It has been a busy week this week working crafting, mundane housework and catching up with friends.  I have tried to keep to my eating plan but have so wanted quick, comforting but nutritional food.  I have definitely felt much better since changing my diet and cutting out gluten and sugar.

One of favourite meals is baked camembert and crudités, a very simple but comforting food.

You can’t beat the smell of homemade bread......

Carrot and lentil soup is so quick and easy to make with store cupboard ingredients.  All that is needed is 4 carrots, an onion, a potato, stock, salt & pepper, 50g of red lentils and a little olive oil. 

Fry the onions until they are soft then add the carrots, potato and stock (I use 2 heaped teaspoon of Swiss Marigold Bouillon and cover the vegetables with water).  When the carrots are starting to soften add the lentils and simmer for about 15 minutes until the lentils are cooked.  Season and put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. Voila a meal made in under 30 minutes.

My mother has had a Bero book since she was married and I got this copy years ago.  You can see how well used it is as the jacket has been lost but it still one of my favourite recipe books. 

I have used it this afternoon to make a naughty something for the weekend... a Victoria sponge. The filling was butter icing and I used my own damson jam to give it a sharpness that helps to cut through the sweetness, not necessarily orthodox but I like it.  How far can icing sugar go?  Everything is covered in it.

I managed to resist the bread but not the cake...mmmm. 

Crafting wise I have finished knitting the handbag and sewn it up but won't post a photo until I have lined it. 

I have made some more Christmas cards

and started making salt dough decorations

still not sure about them.

Still more ideas whizzing through my head a couple of different garlands, crotchet bowls, more handbags to name a few.  Watch this space!

All change....

The weather has been so changeable this last week, I must admit a bit like my mood.  I have an underactive thyroid and one of the symptoms is lack of energy which no matter what I did never seemed to get any better and has been lacking for a while.  After researching the reactions different food can have on your thyroid I realised that I was eating a lot of wrong food especially broccoli which is one of my favourite veggies and it makes up one of my favourite meals...broccoli and Stilton soup. Still it would be worth giving up along with gluten if I could get my mojo back.  So I started my new eating regime over a week ago and to start off with I felt terrible! In fact I was more tired than usual with joint pain, stomach pain and headaches but hey it got to Tuesday and I felt on top of the world! So I reckon I was going through a bit of a detox and withdrawing from sugar.  Making up new meals has been a bit of challenge but boy have I enjoyed some of the food especially roasted veggies. 

Never tried roast fennel before but I did enjoy it. It is still strange not having pasta or bread as a stand by and I have tried the gluten free versions and can’t say I’m impressed with them but my mojo is returning at last and I feel great so it is worth persevering with!

Anyway along with my diet taking up my time, I have in fact finished my Christmas tree bunting and am rather pleased with the result since I only took up crotchet at the beginning of the year.

The handbag I was knitting was lovely and it was only when I had just about finished it that I realised that I had read the pattern wrong.  Very frustrating but I have had to unravel it and started knitting it again!

This morning I decided that I would like to make a start on some Christmas cards so I created a lovely mess on the dining room table and have managed to produce about 15.  Here is a little look at a couple of designs.

Besides feeling a little under the weather for a couple of days the rest of the week has been filled with something good every day.   I have had some lovely walks with Millie in the back lanes of Ingleby Barwick.  I do love watching the leaves changing colour and dropping off.  Here is a little secret, when I think nobody is looking I like nothing better than kicking up leaves as I did when I was a kid.  It still gives me great joy!  I love being creative whether it is cooking, knitting, crotchet, sewing or making cards, it makes my world a happier place to live.

cider, wool and pears

It seems ages since my last blog but such a lot has happened in that time.

