Fabulous Friday Focaccia Foodie Treat!

How we did it, with our delicious home baked focaccia we had truffle pesto with

grilled mozzerella, sauteed mushroom and poached egg. 

So very tasty and the truffle filled the kitchen with its wonderful pungent aroma :) yum. 

We enjoyed every mouthful.

We all know its Black Friday so get out there and support local traders. Myself and Mum are off to a Christmas craft fair at Merville House on Saturday, check it out on Facebook, and we are looking forward to spying the stalls and maybe getting some inspiration from the artisans!

take care and have a fab weekend,

S x

Merville House Food and Craft Market

Especially for Caroline - Sundried Tomato Foccacia Bread!

I can't believe I've managed to post a recipe with pictures as well. I actually did it, so chuffed with myself and the results are great (though I have to say taking decent pictures AND getting decent baking results is not easy!). This is a combination of two of my favourite Focaccia recipes, Gordon Ramsay - Ultimate Cookery Course and Good Housekeeping - The Baking Book.

Gordon adds semolina to his version, as I do here and it really gives your focaccia an authentic Italian flavour. I'm planning on having some of this bread tomorrow for brunch with Mum, and I'll post a little pic for you of our accompaniments :).

So give it go, its tasty and satisfying with an Italian inspired casserole, hearty soup or something a little different perhaps?

However you eat it, enjoy it!

Lets do lunch!

S x

p.s. the last pic is steamed up 'cos it's straight out of the oven! Opps! :)

Sieve 500g flour, 2 tbsp semolina, 14g dried yeast, 2 tbsp dried rosemary, 1 tbsp salt, keep your salt and yeast separate
 ( salt kills yeast!). Make a well, Add 320 ml water
 and 60 ml olive oil,
 mixing your yeast first then combining the remaining dry ingredients

It should be a pretty wet mix, add more water if necessary

Knead for 5 minutes

Cover with a cloth or clingfilm and leave to rise/prove for
 60 minutes, or until doubled in size

Pull dough out onto a lightly floured suface

chop sundried tomatos

Divide dough into two equal amounts, then add sundried tomato and knead again for 3 minutes

Spread dough out as flatly as possible into a oven proof dish, lightly dusted with flour

Leave to prove for a second time for around 40 minutes or until double in size,
then press deep 'dimples' into the dough using your fingers, or the floured handle of a wooden spoon.

Stuff dimples with the remaining sundried tomato,

 I also like to use the 

olive oil used to preserve the  jarred variety 

of sundried tomato to drizzle 

over the bread so nothing goes to waste

Add olive oil, roughly chopped garlic and more rosemary
(dried or fresh depending on your pantry), sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
 Place in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes until golden and thoroughly baked.

et fini!

More Bits That Got Finished

Here we are, the remaining pics of my bedroom. You will notice no pics of the ACTUAL bed yet, well that is in progress as we speak. I have a load of food ideas I want to share with you over the holidays, a real Christmas Feast! So stay tuned for home improvements, Christmas outings and FAB food  :)

Ceiling Rose and black chandelier,
 which I bought in a sale at Dunelm Mill

The white coving really makes the room feel finished and defined.

Crystal ball curtain catchers (£2.99) and my thrift shop curtains

Japanese postcards framed in a white-washed wood
with a gold paper mount surround.
The frames were £1 for all 3 at a car boot sale,
and the postcards are from my Aunt Gloria to my family decades ago

Thrift shop curtains and small vignette of objects on my Studded Cabinet

3D Elephant in black frame from Tkmaxx at about £7 <3,
Japanese Lady in white a gift from my Mum.
I used to play with it when I was a little girl :)

P.S, don't forget to look at the 'before'!!

• 'And so we move on to the REAL problem area.' my before post in August!
• Take care folks, S x

Other Stuff I Did Recently Was.......

The original piece on a lovely but rare sunny day here in Belfast!....and Mum.

revamp

I used upholstery studs in various antique effect gold, copper and silver tones to create some interest on the doors and drawers :) It feels great to run your fingers over!

I May Be Slightly Over-Optimistic But.......

