Etsy Christmas Gift Guide: Under £25

>>  Bigger Boat Print £22

>>  Mr Racoon Plate £22.50

>>  Owl Collar Clips £14

>>  Leather Purse £17.60

>>  Scandinavian Rag Doll £13.20

>>  Screen Printed Coaster Set £12

A few more of my Etsy favourites, this time in a slightly higher price bracket but still very good 

value for money for hand-crafted goods. You can see top picks for under £12 here. 

You might also like:
>> How to Make Wine or Cider Mulling Kits
>> Easy Raspberry Gin Liqueur Recipe
>> Upcycled Wrapping Paper DIY
>> Swirly Mince Pies Recipe 
>> Crafty events in London: Christmas Edition 2013

Knitting on Trains is now on Twitter

Etsy Christmas Gift Guide: £12 and Under

>>  Wooden Feminist Necklace £11.26

>>  Tote Bag £8

>>  Grumpy Cat Embroidered Patch £10

>>  Jammie Dodger Earrings £9.99

>>  Llama Party Print  £3.40

>>  Breaking Bad Pencils £3.50

A selection of some of my Etsy favourites for small budgets. All of these sellers are based in the United Kingdom - most of them right here in London. So if you're quick (and live in the UK!), you should still be able to get orders fulfilled in time for Christmas. Go on - grab yourself a lovely handmade bargain, and support independent designer-makers this festive season. 

You might also like:

>>  8 Cracking Christmas Card Ideas

Dark Chocolate Orange Creams

Well... it's officially Christmas season guys. I'm actually feeling rather festive this year, which is quite unusual for me. I'm yet to have my first mulled cider (which I must rectify post-haste!) but I was chucking up chintzy foil decorations and gaudy-as-hell tinsel on the 30th of November. I also felt in the mood to try out some potential homemade Christmas gifts. 

Peppermint creams are a common festive treat that are cheap and easy to make, involving just a few household ingredients. I'm not the biggest fan of minty flavoured sweets, so I thought I'd try orange instead. Here, I've chosen to coat the sugary orange creams in good quality dark chocolate which helps to balance out the sweetness. As you know already, chocolate and orange are friends - and these sweets are no exception. 

Dark Chocolate Orange Creams

1 large egg white, lightly beaten
300g icing sugar (sometimes called powdered or confectioners sugar)
1 tsp orange essence (or to taste)
80g good dark chocolate, chopped
Extra icing sugar, for dusting surfaces

Makes about 40-50 creams (depending on size of cutters)

1. Combine the egg white and orange essence in a large bowl.
2. Add in the icing sugar and mix with a wooden spoon until it starts to come together. You're aiming for a soft dough; if it feels to sticky, add a little more icing sugar. Taste the mix at this stage - add more essence if the flavour isn't strong enough for you. 
3. Lightly sprinkle a non-stick surface (such as baking parchment) with icing sugar, tip the sugar 'dough' onto it and knead lightly. Cut the mixture in half and set one piece aside. Lightly dust a rolling pin with icing sugar and roll out to your desired thickness - I went for about 1cm.
4. Using small cookie cutters, cut your desired shapes out of the dough. Place cut shapes onto a sugar dusted board or tray. Keep smushing the leftover bits together and rolling out again until you have none left. Repeat process with the second half off the dough. 
5. Pop your shapes into the fridge for a couple of hours. They'll become hard and dry to the touch, which will make them much easier to dip into melted chocolate.
6. Melt chocolate in a bowl resting on top of a pan of simmering water (the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl). To get a better finish to the chocolate, reserve 1/3 of the chocolate and add into the melted chocolate when you remove it from the heat, stirring until also melted. When slightly cooled dip each orange cream into the chocolate one by one. Be sure to turn over in the chocolate so they get fully coated; I like to use two forks to do this. 
7. Place dipped orange creams into a non-stick surface and leave in a cool place to harden. 

There doesn't seem to be any consensus on the web as to how long these keep for, although a few weeks in a cool place seems to be sited most often so that's what I'm going to go with!

I've become a bit addicted to these orange creams since making them... probably not a good thing since they're almost entirely sugar. Eep! It's made me think of the different flavour possibilities - maybe rose water for Turkish delight creams? Or strawberry perhaps? How about coconut? What flavour would you try? 

