Chestnut jam FAIL!

I have written before about smattering this blog with the odd-bit of bloghonesty, so that people who don't know me IRL can see that I have just as many project/recipe fails (or not) as they do (or not!).  My friends and family would never be surprised...I'm game to try just about anything in the kitchen and recipe failure is part and parcel of that I'm afraid.  "Learning experience" my mother would say.

So last week I tweeted about peeling 1kg of chestnuts, by hand - yes by hand, people.  It wasn't pretty. I kid you not, I had and still have dried up blood under each of my thumbnails.  I was keen to try my hand at making some chestnut jam, ala Christine Ferber style - but after the obligatory 24hr of fruit and syrup soaking that she so prefers all I got was sticky toffee goop. I therefore declare the Chestnut jam a FAIL!

Opening the paper today imagine then my delight, or horror discovering this SMH article stating that 'chestnuts reward the determined' and 'that once upon a time they were prized open by hand using thick leather gloves.'  So I'll get back in the saddle this weekend, armed with the machine, hell even leather gloves would be an improvement...and try, try again and put the whole said fail down to a great learning experience, or an excuse for more food styling fun .

Have a great day,
suzy xoxo

Happytown

Chalk on concrete, dress-up box and playing with the kids from next door makes for a Happytown, apparently.

 

Lace Knitting Workshop

 

Just in case you've been hiding under a rock and missed it - I'm holding a Lace Knitting Workshop here in Canberra on Sunday May 6th...and I still have a couple of spots left.

I'm so excited about hosting a specialist teacher for this event, the very talented and lovely Fiona Donovan.  Fiona brings a fresh and modern approach to knitting and has taught classes for the Knitters Guild (NSW) and yarn shops in and around Sydney.  Plus she's popping down especially for the workshop, so I'm super-keen to show her a big Canberra welcome and have a full-house (10 participants) for the day.

Wondering what level of knitting is required?  Well if you can knit, purl, cast on and off...then this workshop is for you!  Fiona demystifies the art of knitting lace using 4.00mm knitting needles and 8ply so that you build your confidence before tackling the finer weight yarns.

Topics to be covered on the day include:

• circular cast on - emily ocker's circular cast on
• reading patterns - written out lace
• reading charts - and the different way they are written
• triangle shawl starts and construction
• provisional cast on and 2 cast offs for lace.

A list of materials required will be emailed to the participants prior to the day and a set of comprehensive notes will be provided during the class....hey I even throw in lunch and light refreshments.

If you want some inspiration head on over to Fiona's blog ...and these pictures below are of her gorgeous Grey Days Shawl made with Holst Garn Supersoft .

Click here to book your spot.


 

Foggy Friday

I'm a bit slow off the mark this morning, two sick squidgets and sleepless nights have finally caught up with me. So I'm going to soothe myself into this foggy Friday with some knitting and tea.

Have a great day,

suzy xoxo

New yarn at suzy hausfrau

A super quick post to show off a late delivery that arrived here this afternoon all the way from Sweden. It is absolutely stunning and I love love love it!

More details to come tomorrow...but do you want to take a guess right now?

Kids Clothing Week Challenge

I'm joining Meg over at Elsie Marley from next Monday for Kids Clothing Week Challenge . I'm pledging to sew one hour a day for my kids for an entire week. This is just the inspiration (read shove) that I need to get into that stash and sew up a storm. If you're interested in joining, pop on over to Meg's blog here .

Change of season

A change of season is upon us in Canberra, and I couldn't be more delighted.

Last day of our Easter Sale today

Our Easter Sale ends midnight tonight...until then 20% off orders $60 or more, plus our usual FREE shipping to all Australian customers.

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend,
suzy xoxo
www.suzyhausfrau.com.au

Easter Sale:20% off orders $60 or more

Happy Easter!

20% off orders $60 or more for this Easter long weekend.

Sale ends midnight Monday 9th April 2012.

My creative space - Strawberry Friand slice

My creative space today is a bit of baking. Remaking a recipe that proved too fantastic to try only once and shared here as promised to some crafty peeps when I made it for the first time a few weeks ago.

AWW's Strawberry Friand Slice

6 egg whites

155 g unsalted butter, melted

2 tabs milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups ground almonds

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup SR flour

250 g strawberries, sliced thinly

1/3 cup flaked almonds

icing sugar, extra

Preheat oven to 180 deg celsius. Grease 20 x 30 cm rectangular pan, line base and long sides with baking paper, extending over long sides.

Place egg whites and extract in medium bowl and whisk lightly with fork until combined. Add butter, milk, ground almonds, sifted icing sugar and flour. Stir until combined.

Pour mixture into pan, top with berries.

Bake for 15 minutes, remove then sprinkle with almonds. Bake further 25 minutes.

Stand slice in tin for 10 minutes before turning out to cool. Dust with extra icing sugar, cut and enjoy.

Pop over here to enjoy more creative spaces

Happy days,

suzy xoxo

Treasure harvest

Clearly Miss Sophie was excited to be harvesting our kipfler potatoes over the weekend. It was just like finding underground treasure...creamy, delicious, organic underground treasures.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend too,

suzy xoxo