Sunny Sunday

A sunny Sunday (Today) walk at Wicken Fen, and a perfect opportunity for getting some practice in with the camera. 

Almost the Easiest Cookies to Bake

This post isn't so much recipe sharing, but more tip sharing. I baked these cookies yesterday and they are so tasty, I don't feel guilty for the cheat. These cookies are almost the easiest cookies I have ever made. I use the word 'almost' because although this is pre-made cookie dough, you do have to do a teeny amount of work. Last year my friend Maria, who then lived on the US Air Force base, bought me some cookie dough that was not only pre-made, but was also cut into neat round shapes and laid out on a sheet. All that was required was to peel them off, put on baking tray and bake. So that is why I use the word 'almost'. 


So here is my tip, new in at Tesco is this pre-made cookie dough, and this week it's half price at £1.50 for a tub. It says it bakes 12 cookies, I got 17 out of it.

Very easy to use: 

1) Remove Packaging and loosen lid. 

2) Put in microwave on high for 30 seconds to make dough easier to handle. 

3) Using a dessert spoon, put lumps of dough onto a  lined baking tray. 

4) Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes. I think the packet said 190 degrees, Our oven is fan assisted and I nearly burnt the first batch at 13 minutes, so the second lot went in for about 11 minutes. 

5) Remove from oven, and leave to cool. 

6) Eat & Enjoy! 

I've been good and have saved some for another day. 

If you're wanting to know where the cool jar came from, then check out my friend's facebook page, Mearns Foil Printing.

Things I have learnt this week

I'm not normally a scatter brain, but for some reason this week I seem to have left my brain somewhere else. It could possibly be due to things that have happened at work which have focused my brain on other things, maybe I'm getting prematurely old and forgetful. Who knows. However, these are the things I have learnt so far this week. 


1) Wednesday: Taking the wrong coffee pot off the machine, will cause a mess, as well as risk of scalding. Fortunately, the latter was avoided. Unfortunately the former did! How did it happen? Making coffee for work colleagues, and there wasn't enough in the one pot for them all. Quick transfer of the coffee pot to the spare hot plate, and a new jug on was all I needed to do. Why oh why did I then decide to try and take coffee from the pot that was being filled? Half a roll of kitchen paper later and the mess was cleaned up. Well as much as I could get to anyway. So apologies to whoever has to clear up the dried coffee when the coffee maker is moved  to the new kitchen next week. 

2) Thursday: When your boss says you can work from home on Friday, it's necessary to take the work laptop, and any paperwork you have prepared, with you when you leave the building. It's not the best idea to drive almost a third of the way home, and then realise that working from home is going to be almost impossible without them! 


3) Friday: When making a cup of coffee, it's important to remember to boil the kettle first. Cold water doesn't dissolve the coffee, and I'd guess it probably doesn't taste too great either. 


Finally, 4) Also Friday: Pressing the unlock button while pointing your car keys at the wrong silver Astra will not open the doors! Maybe I shouldn't have such a common car! 

Another Load of Handmade Goodness

Following on from yesterday's post.


6) Rural Rustics 


This crafter is a friend of mine. Although I've never actually met her, I've known her online for about 4 years, and have shared happy and sad moments. She has been there to listen and to offer some great advice, and she has a great talent for sewing aprons and decorating jute bags. She's also been known to home a sock creature or 2. Below is my fab shopping bag.

7) Dragonfly Costume Jewellery

Another online friend of mine who I have known for about 2 years, and like the lady from Rural Rustics, has been there to offer some great advice. She makes some beautiful jewellery, and although I don't yet own any of her fantastic creations, I have eyed up many of her pieces. 

8) That's Sew Laura 

One day (hopefully) I'm going to have a little girl to buy some of these beautiful dresses for. 

9) Dollydoo

I love these owl cushions. This lady also does some fab Christmas decorations.

10) The Patchwork Heart

These notebooks & diaries are so pretty. 

Handmade with Love

Tonight's blog features 5 of my favourite Facebook craft pages. These are in no particular order, and are only some of the pages I love. I promised 10, but it's taken so long to choose and post these, that I've decided to split them. The other 5 will be tomorrow. It's also been tough choosing only 10, so next week I will post some more, including my favourite wedding services, and baby gift pages. Sock Creations also have some favourite pages to share. 


1) Dotty Candles 
Dotty Candles make a range of cupcake candles, wax melts and tealights. I particularly love these candles in cups & saucers, and they have made great presents for a few of my friends. 

2) Different Bluebirds Glass and Stuff
Victoria has been working with glass for 15 years and designs and hand makes these beautiful creations. 

3) Polka 
I love Polka's bright and funky handmade accessories. I think I'll be ordering from here for presents this year. 

