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Things I look forward in November

By on November 1, 2014 in Autumn, Updates

local shops in CleyIt’s getting really busy here running up to Christmas (you know, crafting gifts and stuff), but there are plenty of stuff I look forward to. Here are few…

1. VISITING CLEY-ON-SEA. We visited this lovely village briefly in September, but now we will be visiting Grandma Elizabeth for the whole weekend. Really looking forward to that!countryside in Cley2. BONFIRE NIGHT. I have made these pasta tortilla bites with leek and bacon last year. Really hoping to go and see fireworks in Bedford this year! Do you know any good places?picking food3. CHRISTMAS MARKET! This is something that has made me even more busy! I’m prepping for it now as I will be selling Friendly Nettle goodies there. It’s a perfect place if you want to get a unique gift for someone. Save the date and come along (I will be sharing my tips on crochet, embroidery and more).GFC Christmass Fair

 

Happy November!

Rasa xoxo

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Few ideas on how to survive Halloween at home

By on October 28, 2014 in Autumn, Budget £, Paper Crafts, Sweet Treats

vanilla and peppercorn candyI don’t want to be a fun spoiler, but I really don’t like Halloween. I think I mentioned my reasons last year, one of them being the difficulty of making Halloween deco pretty. Anyway it’s fun for kids and you don’t want to stop that! Have you ever had one of those awkward moments when group of kids knocks on your door and say “trick or treat” when you have no single sweet treat in the house? To avoid this, here are few tips/ideas on how to avoid these unpleasant moments ;-).

1. Treats! Yes, stock up on treats! The best treats are candies and if you feel like making some here is the recipe that I made last year (it’s vanilla and black pepper BTW!). Or if you prefer, bake this ghost meringue cake. Autumn butternut squash cupcakes is another alternative if you want something sweet yourself while you wait ;-).Halloween treats2. Decorations, at least at the front of the house. Because you don’t want to bother and decorate the whole house! Garlands are grate for this. Here is one for you to try. Just make sure it’s all ready before 6pm this Friday!leaf garland3. Failed to do no. 1 and 2.? Just pretend you are not home and switch the lights off or something. Close the curtains and light the candle, that should be fun!

Happy Halloween!

Rasa xoxo

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Things I look forward to in October

By on September 30, 2014 in Autumn, Inspiration, Knitting, Pretty patterns for crafts, Updates, Winter Warmers

Autumn colours in the boxOctober may be uneventful, but there are plenty of things to look forward to… such as autumn itself! :)

1. AUTUMN is a beautiful season. Look at all the colours! And it’s not only orange, brown and yellow…. I love the combinations of pink, forest green, orange and cream. And lets not forget purple! I have been so inspired by it all that I have been painting last night like mad (and that does not happen very often). I love creating new patterns. New autumn pattern bellow is here for you to nick, use it to wrap a gift or put in on the wall ;-). Friendly Nettle autumn pattern2. KNITTING JUMPERS is almost my part time job. I took on three (yes, three) jumper knitting projects so far. But that’s quite enjoyable as I can do it while watching a movie or chatting with a friend! Here is my first cardigan in progress, can you guess what part it is? Yes, it’s a sleeve! Many more parts to go :-).Progress on my knitted cardigan3. DRINKING HOT DRINKS kind of goes with knitting. It’s important to keep yourself warm and all snuggled up while doing some crafty work! My favourite hot drink at the moment is spiced coffee (although I haven’t had any this year yet, but will make some soon!). It’s one of those drinks that is satisfying and not too fattening (minding my figure right now!). Click here for the recipe ;-).Spiced CoffeeHappy October!!!

Rasa xoxo

 

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Apple & berry crumble and ice cream dessert

By on September 26, 2014 in Autumn, Sweet Treats, Winter Warmers

Perfect autumn warm&hot dessert: apple&berry crumble and ice cream This year (especially in the summer) I was really addicted to ice cream! I have made few of my own such as Banoffee ice-cream sandwiches, super easy fresh strawberry ice cream and my favourite goat’s milk and roasted rhubarb ice-cream. While in Italy we both (me & Joni) tried many gelato flavours, on some occasions 5 flavours in one go! Have you ever tried red wine tasting ice-cream? Our newest finding is Kelly’s Clotted Cream & Honeycomb ice cream (actually Joni found it first), you should definitely try it ;-).

