Super easy bread

More baking! This time I would like to share a "super easy" bread recipe with you. The bread stays nice and fresh for much longer than normal bread and the taste is simply delicious.

Recipe makes 2 loaves
4 1/2 cups of flour either store bought bread mix or your own combination. 
You can add Chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pepita, nuts, oatbran etc
I use wholemeal spelt flour and sometimes 1/3 of the quantity white flour
2 1/2 tea spoon salt, careful with salt when using bread mix, check packet re added salt
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
600ml water

Put all dry ingredients in bowl, pour in water and use spatula to mix. It is to sticky to use your hands and knead.
Cover with bowl gladwrap and leave for 12-18 hours
Then turn mixture out onto some flour and turn and fold over several times, sprinkle with flour if to wet. Leave ca 15min
Prepare 2 teatowels with sprinkled flour
Take mix and split into 2 sections, again just gently fold over twice, place onto tea towels and leave for 2 hours. Dust with flour all over (sticks less to tea towel)
1/2 hour prior to baking place 2 ovenproof dishes in oven (must have lids, pyrex dish etc)
at 220 degrees
Place dough into dishes and cover with lids, bake for 40mins
Take of lid, reduce heat to 200degrees and bake further 20 mins to make a crust

Bon appetit!


  
  
  

More refashioning and resqueing from the rag bag

A little shop up the road had big sales on and I saw this nice and fresh white blouse on display for just $5.00. That's already cheap enough but the special on this particular day was another 25% off.
For the grand total of $3.75 I grabbed one, albeit in a very large and loose size 18. A couple of hours and some darts and tucks later I had a lovely piece to take with me on our holidays. I will need it since the temperatures in southern USA are already climbing towards the 30 degrees!

The next project was a chino skirt in petrol. To long, to baggy and to tight at the waist, not wearable in its original state. I cut the waistband off, shortened the length of it and also took in both sides. 
Fortunately I had some jeans cotton to stitch down the folded in waistband. Since the front vent had buttons all the way down, I ended up with a button hole close to the hemline. To take a way from this rather odd look I added a leftover button between the button holes. Another piece from which I will get a lot of mileage. Practical and color wise goes well with a lot of my existing pieces in my wardrobe. Not sure though if it will end up in the final to go packing pile! Space is of the issue since one case is already bursting with tent, sleeping bags etc and just the second suitcase is for clothes for the two of us

 Because of the detail shots the color of the two last pictures is a lot more blue than the real thing. 

 Last but not least a little white dress. Another neglected item which I bought several years ago but only wore once. The fit was fine but the length not good. Out came the scissors. 

As a little fancy extra I cut out the top back but left the collar on. Since I really like pockets, even though I hardly use them I put some on as well. I may change the buttons to red ones, just have to hunt around for something I like and which is special. May even buy some overseas, I know this fantastic button shop in Berne, Switzerland. Shall see.....

Girls, what do you reckon, red or white buttons?


The pictures are unfortunately not very good, eyes closed etc.  My photographer run out of   patience.

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I love baking!

 Since I have nothing to report from the sewing studio and talking about weeding, digging up tree roots and chopping down bushes is nothing exciting I have to resort to something different.
I often bake bread simply because it tastes so much better than  the bought variety. I also try to use organic ingredients as much as possible. The recipe is fairly simple:

500 grms of flour, I use a mix of white and wholemeal and add Chia seeds, pepita and sunflower seeds
2 tsp of salt, 3ml of water or milk - lukewarm, 1 sachet of dried yeast
mix all dry ingredients, add liquid, mix well to combine, turn out onto table and knead until soft and pliable. shape into ball and place in bowl, cover with lid or glad wrap. Let rise for 2-3hours at room temperature or overnight in fridge.
Form into desired shape, let rise another 20min. A small ovenproof dish with water helps to make the bread rise nicely
Bake for 20min at 220 degrees, reduce heat to 180 degrees and bake another 30 mins. 
Tap the bottom of the bread, it should sound hollow. Let cool on wire rack
The plated type is great since it is a lot more crusty than a round loaf
BON APPETIT