4) Holly-Blues and Quirky-Birds


I absolutely love this lady's work. I've bought a friend of mine one of the chickens, and I also had a custom order heart garland for a Secret Santa present. 

5) Love Felts


Kirsten is a talented lady, who as you can probably guess from the title, specialises in felt designs. Most of her designs are campervans and beetles and I've spotted her and her work at many VW shows. As well as the fab VW stuff, she also makes pretty felt cupcake garlands. 

Pop back tomorrow for 5 more favourite pages. 

Blogging about Blogging

Just lately I've either been quiet on the blog front or I've felt like I've been writing a load of rubbish. So in an attempt to make my blog more interesting, I'm going to put more effort in to thinking of some interesting and/or useful topics to write about. One of my ideas is to have a weekly top ten blog, starting with 'Top Ten Facebook Small Business Pages'. I also plan to write a monthly 'Soundtrack to the month' blog featuring that month's most listened to songs. 


Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments box below. 

Tasty Pancakes

Today is Shrove Tuesday, or as most now call it, Pancake Day. This morning I made a comment on Twitter about how Shrove Tuesday, among other days with Christian origins, was becoming better known for pancakes other than the religious meaning. I'm not a regular church goer, but I do think it's sad that a lot of people don't actually understand the real meaning of Shrove Tuesday, Easter or Christmas. I wonder how many people realise that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and how many know anything about lent? As I said, although I have beliefs, I'm not a regular church goer, and I also don't have the willpower to give something up for lent. I just think it's sad that's all. Anyway, my comment this morning provoked the thoughts of a fellow blogger, and I got my first ever mention in another blog. Mother & Other has written a great piece about the meaning and her feelings about Shrove Tuesday. 


So back to the pancakes, it was my intention to try out several filling ideas tonight, take photos of them all and  share the recipes. Unfortunately I forgot to buy chocolate chips for one of the fillings, and I got a bit carried away with the eating and forgot most of the photos. So I'm afraid you'll just have to make do with the recipes. 


Pancake 1&2 - Savoury


Melt a small knob of butter, add 2 handfuls of spinach and leave to wilt. Stir in 2 dessert spoons of mascarpone & heat through. Spread over one pancake, grate some cheddar cheese on top and cover with another pancake. 



Pancakes 3, 4 & 6 - Honeycomb Butter

In a bowl, bash a 40g Crunchie bar with the end of a rolling pin into chunky crumbs. Add 50g soft butter, 1 tbsp honey and a pinch salt, then tip mixture onto a sheet of cling film and roll into a sausage shape. Twist the ends to tighten, then chill for 30 mins. Top 2 warm sweet pancakes with a slice of Honeycomb butter and an extra drizzle of honey.

Pancake 5 - Strawberries with Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake icecream. 


Husband had strawberries with clotted cream. 


Now I'm feeling like the size of a house, and will probably need to be rolled to work in the morning! 


I'll leave you with the recipe that was never tried, and I'll be back to upload photos from my phone in the morning. 


Night x 

Recipes taken from BBC GoodFood

Favourite Muppet

Last night at the cinema, Husband asked me which Muppet was my favourite. I couldn't give him an answer as there are so many that I like loads. However, I couldn't stop thinking about the question, and all day today I've been trying to decide which one I like the best. I think I have come to a decision, but I thought it would be fun to find out who other people like. So please take a minute to take part in the poll on the right hand side of my blog. At the end of the month I will reveal the reader's favourite and also my favourite. 


Here are some celebrity's favourite Muppets, taken from http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com

Flowers, Cookies, Muppets & a Curry

My husband is such a romantic. Not only did he come home last night with a box of Thornton's chocolates, but this afternoon a beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived for me at work. 

I wasn't the only one to get a surprise at work, as Husband received some lovely (well they looked lovely) cookies. 

The day was topped by a visit to the cinema to see The Muppets. Husband is a huge fan of the Muppets so this seemed like the perfect film to take him to on Valentine's Day. I definitely recommend seeing this film, as it was brilliant, so funny. Great for any Muppets fan or Jason Segel fan. 

Finally, we picked up a curry on the way home. A naughty but nice treat to end a lovely day. 

Hope all blog readers had a lovely day too. 

A Cold & Frosty weekend

This weekend we woke to temperatures of minus 13! It was extremely cold, but a great photo opportunity, especially with the snow from last week still lingering. We were just very lucky in our village, as some places had no water due to frozen mains. 

More Snow

Just in case we didn't get enough snow in France we appeared to bring it back with us, and it started to snow within 30 minutes of leaving the airport. We woke up on Sunday morning to 6-7 inches of the white stuff. 

After some help from the neighbours with digging and pushing, we were on our way to Ely to find something resembling a slope.