Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 January 2014

Lately...

It's been a bit grey here of late. In fact, we've had some spectacular foggy mornings. I like fog. Admittedly, it makes the commute a little more er...interesting, but it has a similar quality to snow in that it somehow quietens everything and makes it seem still and peaceful, even as you're whipping along the M1 in the commuter traffic.  Of course, one problem with dark foggy mornings which clear into prematurely dark afternoons is that there's not much light to photograph things in. I did promise you the chance to give the recent granny blanket a proper ogling, but so far, no pics. Sorry! 


In other news, and possibly related to the prevalence of fog, I have finally bought paint for the sewing room. Grey. Not the purple-y grey that I inherited (see below), but just plain grey. In fact, imagine the colour of the wall in the pic below, but without the purple-y tones.


These are egg cosies, by the way. I am already thinking of Easter. I have even managed to list them. Next up on the making list is more rabbits (do you remember Bunner from a couple of years ago? I'm hoping he'll make a reappearance in the new shop). And I'm still plodding on with the baby jumper pattern - it was road-tested on a real baby at the weekend, so they'll be in the shop soon too!

Oh, and there has been a birthday.

Yes, again.

It doesn't feel all that long since the last one.

Surely not a whole year?

Ah well, these are taking the edge off the shock...




Monday, 19 December 2011

Handmade Christmas

This year, I decided I would try make all my Christmas presents, rather than buying them.  So far, so good.  I think I've made about 95% of the presents I needed to get (ironically, my mother, who pretty much always gets a handmade effort, got shop-bought this year...).  By far and away, these have been the most impressive:






If I were a good blogger, I'd have taken photos of each stage of the process, but I'm not, so I didn't.  The good news is it's so easy, you can do it without a visual aid.

You need:

Marzipan
Dark chocolate
Nuts (I used chopped nuts and whole almonds - you can decorate with whatever you like)

Also:

Cocktail sticks (to help with the dipping)
Baking parchment (to place them on post-dipping)
A bain-marie (pan of hot water, with a bowl balanced above)

NB: It helps to have your decorations set out cookery-programme style, in little bowls so you can grab and sprinkle them at will, before the chocolate sets.

Melt your chocolate

Either roll out your marzipan (mine was about half a cm thick) and cut into squares, or roll it into little balls.

Stab with cocktail stick

Dip into chocolate

Place on baking parchment

Decorate

If you're not a fan of nuts, try cutting into squares and dipping half the square into the chocolate.  Once they've set, flip them over, dip a fork or a whisk into the chocolate and flick across the marzipan side of your chocs for some stylish stripes.

I managed to find some mini bun cases which look lovely with a chocolate nestled in the middle.  Mine are wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon and a jingle-y bell for a festive touch.