How to make a fabric memo board

This is the easiest (and thriftiest) idea for a gift or for your own home. Handy for thank you cards and invites (wedding season!) and a funky way to organise notes and photos. This one took less than an hour to make and was really simple. A cool project to do with kids for their photos and mementoes too!
 
You will need:

• 1 stretched canvas the size you require your board to be-  the one in the picture is 45cm x 45cm
• a piece of fabric that is 10cm wider and 10cm long than your canvas- so mine was 55cm x 55cm (this also depends on how deep your canvas is- basically it needs to be big enough to cover and wrap around the back so you don't see the canvas at all)
• 4 lengths of fabric tape (available form most good craft shops or online- I bought this from Aroha Vintage in Christchurch) two that are the width + 10cm and two the length + 10cm
• 4 lengths of string or ribbon, two that are the width + 10cm and two the length + 10cm
• 4 buttons
• needle and thread
• hot glue gun and glue sticks
• craft board or good cutting surface
• fabric scissors or fabric craft knife

To make your memo board:

• Cut your fabric to size and iron flat. Lay the fabric face-down on a flat surface and sit your canvas face-down on top of it. 
• Start on the edge closest to you and hot glue along the inside edge of the canvas' wooden frame and attach the fabric to it.
• Now turn the canvas around so that the glued side is furtherest away from you. Glue the edge now closest to you, pulling the fabric tight as you go. At this point check that the fabric is tight and flat over the canvas. If it is then continue- if not quickly pull it off before the glue sets like concrete and start again!
• Now turn the canvas so that one of the remaining unglued sides is closest to you. Fold the corner of the fabric in a 'tucked' corner so that the fabric is all neat and folded away at the corners. Now glue that side down.
• Rotate the canvas and repeat with the last side- remember to pull the fabric firm so that there are no creases in the fabric on the face of it.
• Now use your fabric tape to divide the board into nine. Stick the tape right around and onto the back
• Now take your string or ribbon and follow the line of the fabric tape. For this one I used twine that is thinner than the fabric tape and twisted two lengths together but you could use whatever ribbon or string you like, although if it isn't thinner than the tape it will make the tape pointless! Secure one end of it to the back of the canvas and then stretch it across the canvas and secure it at the other side. Repeat this for all four lengths.
• The final step is to sew a button on each point where the ribbons intersect. This will keep all your memos from slipping to the bottom of the board. 

Tips/ideas:

• You can use a canvas of any size
• This would also be cool to do using an old picture frame
• You can put as many strings across the board as you like, for this size I thought four was enough but it also depends on what you want it to hold
• you could use brads instead of buttons if you like, I just love the vintage look of buttons but there are heaps of brads available at a good scrap booking shop
• If you are stuck for ideas Pinterest has hundreds of these up there for inspiration!

Mini Bacon and Corn Quiches

These little gems are perfect for taking to a pot luck or to have made up in the freezer so that when unexpected guests arrive you can pop them straight into the oven and serve with some potato salad and tomato relish for a quick lunch.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 sheets shortcrust pastry
• 600ml cream 
• 2 onions finely chopped 
• 2 eggs
• butter 
• 1 cup grated cheese 
• 200g bacon rashers, cut into small pieces, no rind 
• 1 420g can corn, drained 
• 2 Tblsp chopped parsley 

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Using a pastry cutter or the top of glass, cut circles to neatly line cupcake or small tart tins. A 7cm cutter fits my cupcake trays perfectly. I use 4 trays, each fits 12 little quiches.
Gently fry the onions in a little butter until transparent, add the bacon and cook for another 5 minutes, until the bacon and onions are brown. Add the corn and parsley and mix together. Place a spoonful of this mixture into each pastry lined tartlet tin. Pour the cream into a mixing bowl, whisk in the eggs until well mixed, and pour a little (1-2 spoonfuls) into each tartcase to fill it nearly to the top. It is easiest to pour the egg and cream mixture into a small jug, as spoonfuls can get quite messy.
Sprinkle the top of each quiche with a little cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the quiches are browned on top.

Baileys Ginger Kisses

This recipe comes from my friend Emma and it is literally going to change your life, forever. You will never be the same and no other biscuit is ever going to taste as good- all those other biscuits in the world will actually be a little disappointing after wolfing through a batch of these. They even smell fabulous, the kind of smell you can taste in the air before you get the pleasure of actually eating them. These really are one of the best recipe finds of the year, so yummy and easy to make- thanks Em!

