Playing with food 2

Plum Puddings

 Okay, so these little treats have been around for sooooo long I don't even remember where they came from.  They started life with glace cherries and mint leaves but as I am not a fan of the cherries I thought using Jols would more suit me.  Also being an artist I like the fact that I can give the berries a colour variation. It makes the little puddings look more interesting. 

It took me all of 15 minutes to make these twelve little puddings.  Okay, okay there are only 11 on the tray now.  I did have to try one.  I just couldn't say 'Hey make these.  They taste great.' and not have tried one myself!

 

You will need 

A packet of Choc Royals

Mint leaves

White Melts

Jols

Cut your mint leaves in little strips.

You'll also need to take the Jols and Choc Royals out of the packaging.  It makes it so much easier to decorate with them and on them if you do so.  Yes that probably sounded a little sarcastic but my point is that these things couldn't be any easier. :-)

Gently melt 'Melts'.  Stir in between zaps in the microwave.  Quite often you will find that they are melted enough when you give them a stir.  I'm really good at stirring.

 Place a little melted 'white chocolate' (suspicious white substance that is meant to pass for chocolate) on the Choc Royal and let it dribble a little down the sides.  This is meant to simulate the cream that usually accompanies plum puddings. Place your leaves on the 'cream' leaving a little room in the centre for the berries. (see first photo) If you want to add layers of berries you can put a little white melt on the bottom of your Jol and just stick it on top.
How cute would these look arranged with some little angels to gaurd them.  Somehow I think the angels won't be able to save them either. 
 Enjoy

Elf Slipper Serviettes

Elf Slipper Seviettes




A dear friend of my beautiful Mum taught me how to make these lovely little Christmas serviettes. Mrs King
was her name and she had me grinding my own flour to make bread.  She had me making my own washing powder. She taught me how to sew.  The first thing I sewed with her she said I sewed as crooked as a dog's hind leg.  I later very much regretted that she taught me so well because when I painted my Christmas scene this year it would have been soooooo much more natural if where I sewed the sheets together I would have sewn them together crooked!  My lovely Mum and Mrs King are bothe gone now.  How lovely it would be to have Mum and Dad back for awhile.  I would loved for them to have gotten to see my beautiful little twin granddaughters.

These little slippers look great on the Christmas table with a Ferrero Rocher in them.  The gold paper really suits the theme but you could put in some other little treat. Enjoy.  I think I can do them with my eyes closed now.  I've already made about 150 so far in the last few weeks.

Playing with my food 1

Time for another blog otherwise I'm sure all of my two followers will be saying "How much creativity can one blonde head contain?  Obvi0usly not much because she has only posted one idea!". You know, even blonde people can get busy.

I got the idea for these cute little edibles from my friend Colleen many moons ago.  I will give you the simple version ( the one I used before I lost my self control ) first.  These are really quick to make even if you are more blonde than myself.

'Sing choirs of angels '

You will need:  marshmellows, Koolmints, mint leaves and white melts (Yuk.  They're not even chocolate)

Cut your mint leaves in half as shown in the photo.
Gently melt white 'whatevers' in a microwave safe jug. Do this at half power and stir after each zap.
Once melted, place a little whatever on top of marshmellow and stick on Koolmint.
Then put a little of the white melt on the sugared side of cut mint leaf and stick to the marshmellow.  Stick down near the base of the marshmellow because it helps to support the little angel.
Now that wasn't too hard was it?

Okay, so this is what I came up with when I lost my self control.

What you will need for these beautiful angels:
I think Aldi should be giving me a percentage of sales if these little things literally take off :-)
Pfeffernusse, Fruit Jelly Slices and Marshmellows (all from Aldi's)
Koolmints
White melts
Rice paper

Gently melt white whatevers in microwave safe jug.  Do this at half power in short bursts.  Stir after each time in the microwave. Once the melts are melted put a little on the pfeffernusse and stick the marshmellow to it.  This is a nice sturdy base for your little creation.  Place a little more of the melt on top of the marshmellow and stick on your koolmint.         

