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With a very special birthday AND Easter looming, I feel like I'm drowning under my to-do lists! As if that isn't enough to deal with - last night we each came down with different, but equally horrible bugs and things are not pretty here today.
I'm going to take a little blog break so that I can get everything done and hopefully start feeling better.


Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend!

Photograph from Cameron's 7th birthday (and the cake I have aspired to "better" each year since!)

Hot Cross Buns

We made hot cross buns at the weekend. We mixed the dough using my new gadget: a breadmaker (which I will post more about when I've had a chance to do lots of different things with it). I used the recipe that came in the breadmaker instruction booklet, but it's pointless to share it because the measurements are all specific to the breadmaker measuring cups.
When the dough was ready we shaped it into buns and used a bit of saved dough, mixed with marzipan, to make the crosses on the tops before rising and baking (as per instructions from All Year Round - there's a full recipe for hot cross buns in there if you have a copy).
I've made hot cross buns before, in the past, but have never done the marzipan thing on top - we just made the crosses with a knife, previously. We were a bit over-enthusiastic with our marzipan, I think, but they are delicious! I've whipped up another batch and frozen them for over Easter weekend.

A quick google finds similar recipes - Delia's, slightly fancier ones from the Times, or ones with an icing cross from allrecipes.

The importance of being at home

Our pace of life has been speeding up considerably since the weather has warmed up. Our calendar has been filling up with activities, appointments, visits, meetings etc. It's great to have so much going on to choose from but I get lured by the abundance of opportunities after the fairly quiet Winter that I tend to bite off more than we can chew. Sometimes, I get dazzled by the possibilities and forget the importance of being at home.

From an aspie point of view, time at home is especially important to retreat from the outside world with it's unpredictability and be at home, in familiar surroundings, and have time to concentrate on our interests. It is only with this time to recharge ourselves that we manage as much and as well as we do.

From an unschooling point of view, we find that time at home is vital to the process of developing interests and following them up. I have observed that the greatest educational triumphs, so far, on our journey in home education have been beyond the boredom point. I have learnt to listen a little bit less to the instinct inside me that wants to "fix" the boredom, suggest something or distract from it. Self direction is difficult to learn if you are used to being entertained.

One of the most important lessons I have learnt over the last few years is that time spent gazing into space, day dreaming, fiddling with things etc. is not wasted - it's absolutely essential to development.

I shared this quote from this book a couple of weeks ago but I think it's relevant to what I'm talking about today:

"... in our efforts to make each moment "count", we seem to have lost the knack of appreciating the ordinary... we do too much and savour too little. We mistake activity for happiness, and so we stuff our children's days with activities, and their heads with information when we ought to be feeding their souls instead..."

Mistaking activity for happiness is exactly what I do when I see, read or hear about other families who are doing amazing things, going to fabulous events and generally making me feel inadequate - not that that makes their children automatically unhappy - I just have to remind myself regularly to follow the path that is right for me and my family, not what looks most impressive.

Over the years of being a parent, I've noticed something else about the importance of being at home, too. I have an interesting perspective on this issue, having been on both sides of the fence, and my transition from one to the other was a real struggle.

It comes in the form of girl talk - mother-to-mother chats. One minute you're talking about how cute a baby is and the next you're stung from out of nowhere by the parent who is returning to work and tells you that they can't possibly stay at home any longer, "I need something to stimulate my mind" they'll say.

At first, I was the parent saying this, and I was saying it to justify my decision to put my career before my child, because I felt insecure about it. I felt insecure because I'd been conditioned to believe that a girl like me could "have it all" - a high flying career, a loving family, a picture perfect home. I felt inadequate about my decision to be a working mother, because I had to ignore my maternal instincts to strive for unattainable goals and the trade-offs were not worth the benefits.

Later when my career was stalled by long term illness, I found that I didn't know how to relax. I couldn't self-direct my own time and it took me a long time to accept being out of the workforce. I felt defensive because I wasn't "contributing" as society expected me to do, I felt worthless. It took me a long time to be comfortable being alone with myself and fully appreciate a stay-at-home lifestyle (and by that I mean embracing domestic arts and my own personal interests, not watching Jeremy Kyle with a packet of Jammy Dodgers and playing online bingo) and I don't think I would ever have fully got there without being forced to take a break and "do nothing".

