Well it's been a long 3 days

and it's not quite finished yet - still more shelves to build and floor to go in but at least it is again usable and I can find everything. It was an absolute nightmare the last few days trying to pack orders, when I couldn't find the tape, or the paper or the bags or the boosters ............... well you get the idea.

But isn't it awesome!!!!! Hugest thanks go to Shane's Dad for building the pigeonholes and Gerry my Stepdad for painting the room, it's a lovely shade called Sea Angel, a bit blue, a bit green. This is the only part I'm showing you for now, until the other bits are finished, but it's great.



Oh and this isn't all my fabrics either - the MM fleece, velour, microfleece is too bulky to store in little pigeon holes, so it's in other boxes elsewhere. Plus I have other cupboards that need tidying before I could think of showing anyone lol!!

I have been amazingly ruthless with my culling - mainly craft magazines, some fabric and trims plus a few patterns and bits and pieces.

But I can't wait to get started working again on more goodies. As you can guess from this post, no goodies were made this weekend.

The first lottery was drawn on OZeBaby and the winner notified. But don't despair there will be more and I'll probably just run them for a short amount of time.

The June Daring Baker's Challenge: Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.



Loved, loved, loved this tart - it is beautiful both in looks and taste. I made the first one a big tart, but I've made it again as little patty cake sized ones with white Glace icing and a cherry on top, yummo!!! Delicious!!!

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

A couple of days off .........

The majority of the sewing renovation is happening tomorrow, so no Caterpillars will be emerging from their cocoons until at least Sunday. I'll try and keep everyone updated here, but will be offline for a fair majority tomorrow and Saturday.

But when they start bursting from their cocoons again keep an eye out for some more special appliques.

Coming tomorrow

Well my snapper has been busily moving, painting and some more moving, so these didn't get finished to put up today, but they'll go up sometime tomorrow. The guitar one is an auction, the others will be buy it now.

Some Very Special Nappies

Thanks to the generosity of a lovely lady who sent me her own private fabric stash, there will be shortly on OZeBaby some more Munch Crunch Nappies. Some will be auctioned, some will be just for sale, and some will be lotteries.

The ones up for lottery will be for people who have never owned a Munch Crunch before, whether bought from me or not. Now whilst I can't police this, I take a dim view of people taking advantage of my generous nature and will, if push comes to shove blacklist those people from my purchasers list. Whilst this may seem to be an extreme measure, I am trying to remain fair and keep my prices reasonable and equitable for all.

I'll also have some appliquéd nappies up and these will be for auction. Most of them will be brand spanking new prints and appliqués, but some well loved ones as well. So keep your eyes peeled for the next few days. I am also in the middle of chaos as my sewing room at long last undergoes it's transformation, so I maybe a little slower answering emails than normal, please be patient with me.

Just a quick reminder to that I am closed for customs and due to recent events seriously have to rethink how I do customs in the future, if at all.

Please take a moment to read my updated terms and conditions on OZeBaby as I've changed a few items. Primarily it is now first to checkout on OZeBaby and that payment terms have changed as well. And I have also decided that I have the right to refuse to sell to anyone. These are steps that I haven't taken lightly and it has saddened me to have to do it, but I need to take care of my interests.

Wet and Rainy Sunday

But I've been steadily working away, so some more goodies soon.

We are 'finally' doing the sewing room next weekend, so I'm gradually moving stuff out of there to be stacked in my rumpus room, so the building work/painting can begin and in my cleaning out I've found a few treasures, and they'll be going up in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled.

Knight in Shining Armour

W had fairy tale day at school today and he choose a knight. Which wouldn't have been an issue but I only found out on Friday afternoon that he needed a costume sigh! Somewhere our note regarding it went walkabout - going to blame DH.



Anyways thank you to a lovely mama who hand delivered a copy of a pattern two days before the event, the very quickly run up outfit was made. I just did the cape and the shield, and of course had to make do with fabrics from stash as I didn't have time to duck out and get anything else, luckily my stash is fairly large :D

W said Mummy you've made me so happy making this and I think he looks gorgeous!!

Oops!

Well I've been busily working away on items for Gossamer Dreams, so my store hasn't been randomly stocked. But starting tomorrow watch out !

June Daring Cooks Challenge is

Chinese Dumplings.

Brought to you by Jen at Use Real Butter



I made the pork and shrimp fillings - the children weren't so keen, I think I went a bit overboard with the ginger. I've made them before with the pre-bought wrappers, and just a simple beef or chicken filling and the kids fight over them. The wrappers were easy enough to make but they do take a little bit of time. I found that they were easier to roll if the dough was a bit softer. We served ours with sweet and sour sauce as that's what the children like.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Equal quantities of (I use a large tablespoon, so for the 6 of us, I use 6 Tablespoons)

White Sugar
Water
Tomatoe Sauce
White Vinegar

Then about a tablespoon of cornflour
Splash of soy sauce.