Ok here are some of the before and afters. The room is not totally complete yet. There are still lots of things to do and upcycle, but this is what I've got so far. I still need to make a headboard for the bed, a blind for the window, put up more artwork, find and buy a bargain dressing table to glamorize. I apologize for my poor pics, but this is a speedy post before I pick mum up from her Alzheimers Programme ( its running for 16 weeks, after a bit of a dodgy start she seems to like it. This means I get 3 and a half hours on my own every tuesday! As you can imagine I have a lot of plans for these 3 and half hours, they won't all fit! :). ).
So quick before reminder of some brown furniture and how it looks now

Before

The After. I distressed this piece to get a shabby chic feel. Firstly I sanded the surface to key it for paint. Then 2 coats of grey emulsion. Once dry I rubbed all over the surfaces with an ordinary household wax candle (white, not coloured!). This provides a resistance to the top paint colour, whatever it is that you chose. Then 2 coats of your chosen colour ( white for me!). When dry sand again, try to go for the obvious areas where wear and tear would appear naturally and it's up to you how much of the base colour you choose to reveal! 

I replaced the existing wooden knob with a pretty glass one from B&Q (£3.95), it was a bit of a luxury buy I felt but added to the table. 

Its a perfect height for my tall bed ( more later about that!) and the shelves are handy for my bits and pieces that somehow make it to the bedroom with me at the end of the day.

Well one down, just a few to go. I DO think I'll get the upholstered headboard and window blind finished for Christmas but the dressing table depends so much on the auctions and the price, and this time of year is expensive!!!!!!

Hope everyone had an amazing Halloween and now December is around the corner I'll be thinking lots about ways to bring Mum some festive cheer! Have a lovely day, S x

Christmas Looms Large

Ok, feeling bad because I haven't posted recently, so apologies. The bedroom is progressing well. All paintwork is complete and at the minute I am busy building a headboard. Other completed jobs include the bedside table, my vintage cabinet and other little accessories like curtains, tiebacks, picture frames etc.
So its coming together nicely and if I'm lucky I'll be finished by Christmas. The auctions are a great source of all types of furniture and decorative objects, expect to see some great finds very soon!
Nearly there, can't wait to show you all,
:) S

More Junk Finds, (and the little jobs that will make a difference!)

So  I am stalling again? Not really, just trying to get all the bitsy little jobs out of the way. I have also been busy looking after Mum, as usual, and trawling around Belfast's second hand and charity shops. This all takes time and money. My 'No Budget' budget is proving a challenge, but I did manage to find some 'no cash' treasures and I am keeping my pennies in my pocket.
I'll put up some pics of this second lot of accessories and you can see what you think. None of them has been up-cycled yet but they will all be perfect for the purpose I intend for them :)
Fun times ahead!
Also a couple of pics of progress on the basics of my bedroom so far.
I hope you all have a great week, I'm trying to quit smoking (again), I was cigarette free for about 6 years and recently semi-heartedly started again, no excuse :(  .
Oh, and a special road trip tomorrow! I'm off to Ross's Auctions in Belfast to get a taste of what bedroom furniture is on offer and how the auction works. I've never been but I've seen plenty on TV, Bargain Hunt!
However I really want to get a better idea of what its like before I start getting stuck in.
So I'll be sure to take plenty of pics for those of you who might be as curious as I am. I'll be on my own too, as Mum has a day visit tomorrow and I get an afternoon free to do my own thing.
Wish me Luck!
S :)

You can see the gloss work is finished, but the door surround needs filled to give the painted walls a better look.

My pretty ceiling rose, it was easy enough to put up but awkward to re-wire the light fitting (I'm very pleased with the results though!).

I found the brass chandelier  beside a bin! So that was FREE! The iron lamp base was £5 from Barnardo's Charity Shop.

I bought this from a car boot sale at a local church for £2 :) Joy!

This was the most expensive thing  I  have bought recently it was £14.99 from Barnardo's again. Its going to be up-cycled with a new paint treatment.

