Dragonfly

I love dragonflies - the way they glisten as they dart through the air, the way the sunlight glints on them - and they way they are so versatile as a craft theme! In the days before I got addicted to papercraft (and when my eyesight was good enough to thread a needle ) I loved to embroider them in metallic threads

Now I prefer to stamp them and I have all sorts of styles - realistic, arty, cute, fun - I can't turn a dragonfly stamp down. For this card I turned to a very realistic one, which I stamped onto acetate using a Stazon pad then glittered from underneath. The background is a lightly patterned paper from my scrap box,  overstamped with the same Stazon pad.

 

I am joining in two challenges with this card
Make my Monday - Anything That Flies
Crafting Musketeers - Anything Goes

Butternut gnocchi with brown butter and sage

When I opened the free booklet that came with the June issue of Olive magazine, it contained the kind of recipe that screams to me "Get into the kitchen and start cooking NOW!"  - Butternut Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage. Quick check of the ingredients - yep, all present and correct - so I launched straight in.

The recipe, which is available on the BBC Good Food Website,  is meant to serve 6, so I halved it, since dividing it into three was impracticable, and instead of the 1½ small egg yolks that this led to, I used one large one, but apart from that I changed nothing.

Being a terribly messy cook, I was very proud of how the uncooked gnocchi turned out

As for the finished result, lovely light, delicious gnocchi in a tangy, lemony butter with a hint of sage - delicious. I'd planned for the "third person's portion" to be saved for my lunch the next day.... but between us we managed to polish almost the whole lot off!

because this is a very economical way to make something that really tastes very special - a real show-off  dish for around £1 a head - I'm joining in with Credit Crunch Munch with Farmersgirl Kitchen,  Fuss Free Flavours ,  and Fab Food 4 All  and I've put the linky at the bottom so you can see the other cheap but delicious dishes taking part this month.

A card for CAS on Sunday

This week at CAS on Sunday it is challenge #7, a sketch challenge  - here is the inspiration

I'm not very good with sketches, I tend to either follow them over-slavishly or drift so far away you can't see the inspiration, but this fun paper that came free with a craft mag several years ago (Yes, I'm still on a campaign to use up my stash) did rather lend itself to the slavish interpretation I feel at home with!

Contrasting colours

This week's challenge #118 at Less is More is a colour challenge.

 

The task is to choose two colours that are opposite each other on the wheel and use them together. I had great fun going through my stash and putting together contrasting pairs, to see which I liked best, and decided in the end to use Blue-Violet and Orange-Yellow. The snag is, they've come out on my photo with the blue-violet looking bluer and the orange-yellow looking yellower!

 

 

Many thanks to everyone who gave me advice about how to stick intricate die cuts last time I used them - I used a cocktail stick and tacky glue this time and made a much less messy job of it. Not perfect yet - but that will take practise!

Meal Planning Monday May 6th

I've not joined in with Meal Planning Monday for several weeks because we've been having the sort of weeks that can't be planned more than a few days at a time, so I'm pleased to have chance to plan ahead this week and join in again!

Monday Mark is cooking. I know the meal will involve pork escalopes, and I can see bread rising, but I don't know his exact plans (or indeed whether he actually knows them) yet.
Tuesday Teryaki chicken using this recipe but not in a slow cooker - I cooked chicken breasts in the slow cooker last week and wasn't happy with the result. It isn't really the kind of dish that NEEDS a slow cooker! A mixed vegetable stir fry with it.
Wednesday Mixed vegetable cottage pie with swede crust - a recipe from the gorgeous "More Veg Cookbook" which I won in a competition last week.
Thursday New Potatoes Lorraine from the June issue of Good Food magazine. This is potatoes, bacon and shallots baked in a cheesy custard  - it looks like a more refined version of a similar dish I've been making for many years that has potatoes, bacon, onions and sausages baked in custard.
Friday something vaguely Mediterranean is starting to take shape- we have lots of mint and parsley, so there will be tabbouleh, and there's a pack of feta that needs using so I'll probably do a Greek Salad and a melon and feta salad. Maybe some hummus too, and some pita breads or some other flat bread, depending on how much time I have.
Saturday and Sunday I expect Mark will be cooking one day. The other, inspired by the eternal gammon that keeps failing to be eaten by Foodie Quine,  I'm going to make gammon with new potatoes, parsley sauce and PSB.

What are YOU eating this week? Why not pop over to At Home With Mrs M and share a link to your plans?

Weekly candy at Joanna Sheen

I know that lots of you who read this are compers as well as crafters, so you will be delighted to know that every week Joanna Sheen gives us a chance to win something from her wonderful store. This week's post is here and you could win this gorgeous sheet of stamps.

 

 Don't forget to follow her blog and check back each weekend for the latest candy!

Shallot Tarte Tatin

I love savoury tatins, and made with bought puff pastry they are quick and simple and can be made with lots of different veg - I've made it with beetroot and with parsnips in the past, and I think carrots, butternut squash or sweet potatoes would be worth a try.

This time, however, I used shallots, and flavoured it with balsamic vinegar ant thyme.

Recipe (serves 2)

1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
4 torpedo shallots
30g butter
1 tbs Sweet Freedom syrup (you could use clear honey)
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
a small handful of fresh thyme, chopped
parmesan flakes to serve

You will need a small non-stick frying pan with an ovenproof handle - I used a 20cm one.

Before you start to cook, use the pan as a template to cut a circle of pastry the diameter of the top of the pan, and set this aside to chill.

Heat the oven to the temperature directed on your pack of pastry.

Peel and halve the shallots, being careful to keep all the layers joined at the base. Heat the butter in the frying pan and cook the shallots for around 10 minutes until browned all over. Remove from the pan and  set aside. Add the syrup and boil for 2 minutes, until it starts to caramelise, then quickly stir in the balsamic (look out for spluttering - the droplet will be very hot) and remove from the heat.

Arrange the shallots cut side down in the sticky mixture, sprinkle with thyme, season if desired then tuck the pastry over the top and bake in the pre heated oven for 15-20 mins until  risen and golden.

When cooked, carefully invert the pan onto a heatproof serving plate, sprinkle with parmesan flakes and serve.

The topping will look very black - it isn't burnt, it's the rich dark colour of the balsamic vinegar, and it's well worth putting up with the rather odd appearance for the wonderful flavour it adds.

I served it with Chantenay carrots cooked with orange and cumin, although with hindsight I wish I'd put something green on the plate as well.

As for the left over puff pastry, as this doesn't need the whole sheet, spread it with sun dried tomato pesto (from a jar), sprinkle with grated parmesan, roll up, slice about 1cm thick and bake on another shelf of the oven, and you have a tray of tangy tomato nibbles!