Biscuit tin: a (non-Valentine) diy

I think I've mentioned here before that The Boy and I have never celebrated Valentine's Day. We make a much bigger fuss of our anniversary. We use it as an excuse to eat amazing food (I still like to get a present though!). And I don't know about you, but I'm already a bit sick of Valentine themed posts. It's not even February! And basically, I was so pleased with myself for this, that I couldn't not share this mini-evening sized- diy with you!


After I'd finished all of my baking, I spent ages looking for a tin to take the brownies into work. The only tin I had was one left over from Christmas. In fact, I think it had some bath products in it. In any event, it was UG-LY. Pink and silver sequins is just really not me. So it had to go.






What you will need:
1 uggers tin in need of a revamp
2 pieces of contrasing material
mod podge


Luckily, I am a bit of a material hoarder. It's the thing (aside from masks, but that is a whole other post) that I always buy whenenver I'm away with work. So I dug into my stash to come up with these two pieces of fabric I picked up in Ghana. I'm so happy with how it turned out!



When selecting your material for this project, make sure that your material isn't so thick that it prevents your tin from closing! 

1. Measure the main part of your tin and the lid and cut two pieces of your contrasting material to leave a seam overlap of about one inch. 

2. Cover about a fifth of your tin in mod podge and carefully stick the material to the tin.


3. Move around the tin glueing and sticking material as you go. When the material is completely wrapped, stand the tin up to dry



4. While the tin dries, cover the lid in mod podge and carefully lay your contrasing piece onto the tin.


5. Once the tin has dried, carefully trim the material around the rims. Alternatively, you can glue the material down, but make sure that this will still let you close the tin!


6. Once dry, fill with goodies! It's a good idea, given the copious amounts of glue (!), to wrap all of your edible goodies in baking paper or clingfilm before storing in the tin.



I actually can't tell you how smug I'm feeling looking at the photos of my bad boy (I use this phrase waaay too much). Since I've shown you mine, you are now contractually obliged to show me yours once you make it...



 

Insta-week

Saying goodbye to big fat bastard// sad face glass ring at the pub on Wednesday// studying for the driving theory test over lunch on Tuesday


Getting my craft on on Friday// The creepy haunted-house house on the way to the supermarket// baking on a Saturday afternoon

You can find me on Instagram @katerinaha

What have you been up to this week?

Triple chocolate brownies

Since I really started learning how to cook, one of my favourite ways to say thank-you is with food. Dinners, lunches, brunches...cakes! One of the silver-linings of my horrible week last week was the reminder of how amazing most of my colleagues are. So I thought I'd take them a little thank-you present tomorrow. 

This brownies recipe is based on this BBC recipe- which claims to be the best ever. I like to think I've improved it!

Before we get down to business, does anyone have any good links to tips on photographing food- or any tips of their own? We get so little light in the UK at the moment (roll on summer!) that it's pretty hard to take good photos. And you'll notice we do almost all of our cooking at night, so it's even darker. I'm looking at tastologie and foodgawker and getting a bit self-conscious about how amateur my photographs look! 

You'll need:

185g of unsalted butter

185g of dark chocolate

100g of milk chocolate

100g of white chocolate

85g of plain flour

50g of cocoa powder

3 large eggs

275g of golden caster sugar (ordinary caster sugar works totally fine as well)

1. Break the butter and dark chocolate into small cubes. Add to a medium size bowl. Half-fill a small saucepan with boiling water and sit the bowl on top. Simmer over a very low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted. Remove from the heat

I use a bowl with handles to make this easier. But remember- the handles get hot too! 

2. Turn on your oven to 160 degrees (I am using a non-fan conventional oven here) and line a 20cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. 

3. Break the eggs into a large bowl, add the sugar. Grab an electric whisk and whisk together on the highest speed for around 5-8 minutes until a soft yellow colour and thick. 

It sounds like a really long time, but it's really worth it. If you're using ordinary caster sugar, it won't go a very pale yellow, but keep whisking as it does make a difference!

4. Pour the by-now cooled chocolate into the egg and sugar mixture. Stir very slowly in a figure of eight motion until all mixed together.

5. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a large bowl and add to the batter. It will go really powdery, but don't worry- it'll mix! Again, stir really slowly. It will look really thick when it's finished, but that's how it should look. You can see how thick mine looks, but if you're still worried, add a small amount of milk to loosen the mixture.

6. Chop your milk and white chocolate into chunks and add to the batter. I keep mine huge, because I like big lumps of chocolate in it! Also, to show you how easy this recipe is, I got carried away and added an extra 50g of white chocolate when making this, and it turned out fine. So my advice- add as much chocolate as you can handle! 