Remember the cider I was making for the first time? Well it needed bottling so off I went to Alan’s home brew store.  Small businesses do have that personal service that big stores often lack.  It is a friendly store and obviously I stuck out like a sore thumb not having a clue about bottling cider.  I was asked if I need any help and I replied I needed some screw top bottles as recommended for the cider I was making. ‘Oh no, you need beer bottles my love’ she advised ‘ours are 65p each but if you go to the bottom of the road the club will let you have bottles for free’.  I was flabbergasted at the advice and it must have showed ‘if you prefer, go to your local and I’m sure they will let you help yourself.  The best bottles are Newcastle Brown ale.  Bottles don’t have refunds any more so they are not worth a thing to them, in fact they are just glad to get shot of them ‘ she went on.  ‘Thank you very much’ I said and was warmed by the fact she was saving me money.  I bought the metal caps and capping device that she advised me I needed. I was nervous about asking a pub because I don’t have a regular but as luck would have it today was recycling day.  So I ended up knocking on neighbours’ doors to ask if I could help myself to their empty bottles, much to my son’s embarrassment.  After cleaning the bottles and filling them putting the caps on was fun. The cider looked a little cloudy when I bottled it but it is becoming clearer. I am not a cider drinker but it did smell lovely and had a slight cinnamon aroma to it and I am partial to cinnamon.

What else has happened?  Well a couple of us from our knit and natter group had a trip to Yarndale in Skipton.  It was a fabulous event for all yarn, crafting lovers held in the cattle mart.  The organisers had hung up lots of bunting that had been sent in from all around the world and it looked amazing.  There were workshops and although we hadn’t booked,we did stand and watch the finger knitting one.  We also got to see Lucy from Attic24 whose blog we follow and look at her crotchet which was fabulous. There was a marvellous stall doing screen printing which I would love to have a go at but the workshops are £200 a day so I will have to save up for that. Oh the fun we had looking round the stalls and I bought some lovely Jacob’s wool, lace and some pieces of wool material for appliqué.  Another stall had the biggest knitting needle I have ever seen, it was like knitting with broom shanks.  In fact it was that heavy with the material on it you had to sit down.  It was well worth a visit and they are deciding if they are going to repeat it next year.  I hope they do as it seemed a big success and the crowds were big, a little to big and the food and drink stations. We went into Skipton and had lunch and a mooch around the market as the weather was good.  A really good day was had by all!

I'm laughing at the rhino head as it looks like it has a very small body wearing a bag. Wish I was a photographer....

Finally I was given a basket of pears from my mother’s after she had picked her tree.  It has been pretty amazing this year and the best in the 12 years since it was planted.  I decided to bottle them in syrup with vanilla, star anise and cinnamon. The smell was gorgeous so roll on Christmas (I bet they don’t last that long).  

I hope to have finished my crotcheted Christmas tree bunting and a knitted handbag for my next blog. 

On the cards today was a visit to The Festival of Thrift held in Darlington along with my friend Lesley.  I had no expectations of what to expect as this was the first one to be held.  It was free and Wayne Hemmingway was at the helm so it was worth a look. 

We were very lucky as the weather was perfect for a day out. I had been to Lingfield Point in my previous sales career attending a networking event.  It was explained that it had been the old Paton wool factory and the long term view was it to become an eco village. To build eco houses, people being able to walk to work, and having a self sufficiency food programme including building allotments and bee hives.  At the time I was very impressed.

On arrival there were volunteers to meet you with programmes of what was happening, again free. The queue for the workshops were quite long so we headed straight for the stalls which were a mish mash of craft, food, vintage, and not for profit organisations but a lot of emphasis was on upcycling and make do and mend.  There were some fabulous creations on the stalls and lovely stallholders willing to chat, except for one.  I was told politely ‘no taking pictures of my stall with mobiles’ when I was actually texting.  Little did I know that Lesley had already taken a picture of it and carried on so I must have got the rollicking! She did chuckle.

The best find of the day was a line of VW campervans which were turned into dining rooms for the day.  Everyone had a different theme such as African, Indian etc. We plumped for the Indian, so we booked the camper, and set off to get a real ale to go with it. We clambered in with squeals of excitement when we saw all the flowers, knitted bunting , Indian cloths, incense was smoking and it was perfect.  The chef came and introduced himself and we were then waited on for our two course lunch.  Mung bean soup was followed by three veggie curries, rice, chipati, and 3 different side dishes. The meal was delicious and it was one of those memories we will treasure.

