Pirate of The Caribbean Winner!!

I think Captain Jack Sparrow won the vote as most liked!! Thank fully that didnt have anything to do with the draw so the random winner is ....

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 17

(dont know why its coming up with 100 in the box as it does say 57 in the max box and yet when i copied it to paste it comes up as 100! - i did triple check and got hubby to make sure too!)

B............... said...

Ooooh aaargh, Jack Sparrow without a doubt xx

Please can you email me your address to debbie(at)countryheartandhome.com and i will get them on their way :)

Pirates of The Caribbean OPI Giveaway!

Im a day late in listing this but you still only have until I announce a winner on monday to get your name in the draw :)
I am such a ditz and ended up ordering 2 sets of the Pirates of the Caribbean mini nailvarnishes from OPI! Leave a comment below telling me who your favourite character is from the movie and you will get the chance to win this gorgeous set of mini nailvarnishes!

Good luck!

Week 4 - Lemon Curd.

One of the easiest and tastiest things to make!

With it being Shake Up Your Wake Up week where breakfast is highlighted as the most important meal of the week i thought i would make something that might tempt me into actually having breakfast more often!

All you need is

4 eggs
2 egg yolks
250g Sugar
110g butter
zest & juice of 4 lemons
pinch of salt

Add the butter, sugar, salt, zest and juice together in a bowl over a pan of hot water (do not let it boil) and stir continually until the butter is melted (cut it into small blocks which will melt faster) In a seperate bowl, use a fork and combine the eggs and yolks. Pour into the bowl over the pan and stir regularly to stop the egg from scrambling. Keep over the low heat, stiring regularly for approx 10 minutes or until the lemon curd starts to coat the back of a spoon. Sieve into jars and leave to cool completely before topping with a circle of greaseproof paper. They will keep for 7 days in the fridge.Enjoy xxx

The winner of Make Do & Mend is....

Congratulations to....

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 1

...KnitandMake.

Please can you send me your address via debbie(at)countryheartandhome.com

Everyone else please remember to check back tomorrow for another giveaway :)

(Those looking for the recipe for today - it will be up tomorrow as im waiting for the lemon curd to cool before i take pics :)

And now it begins....

...the making and photographing of items for my book!!

The publishers are wanting to get it into the 2012 catalogue of books published so its all systems go...first up...Cranberry & Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies! Diet has taken a turn for the worse!! lol

Yummmm!

I love a good yogurt - thick, creamy and full of fruit! (or my absolute favourite - hazelnut - which is super hard to find these days! )

I received a box this morning that indicated fresh produce and knowing i hadnt ordered anything, got rather excited at the thought of either a competition win or some new goodies to review for the blog!I WON A COMPETITON! Since my influx towards the latter half of last year its been a little dry on the winning front round here!
It turned out to be a selection of Rachels yogurts and a pat of their butter ( I didnt even know they did butter!!) Evie picked her favourite...then proceeded to build a tower!Mmmmm pass me a spoon!

Cocktail 2/52!

Forgot all about uploading this on Friday (wonder if it was the drink!!) lol

Anyways here is a Scarlet O'Hara!1 measure of Southern Comfort
2 measures of Cranberry juice
squeeze of lime

*simples*

Make Do & Mend Giveaway! 3/52

Today im doing a little Make Do & Mend type giveaway for all those shabby chic/sewing/homemade girls out there!Including in this giveaway is a set of 3 scented birds - who can say not to birds!Also included is this cute little sewing kit that contains everything you need to keep on hand!Finally we have a gorgeous book ......which gives lots of ideas what to make with those scraps of material and fabrics you might have lying around :) It even contains its own little sewing kit!Winner will be picked at random on Monday - all you need to do is leave a comment below letting me know what you think the first thing is you will sew with the little kit (...will you be creative and make a rag doll or will you darn those holey socks?!)

Good luck!!

Curry winner!! 2/52

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 23

The winner is

kingcookie said...

Tasty tasty. Thanks for chance to win. Tracy x

11 January 2012 16:08

Congratulations hun and please can you email me your address to debbie(at)countryheartandhome.com ( switch (at) to @ )

Remember to check back tomorrow for giveaway 3! :)

Caribbean Cupcakes - week 3!

These were purely experimental and next time I think I might add a touch of lime too (grated) to add a little tang!

