Squishy Fruit Recipe 2 - Banana Bread

Ingredients
2 tabs butter/margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2-3 ripe bananas - mashed
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp bicarb
1 1/2 cup SR flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mashed banana. Mix the milk and bicarb soda in a separate bowl. Add the milk/soda mixture alternatively with the flour. (ie. a bit of the milk, then a bit of the flour, stirring in between.)

If you prefer not to have 'chunks' of banana, then you can stick a mixmaster through the mixture to make it more smooth.

Cook in loaf pan for 40-50min in moderate oven.

Hint - if you suddenly find yourself with 10 bananas all over-ripe at the same time, stick some in the freezer. You can freeze them peeled or unpeeled. (the peel goes black but the inside fruit is fine!)

Random Quilt Story

There's been no crafting, quilting or creativity around here this week at all. There's been a gastro bug, irritable children and an absent husband. Also impending visitors and deadlines.

Fun week, all in all! (yep sarcasm...that's the lows I've stooped to!)

So as I've nothing new to show you I thought I'd show you a quilt that spends it's life on our guest bed.


It began as blocks I had made at a sampler quilt class. I struggled through templates, hand applique etc etc and when I finished the blocks I played around with setting, hit a mental block and stuffed them, frustratedly, in the cupboard.Several years passed and I happened to mention them on my online quilt group - offerring to give them away to anyone who would take them so I long as I wouldn't have to see them again. (along with the blocks when metres of bottle green material for the sashing...what was I thinking!!??)

Well the lovely Caz said she would have them..and I never thought of them again. However, she got them together - changed one of the blocks that wasn't "working"-got it quilted, then bound it and sent it back to me!! Out of the goodness of her heart. A complete surprise. What a friend!!

And I love it. The blocks that I hated ended up looking pretty good together, I think.

Some quilts are quilts, and that's all. And some quilts are quilt's that give you a warm fuzzy feeling every time you see them, and this is one of those. How great is that??!

Have a great week!

A series of "Squishy Fruit" Recipes...

I hate waste. Maybe it is because I was raised by a mother, who in turn was raised by a mother who lived through the Depression and did it tough. Or maybe it's the adding up of the fruit and vege bills, trying to feed four children with healthy foods. Or maybe it's because I need the money for fabric,anyway, whatever the reason, I have a whole pile of recipes that use up "squishy fruit". You know, the kind of fruit that lives in the fruit bowl, untouched as it's no longer in it's prime.Or the kind of fruit that has travelled to school, remained uneaten, and then travelled home again...to live in the fruit bowl, until it's demise. Or the type of fruit that's been used as a bowling ball as the kids couldn't find the actual one that went with the plastic ten-pin bowling set..

Anyway, you get the idea...

So the first recipe is...



APPLE RAISIN CAKE

Ingredients
1 and 3/4 Apples peeled and diced ( the recipe says Granny Smith, I use whatever)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teas baking soda
1 teas cinnamon
1/2 teas nutmeg
1/2 teas mixed spice
125 g margarine (my boys are lactose free and this works well with Nuttlex)
1 egg
1/2 cup sticky raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Put diced apples in bowl, cover with sugar.Add margarine and eggs, mix. (It may look a little like the margarine isn't mixing in too well. Don't worry, it will work out fine when the flour is added.) Then add spices and raisins (and walnuts, if using). Sift baking soda and flour together. Add to mixture. Cook in square pan (20cm x 20cm) for approx 35-40 min at 180 degree C. It's cooked when it's golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.

This cake is good warm, with custard and icecream, as a dessert. It also lasts well...if it survives that long. To make it look a little nicer, add a dusting of icing sugar...

Have a great week!

A lovely day out...

Once again this year I went to...


That's right..Girls Day In the Country!(too bad for any of the male crafters out there!!)Run by the lovely Kerry from Cottage on the Hill and our tutor for the day was the wonderful Anni of Hatched and Patched.
The two projects we had to choose from were a wallhanging..



And a woollen purse..



