Granny's Shortbread

Shhh. You're not allowed to share this recipe with anyone. Nah, not really. This is the recipe for shortbread that my granny taught to my mum and she to her children. I'm sure granny learned it from her mum and she from her mum etc. and so this is the most authentic shortbread I've ever come across. What is really good about it is that it is simple to remember:

• 4 parts plain flour
  
• 2 parts butter
• 1 part sugar

This means you can scale the recipe up and down as you need it.Method:

Rub the butter and flour together until the butter has disappeared into the flour. Add the sugar and continue to mix and it will eventually start to clump together. Put a handful onto a clean surface and then press the mixture together until you have a circle of shortbread with no clumps falling off. Pinch around the edges, prick the surface with a fork to decorate and sprinkle a small amount of white sugar on the top. Cut the circles into quarters and place on a greased baking tray and cook in a low oven for about 35 minutes, just until they start to go golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before allowing people to tuck in.

Now, that's what mum taught me. It was all done by hand and since I had an accident falling down a flight of stairs and badly damaged my left hand, I find the manual combining of the ingredients and the pressing it into disks very hard to do. So, here's my new variation.

• 250g soft butter - really soft
  
• 125g Demerara sugar (I find it gives a nuttier taste)
• 450g sifted plain flour

Using a food processor, blend the butter and sugar together until thoroughly mixed. Add the butter/flour mixture to the sifted flour. Combine with your hands until it all starts to clump together.Now, you'll need one of those hamburger presses. Mine is from Tupperware. Dust a tiny amount of flour in the hamburger form and a little on the underside of the press. Take a fistful of mixture (about halfway between a golfball and a tennis ball in size) and form it into a loose sphere. Place in the hamburger press and push down hard to spread the ball out into the hamburger form. Once the mixture is spread evenly over the form and you've pressed far harder than you think you need to, turn the pressed shortbread out onto a clean surface. Cut the circles carefully into quarters, prick the surface and dust with white sugar as before. Transfer to a baking sheet covered with non-stick baking paper or equivalent and bake in a low oven (160°c) for about 35 minutes. Much easier on the hands.

 

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Studio Organistion - May

I'm sorry everyone, but there will be no challenge for May. April has been a very full month and I've been unable to do any work in the studio.

Come back in June for the next installment.

Judi


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Eastercon - Olympus 2012

Oh, it's so nice to be home!

Just about every year, Zandy and I (and now with G) go to this strange thing called Eastercon. It sounds like a really strange thing to go to, but with its own context it is a wondrous thing.

After all, can you imagine any profession where a conference is held once a year that both people within the profession and ordinary people can go to and mingle freely, meeting and discussing a huge variety of subjects of interest to the profession, garnering opinions from the people who use the profession, that people can network (or not, if they want to) and freely share information, where the professionals eat and drink in the same spaces as the consumer, for four days, in one hotel?

Well, if you're an aspiring science fiction/fantasy writer, Eastercon is a good place to be. As well as having the opportunity to meet very well successful writers like George R R Martin (I've also met Anne McCaffrey, Robin Hobb, Iain Banks and Charles Stross) you can rub shoulders with editors and publishers from the major Science Fiction/Fantasy labels and genre magazines and meet others in the same boat as you. Buy them a drink and compare notes of how to cope with rejection. You can go to panels to discuss how to avoid the biggest potholes in your plot (one panel discussion was on how to get published) and others on tips to improve your craft.

If All Things Literary Isn't for you, you might go into the games room and play a myriad of games. You might join the costumers and create something marvellous for the masquerade or costume ball. You might wander through the art show and see work from some of the most successful artists hanging alongside art from new people. You might have the opportunity to see Mitch Benn live (and for free), or knit a Clanger or Dalek. And there's so much more to do and see.

This is Eastercon.

The Guardian has written an excellent article here about the community of SF and how there is something for everyone, to coin a phrase.

But at the end of the weekend, you pack up your room and leave the cocooned space where fairies magically appear and make your bed and clean your dishes, and you return to harsh reality where your house is 11.9°C and the nappies need folding.


