Ticking them off now!
Reminder: Challenge 1 - Make Chutney by Christmas (challenge laid down by Ms G.)
I have never made chutney before and I'm not known by my family and friends as the worlds best chef but I do like cooking so was up for the challenge. After lengthy discussion with Ms G. we settled on a tomato chutney from the BBC website - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2644/autumn-tomato-chutney There were plenty of other recipes available some which were much more spicy but I thought a traditional one was appropriate for the time of year.
Ingredients
1kg ripe tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
750g cooking apples (peeled, cored and chopped)
375g light muscovado sugar
250g raisins
250g onions (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)
2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
350ml cider vinegar
There's not a lot of skill involved apart from knowing when it's ready. There is an awful lot of prep though. Chopping, lots of chopping. When it's all chopped, put it all into a large pan or preserving pan. I followed the recipe to the dot. The only thing they don't tell you what to do is how to go about sterilising the jars. With some help from a housemate and my mum (who makes a lot of jam) this is what you need to do - clean the jars and lids thoroughly and let them dry. Either put them in the oven for a couple of minutes or pour boiling water over them and in them. Once out, pour chutney immediately. Do not leave them out for ages as the bacteria will reform and grow. So you should do this just before the chutney is ready.
How do you know the chutney is ready?
Interesting question, I asked this to a colleague who it seems is an expert chutney maker (I had no idea). When it is nearing time to finishing (about 50-55mins in to simmering) run your wooden spoon along the top of the mixture, if the trough fills with liquid and mixture it's not ready. If it doesn't, it is! There should still be some liquid in the pan but not enough to fill the trough.
The smell was amazing and filled the house. At the start it was all vinegar but it mellowed out and was replaced by a sweet fruity smell.
The mixture filled 5 jam jars worth and there was a little bit left so me and my housemate had a cheeky cheese and cracker snack. It tasted really good, I was so surprised! So I took two jars back home for Christmas and the family seem reasonably impressed. One of the jars will be left for me and my housemates then there's one for Ms G. (it only seems fair she has one of them) then there's one left over.
(N.B. Pictures to come)
Monday 26 December 2011
Challenges 5 & 6 Complete!
Firstly...
Apologies, I started writing this a while ago but a big project got in the way (I'll write about it in another post). So I'm trying to catch up today so there maybe a few posts today or over the next couple of days to make up. I have also been doing some mini personal challenges which I'll put in other posts. OK, back to the story...
Ms G. set me 2 short challenges -
No. 1 - Ms G.'s desk sign
Whilst the potato printing was drying (see below) I took the opportunity to make the desk sign. I didn't want it to look like other peoples desk signs in the office, Ms G. deserves better that that and I wanted it to be as individual as Ms G. herself. The idea came from the thought of flowers on a desk so decided on a posy of letters and smaller flowers. The five letters and three smaller flowers seemed to look best.
Ingredients (as it were...)
Jewellery wire
Card
Colour pens
Cut glass beads
Sticky tape
Blutac
Candle holder
Luckily I had jewellery wire which worked perfectly as it's easily to mold and holds. The letters were cut out of the card and decorated with gold or red pen. To make them look a little more interesting I added some cut glass beads. Large springs were shaped by molding the jewellery wire around a wooden kitchen spoon. Beads were then added to it. A bead was fixed on to the end with the wire rounded to stop them all falling off.
The springs were then attached to the letters with sticky tape. Not entirely convinced they will stick for very long but they're still on (as of 26/12). Letters were attached to the varying lengths of jewellery wire with sticky tape. I thought this might give it more interest and a feeling of movement (it's all quite bouncy!)
Three small foam flowers where put on smaller bits of wire and bound to the letters with more jewellery wire wound round. I wound just over an inch to hold it all in place. Tight enough to hold but enough movement to adjust each of the strands.
