Orange Marmalade Drizzle Cake

Perfect for marmalade making season, this cake is quick to make and delicious. It is basically a sponge with the addition of orange zest, orange juice and a little marmalade.  The 'drizzle' is made of sugar, orange juice and a tablespoon of marmalade. It can be served warm as a desert with cream or ice cream, or at room temperature with a cup of tea or coffee.  It is not overly sweet and the topping adds just the right amount of sticky sweetness to make you want more. It keeps for a week if wrapped up tightly.

Ingredients:
For the cake:
8 ounces soft margarine (Stork or Flora)
8 ounces sugar
4 large eggs
8 ounces self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
juice and zest of half a large orange
2 Tablespoons marmalade

For the glaze:
juice and zest of half a large orange
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon marmalade

Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time.
Mix in two Tablespoons of marmalade.
Sift dry ingredients.
Add them gently to the wet mixture, taking care not to over beat.
Add juice and rind of half a large orange and a little warm water to loosen the mixture, if necessary.

Put into a greased and lined 8" by 11" pan ad bake at 180 for 25 minutes until a skewer just comes out clean. Remove from the oven.

Melt the sugar, orange juice, zest and marmalade in a small pan.
Pour evenly over the warm cake.
Serve warm or room temperature.
Can be reheated in foil for desert.

Baby Bandanas (Make do and Mend)

 I have been making baby bandanas (rather unattractively called dribble bibs) for our first grandchild. Although I could start a pop-up shop with my stash, I didn't have anything suitable. They required soft, stretch fabric and I had purged all my old t-shirts a year ago. (Typical!) Then I remembered I had bought two pairs of soft jersey pyjamas which were still in the drawer but hardly ever worn. I managed to make five little bandanas out of them. I could probably make more but it would mean a lot of piecing.

The pyjamas I used for the bandanas.

The pattern is easy. Remember the paper hearts you cut out for Valentine's Day in primary school? It's almost the same as that. Each bandana 17" wide at the widest point and 7" deep.

Make a curve for the neck and add 1/4" seam allowances all around.

The pattern is cut on the fold.

The pattern folded out.

To make, place the fabrics right sides together and stitch around the edges (1/4" seams) leaving a gap for turning. Clip, if necessary and turn to the right side, press and hand stitch the gap. Press again then stop stitch 1/4" from the edge.

Use a small piece of Velcro for fastening,  stitching it on with a small zig zag stitch  and they are finished.

I also made two posh bandanas for Flora with some Liberty jersey fabric which I had saved for bunting.  Here is Flora, at four months, modelling one of them.

Flora looking pensive.

A Baby's Quilt

I've been digging around in the loft (attic) for ages to find the quilts I made for my children when they were babies. I've had one success - this quilt that I made for my daughter, Helen 34 years ago.  Now she has a baby, born last week and called Flora. I'll be making a quilt for Flora as soon as I come up with a suitable design.  Helen wants flowers for Flora's name and I think it could have other things as well such as butterflies and even a garden gate. I've looked on Pinterest and Etsy and I've found a few quilts to inspire me, but I want it to be an original so I must let the ideas develop and then I will get started. Sometimes it's best to  play around with the design and then begin.  I have lots of pieces of Liberty tana lawn for the flowers, but I don't know what to use for the background yet.

I made Helen's quilt using a ditsy print for the background and then picked out the colours from that. The sheep are fleece (what else?) and the clouds are broiderie anglaise. The heads and legs of the sheep are small floral prints too, but in darker tones than the background. I was very  brave and did a bit of hand embroidery for the hills and Helen's name. I'm hoping I can still do that. I haven't done any embroidery for years. I wanted to keep it soft, so it is tie quilted. It was never on a bed or a cot, but used as a wall hanging in the nursery and it has never been washed which is why it has retained its shape. I'm afraid to wash it so I may take it to my dry cleaners and see if they can freshen it up without flattening it. Today I hung it up temporarily so I could photograph it and I am enjoyihg looking at it. I'm amazed that I managed to make it with two very small children to look after. What I remember it that it was a glorious escape. Many sewists say that sewing is their happy place and it was certainly mine, even though I remember their childhoods with pleasure.

I will have to brave the loft (not fun) to find the other one. Wish me luck.

A Simple Pattern Hack - Adjusting a Neckline

The original pattern.

I've been sewing up a storm. I've made three dresses this month! Having left my sewing machine in its box for nearly a year, this is amazing.
Three things have motivated me: One is that I have been watching The Sewing Quarter on freeview in England on channel 73. It's brilliant. So many tips for sewing. Hubby laughs whenever he come in the room as it is on again. Two is that I am feeling very guilty about the enormous stash of fabrics I have been hoarding. Three is probably the very hot weather in London. I have been able to hide in the sitting room - the coolest room in the house and sew. Also, I have been able to produce things to wear in the heat.
This dress is an example. It is very easy to make. It has a back zip and just a few darts for shaping. The blogger 'Handmade Jane' (www.handmadejane.co.uk) showcased this dress some time ago.   Having made tops from another , very similar New Look pattern two or three years ago, I decided that although I liked the dress shape, the neckline would be too sloppy on me.  The necklines on the tops don't stay in place. They move from side to side when I move. Wearing a crossover bag is a disaster as it pulls the neckline right out of shape. Although they are cool, I just feel untidy. The simple solution was to make the neckline narrower on the dress.  I didn't make a toile this time; I just cut the pattern carefully, raising the waist and allowing for my less than hour glass figure.

