26 December 2011

A Boxing Day lunch...

♥ Ceri makes...  and so Christmas day has come and gone!  After a relaxing day at home in the countryside with lots of good food,  drink and rather a lot of lovely presents we ventured out to a nearby village for a Boxing day lunch.  MummyB had chosen The Long Arms at South Wraxall  and a good choice it was indeed!

Despite having eaten far too much on Christmas day I managed to find room for even more today!  For starter I had the smoked salmon blinis with pickled cucumber (the salmon is smoked on site at the pub's smokehouse),  roast lamb breast for main accompanied by some Indian Pale Ale as recommended on the beer kitchen menu,  followed by homemade pistachio ice cream for desert.  I will be having a go at making some pickled cucumber with the River Cottage Preserves book that AuntyC & co got me for Christmas,  so much more scrumptious than it may sound.



After such a lovely lunch I've whiled away the afternoon on the sofa with the cat reading my bookclub book The Help in preparation for our January meet!

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

24 December 2011

Christmas Adam...

♥ Ceri makes...  tradition has become that myself and the girls from school get together every year on Christmas Adam (Christmas Eve Eve!).  In honour of the occasion I whipped up a Festive Yule Log or Buche de Noel.

It may be a bit late in the festivities now but save this recipe for next year to wow your friends and family!

♥ CAKE - 70g plain flour, 10g cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, 4 eggs separated, 170g caster sugar, a dash of vanilla extract, 2 tbsp icing sugar
♥ CREAM - 300ml double cream, 4 tbsp icing sugar, cocoa powder and tia maria to taste

Line a swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper and pre-heat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, add a little sugar.  Beat the egg yolks,  add the sugar,  gradually mix into the flour,  baking powder and salt.  Then fold in the egg whites.
Spread the mixture onto the tin evenly and bake for approx 15 minutes or until golden and remove from the oven to cool,  removing the greaseproof paper
Whip the cream and mix in the icing sugar,  sieve in the cocoa powder both to suit your taste and to achieve the colour you desire,  then add a few generous splashes of Tia Maria to suit your taste
Spread half the cream evenly on the cake and carefully roll.  Cut about a third of one of the ends of the cake off at an angle and using some of the cream rejoin it to the main cake to achieve a log like look!  Then cover the cake with the remaining cream mix,  finish by making grooves in the cream to complete the log look,  a sprinkle of icing sugar for some freshly fallen snow...


A sprinkle of edible glitter adds that magical Christmas touch  ...although not perhaps the most photogenic makes of late!

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

20 December 2011

Christmas Cupcakes...

♥ Ceri makes...  just thought I would share a few snaps of the Christmas cupcakes I made for my team at work instead of giving out Christmas cards.  Some cake boxes and a bit of red ribbon add a gifting touch to these simple vanilla cupcakes using my trusty Hummingbird Bakery recipe...



♥ Ceri makes...  xx

18 December 2011

Sunday sushi making...

♥ Ceri makes...  spent the afternoon at a sushi making class at Suzu in West London,  a birthday treat from RWF.  Despite having a copy of the Yo Sushi cookbook I hadn't been brave enough to ever attempt making any!  So I was pleased to give it a go under the careful guidance of our teacher Makiko.  Her tops tips included wrapping your bamboo rolling matt in clingfilm and making sure that your hands are a little greasy,  we used grapeseed oil for this in the class.  Another essential is a super sharp knife as the nori can be quite tricky to cut through,  but this is also made easier by using a sawing like motion when cutting.  After making a selection of maki,  nigiri and inside out rolls we enjoyed the results with some yummy plum wine. 


It really did taste as good as it looks!

♥ Ceri makes... xx

Christmas Crafts...

♥ Ceri makes...  led my very own mini craft lesson at RWF's abode in Fulham yesterday.  I created mini craft kits for RWF, Grace and Sophie to create their own handmade Christmas decorations.  Sophie and Grace busy crafting...


