Felt Food Party

I have been sewing up a storm (actually a party feast to be more accurate) for my Made It store.  Lots of new felt play food will be listed in the coming weeks.  These party plates of food have been road tested by some little ones in their play kitchens and have all got the thumbs up!

They really are extremely cute!

Thermomix vegetable Stock

Giveaway Winner is ....Pauline who likes to create because she finds it satisfying and calming.  Well done Pauline, the Pink nursery organiser will be coming to you very soon.

This weekends cooking from the garden is vegetable stock made in the thermomix.

 This is a thermomix and it has changed the way my family eat for the better.  We eat more food made from scratch (no cans, no preservatives or package mixes). I love my thermomix and use it daily.  It is the best kitchen appliance by a mile!

The ingredients for the vegetable stock or concentrate are:

200g celery, roughly cut
2 carrots, roughly cut
1 onion, peeled and halved
1 tomato, halved
1 zucchini, roughly cut
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
few leaves basil, sage and rosemary
1 bunch parsley
150g rock salt
1 tbsp oil

Most of the vegetables and all of the herbs came from the garden.  The concentrate is cooked up and then bottled and keeps in the fridge.  I use it as you could stock cubes in soups, casseroles, rissotos etc.  It is a concentrate so I only use 1 tbs.

In the garden this week I have planted  pak choi seeds, turnip seeds and peas.  I have also planted lettuce seedlings and harvested yellow cherry guavas from the tree.  The boys hadn't tasted them before but all declared them to be delicious!

My yellow cherry guava tree is less than a year old and is growing in a large pot and it has already produced 20 or more fruti. Unfortunately the possums found the tree and ate half of the fruit.  I ended up protecting the remainder of the fruit with fruit fly protection bags and the possums left them alone. Since I have had such a success with this guava tree and we all love the taste of kthe fruit I will be buying a strawberry guava soon.

Felt Food High Tea Sets

This week I have been sewing the most adorable High Tea felt play food sets.  There are dainty sandwiches with the crust cut off, sushi rolls, delicious chocolate slices and lovely  little cupcakes with gorgeous icing.  And of course a couple of teabags to make your own cup of tea.

I have images in my mind of when my munchkins were much younger and had pretend picnics and morning teas with their toys.  They would take all their teddies and soft toys outside and arrange them around the picnic table. 
They would serve up sandwiches and snacks of dandelions and grass, daisy fowers and leaves.

 
They would offer their guests fresh drinks from the tap with a sprig of lavender or rosemary picked from the herb garden.

They had such fun playing pretend games with their toys. 

Spanikopita

I thought I would do a weekend post each Saturday or Sunday about what is growing in the garden and a recipe to show how I have used it.
There is very little vegetables growing in my vegetable garden at the moment other than silverbeet and parsley.
So the recipe this weekend is:

Spanakopita

Spanakopita is a traditional Greek dish using spinach or silver beet with cheese and herbs, enveloped by crispy, flaky filo pastry.

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 bunch shallots (spring onions), finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1.2kg baby spinach or silverbeet (I used silverbeet)
• 2 tbs chopped dill (no dill so used parsley from my garden)
• 250g feta cheese, crumbled
• 150g full-fat ricotta cheese (didn't have any ricotta so substituted tasty cheese)
• 3 tbs grated kefalotyri or parmesan cheese
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 12 sheets filo pastry
• 120g butter, melted

Method

1. Heat oil in a frypan, then add onion, shallots and garlic. Cook for 1 minute until softened, then add spinach and half the dill. (If using silverbeet, remove leaves, and chop before adding; discard stalks). Cook, stirring, over low heat for 1-2 minutes or until spinach has wilted. Drain in a colander and cool, then combine with cheeses, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
   
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a 2 1/2-litre baking dish with butter. Lay one sheet of filo on base and sides and brush with butter. Repeat with 5 more sheets. Spread cheese/spinach mixture over top. Cover with remaining filo, brushing each sheet with butter. Trim excess pastry with kitchen scissors and tuck edges into sides of dish. Brush top with butter. 
   
3. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Rest for 10 minutes.

I sprinkled the top of the Spanakopuita with chai seeds as I had theses in the pantry.

What have you been cooking this weekend?

Giveaway! Why we make things?

Why do you create and a giveaway!
Yesterday I was reading an article in Sunday Telegraph Life magazine by Sarah Wilson.  Sarah writes a column in the Sunday Life each week titled A Better Life. Each week she tries out ways to make life more meaningful, happier, sweeter.
Yesterdays article was titled 'use my hands'. For the whole article click on the link and read but the gist of it was that she gets a kick out of doing something from beginning to end by herself ( she gives an example of growing her own mung bean sprouts).  Being a gardener I can relate to the thrill of digging the earth, planting a seed, watering, weeding,  feeding and finally picking, cooking and eating my very own produce fresh from my little garden patch.
I get the same thrill when I sew or cook something from scratch.  I feel happy and I feel satisfied and I feel a sense of achievement.
I don't create because it is cheaper.  Most of the time it is cheaper to buy ready made.  Whether it is food or vegetables from the shop, toys or furnishing there is usually a shop close by that sells it much cheaper than I can make it.
I certainly don't create from hand to save time either!
I create things from scratch because it makes me happy and satisfied.  That is one of the reasons I opened my Creative Wishes store and started selling my craft.  Each time I make a sale or get an email saying  we love your products I feel immense satisfaction and a lovely feeling of my time and effort being appreciated.

I would love to know why you create things.  Please let me know.  There is a little giveaway to be had too.  Your choice of one of the nursery organises above.

All you need to do to enter is:

1. Leave a comment on my blog telling me why you create and which of the nursery organisers you like (the country green, pink or blue one).

2. Like my facebook page or follow my blog or both.  For those that are already following are more than welcome to enter too. 

I will keep the giveaway going for a week and draw it next Wednesday. 

Garden Delights

I have mentioned a few times here that I love my garden and I love gardening... I mean I really love gardening. It in't a chore, it is another way of being creative and I get the same feeling of contentment and happiness gardening as I do sewing and cooking. It is not a neat manicured garden by any means.  Although I do attempt to have areas that are really tidy.  My gardening style is all about being practical and the produce.  I grow herbs, flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees.

I get such a kick when I harvest something that I have grown and cook with it. I don't live on a large property.  I live in suburbia on an average sized block of land.  I grow wonderfully fragrant herbs including lavendar, rosemary, basil, parsley, sage, bay tree, kaffir lime tree, thyme, garlic chives, oregano, lemon grass...
I have over 16 fruit trees in my garden including lemons, mandarin, fig, apples, peacherine, peach, avocado, banana, cumquat, guava, fejoa, mango...
I love reading gardening books and blogs (see the links on the left for some of my favourite gardening bolgs).
Who else loves growing their own food?  Do you blog about it?  Please drop me a link as I would love to visit.