Want Lots, Waste Lots

Oops ... Joe and I did a really, bad thing: We went to Lidls to (to pick up chicken for supper) tired and hungry and without a list and as a consequence spent £30 pounds (more than our weekly food budget) on things we didn't need.

Amongst other things:

Walnut Ice Cream £1.89
Guava Juice 75p
Pomegranate juice 69p
2 packs of sunflower seeds 29p each
Cherry Crumble £1.19
Mini Rum eggs £1.79
Mini Marzipan Eggs £1.79 and a
Superking Fitted Sheet £6.99

Even worse I'm fairly sure the chicken wasn't free range. 

Well I've done penance for the chicken by donating the difference between the price at Lidls and Roaming Roosters (about £3) to Hugh Fearnley Whittinstall's Chicken Out Campain.

I guess the penance for the £30 overspend will be another night spent number crunching on the excel spreadsheet.

Waste Not Want Not

Every year in the UK we throw away £12 billion worth of food which could have been eaten. Love Food Hate Waste is a campaign from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) which shows that by doing easy practical everyday things in the home we can all waste less food, which ultimately benefits our purses and the environment too. If we all stopped wasting food that could have been eaten, it would have the same environmental impact as taking 1 in 4 cars off UK roads. lovefoodhatewaste.com has lots of delicious recipes to use up leftovers, handy hints and tips for storing food to make it last longer, a portion calculator to help you cook the right amount, and information on what food date labels mean. There is something for everyone, whether you are a keen cook, or simply want to reduce the amount of food which you throw away.

Too Many Projects Not Enough Time ...

Oh dear - while doing my usual "blog hopping" (finding one cool blog then jumping to one of their recomendations and so on) I have found a couple more projects that are too cute to pass up.

I think a little mouse will soon be on its way to my new nephew, Oskar, and the ambulance is a must for my step-daughter as her daddy is training to be a paramedic and she loves dressing up in his high vis.

Jodie at Ric-Rac is an incredible inspiration.

I will keep you posted on my progress. And if I get brave I'll post my efforts on the Ric-Rac website.

Tied to My Apron Strings

Well I've been browsing the web again and have found another delightful website devoted to one of my weaknesses - vintage style aprons.

This site is sheer heaven - so my next project must be to make and submit an apron of my own!

New Year Blues and Blog Envy

Well clearly I have blown my New Year's Resolution to "Blog Daily" which I made in a moment of high optimism and possibly under the influence of Christmas alchohol - having blithely ignored the fact that my FMS is often so bad in January and February that I can barely string a sentence together verbally let alone on screen.

So on top of feeling blue because I just do at this time of year, I also get to kick myself for setting unrealistic goals and also for not living up to them. (Yes I know there is no logic to kicking myself for both, I just do!)

As a simultaneous punishment and delight then I love to visit worthier bloggers than I who do blog frequently and whose blogs and lifestyles awaken in me a deep envy.

My latest favourite is Wee Wonderfuls a blog so, cool cute and perfect that I want to be its best friend and keep it in my pocket.

So check it out, but don't forget to come back, I'm officially out of hibernation now!

Gnome Loin Cloths and Other Adventures in Crocheting

Well having just taught my self to crochet I had to share my amazing creation. Check out my Gnome Loin Cloth.

Soon to be followed by a square and a circle - yay me!

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas

So it's our first Christmas as husband and wife, which is very exciting, so I decided to go all out on the food and trimmings.


With a small puppy in the house, we decided not to risk having a tree (especially as we usually have real candles on it)

Christmas 2007

So this year I found an old tree shaped candle holder and sprayed it white, added candles and hung a few of our favorite  ornaments on it.

Not quite as effective, but puppy proof at least!


I did the full roast dinner, with organic turkey from M&S bought with vouchers we received for wedding presents, and as neither of us are that crazy about  Christmas Pudding, I did the Spruced Up Vanilla Cake from Nigella Lawson's Christmas program. I bought the bundt tin from Amazon.

And because it was his first Christmas, Fitz got a bone," the one as big as wot I am"

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, holiday season etc and a Happy New Year

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb Part 2

 Well I finally opened up my rhubarb schnapps, and strained the resulting mush through muslin

Despite looking rather gruesome, it resulted in the most gorgeous pink liqueur, which not only looks pretty but is also deliciously moreish!

Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall visits and apple crumble

We went to see Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall at Ely Cathedral and as always he was absolutely brilliant. 

We got our books signed and Joe bought me the new  River Cottage Everyday Cook Book

Inspired by both the visit and the book I cooked his apple crumble. He adds oats to the crumble

And cinamon and walnuts to the apples

 

When I took the left overs into work I was told it was the best apple cumble ever!

Happy Hallowe'en

As is customary in the Guynanlife household, we make quite a big deal of Hallowe'en. We dressed the front yard as a graveyard with fake head stones, ghost appearing above the windows, spooky music playing and a smoke machine set to go off as trick or treaters approach the front door. I was chuffed to bits that loads of our visitors said it was the best house they'd been to.

Joe carved his first pumpkin (the rather spectacular skeleton) and I did two, one bat cave to say "welcome" with a bat hovering above and one "happy halloween" tree and graveyard with a ghost hovering above.

On the home front we mulled cider, invited friends and neighbours and watched horror movies in front of our open fire.

All in all a fantastic night.