INGREDIENTS:

• 40g unsalted butter
• 2 eggs, beaten 
• 1 Tblsp golden syrup
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 2 cups flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger

IRISH BUTTER CREAM:

• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 300g icing sugar
• 1 Tblsp baileys Irish cream

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 190°C on fan bake. Grease and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Cream butter and sugar in electric mixer until light and pale. Add golden syrup. In separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients. Gradually add beaten eggs to butter mixture, alternating with dry ingredients. Mix well to combine.
Roll teaspoons of dough into balls and press down gently onto prepared trays. Bake for 8 minutes or until golden. Cool completely.
For the Irish butter cream, combine the ingredients and mix into a smooth icing. Sandwich together the kisses with the butter cream.

Thanks Em xx

Tomato Sauce

This is the BEST sauce, it's chunky and thick and full of flavour. At the tail end of the summer when the tomatoes are ripe and in abundance this is an amazing way to use some of them up, especially if your house is anything like ours and you use a lot of sauce! At my fathers house, there is usually a cooked breakfast on offer and this is amazing with his home-killed bacon- yum yum!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 lb tomatoes
• 1 ½ lb light brown sugar
• 1 lb onions
• 1 Tblsp allspice
• 4 Tblsp salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tblsp cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 5 cups vinegar
• 1 ½ lb apples

METHOD:
Chop tomatoes, apples and onion roughly. Put spices in muslin and boil all the ingredients together for an hour. Put through a sieve when cold and bottle.

TIPS:

• This is a great condiment but it can also be a really good pizza or pasta sauce too.

Pork-chop sausage rolls

These happened by accident, I had a pork chop in the fridge but it wasn't going to be enough for the farmer and me to have for tea so I had to think of a way of making it stretch a little further. The farmer loves sausage rolls so I thought why not give them a try with diced pork chop instead of pork mince. We have found a winner here my friends, tasty and didn't take long. One chop made two rolls the width of my oven tray which meant not only did it stretch for dinner, there was a couple left for the farmer's lunch the next day! These would be great to wheel out for any time you need to feed extras.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large pork chop 
• 1 onion
• 1 small leek
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 2 slices bread (no crusts)
• 2 Tblsp milk
• 2 Tblsp chopped parsley
• cracked black pepper
• salt to taste
• 3 eggs
• two sheets rolled out puff pastry
• 1 Tblsp sesame seeds

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Chop the onion and leek very finely. Cook  the onion and leek in the olive oil at a medium heat for about three minutes until softened. Set aside to cool.
Roughly chop the bread and place in a bowl. Pour over the milk and leave for 2-3 minutes. Mix the bread around so that there is no excess liquid. While that is soaking, take your chop and cut all the meat from the bone. Chop this as finely as you can so it looks like coarse mince. Now add the chopped pork, onion, leek, parsley, pepper, salt and two eggs to the bread in your bowl.
Mix with your hands until it is all combined (make sure your hands are clean!).
Take you two sheets of pastry, lay them out and arrange half of the mixture on each sheet in a sausage shape along the edge closest to you. Take your third egg and beat it up in a cup, use this to brush the far away edge of the pastry so that it will stick shut. Now roll up and press to secure. Repeat with both sheets.
Now you can choose whether you cut the rolls up at this point or bake as one big sausage and cut up after cooking ( I cut it up after but either if fine, before cooking is less messy because you don't get pastry flakes everywhere). Place your rolls seam side down on a baking tray and brush with the remaining egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and puffed.
Serve with tomato sauce.

TIPS:

• you don't have to use a pork chop, mince would probably work better but the whole thing behind this recipe discovery was that I had a chop- so I used it.
• You could add other veges to the filling if you chose
• 1/4 of an apple cut really finely and added to the mixture would also be yum

Enjoy xx
A

Mrs Renshaw's Plum sauce recipe

I was lucky enough to get this recipe from my friend George's mum. George always has this awesome plum sauce in his cupboard and so because rich juicy plums are in abundance right now in Geraldine, I got him to ask his mum for the recipe-which I am now sharing with all of you. This stuff is good enough to eat right off the spoon, so go out, pick some plums and get bottling!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 lbs ripe plums (wash cut and destone)
• 1 1/2 lbs brown sugar
• 1 1/4 pints of vinegar
• 1/4 pint water
• 3 small tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 onion chopped finely
• 4 cloves chopped garlic

METHOD:
Put all of the ingredients into a large pot and boil for two hours. Let cool and then blend in the food processor to make smooth (if you choose- it may be smooth enough after boiling) and bottle into sterilised glass bottles.

