Sunday, July 31, 2011

Derinya Art & Craft Exhibition


Today we went to the Derinya Art & Craft exhibition, where I was invited to display some of my handmade creations. It was really hard to decide which items to submit, so I submitted a range - from flower hairclips to owl toys.... Here are some pics of our items that were submitted:





And here are some pics of my favourite works by other artists who displayed at the Exhibition:




Monday, July 18, 2011

Currently in the making

Here's a preview of the latest Owl Fabric Wall Art I'm currently working on... it's similar to the pink one which I put up some pictures of previously but in yellow (with some brown detail) for a more neutral look.



If you'd like to have an Owl (or giraffe) Fabric Wall Art made in custom colours, feel free to email me...
I also have a few other design ideas in my head... see how we go with them!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Yeast Dough Buns - AKA Bułeczki Drożdżowe

Today's cooking adventure - Yeast Dough buns - AKA Bułeczki Drożdżowe


With holidays and LOTS of time to spare I decided to venture out and bake something.. Baking is not my strongest point, but I've wanted to make these Polish fruit topped buns for ages, so I thought I'd give them a shot. I had my almost 3 year old son helping, hence the little hands in the pics and the 'artistic' presentation!

The recipe is based on one my sister used but I also used the dough to make mini cupcakes...

So if you'd like to make these, here's the recipe for you... To start you'll need to make the yeast base, for which you'll need:

14g dry yeast
1 tbs sugar (I used the fruit sugar which is apparently healthier than normal one but it's sweeter)
1 tbs flour
7 tablespoons warm milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

** Make sure your milk is warm but not too warm (I checked the temp and it was just a little more than luke warm) as otherwise it kills the growing ability of the yeast**


Mix the above ingredients in a bowl and let it sit for about 15 mins.


You'll see little bubbles forming in the mixture..

The rest of the ingredients are:

500g flour (little more if needed)
150g unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs vanilla essence


1. Melt the butter in a pot over a small flame. Add milk. Wait for it to cool a bit (I have a feeling that adding the hot butter straight to the yeast mixture would kill the yeast )

2. Add the 3 eggs, vanilla and sugar to your yeast mixture.


3. Pour in the butter/milk liquid then quickly sift in your flour (If your butter is too hot your eggs will probably start setting)



4. Mix the ingredients with a spoon then knead the dough in the bowl or on a board / plate till it's all combined..



5. Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover with glad wrap, then with a tea towel and place in a warm place. Apparently the dough likes to be in the dark. I found that my living room which has the heater was a nice warm place. BUT do not place the dough in front of direct heat. I once did that and the dough got a crusty outside and didn't grow.. Anyway, let the dough sleep like that in it's warm dark place for about an hour..


6. After the hour the dough will hopefully be twice its size. Take it back to your bench and knead it again.

7. Now is the fun stage - shaping your dough! If you want to make the big flat buns, roll the dough into balls about 4cm in diameter then push them down on your tray lined with baking paper to the desired size/shape. I found that the dough needed to be pulled into shape a bit.. But I think these can be a bit 'free form'.


You can also make smaller balls and just push them into mini patty pans (I think that's what those paper things are called).. Leave room for them to grow and for the decorations..


8. Decorate your dough - I put defrosted raspberries and crumble on the bigger buns as well as on some of my cupcakes ones (making the crumble is a whole different story! - read below!)

I got a bit adventurous and also make some cupcakes with the raspberries in the middle and blanched almond pieces on top.


I also made a bear shape, but as you can see I don't think we'll be eating him!



9. Once you're happy with all that, let the dough sit again until it grows to the size you're happy with.

10. Pop into a cold oven. If you want the dough to grow a little more turn the oven to 50 degrees, every 5 mins or so increasing it till you reach 160 degrees (fan forced oven).

11. For the baking time - I recommend that you use your judgement and don't get distracted by the net like I did! The guideline is to bake these for about 45 mins (or till golden brown).. I got a little distracted and the trays that were on the top rack, well those 'buleczki' got a little too brown.. I guess the colour suits the bear though! So just keep an eye on your oven or you'll end up with crusty tops like we did...


On the up side, though the tops were a little browner than I hoped for, the insides were perfect!



Aaa.. and making the crumble - that was a cooking adventure in itself! I started off with too much butter and so we used half of the mixture to make biscuits, then added more flour to make the actual crumble.. here's the biscuits before going in the oven:

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Big Squeaker inserts on SALE

We're offering our BIG squeaker inserts at 50% off until 17th of July, 2011.

 

These bigger squeakers make a great squeaking noise and because they are so much bigger than our other squeakers - they measure approx 96mm x 48mm (65mm including the reed part),  it is much easier to find these inside the soft toys. They are made from flexible plastic with a metal reed that makes the squeaking noise when the squeaker is both pressed and released. These noise makers are available from our online craft store and the below link will take you directly there:

PRESS HERE TO GO TO THE SQUEAKER LISTING

Upcoming Exhibition - all the details

We have just about finalised the items we'll be taking to display at the upcoming Derinya Art and Craft Exhibition, so for those of you asking for more details, here's the official advertising for the Exhibition... Make sure you write the dates in your diary as I'm sure it'll be worth attending! And with entry fee tickets at only $5 per person (aside from Opening night gala), it's not a pocket breaker either...