 7. Add the mixture to your tin and cook for 15-20 minutes. The top should look shiny and the whole thing shouldn't wobble if you give it a shake.

8. Pull out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin. 

9. Enjoy!*

*This is absolutely the most important step- do not forget!

Trampled edges of the street

Purple midi-dress: Topshop// Granny cardigan: Uniqlo// beads: Uganda // Belt: thrifted

 

 I think because there's no dress code where I work, I never feel the need to dress down on a weekend. I actually have a funny feeling I have a tendency to dress more formally on a Saturday than a weekday, since on a weekday if I'm (inevitably) running late it's so easy to throw on a pair of skinnies. One day I will be one of those incredible bloggers (or human beings) who actually plan their outfits in advance! 

The temperature around here has really dropped today, so my big granny cardie was definitely in order. I think we only took two pictures of me without it on because- despite my northern roots- am a massive wimp when it comes to any sort of low temperature! 

Luckily, I've been baking so the kitchen has been pretty toasty all afternoon. In fact, I've been crafting it all up in the place more generally, so I have loads to share with you over the next few days! The Boy is at the library- he's got a big deadline coming up. Over the past two years, I've been studying part-time for a law degree (yes, on top of my job. Yes, I am a complete workaholic), so the weekend studying has been convient in making me not feel guilty about the fact that I have to study. I finished in July 2011 and I am loving the free time I have (hello Thursday nights out), and it's really nice to take some time over my baking and crafting instead of rushing through a project every six months and get annoyed that it's not as good as it could be!  


Speaking of crafting, let's take a closer look at the beads I'm wearing today. They're made by women in Uganda (I've also seen them in Kenya, but not sure whether they're just importing them) who operate in development cooperations in many cases. They're made of strips of magazine paper glued together! In this close up, you can se the white, brown and red colours.

 

It's really amazing to watch them being made- it's so clever. There are tutorials in how to make them yourself, but I strongly suggest that you buy from a reputable online store or shop with connections to the organisations which work with women's groups making the beads, since they really are supporting women and their families. So you get an awesome piece of jewelry and get to feel good about helping the women making them! (/End lecture!)

Friday night love

I don't know about you guys, but I am exhausted! This week has been one of the most difficult I can remember in a long time. One of those horrible combinations of events: a nightmare week at work, the death of my computer and my Grandma being really ill (the latter being the worst of that bad bunch!). 

But things are looking up today. I passed my driving theory test this afternoon (yeeey!). I've washed up, hung washing, straightened and tidied. Now I'm modpodging the easiest (Christmas themed!) diy, listening to records and catching up with my favourite blogs. Perfect

Here are some of the things I've loved this week

 

This DIY macaroon purse 

This elegant- and long lasting!- postcard journal

This lovely cherry blossom print (I just bought one!)by Sixthandmain

This inspirational poster

 Finally, this excellent advice from Kaelah, reminding us to always follow our gut instincts! 

What else are you reading? 

Have a great Friday!

Midweek supper: Chorizo and borlotti bean stew

Let's slip in to award ceremony mode for a second: I'd like to thank The Boy for making this all possible...

By buying some sort of magic gizmo, declaring my hard drive a slave and somehow coming up with the goods! 

Thanks, my love! 

Slightly later than planned, I'm really excited about this recipe. Not only is it one of my absolute favourite winter dinners, but it has the added bonus that it's actually one of my own recipes!

 

It's my own interpretation of something I used to often eat at lunch at a place called Cafe Kick in Exmouth Market. Sadly, it's recently changed hands, and the place is a bit...well, rubbish now. 

But to the stew. I've added the amounts of spice I like using, but it's definitely one for the taste test and for a bit of experimentation to see what you like better.

Ingredients: 

One 400g can of borlotti beans

One 400g can of chopped tomatoes

One medium sized cooking chorizo

100g (pre-cooked) chorizo

100g Savoy cabbage

One onion, chopped

One clove of garlic, chopped

Thyme sprigs

One chili, finely chopped

One heaped tablespoon paprika

One tablespoon cumin seeds

One tablespoon cayenne pepper

300mls vegetable stock

In a warm (but not hot!) pan, gently toast the cumin seeds until you start to smell the aromas

Add a splash of vegetable or other cooking oil, turn up the heat and add the paprika, cayenne, and chili. Cook for 2 minutes

Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion softens. Then add the chorizo and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock. If you have some, try a splash of red wine as well. Bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce thickens- this should take about 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Add the sliced savoy cabbage and the borlotti beans to heat through. Be careful not to let the cabbage get too soggy!

I prefer to serve this with rice, but it'd also be delicious with some fresh, crusty bread to mop up the juices. Serve with slices of the pre-cooked chorizo to garnish.

