Mosaic Monday - A walk down memory lane

Picture (1)
Dumbarton Road, looking down Primrose Street. We Lived at Number 24 until July 1981. The Scotstoun Emporium is still in business today some 30 years on.
Picture (2)
Primrose Street looking towards Dumbarton Road. The third car from the left (navy blue) is the entrance to our close Number 24.
Picture (3)
Looking down Fore Street towards Primrose Street. This is where we played our days away. On the corner was a printers and there was an orange painted wall where we used to play balls.
Picture (4)
Looking down Scotstoun Street towards Dumbarton Road. My mum used to work in the offices on the corner as a cleaner in the evenings. I can remember going with her sometimes and playing ion the big old manual typewriter pretending I was someone important. The Shop next to it was Ivor’s (that’s who owned it) and it sold all sorts, newsagent, sweets, crisps, gifts, drinks and so on. Further down was the Dairy, Fresh Milk & Rolls and the Fish & Chip shop.

Thanks to Norrie who psoted these photo's on Urban Glasgow
http://urbanglasgow.wonko.myfastforum.org/archive/scotstoun__o_t__t_1978.html

Banana or Blueberry Muffins - Or both

Ingredients

2 & 3/4 Cups Self raising Flour

3/4 Cup caster sugar

1 Cup Buttermilk

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon vanilla essence

100g Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled

200g Blueberries or 2 Overripe Bananas Mashed

Preheat oven to 200oC.

Sift flower into a bowl then add the sugar.

Make well in the mix.

Whisk together buttermilk, eggs butter and vanilla then pour into the well.

Fold through the batter until it has just combined / lumpy is OK.

Fold in Berries or Banana.

Divide the mixture into either a greased pan or paper cups.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden.

Allow to cool slightly.

Dust with icing sugar or for banana muffins a mixture of caster sugar and ground cinnamon.

ENJOY♥

The 25th Year

Today I celebrated the 25th year since I started working at the Surgery... Yes that's right 25 years ago today... At the end of the day my boss presented me with a number of gifts. First a card and some roses, followed by a Pandora pendant and matching bead (tree o life) then an expensive bottle of red wine. Wow... you can imagine the smile upon my face as I drove home tonight...

Lemon Cordial

I have always wanted to have a go at making home made cordial but never got round to doing it until tonight. My first issue was recipe, so many to choose from and not sure which one to try. In the end I decided to give one a go with a few minor changes of my own (poetic licence).

In addition some recipes call for you to sterilise the bottles and others don't, you decide.

Ingredients (make about 5litres)
4 tablespoons lemon rind grated
4 teaspoons citric acid (see note below)
4 teaspoons tartaric acid
6 cups caster sugar
6 cups of lemon juice
12 cups water

Method

Place lemon, lemon rind, citric acid and tartaric acid in a bowl.

Place water and sugar into a bowl and heat until sugar is dissolved.
Add lemon, lemon rind, citric acid and tartaric acid to sugar syrup and mix together.
Funnel the cordial into prepared bottles, seal and refrigerate to chill.

(if like me you have no funnel a plastic drink bottle cut down worked well)

To serve

Use about 1/3 cordial to 2/3 chilled sparkling mineral water or iced water. Serve with thinly sliced lemon.

Note: Citric acid is a natural preservative and will also enhance the citrus flavour the cordial.

The finished product (these bottle's made in Italy were found at our local REJECT shop for $1.00 - they have screw top lids)

 

ENJOY♥

Mosaic Monday - Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my Dad's 71st Birthday, he is a bit of a character as you can see from today's Mosaic...
Happy Birthday Dad

Love You ♥

Clutter Bug

A couple of weeks ago I was working at our Op Shop and as is custom I always have a look around to see if I can find any treasures. Well BINGO it was my day I found several. The first was a stunning little Carlton Ware Plate in mint condition priced at $1.00 (value about $20 - $30 dollars), I promptly removed it from the shelf and put it in the box for the antique dealer to have a look at. Next were four little bowls by Johnson Australia x2 Blue and x2 Pink - they were a had to have. The two blue say Sovereign Pottery, Johnson made in Australia, one pink bowl says Victoria Pink, Johnson made in Australia and the other simply says Johnson of Australia. I paid 50c each for these.

