knittyknit

Roast Chicken Dinner Soup

A new friend of mine came over for lunch last week, and Martin made some yummy tomato soup - which ewent down very well it seems. She asked me for the recipe and I speedily told her how to (fry onions and courgettes, add herbs and garlic, add passata/ whizzed up tomatoes and cook until ready). However, I also suggested this roast chicken dinner soup, and luckily for us this is what I made for lunch today (after the AWESOME roast we had last night). I thought I'd share my method:

You'll need

• Some leftover roast chicken - torn into bitesize strips/ chunks.Chicken stock (made by boiling up the stripped chicken carcass in a large pan, then straining off the liquid).
• Leftover chicken gravy
• Leftover roasted veg (we have here roasted carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes (which I roast with the skins on, so remove the skin))
• Any other leftover veg - top right here we have courgettes and kale lightly fried in butter.
• A raw carrot and half a raw courgette roughly chopped - for textural variety!
• Also, [not pictured] an onion finely chopped
• Fresh or dried herbs of your choice, I suggest rosemary, thyme and tarragon.
• Freshly ground black pepper and a little salt to taste (although I didn't put any salt in mine as babies will be eating it).
• Two tablespoons of tomato puree.
• Two tablespoons of plain flour.
• Spaghetti snapped into 1' lengths (optional)
• Olive oil

Method:

1. Fry the finely chopped onion in a generous amount of olive oil until tender and translucent. Spoon the flour onto the chicken and then tip this into the pan. Fry until the mix begins to brown slightly. Don't worry too much if the mix sticks to the bottom of the pan. As long as it doesn't burn! If it's too dry, add a little more oil.

 

2. Add the raw veg and the roasted veg which will keep its structural integrity - not the sweet potatoes, or courgette/ kale mix. Continue to fry for a few minutes, then add the leftover gravy. Mix well, then add the stock. If you are using a pressure cooker (as I was here), put the lid on and allow to boil for 5 minutes or so, until the raw vegetables soften. This may take a little longer if you are using a conventional saucepan.

 

3. Add the two tablespoons of tomato puree, the herbs, and the snapped up spaghetti, and continue to cook for five more minutes again. Finally, add the remaining veg (which, if added at the beginning, would have been obliterated), stir gently and cook for another couple of minutes until the final veg are nice and hot, and have absorbed the chickeny tomato-ey goodness!

 

4. Serve with some crusty bread, or maybe toast, or (like we did, a mixture of the two AND a giant yorkshire pudding made from leftover batter. Sliced up and dipped in the soup is divine!

Enjoy.

P.s. the last few photos are kind of blurry, and I apologise! The steam kept settling on my camera lense! TUT.
 

Surely Not!

 
Wow! Surely it's not six months since I blogged? How did that happen? Oh yeah, I remember now, having two small children, a pretty much full time job + singing in two choirs + teaching piano two nights a week + taking Eleanor to her tiny choir on a Friday evening. That's how! I suppose something's got to give.

Well. What's to report? Not much sewing done - other than a few bits and bobs, and a few final orders for the knitting shop. Due to various reasons (outlined above) these are the very last things I'm making for them. I'm pretty relieved as it was starting to become a chore. I certainly did not set out on my crafting adventure to be come a seamstress! I was liking the items I was making less and less, and the time consuming monotony of the whole situation has put a dampener on some of the things I've really wanted to do.

Ooooh, I have a new job starting next year (to add to the two others I already have). It's teaching KS2 (7-11) French - quite random, but I'm really looking forward to it!

Other events since I've been away:

 

Eleanor turned three. Check out that cake? It was superb. It's meant to be a garden - there was a bit of a theme. I got the idea from the Martha Stewart website, which is an endless source of inspiration! I wanted a variety of lollipop shapes, but NOWHERE sells good old fashioned boiled sweet lollies any more (apart from the shop where I bought these of course). Anyway, Eleanor's present was this:

It still needs some tweaking, and since this photo was taken, some of the curtains have been made, and the floor has been painted. It has also been turned into a shoe shop, and she has also been banned from it for the weekend for dawbing suncream stick EVERYWHERE - windows, floor, ceiling, curtain wire (?!) I was not a happy bunny, but it's amazing what baby wipes can do.

This also happened.... 
 
 

Eleanor sang in her first little concert. Oh my goodness I very nearly cried! I've been taking her to the tiny training choir for my old choir - Scunthorpe Cooperative Junior Choir (who are, I am proud to say, the radio 3 Choir of the year! At last!). It was so good to hear them sing again, and I just wish I could have been up there with them! Oh yeah, Eleanor's tiny training choir was sweeeeeet too.

