La Mammina

for the record

Ever since I began blogging, I began making things. I can't really help myself. I see stuff other people make and I want to have a go too. But I also just make things on a whim. And I do that a lot, but I usually don't blog about it. Not because I'm not proud of them or don't want to share. More because I am way too lazy to get the camera out and record them. (Not to mention having to hook up the camera to the computer and sift through the plethora of out of focus shots in order to find one where the child is keeping still for long enough).

So a while back Tilly went to a party where the dress code was "red". Not being a particularly red girl, she didn't really have anything on hand. I did have a little red knitted bag that I never used, so I opened up the bottom, did a quick hem, moved the handles around to become shoulder straps and embellished a little where I left a gaping hole from having unpicked one of the handles and ta da....a toasty warm little red tank top. No knitting required.

4

We clocked up another year for Tilly on Friday.

She was given a bundle of dress ups. Some of them made by me, some of them bought.

Here she is in the dancing dress. It took a really long time to make. I now understand why most people just go out an buy them. There are two layers of pettiskirts underneath, each with three layers of ruffles. I think I cut up, gathered and sewed about 18 kilometres of tulle!!!!

But she did make my day on her special day. She had been hounding me for a Dorothy the Dinosaur costume, which I did include in the bundle, but it was definitely a purchased one. When she unwrapped the big tub of dress ups, she was thrilled to see the Dorothy there but the first one she tried on was the dancing dress, and she did a little jig and I could tell she loved it so very, very much.

I also made some blue butterfly wings from cotton voile which I dyed a mottled blue, green and brown which I was pretty pleased with and a little elf costume, that I wasn't so happy about but Tilly sure had fun prancing around in it this morning.

Oh and if commercial characters are prone to offend you, look away now.

Tilly really wanted a Dorothy the Dinosaur cake, now there is no way I was going to buy one, and I sure wasn't going to try to make a dinosaur shaped cake. So instead, I made a really delicious chocolate layer cake filled with cream and iced it in chocolate and vanilla (dyed green) butter cream. Yum and then I dyed and rolled some fondant icing and constructed what I consider to be a fair resemblance of that green creature. Once again, Tilly's response made my efforts worth while because when she saw the cake her face lit up and she cried out in absolute joy and disbelief "A Dorothy face cake!!!!" 

(Oh yeah, the mini marshmallows were a hit too.)

Siblings

It's an old photo, but I had to do something. I couldn't stand that miserable butcher post being there for any longer.

Things are good. Life is busy.

I'm even sewing, but I just can't be bothered to photograph anything.

And what the hell is wrong with Typepad? And do they care?

If I could be bothered, I would move everything over to Blogger. At least it is free.

Feeling low

So, I'm finding it a little hard to post right now. I think I read way too many blogs, and by the time I finish getting through them all, my motivation for composing anything has pretty much vanished.

I also don't want to get on here and just moan. And that's all I feel like doing lately. The weather has just turned grey, I'm worried about whether I should send Tilly to school next year, my concern for the environment is getting serious after seeing An Inconvenient Truth and the butcher made me cry because I was asking about cheap cuts of meat.

That last one was a bit ridiculous. I was feeling pretty low when I walked into the butchers as the weeks food budget has been whittled down to a pitiful amount and I had done a lot of reading on how to make tasty and nutritious meals with less meat and cheaper cuts at that. The butcher really didn't want to help me and treated me like an imbecile because I wanted something different to what most people get. I wanted to shout at him "I'm not stupid, I'm just trying to feed my family!!!" Instead I just walked out without getting anything and vowed never to go there again, even if it is convenient.

I really should be focusing on the good things. Like how I found myself a little part time job that I just love. It involves hanging out with some beautiful fabrics and helping people decide what to buy, and cutting it up for them. It's only 3 days a week for 4 hours, so nothing I can't handle.

I get to catch the bus to work and have a coffee on my way. Doesn't sound like much, but getting to do these things without children attached to me is pretty exciting!