Vintage Treasure! :)

Today has been a great bargain hunting day! I am so excited and happy about my treasure finds that I had to share the 'befores' just as soon as I got home.
Well, what I have found is a great little cabinet, it's perfect for my bedroom with a cupboard on top and three good sized drawers below!
I think what I will do is take the shelf out of the cupboard and then use that as a TV cabinet for my bedroom. When I close the doors it will just look so sweet, and practical!
I have some pics for you all, use some imagination, it just looks brown and old at the minute ;)

And even better, it was manufactured locally in Northern Ireland many moons ago (at least 50!) in Lisburn, which is on the outskirts of my home town Belfast. How great is that! As for the price it was a fabulous £20.

Mum is  helping! You can see it's perfect for a TV hide away cabinet, and the drawer space will be so useful.

A pretty scalloped edge to the cabinet doors is a nice detail.

Curvy feet :)

Homemade!

Bargain Price.

We got a lot of attention from the local shoppers, they were all very curious about my purchase and very positive about my plans for it!

Bargain number two is a bit of a give away because it hints at the colour scheme for my bedroom but not to worry. I was lucky to get a pair of jacquard grey full length  lined curtains, in great nick for the absolute steal price of £7.95 for the pair! Whoop! 

The jacquard is an elegant peacock feather, so I couldn't resist and although I won't be using the full length 

(simply because Nyah my cat likes to sleep in the bottom of pooled, full length curtains and I know this thanks to experience!) there will be plenty of fabric left over to make some tie backs and maybe some other accessories also.

What a result! Really pleased! I hope you have a great weekend, take care folks, S :)

Mini Make-Over

I found this little cabinet, it was about to be binned. I'm thinking that it would make a great accessories chest for all my costume jewellery, bracelets, earrings etc. Its made from laminated white MDF so it's very solid. I think a little revamp will bring it back to tip top condition and I'll have gained a lot more dresser table surface space and a pretty cabinet to boot!

You can see there is some damage to the top

Four drawers will make this very useful for all my bits and pieces.

I will replace the handles with something more glitzy!

So give me some time and I'll be back with some fab 'after' shots.

BTW, I have been getting on with my bedroom too! The coving is now caulked and painted and I put up a smallish but very pretty ceiling rose so expect more pics soon (well soonish!).

In the meantime hope everyone is well and happy :)

S

Painful Progress (and cat updates) on my Perfect Paradise!

Ok, slowly but surely, that's the way I'm doing it. At present the bedroom that is mine remains a bit of a 'no go' zone but things have been difficult.
My mum has had a bit of a hard time just recently. To cheer her up we went shopping for bits and bobs and she had a haircut at her favourite hair salon in Belfast with a yummy lunch at Brights restaurant, nothing fancy but it was tasty grub.
I'm posting some 'during' pictures for you all to take a peek at, as evidence that I have been getting down to the nitty gritty :) even while doing all the other stuff!

As you can see the RED IS DEAD, this at least means it's a little easier on the eye and I have almost finished putting up coving! Small steps towards the main goal but when all the ground work is done the end result will be (hopefully!) a beautiful room to sleep and relax in :).

Other news is that Nyah my cat has been out killing the local wildlife. I had bought a collar with a bell to try and save some of the critters from his bad ways. Unfortunately this has not worked as well as hoped. The number of birds and mice he brings home in a bloody mess HAS diminished. However he still manages to bring home around 2 kills a week. Is it because he loves me?

So, here is a pic of a SURVIVOR! Yup, the little froggie below played dead and eventually hopped past me into the kitchen where I scooped him up and rescued his little butt into a neighbours garden hedge! Hurray! What a cutie <3

And the culprit, well he is still busy getting in the way and disrupting the general public and me and mum too!

Even laundry is an act he has to get in on!

So, 'Bye' for the minute, have a fun week,

S :)

Some random household moments

My new doormat, to help keep my freshly cleaned carpet in a decent state and hopefully inspire visitors generosity ;)

My Irish Soda Bread, made to go with soup I forgot to take a picture of.

Home Gym, now that I am a full time carer I needed to quit my gym membership and get busy at home 

now the rain is back I like to bring as many flowers inside from the garden to enjoy :)

A little beaut! Bargain price and it folds up too, Home Gym.