Alice grew a lot too:
 

And we went on a superb jolly holiday to Cornwall. How could we ever go anywhere else now?

We stayed in an amazing chalet in the Towans, which deserves a post all on its own. That's a reason to not be another 6 months I'd say!

Bye for now!

knittyknit has arrived on facebook!

Check this out, not only am I blogging AGAIN - twice in as many days - but I have also created my own little knittyknit fan page on facebook! Click here to become my fan! I'm also putting lots of photos of my crafty wares so if you like anything you see, and would like to order an item, give me a nudge! 

Down to the crafting...

I made these little booties for a baby group friend's new baby boy. They are toooo cute! My mum bought me a big bag of very soft leather scraps from a bespoke shoemaker who was packing up business, and they're perfect for the soles of softie booties. I wasn't sure whether my machine would like the leather, but it coped just fine! The soles are also personalised - an afterthought actually (hence the slightly wonky stamping of the name)! Another friend cleverly suggested stamping the baby's date of birth on the sole too - as a really special keepsake for the baby memory box, I'll remember for the next ones!

 

Thought you might also like to see a snap of my Christmas stockings... I know it's a little late, but they're worth it I think!

Unfortunately there's one more just out of shot - but y'know, it's equally lovely!!
 
 
 

A Must Try!

After watching the Hairy Biker's 'Mum Knows Best' programme a couple of weeks ago I felt I HAD to make crumpets from scratch. I am so glad I did. They were ridiculously tasty, and am already planning on making it a bit of a weekend tradition. I don't have a set of chef's rings so I had to improvise with some biscuit cutters. The teddy ones understandably were a big hit! The recipe was just right, and made plenty for lunch, and the next days' breakfast! My tip for the best texture would be keep them quite thin so they don't turn out too doughy...

 
 Just wait a minute until I take a photo of... Oh... Never mind!
 

I'm Back!

I'm sure you know how it is. The run up to Christmas, crafting like a crazy person to assemble stalls for fairs, throw in a new baby along with the toddler and before you know it it's been two months since you last blogged! I can't tell you how busy I've been, how much I've made, and how much Alice has grown in that time. I can, however, just show you instead.

 
A whistlestop tour of my stall includes appliqued vests/ t-shirts, personalised drawing sets (with handmade drawing books), button hairclips and earrings, peg doll kits, gingerbread man kits and a whole host of pretty bags.

 
A whistlestop tour of Alice's four-month-old facial expressions includes confused, worried (mostly when Eleanor's around), cooing, and cheesy grin! I just love her to bits. Yes, that is a scary Father (or Mother) Christmas!  
I hope I manage to find time in the next two months to blog! Please forgive me if not, I am after all, going back to WORK after Christmas. AAARGH!

 

Coming soon..

to a yarn shop near you (if you happen to live near this yarn shop) are these stash/ project bags. The shop has just gone online and I'm hoping that my stuff will be on there soon. As well as these bags I'm also selling knitting rolls, and boxy needle cases of different lengths (some short enough for crochet hooks, some long enough for 35 and 40cm needles). I have really enjoyed making these bags. It's most satisfying ironing them once I've turned them right-way-round, and finding that all the seams match up nicely! They are available in two different sizes. The larger size is a stash bag - big enough for loads of wool - and with internal pockets on both sides, there's space for a few pattern books and needles too. The smaller bags are great project bags - again with pockets on both sides for patterns and needles. The bags will sit very nicely next to your arm chair and keep all your bits and bobs neat (I think I need to make one for myself!)

Here are also some gratuitous photos of my little cutie Alice. Yes. She's dressed as a boy on purpose for photographic reasons. I made the blanket for a friend whose friend is having a baby boy any day soon. I hope the friend likes it! The cardigan is one I knitted a while back. I wish I'd knitted it in pink or cream, as Alice could do with a cardigan, and I STILL haven't finished the one I started for her before she was born.

 

I'm going on holiday next week to Great yarmouth - or thereabouts. I've never been before, but my mum says they don't sell brown bread there, so I'm a little suspicious. She said the shop assistant said there was no call for it! HA! I'm very much looking forward to it though, especially after the unfortunate incident in the car last year! It'll be great to spend some quality time with Grandma and my sis!

The Arrival!

In true knittyknit style, I've delayed this post far too long! Never-the-less, Alice Jennifer was born on Sunday 9th of August weighing 7lb 9oz. She was speedy to arrive once she got going - 3 hours of contractions and POP! Out she came, half an hour after we arrived at the hospital. The poor student midwife who was helping out didn't know what hit her. Luckily, not literally. Alice was a caulbearer. A term I have never come across before. Alternatively, she was born in a caul, which means to be born with the amniotic sac intact. It's supposed to be very good luck - so they say. Anyway. Here she is!

