October Update : Counting Down To Halloween, Part 2

Hi readers,

So, Halloween is nearly here (12 days) what have I spent the last week doing? Well, shopping, baking, writing and sleeping! Also, planning where to put decorations and doing a practice Jack 'O Lantern! (It's the above photo, btw) And this next week it's looking like more of the same things, though I'm returning back to work and I need to sort my last driving lesson out, but more on that next time. 

Okay, so firstly and because I need to get this out of the way, let's talk about my baking 'disasters'. My mum really wanted to make a dinner meal out of a pumpkin and though we had found a few different recipes, I decided to make a lasagna. Normally, it's a dish I can make from scratch or tins/jars etc and it turns out fine. This one; http://foxeslovelemons.com/giving-back-with-pumpkin-kale-lasagna-chewforchange-pmedia/ turned out okay, but it so needed more flavor and it took twice as long as I thought it was going to. 

I'm not sure what happened, but I do know that having to sort out the pumpkin took up sometime and the fact that my oven is broken. That never helps anything, but we get by. My parents expecting it to be done when they came home and not having to wait two hours, got me a bit stressed out too. I wasn't that big a fan of the texture of it either and there wasn't enough sauce. (I'm a big fan of sauce) I think this will be a recipe I might not be returning to. To be honest the lasagna wasn't a disaster, these however were; 

So, these didn't turn out, but I should be grateful that they taste okay. I've made pumpkin muffins before, but when I saw this recipe I really liked it. Here;

http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/spiced-pumpkin-muffins-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the recipe, it's just that I didn't get it right. I've a number of reasons; 

1. I don't think my oven was hot enough nor did it stay at the right heat. 

2. I really should have tried to get more water out of the fresh pumpkin because the muffins were soggy and sank. 

3. I didn't adjust for the use of my silicone mold and I probably put too much muffin mixture in.

4. I accidentally tipped too much cinnamon into the frosting. (I love cinnamon, so that doesn't bother me, but I don't know how that effected the overall taste of the topping.)

5. Piping icing and me just don't see eye to eye, but knifes to the rescue! 

6. I ran out of time baking and decorating them, due to other things I had to get done.  

Really, it's a good job that my boyfriend isn't big on sweets nor baking, because I was kinda making them with him in mind -since he stayed the weekend- but I knew he might not like the cream cheese or the pumpkin. My parents, well my mum, grabbed two (without frosting and just out of the oven) as they were leaving to go to Scotland for the weekend. Their verdict; they were okay but weren't right. My verdict is that if the above list hadn't happened or was less then they'd have turned out better. They are still edible though, but in future I'll be sticking with my normal recipe.

Moving on to something I did get right, though it's not baking -thank goodness- are these pretty cool tissue paper jar lanterns.  

 

You can find how to make them here; http://mycraftyspot.com/mason-jar-jack-o-lanterns/ but all you need really is some tissue paper, empty washed jars and some fake or real tealight candles. Then you just cut the tissue paper into strips, glue on to jar and put the candle in. Remember not to put the lid back on if you use a real candle though! I made Frankenstein and a vampire. There was also a ghost and pumpkin, but I have enough decorations of those already and liked the idea of bring more different colors - greens and purples in.

I'm not sure where I'm going to put these yet. I was hoping outside on my front wall, but I'd need to get more fake candles for them as the ones I used to take the photo have already been claimed by another project. Still, they look good just on my bookcase and though the photo doesn't give the lit effect well, they did turn out good and were super fast to make.

At the same time as preparing these jars, I did the others for my next lantern project. This one is more difficult and needs more time, but hopefully I'll try and start them next week ready for maybe next Monday's post? Though I shall be doing one on Halloween night anyway. I'm not sure about timings of things right now, but I do know that due to what I want to do with this next project it's going to take a good few days. Also, I'm still waiting for one item to arrive from Amazon.

