Chocolate Peppermint slice

This is something I created for a school fundraiser, it went down really well! It's easy to make and it can be cut into bite sizes so you can get a lot of portions out of it. This is how it's done:

Ingredients

Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry for base (Store bought 'Careme')

3 blocks dark chocolate

600ml carton pouring cream

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup water

Peppermint essence

green food colouring

Method

Ok, now that you've decided to make it, there is no turning back... only chocaholics should proceed!

Firstly, cut thawed pastry to tin size &*blind bake on baking paper until cooked through.

Whilst pastry is cooling & hardening, prepare chocolate ganache in bain-marie (pot 'o' boiling water with metal bowl resting on pot - not allowing water level in pot underneath to touch the metal bowl above) by adding all the cream and 1½ blocks of the dark chocolate, stirring until melted & thick, add peppermint essence to taste.

Once pastry is crisp, pour ganache over pastry in tin. Refrigerate until ganache has set semi hard.

Melt sugar & water in a pot over heat, let boil away without stirring for around 10 minutes or until a drop of mix goes hard in glass of cold water. Then add peppermint essence to taste & green food colouring for a bright green look. Pour mix onto baking paper on a large plate and leave to cool completely & harden, smash with a hammer to create crystals.

Melt remaining chocolate over bain-marie & pour over chilled set ganache & smooth out with spatula or spoon. Sprinkle peppermint crystals over still warm chocolate. Refrigerate slice until chilled & hard.

Cut into any size shapes, triangles also work well & the size according to chocolate addiction.
Keep refrigerated.

*Blind baking is baking pastry before adding ingredients. This is done by baking pastry with baking paper on top covered in weighty legumes such as dry lentils, split peas or baking balls for around 15 minutes at 160 degrees C.

Rich, chocolately deliciousness!

What do you think?



Homemade Beans & Soldiers

I opened the fridge wondering what to make for dinner, all I had was some bacon in the fridge, tinned beans & tinned tomatoes in the cupboard. I threw together this beans meal & it tasted soooo good. The kids & my husband had seconds!The kids never have seconds!

Here is how I  made it:

Ingredients

Honey Bacon
Red Beans

Onion

Garlic

Tin Tomatoes

Smoked Paprika

Cinnamon

Mixed Spice

Beef stock

Method

Start by cooking finely diced onions in the pan until translucent. Add chopped garlic & honey bacon. Cook until bacon is caramelising. Add a small amount of hot water & a beef stock cube to pick up all the caramelised flavours in the pan. Add washed tin beans & smoked paprika, cinnamon & mixed spice. Add tin tomatoes and cook out the sharpness of the tomatoes for a little while.

When you're happy with the flavours it's ready to plate up. Don't forget the toast soldiers. I didn't need to add any salt because of the bacon & stock. There are also no amounts, just keep tasting as you go.

This is so yummy because it's sweet from the honey bacon, salty from the bacon & stock & hearty because of the beans. Perfect winter bog in!

Better for you than the tinned beans with all the preservatives & colours...

What do you think?

Kitchen cupboard

Now this is a gorgeous piece that I've had for a while and have always wanted to brighten it up without knowing exactly what & having the courage. Yesterday, I just thought I'd bite the bullet & do it. I had a midnight blue sample pot in the cupboard so I mixed in white until I was happy with the colour. I must admit I didn't expect it to dry so bright, but it's really growing on me.

Before

After

What do you think?



Side Table

I found a brown jarrah side table on junk collection, which I think would look cute in a country French style. A white undercoat with a light wipe of grey.

You can see here the undercoat has just been painted on the underside & legs. I do tend to get bored easily so I do things the quickest way. I could only find one of the kids old wide paint brushes so used that instead of going outside to the shed and stepping on the wet ground. 

I have painted the top, and I could almost leave it as, but the next step is so quick & easy (I tell myself).

I used an old tea towel to wipe on some grey paint, it isn't the exact right colour but I have to run with it because it's all I've got. If it was a large dining table or something big, then I would go out & get the perfect colour. But since it's such a small job, I'll stick with what I've got in the paint cupboard. 

I keep all my paints in a cupboard in the laundry so I don't have to fight the redbacks every time I want to check a colour.

My husband said, "It looks unfinished." He likes things glossed or french polished. It's definately not what he is used to. Another reason for me to like it. If something is different, I like it more. That's just me. 

What do you think?

Lamp

Ok, so I was saying that I was in the middle of a lamp revitalisé and this is the process. I found the above lamp on the side of the road. Here, in Perth West Australia, when you put your old junk on the side of the road anyone can collect it for rescue. So, it had a filthy multicolored spotty shade covering and the base was painted brown. As soon as I got it home I tested it, and even though it looked as though the plug was made in 1969, it worked! Yay! I pulled off the yucky shade covering and whipped out some primer - slash- undercoat and painted the shade & base. I came up with the idea to paint stripes on the shade and after doing so, I stood back and thought, that is soooo boring! It really needed texture. I had some old hessian which I used for my daughter's birthday party. I cut it into wide strips and began glueing it on as above.

This is after I had glued all of the hessian on the shade ending with very sticky fingers. It just needed a trim...

After a trim it's looking neat & tidy and I'm ready to style it up... now, where to put it? My daughter wants it next to her bed, but I want it next to mine...

Voila! I love the texture and the fresh look this lamp brings.
It's so Country French & a little Rococo... Love x

What do you think?

Who am I

I'm always reading other people's blogs so have decided to create one of my own. So, welcome to my blog!

I love to collect used furniture/decor pieces & recycle them into 

something useful, beautiful & cool.

I'm in the middle of a lamp transformation so will post the details shortly.

I also love sewing & cooking with my 2 kids.

Thanks for reading!