Mine ended up a little less random than Anni's sample - wish I could have done it like that, but I'm not much good at random! :-)


It was a great day, catching up with fellow quilters- especially the lovely Lzi, who promised us all she would do a blog post soon...

Have a great week...all the best!

Missing in action...

Sorry, haven't been back to post for what seems like a long time! It's been another busy time - getting back into the swing of school, several lots of visitors,etc etc. And I've been operating at an 'exhausted' level so not much crafting going on...thus not much to blog about!

So just a quick post as I remembered I once mentioned showing you my Sunshine Boy's quilt (and I'll be back with Boo's soon). Here it is..

Made at a retreat at Cottage on the Hill it's a Thimbleberries pattern which came together really easily!

And I've been looking for a portable craft- as I sit next to swimming lessons, cricket games etc, so I bought these the other day


I am going to attempt to knit socks! Wish me luck as my knitting skills are a little hit and miss!

And just to share a kidlets story. I woke this morning to find leaves strewn through the living room...leading all the way from one side to another. It's never pleasant to wake up to chaos and I muttered at Boo "What did you think you were up too??". He replied, "Making you a fairy path, Mum"...as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I smiled...as I handed him the dustpan....

Hope you're having a good week!

Blackberry and Apple Crumble

Just thought I'd jot down a favourite recipe of mine (given me to by my friend, K)..in it's two versions. The first is the "I went shopping and bought all the ingredients" version and the second is the "My husband has bought visitors home for dinner without telling me and now I need to be serving up something more than icecream and ice-magic" version!

Version 1 - Apple and Berry Crumble
7 fresh green apples cored and chopped
1 cup of berries (I use mainly blackberries as we pick them fresh from a friend's farm)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teas grated lemon rind
2 teas of lemon juice

Topping
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of plain flour
150g butter
1 teas cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix apples, berries, sugar and lemon in bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to a large ovenproof dish. To make topping, add all the ingredients and mix to combine- or use fingers if that's easier! Spoon the mixture all over the fruit and pat down. Bake for 50 min or until the topping is golden or apple is soft. I often put a baking tray on the top shelf with the Crumble on the bottom shelf, so that the top doesn't get too burnt, for the last 20 min or so.

Serve with custard and icecream!


Version 2
1 large can of tinned apples.
1 cup of frozen blackberries or raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 teas of lemon juice (normally have some frozen in freezer)

Topping - same as above

Method - same as above but cook for 25-30min (as apple is already soft)



Hope you're having a good week. Mine has been TOO busy..and throw in a vomiting child AND a vomiting cat (what the?) and life has been chaos. Here's to better things next week!

A little sewing, a little self-analysis and some gorgeousness!

Hi..it's been a while since I've been able to post due to some "issues" (and that's me being polite) with our internet service. It's still unresolved but my hubby was worried that I might switch my addiction from the Net to something else ..alcohol, ice etc, so he has got me a Pre-paid Broadband stick thingo (that's the technical term)to tide me over.

The three oldest kidlets went back to school this week so I actually managed to do some sewing for the first time in about 8 weeks. At sewing class I managed to get the last of these blocks done and sewn together.

It's looking a little "busy" so I might have to put some serious thought into borders. Like usual, I have bought the borders before I started the quilt - always worried that I won't be able to find border fabric by the time I get the centre done - and as per usual what I thought would look good probably won't suit. Why do I do that continuously, I wonder??? (that's a rhetorical question...friends, please do not answer! :-))(And why, when I make that smiley face with the colon, dash and end bracket AND then close a bracket, do I always think that I am giving my smiley face a double chin??)

It's made by using a groovy ruler called a Twister. Firstly you sew the layer cake together and then, using the Twister, cut out the blocks from the sewn pieces and resew them again. I know I have made that clear as mud but try this link and it will all make sense! Promise!

And you may remember this - a terrific collaboration by members of the crafting community to raise funds after the Queensland Floods


From Ink and Spindle's auction I bought this lovely quilt kit...I love it!!

They also, very kindly, threw in some of their card packs...lucky me!



Well, I know this post isn't very well formatted but it's the best I can do with my limited time. So have a great week!