8 Cracking Christmas Card Ideas

There are so many fun homemade Christmas card tutorials out there, I thought it might be handy to do a little round-up of my favourites. Do you make your own Christmas cards? I manage it some years, but other times there already seems to be too much to do without worrying about making my own cards as well!

If you'd like to make your own but are struggling for ideas, I hope you'll find these links inspiring.

1. Christmas Light Stencil Card
2. Button Wreath Card
3. Washi Tape Tree Card
4. Glitter Candy Canes Card

5. Geometric Christmas Tree Card

6. Felt Christmas Card
7. 3D Bauble Card
8. Dotty Bauble Card (apologies, I can't find a proper source for this one)

Are you home-making any cards this year? 

You might also like:
>> How to Make Wine or Cider Mulling Kits
>> Easy Raspberry Gin Liqueur Recipe
>> Upcycled Wrapping Paper DIY
>> Swirly Mince Pies Recipe 
>> Crafty events in London: Christmas Edition 2013

Knitting on Trains is now on Twitter. 

Spicy Green Tomato and Lime Pickle

There are quite a few green tomato recipes out there; the famous dish of the American south, fried green tomatoes* and the good old green tomato chutney probably being the most well-known. 

This year, almost none of my grandma's tomatoes ripened to their desirable red. Plants laden with perhaps three or four different tomato varieties, all beautifully formed apart from their colour. I couldn't bear to see such a bounty go to waste, so I filled up a plastic carrier bag and set about thinking of a suitable recipe.

Regular chutney was an option of course, but I wanted to try something a little more adventurous. I'm a huge fan of Indian lime pickle, but shop bought varieties can be unappealing salty (and I'm quite a salt fan). I've homemade lime pickle in the past and it turned out lovely, so I figured - why not limes and green tomatoes? 

This turned out to be a great idea. The savory, firm unripe tomatoes work well with the sharp tang of the limes, and both turn tender through the cooking and maturing process. I should stress that while this pickle takes inspiration from Indian varieties, it is in no way an authentic recipe. But it's good eating, which is what matters to me.

After making the pickle, I stored the jars away and patiently waited until a month had passed so I could confirm that the finished product actually tasted good. I'm not a patient person - this was not fun for me. However, at least I can confirm that this recipe makes a very tasty pickle indeed. Plus, if you make some soon, it'll have time to mature and make a great Christmas gift.

Makes about 1kg pickle (2 average size jars) 

900g/2lbs green tomatoes, cut into small wedges

2 limes, cut into chunks

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 inch chunk ginger (approx), finely chopped

A few hot green chillis, 1 of them finely chopped (seeds in or out as you prefer)

2 tsp whole pickling spices

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric 

125g soft brown sugar

200ml water

2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil 

Sea salt 

1. Place the tomatoes and limes into a bowl and sprinkle over 1tbsp salt. Cover and set aside for 2 hours. After 2 hours, drain off any liquid that has accumulated in the bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add in the spices and fry for 1 minute, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add in the chopped green chilli, garlic and ginger and fry for 1 further minute. Finally, add in the tomatoes, limes, sugar, water and 1tbsp of sea salt. Cook over a medium heat for about 30 minutes, until the liquid has thickened.
3. While the mixture is still quite hot, decant into (warm) sterilised jars**. If you like, you can push one whole chilli down into the pickle for extra heat. 
4. Remove any pickle from the rim of the jar with kitchen paper, and pop on the lid. If your pickle was hot the jars should seal all of their own accord as they cool (the little button on the lid will pop down). If this doesn't happen, you can put the jars in a pan of simmering water (tall enough to fully submerse the jars) for 10 minutes. Be super careful when taking them out as both the jars and water will be HOT. 

You might also like:

>>  Spiced beetroot and orange chutney 
>>  Marrow and ginger jam 
>>  Yellow courgette chutney 

* Incidentally, this food blog (which I stumbled across while looking for green tomato recipes) has really nicely written recipes with a focus on the history of food. Worth a look if you're into that kind of thing.

**  If you have a dishwasher, you can sterilise jars by running them through a wash. If you don't (like me), simply wash your jars thoroughly in hot, soapy water, rinse then dry in a low oven (I go for about 150oc in a fan assisted). 

I've just realised that this is my first time using green tomatoes in a recipe, so I'm going to count it towards my new ingredient challenge! 

500 Follower Giveaway Winner

And the winner is....

Colleen!

