is the pattern I have been making over and over this Autumn/winter LINKY and it could not be easier. The yarn is James C Brett, monsoon.

 

I am really enjoying this book. I would urge you not to be put off by the slightly 'Mills & Boon' title, because the subject of the book, the Paris wife, is Hadley, the wife of the late  (great) writer, Ernest Hemmingway. The books starts in Chicago in the 1920's at the time that Hadley and Ernest met, and follows them to Paris where they set up home and have a baby. The book is written from Hadley's viewpoint, so even if Hemmingway isnt your style, this book might still appeal, especially if you are interested in the 1920's and 30's art and music scene. I can recommend it (so far, I am half way in).

Valerie

xxx

Boyhood

I recently posted some pictures on Facebook of Oscar in his fancy dress outfits. They were met with much cooing about his cuteness (from his Aunty Susan in NZ, and various other lovely cousins and friends of mine). There was however a few 'Dear God' comments from male contacts, some joking and one or two, maybe not.

I would never want this blog to be a legacy which caused Oscar embarrassment in later life. That has never been my intention. I don't post much here about my older two children, because my older son (aged 23), in particular, gets easily embarrassed. I am also well aware though that things change as time moves on. I recall my older son being mortified when Duncan answered the front door to one of his friends wearing a sarong (David Beckham has a a lot to answer for with regards to 1990's fashion).  I was fairly surprised then, to see photo's of my older son wearing a dress, on his own Facebook page, last week.  Apparently it is the University basketball team initiation tradition, although I have to say, having been through Art College, its amazing how easily persuaded some men are to don a dress.

Anyway, the reason I posted the photo's is because I think they are adorable. But also, Oscar's maniacal obsession with Witches and Velma (from Scooby Doo), has been such a huge part of our life of late, that it would be a shame to miss out on a visual record of it.

So dearest Oscar son, if you are reading this blog aged 15 and hating me for embarrassing you, I am deeply sorry. I suspect though, that your unique, creative and flamboyant genes will help you to see past any gender stereotyping and appreciate it for what it is. A Mama finding joy in all the little things you do.

 

Valerie

Happy November 1st

I hope you all had a spooky and fright-tastic Halloween? We certainly did.

 

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Valerie

xxx