Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Christmas leftovers take on a life of their own...

Christmas? Christmas?!  The festive season seems to be such a dim and distant memory already... for most people... Not here at Chez Lime, where we are still battling with leftover Christmas goodies.  As usual we bought in far too much - I blame all that snow for making us believe we had to stock pile!  We are making good progress though - we are down to the last few chocolates, only the toffees are left in the Quality Street tin and I put the last of the Pringles out of their misery yesterday.  Mind you, we still have nuts.  Nuts.  That great traditional Christmas nibble we all buy, but rarely eat...

But have you heard about my mini gingerbread men?



Well, I set about a baking frenzy on Christmas Eve, and after the Oatie Biscuits and the Chocolate Brownies, I unearthed the mini gingerbread men cutters that I had bought just because they were so cute, and sought out a recipe on the internet... It said it makes "about 20" - that's regular sized ones, so I didn't think to adjust the quantities... Mistake!

140 (yes, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY) little men later I gave up... Yes, I did waste a little of the dough, but come on, enough is enough!

So we ate as many of them as we could, but I think they may have been breeding!  The little blighters are getting everywhere...

This one was discovered having a nice hot bubble bath....



This one is wondering where he is going to keep his pocket money...



I caught these two naughty boys at the Christmas brandy!



And this very brave little chap has challenged the last mince pie...


...who has crumbled under the pressure!!



Anyway, for now they have been rounded up and are safely contained - poor things are exhausted after their adventures - but I'm sure they will be up to more tricks soon!



If you would like to make an army of mini gingerbread men, or even just a few regular sized ones, this is the recipe I used:

(sorry, I can't acknowledge, I didn't keep the link!)

350g Plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
100g soft margarine
175g soft brown sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp golden syrup

Rub the margarine into the flour, bicarb and spices, add the sugar, then the egg and syrup and need together to make a dough.  Roll out and cut as desired.  Bake at 190 for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of your biscuit...

I used gluten free self raising flour instead of the regular plain flour and bicarb, and this seemed to work OK - and you could use treacle instead of syrup and/or dark brown sugar if you want a richer taste.  Alternatively if you don't like ginger, swap the spices of good old vanilla essence.

Have fun!

Friday, 7 January 2011

Folksy Friday - Get the Personal Touch...

A very much belated HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my blog readers... and abject apologies for lack of postings over the festive season!

So I am back with my first Folksy Friday for 2011, and this week it is Fifteen Fabulous PERSONALISED Folksy Friday Finds!  All the items I have found are totally gorgeous (of course!) and totally handmade (of course!) and true unique... ...because they can be personalised to you, or your loved ones! What greater fabulous gift could you buy for friends and family that these completely one off items!!?

Children in particular love their name on things, so I have included a number of kiddie items, as well as some great treats that you could just buy for yourself! Go on, you deserve it for surviving the festive season!!

So here they are....

(Click on the item name below each picture for more details!)

by Elli Moody


by Roslyn Mitchell Designs


by Rosie Robins


by Kate P Sews


by Hollie Lollie


by IndiviJewels


by Quirky Boots


by Laura Lee Designs


by Made with Love x


by silvessence


by La Maitresse


by Rabbit & Co


by Chris Parry


by Winnibriggs House


by Stitches by Emmy Lou

I hope you have enjoyed this selection as much as I did putting it together, and are inspired to buy beautiful, bespoke, handmade gifts this year!

Friday, 3 December 2010

Folksy Friday - Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...!

OK, so we are all sitting here freezing our bits and pieces off - the first flurries of snow were probably welcomed with early festive cheer... but by now I think we are all just a little bit fed up with it! If you don't need to be anywhere, well that's fine, stay home, wrap up and keep warm... And if you really absolutely have to go out - please, please, please take care!!
I planned this Folksy Friday several days ago, it seemed a fun idea at the time, but I really do hope you won't all find it a bit of a sick joke by now... Anyway, however you feel about The Big Freeze, here are Fifteen Fabulous Folksy Friday Finds all about snow that you can enjoy from the warm comfort of your fireside...

(click on the item name below each picture to find out more about it, and to be taken directly to the crafter's shop...)































I hope you enjoyed my selection just a little bit more than the white stuff outside - stay warm!