Current knitting project

I was very kindly gifted some beautiful Flutterby yarn recently by my mum. It's one of those lovely chunky yarns which knits up very quickly. It's like trying to knit with  marshmallow and I'm really enjoying it.

The project above is a jacket for Baby W but it looks HUGE, I think it may even fit Gman once I'm finished but I can always pop it away for later. It's not taken nearly as much yarn as I expected either so I may even do a second one too.

Yesterdays addition to the Brexit stock was 4 tins of Tuna. They are currently £2.70 in Home Bargains which seemed quite resonable.

We all eat Tuna in the house so these can be made into all sorts of dishes.

Our family favourite is tuna and sweetcorn pasta bake.  

How do you like your tuna?

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Making preparations

I sat in a café earlier today to warm up from the rain that's been pouring down most of the day. 

On the table next to me were woman discussing Brexit and all the potential problems that could happen. One of the ladies seemed to think birds would fly backwards and we'd all be living in caves with flint tools by Christmas 2019.

The other thought there would be some mild disruption to things while Britian was on the naughty step for a while. 

Both however agreed that they should get some things in to combat the big change over and beat the panic buying that we do so well in Britian. Remember the big freeze milk shortage? Just the hint of a milk shortage made a lot of people suddenly double or triple their usual purchase, just in case!

I've seen a few bloggers posting about Brexit stockpiles and had good intentions of getting round to it, but of course I didn't! 

So after my coffee I bought my first item to stash for Brexit survival. A jar of 28p jam isn't going to feed the 6 of us for very long but it's a start. 

For the next 122 days until Brexit arrives (if it does because its all very confusing at the moment) I will be adding to my stockpile every few days. 

Luck favours the prepared and all that.

Are you prepping for Brexit or anything else?

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Choc Orange Elves

How cute are these chocolate orange covers? 

I'm aiming to make 6 so we can all have one on Christmas day sitting on the dinner table.

I just wish I'd seen them earlier as I can't spot any offers on Choc Oranges but there's plenty of time yet to get them. 

I bought one yesterday from the pound shop so I could check the elves fit okay but if the orange makes it to Christmas it'll be a miracle!

If already caught DD2 looking at it longingly. 

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Upcycling for Christmas- glow sticks

We collected a small pile of glow sticks between us all yesterday. We watched the town lights being switched on by Father Christmas.  A lot of the people in the carnival that escorted him through the town handed out glow sticks, sweets, leaflets for events etc.

We came home with about 20 glow sticks.

A quick Google revealed Glow sticks are a bit of an eco disaster. They cant be recycled at all. 

Rather than add to landfill i put on my thinking cap of a way to upcycle them into something else. 

Taking inspiration from their shape I tried covering them in icord and making them into wreaths to hang on the Christmas tree. 

They looked a touch plain so i added some beads and holly leaves cut out from a drinks can. 

I think they look rather sweet.

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Pumpkin Fun

It's the season of cheap pumpkins and just the right weather for some soup.

I picked up 4 pumpkins yesterday in Waitrose for 20p each. One has been turned into a vat of pumpkin and carrot soup.

The shells were given to the kids to play with and the seeds roasted. That's the best thing about pumpkins not a bit is wasted! My 20p travels a long way.

After feeding us all for lunch and 2 of the neighbours children who were playing in our garden, I've frozen 6 portions and left enough in the fridge for lunch tomo if DH isn't hungry when he gets home.

Tomorrow I'm onto pumpkin two and hoping to attempt some Pumpkin Gnocchi!

Any other pumpkin recipes I should try?

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The great poke cake experiment

I keep having a poke cake video appearing on my Pinterest searches. Having seen it so many times I decided to give it a go.

First I made my usual traybake recipe then while it cooled poked it with lots of small holes using the end of a spoon.

Next I made up a pint of strawberry jelly using 50/50 boiling and cold water, then poured it all over the cake slowly letting it soak into the holes.

Once the jelly has been absorbed I added a topping of icing and some decorations.

Then the whole thing pops into the fridge to chill for a few hours.

We tried our first few  slices after dinner. Overall its been a success as every one agreed  it tastes wonderful, however we also all agree its just far to wet! 

My second attempt will be made with 1/2 pint of  jelly mix to see if that makes things better. It should also make the jelly taste stronger I think.

I'll let you know how round two goes shortly.

Have  you tried any new recipes lately?

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