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Location:Radisson Edwardian, Heathrow

Studio Organisation Challenge - April

So now you know how you want your craft space to look, now we need to start moving towards that goal.
Challenge for April:
Tools you will need:
Garbage bags
Empty cardboard boxes
One or two empty plastic boxes with lids
A few large shopping bags (bags for life are ideal)
Labels
Pens
If like me, your craft area is full. Hopefully, full of craft stuff, but mine has also been used as a dumping ground for all sorts of odds and sods. We need to clear some space so that we have room to put away our stash. Your room might also be a place where activities other than crafting happens.
1. Take out your plan that we made last month of your space as it currently looks. Divide your space up into four chunks. You will work on each chunk each week. Your chunks may not be uniform in size as some areas will have more stuff in them than others. Divide them up by the amount of stuff you have in each area. Draw this on your plan and letter each section A, B, C and D.
2. Take a garbage bag, a cardboard box, one plastic box and a shopping bag. The garbage bag is for rubbish. The cardboard box is for things to go to charity, the plastic box is for items to keep and the shopping bag is for items you'll PIF (Pass It Forward) or sell.
3. Now, working on one section (doesn't matter where you start), remove items and sort into the various boxes. Don't be too precious about things at this point and only throw, PIF or put for charity the things you really don't want. Once you've cleared a section, take the plastic box and put the items in it back. Use your labels to label any containers where you can't see the contents, but don't try to sort into categories, just get it off the floor. At the end of each week, put the garbage bag into the garbage, take the box to the charity shop and put the items you want to PIF/sell up on some list or a selling website. Do it immediately or it will just fester. If you list something and it doesn't sell, don't put it back on the shelf. PIF it if you can, or give it to charity. By the end of this month, you should have more space. And maybe a little more money.

This is my studio divided into the four areas.
Now, I have a confession to make. March was taken up by some urgent paperwork that needed to be done, so I'm a little behind schedule at this stage, but I have started and a couple of play groups in my local area have benefitted from the decluttering and I've gained back the use of some of the wire cubes that will eventually go up to the studio. I've also removed a lot of paperwork that should be in the house. But I'm not posting any photos as it currently looks worse than it did before (this was to be expected). My goal for the end of this month is to not have anything sitting in boxes on the floor.
Send me your plans and I'll post them up here for us all to compare. Email them to judihodgkin at gmail dot com.
See you in May!
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Organisation Challenge - March

For those of you who missed it, I blogged about why I need to get my studio organised here. Please watch the video to see how chaotic it can get. It wasn't always like this. You can see that it was once a tranquil, creative space.

This challenge has been devised to help us all get our craft spaces organised and sorted. It is an individual challenge. Because I'm based in the UK and living on an extremely low budget, I've tried to set this up so that a) I'm spending little, if no money and b) the things I do buy or have bought are available most places in the UK. Ikea is over an hour's drive from me, so I'll only get stuff from there if I can not get it (or something similar elsewhere). Most of my suggestions are about repurposing and reusing.
And I cannot emphasise how much these are all suggestions. If you don't like an idea, or think you have a better one, please feel free to post it as a comment.

I'll also be working through the exercises a month ahead of you, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in a comment and I'll answer as best as I can.

So here's my challenge for March:

Size up what you've got.

You'll need:
A piece of paper
Some cardboard scraps (the small sides of cereal boxes are ideal)
Some clear plastic or transparencies
Permanent pen
Sticky tape
Measuring tape
Scissors or knife, cutting mat and ruler
Eraser
Calculator

1. Measure your space. No matter how big or small the space is you've got to create in, you need to know how big it is. Let's face it, unless you remodel your house (which goes against the low-budget philosophy of this challenge), it's not going to get any bigger. And, you may want to reduce the amount of space you're taking up at the moment, so it will be useful to know exactly how big this space is. Be accurate in your measurements. I've done mine in millimetres.