Despite the fact this is my recipe, I understand that I am contractually obliged to add The Boy's disclaimer to all food. Ignore the recipe, keep tasting. Add whatever you think will taste good. Remember, half of the fun is in the cooking (the rest is in the eating!). I say this watching amateur Masterchef contestants getting very stressed about their cooking.

I'd love to hear if you try this recipe. Let me know if you have any recommedations, or favourite recipes of your own!

Technical difficulties

So my laptop, known affectionately as Big Fat Bastard (seriously, it's massive), has been acting a bit strangely for the past few days- randomly switching off or otherwise crashing every other minute. Turns out the hard drive is damaged. Tonight- everything has gone. I mean Everything. All my photos, music, windows explorer (!)- the lot. I'm completely gutted and have actually had a little cry already.

This loss includes today's awesome recipe post. Even more disappointingly, it's actually one of my own little numbers. So I'm afraid you'll have to bear with me while I recreate all of this week's posts (and recook this one!).

In the meantime, please enjoy this lovely photo of some baby elephants playing in the mud. It's taken at the ah-mazing elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. I'm actually heading back out to Nairobi on Sunday- I travel there a lot with my work. So look out for some exciting travel themed posts over the next couple of weeks- and some tips about maximising your suitcase wardrobe (something I like to think I am becoming something of an expert on!).

And, please keep your fingers crossed that all my photos are recoverable! 

Insta-week

 

On Sunday, after lunch with The Boy's family, we headed to the Euston Tap, and the White Horse for some jazz.

On Tuesday, I cheered myself up with some beautiful roses. On Thursday we went on date night.

 
 

 On Saturday, we spent a night in cooking and listening to records on The Boy's new record player

Today, I'm heading to an unconventional baby shower. This evening, we're having friends round for dinner so The Boy is hanging out here cooking for the afternoon. I'm looking forward to sharing that with you all! 

What are you up to today? Where ever you are, have a great Sunday! 

P.s you can find me on Instagram @ katerinaha

Sing a song of sixpence

Dress: New Look // Tights: Pretty Polly (I think!) // Shoes: TopShop

I had so many errands to run this morning, I arranged to meet The Boy in central London when I was done to take some photos in some of our favourite places and to do a bit of second-hand book shopping (yeeeey), one of my absolute favourite pasttimes!  

So many of my posts so far have helped me to learn as a newbie blogger. The most frequently heard noises out of my mouth when I'm on blogger sound like this "ooops", "errr", "aargh". And today was no different. When we got to our very carefuly selected* photographic location, The Boy pointed out that my camera didn't actually have a memory card in it. Doh! So we improvised and took them with my iPhone, but it explains the half-grumpy, half-exacerbated facial expression I have on in these pictures!

I also started off the day with a cardie on which matched the colour of my tights. But something about it didn't feel quite right, and it seemed a good time to have a quick peek in just a few shops to see if I could find the chunky mustard coloured cardigan I've been daydreaming about for a few weeks (probably since I saw the first of many mustard coloured wooly scarves on Pinterest!). I'd just about given up (The UK high street is rockin pastels at the moment- not my look!) when I spotted this through the doorway of American Apparel. It's a shop that seriously scares me with its hipster-than-thou attitude. I couldn't actually tell where the till was. But once I put it on, its cosy and ever-so-scratchy nature won me over. Though I do think I'll be averting my eyes in the future!

This dress has birdies with pink and grey plumage and tiny little orange beaks. So sweet! 

Once we'd gotten a few snaps in, we headed over to Judd Books and Skoob- two amazing bookshops on Marchmont Street, Bloomsbury- and picked up a few treasures each (adding to the piles of books next to bookcases!). I picked up a couple of the orange-covered Penguin classics. I may have decided to start collecting them! We were also really lucky to stumble across a local community centre run book store and I picked up three copies of "Red Rag"- an old feminist magazine. They have some great covers, so I'm really looking forward to doing some more research to find out more about it!

I'm taking part in Her Library Adventure's Thrift Week Finds. To join in, and to take a look at what everyone else has thrifted this week, visit her here.


*arbitrarily chosen phone boxes

Death comes to Pemberley

My name is Kat and I am a bibliophile. I live with a bibliophile. We have and read a lot of books. At the last counting we have 5 bookcases and a recipe book shelf in the kitchen- and we do not have enough room for all of our books!


Partly, this is because the boy is studying for his Ph.D and so has a couple of bookcases devoted to books related to that. But actually, once he finishes and moves his academic books out to his new office, I fully expect that it won't take long at all for us to fill up the empty spaces. Possibly with the books in storage in our garage...!