I know! I know! I am not supposed to be cluttering the house up but you know......

Very Merry Balsamic Berry Trifle

Ingredients

600g Mixed Berries
1/4 Cup Icing Sugar
4 Caps full Balsamic Vinegar
5 tbsp water
2 Packets of Port Wine Jelly (made to instructions)
1 300g – 400g Jam Roll
1 Litre of custard
250ml Whipped Cream
Fresh berries to decorate
¼ Cup Sherry

Place 600g Berries, icing sugar water and balsamic in a bowl. Cover with lid & refrigerate. Stir / shake berries every now and then. (the longer the berries soak the greater the syrup they produce)
Cut jam roll into 1 cm thick slices
Make custard (bought custard works just as well if in a hurry)

Whip cream
When jelly is almost set break up with a fork.
To assemble trifle

· Start with layer of cake in a clear glass bowl
· Add a little sherry to soak into cake
· Next layer with 1/2 of berries
· Follow with layer of jelly
· Then layer of custard
· Repeat
· Top with whipped cream & fresh berries
Enjoy ♥

Mosaic Monday - Valentines Day

Ploughman's Lunch

Ploughman’s Lunch is a lunch packed for a ploughman to take out into the fields for his lunch. Just where the name or contents of a Ploughmans comes from has been lost in the mists of time though there are records of it mentioned in 18th century literature.

Last Sunday we invited friends over for lunch, I was keen for it to be a leisurely affair so we could chat and catch up. One friend is both gluten and dairy intolerant so I had to make sure we could cater for her in what we served.

I decided to serve a ploughman’s lunch consisting of –

Mixed Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Onion, Avocado, cucumber, Mushrooms, Gherkins, Sun dried Tomatoes, Olives, Beetroot Relish, Ham, Roast Beef, Salami, salmon, Pickled Onions, Quince Paste, Cheese’s, Pesto Dip, Pickles and a variety of breads & gluten free wraps.

Mosaic Monday - Faith

1. Stained glass window, Chichester Cathedral, 2. Praying Hands, 3. Cross at sunset, 4. Rainbows

Something Old - Something New

I love the idea of taking something old and making it new again. For a few years I have wanted to have a go at candle making using old cups and saucers. Well to date I have not had the chance but my cousins partner makes candles and I suggested he adopt the cup and saucer idea. These Little cup's were purchased from our op shop and given new life as candle holders. They were a Christmas present from Les. I have since asked him for a lesson and hope to produce more of the same.

Buttons and Baths

Nothing is more relaxing than soaking in a nice warm bath, candles, music and glass of fine wine.

Well today I made some bath soak bags that will help make that long soak in the tub even more enjoyable indeed.

These bags are made from easy to find natural ingredients, I purchased the small muslin bags on eBay from the USA.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp milk powder

1 Tbsp oats

2 Tbsp dried rosemary

Rosemary essential oil

Small muslin bags

Mix ingredients together in a bowl, fill muslin bag and tie off to secure.

Variations on this are endless, swap oils e.g: Dried Lavender and Lavender Oil, Chamomile Leaves & Chamomile, use almond meal rather than milk powder, or Epsom salts.

The muslin bags can be decorated to your taste, I have used my vintage button's when tying off. You could stamp the bags, create a tab like a tea bag, again possibilities are endless.

To use either drop bag into bath as water is running or open & tie on the end of the tap so that water runs through as bath is filling.

ENJOY ♥

Mosaic Monday - Seasons

Week 1 - Seasons





So here is my first attempt with the common threads of Seasons, Trees and Paths.


1. Summer Path, 2. Autum in NJ [archives], 3. Winter Path_1, 4. Barnsley Gardens Spring Path