2. Draw your space to scale on a piece of paper. You can determine what that scale is, but it is important that you remember what the scale is. Mark on your drawing where windows and doors are and any fitted things that can't be removed (fireplaces, fixed shelves, etc) or won't be removed (like benches and cupboards). Don't forget to mark if the doors and windows open inwards or outwards and where the latches are. You'll need to plan the placement of your furniture so that you can still open windows. As you'll see on my drawing, I've drawn in some of my benches, but I'm open to the suggestion that at least one of the benches might need to be removed, so I've drawn the fixed ones plain but left out the one that might be coming out. Make a few copies.

3. Measure every single piece of furniture you have, or plan to have. You need to measure the obvious things like width and depth, but I also want you to measure height and floor clearance. Measure how much door or drawer clearance each piece of furniture needs. For example, if you have a 60cm wide cabinet, you'll need 60 cm in front of it to open the door. Try to allow at least a metre clearance for your chair/s.

4. Draw the width and depth outlines to scale (the same scale as your room drawing) in cardboard and cut out (you can cover the cardboard in white paper before starting so that you have a writable surface). I've made mine out of mount board scraps so that they're robust. Mark on each piece the height and the floor clearance. In my case, I've also drawn the piece of the bench that I'm open to moving so that I can see if I can use it somewhere else. I've also draw the shapes of some wire cubes that I have in the house that I might be using.

5. Draw out the door/drawer clearance allowance on the clear plastic or transparency, cut out and stick to the shape it corresponds with.

6. Lay your furniture cut outs on one of your room plans as things currently stand. Draw around the cut outs. You now have a picture of what your room looks like from above. Over a cup of coffee write down what works and what doesn't. For example, I've found that my computer desk just becomes a dumping ground for things as I walk in the door. I therefore need to think about either correcting my bad habits when I use my studio (unlikely) or find another way of coping with my habit - ie create a drop zone. But I like that I have most things to hand near my craft desk just by wheeling around. At the moment everything is in boxes so I have to move four or five things just to find one item. That isn't working for me at all. I've also just been given the base cabinets from a friends kitchen. Do I have enough or too many for this space?

7. Ok, it is important to not rush the next step. Take your time and get it right. Place the pieces of furniture on another room drawing and move them around and adjust them. Pay attention to how the clearance allowances impact on each other. They're done in clear so that you can see where they'll clash, but that might be okay. The metre allowance behind your desk is essential. Anything less and you'll find it very cramped. Another important thing to remember is that you should allow between 1 and 1.5 metres in any passage ways as fire exits. This is essential if you ever plan to have guests in your craft space.

8. Once you're happy with the placement of your furniture, draw around each piece and annotate what it is (don't forget height and floor clearance). The advantage of this is that you can take your other copies and try out different layouts. As you get something that works, draw the outlines and annotations and then compare against your previous drawings. Which one works best for you? It may help to draw in the width of passage ways as well. Once you have your plan you can put the cardboard shapes and the original measurements and room drawing into an envelope and keep for future changes. Yes, you will probably go through this again in the future because our spaces are constantly changing and evolving. But hopefully, we'll get it right for the moment so that you're not having to change it again soon.
We're going to work to achieving this floor plan. But, you might find as we go through the rest of this challenge, that your floor plan has to change. That's okay. Put the plan somewhere safe so that you don't lose it.

Here is a video showing how I worked through these steps and how my floor plan evolved.


And here are the floor plans as referenced in the video so you can see them up close.

Life Artistry course at Woodbrooke

Along with a very good friend of mine, I will be teaching a weekend course at Woodbrooke Quaker College called Life Artistry.

It is the being held on the extra long Jubilee bank holiday weekend, starting Friday night and finishing Monday afternoon.

Details can be found here:.

The description doesn't really do what happens on the course justice. Over the course of the weekend, Wendrie and I teach you a bunch of techniques and help you to build your own journal. We show you how to use different triggers to help you journal the spiritual and mundane in your life. A journal doesn't have to be all words. It can be completely visual. All we do is give you the tools to help you start and develop your own journal.