I've got two more projects on my list at the minute too. Either are related to Halloween though, so have the moment been put on hold. The first is to finish off making small items for my mum's Christmas advent calendar bag. (I know Christmas stuff once again!) but I need it ready by December first and it does seem to be coming fast. I've got like three or four things on the list to make. Got the patterns and stuff ready, just need to find the time and mood to sew. I'll be posting more about that come November/December. Though I'll have to let my mum know not to read my blog! -she sometimes does and there's nothing wrong with that.

My second project is that I've loved the canvas painted button trees for ages and finally I found a YouTube video of someone making one and saw how easy they were to do. For all my creativity and skills, drawing/painting really isn't one. But now I've seen how to physically make it, it's not that hard and I can make to easier if I need to. So, I brought my first ever canvas -granted it was on sale at a discount art/book shop, but it was the right size and price. I got purple and pink paints for the background at the same time. I have a ton of buttons brought for sewing, but they'll now come in use to make the autumn leaves for my tree. I'm so excited and I'm going to do a post all about it next month.  

If you're looking for some Halloween inspiration for your own D.Y.I projects, check out my Pinterest board as there's lots of stuff currently on there; https://www.pinterest.com/hails9/halloween/ It'd be awesome to hear about your projects too, so please take the time to leave comments and links below. I love chatting and reply to everyone.

Oh and please check out my other blog 'The Story Files' linked below, I've got a longer short story up at the moment which concludes tomorrow, but you can still read it all. The stories are all Halloween themed and there is something for everyone on there.

That's all for this week, thanks for reading!

You can also follow on me on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestoryfiles

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ironmaidenfan9Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/user?u=327832Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=208056472&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profilePinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/hails9/Readwave :http://www.readwave.com/hayley.hardman.7/Blogger: http://hailscrazyblog.blogspot.co.uk/Wordpress: https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/

All photos; my own. 

October Update : Counting Down To Halloween

               

Hi readers,

My favorite time of year has rolled back around and now its' 19 days till Halloween! I'm so excited and have already done nearly all of my shopping. I've got some new decorations - black fabric, lights and a banner for my front door/garden. I've been making things and I got them to show you today! Also, planning out my baking, deciding my costume (I'm staying at home again this year, hopefully with my boyfriend coming to stay the weekend) and researching what design to carve on my pumpkins. The only thing left on the list is to get stuff for the trick-or-treaters. I'm torn between making goodie bags and just putting a random mix of sweets/candy into a bowl. 

There's a few other things I've got to do too; one of them is craft project, which I'll be including in my actually Halloween post. The other is to hunt down the Happy Halloween candle by Yankee candles. I've got two at the minute, but I found out a few weeks back that its' now been officially retried and getting hold of one is like panning for gold. I'm hoping the shop I got my last two from have got one in, but if not I won't be getting one this year. Tidying my house and decorating are of course on that list too. 

So, whilst I seem in a bit of a writing block today, I thought I'd do this post and get myself in the mode of writing. I've got the story and the ideas in my head, but for whatever reason I can't seem to put it down in physical form. That sounds kinda weird, because you'd think you'd just type or write the words and that'd be that. But it's the art of conveying what it's in my head which is the issue. For some reason the right words and the structure don't seem to want to come. There's not much that can be done other then to write through and just try to edit things later. I'll be doing that tonight after eating homemade stew and dumplings! 

That's the other thing I love about autumn, I get to eat all my favorite foods like stews, pies and soups. There's just something so wonderful about getting home from walking my dog in the woods or else having been wrapped up in writing for a few hours and tucking into a hot, filling meal. Speaking of which here's a photo of the chicken, leek and mushroom pie I made last week: 

It took me about two hours all together, but I'm way pleased with how it turned out and it tasted so nice. Everyone enjoyed it and I had the leftovers for lunch which tasted twice as good! I've added this recipe - it was actually a free leaflet in a supermarket that I picked up - to the recipe folder to be used again. I'll be putting up some more baking stuff on my Halloween post as I've got a list of savory and sweet things to make. And I digressed from what I set out to write..... 