Sometimes, the word "home" is used in disdain, it's considered a dirty word - not by me. I think home is the most important place to be, for us. Not because we're scared of the outside world, but because we would never fully cope with it, or properly make sense of it without our time at home.

Sometimes I wonder if those people who deliver stingers about how being at home is not "mentally stimulating" are on a similar journey to the one I've been on. Is it that they feel insecure about their decisions, inadequate because of societal expectations, or aren't comfortable spending unstructured time with themselves?

I've just started reading this book, which is on topic for my post today and extremely interesting.

Cameron gets published!

A few months ago, Cameron was offered the chance to do a Little Editor drawing mission for Anorak Magazine (which I wrote a review of back in January) and today, the Spring "Daredevils" issue was delivered and we are super excited to see Cameron's drawing in print!

They got his age wrong, but we aren't too bothered - it's extremely exciting anyway!!

I expect that Cameron will have his nose in the magazine for a good few hours today so I'm going to slip off and get caught up on some housework. It's lovely and sunny outside, I'm going to hang the washing out - one of the great joys of Spring is getting my washing line back!

Home Baked Challenge, March - Winner(s)

Thanks so much to everyone who took part in the Home Baked Challenge this month! You can see all the entries in the flickr group here.

Voting was very close again this time and can you believe it - we have a tie-break situation!!

The winners are Duckling Soup and The Hungry Caterpillar Cake - well done to you both!!

Prizes this month are a (small) amazon voucher and the Home Baked Challenge winner's blog badge! (Drop me an email and I will be able to send them digitally).

Thanks again to Alex for being our guest judge this month.

So are you ready for a new challenge in April? Quite a few people who want to join in keep missing the deadline - is 3 weeks too short a time? Shall I make the challenge quarterly so you have more time to prepare something? I know we all get busier in Spring so let me know what you think in the comments or via email (homebakedonline at gmail dot com).

Wordless Wednesday

Crazy lady knitting-related insomnia

I have been making leaps and bounds in my knitting progression over the last week or so - I've really amazed myself!

First there was learning to increase for the knitted chicks.

Then, I'd been searching for ideas for something to knit for my step-sister's baby which is due in the Summer. We have quite different styles so it was hard to come up with something she wouldn't just politely accept and then send it off to the charity shop at the first opportunity! I wanted to make something she'd really like and actually use but also something that was within my capabilities as a rookie knitter.

I re-acquainted myself with Ravelry, which I joined a few years ago but didn't do much with, mainly because I'm not really a pattern following kind of person. But then I stumbled upon this pattern, for knitted baby "ugg" boots, and decided that I just had to make them. So I learnt such things as yf, SKP, kfb and other things too, with the help of lovely knitters on youtube! Once I had the idea in my head, I simply could not sleep until I had determined whether or not I was capable of knitting the cute little boots - it turned out to be much easier than I thought, but that didn't stop me from staying awake until 3am to make as much headway as I could before going to bed. Anyone following me on Twitter will be aware that this is not unusual - once I get a project idea in my head, I can't sleep until I'm satisfied that it's possible and will work.

I finished them yesterday evening - aren't they cute?! Another amazing thing about this project is that I actually followed a pattern! The only things I changed were the yarn (I used what I had in my basket) and I crocheted the cream detailing on the front and sides rather than weaving as the pattern suggests.

I'm pleased as punch that I learnt some new knitting skills and solved the dilemma of what to knit for the new baby in the family (and I'll admit I had a lot of fun knitting with pink - there isn't much opportunity for pink things in our house!).

Now that I have learnt these new stitches, and to trust in patterns, my knitting potential has dramatically increased. I wonder what other baby items this clucky step-aunty can create?!

I expect to find myself on Ravelry a lot more in the coming months.

Soft boiled egg candles

Continuing the sharing of my Easter projects...

I have wanted to make soft boiled egg candles since I saw them on the Martha Stewart website years ago. After recently getting over my fears of hot wax crafts with Cameron, we decided to have a go at them.

They're really quite cute aren't they? See how the speckles are illuminated when they are lit?

Instructions and even a video clip, here. I didn't use any fancy gadgets like an egg topper though.

