Ian's Spicy Barbecue Ribs

This recipe is one of my husband's masterpieces (worth marrying him for!)   It is hot and spicy so be warned, but when served with plenty of rice and peas, for a little extra pop of colour, it is a delicious dish.  Obviously if you don't like too hot and spicy then adjust the cayenne or Tabasco ... or even omit it completely. 

Ingredients

500g spare ribs

1 large onion

3 oz butter for frying

for Sauce

180 ml tomato ketchup

45 ml cider vinegar

30 ml pepper sauce (Tabasco)

pinch cayenne pepper

5 ml mustard

2 oz soft brown sugar

Method

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together and put to one side.

Chop the onion and fry lightly in the butter until soft.  Grill the ribs until browned.

Mix the cooked onion with all the sauce ingredients.

Place the browned ribs in an ovenproof dish and pour the sauce over.

Cook for approximately 3/4 hour in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C.

Check earlier to see if cooked.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think

Scrap Retreat

This year I finally plucked up the courage to attend the Merly Impressions retreat ... and I am so glad!  Despite the journey on 3 motorways including the M25 I survived and loved every minute of my time at Wyboston Lakes.  A great venue, great people, amazing kits and a host of ardent scrapbookers.  

It's hard to capture the thrill of it all in a single blog post so I am condensing it with a collage photo to sum it up. I was pleased to be in a smaller room with a wonderful group of people ... scary enough to meet strangers but so much easier when there aren't to many at one time.  Our wonderful desk space with such prettily packaged kits and extras. An endless supply of drinks, biscuits and sweets was a very pleasant surprise and scrapping with wine was a new experience for me ... AND there were no accidents with sharp blades under the influence!

I applied myself to the stitching and fussy cutting which was a whole new experience for me.  At the start I thought I would never stitch or cut again as I found it very slow and tedious.  However, as time passed I improved and actually found it quite soothing to lose myself in the activity.  I opted for the layout option rather than including the Beyond The Page projects and I am so glad I did not stretch myself too thin.  I had not expected to be as slow as I was but I absorbed myself and enjoyed creating layouts outside of my comfort zone.

All the collections were from Kaisercraft which can be purchased from Merly Impressions. They are devine designs and I was very reluctant to cut them, but needs must ...

I diligently worked through the layouts, but despite staying up until 1am I still only managed to complete three and a half while I was there.  Today I have finished the fourth and thought it was worth posting.  

So here goes ...

My first layout which perhaps should not have been my first ... and a few close ups

 I'm not used to scrapping without journaling but the Collectables provided plenty of sentiments which gave the same message that journaling would.  This isn't something that will always work for me but for people who don't like journaling it's the perfect solution. I couldn't quite depart from my 'norm' and still had to have a title so was thankful that I had taken my own.  A slight spillage of clear gloss resulted in a thicker dollop but it didn't spoil the over all effect.

2nd layout ... and more stitching!  Never been so distressed ... oops that came out wrong ... I've never done so much distressing!!

And now for the third ... more stitching and fussy cutting but this wasn't quite to plan as my photo was too large and it isn't quite to proportion but I still like it.

Once again the collectables captured the sentiments.  I seem to have trouble photographing the layouts without getting the floor in too but you get the general idea. And now for the fourth which I completed this morning.  

Once again not in keeping with the scale in the instructions but a chance to scrap the most amazing experience. I used the 'what a day' sentiment from the Mr Fox collection as it summed up perfectly what an incredible, awesome and amazing day it was!

If you've managed to make it this far with looking at all the pictures ... Thank You!  And I hope to post my final layout when I've done it (aiming the end of the week now I'm on a roll)  That gives you warning not to pop back too soon if you've had enough ... hee hee!

Get Quacking with Duck

Last night I finally got round to cooking the recipe that I found in a Reader's Digest Magazine in April this year. It took me a while to find the ingredients and actually get my act together to cook it but it was well worth the wait ... and I can't wait to do it again.

