Monthly Archives: June 2009

Make do and mend

Posted on by

My friend Annella was having a clear out recently, and she gave me a bundle of beautiful broderie anglaise material, which she had no use for. It had originally belonged to Annella’s granny, so it must be really old, as Annella is 83. I think that at one time most of it had been made up into underskirts, as there was one intact one in the bundle, and another which had just had the waistband removed.

I wore the intact one under a flimsy skirt when I went shopping in Edinburgh on Saturday. I think it must have been the “Sunday best” underskirt as it seems like new and the material is very sturdy. It certainly stopped my skirt from sticking to my legs and made the skirt ‘hang’ better.

broderie anglaise underskirt

broderie anglaise underskirt

underskirt detail

underskirt detail

So, being of a waste not, want not turn of mind, I thought I would make the one which had just had the waistband removed into a summer nightdress, as it was more than half way there already. As you can see below, I simply gathered the top edge, and then bound the edge with lace which I already had in my stash. I’m quite pleased with the outcome.

broderie anglaise nightdress

broderie anglaise nightdress

nightdress detail

nightdress detail

Although, I must admit that this was my second try at it. I actually went to the trouble of making pin tucks at my first attempt of the nightdress, however that all went sadly wrong when I accidently cut through the material when I was cutting the lace edging. Honestly, I couldn’t have done it if I had tried, but – hey ho – you know how it is and I couldn’t face making the pin tucks again.

Now all I need is some summer weather in which to wear a nightie. I’ve just changed over from the winter duvet to the summer one today as it has been too cold until now, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I had to pile a quilt on top of it tonight. Well, that’s Scotland in June for you.

Tuna parcels

Posted on by
Tuna Parcels

Tuna Parcels

I can’t stand tuna, but everybody else in my family loves it. So, when I’m making this recipe, I’m just about holding my nose at the same time and certainly trying my best to breathe in as far away from the tuna as humanly possible.

1 oz of butter
1 oz flour
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tins tuna in sunflower oil, drained
grated rind and juice of a lemon
1 small packet of frozen puff pastry (thawed)
1 beaten egg

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and bring to the boil, stirring until smooth. Simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the flaked tuna fish, lemon rind and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Season with pepper and cool.

Cut the thawed pastry into 4 equal rectangles, then roll them out until they are about 8 inches square. Place them on a baking tray and then brush the edges of each one with beaten egg.

Divide the filling equally between the 4 pieces of pastry and then gather the 4 corners of each one together to form a sort of swag bag shape and squish the edges well together, giving the gathered corners a little twist.

Brush the pastry with the beaten egg, then place the baking tray in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 6 or 200 C for about 25 – 30 minutes. Check to see how they are getting on after 20 minutes, in case you have quite a fierce oven, I find that they do vary.

This is very much enjoyed by all my tuna lovers, however it can easily be adapted to use up cooked chicken. I add some sauted leek to the mixture, the frozen kind is fine, it saves on all that leek preparing.

I’m sure that you can think of lots of other filling possibilities. These are so easy to make and the good thing is that you then know exactly what is in them. I’m always a bit suspicious of commercially made pastry things.

Use dolphin friendly tuna of course.

Peanut and Chocolate Tart

Posted on by

This dessert goes down very well with the family, but it’s really a special occassion thing as it must be very fattening. My lot are all at the stage where they are only going to grow out the way as they have stopped growing up, and this pudding recipe is very moreish.

Peanut and chocolate tart

Peanut and chocolate tart


200g chocolate chip cookies (crushed)
100g melted unsalted butter
200g cream cheese (Philadelphia)
200g peanut butter
100g sugar
120 ml. double cream

For the topping:
125 ml. double cream
80g sugar
70g plain chocolate
60g unsalted butter

Crush the chocolate chip cookies in a plastic bag, giving them a good bashing with your rolling pin. Mix the melted butter into the crushed biscuits until well incorporated. Then tip the biscuit mixture into a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Smooth it out and press well down around the edges. Place the tin in your freezer for 20 – 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir the sugar into the cream cheese and the peanut butter and mix well, until it is smooth. Whip the cream to the stiff peak stage and carefully fold it into the peanut mixture.
Spoon this mixture onto your chilled biscuit base, and smooth it level.