Okay, so I'm huge on making things for Halloween, just in case you didn't already know that and Pinterest is my awesome place for discovering things and putting them all in one place. A few weeks back I was looking at some craft ideas for the Youth Centre children to have a go at and I found the pattern for a soft toy/plushie bat. Well, my mum has been helping my dad make his Halloween costume and has had the large sewing machine out, so I thought I'd ask her to help me make the bat. I'm good at sewing and using the machine, but her expert skills are just so useful and the fact that her sewing machine never seems to want to work for me. So here he is:

   

He is just so cute and looks cool sat on my desk, though I'm tempted to snug him in bed. He's big and fluffy, just what I wanted and he turned out so great. I did think about making some smaller friends, but I'm running low on fabric right now. I've included the link to the website were the pattern and instructions are below. He just makes the perfect Halloween companion and I'm sure kids will just love him, though he's a bit complicated and time consuming for the kids at the youth club to make. 

Instead, I'm going to get them to make these cute felt pumpkins! 

Once again I've included the link below, these are just so easy and quick to make. I added the faces and leaves on and put them in basket as a center piece. I also put some dried mix spices/pumpkin spices in the orange pumpkin on the right and some dried lavender into the purple one at the back -which I just noticed you can't really see.- They do smell nice and I think they'd also make nice little gifts. As decorations they look awesome and I'm half tempted to make some more, but I'd have to buy some more orange felt because I'm almost all out. I'm sure the young people at the youth club will enjoy making them!  

That's currently were I'm up to with Halloween stuff. Like I said before I'll be posting some more stuff next week (depending on things) and then on or just before 31st. Watch this space for all of that! So, now it's time for this month's updates! 

The novel I'm reading at the minute is:

My mum give this book after she had read it and it was actually a gift given to her by a friend to read on her canal boat holiday with my dad last month. She enjoyed reading it and suggested I give it a try, even though she knew it wasn't my normal subject/theme. I've read 50 pages and though I'm getting into it and do find it interesting, I'm not sure there's enough for me to want to actual finish reading it. Which does say a lot about me, because I hardly ever finish reading a book. My mum does say it gets better, so I'm hoping to stick with it. I'll probably do a review when I'm done, so I won't write any more about that now. 

Currently writing: short stories. I'm busy battling my way through writing horror/supernatural/Halloween themed stories for my blog. I had put up a request for submissions throughout last month, but had no luck, beside from an old uni friend helping me out when I was mega ill two weeks ago. So, yeah, luckily I got a few ideas and lots of inspiration, but I keep hoping that I'll open my emails and see that someone has submitted a story to me. I just think I'd be nice to hear other peoples' voices etc on my blog for a change and it'll help bring more people in. (Link is below if you're interested) 

Currently Listening to: I'm still getting through all the new album releases of September and the ones I missed. So, I've still got 5FDP, BFMV, Disturbed and Kamelot high on my music list. I've also been listening to Halloween themed music and my natural sounds still. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos too, including episodes of The Addams Family and The Munsters. I'm also going to watch some of The Dinosaurs TV episodes too, does anyone remember that show? I was addicted as a kid! 

Candle scent of the month: This is also my favorite time for candles too! Normally, I'm burning Yankee wax tarts and picking Autumn smelling ones. But this year I decided to have a look online and I found these on Amazon and thought I'd give them ago. It was worth taking the risk, because they are really great scents and I love the Pumpkin Crunch Cake one. Right now I'm burning the Witching Hour and I'm looking forward to the Tricks or Treats soon.    

Lastly, though I know this is boarding on Christmas, I just wanted to share with you the knitting my mum has done recently. She got the patterns and the wool in her knitting magazine and after some begging so made them for me. They are so cute and set on my computer desk. I pick them up and give them a hug when I start to feel stressed and/or worried. The next thing on her needles is a werewolf! I can't wait to meet him. 

