Sunrise Makeup Bag

I have got to the end of the month and realised that I have not done a patchwork project for this month.  I saved lots of ideas most of them really need to be incorporated into a quilt to get the full effect and I am not wanting to get into that at the moment it feels like more of an autumn project.  I am still hoping that the weather will turn warmer soon ( I live in hope!) rather than snow, so the plan is I won't be needing quilts just yet. 

One idea that I liked was that of a sunrise design so rather than put it on a cushion again I thought it could go on a makeup bag with a wrist strap.

I used a decorative stitch to give the impression of rays coming off it, I had also thought about some beading but that can always come later, lining wipe-able for any makeup spillage.

It is only a small project this time but I had such a run of furniture and dress making on my last break from work that I haven't really got around to anything bigger on this front. I will have to choose something exciting for May.

Another picture inside, with the fading light I couldn't decide which was best.

I picked up some books from the library today that I had on order, a few of them on crochet as I need to get back to a bit of that as well before I forget how to do it.

Those Russian dolls are so cute I must give those a try, I also like some of the chunky baskets from the book bottom right.

The materials used in the makeup bag above were all recycled and leftover pieces, nothing new was bought.  The zip had been unpicked and saved in the past, looking back over a lot of the things I make a lot of the same designs on fabric come up again and again.  I don't like to waste any of it, I was joking with my husband that he should tell a colleague of his who I made a vintage dress for that the scraps of cherry fabric were being used again.  I made a dress for someone in that print eighteen months ago and there are still little bits left.

If anyone has any ideas for the really tiny bits I would love to hear about them.

Vegan Chocolate Cake (Wheat Free)

I ordered a new cook book this week, I mainly get them from the library but this one looked so good that I knew I would want to keep this one, plus it was just £5 with free delivery.  It came yesterday and I had a good drool looking through it.  So I decided the first thing I would make would be the chocolate cake as I knew everyone would eat that. I already made the carrot cake from the vegan website last week but forgot to photograph and post

The organic cacao powder was expensive but well worth it, it tastes amazing in the cake and when you open the packet it smells wonderful.  I followed the instructions precisely today and the cake came out brilliant I'm sure I will be making a lot from this book.  It is quite a size too, I suppose I didn't expect it to rise without the eggs but it just shows there are ways around these things.

I didn't do the icing as I always feel it can be a bit much, too sweet and just extra expense.  Also some types of frosting mean that the cake has to be consumed straight away, this is no good if there are only a few of you or you want it to last.

This is the book, it is a joy to look at as there is a full colour photograph for every recipe.

Pecan and Pear Vegan Upside Down Cake

I made this yummy pudding last Sunday and it has taken me until now to get around to sharing it.  As of last Friday I became vegan and I have taken the 30 day pledge here.  I had a couple of gluten free

cookery books from the library and I have marked all the pages of things I want to make however I am now adapting some of them to be vegan.

I was already part the way there being vegetarian and intolerant to milk but I could eat some cheese, now I have switched the cheese to a vegan alternative and cut out the eggs.  Any advice or recipes/recommendations of products greatly appreciated.

Here is the finished desert...

I know, I should have centred the plate a bit better! It really was a last minute photo though as I was just about to cut into it.

It is so nice with soya cream on and full of healthy ingredients so no guilt eating pudding at all.

The original recipe was from 'Deliciously Wheat, Gluten and Dairy Free'  so the only things I had to change for this recipe were substituting two tbsp.'s of chia seeds mixed in water instead of egg and also I used Argave nectar (only a small amount) instead of the quantity of sugar stated as I thought it would be too sweet.  Other than that I followed the recipe just scaling it down a bit.

Here the two books I got from the library...

I have not included the recipe as it isn't mine  but the book (on the left) is well worth a look, order form the library.  I have marked a couple of recipes in the Phil Vickery book as well but I preferred the other one.

I have made a few other things this week mostly made on the spot and without time to photograph.  One thing I really enjoyed was fried Kale with garlic mushrooms, spring onions, peppers and fried tofu.  I ate that for tea with older son, then cold the next day in a salad.  Oh dear stomach upset for two days!  I have not really had much tofu in the past but I really think it was that, that upset me.  All other ingredients I eat regularly so that is a shame.
There is still more to try so I will be cooking more new things but giving the tofu a miss.

I finished a couple of books 'Brain Hacks' was a really good one and I made myself a little list as I went along and also ' The Wisdom of Groundhog Day' by Paul Hannam was really good. There are lots of ideas to bring you back to the present, stop chasing future happiness and be happy now, very true.