Cook over a medium heat, until thick and transparent.

Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers

pork filling:
1 lb (450g) ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup (75g) bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 (55g) cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp (40g) soy sauce
2 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

OR

shrimp filling:
1/2 lb (225g) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1/2 lb (225g) ground pork
3 stalks green onions, minced
1/4 cup (55g) ginger root, minced
1 cup (142g) water chestnuts, minced
1 tsp (5g) salt
3 tbsp (40g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

dough: (double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface

dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).



Make the dough, Method 2 (my mom’s instructions): In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

[EDIT: 5/26/09] There have been two complaints posted about a dry dough and I realize that this rests in the problem of measuring flour which has a different density and hence weight for 2 cups depending on how you scoop it. That is why I also list the weight: 250g. Flour tends to settle over time, so when I scoop it out, I shake several cups' worth back into the container before taking a final scoop of soft, fluffy, flour and I get 250g for 2 cups. When you knead the dough, if it feels hard and dry, then you can add more water. [Warning: it will NOT be a soft bread dough, so don't expect it to be, but it shouldn't be a brick either.] It is perfectly fine to use more than the 1/2 cup listed in the recipe as everyone's climate and flours vary. Use your judgment - this is what being a Daring Cook is about. We are trying to cultivate a sense of intuition so that recipes are general guidelines from which you can expand your own style.

Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (see images in post for how to fold pleats). Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.



A little helper.

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes.

Sarah's 16th Birthday

Well my darling Shane, made up a video for Sarah - so proud mama here - feel free to watch. There is one of my eldest as well, so will try and make sure she uploads that to the same username.



Sarah chose Chicken Pasta and Cookies and Cream Cheesecake for her birthday cake. Both were delicious.

And here's the cheesecake

Issues with the Store

I have no idea why the site isn't working like it should be, but I have informed tech support and hopefully they'll have it sorted sooner rather than later. If anyone has had issues may I suggest you email them, as there is nothing I can do this end.

I won't be stocking again like this until the issue is sorted out. But I will try and throw some nappies up randomly over the next few days.

I'm off to spend the rest of the night with my gorgeous family now. Will answer any emails tomorrow. For those of you who did manage to get two nappies, I'll also send revised invoices tomorrow.

Night all.

That's it

alrighty all the stock is up for today. Fingers crossed the automatics all work, as I had a doh! moment and put some up at 9am and of course I have school drop off, but I'll be back soon after that if they don't work to enable them manually.

The lotteries are open now and close just before 11.30 am tomorrow the 12th June.

I'll be working on the Gossamer Dreams Stocking next, but may put some random nappies up on OZeBaby over the weekend. William has his school fete on Sunday, so I'll be there pretty much all day helping out.

Back later with pics of the birthday girl :)

Isn't he clever

I had to teach today, so I left DH to snap these gorgeous hand dyed nappies. And how clever is here - he's matched snaps up with the dyed fabric, ever so funky.






And yes I still have more to come.

Some of the goodies

coming up for sale later in the week - more to come of course - and there are some for the New Customers as well. Full details in the newsletter before they go live.



Black Windpro Rooster



Teal Windpro Retro Space



Fitted Cheetah Print.

The stocking will be mostly for the boys, but I won't forget the girls :)

For a little boys 1st Birthday

A little set - ordered quite awhile ago before my custom list closed. And patiently waited for by my lovely customer.



A pair of little denim pants - with a print cuff and little back pockets The cuffs can be rolled up as required.



A little long sleeve t-shirt - with a snap front for those baby heads, that sometimes don't like to fit through standard t-shirt. Appliqued with an aqua minkee circle and hand embroidered with an ocean theme.



A size 2 Auriel with the same fish/coral print as the pants, and hand embroidered on the back to match the t-shirt with little boats, waves and fishies.

And can I just say I hate my camera lately :( It's just not working I have to take like 30 pictures to get one even half decent, time to go looking for a new camera sigh!!

So

I was better, and then William came down with a temp etc on Thursday and very kindly - not!! passed it onto to me. So I'm not very well at all :( Will start previewing on OZeBaby when I can, but stocking won't be till later in the week, if not the weekend. I'll get back to all those who emailed in the next day or so.

And this is how sick I am - I posted the above post on my craft blog not here sigh! Still feeling decidedly worse for wear :(