There are plenty of gaps in the programme that allow you to retreat and reflect on what you're doing, allowing you to develop and piece of artwork that encompasses you.

If you'd like to do this course, there are currently 10 places left. The facilities at Woodbrooke are very good and the grounds are stunning. Being the beginning of June, the weather should be incredible.

Any questions, please just comment and I'll get back to you.

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Studio Organisation - Preview

 In a couple of days, I'll be offering a free "workshop" here on my blog. You see, I need to get my studio organised and have promised I'll share the challenge with my friends on the AllThingsTim-Euro Yahoo Group. You don't have to be a member of that group to participate, but we'll be sharing photos and ideas through that group. To sign up, you need to be a member of AllThingsTim first, then apply to the AllThingsTim-Euro group once you've been approved on the first group.

However, I will be posting all the videos, photos and files that I create here on my blog. You can put comments up and link back to your photos and share that way too. I'm also pinning all sorts of organisation inspiration on my Pinterest board as I find them. Please feel free to follow me.

In the meantime, here's a tour of my studio as it currently looks. Maybe now you'll understand why I need to do this workshop. It's as much to benefit me as anyone else!

The Cheap Domestic Goddess

For the second instalment in my Austerity cooking, I thought I'd share my Cheat's Cannelloni.

If you've had a hard week and it's only Monday, don't bust yourself up about not making the red sauce from scratch. Just use about 1.5 jars of the pasta sauce of your choice and some passata, but be aware that the cost will be higher.

You will need:
2 Large saucepans
Lasagne dish or roasting tin
Mixing bowl

Ingredients for the red sauce:
4-6 medium onions
2-3 red peppers (capsicum)
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 large jar passata
Crushed dried chillies (leave out or moderate if serving to kids)
1/2 tube tomato purée
Balsamic vinegar
Worcestershire sauce (optional if you're catering for vegetarians)
2 tsp sugar
Splash soya sauce

For the cannelloni:
8-12 lasagne sheets
500g Ricotta
500g Baby Leaf Spinach
Cracked black pepper
Mint (can be left out)
2 cups grated cheese (the stronger the better)

Method (red sauce)
Dice the onions finely and place in large saucepan in oil and cook until translucent.
Dice the red peppers finely and add to the onion
Add the chopped tomatoes
Add the passata and the purée and stir thoroughly
Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and soya sauce and the sugar. Stir thoroughly and taste. Add more of the sauces if needed.
At the last minute, add about 2 tsp crushed dried chillies
Leave to simmer for about 1/2 and hour stirring occasionally until the flavours have combined.

This is usually enough red sauce that I can make the cannelloni dish, a lasagne and at least one other pasta dish during the week. If you divide it into portions, it freezes well, making other meals easy. Add some kidney beans and some chilli powder, with a bit of mince and you have an easy chilli.

Method (cannelloni):
in the large saucepan, boil some water and add a slosh of oil. Add the lasagne sheets to the boiling water one at a time. Keep the water moving around the sheets until they are soft and pliable. This takes anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Remove the sheets one at a time and place them on a non-stick baking sheet or similar to cook.
Once you've thrown the pasta water away, wilt the spinach down for about a minute - just enough that most of the leaves have lost their shape.
In the mixing bowl, add the Ricotta, spinach, mint (if using) and cracked black pepper and mix until thoroughly combined.
In turn, lay a lasagne sheet out lengthways and spoon about two tablespoons of mixture onto it. Spread from the end of the sheet closest to you up to about 1/3 from the other end.
Starting at the end closest to you, roll the sheet up like a roulade.
Complete the remaining lasagne sheets until all the mixture is used up (this allows you to add or subtract mixture from completed sheets as needed).

The Construction:
Spoon enough red sauce onto the base of the lasagne dish to cover the bottom.
Lay the lasagne rolls in the red sauce
Spoon more red sauce over the top of the rolls.
Sprinkle dried chillies over the top
Sprinkle grated cheese over the top
Dust with dried oregano or Italian seasoning
Bake at 200°C until cheese is golden

Serve it with crusty bread and a robust salad or on its own.


