Flapjacks

Last year, I was at Henley (cause I'm well posh...) in the queue to pay for some lunch. On a table near the cash,  there were loads of wrapped up baked stuff - brownies, cakes and flapjacks.
In front of me where three american girls/women, who were all looking at them:

American Lady 1: Do you want one of these things?
American Lady 2: What's a Flapjack?
American Lady 1: Oh, they have those here everywhere.
American Lady 3: I think it's like a Blondie, these weird British people don't call them that though.
American Lady 1: Oh the British are so weird. Why do they come up with different names for everything, it's just confusing.
(everyone was looking at them a little funny now, cause they were shouting. And also, Henley is full of 'those weird British people.')
American Lady 2: Why do they say they are oat bars then?
American Lady 1: It't the weird British again. They think blondies have oats in them.
American Lady 3: Maybe they don't know what oats are?

Yeah. So it turns out they don't have flapjacks anywhere but here then... If you happen to be American, and have no idea what they are, go off the oat bar description. Not the Blondie one... Although we don't have blondies here for some reason. Hmm someone should do something about that...

Anyway, the recipe I use is from my little sisters Usborne Beginner's Cookbook:

175g Margarine
175g Demerara Sugar
2T Golden Syrup
225g Rolled Oats

1) Grease a tin, preheat the oven to 160 C
2) Melt the margarine, Demerara and Golden Syrup together in a pan, but don't let it boil.
3) Take the pan off the heat, mix in oats.
4) Spread the mixture in the pan, put it the oven, and cook for 25 minutes or until golden brown
5) Take them out and after ten minutes, cut them into pieces, and then leave to cool.

Waffle Socks

So, about a week after I finished the first sock, I have also finished the second sock. Yay!

But also, it was all a bit of a pain. Not because of the amazing pattern, but because I am a lazy numpty. Basically, I a) couldn't be bothered to go out and by more yarn. So I used some from my stash which I knew would be b) impossible to get a pair out of since I only had half a skein of and even then I didn't c) decide to do parts of it in another colour, like a normal person would. So when I d) ran out of wool while doing the foot on the second sock, I didn't e) try and figure out which colour would work best for the rest of it. No instead I f) used so random wool that was floating around in my room, which g) looked rubbish, and h) wasn't even the same weight as the other wool. Eventually I frogged that and i) used some left over grey wool which turned out fine:

They are only for me anyway, and I'll just wear them around the house and under boots, so it won't be a problem... just kind of silly... Oh well.

A Lightening Scar

So the final thing for my friend's care package:

It is just a super simple headband I made watching TV, but I think it's quite cute all the same, even if a little useless. It's the second one I have made like it, although the first one didn't have a scar on it.

Right so, I am going to tell you how I made it, even if you don't care, cause other wise this post will be sure short and not at all useful/have a point. Which wouldn't be a change but whatever.

Alright, so I used size five needles, and some red heart wool that claims to be DK but is totally not, and way more like 10/12 ply. I cast on 12 stitches, and just knit it like this:

First row: knit 

Second row: k2, p8, k2

And repeat, so you end up with a garter stitch border and stockinette stitch otherwise. And then I made myself a chart for the scar:

Which is super lamely coloured in, cause Paint was being stupid, and also I was too lazy to do it properly. Oh well.

Now I can't wait to mail this package! (Ugh, why is everything closed on Sunday, my only day off!)

In other news, John Green's new book came out, and I am trying to figure out how long it will take to get here from the US...

Treats and Crackers

This past week I have been being a very good child and actually botherd to try to raise some of the 3645 quid that I have to get for a year and a half's time from now. I think I made sixty pounds this week, which is what I am supposed to be doing but... yeah. That's not happening. Anyway.

Part of what I have been doing is selling baked stuff at school, which means that I have been, well, baking.

The two things I have been making are Rice Krispie Treats, and Chocolate Caramel Crack, or Toffee

Crackers, or something of that variation. My family tends to just eat them and not bother with a  name.

Anyway. They are both basically the easiest thing in this entire universe to make, so if you are ever short of time, I would seriously recommend them. That, and you know, they are super yummy.

The Treats are literally the easiest thing. They have all of three ingredients:

6 Cups of Rice Krispies (I bet you never saw that one coming!)
A bag of Marshmellows, which I know is the least helpful measurement ever. I use about 300g.
40g of butter.

Okay, the method is really difficult. Listen close:

1) Over a low heat melt the butter.
2) Chuck in the marshmellows and melt those too

3) Mix in the Rice Krispies and take it off the heat
4) Chuck the whole gloopy mixture into a lined tray with sides thing that definitely has a better name...

5) Take a large strip of waxed paper and with the waxed bit down, press on the gloppy stuff and it will magically even out.
Okay, done. Couldn't be easier.

(That may not be easy to understand. The recipe is also on the Rice Krispie website...)

And then there are the Chocolate Carmel things. Which I still haven't decided what to call.

These are slightly more difficult, but still take about ten minutes.

Okay, Ingredients:
200g Soft Brown Sugar
225g Unsalted Butter
200-300g of Good Quality Chocolate
Enough Saltine Crackers to cover the base of your tray.

