The living dead and a few Halloween projects

Dripping, drooling, moaning evil zombies have nothing on us this week. My husband and I are just getting over the flu and between the two of us coughing and wheezing, I don't know how we sleep. I normally make this chicken noodle soup with ginger (sunshine in a bowl), but today I'm going to make this chicken curry soup with coconut and lime as it is easy and flavourful. Hopefully normal breathing with resume tomorrow.

The flu may have slowed me down, but I've managed to have a bit of a clear out. Summer clothes are packed away, wardrobes have had a once over and now I've just finished off a few projects that have been lingering around. Remember this one?

Yes, I've finally found a decent frame for my "39 Squares" project. I mounted the fabric onto a canvas and then hung the canvas in a great shadow box from IKEA. I should have bought a bunch of these while I was there!

I also finished this off for my husband's birthday:

This was my husband's favourite t-shirt. He bought it while we were dating and last year I finally forced him to retire it. Rather than tossing it into the rag pile, I turned it into this banner for his office using directions for a placemat.

Then I came across this left unfinished from last year and went right into Halloween mode.

Not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it now, but it may end up on a felt trick or treat bag next week.

Now in the full Halloween spirit, I did this:

I've always wanted to try my hand at decoupage, so here's my first effort. This candy tin is decorated with images from The Graphics Fairy. I pestered my other half to punch two holes, strung it with a black velvet ribbon and stitched up the orange flower ribbon. Not too bad for a first effort, if I do say so myself. What am I going to do with it? Fill it with my favourite Halloween treats and hang it near my sewing seat.

This sunny, dry morning I started these soon to be Halloween lanterns, found here at Martha Stewart.

I also have plans for these, but I'm not telling yet. Maybe they'll be done for my next posting!

The Summer is winding down...

Clay Pipe Museum 3, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

Whew! What a summer. The weather may not have been great -- either cool and wet or scorching hot -- but it has been jam packed. After three weeks in America, nearly a week in England, and another week of entertaining guests here, life is starting to resume regularly scheduled programming. My other half is back to work, my daughter is back in school, and I am finally able to sit down and write.

On Saturday, I realised that the blackberries have just come into season here when most of the neighbourhood children appeared with sticky, red stains all over themselves. I got up extra early yesterday fearing I missed out and armed myself with a bucket and step stool. After a few hours, several bramble scratches and a bad nettle rash, I returned home triumphant with my booty. Sadly the resulting jam only filled two jars. But two very lovely jars they are!

My main sewing project at the moment is a piece for the Flickr "New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns Group" vintage pattern stitch along. I had it in my head that the piece needed to be done by 1st September, so I'm nearly finished with it. Stupidly, I've just realised that the deadline is actually the end of September. I'm rather geeked about my project and can't wait to share it!

This project has inspired my next one -- a fabric book featuring vintage embroidery from different generations of my family. The last issue of Sew Somerset featured beautiful fabric books that I can't wait to try my hand at.

The top picture is from my trip to England. Broseley, in the middle of England, is home to a clay pipe museum. This factory was the last of its kind in England. As it was pretty much abandoned in 1960, it acted as a time capsule, preserving so much information about this industry. Today it is home to an interesting little museum that gives us a glimpse into early industrial life. On an interesting side note, my husband's great grandfather owned it!

My summer schedule

Bus skirt detail, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

As you can tell from my lack of blogging, I am now in full summer mode. For the last few months we seem to be either getting ready for visitors or getting ready to visit someone. Things have been hectic and it looks like nothing will change until mid-August. This is not to say I haven't been working on projects. I've managed to finish a few things in my free evenings. So, to keep things short and sweet I will summerize:

Geeked about:

• Flying home for a three-week holiday: I don't get homesick very often -- except around the holidays and just before a flight!
• My latest book order: The Complete Book of Sewing, Sewing in No Time, Sew!, and Preserves.
• Decorative trim: I am in love with pom-pom trim, crochet lace borders and velvet ribbons!

Projects on the go:

• An Alice in Wonderland pillow for my sister.
• My 39 squares piece is essentially finished. I just need to decide what I'm going to do with it now.

Projects I've somehow managed to actually finish:

•  A crinkle scarf from a terrific Ruffles and Stuff tutorial.

• A baby shirt for my cousin's daughter. The wonderful Wild Olive pattern can be found here at DMC.

• A recycled jeans skirt embroidered with a VW camper van. I took an old pair of jeans, turned them into a skirt and embroidered them with a camper van. You can find the image by Googling "VW camper van coloring pages".

Spilled all over the kitchen:

• My annual strawberry jam
• Homemade salad dressings -- homemade green goddess salad dressing beats a bottle of ranch any day.
• Salads with beans and/or couscous
• Elderflower and lemon cordials
• Cooked fruit desserts -- crisps, cobblers and tarts galore!

Whew! I think that just about covers it for the moment!

Easter treats

Easter treats, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

Hope you had a happy Easter! It was a bit chilly and changeable here, but we managed to get out and about a bit. It is hard to believe that last Easter I was wearing shorts and we ate our Easter dinner (lamb shanks in red wine -- yummy) outside!

This weekend all crafts got put aside and I donned my apron for some major cooking and baking. I started on Thursday with hot cross buns. I’ve never made them before and although I did do a bit of swearing, I will make them again next year. Maybe I’ll try a different recipe, as the buns were heavy and not as fluffy as I like them.

On Friday, we made our fun eggs. Usually we make chocolate eggs (dark chocolate drizzled with milk and white chocolate) in a silicon Easter egg mould, but this year we broke with tradition. We made chocolate rice krispie Easter eggs. While the crispies were still warm in the pan, I used the egg mould to roughly press the treats into shape. Then using lightly oiled hands we finished smoothing them into eggs. Using a bit of leftover melted chocolate, we “glued” on smarties and chocolate buttons. My daughter was covered in chocolate by the time she was done, but we had great fun.