Waiting and Waiting

Well there is still no sign of baby wanting to make an appearance! I was due on Monday, so it's just a lot of waiting around and pottering really. I have made several large jars of jam to pass the time. Very tasty it is too. Summer fruits - with our own blackcurrants - in this batch. The strawberry batch didn't quite set, but it's still devine on toast. It's gonna slightly melt anyway, when it's on hot toast, right?

 

Here's another cushion made for a little boy's third birthday. I could really get into making cushions in a big way I think. Very satisfying turning them right way out for the final time to see that crisp and plump shape when you put the cushion in! I really enjoyed using felt for the spaceship applique too. I 'stuck' it on with some bondaweb before I satin-stitched the outlines.

The cushion was beautifully wrapped in stripey paper for the spectacular pirate party we had been invited to. At least, we hear it was spectacular. We arrived at the church hall to find it locked up. We'd got completely the wrong time. I was furious with myself to say the least - and mostly because Eleanor was grumpy and tired without the nap that she could have had after the party anyway!

 

Anyway. I'll try and keep you posted re. the imminent arrival and leave you with a final photo of me in my blooming state (with a monkey in tow)!

Back at Last!

 It's been a while. Again. However, I've finally finished work and begun my maternity leave. Heck, it's going to go so quickly! One term off is definitely not enough, but money is a necessary evil I'm afraid.

Here's a little of what I've been up to in the past 6 weeks!

I randomly made butter.

 

Here it is after shaking and shaking until the butter separated from the butter milk.

 

Here is the small but very tasty pat of butter after the milk had been squished out. YUM!

And here is the butter dish, which does occasionally get used, but mainly on special occasions. It was made by my beautiful and talented sister (who IS coming to visit me soon on pain of death) whose work you can see and evidently buy here! She assures me she is going to start to blog, but I fear her new-found interest in Facebook is taking up potential blogging time.

I have finally moved Eleanor into the new nursery (yet haven't taken adequate pictures) so I have a new sewing room! This was one of the first things I made in the new space - a very satisfying cushion for a 3rd birthday boy. I was extremely pleased! This will definitely go on the list of 'quick things to make when you haven't time/ energy to shop for a present'

Birthdays and non-birthdays

  I have yet again gone SEVERAL weeks without blogging. Sincere apologies. What have I been doing?

1. Painting...

A bookshelf for the new nursery. It will be turned round so it's short and long rather than tall like this. It used to house my fabric.

2. Sewing...

A princess and the pea set for a little girl's third birthday. It came in a pretty bag too, and with a bright green crocheted pea. I was inspired by here and here.  I tried a cloth doll to begin with, but because I was rushing I made a pigs ear of it. I decide I could crochet one just as quickly and make it look how I wanted it more easily.

 

A new cushion for outside. It has a thin double duvet folded up inside. Cunning!

3. Playing...

 Eleanor has taken to climbing into her water tray. Good job Daddy made it nice and strong!

Eleanor turned 2 on Thursday. We got her a little kitchen! She just adores it. My wonderful family got her some of the most amazing accessories; pots, pans, glasses, cutlery, toy food, and beautiful cakes and an egg which splits in two with a little cloth inner part. The kitchen itself was from thewoodenchoice. What can I say? It's a good job Martin is a wizard with wood. It was SO shoddily made, bits were missing, bits didn't fit, the holes drilled for the handles were WAY out, and to top it off it was badly damaged in transit. After recieving a full refund (without having to return) Martin set to work, and it now looks lovely. So. DON'T buy from thewoodenchoice unless you are prepared to spend ages repairing what boils down to a complete lack of quality control and bad workmanship.

4. Eating...

 

Delicious, yet not completely attractive, ice lollies. I have searched for the perfect mould (which achieves a very similar shape to that of a minimilk) and I finally found one at my local cook-shop. I wanted to be able to make a batch, pull them out and store them in order to use the moulds to make more. The ones above are a star mould I found at Morrisons for about £1.99 and the Lakeland moulds which have a special handle with a straw affair so you can sip the melted juice.

 

Birthday cakes! Some have the obligatory chocolate icing, applied with my new icing nozzles. Some are a buttercream with vanilla yoghurt added. TAYSTEEE! And no, someone hasn't stolen one of the pink ones, I just ran out of buttercream.

 

The result: one happy girl full of crisps and cake... one shattered mummy!