My boss gave me a small candle holder to put it in. It is less than an inch square, cream coloured, glass (or plastic, can't remember). It's supposed to hold very thin candles but he wasn't going to use it so he gave it all to me. The posy was fixed in the candle holder with bluetac - not attractive but you can't see it anyway.
I love it and Ms G. seemed pleased with it. It stands on top of her computer screen almost like it has a fringe. I must say it is always a relief to see it still standing with no bits falling off!
No. 2 - Christmas card using potato printing.
I don't think I've done potato printing since infant school, it was so much fun! I only had 2 pots of paint - red and blue and therefore purple as well. I used poster paint from a local stationary shop. Whilst I was in the shop I saw some old fashioned luggage labels which looked perfect for Christmas present labels. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and do those as well.
Ingredients
Small bag of new potatoes
Baking tray
Small kitchen knife
Poster paints
A4 piece of card folded (I used white card but you can use any colour that goes with the paints)
Take a potato and half it. The size of the potato depends on how big you want the letter to be in the end. Carve into the flat side of the potato the letter required. Remember to reverse the letter because otherwise it will print the opposite way round. A mistake I made - don't have a go, I hadn't done this since I was 6! I would suggest only going 5mm deep into the potato, leaving the other end for your fingers. You need to make sure you're fingers can hold the potato without touching the paint or marking the card.
Once all the letters are ready lay out on a baking tray and put in a warm oven for about 5 mins. This is to dry them out slightly and reduce the chances of moisture making the paint run and ruining the end product. I suppose this was entirely necessary but it seemed like a logical thing to do.
Splodge some paint onto a paper plate or paint pallet (whatever you have). Dab the potato letter into the paint and print it onto the paper - easy! You need to hold the potato steady and press into the card. This was the point at which I realised my E and N were the wrong way round... The E was easy to correct, just turn it up the other way round. The N was more of an issue. I decided it looked pretty cool backwards and Ms G. wasn't going to mind so I left it.
Leave somewhere to dry out of the way and not in the way of housemates.
Later, I decorated and highlighted with a gold pen. Fabulous!
(N.B. Pictures to follow)
It felt really good doing something different and its rare that I get the chance to do more arty things (I'm not the artist in the family...). Hey, it's not perfect but neither am I and if the recipient is happy then it's all good.
Apologies, I started writing this a while ago but a big project got in the way (I'll write about it in another post). So I'm trying to catch up today so there maybe a few posts today or over the next couple of days to make up. I have also been doing some mini personal challenges which I'll put in other posts. OK, back to the story...
Ms G. set me 2 short challenges -
- Design and make a desk sign with Ms G.'s name on. Potato printing is preferable. To be completed by 13th December.
- Design and make Ms G. a Christmas card with potato printing. I can make more than one and give them out. To be completed by 13th December.
No. 1 - Ms G.'s desk sign
Whilst the potato printing was drying (see below) I took the opportunity to make the desk sign. I didn't want it to look like other peoples desk signs in the office, Ms G. deserves better that that and I wanted it to be as individual as Ms G. herself. The idea came from the thought of flowers on a desk so decided on a posy of letters and smaller flowers. The five letters and three smaller flowers seemed to look best.
Ingredients (as it were...)
Jewellery wire
Card
Colour pens
Cut glass beads
Sticky tape
Blutac
Candle holder
Luckily I had jewellery wire which worked perfectly as it's easily to mold and holds. The letters were cut out of the card and decorated with gold or red pen. To make them look a little more interesting I added some cut glass beads. Large springs were shaped by molding the jewellery wire around a wooden kitchen spoon. Beads were then added to it. A bead was fixed on to the end with the wire rounded to stop them all falling off.
The springs were then attached to the letters with sticky tape. Not entirely convinced they will stick for very long but they're still on (as of 26/12). Letters were attached to the varying lengths of jewellery wire with sticky tape. I thought this might give it more interest and a feeling of movement (it's all quite bouncy!)
Three small foam flowers where put on smaller bits of wire and bound to the letters with more jewellery wire wound round. I wound just over an inch to hold it all in place. Tight enough to hold but enough movement to adjust each of the strands.