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Thanks so much to everyone who entered the Home Baked Challenge - entries are now closed and I'll announce the winner later in the week.

Molasses Toffee

Here is our food for the March, Home Baked Challenge, fictional food theme.

Cameron and I have been (slowly) enjoying some of the Swallows and Amazons books together. The descriptions of small rituals around food - usually, but not always, around a campfire - are so interesting to read and mull over in your mind. Especially the aspect of independence - the children cooking, and making decisions for themselves, away from the "natives" (adult supervision).

We decided to make molasses, inspired by the first Swallows and Amazons book.
We used the Pull Candy toffee from this book - which I thrifted last Wednesday, and has pretty much the same theme as the challenge. The author doesn't use Swallows and Amazons as her fiction link but it was similar, anyway.

'I've got some toffee from the natives as well as the milk,' said Captain John.
'Real toffee?' said Roger.
'Molasses' said Titty. 'Toffee is the native name for it.'
'And I have grave news,' said Captain John. 'Something has happened. I shall call a council as soon as we have had breakfast.'
'Aye, aye, sir,' said the able-seaman, and poked the boy, who said 'Aye, aye,sir,' too.
The able-seaman and the boy ran up to the camp with the milk-can and the molasses. The captain followed them, thinking with his hands in his pockets.
'Breakfast ready, sir,' called the mate cheerfully.
'Thank you Mister Mate,' said John.
'Here's the milk,' said Roger.
'And a whole bag of molasses,' said Titty. 'Do you know how to make rum punch? That's made out of molasses isn't it?'
'I expect so,' said the mate. 'I've never tried.
Tea was ready. Eggs were boiling in the saucepan, and the mate was timing their boiling by the chronometer.
'Three minutes,' she said, 'and they'd been in a little while before I began to count. They're done all right now.' She fished the eggs out one by one with a spoon. For some minutes eggs and bread and butter and tea put a stop to talking. After that there was bread and marmalade. After that the mate served out a ration of molasses all round. 'Molasses are very good anyhow,' she said.' We'll make rum punch if there are any molasses we don't want.'

Stirring together molasses, vinegar and treacle

Leaving the mixture to bubble and reach 124C

'We ought to sign it in blood,' she [Nancy] said, 'but pencil will do.'
John took the paper and signed 'John Walker, Master.'
Nancy signed it 'Nancy Blackett, Amazon Pirate.'
The two captains shook hands.
Peggy said 'Well, it's peace for today, anyhow.'
Susan said, 'Perhaps you would like some of our toffee?'
'Molasses' said Titty.
Peggy said 'We did see it when we took the camp, but we did not like to take any. We'd like some very much, if you're sure you can spare it.'
Nancy said 'Let's broach a puncheon of Jamaica rum. We've got a beauty in the Amazon. Let's go to the harbour and get it. It's really good stuff. Some times our cook is quite friendly, for a native. She calls it lemonade.'

Putting the "pull" in pull candy

The finished toffees

I can't tell you pull candy toffee is easy to make - it was a sticky tricky business! But it was fun, too. It can be made into more interesting shapes but by the time we'd finished pulling it, we were in such a sticky mess that we didn't feel up for doing fiddly designs.

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There are a couple of days left to enter the Home Baked Challenge for March - the deadline is Sunday at midnight. Don't forget to upload your images to the flickr group or email them to me (homebakedonline at gmail dot com), there are a couple of entries there already - I'm really looking forward to seeing more!

Marbling Goose Eggs

More Easter preparation today.
We found goose eggs on the market when visiting a home education group on Friday and thought they'd be great for blowing and decorating for Easter because they're such a lovely size.

We blew the eggs (which is a lot harder than blowing a chicken egg!) and had goose egg omelettes for lunch before getting stuck into decorating them.

I really wanted to have a go at marbling eggs after we did some paper marbling last month.

What we discovered is that blown eggs are extremely difficult to marble because of their buoyancy! And because of their shape, the design dripped slightly as they hung to dry.

I'm not sure whether or not I like them - their fate is still undecided, I'm thinking about decoupaging (partially, or completely) over the marbled design. What do you think?

A nest of knitted chicks

Before I share my crafty stuff today, I just want to say a big hello to everyone joining us here via the new facebook page and to say thanks for your support (I'm a little overwhelmed at how many of you there are!) - welcome!