Thanks for reading and good luck in whatever Halloween activities you're up to. Here's my bat and pumpkins once more! 

Links to me: 

https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/

https://www.pinterest.com/hails9/

https://twitter.com/ironmaidenfan9

https://www.facebook.com/thestoryfiles

Other links; 

https://americanfeltandcraft.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/diy-mini-felt-pumpkins/

http://www.tipjunkie.com/post/halloween-bat/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FBM8680?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

Photos from: 

http://libertyridgefarmny.com/2012/09/19/pumpkin-picking-adventures-in-albany-clifton-park-saratoga/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Paris-Bookshop-Nina-George/dp/0349140359

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FBM8680?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

My own personal ones.

Baking Day

Hi readers,

Here's something different for today! I'm letting my cooking side out and spending the day- well most of it- in the kitchen. I guess I felt like doing something different and I've not done baking in awhile. I guess after my last kitchen disaster when my butterfly fairy cakes (cupcakes) didn't turn out right at all, I sort of stopped because I was so disappointed by it. However, I've never been one to let things stop me ad it seems that taking a break and then returning to it does work.

I would say that I'm an good cook. I know my way around a kitchen, I know a number of recipes by heart and I've had enough practise. Sometimes though like most people, I have good days and bad days cooking. Though today seems to be a good one as my jammy fairy cakes have turned out just like the photo above! Actually this photo came from the recipe I followed too, so it worked out.

The reason why I like baking is because it gives me time to think- often story ideas! - be creative, experiment and be a bit artistic. I have found in the past that my baking can sometimes reflect my mood. The best things I've made have often been baked on the spur of the moment, when I've been relaxed and not putting much thought into what I am doing. This means that I use new or else very simple recipes at that moment. I then get the best results out of my baking.

The times when my baking has turned out wrong, have been when I've decided not to follow the recipe-for whatever reason- when I've been in a hurry or when I've been trying to hard because none-family members are going to be eating it. Often this means that I spend too much time thinking about it and wanting it to turn out perfect. That mind set can led to things not turning out right. Getting the balance correct is hard for me to do, but I keep trying!

I guess my baking can be compared to my writing in a way. When I don't think about things and just write, I end up producing something good. My writing has always had something of a natural flow within its structure and this does become clear when I've just got on and typed without stopping. It's odd, but I write when I've stopped thinking about and putting in the effort. I guess this way everything can just come out in a natural way and so it does appear like that on the page.

Like my bad cooking though, there are times when I've tried to hard or been over thinking about my writing. I produce 'bad' writing and end up giving up because I'm not in the writing mode. This can also lead to me doubting and judging what I've written. The typing often feels forced and the even though the flow might still be there, it might be harder to see.

I also made some mini orange and lemon muffins, though the photo and recipe below are slightly different from the one I used as I couldn't find my one. However, it looks like they turned out good too and they smell so tasty! I can't wait to eat them now. I ended up making two different cakes because my brother doesn't like jam and I know he'd feel left out! Though to be honest, I feel like I could eat them all myself!

My parents have gone away for a few days, so I got left in charge of myself and my brothers when they are around. That also means I've had to do all the cooking, tidying and washing -though that doesn't feel un-normal for me now! For tea tonight I thought I'd have one of my favourite dish from university and that's bbq Huntsman chicken. I've just had a quick look for the recipe but I can't see it. The only difference is that you marinate the chicken bbq sauce and then add the bacon and cheese. It's just an awesome burst of flavours and goes with any side dish.




Tomorrow, I am going to try and cook something that I had at one of the restaurants we went to during the canal boat holiday. These sweet potato wedges tasted really good and were different from normal wedges and chips. So, I thought that they might go well with fish, but we shall see tomorrow. And with that I'm going to try one of my jammy cakes!