Sophie's creation proudly displayed here... http://twitter.com/#!/SophCJ/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2F7dXTEPus

After some festive food we wrapped up and headed out to Carols by Candlelight at the Royal Albert Hall.

A perfect pre-Christmas weekend!

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

11 December 2011

Afternoon tea anyone...?

♥ Ceri makes...  as you may know afternoon tea is definitely high up in my list of favourite weekend things to do!  While in Cardiff with the girls at the weekend Rachel booked (a very popular spot, so booking recommended!) us in for a spot of afternoon tea at the Waterloo Gardens Teahouse


A delicious selection of sandwiches,  scones,  a slice of cake from the rather impressive selection and of course tea were served.  An absolute bargain for £11.50 per person!


Ten out of ten to Waterloo Gardens Teahouse.

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

4 December 2011

Betty's Tea Rooms Rock...

♥ Ceri makes... made my annual December trip to York for a weekend of Christmas themed family festivities with mummyB, my aunties and cousins. One activity that has securely sealed it's place on our weekend to do list is the Saturday brunch trip to Betty's tea rooms. Delicious...


A must do if you are ever in York, but do be prepared to queue!

♥ Ceri makes... xx

7 October 2011

A girly trip to Devon...

♥ Ceri makes...  spent a leisurely girly weekend outside of London soaking up some autumnal sunshine and clean sea air on the beach.


One of the highlights of the weekend was food related (of course!)  ...an afternoon cream tea just a hop and a skip away from the beach at the Woolacombe Bay Hotel. Perfect.


♥ Ceri makes... xx

18 September 2011

I love pie!...

♥ Ceri makes...  had my first taste of a delicious pieminister pie this weekend at a cousins gathering of fun times and lots of food!  After a chilly stroll around the Staffordshire monkey forest we nipped to pieminister for a hearty comforting lunch. I opted for mr porky pie ...a perfect combination of pork, apples and sage along with plenty of mash, gravy and beans!


One word = yum!

♥ Ceri makes... xx

11 September 2011

Cake days...

♥ Ceri makes...  tested out a new cupcake recipe from mummyB's new Hummingbird bakery book 'Cake Days'.  On request from my team at work I whipped up some banoffee cupcakes,  a bit of a fiddly recipe but worth it!


♥ Ceri makes... xx

29 August 2011

Family festivities...

♥ Ceri makes...  managed to finish my wedding bunting just in time for the festivities over the bank holiday weekend!  Looked lovely in the outdoor gazebo even if I do say so myself!


As well as whipping up the bunting a team of us created some wedding cupcakes and my very talented mummyB had the extra important task of making the Fiona Cairns inspired centre piece cake.  It looked lovely at the wedding breakfast held at Bank restaurant in Birmingham...




A second day of wedding celebrations and even more cupcakes were wheeled out! The proud cake making family team...


♥ Ceri makes... xx

21 August 2011

Wedding bunting...

♥ Ceri makes...  has spent a productive weekend whipping up some wedding bunting ahead of a bank holiday family wedding.  Stocked up on fabric in Tooting yesterday and set to work this afternoon.  To fit with the wedding colour scheme of pruple and turquoise I chose some complimentary plain, gingham and floral fabrics...


To give it a more professional finish I also stocked up on some natural coloured webbing (eBay is excellent for such things and cheaper than most fabric shops).  So now two metres down,  just another eight to go!

♥ Ceri makes... xx

7 August 2011

Another crafty pop up...

♥ Ceri makes...  nipped to Clapham North for another SW Craft Club pop up summer event,  this time hosted at The Landor pub


Despite some sporadic summer showers I still managed to enjoy one of the outdoor workshops run by Sew Over It.  With a bit of guidance I made some simple red polka dot earrings...




Pleased with my creation I decided to nip into the reasonably recently opened Sew Over It shop and workshop studio just around the corner from the pub.  A lovely studio space with plenty of workshops to suit all,  from the beginner to the more experienced seamstress there really is something for everyone.  Plus lots of crafty kits and pretty sewing accessories,  make sure you make a trip to this hidden gem if you are in the area!