As all of the hot cross buns were gone by Saturday, I made a batch of simnel muffins to last us the weekend. These are one of my favourites – they have a little nugget of marzipan in the middle.

Most of Sunday afternoon was spent hovering around the kitchen. As our relatives are too far away for a quick weekend visit, I just had to cook for the three of us. It gives me a good excuse to try out new recipes that I wouldn’t cook on a daily basis. This year I made Gary Rhodes’ slow-roasted, honey-glazed duck. Although the glaze turned out much darker than it should have and the skin didn’t go crispy, it was gorgeous. It was the best duck I have ever had – slightly sweet from the honey and meltingly tender. One store-bought, 2.4 kg duck fed the three of us perfectly. This was a bit disappointing as I was hoping for leftovers. I should’ve known though. It was time consuming for just one meal – basting every 5-10 minutes at the end! I will consider doing this one again either for a romantic Valentine’s dinner or maybe doubling it and doing two ducks at once.

As I knew I would be spending so much time on Easter dinner, I resorted to buying Louise Lamb (see above). Around us here in Germany, this lamb-shaped cake is popular in bakeries. If I can still find one, I’m going to buy it – it was so cute! It was a pound-cake or Madeira-cake type of cake covered with powdered sugar. We ate it with hot custard, but I’m sure berries would be perfect as well.

Now we’re getting back into our workweek routine, with just our Easter sweets left to console us until the next holiday! I’ve hung up my apron for a little while (friends and relatives are descending on us in a week) and have resumed my embroidery.

One last note – I’m so excited about my latest flea market find! I don’t have a proper tea set, so I’ve just collected pretty and unusual tea cup and plate sets from local flea markets. I never spend more than 5 euros. I was so surprised to see this one with a spool of thread and needle on it! I snapped it up naturally. Now I think it is time for a muffin and cup of tea!

Mincemeat Mania

Last week my other half rolled out the first batch of mincemeat pies. We then sat down and ate almost all of them. Just kidding. Only three each. As someone born and raised eating mincemeat pies, he said these were the best pies he's ever eaten. They are heavenly -- flaky, moist, fruity. On Tuesday one of my neighbours showed me how to make three batches of proper German Christmas cookies. On Wednesday, my husband and I erected a gingerbread house while my daughter and her friend decorated it. Yesterday we dived into the Christmas cake. Good thing I didn't make a Christmas pudding as I have given up watching my weight this holiday season!

Best Christmas Cake
Best Mincemeat
Best Mincemeat Pie Pastry -- see BBC Good Food 101 Bakes and Cakes
Best Way to Use Up Leftover Mincemeat

Poppies and lost sweethearts

Sailor Postcard, originally uploaded by Tea Potty.

Yesterday was Remembrance Sunday and we spent part of the morning at a wreath laying ceremony. It was a bit muddy and gray, but the trees were in beautiful autumn colour. Seeing all of those WWII graves really brought home just how many young men were lost from my grandparents' generation. Please remember Veterans' Day on the 11th November.

These were my grandmother's hankies. I understand that they were given to sweethearts during WWII. They're in terrible condition, but I decided to put them on display for Wednesday.

On a lighter note, our friends were here from England over the Halloween weekend. I managed to get a nasty head cold between cleaning, cooking, entertaining, and doing the tour guide and Halloween bit. It promptly snowed the following Tuesday all day long and, as you can see, our pumpkins look like I felt. Sorry gents, but you're off for composting.

I have managed to get myself thinking about Christmas. Tomorrow I'm tackling my mincemeat and, on Wednesday, the Christmas cake. Recipes and blogs to follow. No Christmas pudding, my husband didn't request one. I'm not sure if that's because we won't actually be home for Christmas or if it's because last year's was so incredibly alcoholic that I couldn't give my daughter a slice!

My guilty little habit

I'll admit now that I am a big fan of the holidays. I always was, but I've deteriorated since living away from my hometown. Instead of getting homesick, I get fanatical about the holidays. From 1st October through to the 15th February, I get starry eyed and nostalgic. I hum Christmas carols at odd and inappropriate times. I've forced people to drink homemade eggnog.

Living in Germany has made things worse. Germans know how to do Christmas with gusto. Therefore, I've had a secret hankering for Christmas since holidays cards went on sale in August. Publicly, I cried, "Too early! Not yet!" though I longed to pick them up and run my fingers over their green and red glitter. I withstood. At least for a little while.

I finally broke down mid-October. One right after another, I produced my goods -- Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, and glorious mincemeat. I sat down amidst of my flour-strewn kitchen and surveyed my booty. One whiff and there was Christmas in all its spicy, fruity, boozy glory. With precision, I wrapped, sealed and secreted each away into the deepest, darkest corner of my pantry.

But that wasn't the end. Every few weeks whenever I'm home alone and need a dose of holiday happiness, I lock the door, out comes my supply and off comes the wrapping. I jealously survey each for blight, add in a bit more alcohol, and take a deep, delightful breath. Satisfied, back they go, my family none the wiser.

Finally, the tree is up, lights are aglitter, cards posted, Christmas markets are scheduled, and my holiday mania is pacified (for now).

So, for the truly obsessed, I've compiled the following list of my minimum holiday eating requirements:

• Christmas cookies, (these are all American; I should have some German recipes soon)
• Christmas fruit cake
• Christmas pudding
• Mincemeat
• Mince pies
• Gluhwein, vin chaud or mulled apple juice