Photos and recipes:

http://www.sainsburys-live-well-for-less.co.uk/recipes-inspiration/recipes/jammy-fairy-cakes/

http://www.jalna.com.au/cakes-muffins/lemon-and-orange-mini-muffins.html

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/9839/bacon+and+cheese+chicken

http://www.sainsburys-live-well-for-less.co.uk/recipes-inspiration/recipes/sweet-potato-wedges/

It's HALLOWEEN!

Hey readers,

Time is so against me today and I already know that this blog post isn't going to be going up until very late night tonight. I've to leave in like 20 mins to go to play DD. It's the first game of the new season tonight -how very fitting!- and I as I don't know how long the new style of play and the new rules are going to take I don't know when I'll be home. But we'll see!

Above is my pumpkin for this year! He's an awesome fire dragon. And yeah some inspiration did come from DD! but I like my pumpkins to be different. He took awhile to make, I started at 7pm and finished about 11.15pm. The design was pretty easy, though the tips of the flames were a bit tricky. I also accident put a hole in the pumpkin when scooping it out. Luckily, it was in an area I needed to cut out, but once I started that I found that the hole had created a crack right across the pumpkin! That was really upsetting and give me some difficulties in carving out the wings. But he does look pretty cool.

Back from a very good DD night. And there's been no tricker or treaters so all the chocolate and left over biscuits for me! Though I've got blueberry muffins for tomorrow as well. I saw a few people dressed up and having nights out. Manchester was it's normal busy self and the weather is so awful all rainny, windy and cold. It feel like winter already!

Back to Halloween anyways. I still think that it's not as big in Europe as it is in the States. In Britian we do have all the shops selling tons of Halloween releated stuff a month in advance, a few people throw parties, schools and clubs get creative. But when you go out on Halloween nights, the streets that should be full of tricker or treaters and the houses that should have pumpkins and garden displays,just are not. There'll only be a handful of kids for every few streets and even less houses displaying pumpkins. I'm still not sure why this is so, maybe the stigma of Halloween is still clinging? Maybe unlike Christmas this is holiday that people just can't get into? For whatever the reason, I still think it's a shame.

 

My Favourite Halloween recipes

Pumpkin Pie

I follow a traditional family recipe for this and it's not a normal 'pie' it's more like a cheese cake. But it's still amazing!

500gm Pumpkin - cooked (Steam it for about 30-40 mins)

2 packets of ginger snaps

100gms melted butter

1 digestives

Tablespoon of Mixed spice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg

3 eggs

200gm caster sugar

100gm brown sugar

500ml double cream

 

Break up biscuits with rolling pin and then spreed into glass baking dish and mix with the butter. Set to cool.

Then mix all the other ingredients together beside from the cream. Add in cool pumpkin, mix and then add cream. Mix some more and pour over biscuit base. Then in preheated oven at 180 degrees, put it in for 15-20 mins and then turn down oven to 160 degrees and cook for 40 mins. Set aside for an hour or so. Then serve warm or cold with cream.

So awesome.  

 

Halloweenie ginger cookies

Basic gingerbread men mixture, but add in mixed spice, Cinnamon and nutmeg. Then use Halloween shape cookie cutters and a range of icing pens to decorate. I got sprinkles and ghost/bat sugar shapes. 

Crumble gravestone cookies

So simple to make just basic butter cookies and then cut into 'headstone' like shapes. Using icing pens to decorate. I love making mine all individual and write fake epitaphs on them.

There's tons of other Halloween recipes out there like the chocolate moose graveyard and the chocolate fudge spider cake I made last year. I think that's why I really like this time of year, because there's so much good cooking to be done!

Also the traddtional scary movie night. I'm having mine with my boyfriend tomorrow, as I've been playing DD tonight and baking for all the afternoon. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a classic must watch! I've also got Interview With a Vampire and Queen of the Damned. Should be fun.
As for me, I wish you all a Happy Halloween!