The New Look Top which drifts around when I wear it.

As for the neckline I made it smaller by one inch on each side, front and back  (See photo.) and then just traced around it for make the facings. I knew I could make the neckline larger if I didn't like it. However,  the result was a very pretty and flattering neckline - one that would not slip around.

I made the pattern adjustment by adding one inch to the front and back necklines and then using a French curve to blend in the cutting line. The dark lines are the neckline on the original pattern.

I used this Japanese fabric  which has been in my stash for two years. I'm very pleased with the result as the neckline is flattering and it stays in place. It's amusing how much the dress reflects the 1960's.  It would look great with 60's accessories, like pointy shoes and a Biba hat.

The new neckline. Note the Japanese fabric. 

The finished dress. Just add a hat and a large straw bag, perhaps the one in the pattern.

N.B. Most of my friends will not wear sleeveless dresses any more, but to quote Sandra Bullock in Hope Floats, 'I'm fearless that way'.

Yummy Spinach and Bacon Salad

Saturday lunch in our house is usually something like hamburgers, sausages and beans, full English breakfast and such like. Supper is a light meal in front of the TV if we are not going out.
Last Saturday we were invited to an early evening barbecue, so I made a light and healthy meal for lunch - Spinach and Bacon Salad.
It was delicious and I will make it again. I served it Jamie Oliver style on a platter to show off its loveliness.

This recipe makes two generous servings. Simply spread spinach leaves on the platter.  Add chopped fruit (in this case, a nectarine and some white grapes but you could use any seasonal fruit, such as apples or even oranges or satsumas). Add chopped pecans. Chop up the bacon and fry it. Remove it from the pan and make the dressing using the crusty bits on the bottom of the pan, about 1/3 cup olive oil, a couple of Tablespoons of runny honey, a teaspoon of mustard and a Tablespoon of red wine vinegar.Drizzle thjs over the salad.  For a vegetarian option you can omit the bacon and add cheese, such as goats cheese or feta which you place on top so as not to mash it up.  Make the dressing in a jar or a bowl instead of the frying pan.

Retro Sewing

The original pattern, circa mid 80s.

Liberty tana lawn.

Going through my stash of patterns, I found this one from the 1980s.  As you can see by the price, it is the original.  I made it for myself when my children were tiny but I received some comments about whether I was expecting again. I wasn't and decided I didn't like this dress all that much. However it was very comfortable and just the thing for hot holidays in the Dordogne in August.

This summer our daughter is pregnant with her first child. What better pattern than this one to accommodate the bump. I made it out of some beautiful Liberty Tana Lawn and she wore it for her baby shower when she was seven months. To my delight, she looks beautiful in it and there is plenty of room to grow for the next month.
In fact, I was tempted to make it again for myself during this exceptionally hot summer in London, but I have found some other old favourites which I will be blogging soon.

Cornflower blue buttons add back interest.

The inspiration - a photo in a magazine.

Six Vegetable Soup

It's a cold, wet, windy day in London and perfect for staying in and eating hot soup and crusty bread for lunch. That,  plus all the admonishments to eat healthily in January after the excesses of the holidays, makes this a virtuous meal.
The trick is to make it thick by using lots of vegetables and tasty by adding enough seasoning to give it a bit of zing when you dip your bread in and slurp it up.
This soup is a variation of many soups that I make, but it's probably the simplest and it requires only what I already have in the fridge and  cupboard.
So, begin by assembling the vegetables you might have in the fridge. Get out the olive oil,  butter, salt and pepper and fresh thyme (if you have it), plus some chicken or vegetable stock, or a stock cube.  I sometimes have fresh stock, but more often I use a stock cube.  If you do not have fresh thyme, use dried oregano for a similar taste.
If, like many people you are going Vegan for January, omit the butter and use a vegetable stock cube.
If you require meat, top the soup with a little crispy bacon.

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon buter (for flavour)
1 nice fat leek
2 medium onions
2 or 3 sticks of celery
2 or 3 carrots
2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 medium courgette or a few florets of broccoli
water to cover
1 stock cube
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper (Be generous with the pepper.)

Method:
Chop all the vegetables.
Put the olive oil and butter into a large saucepan and soften the leeks, onions and celery over low heat covered, for about five minutes.
Add the carrots and potatoes and cover and cook for another five minutes.
Add the courgettes, followed by enough water to cover, the stock cube and salt and pepper.
Throw in the sprigs of thyme, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and cook for about 30 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
Remove from the heat and take out the thyme stalks. (The leaves will have fallen off.)
Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Using a potato masher or a stick blender, lightly crush some of the vegetables, leaving some texture in the soup.

Serve warm with crusty bread and butter.
Makes a satisfying meal for four or five people.