♥ Ceri makes... xx

6 August 2011

A Ceilidh in Camden...

♥ Ceri makes...  had such a fun time at the Ceilidh dance last night just had to give it a mention on here!  Sadly no photos but highly recommend a trip if you love a bit of live music and some good old dancing fun!  Be prepared for some achey dancing feet the following day!  For upcoming Ceilidh Club events in London just have a look here...  http://www.ceilidhclub.com/Ceilidh_event_dates.aspx

♥ Ceri makes... xx

30 July 2011

Making things at the make lounge...

♥ Ceri makes...  was lucky enough to be invited along to the make lounge in Islington to a stamp making workshop sponsored by snapfish.  Lots of fellow bloggers in attendance,  cupcakes galore and yummy champagne.  We set to work on our stamps under the careful guidance of the lovely zeena shah of heart zeena


I created a simple birds motif which looked lovely on envelopes and note paper...






Also a huge thanks to snapfish for a fun evening and the generous goody bag  ...I  look forwards to using my snapfish vouchers to print lots of pictures and maybe even a photo book!


♥ Ceri makes... xx
The make lounge is a beautiful studio in a great location and I would definitely recommend all you crafty folk out there to check out the workshops that they run here...  http://www.themakelounge.com/workshops

24 July 2011

A crafty afternoon at the Tooting Tram & Social...

♥ Ceri makes...  spent my Sunday afternoon indulging in craft and cake at the secret gem that is the Tooting Tram & Social.  As part of a series of summer pop-up events organised by the fab SW Craft Club there was a host of activities and demonstrations to try.  

Myself and Kate got involved with the fabric brooches stand that was run by Crafty Pint  (...check out the web page for upcoming workshops!).  A super simple technique  involving very little skill and just an ounce of patience resulted in this crafty creation...




After all the nifty stitching on our fabric brooches we rewarded ourselves with a truly scrumptious ferrero rocher vegan cupcake from MsCupcake's stand.  Evidence of the delicious-ness below...



A perfect way to while away a sunny Sunday afternoon, delightful!


♥ Ceri makes... xx

6 June 2011

Graduate Fashion Week...

♥ Ceri makes... got some last minute insider tickets to Graduate Fashion Week. I was so impressed with the standard of work produced by the graduates and the amount of uk based talent out there. As expected the catwalk was the highlight...







Worth checking out if you are in the area this week!

♥ Ceri makes... posted using my iPhone x

30 May 2011

Recipease...

♥ Ceri makes... enjoyed a long bank holiday weekend in Brighton. Despite a lack of sunshine along with the hen group I was with we made the most of taking shelter in the quirky cafes, our favorites being Tic Toc and Marwood.


We finished our action packed weekend (...quad biking, shooting, archery, dancing, beach exploring) with a trip to Jamie Oliver's Recipease for a quick course in fesh filled pasta making. Our lovely instructor Lucy guided us through the simple pasta recipe using the super easy to remember 100g flour to 1 medium egg ratio. Once we had mixed, kneaded, rested our dough and put it through the imperia pasta machine we were ready to get filling with our simple but delicious pea, ricotta, mint and parmesan filling. Lucy showed us a few clever tricks to make different shapes and then showed us how to make a butter, mint and lemon sauce to complement the finished pasta. The results were fab...


♥ Ceri makes... xx

12 May 2011

Indie Bingo...

♥ Ceri makes...  enjoyed a not so crafty evening at the hidden gem that is the Tooting Tram & Social just a hop, skip, jump and a bus ride away from my London home.  The perfect place to while away an evening or lazy weekend afternoon...  BUT on this occasion along I was there for bingo with a twist = Indie Bingo! Follow them on twitter for upcoming events in London


♥ Ceri makes...  xx

2 May 2011

Drink Shop Do...

