Apple Brandy

May 27, 2016

I had a glut of Granny Smith apples and found myself all out of jars. This rarely happens so I seized the opportunity to turn the remaining apples into apple brandy. I used the same recipe that I use for my quince brandy which is:

6-8 Granny Smith apples - cored, quartered and cut into large chunks
75 cl of decent brandy
50g demarara sugar
1/2 tsp pink peppercorns
4 cardamom pods

In a steralised kilner jar, I layer the spices, apples and sugar and then fill the jar with the brandy. Once a week for the next monthI will shake and flip the jar to ensure all the spices and sugar are being mixed throughout. I usually leave for at least three months before straining the brandy through muslin into sterilised bottles. I find it impossible to simply discard the strained fruit and I will use it to make either mincemeat, ice cream or a boozy sauce of some sort.

Student Thank You Card

May 17, 2016

I love working with people of all ages doing arts, crafts and food workshops. I received this thank you card from a young girl who I have worked with several times before when she has attended workshops with her twin sister and their grandmother. Today we made mobiles and talked about art, crafts and musicals. I was really touched to receive this card at the end of the session and it hangs up and inspires me each and every day.

Juicy Juicing

April 13, 2016

I do love making vegetable juice and beetroot is a mandatory addition to any juice I make. I do try to have a citrus-based juice in winter time to really boost my immune system. This juice and the patterns I also made from photographs of the beetroot, pink grapefruit, lemon, orange and lime. The sweetness of the beetroot balances the sharpness of the citrus fruits resulting in a tangy, refreshing juice.

Beetroot, p. grapefruit, orange, lemon & lime

Mosaic - Henry Maynard Primary School

March 20, 2016

110 x 110 cm paper mosaic and acrylic paint on mdf

Here is the completed mosaic made over a four week period at Henry Maynard Primary School in Walthamstow London. Henry Maynard is a wonderful school where everyone from the children, staff and students are enthusiastic, kind, caring and proud of their lovely school. I facilitated a family learning course with eight children and their mothers. The children and parents came up with the theme of a ship, which is the schools emblem, coming out of a book and different items which symbolise what they love about their school such as music, reading, maths, friendship, sport and arts. The hand border are the mosaic hands that they all made from their own hands on the first day and symbolise the teamwork that they all showed throughout the project. I am so proud of everyone on the course and at the school and so thankful to everyone, especially Lauren and Alison Pearson. Please do check out my other mosaic projects at Wentworth Children's Centre and Comet Children's Centre.

Week 2 - making templates for mosaic pieces

Week 3 - filling in and laying out mosaic elements into place

Week 4 - gluing down the mosaic elements onto the board.

Still Life with Egg

March 11, 2016

Here is a still life comprised of my patterns melded into a photograph that I took.

Patterns of 2016 - Week 9

March 7, 2016

Here is a still life print that I created from some of my prints and patterns as well as some photographs of mine which all together make up a collaged scene of a Still Life with Pasta. more patterns and prints that I made in week 9 of 2016 which are comprised of polymer clay cane segments which have been made and designed by myself. I then scan them and create a pattern and prints from the cane slices.

Find more images on Smy Goodness Instagram.

Banana & Apricot Compote Muffins

February 29, 2016

Banana & apricot compote muffin ingredients

The bananas above needed using up so I whipped together another recipe for muffins where the sugar was replaced with a Smy Goodness compote, in this case Smy Goodness apricots compote. The compote adds moistness and flavour to the muffins without them being overly sweet.

Banana & Apricot Compote Muffins Recipe

Ingredients:

100g organic spelt flour
100g organic plain flour
100g organic butter
275ml apricot compote (or any flavour jam/compote)
2 medium ripe bananas
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp organic vanilla

Instructions :

preheat the oven to 210°C and lightly grease a muffin tray.
Mix and blend the butter, compote, bananas, egg and vanilla.
Sift and flours and baking powder together.
Fold the sifted flour and baking powder into the blended wet ingredients a bit at a time until completely blended together.
Add a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into cases or muffin tray and then go back and add a bit of the mixture to each muffin case or tray until they are as equal as possible. The recipe will make 12-14 muffins.

Sifted spelt and plain flour and baking powder

Banana, butter, apricot compote, vanilla and egg

Patterns of 2016 - Week 8

February 29, 2016

Here are the patterns and prints that I made in week 8 of 2016 which are comprised of polymer clay cane segments which have been made and designed by myself. I then scan them and create a pattern and prints from the cane slices. Find more images on Smy Goodness Instagram.

Handmade Pasta - Spaghetti

February 23, 2016

Here is a fifteen second video of my first attempt at making spelt spaghetti. Check out my spelt pasta blog post for the spelt pasta recipe.

Handmade spelt spaghetti with tomato and bacon sauce

The spaghetti was the inspiration for the above print painting that I made.

Tomato Sauce with Bacon Recipe

Ingredients
450g tin of tomatoes or homemade pomodoro
150g bacon or pancetta
1 red pepper
1 shallot or 1/2 an onion chopped finely
2 garlic cloves sliced thinly
1 medium chilli chopped finely
2 Tbsp coconut or olive oil
2 Tbsp Six-pepper T'chup
salt and pepper and parmesan to taste

*For this recipe I used handmade spelt spaghetti using the recipe as linked above and using my Imperia pasta maker's spaghetti section. The section needed to be cleaned between each passing of the pasta sheets as little bits were getting stuck in the grooves which turn the sheets into spaghetti which was making the spaghetti sort of twisted and broken. I cooked my spaghetti for about 7 minutes which was much longer than the 4 minutes that I needed with my spelt fettucine that I made. I think this was due to me having left the fettucine to dry out longer than I had with the spaghetti.

The resulting recipe was hearty but not overly heavy, this is probably down to the spelt flour. With each bite I was able to taste the ingredients of the pasta and the flavours of the sauce. I find I'm eating less pasta now that I'm hand making it but the levels of flavour make it much more of an enjoyable pleasure. Next up will be lasagna but for now the recipe for the spelt spaghetti and tomato sauce with bacon and red peppers.

Instructions

Chop and lightly fry the bacon in your preferred oil and cook for 5-7 minutes without browning or burning.
Add the garlic, shallot and chilli and cook gently for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly so that they do not burn.
Add in the tomatoes, salt and pepper, turn the heat up to meduium hot and stir thoroughly until everything is bubbling away nicely. Cook for 5 minutes then place a lid over the sauce, reduce the heat to low and leave to cook for at least 45 minutes, checking occassionally that it is not drying out. If it is drying out you can add 75ml of water, stir it in and continue to cook.
Cook your pasta and once ready and drained stir the sauce into the pasta until it is evenly dispersed, top with parmesan and serve.

Patterns of 2016 - Week 7

February 22, 2016

Here are the patterns and prints that I made in week 7 of 2016 which are comprised of polymer clay cane segments which have been made and designed by myself. I then scan them and create a pattern and prints from the cane slices. Find more images on Smy Goodness Instagram.