Some of the people milling round were dressed in vintage clothing and really looked the part and the street theatre was very good too.  One man was dressed in a cress suit which was pretty amazing, a rag and bone man, some men riding round on a made steam roller with very little clothes on, the tea ladies were really funny too.  One of them whispered in my ear that Mrs Morris down the road took her tea wearing no panties!

I am a sucker for kitch and fell in love with an old caravan revamped and made into a mobile shop.

I also recognised one of the designers from the TV programme Fill your house for free making a caravan from pallets.  Then I saw the girl who went round picking up everything in the van from the same programme. I asked if it was them from the Kirsty programme and was told 'it was our programme and Kirsty just fronted it' Oh well that told me then! 

The atmosphere was vibrant and quirky and we came away feeling on top of the world. My head is buzzing with all sorts of ideas although I only bought a bad full of clothes from the jumble sale and a piece of Liberty material and they only cost £8.50 for the two.  I hope that it will be on again next year as I would love a return trip.

Day 2 and 3

It has been a busy couple of days and I have enjoyed every minute of them.  Spent most of yesterday mooching around Guisborough, I was in the vintage charity shops and managed to buy some beautiful yellow and pink doilies.  I found a craft workshop called Blue House which has many courses including glass painting which I would love to have a go at.  Then into Leven crafts which to any crotcheter, knitter or sewer is like a fabulous sweetie shop.  This was followed by a wonderful lunch and much needed catch up with my old neighbour and friend Vicki. 

Back at home it was time to put my jam pans on to finish the jelly off.  I added a little port to the apple, elderberry, plum and sloe pan.  The smell was wonderful and well, it will be Christmas after all!  This jelly can be used for savoury use such as added to gravy, used as a marinade, accompaniment or is just as good on toast. I love the fact it is a good all rounder.

This morning started with switching my sewing machine on and fulfilling a promise for my florist friend Rachel.  She has just rebranded her company and wanted a new apron in her new colours that would be pretty but not too girlie.  She was very pleased with the result this afternoon when I delivered it. 

Tonight I have finished my jars off with labels and Christmas material I had left over from last year.  The cloth tops remind me of kids dressed as shepherds in the schools advent plays for some strange reason and has made me smile while putting string around them.

Jam pan has been put back on to use the last of the apples.  This time I have added rosemary which is a lovely savoury jelly.  That is in the strainer now and will be finished off tomorrow. Don't know how I managed to fit work in.

Starting out

Well hello and welcome to the world of Susie Cottonsocks. I have longed to write a blog for a while now and it just seemed the right time to try.  I hope you find it interesting.

You can certainly feel  the change in the seasons now, and this has prompted me to start thinking of Christmas (I know it is early) but this year I intend to do a homespun Christmas, probably along with a lot of people it is down to lack of cash.  I have a great interest in crafting, make do and mend, anything vintage and upcycling.  Having watched programmes like Superscrimpers, Kirsty Allsop making crafts, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall foraging, it has wetted my appetite to make things for Christmas this year. 

So the Christmas preparations were kicked off yesterday when Anne from the Ladies Club I run said ”I have brought you some crab apples” oh lovely I thought.  There was only 24lbs of them!

So on this morning’s walk with Millie, I managed to forage some plums, sloes and elderberries from the walkways near my home.

 I have also picked the last of my brambles (blackberries to anyone not from the north east) from my garden and set to work. The weather has been superb for apples, elderberries and bramble this year, anyway I digress, apples and brambles go in one pan.

Apples, sloes, plums and elderberries in another and the smell is divine. The contents of which are now draining through a jelly bag and the process will be completed tomorrow.  Jams, chutney and jellies make a great Christmas gift and since it is only costing the price of sugar so cheap.  If anyone has never used elderberries before make sure you don’t cook the green ones as they contain a small amount of cyanide and could make someone ill. 

Some of the apples have been put to use in making cider.  I found the recipe in one of my favourite books, The forgotten skills of Cooking by Darian Allen.

I’m quite excited as I have never made it before and it will be a great stocking filler come Christmas.  I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out and for the cost of cinnamon stick and sugar it will be made for pennies.  Oh I am loving this already!