Thrifty Tip: Making Moisturiser Last Longer

Today's Thrifty Tip is quite simple- when you can't squeeze out any more moisturiser from the tube, grab the scissors and chop off the end:

It even makes a neat lid to stop it drying up:

I managed an extra 8 days out of mine... thrifty result!

Fancy-Looking Desert in 1 Minute

So you know when someone is coming around for dinner and you don't have time to make a pudding (or when you've had a looong day at work and need a pudding), well here is a suggestion of how to jazz up even the plainest of ice creams to make it look like a fancy pudding.

Melt a couple of square of chocolate (whatever kind takes your fancy, I love dark) and using a teaspoon, drizzle over the ice cream so it sets in a fancy pattern:

... et voila, a fancy-ish looking pudding in under a minute!

P.S. Try not to serve in a chipped bowl like I did!

British Pie Week: Pork, Mushroom and Mustard Pie

There is nothing I like better than an excuse to eat pie and one has come along at just the right time in the form of British Pie Week- 5th-11th March.

To celebrate such a marvellous event, I have come up with a simple recipe for a pork, mushroom and wholegrain mustard pie- what better way to start the weekend?

Pork, Mushroom and Wholegrain Mustard Pie

4 servings

2 x pork chops
1 x onion
Handful of mushrooms
2 x leeks
250ml creme fraiche (or make a roux with milk, a bit of butter and flour if you're trying to be healthy!)
2 tsps wholegrain mustard
1 packet of puff pastry (or make your own if you have time to spare)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200℃/400℉/Gas Mark 6
2. In a large, non-stick pan, seal the pork and then add the leeks, mushrooms, onion. Stir fry for a few minutes, until the leeks, onions and mushrooms have softened
3. Meanwhile, roll out the pastry to fit a greased baking tray/dish- don't forget to leave enough for a lid (and a motif if you like!)- make sure a little pastry is over the sides of the dish
4. Pour the creme fraiche and spoon the mustard into the pan, stir and season to taste
5. Scoop the pork and mushroom mix into the pastry-lined dish
7. Cover with the pastry lid, cut off any excess and press the lid onto the exposed sides using a fork
8. Bake in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, until golden and risen.

Thrip for leftover mustard: stir it into mashed potato for a livelier taste.

Thanksgiving

As a nod to Dave's American heritage I have been doing some thanksgiving-themed cooking and craft!

We had our lovely friend Sean round for a big roast this weekend, and I made a rather tasty 'thanksgiving soup' with the leftover roasted veg and potatoes:

I then got out one of my favourite books- The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (a gift from Dave's lovely American sister indeed) and made these very cute pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing:

I also had fun crafting some house moving cards for some friends who are moving in together, and for Dave's Mum, who moves house this weekend. Captain Sew was quite cooperative with the card, even if it was a bit tricky using rather stretchy (and prone to curled edges) t-shirt fabric:

This one was made using scraps of wrapping paper on card cut from a folder divider (good thrip!), very simple design but I like the colours:

Happy crafting and Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas Cards

It's that time of year again- time for getting out the glue and scissors and producing Christmas cards that look like they came back with a 3 year old from nursery school! So this year, I am determined to produce more sophisticated Christmas cards. This means less of the glitter and PVA and more...

Red card with pretty decorations cut from old gift tags:

Use of the craft knife to cut words with a background from recycled wrapping paper:

Not completely satisfied with either of these ideas yet, but maybe with some refinement (and a sharper knife) they could be good.

In the end I couldn't resist a few glittery ones...

Happy Christmas crafting everyone!

Pumpkin and Winter Veg Soup

This evening I made some seasonal pumpkin and winter vegetable soup for the long dark evenings which seem to be upon us now.

Ingredients:

1/2 pumpkin with seeds, stringy bits and skin removed

1 onion

1 carrot

1 parsnip

5 medium sized potatoes

1.5l vegetable stock

Salt and pepper

Method

I fried the onion, then added the rest of the vegetables, the stock, coriander and some seasoning and let it simmer away for half an hour, before blending it into a hearty, fairly thick soup.

This made lots of portions (probably about 8), which I have frozen, as you can see the casserole dish was very full, almost cauldron like! This is much more economical (and just about as delicious) as my favourite New Covent Garden Soup, my calculations make this soup about 35p per portion, compared to around £1 RRP per portion for NCG soup.

I have pureed the rest of the pumpkin for a rainy day's baking project, watch this space for some Hallowe'en themed cakes...

Cash in the attic?

I have an eBay habit. Not just for buying craft stuff and clothes (although you can get some serious bargains!) but for selling anything and everything, so here is my A-Z of eBay thrips...

Anyone can do it- just sign up at www.ebay.co.uk
Buy it now- set this carefully- too high and it puts buyers off, too low and you lose out
Classified ads- can be listed to a much wider audience than in a local paper, great for cars
Descriptions- be as specific as possible, include links to the product website
Ended auctions- give you an idea of what price to sell your items at
Feedback- works both ways, helping you create loyal customers
Grab attention- with a concise but informative title
Honesty- unwanted gift, too small for me etc
Images- browsers are more likely to look if you include clear photos
Jiffy bags- try to pick these up from Freegle/Freecycle to save on postage costs
Keep the boxes, these makes things much more saleable
Listing fees- save by waiting for free listing weekends
Mobile phone app- helps you keep track
Never agree to complete a sale outside of eBay, it's probably a scam
One man's junk is another man's treasure*
Paypal- makes transactions safe and easy
Questions- answer promptly and honestly, encourage people to ask them
Royal Mail- offer a great service where you can pay for postage online
Spares and repairs- broken cameras, phones etc are no longer worthless
Timing- make sure you're able to post the items on the end date
Use eBay's product details to fill in everything for you
Value your item- do your homework first
Weigh items- to set appropriate postage costs
X-rated- certain items are prohibited from sale, check first
You'll need lots of parcel tape, bubble wrap and a marker pen
Zany items- often sell best if nobody can get hold of them elsewhere

* I learnt this when I sold some bargain basement sparkly pants that were 4 sizes too big for me (thanks Grandma!)

I have made lots of spare cash over the years by eBaying that broken camera or those trousers that I needed to lose some weight for (and never did). Take a look around and think how much more space you could have... Just try to avoid the bid button. Happy eBaying!

Barbie bike bell, anyone? Starting at just 99p...