Although Ice cream may not be the most  suitable dessert for this weather, we have been enjoying this warm crumble and ice cream dessert. You see, I quite like a contrast in food and this combination is definitely contrasting. If you are like me you would understand what I mean!Perfect autumn warm&hot dessert: apple&berry crumble and ice creamAPPLE & BERRY CRUMBLE AND ICE CREAM DESSERT serves 2 generously

  • 2  granny smith apples
  • 1 handful of mixed berries (can be frozen ones)
  • 100g  brown sugar
  • 50 ground almonds
  • 20g oats
  • 50g flour
  • 60g coconut oil
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp poppy seeds (optional)
  • good quality vanilla ice cream (with vanilla seeds if you can find it)

1. First, make an apple and berry filling. Peel, core and chop apples into the saucepan together with berries and brown sugar. Cook it for 5 min until sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes jam-like. Spread the filling into the baking dish. Perfect autumn warm&hot dessert: apple&berry crumble and ice cream2. Mix coconut and caster sugar together with almonds, flour and oat. Combine everything well by working it with hands. If using, mix in poppyseed as well (it just makes everything look prettier!).

3. Cover the fruit filling with the crumble. I like the filling overflowing, therefore I make very little amount of topping. If that’s not the case for you, then double the amount of ingredients for the crumble.  Perfect autumn warm&hot dessert: apple&berry crumble and ice cream4. Bake the apple & berry crumble in 180C oven for 30min until the top is lightly golden. Serve it in the bowls with at least 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream on top of each.Perfect autumn warm&hot dessert: apple&berry crumble and ice creamEnjoy your weekend ;-)

Rasa xoxo

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Autumn wardrobe inspiration

By on September 23, 2014 in Autumn, Inspiration, Knitting, Winter Warmers

Good old days knitwear style First things first, happy happy first day of autumn! Aren’t you loving this? If you asked me this question 5 years ago I would ask what is there to like about autumn? I really disliked the cold wether (still do). But recently somehow I have learned to love autumn. I guess I have to thank my friend Vicki here, who claims to like all the seasons :-). I finally see what she means! Autumn brings rich amber colours, reminds you that there is Christmas to look forward to, inspires you with new wardrobe to wear and makes you to snuggle in comfortable chair with some knitting project + cup of hot chocolate. Yey, about the last bit! We (me, Vicki and her mum) are even thinking to knit together some day over Skype!

Anyhow, today I have been looking for some autumn wardrobe inspiration. This time I ditched Pinterest and browsed trough my old knitting books instead. I used to laugh at these old clothes styles thinking “who would actually wear these hideous looking sweaters?”. But now I have complete different outlook on them. I think the clothes can be quite wearable if only they were styled differently. I guess dieting were not an option those days ;-).

Good old days styleMy dream right now is to knit an autumn dress. But to be completely honest, this is one of my high sky dreams. To knit a dress in fine stitches would take forever considering I have three other jumper projects on the queue! Oh, well… I  still like dreaming about it and you never know what will happen in next few months… Good old days style knitted dressesOne thing I must note about old books, they are brilliant in explaining how to knit. There are so many things I have learned from them! They all have very clear illustrations and actual written pattern with no abbreviations! This is what I call straight forward knitting!good old days knitwear styleHope you enjoyed having a glimpse at my old (Lithuanian) kitting books ;-)

Rasa xoxo

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Wake up to an autumn Sunday coffee ♥

By on September 29, 2013 in Autumn, Blog, Winter Warmers

IMG_4690Since today is an International Coffee Day, I have decided to share how I recently started drinking spiced  coffee! I once tried spiced coffee in the food exhibition and it tasted surprisingly AMAZING. Although I would not recommend this coffee for an everyday brew, I occasionally enjoy it on Sunday mornings :).

IMG_4682SPICED COFFEE

(for 2 adventurous coffee drinkers)

 

  • 2 scoops ground coffee
  • 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2tsp grated nutmeg
  • 300ml water
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 5 cardamon pods
  • 1 star anise
  • milk and sugar if desired (recommended)

 

  1. Place ground coffee, cinnamon and nutmeg into the french press pot.

IMG_4680

  1. In the milk pan heat the water with cloves, cardamon pods and star anise. Let it boil for 5-10min.
  2. Pour boiled water over spiced coffee and let it sit for another 2-5min.
  3. Press the coffee to filter and pour it into the cups. Serve it with milk and sugar if desired. I don’t usually drink coffee with sugar (I used to in the past), but I do think that sugar (only little) go well in the spiced coffee. So do try it out!

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I like September not only because it is my birthday month, but also because it is a last warm enough month to enjoy my coffee break outdoors on my terrace. My coffee is usually accompanied with the crepes and jam…hmm. September, you will be missed and this is probably the last Sunday I am enjoying it!

 

Rasa xoxo

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