Amazing brownies

I managed to bake this week! I was feeling a little bit off, and had planned to go to the gym but ended up baking instead.

When I said I wanted to bake, I was quized. Will it have bananas in? Will it have any strange/unusual ingredients? I guess that recently I've made a few banana-y things (leftover bananas in non-tasty cookies and a recipe for double chocolate fudge banana muffins which were pretty awful) and the sweet potato cookies were a bit unusual, but delicious, so the comments were fair. I was told that something chocolatey is always a safe bet, so made some chocolate cherry brownies.

So here we go - I even remembered to take a (bad) photo!

These were delicious. I used some chocolate cherry cocoa powder that I'd bought from Sugar and Crumbs http://www.sugarandcrumbs.co.uk/ which smelt amazing when it was opened. I also used the recipe from the website for the brownies, but left the in the oven a bit longer than it said to - I think my tin is a bit on the small side, so they ended up being very tall and taking a while to bake through.

They've gone down a treat. In fact, I've had to cut them in half to bring more into work today!

I'm now really looking forward to playing with my icing sugars, and will hopefully make some cakes this weekend (I still have lots of eggs to use up). If the cocoa pwder is anything to go by then they'll be delicious!

Small update

It's been a while since I last posted... I've not been in much of a crafty mood lately, and so haven't been doing much. His Hotness is coming along slowly, but it's tricky to see anything yet so I've not taken any pictures.

I've also been working on my Sprite Stitch swap gift - which was a bit of a disaster! It turned out far too small, so I've gone back to the drawing board. If in doubt, try again but with something you know. Supplies have been ordered and arrived on Saturday, so I'll probably make a start on it tonight. Lots of folk seem to be sending out their swap gifts, and I'm feeling majorly behind! Hopefully it'll kick me into gear and get me back into crafting.

M'aiq's face is now complete, and I've started work on the hood. It's slow going!

Hopefully another update soon, with pics if I get chance. I've got lots of eggs to use up this week (how we've ended up with 15 eggs that need using I have no idea) so there may even be cake pictures - if I remember! Most of the time I bake and forget to take photos/decide they aren't photo worthy.

Updates!

It's been a while since my last post, apologies. It's the beer festival this week, so things have been mad busy with the run up to that. This year we've had lots of little problems cropping up and in all honestly, it's been much more tricky than previous years. Still, this time next week it'll all be over.

 

So the last few posts have been pretty text heavy, as I've not been able to show you what I've been up to. Everything went well with the Science/Space swap, and my partner seemed to like what I sent, which is always a bonus! So, here we go with the pictures:

 

This is all of the handmade stuff I sent my partner. A darth vader dice bag (close up below), some Mass Effect and Star Trek magnets and a beautiful cowl, which is lovely soft merino wool that I added beads to. The pattern is called Equatorial Nights (it's from Ravelry) and each of the beads is placed to represent a star in the night sky, as viewed from the equator. I really didn't want to send it off, and have a feeling I may make it again for myself!

Dice bag close up

 

And the cowl in all of it's starry glory!

 

I also sent of a few other bits and pieces, some chocolate, a Word mug, some yarn etc.

 

But I know what you really want to know is what I received, right?

 

A lovely project bag, a yoda zip bag, a scarf in space-y colours, chocolate, some lovely vanilla chai tea (soooooo tasty!) a book which I haven't started yet (halfway through the first Game of Thrones book atm) some wool and an AMAZING Worf bookmark. I had so much fun unwrapping everything! Now I just need to find a pattern for the wool...

Speaking of which, I found a beautiful jumper pattern the other day, and ordered lots of wool for it. Must knit faster... New project is on the needles - His Hotness. There's nothing to show except for stripes at the moment, so I haven't taken a picture yet. Once it gets a bit more interesting I'll post one.

I did get some more work done on M'aiq - here he is as of the end of June. Since then I've filled in all of the gaps on his face. Now I just need to do his hood!

The next task is going to be the Sprite Stitch swap - I know what I want to make, I've ordered what I need, now I just need to start it. There's a second item I'm considering making, but I'll see how the first goes and how I'm doing for time.

I need to go and chase beer deliveries now - wish me luck! I'll post after the beer festival, if I survive.



Freedom! Well, kinda

It's been a hectic few weeks. Unexpected work trips, illnesses and exams do not make for a fun time. However I'm back, I'm well and all of my exams have been done - and passed! Last weekend I went away with 13 friends, which was a lovely, much needed break. Now all I have to do is choose 60 Cheshire ales and design a beer festival programme, and sort out some accounts for the football club.... so I'm free-er than I was, but not completely free just yet.

