Christmas Pudding

Pud-Pud!! (Part 1)

Christmas pudding... Admittedly we either love or hate the stuff. For me personally I find it ok, but hubby LOVES it!!!! I have found an awesome grounds of compromise though, a way of turning Christmas pudding into something very palatable!! As most would guess and assume anythings dessert is usually better when chocolate is added! So here is part one, your stock standard Plum Duff recipe. Its spicy and fruity and makes the house smell amazing as it cooks!! Plus it becomes the most amazing base for a yummy treat at Christmas time. Make it now, freeze it then closer to Christmas I'll post another blog on how to make it delish!

You will need.....

 2 cups plain flour

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

150g grated butter

750g mixed fruit (currants, sultanas etc I buy a pre-made one)

2 tsp treacle (if you don't have this use golden syrup)

1 egg

pinch of salt

1 cup raw sugat

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp baking soda

milk (enough to turn mixture into a stiff dough)

A clean tea towel and plain twine or cotton string or a pudding cloth and tie

A deep saucepan of boiling water

 Combine all ingredients in a large bowl then add milk stirring until the mixture becomes a stiff, sticky dough.

Spoon the mix out onto the pudding cloth or tea towel.

 Pull the sides of the towel up around the dough, shaping it into a nice round bundle then tie.

Gently lower the bundle in a large pot full of boiling water, cover, and keep it boiling at a medium heat for 3 hours till cooked. Make sure you keep checking the water levels in the pot as it cooks to prevent burning your cloth and pudding!! Enjoy the Christmas aroma filling your house as it cooks too!!

Once done lift out the bundle and sit in a sieve above a bowl till cool. I then unwrapped and mooshed mine into a container then chucked it in the freezer (not before giving it the compulsory taste test though!!

See you soon for the pudding transformation!

Corts xox

Owl-Stops

Owl-Stops

Since things are warming up with coming into Summer soon its awful nice having a wee help keeping the front door open especially when its breezy!! I came across an awesome wee tutorial for owl softies at EfemeraInk. All I did was follow the directions on this blog, then stuffed them leaving room for a nice heavy stone at the bottom of each of them. Easy-peasy!!! They are super-easy to make and would make awesome kid's toys too!! Here's how they look...

Christmas Cookies

Stop!! Cookie time!!!
It's getting towards that time of year again! I can't help but start Christmas baking early, but find I usually eat what I've made before it even hits December! One of the sneaky things I do early though is make my Christmas cookie dough then freeze it ready for the day I'll make it into something beautiful!!
I have 3 different types I'm doing this year, 2 of which I can share the recipes for...

1. Polenta and cardamom cookies
2. Gingerbread men cookies
3. Christmas spiced cookies

While you need to make sure you have some sweet cookie cutters (these can be picked up at the supermarket or Warehouse for super cheap!), a good quality baking companion is also essential; mine today is the lovely Frank Sinatra - one of my favs!!!
Here we go!!

Gingerbread Men Cookies 

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger
 pinch of salt
1 egg
4 oz golden syrup
2 oz brown sugar
2 oz butter melted

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat egg, sugar and syrup together. Add butter to egg mix then combine with dry ingredients. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake at 180c for 12 min approx.

 Christmas Spiced Cookies

125g butter softened
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp each: ground allspice & nutmeg
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 180c. Beat butter, vanilla, spices and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat again. Add the flour to make a firm dough. Chill in the fridge for 15min. Roll out to 5mm thick then cut into desired shapes. Bake for 10-15min till lightly browned.

Word-up!

Wool Wrapped Letters

Sometimes a house isn't a home until we make it our own. For Tom's room I wanted to make it his! Saw a cool idea on pinterest for wool or twine wrapping cardboard letters so decided to give it a try! I stuck with plain natural coloured wool but it would look neat in any colours!!

Basically.......

1. Print your chosen word or letters in a huge plain font onto paper

2. Trace onto cardboard (2 of each letter)

3. Glue little 'packing' pieces of cardboard onto one cut out then glue the other letter cut-out on top.

4. Start wrapping with wool or twine

Done :)

Welcome

Welcome

Hi beautiful people!! Finally underway is 'Chasing Corty-Jane,' it's some what of a running commentary on what I get up to craft and arty-wise. I have been nick-named Martha Stewart, and told I was born in the wrong era due to my love of perserving, the 50's, knitting and crafty what-nots!! What I hope more than anything is that as you read you'll be encouraged and inspired to not only be amazing women and mummas, but to use your beautiful hands to make wonderful things for yourselves & the people that you couldn't live without. I love you all and hope you enjoy using these recipes, and ideas. Have fun!

Mwah!!! xoxox

Courtney