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The Cheap Domestic Goddess

Since G was born, my life has changed drastically - just as I expected it to before some of you start screaming "I told you so"! I've become a bit of a domestic goddess, in a small way. Finally, 22 years beyond my graduation, I no longer live like a student, washing a dish as I run out.

But with the cost of living skyrocketing, I have to find imaginative ways of cooking interesting things for G that we are prepared to eat too, so that I'm not cooking twice and that if she decides she doesn't like it, I don't end up throwing it away. I'm also finding ways of hiding vegetables into things - not because she doesn't like vegetables, because she does as long as they're cooked into it, but because as she gets older, we like to be out and about and it's useful to be able to take a healthy lunch with us. Just read the nutritional value of a McDonalds Happy Meal, and you'll never buy one for your kids again!

So, as I've been cooking tonight, I'll share with you my Austerity Sausage Rolls.

Ingredients:
1 pack pre-rolled puff pastry, because life is too short to make puff pastry
500g diced casserole beef - I buy the Basic stuff
2 medium onions
2 or 3 small carrots
Ground black pepper
Italian seasoning, or herbs of your choice
2 large eggs

I have a food processor to do most of my cooking. Again, life is too short to cut up everything as small as it needs to be as far as I am concerned, but you can cut it up by hand if you wish. You can also use a blender, but work in tiny quantities because you want things chopped, not puréed.

Method:
1. Peel the onions and carrots. Using the knife blade in the processor, blitz until finely chopped.
2. Transfer into a mixing bowl and do the same with the carrots and put them in the same bowl as the onions.
3. Set the processor going and drop about half of the beef into the bowl until it is finely minced. Put into the bowl with the onions and carrots and repeat for the other half of the meat. Add it to the bowl when done.
4. Break one egg into the bowl and add the black pepper and herbs. Mix thoroughly.
5. Break the other egg into a mug and beat well.
6. Cut the sheet of pastry in half and set aside. Dust your bench with a little flour and roll the pastry out to about 18x18cm, and cut in half. Repeat for the other half.
7. Take one strip of pastry and visually divide into three sections lengthwise.
8. Scoop 1/4 of the filling out of the bowl bit by bit and lay it down the centre third of the strip.
9. Paint one of the side strips with the beaten egg.
10. Roll the other side of the pastry over the mixture and continue to rollit over the egg washed third so you have a roll.
11. Paint the beaten egg along the top of the sausage roll.
12. Prick the length of the sausage roll with a fork and cut into 6.
13. Repeat for the remaining strips.
14. Place on a greased baking sheet (or use a non-stick baking sheet) and cook at 180°c for 25-30 minutes until the top of the pastry is golden brown.
15. Once cooked, place sausage rolls on a wire rack to cool.

There are a variety of other fillings that you can play with:

Pork shoulder with onion, sage, celery, and peppers
Chicken thighs with tarragon, onion, celery, peppers and mushrooms
Turkey with chicken livers, onions, chestnuts and maybe a little cranberry sauce
And for the vegetarians: Butternut squash, potatoes, onions, carrots, peppers and rosemary, with breadcrumbs (roast the squash and potatoes rather than chopping finely).

Basically, a good filling requires a central ingredient that has enough fat to cope with the mincing process. If it doesn't, the finished roll will taste incredibly dry. Cheaper cuts are better for this as they are usually higher in fat than the better cuts. I had to add butter to the turkey filling, but any fat would have done the job and I had to remove the skin from the chicken for the chicken filling as it just goes stringy rather than mincing.

Secondly, too much raw vegetable will make the filling too liquid when it cooks and the rolls will collapse. For a meat sausage roll, a 60/40 ratio works best. For a vegetable roll, mix in a largish quantity of breadcrumbs so that they absorb that liquid during cooking.

And G's verdict "I love Mummy's sausage rolls". That's enough.