The Boy on the tube

With that in mind, I'm kicking off a regular feature I'm really very excited about: A life in books. I'll be reviewing and discussing a book a month. I've got some great books lined up for you, but am always open to recommendations! At the end of each post, I'll also be announcing which book I'll be reviewing for you next. I hope that you'll find time to read along and to discuss the books with me in the comments!

The book I'm choosing to kick-off with is a bit of a strange one for me. Firstly, it's a relatively recent publication; secondly, I bought it on the basis of an end of year best-off review; and finally, because it's a murder mystery. None of this is regular behaviour! However, I found myself in Liverpool on Boxing Day and- Lord!- hadn't been bought a single fiction book (I did get a big tome on Africa from The Boy, but I think that'll put you off my blog for life!). I was actually a bit worried- my family aren't big readers so now I've left home, there's not so much in the way of reading around the house. The one book my Mum passed onto me when I arrived, I devoured that evening!

Luckily, I'd packed my Kindle (although not the charger, which later turned out to be a bit of a problem), and so decided to take a look at some of the end-of-year lists to figure out what to buy. Ordinarily, I'm a browser and can actually spend hours looking for books, so I always find Amazon a bit of a pressured environment!

And so it happened that I bought this bad boy, Death comes to Pemberley by P.D James.

Death comes to Pemberley is set six years after the marriage of Darcy and Elizbeth. The peace of their lives is thretened with the arrival of one of Elizabeth's sisters screaming that her husband has been murdered...

Now, this could easily be the set up for a disastrous attempt at aping Austin's characters as well as her manner of writing. You know, Pride and Prejudice and Zomibies gets it, but it's embarrassingly bad prequel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, completely fails. James inhabits her world utterly. There were definitely moments when I thought to myself, "That doesn't sound very like [insert character here]". I think this is also down to the fact that the male characters in particular, are massively expanded in terms of personality than they were in Pride and Prejudice. But that said, James does a brilliant job of pulling the plot in the directions set by these character developments and this really does prevent it from failing flat on its face.

The mystery is perfectly satisfying, although I think the resolution is a bit rushed towards the end, which is a bit of a shame. It's nothing bloody, it's nothing too scandalous to render it totally out of place in an Austin novel- it's a plot that really fits and suits its environment.

This is a perfect book for a Sunday afternoon when it's cold and raining outside, and you've got a pot of tea, a bit of cake and a blanket for the waning of the afternoon. I highly recommend it!

You can read a little bit more and see a short interview with PD James on the Faber website here. (they, naturally, also get full copyright and credit for the book cover featured above)

Have you read Death comes to Pemberley? What else have you been reading lately?

She walked up with a flower and I cared

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to craft more. You know how it goes- you come home late, you eat and watch crappy tv and then go to bed. My intention is to use more of this time to learn how to make anything that looks exciting. 

I don't think I'm the only one to suffer from a confidence problem when it comes to crafting. Sometimes it seems as though everyone else can pick up crocheting, embroidery, quilting, baking, or any other number of skills and I'm at the back with two thumbs. So one of my intentions behind this blog is to document my adventures in learning to craft- and picking up some confidence. 

And you know what? It's supposed to be fun and at the end of it, I get something which may be a bit wonky, and may not look as neat as the picture, but it's by me. That's pretty awesome.

When I saw this crafty project on poppytalk, I thought it was the perfect introduction: one that wasn't so intricate I couldn't do it in front of my crappy TV! I had lots of fun making pompoms in the evenings when the boy and I were on holiday two weeks ago (so long ago already!) 

This is what I used:

I chose some lovely deep wintery colours of wool. and decided to customise some of my "branches" by wrapping silver washi tape around the branch before I glued them together. This took about three, not very strenuous evenings.

To finish my slightly wintery scene, I added a black satin ribbon around an old jamjar. It's a bit short, but the glass I have my eye on for it's final incarnation is a rum bottle which is still half full! 

They make a really lovely addition to my bedside table!

Pretty as a picture

Something about taking pictures outside is massively liberating. You guys should have said! These were taken outside the Sommer's Town Coffee House, where we headed for The Boy's Dad's Birthday (TBDB) on Sunday. We excused ourselves after lunch in order to take advantage of the last of the gorgeous sunshine we enjoyed on Sunday to take them. I'm pretty sure everyone thought we were up to something, since we were acting so shiftily!

 

 

Blue lace: Warehouse // pink pleats: TopShop 

I was really super lucky in the January sales this year. I picked up both of these pieces with pretty hefty discounts, even for TopShop and Warehouse. I love the contrast of the vibrant teal against the palest pink of the skirt in this combination. 

But beyond colours and bargins in the sale, in this outfit, I feel basically a bit invincible. Which is a weird, but awesome side effect of an outfit you really love wearing! 

ps: