Free Books and Free Time

This morning I awoke to look out of the window and groan 'snow', then I was wondering how will I get the car up the hill, is it worth taking it or should I leave it here? We knew it was coming but it is so disruptive and the roads are never gritted despite the forecasts. So I felt a bit grumpy as I was getting dressed then the phone rang, school is closed. I have to say I was pleased, we got there last week and stayed open but many children didn't and when not all buses are running it can be a real pain.  Sorry to all of you who still had to get in today but I am enjoying the unexpected day off.  There is something magical about a day off you weren't expecting, a little gift of time, which we rarely have enough of.

Only a light covering here at this point but it has continued to come down heavy and managed to disrupt transport. 

So I have my skirt planned and I will be making that this afternoon, it's a bit different and I don't know if it will hang ok but I will share when it is complete.
I also plan to have a go at making wheat free chapati to go with curry, this will be a first so I don't know what that will turn out like, it looks basic enough.
On the subject of food someone recommended Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's books to me yesterday at work. It appears he has done a book solely on veg and one on light food which also has vegetarian food in. I had a quick glance after having a search online then found all his books in the library catalogue, so I ordered two and now just need to wait for them to arrive at the library.

I am considering this a good saving accomplishment as in the run up to Christmas I bought myself a couple of books and to be fair one of them could not be found in the library. However it is too easy to go on amazon and click buy, even if I do get it cheap. Free is always going to be cheaper! I always use the library but I have started to buy more books again and this drip, drip effect is something I must stop.  I think it is ok if it is reference material that you will return to again and again but most books are not and just sit on the shelves taking up space.
At Christmas I took two full bags of cookery books to the charity shop that have not been looked at in years so I do not want to start hoarding them again.  When my books arrive at the library I will look through them, note down anything that looks good that I will try and then they can go back for someone else to enjoy.

I thought what Mr money moustache said was perfect, 'Imagine you had hundreds of thousands of books on every subject to read whenever you wanted, you have, it's called the library and they even store them for you'. The thing is on one occasion when I was in the library looking for something I spoke to the librarian who said lets look on the catalogue, I said I had checked but they didn't have what I wanted but did they have anything similar?  She said oh we can just buy it in, she ordered a new copy right there!
  Now this was about two years ago and since then 15 libraries across the city have closed and the ones that are left have had their hours drastically cut.  It is such a shame and I really do hope that in the future we won't be losing them altogether. Reading form a screen is not the same as reading from a book, plus they offer social interactions for some, book groups, coffee mornings and a free safe  place to learn for others.
I have a book out at the moment on pattern cutting, I have had it out before but it is quite in depth and I never got all I wanted form it due to time, so I have borrowed it again. The thing is as long as no one has a hold on your books you can renew them a couple of times.
I'm off now to enjoy the rest of my unexpected day off.

Garlic Mushroom Wheat Free Panckes

Yesterday involved a trip to the big Tesco in the city because Aldi my usual place to shop does not have any of the gluten free flours. I decided for now to just buy the plain gluten free blend and the white gluten free bread flour. I also bought xanthan gum ( thank you Cornish chickpea ) as apparently you need this to make the flours bind properly. This is all new to me. They did have all sorts of goodies that I would be able to eat but I resisted temptation as I have been eating more variety since I stopped eating bread and cakes and buying the processed stuff would ruin that.
Today for our Sunday lunch my  husband and son had roast chicken but for my older son and myself I decided to make mushroom pancakes using my new flour.
They take a few pans but are easy to make ( husband doesn't like me using loads of pans he's on washing up duty!)

So I made two of these and they went down really well, they are full of mushrooms the ones on the plate at the side are a few that came out. Recipe is below and if you leave out the cheese and bertolli spread and use vegan substitutes  ( also for the egg, not sure what you use there) instead these would also be vegan.

Garlic Mushroom Pancakes 

Pancakes

2 eggs

4 desert spoons of dove farm gluten free plain flour

125ml soya milk (or just milk)

Olive oil

filling

1 pack of large mushrooms

2 handfuls of spinach

1/2 a red onion

2 garlic cloves

tsp basil

125 soya milk (milk)

small amount of mozzarella or cheddar

tsp of margarine ( I use bertolli spread or shops on olive spread)

Method

To make pancakes beat eggs, add milk then whisk in flour a bit at a time. Heat a little oil in the frying pan cook pancakes a few minutes each side then set aside on a plate.

Chop all ingredients, fry mushrooms in the garlic (crushed) add onions, after a few minutes add spinach, sprinkle in the basil.

Heat the spread in a saucepan then add milk as it gets hot add a little flour at a time and whisk quickly it will start to thicken (don't add too much it goes thick all of a sudden) take off heat and add a little cheese).

Place a pancake in an oven proof dish, coat one side with the mushroom mixture add a little sauce over the top. Fold over add more sauce and a little more cheese on top. Repeat with the other pancake.  Cook in a hot oven for about 10 - 15 minutes until golden on top.

I sometimes add a little chilli to the mixture to make it a bit spicy but that is up to you.

So one wheat free recipe down I will have a go at pastry later in the week ( I think that is where I will need the xanthan gum).

Also this week I am going to make a skirt with the check fabric I have had ages but I am still stuck what to do, I love the fabric and I usually just jump straight in  and cut out but I have seen lots of styles I like and I am undecided. Below is what I found on pinterest.

Right this bottom one is actually similar colours and I have some lace left, a bit longer but only problem is if I embellish it with lace I probably wont wear it for work and I like to be able to wear my clothes whenever.I may do a combination of these I will see what develops.

Here is my fabric sitting there on the sewing table waiting for me to make up my mind.

A Couple of Creative Goals

Its good to have something to aim for as we go along I think and at the start of every year I always think about what I would like to achieve in the coming months. By this I don't mean financially and unfortunately I have noticed with many goal setting articles it seems to be all about money and work!
If we look at life that way we will be forever chasing money and missing a lot along the way, I have decided not to focus on that.  While I do like to be aware of what I spend and save I don't want to be a person who thinks life will only be good with a fixed sum of money.
So that said what I do like to look at is what I can learn, make or find out more about while being happy at the same time.
 One of the things on my list for this year is to find out more about pattern making and design and maybe do something with one of my designs.
Another possibility I'm looking at is to design my own fabric and we can do this now! Yes, anybody can just design their own fabric and have it printed, now this is something that will cost about £20.00 a metre as I have found this site...

It called Woven Monkey and it is UK so the postage is free.  I think the design would have to be spot on before I would pay so much for it but it would be great for a special project and if home made clothes are not unique enough this takes it to another level.

This is something I will play around with and if I come up with a design I really love I will save it and maybe have it printed up at  a later date.

Something I didn't plan last year was to buy my guitar in August and I have to say it has been one of my best buys, I have been learning using justinguitar.com and the books that I have bought by him and it is so relaxing. I have about four basic songs in memory and can play more from the beginner book ( play as a beginner that is) but the main thing is I really love it! 

On the theme of learning new things I went on a course this morning to do with my job, I really enjoyed it and always like to go on courses to learn more.  One of the ladies on my table had said she hoped it would be cancelled so she wouldn't have to come.   It just goes to show how some people enjoy things that others don't but also how we have a different way of looking at things. I have decided I am going to try and always frame things in a positive way because if we start out with a cloud over our heads in the morning it can be very hard to shift.