A little while ago, while browsing around our local antiques shops and markets, we came across this little kitchen table in the corner of the shop.
Straightaway, we knew it would be perfect in our kitchen as a breakfast table, but quite honestly, it had seen much better days. We knew that with a bit of time and effort we could transform this sweet little table so we rescued it from the dusty corner of the old shop and carried it home.
Saving jars is second nature to anyone who enjoys preserving, whether it’s jams and jellies or pickles and chutneys.
The problem is though, how do you get those really stubborn labels off. It can be really frustrating when you have soaked the jar to remove the paper label only to find that the glue holding it in place is totally resistant to everything you use to remove it!
Well, now there is an easy way remove all traces of the old label and it’s glue, and the best thing is it is really easy to do, so easy in fact that when I first saw this tip I didn’t really think it would work but I can promise you it really does!
…Well, 2 tins of paint anyway!
Last year, just after Christmas when all of the sale adverts were bombarding us with great offers for brand new kitchens, I must admit I was very tempted to rip out our old kitchen and invest a few thousand pounds in a new one.
When I started looking into it further though, I realised that unless I was willing to spend £10,000+ on a handmade solid wood kitchen, then all I would get for my money is basically what I have already got, laminated chipboard cabinets just with different doors…and I actually like the doors we have anyway!
So, after a quick chat with the paint expert at our local trade decorating centre to get some very welcome advice, we decided that keeping our perfectly serviceable kitchen and giving it a makeover was not only a viable option but actually a much preferable one as not only could I choose to paint the cabinets any colour I wanted, I would save an awful lot of money in the process and I would not have to throw away a perfectly good set of kitchen cabinets.
When it’s time to start digging up the first of the new potatoes growing on the allotment, homemade crisps are a real treat to make…and eat!
It’s taken a little while but finally we are starting to get some produce after our planting efforts!
As we have not got any garden at home, any thing we plant here has to be in pots and there is very little room so we have allowed space in a glass roof ‘lean-to’ along the side of the house to grow some tomatoes and cucumbers…always a favourite in summer!
Well, it’s been a hectic few weeks since I took on my new allotment so I though it was time for an update! I’m happy to say that my plot is no longer a bare patch of earth, it actually has things other than weeds growing!
Ginger cake is a perennial favourite, great for lunchboxes and picnics, easy to make but it can be quite messy…dry ingredients in one bowl, melting the sugar, syrup and fat in a saucepan, blending the two together trying not to splash yourself with the hot liquid…it can be a little off-putting.
So much better to have this simple recipe to call on to make this light, moist and sticky cake that is made all in one bowl, takes no longer than a few minutes to mix together and if that wasn’t enough, this cake gets even better over a few days…if it lasts that long!
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