Next we are going

to cut a little wedge

shape out of the fruit jelly

slice. This then gets

stuck on at the bottom

                    of the marshmellow.                    

Put  a little red

food colouring

in the lid of it's bottle

and do the same with the black. 
Use a tooth pick to draw
on the eyelids and the mouth.

                 

Cut a small rectangle of rice paper and fold it in half. Put a little of the melted white melts on the front of the

marshmellow. No they aren't boobs! Stick your rice paper book to the blobs of melt making sure that 

the melt covers a little of the book. These will look like hands.

                      
So hopefully by this time
your melts have started
to thicken a little.  If so,
you can put little blobs
on the angels little head.
If you don't allow the
white 'chocolate' to thicken it will just roll off the Koolmint. Your little
treasure is now done so
get ready to make a choir.
JOY TO THE WORLD
THE LORD IS COME!
                         

How much creativity can one blonde head hold

My sister says I have too much time on my hands, I'm on Facebook too much. She is probably right. One thing I DO know, I have far too much creativity and useless information going on in this blonde head of mine. Okay, so it's a little grey but there is too much in there none the less. Time to start blogging, I am thinking. Let's get some creative ideas out there. These are not all my ideas but things that I have picked up along the way. Some things I have, let's say, enhanced a little just because I like to see how far I can take things.
Because Christmas is just around the corner and it is my favorite time of year I am going to start with some Christmas projects. My first project is dedicated to my friend Edith in the Netherlands. I hope you have as much fun making these 'snowball candles' as I did. (Veel geluk ermee. Als je het niet snapt laat me maar weten. )
Snowball Candles:

What you will need

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheap round candles. Colored ones are fine but you will find that you need to cover with more wax to disguise color. Also keep in mind that once you start burning your candle the color underneath will become visible. If you can't find any round candles you can use normal ones but will have to put more whipped wax around the middle until you get the desired shape.
Standard white or household paraffin wax candles. As an indication, I used 16 candles to make 2 small snowballs and 3 large ones.
Wick
Tray covered with baking paper
Fork, scissors and an old pan

 

 1. Remove wicks from round candles. These will need to be replaced with new longer wicks due to the fact that when you add another layer of wax over your ball candle, the original ones will be too short. You may need to make the holes in the candle slightly larger with a skewer, or such, before you thread your new wick, which you have knotted on one end, through.

2. Break long candles in half and place in a pan to gently melt on the stove. You can remove the pieces of wick as the candles begin to melt. Once melted remove pan from stove and allow wax to cool.

 3. Once the wax starts to turn a little white again you can start whipping it with a fork. Scrap the sides of the pan down as you go. When the wax looks somewhat like scrambled eggs you can start putting little amounts on your round candle.

HANDY HINT. If the wax is still oozing through your fork it is still too hot. Just keep whipping until it gets a skittle cooler. Also start putting your wax on ( wax off :-D that's a smiley face for everyone who said that) from the base of your candle. Work your way up to the wick.

4. Once a ball is complete allow it to set and then trim the wick. You can add another layer of wax if you want larger snowballs. Trim your wicks after this stage then. You can make your snowballs totally round by allowing them to dry and then turning them over and by adding some wax to the base.  I like to keep mine flat because they are more stable.  Round ones would be good if you were placing them into beads or such.

HINT if you are a little on the slow side just reheat your wax a little and start whipping it again.

HINT. IF YOU KEEP ANY OF YOUR CANDLES IN THE FREEZER THEY TEND TO BURN LONGER. DON'T ASK ME WHY. I'M NOT A SCIENTIST. I JUST REMEMBER SOMEONE TELLING ME SO. AAAAAAAHHHHHH ONE USELESS BIT OF INFO OUT OF MY HEAD,