I'm afraid I haven't much I can say on the crafting front. I've finished two items for the Ravelry Science/Space swap that I'm doing, but won't be posting pictures until they've been sent/received. I've also signed up for a mini swap on Sprite Stitch, so that's more stuff that I'll be making and not posting online. Once I've finished with the Ravelry swap items, I'll try to make a little something to post, so it's not too text heavy. I've been looking at M'aiq again, and I think he may be one of my next projects - I can't wait to have him finished and framed! I also have my secret project that I'm itching to start... Plus there are lots more squares I want to do for the GAL blanket... Oh, and a friend wanted some baby stuff making for her new arrival in Sept... I have a feeling that it's going to be a busy few months craft-wise!

So in summary - no new info, lots to make, pics to come next month. Yay!

Still here!

It's been a while since I blogged, and I'm afraid I haven't got anything new to share. I've been busy knitting for a Geek Swap on Ravelry (Science and Space themed) so I won't be uploading photos until that's all finished and received by the spoilee.

I've not been able to craft as much as I'd have liked either - I was planning to get loads done during the bank holiday weekend, but my boss lost his passport, so instead of crafting, I ended up flying to Venice on the Sunday, and meeting up with some business colleagues. I then had to drive from Venice to Strasbourg over 2 days (while stopping to meet customers) before travelling back by train on Wednesday. When I got home, I felt pretty rubbish, but assumed it was because of all the travel - turns out I'd picked up a nasty bug/virus, and I ended up being ill all of the following weekend (sleeping roughly 19 hours a day, impressive!). I'm almost recovered now, but still finding it tricky to concentrate on something for a long time, and staring at a computer screen isn't the most fun thing to do. No knitting has been done in over 10 days - unheard of for me! I'm hoping to get back into it this weekend.... however I've had to rearrange an exam, so I now have exams Mon and Tues next week and believe the weekend will be mostly spent revising madly. The boy is away with work this week (went this morning) so at least the house will be quiet and I can get lots done hopefully.

I'm really glad these are the last two exams of the year - it'll be so nice to get them done with! I still need to decide if I want to do next year or not. It seems silly not to do it, but there's a lot more work involved next year I believe.

I've also signed up for a mini swap on Sprite Stitch again - I had a long hard think, and I really don't think that I can do a larger swap justice, even though the time frame is longer than usual.

Right, I'm off to try and get better so that I can get some revision (and perhaps a tiny bit of knitting) done. I've seen lots of errors in this post and have changed them, but no doubt some have still got through! Toodles.

GAL squares

I promised some new stuff, so here are my first 2 double knitted squares for the GAL.

X-Men Square, front and back

And a pirate square, front and back.

 

Really enjoying the double knitting, but taking a quick break. Need to make things for a Science and Space swap that I'm doing on Ravelry. I've got a few ideas in mind, just need to get them onto the needles. Once the swap's out of the way, I've got another couple of projects in mind, including some baby stuff for a pregnant friend and a lovely little something for me!

Happy St George's Day!

Today is St George's Day, a day for the English! It does sadden me slightly that there doesn't seem to be much English pride about, except for when the football is on. Perhaps it's just me and my circle of friends... anyhow. Every year, some of my uni friends get together for a St George's Day BBQ. Lots of fun is had, lots of meat cooked and eaten, and patriotic songs played. It's good fun. After making cupcakes for St Patrick's Day, I wanted to do something special for St George's Day. Plus the uni guys love when I bake.

I had an idea for a cake, and it kept me awake one night. It involved cooking 5 layers, then chopping and swapping. Surely there was a simpler way to do it. Then it clicked - I could do it using 3 layers. No, 2 layers would be enough! And a dragon... there should be a dragon.

With the cake idea floating around in my head, I thought I'd have plenty of time before the BBQ to make it. My plan was to go and make it at my mums - she has a fancy Kitchen Aid, and a dishwasher. Alas, time disappeared, as it so often does. It was the morning of the BBQ and I was still debating whether or not to bake. I went out to the shops, and came back with eggs. The bake was on!

Here's the finished cake (and yes, even though two people called it a dinosaur, it's most definitely a dragon. Wings are difficult to make out of icing!)

 

 

At first glance, you wonder what amazing idea kept me up all night, don't you? It looks like a normal, everday cake (with shiny red sprinkles). But wait! Look what appears when it's cut open! 

Yep, the English flag. I'm so glad it turned out well! Plus it tasted pretty nice. Time constraints meant that I had to use shop bought icing, and I did have to go to the shops a second time after buying eggs as I ran out of butter. Lesson learnt - be more prepared. I've already been asked to make one when England have a football match, hopefully that will turn out slightly better!