Duck Breasts in Ginger Sauce  (serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 boneless duck breasts                                         20g fresh root ginger
1 piece preserved stem ginger                               2 medium leeks
3 Tbs raspberry vinegar                                         2 Tbs stem ginger syrup
225 ml green ginger wine                                      225 ml chicken stock
15g butter                                                           salt and black pepper

Method:

• Preheat the oven to a low setting to keep the duck warm later.  Dry fry the duck breasts, skin side down, over a moderate heat for about 8 minutes, turn and cook for a further 6 mins.
• While the duck is cooking, peel the fresh ginger and cut it into thin strips.  Chop the stem ginger and set both aside.
• Trim the leeks, cut them in half length-ways, rinse them well, then cut into matchstick sized strips and set aside.
• Transfer the cooked duck to the oven to keep warm.  Drain off all but a tablespoon of the duck fat.  Add the vinegar and bring it to the boil, scraping up the brown residue, then add the fresh and stem ginger, ginger syrup, ginger wine and stock.  Bring back to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 mins until the liquid has reduced by half.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the leeks, season with salt and pepper and stir -fry gently for 3-4 mins until just tender.
• Return the duck to the ginger sauce, reheat for 2 mins, then add salt and pepper to taste.
• Arrange the leeks on a serving dish, lay the duck breasts on top and spoon over the ginger sauce.

Then pour a glass of wine ... and enjoy!

As I was only cooking for two I halved all the ingredients and it worked perfectly, however I still used 2 leeks as we like our veggies.  It was absolutely delicious and typing this entry has made me very hungry.  The ingredient I had the greatest trouble locating was the raspberry vinegar and to save you all the trouble of searching I can reassure you that Waitrose sell it.

I'd love to hear if anyone tries this and what you think of it, thank you for any comments!

Spicing Up June

Although determined to give a monthly recipe I did not ever specify it needed to be a full meal.  This is a tasty diversion that has proved to be a big hit.  The recipe comes from a Buderim Ginger cookery book that we bought after an inspiring visit to the Ginger Factory in Australia many years ago.  I may well continue my search to find the perfect chilli jam but this is a very satisfying start.

Tomato Chilli Jam  ( makes 3 jars of 250ml )

Ingredients:

4 red chillies, such as serranos

4 garlic cloves

2.5cm fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

50ml Thai fish sauce

500g very ripe red cherry tomatoes

300g golden caster sugar

100ml red wine vinegar

Method:

Put the chillies, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and half the tomatoes into a blender and whizz to a fine puree.  Cut the remaining tomatoes into a 5mm dice and set aside.  Place the puree, sugar and vinegar into a deep saucepan and bring gently to the boil, stirring constantly.  When it reaches boiling point, reduce to a gentle simmer, add the diced tomatoes and skim off any foam that rises to the surface.

Cook for about 30 - 45 minutes, stirring from time to time to release the solids that settle on the base.  Scrape the sides of the pot during cooking.  Pour the jam into warmed, sterilised glass jars and let cool to room temperature.  Seal with lids and store in the refridgerator.  Use within 1 month.

This is the second batch I have made as the first did not last long ... far too tasty!  It is a firm favourite with our son-in-law who enjoys it in his sandwiches at work.  My husband likes it with cream cheese on a bagel and I am currently fond of it with cheddar cheese on crackers.  I have even tried it as a dip with crudites. It could also be substituted for sweet chilli sauce.  My only complaint is that it is a little sloppy ... that just means you need to make sure you catch the drips.

Happy experimentation in finding your own perfect pairing and let me know how it goes

Spring Time Challenge

This month's challenge on Merly Impresssions is to feature spring.  Spring is my favourite season and I love everything about it.  It's hard to know where to begin and impossible to capture in just one photo.  This is a layout that I created some time ago but it still captures all the magic of spring.  Blossoms are delightful, lambs are adorable, and spring green is greener than it seems to be at any other time of year.