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I've been doing some early preparation for Easter as Cameron's birthday falls on Easter weekend, this year.

I started by knitting a hare, using a pattern from All Year Round, but it turned out to look more like a mini reindeer and Cameron teased me about it so much that I can't bring myself to post it here!

So I was very pleased when my next attempt - knitted chicks - turned out to actually look like chicks and also, rather cute!

I used the pattern from All Year Round but the same one is also in The Children's Year, I think. It required me to learn how to increase - something I hadn't done before - and I'm really proud of my little chickies!

Just to up the cute factor, I made them a little nest in a basket!

Have you got Easter projects on the go?

Chairs to match the table and knitted seat covers

I went shopping for chairs to match our new kitchen table last Thursday. I pretty much knew in my mind what I was looking for - pine, spindle backed chairs. Something simple, possibly handmade so that they had character and weren't perfectly identical.

I went into a local shop that makes wooden furniture, had a look around the warehouse/showroom and found so many lovely things. Enquiring about the price of some chairs I liked, I found that my estimates on price were about half of the label prices in store - ouch!

I asked what else they had to offer at a lower price and embarrassingly (at first) the manager was summoned from upstairs. He asked what I was looking for and offered me a set of chairs that had been used for display with a large discount. They were still very slightly more than I'd hoped to pay but keeping in mind the amount I saved when I bought the table, I haggled to include free delivery and handed over my debit card. New chairs to match the table - yay!!

I freegled my old table and chairs, which were collected at 4:30pm on Friday, and the new chairs were delivered at 5pm - it was so uncomplicated that felt like it was meant to be.

Over the weekend there has been a frenzy of knitting as I made the first seat cushion - freestlyling with no pattern, as usual!

It's the biggest thing I've knitted so far but my knitting has gotten much faster and the chunky wool is amazingly easy to work with.

Two viewings of Julie & Julia, Mastercrafts on the Iplayer and some lovely chat on twitter with Florence & the Machine in the background kept me company as I knitted my way through three balls of rainbow wool. I finished it on Sunday afternoon.

I'm really pleased with it, it's comfy and it's simple enough to throw in the washing machine if we have any kitchen accidents.

I have another three to knit, but now that there's a comfy chair for Cameron to sit in, I'm going take my time on the others.

Making Jam with Strawberries (from Morocco...)

You wouldn't normally find fresh ingredients in my kitchen that are really out of season - frozen, canned or preserved, perhaps, but not fresh.

We popped to the supermarket on Friday night and I was rather offended by a huge display of fresh (I use this word loosely) strawberries about to go out of date and already looking well past their best. They were reduced to 39p per punnet and people were glancing at them, seeing the state they were in and - quite rightly - walking on by.

I'm pleased that people aren't buying strawberries (from Morocco) in March. If there isn't a market for such things then perhaps supermarkets will stop supplying them. I hope that will be the case anyway.

I stood and thought about what would happen to those strawberries, at midnight, when they were pulled off the shelves. Their fate was almost certainly a bin, and a freegan (if they exist in our small town) probably wouldn't have gone for them in the state they'd be by then either.

I felt bad. I wasn't responsible but I felt bad about it anyway. Wasting food is such an awful thing and there's really no good reason for it.

So I did something I never usually do - I bought strawberries in March. I filled my basket with some of those sad, reduced-price strawberries and brought them home to make jam, hoping that the supermarket wouldn't count my purchase as a sign that I want to buy out of season produce regularly.

I used a basic strawberry jam recipe from this book - which I really love, it explains things in such a simple way and has helped me get over my preserving-related fears!

The jam is amazingly delicious, despite the questionable strawberries.

Happy Mother's Day

Origami Paper Stars

I've been trying out some of the window star designs with origami paper. I had thought they'd be quite similar, but the intricacy of the window star designs tends to come from the light passing through them so I need to find some origami designs, really.

I've found this origami stars group on flickr which is very inspirational.

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend - I intend to spend much of mine digging at the allotment, weather permitting. If you have some spare time, you could have a go at the Home Baked Challenge for March!

Learning to crochet

Try crochet is No. 45 on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I've been toying with little bits of crochet techniques, in a rather non-committal way - like the edges of my rainbow coasters - for a while, just learning by doing and seeing what I'm capable of.

