The Kitchen, the cat and Kaffe.

You'd better grab a cuppa, and a comfy seat, I have lots to show and tell today.

Sunday started in the kitchen, with more red hot chilli peppers.

I chopped them all into rounds as Tony and I decided to try out a new preserving recipe.

It was very quick to make, some chutneys have you boiling away at the stove for 2 or more hours.

We simmered the peppers in a syrup for 5 minutes.

Used a slotted spoon to put the peppers into jars.

Then thickened up the syrup and poured it over.

All done, with jars sealed in less than 45 minutes from weighing the first chilli.

Hmm, no pretty pic of the finished thing...

Bad blogger.

After cleaning up the sticky mess in the kitchen, going for a quick walk and getting some lunch, I decided it was way past time I made a start on my cross stitch angel.

I prepped every thing a week ago!

So slow stitching Sunday afternoon commenced.

It was very slow too, with lots of breaks and interruptions as I conversed with a friend or two on messenger.We swapped ideas and advice and even helped with Pinterest research.

But all that aside, I'm happy with my progress.

Oh, and I had an email the other day to say that my threads are on their way. 

I plan to continue stitching on this piece once I'm done here.

In the evening, I made some more wee crochet squares.

*

This morning I was very tempted to sit right here in this chair and pick up my cross stitch, but I reminded myself that I need a new quilt project, something for my 15 mins before work.

Remember this bag?

I bought this kit back here. Just days before NZ went into lock down.

It got tucked away in the cupboard, for one day.

It didn't get to marinade for long did it? LOL

Some things hide away in cupboards and drawers for years until just the right moment comes along. I blame Covid19. This virus certainly has affected different crafters in different ways. 

Anyway this morning I pulled it out and made a start.

Such pretty fabrics. I've never really been a fan of Kaffe, I think when I see all the bolts of fabric all lined up together, it's over whelming and a huge hit of colours. And usually those big bold prints put me off.  But when I saw a model of this quilt hanging in the shop it began to whisper to me and then the whispers became shouts and about 6 months after first seeing it I eventually bought the kit.

It was originally done as a block a month, but I got the whole thing in that lovely bag.

 After a little pressing to get rid of packaging creases I made a start on cutting, but was interrupted by a break in!

Belle,the smallest and furriest member of this household  does not like closed doors and while she hasn't yet figured out how to deal with the usual handle at human hip height style openings, she is very good at sliding doors. We often wake up at night to the sounds of her trying to get into our walk in wardrobe or ensuite, as they both have sliding doors.

Today I was able to observe and document exactly how it is how it's done. 

1) Try once or twice to swipe your paw at it, the way humans do.

 2) Try from a different angle, upside down might help.

 3) Go back to position one.

 4) Try a different angle.

 5) Ready for it?

 6) somersault and flick!

 7) You're in!

 8) Slink!

 9) Let inspection commence. Why did the human shut me out?

 10) It's boring in there, I'm tired after all that, time for a snooze in this box.

While I dream about tipping that bin all over the floor!

I have to be so sneaky with the phone while trying to get pictures of her! She knows, even when she has her back turned, she seems to know when I'm taking photos. Then she stops whatever she is doing and sits there looking at me, like....

"Secret cat business, nothing for humans to see here"... 

LOL

Sew, excitement over, back to my preparations.

 Once all the cutting was done I made up the four patch blocks.

And it was time to make some lunch.

 While I had been busy spying on Belle and playing with pretty fabrics, Tony had made a lovely loaf of bread.

 I made tattie scones for lunch.

Some people say these are an Irish dish, some say it is Scottish.

I'll settle for Gaelic.

I remember my Gran making these when I was a little girl. She used to make a big meal at lunch time. and a much smaller meal in the evening. She would sometimes cook extra potatoes and would take them from the pan, before she set my Granddad to mashing them. She said he was the best at tattie bashing. The few she fished out of the pan were left in the pantry to go cold, then later she would mash them up, without milk or butter, she would add flour and a little baking powder and salt. I remember she would just mix it with her hands and knead it a little on a floured surface, before rolling it out. She would cut triangles and after dusting them with flour on both sides, she would cook them on a hot griddle. (I used my dry frying pan) She never oiled or buttered the griddle.

They would be served with butter or a poached egg. Tony and I had ours with baked beans.

Yummy comfort food for a cold day.

It's my understanding that this is a poor families recipe, a way of making a little stretch just a little bit further. For a make it up on the back of a memory recipe, it was pretty damn good, I'm impressed with myself and willing to share.

Here you go.

Tattie scones.

250g cold boiled potatoes

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tea spoon baking powder

1/2 tea spoon salt.

Mash the potatoes with a fork. 

Sift over the flour, salt and baking powder.

Mix it in with your hands.

If it's a bit sticky, add a little more flour.

Knead it a little with well floured hands.

Flour your work surface and pat the dough out into a rough circle about 3/4 cm thick

Cut it into 4, 6 or 8 triangles.

Dust both sides of the dough.

Pop the triangles into a hot dry pan and cook for 4-5 mins each side.

Serve with butter or experiment with sweet or savoury toppings. 

This recipe makes two servings. 

If you try it out, let me know what you think.