TIPS:

• 1/4 pint is about 1/2 a cup
• This sauce is a perfect excuse to recycle old spirit and wine bottles with a screw on cap.

Thanks Mrs Renshaw
Enjoy xx
A

Summer chicken salad

Add a fantastic flavour to chicken by dredging it in basil and  and garlic and lightly pan frying it. Serve tossed together with the crisp produce of summer for a light, healthy lunch. The best bit is that you can have it on the table and spread it to as many hungry mouths come through the door in under 10 minutes.

INGREDIENTS: (for one person- multiply for more people)

• 1 chicken breast per person or two chicken thighs
• 1 tomato sliced into wedges
• 3 asparagus stalks cut into quarters
• 2 large lettuce leaves
• 1/4 cup soft cheese Brie/Camembert 
• 1 Tblsp Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tblsp basil pesto
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• mayonnaise to serve

METHOD:
Cut chicken into 6 pieces. Place into a bowl with the pesto, soy sauce, white vinegar, garlic and honey. Cover with glad wrap and place in fridge. Marinade your chicken for at least an hour, overnight is best.
Lightly steam the asparagus and leave to cool while you cook the chicken. Cook chicken in a pan with the olive oil until golden on all sides and cooked through.
To prepare the salad, combine all of your salad greens, including your asparagus and arrange on your plate(s). Sprinkle with cheese, and top with tomato and chicken. Serve with home-made mayonnaise on the side.

TIPS:

• Add any other goodies that you have in the vege garden or find in season at the farmers market like avocado, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, red onion or fresh torn spinach.

Corn Fritters

Corn fritters remind me of university days, such a  good lunch for the flat. Actually if our flat was a country then corn fritters may have just been our national dish (if you don't count Speight's as a meal). They take two minutes to throw together, cost about two bucks a batch and can make a great brunch, lunch or easy tea when cooking is not on the motivation list.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can cream style corn or kernels depending on what you prefer
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tblsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup diced red pepper
• 1/4 cup diced onion

TO SERVE:

• 3 rashers bacon
• 2 Tblsp sour cream
• 1/2 Tblsp fresh chives chopped
•  1/2 Tblsp fresh parsley chopped
• 1 Tblsp tomato relish
• basil leaves

METHOD:
Make a batter from the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, eggs and milk. Beat until smooth. Add the corn, red pepper and onion. Drop a tablespoon of the mixture onto a non stick frying pan. Cook until golden and then turn and cook the other side.
Cook the bacon until crispy. Mix the sour cream, parsley and chives together in a small bowl.
Serve the fritters in a stack with the bacon, sour cream and relish. Finish off with the fresh basil leaves.
yum!!

Enjoy xx
A

Why god made farmers

In New Zealand we don't get the super bowl, which is fine considering there are about two kiwis that actually understand american football (and it takes ages!) but what we do miss out on is the half time adverts. These adverts are big budget and I mean BIG like feed a family for thirty years big. And they are creative and brilliant and get people that like marketing all warm and fuzzy (that's me). This advert not only makes me want to run out and buy a truck but also moves emotions that probably make a few of those town folk out there understand just why we live out here with our bad cell phone coverage and smelly dogs- cause god made us farmers..........

this is a gem.......
xx

Fresh peach chutney

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg yellow peaches, peeled
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, grated
• 1/2 cup malt vinegar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

METHOD:
Cut peaches in half. Remove stones and roughly chop flesh.
Combine peaches, onion, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sugar and sweet chilli in a large microwave safe bowl (it will need to be 3L or more). Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH (100%) power for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or until chutney is thick.
Spoon hot chutney into hot sterilised jars. Cover with a tea towel and allow to cool. Seal and label. Refrigerate after opening. Serve with ham or chicken. It is also really good in sandwiches with cheese.