I walk past that building in the picture on the way, and as the autumn has been setting in, the ivy creeping across the wall is just beautiful in its multi-hued way.

I also received some cheerful post (in amongst the bills determined to bring me down). 

 

This needle case came from Marina at Wink Designs. I'm so into red at the moment so it is just perfect and now I have no excuses for losing my needles down into the depths of my pin cushion (which was also lovingly made by another blogger, how lucky am I!)

See, I've cheered myself up already, I should have made the effort to blog sooner.

Oh, and has anyone heard of Herdshare? It's not fully set up yet, but it is a way of contributing to the upkeep of a local (ish) cow and then reaping the benefits by way of fresh raw milk. They are just looking for interested parties right now, so you can go to their site an register.

I'd love to know about any other local share crop initiatives too if anyone knows about them.

For mother

Had a lovely lunch at my Mum's this Mother's Day. Grandma was also there, so there were 3 of us mums there at the one sitting. Mum has recently moved to Sydney, and is doing a lot more cooking these days, she is also going through her Grandmother's hand written recipe books to start a special family compilation for my and my brother's kids.

So I made her this oven mitt.

I also made a pear and cherry tart for dessert, which Feather was very keen to try out.

Feather's feet

Oh dear, I lost Feather's little leather boots. They were getting a bit small and I really wanted to hold out until he was walking before buying new shoes. It's just getting so cold now, he really needs something to keep his socks on.

I found these little shoes that I made back when I had the market stall. They are too small though and don't fit with socks.

I'm not sure if I should try to make some more or just bite the bullet and buy some.
Anyone know of cheap, tasteful little baby shoes that actually stay on their feet?

Worth it.

I was dubious. Even to the point of not photographing the steps of putting the loaves into the cast iron pot to put in the oven. You see, after leaving the dough for the requisite proving time, they didn't rise. I really didn't think they were going to turn out.
But, they rose up well in the oven and I got some of the best bread I have made yet.

The crust could be a little more golden and blistered but I didn't have my spray bottle of water at the ready. You see it is steam that makes a nice golden crust, and by spraying the loaves as you put them in and cooking them in a covered cast iron pot you can get a really good, thin, crisp crust in a domestic oven.

But Tilly had dismantled my spray bottle and there wasn't time to reassemble it at the strategic moment of getting them into the oven.

Anyway, time to have a ham and cheese sandwich.

This sour dough making business really does take a lot of time and dedication. I really do understand why it has a hefty price tag. Good thing I can make my own.

Shaped loaves

The loaves have now been shaped and wrapped in tea towels which have been rubbed with rye flour.
And now all they need to do is hang around in a warm spot for four hours.

Starting to look like bread dough

Ok, so here we are after the second refresh.

You can see the network of little bubbles that are starting to form under the surface. This means that it is good and active.

Now just add flour (I used a mix of wholemeal and plain), water and salt. Nothing else.

Mix it all together briefly and leave it for 10 minutes.

After which time you give it 3 quick kneads and then leave it for another 10 minutes. And repeat twice.

Then come a series of 3 quick stretches. Basically pulling the dough and folding it once, leaving it to rest half an hour between each stretch.

Next comes the shaping....

Got it wrong.

So that wasn't the beginning of a loaf of sour dough. No, that was just me refreshing my starter. But at least I got a good comparison shot of what happens to it after 12 hours. See, it has pretty much doubled in size. I just left it on the bench top to do its stuff, but it was a bit cold last night so that looks a but sluggish to me, so I've got it sitting outside in a nice warm spot to go a bit longer. After that it will go into the fridge until I next need to make bread.

I got a bit confused because I have 3 thing going at once. There is the refreshed starter in the glass jar, the beginning of the bread which is actually in the yellow bowl and the start of some sourdough crumpets I am going to try. Confused yet?

This is what the bread dough looks like after it has been proving over night. Some nice little bubbles, but not as full on as I would like. But I did go on to the next step anyway which was to add the starter to 75gr of flour and 75 gr of water.

Here is what it looks like .

Told you it was like paint drying.