As is my approach to most things, I read up a little bit about it and then went off completely in my own direction. There's something about a recipe, pattern or list of instructions that makes me uncomfortable - I feel I just have to freestyle.

I also didn't begin with using wool/yarn. I found a big bag of thin ribbon in a charity shop just before Christmas and snapped it up. I thought it'd be perfect for constructing a table mat out of and I couldn't have been more right. The texture and weight is delightful and it was lovely and smooth to work with.

This was my first time at trying to crochet in a circle. I made an error at first by going in a spiral rather than circular steps with the centre colour which is why there's a flaw in the first stripe transition. I managed to regain the circular shape in the end, though, and really like how the table mat turned out.

Allotment Snapshot

The allotment has become a sanctuary lately - a place to be completely and refreshingly unplugged from the rest of the world. A place where all our efforts are physically and often immediately visible.

I snapped this picture of Cameron yesterday showing his developing gardener's stance!

Preserving Childhood

I'm reading this excellent book at the moment (don't let the title put you off, it isn't religious). So much of what the author says resonates with the approach I'm trying to take to parenting, and life in general.

After spending far too many hours tonight listening to the Children's Schools and Families bill being discussed in the House of Lords, I wanted to share, here, a couple of quotes from the book, which I think are really relevant to what's going on.
The emphasis in bold is my own.

"... in our efforts to make each moment "count", we seem to have lost the knack of appreciating the ordinary... we do too much and savour too little. We mistake activity for happiness, and so we stuff our children's days with activities, and their heads with information when we ought to be feeding their souls instead..."


"... only by stopping long enough to observe our surroundings can we bring form and meaning to our lives and make the small adjustments needed to stay on course.
Our children need this kind of pause, too. Regular rest for the spirit is as necessary for their healthy growth as sleep, fresh air and good food..."

"... children need time that is utterly their own - time to take up residence in their own lives, time to dream through an afternoon, time to play with the kids next door, time to wake up to their own pleasures. Above all, they need time when we adults aren't calling the shots..."

"Children need their privacy just as we adults do. In the secret places of childhood, the soul drinks deeply, is refreshed, and flourishes..."

I said I wasn't going to get political on this blog, and I'm sticking by that decision. But quite often, I think many grown-ups have forgotten what it was like to be a child. I strongly believe that those people are not qualified to be making decisions about how our children spend their own precious childhoods.

Rhubarb and Pear Crumble

We are experiencing a bit of turbulence in our flight through life at the moment, so this week I may just share pictures and a few words.

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This weekend I made Rhubarb and Pear Crumble using this recipe.

I reduced the sugar and butter in the topping slightly and added crushed cinnamon almonds instead of the cluster breakfast cereals that the recipe suggests. It's also worth noting that the portion sizes are enormous! You could make half the recipe and amply feed a family of four.

I thought it was delicious, Cameron wrinkled his nose up!

Transitioning from Winter to Spring

I'm so proud of how patient we are being about waiting for Spring this year. There's no mistaking that it's on the way though. Here are a few ways we're looking forward to Spring and holding on to Winter at the same time.

We found this old friend under Cameron's bed when we were Spring cleaning. He had a bath and a lovely time blow drying in the breeze.

Planting seeds

Savouring the last of lovely quiet days out, when we get places almost to ourselves.

Passing the last of the cold weather with some family drawing time at the kitchen table

Last chances for playing in the snow

Watching out for every new bud and shoot

Rainbow Coasters

I've been making some coasters for my new table over the last week.

I decided to weave them, and then I quite spontaneously finished the first one off with a crocheted edge and was quite pleased with the result (I only learnt some basic crochet stitches from a book at Christmas and I'm not completely sure I'm doing them right!). I like that, with the rainbow wool, they're all unique.

I used this simple weaving frame that I've mentioned here before. It was pretty cheap and it's had so much use - you can string it to weave squares and other shapes as well as circles. I find the repetitive nature of weaving very calming and the frame is quite portable so I've managed to get bits done here and there at meetings and things.

The coasters are washable which is very useful.

It's a shame I didn't have foresight to weave a table mat first, Cameron's rock collection has not been kind to my lovely table this week...