Gymwear

I am going to the gym quite a bit and also do Jazzercise once a week. I just cannot face wearing any old T shirt or "daggy" pants to go. Since there is very little available in colors other than black/dark blue or gray, especially in the pants sector, I decided to buy stretchy material and make some tops and pants. The patterns are either copied from some tops I already had and patched those together with some leftovers. The pants are an altered Burda pattern, from an older magazine. Do not recall which one it is. I do not have an overlocker but my trusty Bernina has some stitches suitable for stretch material. Together with the twinneedles I bought it works just fine.
I already have another couple of pieces of material ready to go. However, I definitely need other things more urgently than gym wear.  I bought the electric blue and turquoise from Spotlight when they had a sale on and the patterned bit from Pitt Trading. Another store I really like and which has lots of nice and more unusual material. I may even have an order to make an outfit for one of the girls at Fitness First.   

Winning pot at the Easter Show

As mentioned in my previous blog I have entered a piece in the competition.

My bowl called  "Ethnic Blue" won "highly commended" and sold  as well. Thanks to my friend Anna, who despite me saying I had nothing decent on hand convinced my to enter it! 

As you can see I am very happy indeed.

10 members of our group, "The Port Hacking Potters" have been there all day on Friday and demonstrated what pottery is all about. Some did throwing, others decorating and a few hand building.

Everybody loves watching someone on the pottery wheel, it must be fascinating to see a piece take shape from a lump of clay to a usable item.  

If you are at the Royal Easter Show make sure to drop in to the feature demo site manned by a different group of potters every day and say HI.

Anyway, it was a long but enjoyable day meeting and talking to all sorts of people. I may have entered a piece of pottery for the first but probably not the last time!

Winter Impressions from Switzerland

Early morning view from my attic at our friends place in Bern

Beautiful buildings abound in the old part of the city. They are hundreds of years old but are still inhabited.   




Sights from one of our bracing walks in the country side. 

Sustenance for the birds is being provided. Despite this, if the winter is extremely severe a large number of birds perish.

While visiting my sister in the Zurcher Oberland sky region it just would not stop snowing!  
The snowplough came early, it usually woke me up around 6 o clock.   

Flying over the alps. Glad to be on my way home to warmer weather!

Sorry guys, have still not put together my wintery pictures put had another blog stored away for for lean days.......here we go:

Once there was some Tessutti Fabric.......

A couple of years ago, the first time ever I went to Tessutti's I bought some nice cotton sateen fabric for a summer dress. Well here is the finished result, finally. The pattern sort of leans towards  New Look 6002 but the top is one of my own altered designs with FBA and the pleats in the skirt are about half the size of the ones in the pattern. I had to cut the top twice since the first one was to tight. Then I had to juggle to fit another top on the small piece of material. Anyway in the end I made it and here is the result. I am working towards making my own pattern, up to now it is still trial and error. I am just to big at the top compared to the bottom and the waist is practically non existent. I know, I know, nothing unusual but to get a proper fit still needs some work. I feel I even look somewhat pregnant in it. Not one 100% happy, but still a comfortable summer dress.
We are already in the process of organizing our next trip which will take us to the US of A. 
As always we will be camping as much as possible, especially in National Parks and State Parks which are always nice to camp in. I am looking into making something new to take along, like a versatile jacket which I could dress up or down and perhaps a T-Shirt dress to go with it for something a little nicer besides shorts and T shirts. Shall see....Generally speaking I find it a lot harder to make things suitable for my "non working" life style. I am sure you know what I mean, no more little suits and blouses etc. I feel I am constantly in pants or shorts and have to make an effort to dress up a little when I go shopping or so.  What about you other girls not in the workforce any longer how do you feel about this issue???