The main photo was taken at Casa Lomas in Toronto, Canada.  The other photos were taken in our garden and in local parks.  I spend endless time trying to capture photos of the birds nest building and I'm entranced by the unfurling of ferns.  Perhaps I ought to do separate layouts on each aspect of spring ... maybe a goal for the long winter months ahead, to keep the magic of Spring in our hearts.

I'm thrilled to find out that this layout has been featured as a Top Act ... Whoopee!

Dreams do Come True

This week's challenge at CSI inspired me in theme but I struggled with the colours.  They were not colours I would naturally put together and my limited collection did not provide me with much variety in blues.  I could have managed it using papers but I wanted to try mixed media.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough inks and sprays to allow a foray into much mixing!

Having scoured my supplies I decided that the Kaisercraft Chapter One collection would fit the colour scheme.  It is one of my favourite collections; in fact so much my favourite that I haven't wanted to use it ... I did manage not to cut it!  Hopefully some fellow scrappers will understand this.

I'd chosen my photo and theme before starting anything else.  My husband had often said that I had a wall around my heart when we first met.  I had been hurt too many times to want to let anybody in.  Many years ago we stayed in a gothic folly in North Wales and to be in keeping I dressed in my medieval fancy dress outfit and posed for some photos in the tower.  The photo I chose implies that I am locking myself in ... or everyone else out.

To solve the 'case' I managed the colours the best I could.  The evidence used flowers and rub ons.  Creatures were butterflies and birds and both had wings.  I added sparkly stars to the title which aren't quite jewels but make a good substitute. For Testimony I applied my journaling directly on the photo using photo editing and it reads as a fairy tale:

Once upon a time there was a girl who built a wall around her heart.  It took a special man to scale the wall and break it down. He freed her brick by brick, disguised as a friend.  When she saw his armour shining through she recognised her knight and they lived happily ever after.

I wanted to continue the idea of bricks and towers on the page so used the Crafters Workshop stencil.  Some sections I used modelling paste and in others ink to add a variety of texture.  This is not so easy to see in a photo.

I love the Kaisercraft roses and have a passion for keys at the moment.  The key is particularly relevant for this as my knight gained the key to my heart as well as to my home.  Kaisercraft products were perfect for this layout and I used a mix of collections.  In addition to Chapter one the die cuts beneath the photo were from the Secret Bird Society and the rub-ons and mini blooms were also kaisercraft.  

I have had these bird rub-ons hiding in my stash for years and this seemed the perfect occasion to use them.

Thank you for looking and commenting

Thrilled to know that I'm being watched ... so many inspiring artists and layouts it's an honour to be included among them.

Swiss Chard and Potato Gratin

The first time I ever saw Swiss Chard I thought it was just large spinach.  I had no idea what to do with it but luckily my Riverford vegetable box came with a recipe card.  I am so glad that I followed this recipe because it has now become one of our favourite meals. If I cannot get chard I do use spinach, and now I no longer measure all amounts so accurately and it is just as tasty.  Sometimes we have it as a complete vegetarian meal and sometimes we serve it with sausages ... tasty however it's served.

 serves 4

Ingredients:
500g Swiss chard                                 75g butter
750g potatoes                                     4 garlic cloves
600ml milk                                         100g cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp plain flour                                salt and pepper

Method:

• Remove and roughly chop the green part of the chard leaves.  Cut the stalks into 2cm lengths and steam for 10 minutes.  Stir in the green leaves and continue to cook for a few minutes.
• Wash the potatoes and cut into 1cm slices.  Boil for 5 minutes until just tender. Drain.
• Grease a shallow baking dish and layer with half of the potatoes, the chard and then the remaining potatoes.
• To make the sauce, melt the butter and fry the crushed garlic for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 1 minute.  Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens.
• Add half the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.
• Pour the sauce over the vegetables and top with the remaining cheese.  Bake at 180 degrees C  / Gas Mark 4 for 35 minutes

Happy Cooking ... Enjoy.  Thanks for looking and thank you for any comments