Spring Green Window Star

I made another star for our kitchen window this week. Greens - to replace the white frosty stars - perhaps that will encourage Spring, just a little.

I'm particularly pleased with this one because I didn't use any instructions, I worked the pattern out just from looking at a picture of this star on flickr, which isn't quite as easy as it sounds!

We are still brimming with ideas for ways to incorporate more paper stars into our home!


Have you had a go at window star making yet? There are some tutorials in my linky love in the sidebar if you fancy having a go.


More of my stars here.

Peanut butter and jam muffins

Not many words today, no crafty projects. I'm just getting straight down to the serious business of cake!



Peanut Butter and Jam Muffins

Makes 6 large muffins

Mix:
175g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt



In a separate bowl blend:
1 egg
100ml milk
40g soft demerara sugar
1 heaped tablespoon peanut butter
55g melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until well mixed.
Set your muffin cases in the muffin tin. Place a tablespoon of mixture into each muffin case, spread out a little bit. Add a rounded teaspoon of jam and top with another tablespoon of the peanut mixture.
Bake at 200C for about 15-20 minutes - don't over bake, you want them to be firm and springing back but not hard.



Make sure you leave them to cool for a while before eating - hot jam burns!

The Home Baked Challenge Theme: March

I'm so pleased the Home Baked Challenge has enough interest for a third month - thanks so much to everyone who has joined in so far!

If you're new to the challenge, here's how it works: At the start of each month I set a theme. Anyone who wants to join in can make food, interpreting the theme in their own way and submit a photograph and description for the chance to win a small prize and a Home Baked Challenge winners blog badge (I can already hear you squealing with joy)!

The "Home Baked" part refers to my blog name so you aren't boxed in with just baking - your item can be baked, boiled, fried, steamed, grilled, roasted, frozen, raw or any other method you choose. Likewise, they can be sweet or savoury, a meal or treat, cakes or sweets, gluten free, vegan or catering to other dietary needs - as long as you make the item and it is edible, the sky is your limit.

Judges are Cameron, myself and one other guest judge each month. This month the guest judge is Alex who blogs at My Create Corner and Serendipity Home School, the home of Book Sharing Monday.

Obviously, because it's an online challenge, we wont be able to judge submissions based on taste or texture. Judging criteria will be presentation and originality of concept

I see the joy of the challenge really being in the creative process and sharing as a community of home cooks rather than being fiercely competitive. I will be joining in too, but obviously not to win, just for fun.

I have set up a Flickr group so we can pool all entries over the year. You don't have to join the Flickr group in order to participate, it is simply to make things easier for guest judges so they can view entries on the Flickr group rather than having an inbox full of food! Flickr is free to join but if you'd really rather not, I will happily post your entries through my account, with your permission (you can email entries to me at homebakedonline at gmail dot com). Also, you don't have to be a Flickr member to view the group.

I've also made a blog button for everyone who participates or wants to support the challenge by spreading the word. You can find the HTML code for the button at the top of the right hand sidebar of this blog.

Just to touch on some concerns some people have expressed - we aren't aiming for "perfect" creations, it's meant to be fun, so don't be shy! You don't have to invent the recipe yourself - you can put your own twist on a recipe or follow it to the letter - remember, as long as you make it, and it's edible then you can enter it. Also - people from countries outside the UK are welcome to join in too.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, either in the comments section or via email.

As World Book Day falls in March, the theme is:

Fictional food - food inspired from fictional books!

Fiction is often rich in pictures and references to foods and there's a lot of inspiration to be drawn from stories. Perhaps you want to recreate something from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, a campfire feast from Swallows and Amazons, enchanted turkish delight from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, something the Secret Seven enjoyed in their secret meetings in the shed, owl ice-cream for the Gruffalo etc. It doesn't have to be from a children's book, those are just examples. I found this page with more ideas too.

As an added extra this month it'd be great if you could include an excerpt from the book you have been inspired by, or a picture, with your description (don't worry if you can't find it though).

The deadline for submissions is Sunday 21st March at midnight UK time and the winner will be announced in the following week.

This month the guest judge is Alex who blogs at Serendipity Home School, the home of Book Sharing Monday - thanks so much for being our guest judge Alex!

I think this one is going to be really fun. Good luck - I can't wait to see your entries!