1) Pre-heat the oven to 200 C

2) Cover your tray in crackers

3) Over a low heat, melt the butter and sugar, until it starts to boil. Mix with a wooden spoon while it boils for three minutes. now pour over the crackers.
4) Put the tray in the over for 5-6 minutes.

5) Chuck the chocolate pieces on top, and leave it to melt/cool down a bit. Then spread the chocolate and put the whole thing (once it has cooled down) in the fridge overnight. Then just break it up.

Wasn't that easy :)

(Also, my friend Lucy has also been baking for this, but her stuff is ten times more impressive. You should go check it out)

WIP Wednesday: Blueberry Waffle Sock

So, Work In Progress Wednesday people.

At the moment I am only working on one thing, and it's part of my new years resolutions list (yay for pretending that that may get done :)) I am knitting (rather slowly, cause I can't do them fast yet) some really pretty socks. 

I'm just turning the heel at the moment, a point I had hoped to get past before posting this, cause if you have never knit a sock before it probably just looks like a deformed potato at the moment to you. And I am really proud of it, so I was hoping it would be more sock-like when I came to posting it. But it's Wednesday, alas the only day that starts with W to alliterate with WIP, and even though I know there is nothing from stopping me from doing a WIP Thursday say, I am afraid I am just not indie enough for that. And tomorrow it would probably still look like a deformed potato...

Okay, end of non-interesting rant. The point was, there is a sock that is yet to look like a sock that I promise will one day look like a sock :(

Mixtape Making

Okay, so maybe not mixtapes, cause I don't even know where I would buy a cassette from anymore, or how I would record something to it, or who (except me,) actually has a cassette player.

So, Mix Cd's, but that is less catchy. Mix CD's are what I spent this evening doing.

Inspired by RookieMags post a few months ago, my friend Haley, who lives in Florida and I are sending each other care packages. Which include music (yay!) and other things, like posters and books and stupid little badges and other normal stuff like that.

Anyway. It took me an embarrassingly long time to get the playlist from the computer to the CD's I bought on the way home from school today (so I may have wasted like three CD's in the process...) and cause I was feeling cheap, I didn't buy any CD cases, so I had to make one of those as well.

So I am rather proud of that. The cover says 'Music You May Hate' cause she is super picky about music, and also I put some Taylor Swift in there to annoy her... And then I just cut up an old NME and stuck in on my makeshift CD jacket.

Now That That Is All Over...

So I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and you were all able to spend time with your families and friends and stuff, and also on a more materialistic note, you got cool presents :)

I am happy to say that my Christmas was great. My family managed to avoid any major disagreements, and I got great presents to boot.

Now that it's all over however, I am starting to get excited/worried about the new year. Last night (technically this morning actually, it was really late) I started making a list with my friend. I am currently at ten so... Looks like I will have a busy year ahead of me.

Also, I started thinking about this past year, and Sophia (who sold cookies with me earlier) showed me this video.

As I find posts without pictures look a tad sad, here are some the crafty gifts that were given in my family this christmas:

The bottom two, I made. The scarf for my sister, and the hat for my brother. The top (very impressive hat) my mum made for my dad. My sister also made from the same pattern for my dad, and both rather outshone mine stuff...

Christmas Eve

(Just in case you hadn't noticed!)

Anyway. At the moment my Fam are all downstairs watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. Which, y'know, I should probably join in with. Bonding and all. Also, by this time tomorrow, I guarantee everyone will be fighting. So I should probably be making the most of it. Oh well.

Instead though I am desperately trying to finish my Crafty Christmas presents, which all seemed like a great idea when we were safely in November... Now not so much. I have two WIP's for my siblings, which I seriously need to sort out and the hours are slipping away from me people! In the mean time though, I am procrastinating by stalking the NORAD Santa Tracker thing. Which is one of my favourite pastimes :)

I will most likely have an update tomorrow (it looks like there will be loads of crafty presents in my household this year!) but if not, Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating. Or, Happy Fifth/Sixth day of Hanukka. Or...

I'm starting to get confused now, so let's stick with Happy Holidays people. That's general right?

Selling Loads of Cakes and Stuff

Saturday (yeah, ages ago) I had this massive cake sale (which was the one that I made these gingerbread for) with my good friend Sophia. Who is seriously not my twin, I promise we are not at all related. I am talking to you, strange drunk santa guy.

Anyway. We had tons of stuff (I am talking over 200 baked goods) and I was stressing out, because this was my kitchen counter about 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave for Sophia's:

It was kind of my own fault though, because I had been watching SVU with my mum the night before instead of decorating them (unless you are Sophia. In which case, I was totally ready when you called that morning like I said.)

We set up a table, a couple blocks down from the football stadium, at the end of Sophia's road which was closed for foot traffic. Within about ten minutes I could see two Police walking towards us in those bright yellowy green jackets. They were walking super slowly, in time with their hands behind there backs, and it was stressing me out to no end. 

I swear it took them a good twenty minutes to get to us. They stopped in front of us, and I swear I thought I was going to pass out. If they were going to shut us down... I mean, 200+ baked goods people. What were we going to do with that? (actually, it would have been fine. Sophia and I both have brothers.)

