Not Much to Report

Not much to report here...

 Bye Bye :(

The parmesan crackers were quite nice, and finished off by me, but the poppyseed crackers were a real winner and polished off by the spawn...

 I got this top for $1 but I hate turtlenecks...

Aaahh, much better...

Excited little head popping out from my finished front of the Bluebird Quilt...

And still trying to get the design right for the Quilt of Disarray.
Well look at that.  Seems like there was something to report!

Crackalacking Baby!

I have been entertaining myself playing around with combinations and flavours of homemade crackers, and have had some interest, so I'm putting all the info in the same place in a special 'cracker' post.

 It all begins with this recipe.  Which is basically 1 cup of plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 80ml water and 40ml olive oil.  Mixed, kneaded, rolled as thin as you can (in this case, the thinner the better).  Then baked at 200 degrees celsius for about 15 minutes.  When it comes out of the oven, crack it into pieces.  If it doesn't crack, it needs more time in the oven.
  The variations I have tried so far are:

Sesame, my all time favourite so far.  I used 1 cup plain white flour, and 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds (as well as the water oil and salt.)

Caraway, adults liked them, spawn not so much.  This one has 1/3 cup self raising wholemeal flour, 2/3 cup plain white flour, and 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds (as well as the water oil and salt.)

Mexican, lovely dipped in salsa or cream cheese!  I used 1/2 cup self raising wholemeal flour, 1/2 cup plain white flour, and 1 teaspoon of medium mexican chilli powder (as well as the water oil and salt.)

Garlic and Parsley, a hit!  This one had 1/2 cup self raising wholemeal flour, 1/2 cup plain white flour, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder (as well as the... you get the drift by now!)
  So now I'm putting out a challenge - I'd like to hear your ideas for some wonderful flavours, and I'd LOVE to see everyones photos of their efforts.  So off you go, get Cracking!  (Sorry terrible pun, couldn't help myself!)

My Creative Space

My creative space this week contains caraway cracker dough.  I love making crackers, rolling the dough so thin when you pick it up to put it on the tray it drapes like embroidered crepe de chine and the light shines through it.  This flavour was pronounced by adults to be 'delicious', and pronounced by spawn to be 'Um... I don't really like it'.

Also in my space, painting of one kind and another, and working on sashing for the Bluebird quilt.
Hope everyone else over at Kootoyoo is feeling inspired warm and safe!

Love and Loss

I have finished the applique on the last block of the quilt I have been making for my mother.
This quilt includes pieces of all the other quilts I have made, as well as donations of fabric left over from my sisters' craft projects, and some fabric from my late father's shirt.

I miss my Dad.
I miss my Panda.  (Who is going away for three weeks to the middle of outback Queensland.)
I miss my first love, my friends who moved, my friends I don't see often enough.
I miss all those I've lost, forgotten, ignored, and neglected.

I love my spawn. (Showing off our table centrepieces depicting members of our family.)

I love sesame crackers, just about to be pounced upon from the corners of the frame.

I love skating.

My Creative Space

This week, (a bit late due to 'technical difficulties) my creative space has involved experimenting with different flavours in my new savoury cracker recipe.

So far, the sesame has got to be the winner!  But I've yet to try the caraway...

I've also been inspired by the sunny weather to begin work on a refashion of this robe, I thought the fabric was too "groovy" to be confined to my house, so it is slowly turning into a retro-style mini dress.  More pics when its finished!
 I'm going to check out more creativity over at Kootoyoo!

A Cracking Success!

As you know I was given a challenge (no, not how many titles with 'cracker' puns in them), but to do some savoury baking.  My first three tries were less than perfect - Me "Have one, they're delicious", Spawn "No.  They are NOT delicious."

 But finally I have produced something which is both easy and tasty.  Me - "Do you like my crackers?", Spawn replied "Yes.  They are very nice."

I began with this recipe, but ended up with the recipe below.

Garlic Crackers

1/2 cup self-raising wholemeal flour
1/2 cup white plain flour
80ml water
40ml olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix together (add a little more flour if too sticky), roll out as thinly as possible, place on baking tray, bake 15 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 200C. 

 When it comes out of the oven, crack into pieces.  If it doesn't crack, it needs more time in the oven.

They are very more-ish.  With only 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the dough, and nothing else sprinkled on top, it has made me realize how heavily salted commercial snacks are.  For a family like mine with strong history of high blood pressure, this has been an important exercise.  I will definitely be experimenting with different flavours grains for the next batch!

Gone Crackers for Derby!

 This weekend I...

Began work on a challenge I've been given to bake some savoury snacks, when I achieve a result I'm really happy with I'll share it.  

These water crackers were too thick and bland.

 These cheese and herb were too dry, and needed salt.  They didn't have any for health reasons (and because I lost the salt.)

 And on Sunday I took a break from being responsible housewife and mother, and slipped far too enthusiastically into the role of NUMBER ONE FAN!  Woot Woot!

I had a blast, and I have  to say thanks for the team of people behind me.  The White Cloud for taking on the spawn, Lil' Sis for giving her a break, BFF for helping out with dinner/bath/bedtime, and Uncle Gocky for driving me there and back.  Thanks everyone!  And it also makes me think, if it took four people to do my job, I'm not doing too bad.