COLORFUL CHANGES

I got plenty of projects to finish and I got my mind set on it
because my hobby room needs to be much tidier because
we get friends over from Holland and USA in November and
I don't want my mess to exist by then.
(Our American friend is staying in that room so... Yeah.)
Besides, mess makes me frustrated even tho I know exactly
where everything is, I just don't like the look of it.
It's a new season and time for a change, for the better.

Here's a few positive changes:

Today I finished a project that's been laying around for way
too long!!!
I bought this Pee Wee Herman doll about 11 years ago, he
didn’t come with a suit, only a pair of dirty pants.
My plan all this time has been to make him a cool suit but it
wasn’t until this morning I decided to pull my finger out and
finally do it.
I didn’t have a pattern, I never done this sort of thing before,
 all I had was plenty of lurex scraps and determination.

I started this fascinator a while back but I never liked the way
it looked at the time but I got hold of more vintage fruity bits
and that was what was needed!
Now she's done and I'm quite happy with the result.

Ohh, and let's not forget this... I've been craving Mexican for
ages but I've been too nauseous to make food that takes more
than 10 minutes.
Yesterday I made a huge batch of spicy vegetarian chili and a
quick creamy Guacamole, that means the same food for 3 days
but I sure don't mind because it was delicious! :)

HAPPY NEW (JEWISH) YEAR!

The good thing with being an adult and not very religious,
you can have breakfast for Rosh Hashanah dinner! LOL!
It’s all vegetarian, no pork in this house!!!

Shanah Tovah! Ah gut gebentched yohr!

PUMPKIN PIE

It ain’t pretty but it sure was good!
My man did the crust and I made the wonderful filling.

(Filling: pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, double cream,
Swedish mulled wine, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon,
and fresh ginger.)

Had to represent with a Swedish moose and an over
sized squirrel. LOL!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

 

Borrowed from Bull Terrier Love

SPICY SOUP

Hi there!
As you might have read before, my man always buy too
much fruit and veg, well, it's only too much if you waste it
and I hate wasting food.
As we're going to Spain soon we need to clear the fridge
and yesterday I used a lot of the tomatoes and a few red
peppers that was in there.
I got a light flu at the moment so this soup is just perfect to
scare germs away. I used TONS of garlic and chilli, I might
stink for a week. LOL!
I love Penne Arrabiata, I'm very good at making it and I do
so almost a bit too often but then I use tinned tomatoes.
This is an Arrabiata style soup, only thing that differs from
the real deal is the red peppers.

This is a really nice vegan dish if you don't add the Penne.

Here's what I used: 
Red peppersTomatoes
Fresh basil
Garlic
Red chillies
Olive oil
Salt
Cracked black pepper
Tomato paste

Sorry, I don't use measurements, you make this to your 
own personal taste. Be brave! :) 

Here's an idea, I always keep a jar of already peeled
garlic in the fridge, that saves a bit of time, I also keep
finely chopped red chillies in a jar of oil.
(I let the food processor do the chopping.)

Some of the ingredients.

1. Heat the oil and add garlic, red chillies and black pepper.
Fry gently for a little while, you don't want them to get brown.

2. Add the peppers first, let them get soft.
They need longer to cook because they are firmer than
tomatoes, of course.

3. Add fresh basil.

4. Add the tomatoes.
You won't need any liquid because the tomatoes are so
juicy it won't be necessary.

5. Let it simmer for a while until everything is soft and full
of flavor. Add salt and tomato paste, let cook some more.

6. When you're happy with the taste, put the mix in a food
processor or blender, make it smooth.

7. You don't need to add any pasta, the soup is awesome
as it is, I used Penne had some in the fridge from the other
day and since I'm ill and can't swallow that well I cut the
Penne in half, it look kind of cute.
I used a tiny bit of the soup as liquid to heat them up in the
microwave.

8 Serve while it's hot and enjoy!

YESTERDAY'S FINDS

Yesterday we got up early to go to the antique market
before opening the shop.
I was quite restless so I popped by Age UK to say hi to
my friend Flo and to go nuts rummaging through their
box of bangles. (Where I found 4.)
Afterwards I went to Halsey's Deli for a delicious egg n'
mayo sandwich (heaven) and then I scouted some of the
other charity shops in town.
After lunch all our volunteers came into the shop to say
goodbye and gossip. Better co-workers doesn't exist!

Today is the very last day before it turns into a normal
charity shop and it's also the last day for us, well, my
last day was yesterday but today is the last day for my
man. We're both happy not to work there anymore, let's
just say we weren't treated very well...

Anyway, here's what I managed to get my dirty paws on:


Boxed vintage Pyrex, 50 pence.
I’m super happy about this boxed, never used, Pyrex hostess
casserole with metal stand with a candle warmer.


Boxed vintage coffee maker, 50 pence.
This one is also never used. Don't know if it ever will be.


Set of 6 vintage mugs, 20 pence.
Nice and big and never used! They were in their original box
but it had mold on it and that's nothing I want to keep.


18 part vintage atomic coffee set, £3.
This was a pure impulse buy, I think this might end up at the
Hemsby car boot sale next month.


Basket bag, £1.
Not that I need another bag but... Yeah.


Hardly ever worn Clarks, £3.
Super comfortable! These will go with most of my outfits fall/
winter/spring.


Bangle, 35 pence.


Bangle, 35 pence.


Bangle 35 pence.
This coconut bangle will be used frequently in Spain this year
along with my bamboo bangles.