So the Policewoman goes, 'What are you selling?'

'We are s-selling, um, cake...' We say looking down.

She looks down to read the sign we had stuck to the table.

'World Challenge, eh?'

'Y-Yes, ma'am' 

'I did that, that was great. Here's two quid. Good luck girls!'

And then the Policeman goes, 'You guys should get a bigger table next time!'

And then the walk off doing their slow walk again. So that was great.

The whole thing turned out great in fact, (well, expect for the sub-arctic temperatures, which made my amazing crushed velvet skater dress an even less appropriate choice of attire, and the afore mentioned drunk santa guy who wouldn't shut up) and we made quite a bit of money to put towards our trip. We also only ended up with a few things left, which I have managed to eat most of, and in the process teach my mum the expression food baby. So, you know. Good stuff.

And then there is the explanation as to why this is about four days late. Well, I wish I could say something interesting (Actually, I could, you guys wouldn't be able to tell if I made something up, but whatever, that would be mean) but basically, I couldn't be bothered to sit up right to type because I was lying on my bed watching Modern Family. For around four days straight. And then I needed a shower. And now I am typing. Yeah, that's all.

2012 Diaries

Last week, I wrote about my Poundland Presents. Wednesday night, I finally finished them (and oh my goodness they took ages. It got kind of annoying...)

So these are the five that I got done. They were super easy (although, I am seriously not joking when I say you better not underestimate how long they will take you to do.)

I mostly used magazines and newspapers. Actually, I mainly used stylist and style, because I love the layout and design they have, and also they are free (yeah, them being free is nice...) Anyway. I cut out the cut/pretty/interesting bits, and also any deep quotes that I found. Another great thing about these magazines was that they had really cool titles that worked well for spines. (see picture below)

I arranged all the little bits (some of which I had also printed off) on the books, and stuck them on with PVA. Which was much easier when I got some proper glue. Word of warning, don't use any of that school glue that has been in your cupboard since you started reception. It will be gloppy and cause you to go insane. I speak from experience.

So, stick pieces of paper on with glue, and then cover in that plastic stuff. Now, I don't know what it is called aren't I super helpful?) but it is that clear plastic sheet stuff that is sticky on one side. You can get it anywhere, and it means that the paper won't rip off the books straight away (cause that would be sad.)

And here is a picture of three of the ones I finished. It's only here cause I am really proud of them :)

Gingerbread Making Craze

I probably have to start by explaining that I am doing World Challenge and I am going on a trip to Madagascar for four weeks in July 2013. Which is really exciting, but also means that I have to raise a ton of money.

To help raise money, I am having a bake sale with my friend outside her house just before a football game. She lives right by the stadium, and they get loads of foot traffic. We are just hoping that some of these people will like cake...

Anyway, that is how I ended up making four times a old Food Tech Gingerbread recipe. Which takes quite a while! I always forget how long it takes to roll out dough.

Once I got the dough sorted, it was really fun:

Above is a nice picture of a cookie being cut out. I now cannot remember why I felt the need to take that picture.

Here is a cookie tray, filled with cookies. Again, fairly self explanatory, but who cares. They look freaking awesome.

And then here are the first few that were done. I think I did around thirty in total, which still leaves a whole ton for me still to do. Not that I have any idea what I am going to do with anymore cookies. I am not joking when I say that half of my freezer is currently taken up by these retched things. And I didn't even get to eat one!

So aside from the fact that I have a few non-helpful pictures and my cookie making escapades were a little flat, here is the recipe, cause it is good and quite easy:

350g Plain Flour

1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger

100g Butter

170g Light Soft Brown Sugar

4 Tablespoons Golden Syrup

1 Egg

(This is double the recipe. But, that is only cause I still am not sure how we used to make a recipe that called for half an egg...)

1) Heat oven 190 C, and get the tray ready.

2) Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a big mixing bowl.

3) Rub in butter until it gets to breadcrumb consistency, and then add the sugar.

4) In a separate bowl, mix the syrup and egg together. Then add these to the dry stuff. Mix it all loads until it turns into a nice roll able dough.

5) Roll it out, and cookie cut. You can re-roll so don't worry about that too much.

6) Cook till golden brown. Careful, cause they go from white and pasty to singed pretty quickly. The recipe says 12-15 minutes, but mine were starting to burn after around 10.

Have fun cookie making :)

Poundland Presents

So here are two facts you might want to know:
1) Getting people Christmas presents is pretty much my favourite thing to do
2) I am a total cheapskate, and I am always broke anyway

This year I have actually managed to accommodate both issues though, and so I am giving everyone something from Poundland. But it's decorated, so it's cool, see?

This is the first one I have done so far.

And this is the first one again, cause I have yet to do any others...

And here is the stack I still have to do....

Should be fun. In the mean time, I need to go back to pretending I am revising my chemistry...

I'll post a How-to with tips and things later in the week (once I finish my pretend revision.)

In the mean time if you like poundstores like me, you should go read this. It made me a little less worried about how much fun I have in them.