For the topping.
Place the remaining sugar and cream into a heavy pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, without stirring. Remove from the heat, and after a minute or two, add the remaining chocolate and butter. Stir until it has all melted, then leave it to cool slightly before pouring carefully onto the peanut mixture.
Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Serves 6 – 8 people, depending on how greedy you are.
Obviously this is a great recipe for preparing the day before your guests come, leaving you free to get on with the main course.

This recipe is based on one from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s column in The Guardian. His has a baked base which I tried and didn’t like, it was too soggy for my taste.

Fashion

Posted on by

Angelique Chrisafis of Paris had an article published in The Guardian on Saturday, 30th May, in which she reported on an exhibition at the Jean Moulin Museum. Apparently the exhibition shows how women reacted to the Nazi occupation, using clothing to boost their self-image, amongst other things. It explores the ingenuity of ration book fashion. Of course, much the same things were going on in war time Britain, although admittedly we didn’t have the added problem of the Nazis requisitioning materials such as wool and leather.

We’ve all heard the stories from mums and grannies of gravy browning used to dye legs (very popular with dogs) and beetroot to dye hair. No wonder the Americans were so popular, with their nylons and lipsticks.

Fabienne Falluel seems to think that French women don’t necessarily know how to sew nowadays. However she believes that this will change during this recession, and that people will soon start learning to sew again.

It was a surprise to me that the French seem to be so far behind the times. In Britain, over the past couple of years the sales of sewing machines have increased enormously. I know that young girls here have always customised clothes to make themselves a bit different and add some of their own personality to their style. I know that I have a dread of meeting someone at a ‘do’ who is wearing the same outfit as me, and I’m pretty sure that that is a universal horror for women.

Well, it just can’t happen if you make your own things or at least customise them. The Gok Wan fashion programmes are giving people the confidence to have a go themselves too.

Part of the attraction in sewing is the fact that you can take something that is quite worn out and turn it into something new. It’s all very green and good for the environment, and it saves you money too.
It can be taken too far however. My mother-in-law was a Make-Do and Mend teacher during the war and she carried on with that same attitude to everything for the rest of her life. Like many people of that generation they just got into the habit of saving everything like string, elastic bands and wrapping paper.

Sending the kids to school in patched clothes shouldn’t be an option nowadays as the whole thing gets too Dolly Partonish for words. (See the video below.)

But there surely comes a time for every piece of fabric when the best thing you can do with it is turn it into a cleaning or polishing cloth.

Getting back to the subject of fashion. Just why do the French have such a great reputation for being well dressed? The last time I was in Paris I only saw one well dressed woman the whole time I was there, and she was a lady of a certain age, harking back to that era when no lady would open her front door unless she had her lipstick on, at least.

Sentimental / Mourning Jewellery

Posted on by
Mourning jewellery

Mourning jewellery

I must admit that when I tell people that I collect hair jewellery, they often take a quick step away from me. For some reason it really seems to freak out a lot of folk. I really can’t think why it does, but there you go, it’s just as well we are all different.

I think that everyone should have at least one thing about them that the majority of people find just a bit weird. That’s what makes life interesting. Of course some of us have quite a lot of things that most people think are pretty crazy.

I love brooches, and I think that one of the first brooches which I bought many moons ago, was a huge Victorian hair brooch with pearls included in the intricate design. The pearls are meant to denote tears, so I guess that that one is probably the hair belonging to a dead loved one.

There are plenty of pieces of jewellery around which were obviously used as love tokens, and I don’t think that you can get much more romantic than that. Friends even exchanged locks of hair.

The hair jewellery business was very big in Victorian times. I suppose Queen Victoria’s deep and long mourning for Prince Albert helped to keep the fashion going, although hair jewellery was popular long before then.

People used to send the hair of their loved one off to be twisted and woven into a particular pattern, but it was rumoured that the jewellers actually used hair belonging to prostitutes to make the designs, and understandably people were put off by that. So they took to crafting their own designs and pattern books were published to take advantage of this craze.

I’ve always loved hair and when my boys were very small, I kept all of their baby hair whenever it needed to be trimmed. So, I have two tins full of baby hair because I just couldn’t stand the thought of throwing it away. Now, all I have to do is open the tins and immediately I’m whisked back to their babyhood. I don’t feel that urge often, but it is nice to have the option.

Of course, I also have some curls of hair from all four of us, tied together and tucked safely away in a locket.

There is also a rumour that I have their baby teeth in tins too, but even I think that that is a wee bit strange and I’m not admitting to it at all.