 

 

Please get in touch so I can give you directions for collecting your prize :)

New Ingredient a Month Challenge: Harissa

Another new ingredient, another recipe from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem cookbook. Adding a spicy kick to this simple carrot dish is harissa, a chilli paste featuring various herbs and spices, plus oil. Harissa is something I'd been meaning to try out for a long time, as it pops up in lots of Middle Eastern recipes. You can use it in a dressing for falafel; and warmth to a Moroccan inspired soup; or spread it on a piece of chicken or fish and stick it under the grill or on the BBQ. Shop bought harissa can vary in heat - taste yours before using as you may want to use less than the 2 tbsp suggested here. Blowing your guests' heads off with super spicy carrots is not ideal!

Nasturtium flowers are included here to add colour and interest, just because I had some. If you have any outside space at all I'd recommend giving growing this hard working little flower a go. From the same family as watercress, the leaves have a spicy, peppery flavour with the flowers being milder (and completely edible - but check inside for mini beats!). They are very easy to grow and will thrive even when largely neglected. Also, once you've bought one pack of seed you never have to buy more as the seeds are very easy to harvest. They're also nice and big which makes them a great thing to give children to sow. 

Spicy Carrot Salad (serves 4) 

6 large carrots (about 700g in total)
3 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
1 large onion, finally chopped (about 300g)
2 tbsp harissa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp cider vinegar
salt

1. Place carrots in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are just tender. Drain and, once cool enough to handle, cut into 5mm slices.
2. While the carrots are cooking, heat half the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. 
3. Tip the fried onion into a large bowl and add the harissa, cumin, caraway, 3/4 tsp of salt, sugar, vinegar and remaining oil. Add the carrots, toss well and set aside for 20 minutes for the flavours to mature. 

I decorated my edible nasturtium flowers to serve; the original recipe called for a few handfuls of rocket. Watercress might also work here, giving that same peppery tang.

Throughout 2013 I've been trying out a bunch of new ingredients. So far this year I've tried:
>>  Celeriac

>>  Bulgar

>>  Tahini

>>  Sumac (part one and part two)

>>  Chinese cabbage

>>  Mooli

Knitting on Trains is now on Twitter

Easy Raspberry Gin Liqueur Recipe

I think I might have found my favourite new gift to make at home... flavoured liqueurs! 

Liqueurs are alcoholic beverages that are bottled with added sugar and have added flavours that are usually derived from fruits, herbs, or nuts (or so Wiki tells me). 

For my liqueur I chose to infuse the Queen of spirits (gin, obviously) with one of the best fruits (raspberries, of course). If you're looking for an interesting, tasty, low cost and (most importantly) easy as pie gift to home-make this Christmas, I wholly recommend giving infused gin liqueur a go.

Ingredients

• Gin (cheap gin will do just fine)

• Fresh or frozen raspberries

• White sugar

Equipment

• A jar large enough to hold the amount of gin you'd like to infuse, plus some extra room for raspberries

• Saucepan and wooden spoon

• A piece of muslin cloth

• A bottle or bottles to store your liqueur in (you can use the bottle the gin came in, but bear in mind you'll have twice as much liquid as you started with so you'll need a second bottle). I think I'll use these pretty ones for Christmas gifts.

• Jug

Make it

1. Decant your gin into a jar. This can have a screw top lid or a clip lock lid (I used one like this). Throw in some raspberries - I used about two handfuls for 70cl of gin. Close the jar and store in a cool, dry place for three days. There's no need to shake the jar about - just let it sit happily infusing.
2. After three days, drain the gin and raspberries into a jug through a piece of muslin cloth (fold a large piece several times so it is a few layers thick). Discard the raspberries. If you'd just like some flavoured gin, you're good to go - simply decant into a bottle. But if you'd like to make a liqueur...
3. In a pan, make a simple sugar syrup by mixing equal parts sugar and water in a pan over a low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until completely dissolved. Leave to cool. For my liqueur I went for 50% sugar syrup and 50% infused gin which worked nicely - you could use a little less syrup if you prefer a less sweet drink. Add the sugar syrup to the gin. Pour the mixture into some bottles and there you go - lovely raspberry flavoured gin liqueur! Who wouldn't want some of that for Christmas?

FREE STUFF!! There's still time to enter my 500 follower giveaway and bag yourself a piece of awesome hand-crafted jewellery from Neat Eats  - simply go to this post and leave a comment. Easy!