My boss gave me a small candle holder to put it in. It is less than an inch square, cream coloured, glass (or plastic, can't remember). It's supposed to hold very thin candles but he wasn't going to use it so he gave it all to me. The posy was fixed in the candle holder with bluetac - not attractive but you can't see it anyway.
I love it and Ms G. seemed pleased with it. It stands on top of her computer screen almost like it has a fringe. I must say it is always a relief to see it still standing with no bits falling off!
No. 2 - Christmas card using potato printing.
I don't think I've done potato printing since infant school, it was so much fun! I only had 2 pots of paint - red and blue and therefore purple as well. I used poster paint from a local stationary shop. Whilst I was in the shop I saw some old fashioned luggage labels which looked perfect for Christmas present labels. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and do those as well.
Ingredients
Small bag of new potatoes
Baking tray
Small kitchen knife
Poster paints
A4 piece of card folded (I used white card but you can use any colour that goes with the paints)
Take a potato and half it. The size of the potato depends on how big you want the letter to be in the end. Carve into the flat side of the potato the letter required. Remember to reverse the letter because otherwise it will print the opposite way round. A mistake I made - don't have a go, I hadn't done this since I was 6! I would suggest only going 5mm deep into the potato, leaving the other end for your fingers. You need to make sure you're fingers can hold the potato without touching the paint or marking the card.
Once all the letters are ready lay out on a baking tray and put in a warm oven for about 5 mins. This is to dry them out slightly and reduce the chances of moisture making the paint run and ruining the end product. I suppose this was entirely necessary but it seemed like a logical thing to do.
Splodge some paint onto a paper plate or paint pallet (whatever you have). Dab the potato letter into the paint and print it onto the paper - easy! You need to hold the potato steady and press into the card. This was the point at which I realised my E and N were the wrong way round... The E was easy to correct, just turn it up the other way round. The N was more of an issue. I decided it looked pretty cool backwards and Ms G. wasn't going to mind so I left it.
Leave somewhere to dry out of the way and not in the way of housemates.
Later, I decorated and highlighted with a gold pen. Fabulous!
(N.B. Pictures to follow)
It felt really good doing something different and its rare that I get the chance to do more arty things (I'm not the artist in the family...). Hey, it's not perfect but neither am I and if the recipient is happy then it's all good.
Saturday 12 November 2011
Glutton for challenges
Hi all,
Because time restraints due to work and show rehearsals finding time to do challenges has been...well...challenging. After discussing it with Ms G. we came up with a solution - I need smaller challenges that I can do in an hour or two. Probably best to start off small as well. So before I knew it more challenges have been put on the table. And here they are:
5. Design and make a desk sign with Ms G.'s name on. Potato printing is preferable. To be completed by 13th December.
6. Design and make Ms G. a Christmas card with potato printing. I can make more than one and give them out. To be completed by 13th December.
Spot the theme... :-)
I had a text from the wonderful Ms F. this week who suggested I went to life drawing classes with her. Unfortunately, they are at the same time I am in rehearsal so it was decided I would postpone this till after the show is finished. So probably the New Year. I did meet up with her afterwards though and lo I did come away with 2 more challenges.
7. Attend a life drawing class with Ms F. To be completed by the New Year.
8. Sing at an open mic night by the end of 2011. I can choose which open mic night I go to and Ms. F must be in attendance. I've been thinking about doing this for a while so this gives me the perfect excuse. I already have a couple of songs in mind.
Right, can't stay here writing all night, I've got some potato printing to do!
I'll let you know how I got on tomorrow.
EmJay x
Because time restraints due to work and show rehearsals finding time to do challenges has been...well...challenging. After discussing it with Ms G. we came up with a solution - I need smaller challenges that I can do in an hour or two. Probably best to start off small as well. So before I knew it more challenges have been put on the table. And here they are:
5. Design and make a desk sign with Ms G.'s name on. Potato printing is preferable. To be completed by 13th December.
6. Design and make Ms G. a Christmas card with potato printing. I can make more than one and give them out. To be completed by 13th December.