Makes 12 :)

150g plain flour
160g caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
50g unsaltedbutter
120ml coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 whole fresh mango (chopped finely)

Frosting
250g confectioner’s sugar
60g unsalted butter
25ml pineapple juice

Shredded coconut - not dessicated for decoration

Combine all of the dry ingredients together with the butter and using a mixer, mix for 2 minutes until smooth. Add the egg, coconut milk and vanilla and mix again until fully incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in the fresh mango. Do the same for the coconut. Using an ice cream scoop to ensure all cupcakes are the same size, spoon the mix into cases and bake in a preheated oven at 180 for 25 minutes or until a cake skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool completely before frosting.For the frosting mix together the icing sugar, butter and pineapple juice until soft peaks are formed. Pipe with a large nozzle onto each cake and finish with coconut slices.Enjoy xxx

Carpet shopping just got fun!!

Especially when you can run around and hide behind the stacks of samples!! She is growing up so fast!!

£50 Experience day Voucher Giveaway!

How would you like to create your own perfume or take a Helicopter Buzz Flight!
Well thanks to the lovely people over at Experience Days I am able to offer one of you a £50 voucher to experience something fabulous! Click here for 18 pages of £50 or less experiences you can choose from!

All you need to do is visit the Experience Days website and pop a link to what you would choose in the comment section below - a random winner will be picked on the 31st of January.

Weigh in Wednesday

Hows it going?
Have you broken your resolutions yet?
Which ones did you set and which are you sure youre going to keep?

Ive lost 3lb this week!! YAYY!!

Its a start and im sure it may have been more had it not been for a 2 hour stint in Starbucks with 2 giant Vanilla Spice Lattes with cream, sprinkles and a steak and cheese pannini! Heck i needed something to keep that pen and paper busy!!

Curry Giveaway :) 2/52

I couldnt resist these sachets of curry mix, all parcelled up in hessian bags with cute little measuring spoons!
There are 2 bags of different curry mix - chicken tikka masala and thai green curry. For good measure ive added a Madhur Jaffrey 100 curries cookbook so you can work your own magic too :)
All you need to do is leave a comment below and I will use random.org to draw a winner on Monday.
Good luck!! xxx

Winner Week 1/52 - Odeon Vouchers....

Congratulations!! I used random.org to generate the winning number...
Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

16 

Timestamp: 2012-01-09 20:47:55 UTC

SO....looking through all who posted, number 16 is.... FEE!!

Fee please can you email me - debbie(at)countryheartandhome.com with your postal address and I will get the vouchers sent out :)

Remember to check back tomorrow for giveaway 2 of 52 :)

Chocolate & Pecan Shortbread 2/52

Sweet and simple biscuits to impress, even on short notice :)

You can whip these up in half an hour so no more biscuitless cups of coffee!

Ingredients:

75g Icing Sugar
225g Soft Butter
225g Plain Flour
1tsp Vanilla Extract

50g Chopped Pecans
50g Melted Chocolate

Method:

Cream together the icing sugar and butter.Add the vanilla extract and sift the flour into the butter mix.
Using a spatula make sure it is all loosened from the sides.Tip onto some cling film and mould into a round.Place in fridge to harden slightly.Roll out and cut out required shapes.Lay on greaseproof paper and bake at 180degrees for 15/18 minutes.Take out and let cool on wire racksMelt chocolate and drizzle over the cooled biscuits.Sprinkle with the chopped pecansEnjoy ...xxx

Happy Birthday!!

To my darling hubby who turned 40 today!*they melted the cake!!* lol

End of the week treat!! 1/52

Since ive started my diet, made a resolution to learn and try new things and update my blog every day then I thought we could have a cocktail on Friday!!
No work or school to get up for the next day so what better day to try a little treat ..... or two! lolWeek 1 is an After Dinner Mint...One part Baileys (or similar)
One part Creme de Menthe

Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well.
Pour into a shot glass, be completely 70s and top with cocktail cherries (theres always a reason for cocktail cherries!) and enjoy :)

I had no shot glasses so doubled the mix and went for a wine glass! lol Sometimes making the best of what you have turns out for the best! ;)

After school craft club!

Today was my first after school craft club for 15 under 7s!! EEK!

Everything went really well though, not too covered in paint but sprinkled from head to toe in glitter! One little girl turned to me and said 'I didnt think it was going to be this cool!' lol I think they all enjoyed the free reign and being able to play with lots of different bits! This is a little of the aftermath! They painted little mini plant pots and made cards for their mums and dads. Next week they are going to design their own teddy bear picture which i will laminate and they can keep as placemats :)