Chicken, mushroom and thyme pies

Even the word pie is comforting, this is a great meal on the run because it can be on the table in half an hour, it is also well received in mini version for lunch.
I think the idea behind Gran's recipe was to make it faster by cooking the chicken and making the sauce all in one pan, making it a great one-pan wonder for the busy people of the world. I concede that although home-made pastry is amazing with its rich buttery fluffyness, it is not the fastest way to get tea on the table, So I bought the ready to roll stuff from the supermarket and don't feel guilty at all (mainly because I have pie to make me feel better).
This recipe always makes me think of the Cromwell gorge in the summertime when the thyme flowers are blooming and the valley is swathed in a rich purple carpet of flowers that keep the bees happy for weeks.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 rashers streaky bacon (cut or scissored into 2.5cm strips)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic chopped finely or crushed
• 125g mushrooms (sliced)
• 250g chicken thighs cut into 2cm pieces
• 25g plain flour
• 2 tsp thyme
• 15g butter
• 375g puff pastry
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1 Tblsp sesame seeds

METHOD:
 Preheat your oven to 200°C. In a heavy-based frying pan (I prefer cast iron but whatever you have is fine), fry the bacon and garlic in the oil until beginning to crisp, then add the sliced mushrooms and soften them in the pan with the bacon.

Toss the chicken in the flour and thyme (you could toss them about in a freezer bag). Put the butter in the bacon-and-mushroom pan before adding the floury chicken and all the flour left in the bag. Stir that up while cooking the chicken until it begins to brown slightly. Pour in the hot stock and stir to create a gravy. Simmer that for about 5 minutes, it will thicken.

Now you can choose how you make these pies into pies; you can take a large muffin pan and have bases and lids or you can take large ramekins or pie pots (most kiwis wouldn't own a pie pot, gran said they were very English!?) and just have lids. I tend to make muffin tray ones for lunches and just lids if I am serving directly for dinner.

In a muffin pan cut out your circles larger than the pan holes and place in (make sure you grease your muffin tin well or line with muffin papers). Divide your mixture between the cases. Make lids for each and place on top and press down the edges to seal. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

In pie pots make pastry rim (a 1cm strip around the top of the pot), use water to make it stick to the side if needed. Divide the mixture between the pots. Make the circles for lids larger than the pots, pop them on and seal them around the edges . Sprinkle the tops with the sesame seeds.

Cook the pies for about 15-20 minutes turning them around halfway through cooking. Once cooked, they should have puffed up magnificently.

TIPS:

•  As you can see in my picture you can just pop the lids on the muffin sized ones without sealing but I think I lost a bit of gravy that bubbled out doing it this way

Banana and cinnamon muffins

For these muffins you will need two large overripe bananas, which is why you should never throw away your bruised or blackened bananas, just pop them into the freezer as they are (skin on) to have when you feel the need for this recipe or any other that requires bananas. They look quite gross once defrosted but the flavour is as good as ever!
These muffins are quick to make and yummy yummy yummy!! Great for smoko or to fill a gap in the farmers lunch box

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 c self raising flour
• 1/3 c plain flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 c mashed banana
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon extra (for topping)
• 125g cream cheese (softened)
• 1/4 c icing sugar

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius (fan bake). grease a muffin tin or fill with cases, you will need 12 spaces about 1/3c in size. Sift flours, cinnamon, soda and sugar into a bowl. stir in the mashed bananas. in another bowl combine the eggs, buttermilk and oil. Then add this to your flour/banana mixture.
Divide the mixture among your pan holes and then bake for 20 minutes. Stand your muffins for 5 minutes int he tin before taking out and putting on a wire rack to cool.
To make the cream cheese icing combine the cream cheese and icing sugar and stir until smooth. Spread your icing onto the muffins once cold and then top with a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon to finish

TIPS:

• Buttermilk is the best but if you don't have any to hand then normal milk is fine.

What's old is new again and vintage is the new modern

These are too cute for trinkets!!

Traditional children's toys and room decorations are all back in fashion and make the perfect gift for the special child in your life. The Sleepy Owl has a great range of vibrant, colourful gifts for children for you to choose from. This vintage range epitomises tradition with a sophisticated chic that will never go out of style. These sets of stackable suitcases are so sweet, the perfect way to personalise a space, while providing a practical and stylish storage place for a little person's little treasures. The Sleepy Owl range is well worth a browse, because their collection is sure to be loved by parents and children alike.

RRP $35

Find The Sleepy Owl on Facebook simply search their name or email them at thesleepyowl@xtra.co.