My 1st Sewing School Class

This week I took my first class at Love Stitch in Heswall. After ten years teaching the girls at school, it was a new experience for me teaching adults. Six lovely ladies came along and here's a little natter about our morning.

The workshop space at Love Stitch is ideal for for small groups. It is a lovely bright room, well equipped and cosy. We were even treated to proper coffee and biscuits on arrival!

The three-hour class was to make this pretty cube cosmetic purse, which is always a favourite with my customers from my Etsy shop.

Love Stitch provided this range of gorgeous cotton fabrics by Tilda for the ladies to mix and match for their purses. They all selected different combinations!

They soon got down to the business of cutting out the pieces needed.

Then on to making the patchwork outer layer.

Next quilting the layers together.

It was great to see everybody beavering away! It was so quiet with everyone concentrating, not a bit like school!!

The binding and the zip were a little more tricky, but this stage was soon mastered by all.

I think you'll agree their finished purses are amazing. Each one looks slightly different in the different fabric combinations. There could be some very lucky recipients on Christmas morning!

Some of the ladies asked for written instructions incase they forget how to make them again. I have promised I will put together a tutorial just as soon I can find a spare minute. Look out for it in the Tutorials tab on the left hand side.

I have two more classes booked in the run up to Christmas. Follow this link if you are interested in booking a place.

Embroidered Home Picture - 21st November - 9.30 to 1.30

Applique Christmas Stocking - 9th December - 1.00 to 5.00

Love to see you there. Happy sewing!

Judith xxx

Sausages in Cider

Firstly I must apologise, I'm no chef and I'm not very good at making a plate of food look 'pretty'. I'm usually hungry and just want to eat it when a meal is ready! This one is definitely one of those but it's hearty and warming and you can serve it with whatever you prefer.

I love sausages but always try to use good quality ones, either Cumberland or simple pork. I always look around the shelves in the supermarket for the cheapest cider as it's going to be cooked. Your can cut up your sausages or leave them whole. I tend to leave them whole, otherwise somebody always moans that they've got less sausage than everyone else!

You can download my recipe for Sausages in Cider here

I hope you enjoy this warming recipe as autumn sets in!

Judith xxx

Enchiladas

I first made these enchiladas with the girls at school. They are really easy to make and can be made with either a chilli con carne or a spicy chicken and pepper filling. We used to give the girls the choice and they loved making them, although the spicy aroma followed them wherever they went around the school for the rest of the day!

The rolled up tortillas are usually covered with sour cream and grated cheese but I make them healthier by using half-fat creme fraiche instead.

You can download my recipe for Chicken Enchiladas here

You can download my recipe for Beef Enchiladas here

I hope you enjoy these enchiladas. Experiment with your favourite fillings and let me know what you like by leaving a comment below.

Judith xxx

Chicken and Bacon Crunchy Top Pie

This pie is very quick to assemble as it has a cheat sauce using tinned soup. It is very tasty but you shouldn't add any extra salt as the soup is already quite salty. The topping is a great way to use up dry bread. You could also use up left over cooked chicken from your roast dinner, just add it cold to the soup before it goes into the oven. Add whatever vegetables you like to the sauce.

You can download my recipe for Chicken and Bacon Crunchy Top  Pie here

I hope you enjoy this recipe

Judith xxx

Cheesy Crust Fish Pie

Firstly I must apologise that it's taken so long for me to add more recipes to my Easy Peasy Everyday Recipe File. Lots of people have asked recently for more, so here goes!

These next few recipes are already in the file so if you have a paper copy of the file, then you already have them. I will give you a 'shout' when I upload some totally new ones. I promise I will soon!

I often cook a luxury version of this pie over Christmas when I have the family staying. It tastes quite special with a mixture of fish and shellfish and wine. Also I can prepare it in the morning, so cooking needn't take me away from time spent with the grandchildren.

Of course if you prefer, you can top the filling with cooked mashed potatoes (and a little grated cheese) before cooking in the same way.

You can download my recipe for Cheesy Crust Fish Pie here

I need to confess that the picture at the top of the post not my own but a similar looking picture taken from the Internet, curtesy of Jo Pratt. This photo is just temporary, I will replace it with my own next time I make the pie.

I hope you feel encouraged to have a go and make this pie just how you like it. Let me know how you get on by leaving me a comment.

Judith xxx

Lasagne

We all like lasagne in our house. I particularly love it if you've left it in the oven just a little too long or you've reheated it and it goes nice and crispy round the edges. That's when you'll find me after the meal, in the kitchen with a spoon scraping off and eating the crispy bits from the sides of the empty dish!

Lasagne is a great meal to make when you've got lots of people round. Its cheap to make and you can stretch the filling out a long way with vegetable and pulses. Of course lasagne doesn't have to be made with a mince bolognese base, you can make your filling with anything you like: vegetables, salmon, chicken?

You can cut down the time it takes to prepare the lasagne, by using bolognese sauce you have made previously and frozen.

You can download my easy-peasy recipe for Lasagne here

Happy cooking!

Judith xxx

Southerner's Scouse

When I first moved from the south of England to the north west fifteen years ago, I had no idea what Scouse was. When I asked people I met, they all had different ideas of what should be in it. I guess that it's the same for lots of favourite regional dishes, everyone has their own variation.

To me Scouse is the same as the beef stew I remember from my childhood only my mother could not afford to buy beer to cook with (that's my adaptation!). I always look around the supermarket shelves for the cheapest bottle of ale I can find.

I love to add suet dumplings to my stew, making it really hearty and filling. I use Atora Vegetable Suet and just follow the recipe on the side of the packet. They're very easy to make; just mix suet, flour, mixed herbs and a little water, roll into balls and drop on top of the meat for the last 30 minutes of cooking. When they cook they swell up and taste yummy!

you can download my recipe for Southerner's Scouse here

Hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know your variations for this regional dish. Leave a comment below.

Judith xxx