Spot the theme... :-)
I had a text from the wonderful Ms F. this week who suggested I went to life drawing classes with her. Unfortunately, they are at the same time I am in rehearsal so it was decided I would postpone this till after the show is finished. So probably the New Year. I did meet up with her afterwards though and lo I did come away with 2 more challenges.
7. Attend a life drawing class with Ms F. To be completed by the New Year.
8. Sing at an open mic night by the end of 2011. I can choose which open mic night I go to and Ms. F must be in attendance. I've been thinking about doing this for a while so this gives me the perfect excuse. I already have a couple of songs in mind.
Right, can't stay here writing all night, I've got some potato printing to do!
I'll let you know how I got on tomorrow.
EmJay x
Monday 7 November 2011
The First Challenges
I have my first four challenges!
1. Make Chutney by Christmas (challenge laid down by Ms G.)
We decided on tomato chutney and the recipe I have is for 1.5 litres so there's going to be an awful lot of people getting chutney for Christmas!
2. Re-design an oversized dress by January (challenge laid down by Ms R.)
Buy a cheap dress which is much larger than my actual size and re-design it to make it fit me.
3. Find a random local creative activity and go do it! within the next 2 weeks (challenge laid down by Ms F.)
Go onto a local website’s 'what's on' page and find 3 creative activities that are of interest and pick one.
4. Buy/borrow The Artists Way by Julia Cameron and read it. No end date! (challenge laid down by Ms F.)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artists-Way-Discovering-Recovering-Creative/dp/0330343580
Apparently, it's all about rediscovering your creative self with a 12 week course with different challenges each week. Sounds right up my street.
So I'll let you know how I get on and will post photos as evidence!
1. Make Chutney by Christmas (challenge laid down by Ms G.)
We decided on tomato chutney and the recipe I have is for 1.5 litres so there's going to be an awful lot of people getting chutney for Christmas!
2. Re-design an oversized dress by January (challenge laid down by Ms R.)
Buy a cheap dress which is much larger than my actual size and re-design it to make it fit me.
3. Find a random local creative activity and go do it! within the next 2 weeks (challenge laid down by Ms F.)
Go onto a local website’s 'what's on' page and find 3 creative activities that are of interest and pick one.
4. Buy/borrow The Artists Way by Julia Cameron and read it. No end date! (challenge laid down by Ms F.)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artists-Way-Discovering-Recovering-Creative/dp/0330343580
Apparently, it's all about rediscovering your creative self with a 12 week course with different challenges each week. Sounds right up my street.
So I'll let you know how I get on and will post photos as evidence!
Creative slump
Hello, I'm Em.
I'm in a creative slump.
Actually, I'm nearly always in a creative slump until that undeniably wonderful feeling of creativity pops up. Sometimes its for a couple of minutes and sometimes its for hours on end. I know when I'm being creative because when something works, it really does work. I get butterflies in my tummy, a tingling in my fingers and I grin like a Cheshire cat because I know I'm standing on the edge of the cliff looking out. I know that if I make the right decisions and go with my gut instinct it could be amazing.
It's rare that creative feeling and I think that is what annoys me most. Is there a way of harnessing it? Can I learn to make the most of those moments? Are there triggers for being creative? Can I learn how to switch it on and off whenever I wanted to? Does it even exist or is it me being weird?
I think the first thing I need to do is be more positive about my own creativity. I know I am and can be creative, I have been hundreds of times before. So why not this time?
Next thing is to remember that it's rare to get flashes of inspiration. So when they do happen, seize the idea and run with it. Go where ever it takes you.
Next...I'm the only one who can actually do it. No one else can be creative on my behalf.
But I don't have to do it all on my own. Friends are great at pointing you in new and exciting directions and this is where I'm starting.
I asked and handful of friends to set me creative challenges....
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