♥ Ceri makes... made my first trip to Drink, Shop & Do on a lazy Sunday afternoon and can't believe I have been missing out on this lovely spot! A haven for lovers of all things vintage, crafty, foodie and arty!


I'm sure to be back soon to try out one of the craft events or even the Thursday night pin up hair, sounds ideal!








♥ Ceri makes... xx

1 May 2011

A crafty royal knees up...

♥ Ceri makes...  after a lovely day spent soaking up the royal wedding atmosphere in Hyde Park I headed to the V&A for a spot of crafty celebration!  As part of the Friday night lates that the museum hosts monthly they had jumped aboard the royal wedding excitement with a fantastic programme of events and had decorated the museum to suit the mood...




The fantastic programme of events included talks from leading vintage specialists William Banks-Blaney and Jane Bourvis,  a catwalk event judged by the designer Louise Gray among others,  cake from Lily Vanilli,  live music and a number of workshops  ...action packed!  I opted for the printed handkerchief workshop...

Such a simple crafty thing to make!  A beautiful range of stamps to choose from to create a very personalised memory for the day.  I decided to keep it simple and was super pleased with the finishing results...



♥ Ceri makes...  xx

23 April 2011

I ♥ macaroons...

♥ Ceri makes... was so pleased with the birthday macaroons I decided to whip up another batch as Easter gifts. They look gorgeous in a clear gift bag tied with a bit of simple ribbon...


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♥ Ceri makes... xx

19 April 2011

Birthday times...

♥ Ceri makes...  has been busy of late celebrating my birthday,  firstly with a relaxed birthday weekend at home in the countryside and more recently in London with a debauched afternoon tea party!  



LOTS of baking in the build up to the main event but was definitely worth it for this feast for the eyes...
Not bad for a first attempt at macaroons...

For something equally as impressive (but A LOT less faff) try whipping up some minature french pastries like the ones below...
To make at home simply roll out some puff pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin,  glaze with a little beaten egg, sprinkle with icing sugar,  cut into rectangles using a pizza wheel for speed,  lay on a baking tray and bake in a 200C oven (180C fan oven,  gas mark 6) for approx 8 minutes or until slightly golden on top.  Break the shells in half and allow to cool,  whip some double cream adding caster sugar and vanilla extract to taste.  Fill the bottom half of the shells with a blob of whipped cream,  pop on some pieces of sliced fruit (I like strawberries and blueberries!)  place the top half of the shell back add a blob of whipped cream and add another piece of fruit for decoration  ...yummy!


♥ Ceri makes...  xx

17 April 2011

Crafty crafty fox...

y fox♥ Ceri makes... enjoyed an unplanned trip to the Crafty Fox Market at the Dogstar pub in Brixton = three floors of crafty delights. Explored the many stalls of handcrafted product produced by some very talented Etsy sellers; if you haven't already checked out the Etsy website do it today! It is a one stop shop for all things handmade, crafty and individual - perfect for unusual gifts or pretty additions to your home.

Etsy were hosting a cocktail and cross stitch lounge on the second floor of the Dogstar ...I couldn't help but get involved and set to work on creating a lovely bird brooch while sipping on some Saturday afternoon drinks! Bliss!


The finished bird looks so gorgeous on this cute printed dress...


Thanks Crafty Fox and Etsy for a marvellous afternoon! ♥ Ceri makes... xx



31 March 2011

Mostly baking cupcakes...

♥ Ceri makes... has been offline for a few days mostly due to LOTS of baking birthday cupcakes! Seem to have mastered the basic Vanilla Hummingbird Cupcake recipe so I'm trying to be a bit more creative with my decorations. My best make so far has to be the 'Top Gun' themed cupcakes I whipped up for my friend Russ' 80s Top Gun party, a bit of clever colouring and some royal icing decorations look fab...



Also had a first attempt at the Chocolate Hummingbird Cupcake recipe, which may not look as impressive definitely passed the taste test ...yummy! x