end of term

December 17, 2009 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)36 Comments

I must have been in a good mood when I decided earlier this week to make some sweets as teacher presents this year. It seemed good idea at the time but that was before I realised what a hugely messy and time consuming process it would be! The chocolate truffles were relatively painless but the marrons glace were a different story. My fingernails are now rather ragged and I have 2 sugar burns – I do hope that the teachers like them and it was all worth it!

First slit the chestnuts and simmer them. At the same time make a vanilla sugar syrup

peel the chestnuts (allow at least an hour for this and give up now if you need nice nails in the next few days!!)

poach the chestnuts in the vanilla syrup

and bring to the boil for 25 minutes

drain and dip into a second stronger sugar syrup then dry overnight on a rack

pack in twists of cellophane and bag up. Then have a very large glass of wine and make a mental note to do shop bought next year!

crafts & knitting

just in time mittens

December 11, 2009 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)20 Comments

The weather here has yet to turn really cold but it has been a bit wet and wintry over the last few weeks and so I'm really pleased to have finished one of my pairs of mittens at last! I love this pattern and made these in Rowan Scottish tweed (not the softest of yarns but lovely and tweedy and warm). They've been keeping my hands snug when I nip out first thing in the morning to collect the eggs – the chickens seem to admire them too!

general stuff

from dingy to dazzling

December 7, 2009 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)48 Comments

A couple of months ago my oven packed up. I'd known it was on it's last legs as it was practically an antique but even so managing without it wasn't a pleasant prospect. We did manage to replace it within a week but of course the new one was a different size and needed fitting in such a way that the old oven housing had to be demolished. Well, one thing led to another and soon we were renovating the whole kitchen.

So the last few months here have been a bit dusty but at last there is something to show for all of the effort and upheaval. We managed to do it all on a very tight budget – we left all of the fitted cupboards, tiles and worksurfaces so it's just needed some wood, a whole load of paint and a great deal of elbow grease! The kitchen now feels at least twice as big (although in reality it is quite small) and painting it in cream and buttermilk has really transformed it.

before…

after…

during…

after…

So now H has done all the hard work I suppose it's my task to keep it clean and tidy. Clean I can handle, but tidy is more difficult as I'm a natural hoarder – my little shelves are fast filling with new finds!