Bangle, 35 pence.
You can't really tell it's carved with metal inlay.

TOO MUCH SUGAR...

I'm so sleepy... Today was my mother in laws birthday
and we went a bit mad on dessert, had 3 different things,
first Raspberry Roulade (A light chewy meringue filled
with raspberry mousse and raspberry sauce) Carte D'Or
Chocolate Inspiration and Tiramisu. Uhh... Stuffed.

As my mother in law is a typical Jewish picky lady it was
extremely nice that she liked all her presents for once and
that she had a good time.
I made an effort to make the kitchen look nice and clean
and I made some flower arrangement for the table.
I love how it turned out.







Have a nice weekend!

WITCHES BREW

We're having a friend over tonight so I decided to make my
own witches brew. :D
(i.e. I use whatever I got in the cupboards.)
I never throw away cider because you can drink it warm and
it doesn't have to be fizzy, we rarely drink and we had a bottle
that's been waiting in the cupboard for some time.
I put it in a pot and added some whole cloves, three cinnamon
sticks, saffron, fresh grated ginger and some brown sugar and
boiled it for about 10 minutes.
It turned out quite well, they gave me thumbs up, I do think I
should have added a bit more sugar, in Sweden cider is often
sweet and here in England it's not.
Have to remember that for next time...

Sift before drinking.

:D

I made a smiling banana cake yesterday! :D

FOR TOMORROW

Just baked fat free cakes for the band rehersal tomorrow.
The one in the front is apple & cinnamon and the one in the
back is carrot, fresh ginger, cinnamon & cardamom.
The house smells wonderful right now...

Recipe here and here.

BOOST THE SYSTEM

Uh, change of season is not a picnic for me.
Every autumn and winter I suffer with SAD and I was
born with a shitty immune system.
Now is a good time to boost the system and I'm doing
that by taking walks (fresh air is key) and eating a lot
of vitamins, not only in pill form, I prefer fresh fruit.
Oh, and garlic, loads of garlic!

My man really stock up fruit and berries this time of
year, turns out that being friendly with a greengrocer
is a good thing.
Right now we have seven bowls full of delicious fruit
and a whole lot in the fridge.

I make my own fresh juice in the morning, right now I
love a mix of oranges, grapefruit, lime and fresh ginger.
For breakfast I'm having a fruit salad.
I'm not a dinner person, I can't eat a proper meal in the
evening, I'm more of a big lunch type of girl, but I still
need to eat and my favorite is, guess what, more fruit.


One of the fruit bowls right now.

Examples of "dinner".

Melon and fresh raspberries.


Granny Smith apples, grapes and fresh raspberries.


Mango, figs and fresh strawberries.

MY HALLOWEEN WEEKEND

I guess most of you were dressed up in costumes last night.
If you were, what or who were you dressed up as?
I myself didn't dress up, I stayed in and relaxed with my
hairy werewolf man.



Here's what I did during the Halloween weekend...


I baked Swedish sticky chocolate cake with Baileys. Divine!
I wanted to bake pumpkin pie but we didn't have all ingredients at home.


Had an evening snack with my man while watching scary movies.
We had raw cauliflower, carrot sticks and hummus.
Cauliflower looks like brain by the way. :D


I was an online DJ, playing only spooky tracks from 1950's-1960's.


I read spooky books.


And watched The Munsters.

Right now I'm taking care of a horror show of it's own, my
closet, rotating to fall and winter wear. A total nightmare.

ACCOMPLISHED

I must admit that the last couple of days I've done way
too much for my own good. I never thought I'd say this
but I'm so fed up with laying in bed watching movies all
day. It's quite nice for a while but now I'm really bored
with it.
Yesterday I did laundry, cleaning and tidying and today
I cleaned some more and changed bed linen.
Got a new set not so long ago and today I finally got to
use it.


Click image for a larger view.
You can find the bed set here.

Today we're having three very good musicians over for
a rehearsal and that means making a whole lot of food
and I also managed to bake two types of easy Swedish
cookies, after a lot of playing they sure need something
sweet with their coffee.


Chokladsnittar & Kolakakor.

LAZY DAY

Another sunny and warm day, 29 degrees Celsius.
For once I had a very lazy day...
I got up early, made proper coffee and had a hearty carby
breakfast, which is a must if you want the energy to scout
for bargains at car boot sales.
Got lots of freckles but not that many finds.
When we got home we popped a Magners pear cider and
took the sun loungers out and I've been laying there until
now. :)


Hearty breakfast.
Matzo Brei with cinnamon, maple syrup, banana, mango and home
squeezed OJ.


1972 Fisher Price Happy Apple, 30 pence.
Isn't he cute?! We collect toys from 50's-70's for our future little ones.


Leather belt, 50 pence.
This will go perfect with a red gingham skirt.
The brand is Miss Sixty if any of you wanna try and find one for yourselves.


Egg shaped wooden bangles, 10 pence each.
The Danish Modern nerd in me couldn't resist these. :))


Carved bangle, 50 pence.
Found yet another one of these carved bangles.
Pink isn't really my color but for 50 pence I couldn't say no.


Lurex top, 75 pence.
Trying to find some "glamorous" stuff to wear during fall and winter,
I feel so mousy during those months but this will definitely make my
outfits a bit less dull.
Perfect with a black pencil skirt.

Time to get dolled up, my man is gigging tonight and for once
I don't wanna stay home watching rich housewives.
Hopefully I will meet La Dama.