My Busy Craft Life

Hi everyone! No I don't mean you should hug a pot pie! Although please send pictures if you do try! ;) Do you ever have the feeling that some dishes make you feel like you've just been given a great big hug? I just made the BEST comfort food ever that really made me feel hugged. I've tried this before and it came out sort of ok except for the top and I really wanted to make this again. So this time I tweaked it a bit and oh my word was it wonderful! I'm all excited about it :) The original recipe came from here so make sure you click there too to see the original idea. I only made some small adjustments anyway and I just had to share this with you :) You need: 1/4 cup butter 1 small onion, chopped 3 celery ribs, chopped 3 carrots, chopped 4 leeks, chopped 4 regular sized potatoes, chopped 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 cups lower-sodium chicken broth 2/3 cup single cream 4 chicken fillets (either...

Hi everyone! Have you all heard about the Hobbit's Second Breakfast event today? Well, if you haven't and you're anywhere but the USA at the time of writing, chances are you are too late (doesn't mean you can't have a do-over tomorrow though) but it is a ton of fun. Especially since I seem to be very Hobbit-like according to some of my friends due to my obsession with food ;) And no, not because of any hairy feet! Hihi... 75 years ago today, The Hobbit has been released. In order to celebrate, a worldwide event appeared online as a tribute and in honour of the book. And the hobbit way of life (eat, drink, and be merry) or so I would like to think. The idea was that anywhere in the world, at 11am sharp, people would have a second breakfast in honour of the Hobbits. Don't mind if I do really, who am I to refuse a second breakfast! So I got up early, having to be at work early today anyway, and bought supplies for the office. Sadly I didnt have a chance to pr...

Hello again everyone! This year will not see a lot of Halloween projects on my blog I'm afraid... No, am not ill or anything, I just don't have the time and have a lot of other projects to finish as well. Plus, how much Halloween stuff can a person have in the their house? OK, on second thought maybe I am ill. LOL. Well, let's see what happens. It would be weird for aHalloween fan like myself not to post about Halloween. I'll see what I can do ;) This recipe is not Halloweeny although given its colour I'm sure it could be used for it :) It's a Rhubarb Banana Pie and it tastes wonderful. I got the recipe here but it didn't have photos so that needed to be remedied. Good thing I baked this pie then! You will need: Pastry for 2-crust pie 3 cups sliced fresh rhubarb, about 1 pound 3 medium ripe bananas, peeled and sliced 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup orange juice 3 tablespoons flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg ...

Good morning everyone! I've done it, I've finally started!!! You may or may not remember this and those of you who have been following my (admittedly recently very quiet) blog, but years ago I decided to start a Halloween quilt. I went everywhere to buy fabric and possible went a little overboard. Over the years I've managed to buy fabric at several markets and shows in London, Britex in San Francisco, Joanne's in Providence, and even a cute little quilting shop in Salem. Oh yes, I went everywhere... But I never actually got my mind set on a specific design or anything so it never got started.  Last week I went to my weekly sewing/knitting group and a friend of mine was there and we got talking about the Halloween quilt. When I got home I really wanted to get started so on the weekend I got out all my fabrics (sadly I don't have a piccie of the pile at the moment) and started cutting, having finally made up my mind about the design.  Of course me being me, thin...

Good morning everyone! Just a quick note to let you all know I'm still here... I've just started a massive project that's been in the planning for about 4 years so hopefully I will be able to share it soon :) At least the start of it that is. Other than that some projects are done but still need to be photographed, and others are done and waiting to be posted. So watch this space for more posts soon :) In the meantime, have a great Monday everyone!

Heyhey everyone! Wow, can you believe how much I am blogging right now? I figure once I get all the events out the way, I can start the crafting posts again (and meanwhile take pics of projects to share without you noticing too much LOL).  As mentioned in yesterday's post, once I got back to London I went to the Thames Festival. Always great fun although this year not as great as previous years as some things were missing. But still a great day out :) I wouldn't have know about the Wenlocks if I hadn't seen them there! As it was an amazing day, I got some really good pics too. Not so much of the actual festival but a lot of London. Especially since I, once again, got lost...   London's newest addition, The Shard. Very Dark Crystal I have to say... The first time I've seen it that close so nice chance for a piccie. Also the starting point of walking in the wrong direction...  I managed to walk away from the city rather than towards it (laden with s...

Hello again :) As part of my busy wee kend, I went to the Prima Homemade The Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show in Bluewater. That's in Kent and quite a way away. But the public transport is quite ok and all I needed was a tube, a train, and a bus to get there. Not as bad as it sounds. Once I got there, I managed to get lost but the girl at the information desk kindly helped me find the right entrance (for the 2nd time!) and I made it in. The show had two parts and two floors and for unknown reasons I decided to enter via the top floor. Maybe it was because the costumes were calling me because the next thing I saw was: Movie costumes!! OMG I nearly cried. Yes I am that silly... the reason? On the far right of the four dresses on display is the Ever After dress worn by Drew Barrymore in the movie. I LOVE this dress, especially the wings and to be so close to it now and to see the details... I must have taken 20 pics of this dress alone...  Isn't it gorgeo...

Hello again everyone! I had a wonderful weekend :) Maybe I shouldn't say that just yet as not to jinx it, but so far so good. I had an extremely busy Saturday and Sunday which is way too much to pack into one single post so I have to split it up as of course I have to tell you all about what happened. The most important thing first of course, which sadly is also the most annoying thing.  As you may know, London hosted the Olympics and Paralympics this year (no really??? LOL). And as part of the touristy thing, the City of London placed several statues of the Olympic mascots around London for people to find. Kind of like the egg-hunt you might think. Noooo I thought, surely there are only a handful and I won't have to hunt for those as I'm not a big fan of the mascot anyway (sorry, the Australian ones were just much cuter in my mind). WRONG!!! It was EXACTLY like the egg hunt and really cool! Only I discovered this YESTERDAY. Yes, yesterday. How annoying is that?! Cle...