Wow, that afghan is stunning and I love the colour.
Class or Challenge Title: Detention – WIP challenge
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: http://thedinnerbell.co.uk/2013/12/viennese-mince-pies/
Brief Description: I made sure I had double the amount of mincemeat at Christmas, as I really wanted to try mince pies with a Viennese top, as well as classic mince pies. It had sat there until last weekend, when I finally got around to making them – only a month after Christmas! (Definitely need to practice the Viennese topping, this would not pipe out of the piping bag, so I had to take it all back out and ended up just spooning it on top!)
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Class or Challenge Title: Headmistress - January
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: https://www.africanbites.com/homemade-brioche-bread (This is the same recipe I used for plain brioche, I just added the choc chips before the first prove.)
Brief Description: I love to bake bread and I love brioche, so this baking session was all about me. (Luckily I have others to share it with though :D) I have used the recipe before and it came out lovely, so I just had a look at a couple of recipes with choc chips and they both had them added before the first prove, so I went with that. However, half of them melted during the prove, so when I knocked it back and shaped it, ready for the second prove, it turned into chocolate swirl brioche. Tasted good though
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Class or Challenge Title: Hermione’s book club – Chapter 9
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: n/a
Brief Description: Whilst food shopping, I suddenly had a need for cheese bake and crusty bread, so I made sure I had all the ingredients, knowing I had some roasted red pepper and tomato sauce in the freezer already. The great thing about this dish is that you can add cheeses to suit your taste.
Tomato Sauce – I made a large batch of this with leftover tomatoes in the summer and some red peppers that were reduced when I went shopping. I batch it up into single portions and freeze. For this batch I roasted and peeled 4 large red peppers and sliced into strips. I peeled and chopped about 2 dozen tomatoes and finely chopped two onions. I cooked the onion over a med-low heat, in a little oil and butter, until softened and then added in the chopped tomatoes and peppers, a sprinkle of sugar and salt and pepper to taste. I left it simmering over a low heat for about 30 minutes. Once cold, I batched it up and popped it in the freezer – I love that I can have a taste of summer during the middle of winter.
Cheese mix – I used a tub of cream cheese and beat it with a wooden spoon until softened. I added in some soft goats cheese, a handful of grated extra mature cheddar and a handful of grated parmesan and mixed well. Once I had added half the mix to one oven safe dish, I added in a little stilton to mine.
Pile the cheese mix in the middle of the dish and spoon the tomato sauce around the edges. Bake in the over, on a fairly high temp, until slightly golden on top and the sauce is bubbling. Serve with plenty of crusty bread.
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Class or Challenge Title: Potions
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: n/a
Brief Description: I am always a little anxious when hubby is away or has to work late, especially when he has to drive home late after a long day. One thing that always helps me to relax is to cook or bake – having something to concentrate on distracts my brain. And as hubby hates risotto, I love to cook it when cooking for one. I never use a recipe for risotto, but…
Chop a squash into 1cm squares, coat in oil, salt and pepper and roast in a hot oven until golden around the edges.
Have a pint of hot veg stock ready, either homemade or shop bought.
Whilst the squash is roasting, finely chop one small onion and soften in some butter and a little oil over a med-low heat – you don’t want too much colour.
Add in a couple of handfuls of risotto rice and stir until all grains are coated.
Add in hot stock, a ladleful at a time and keep stirring until the liquid has all gone, before adding another ladleful.
Keep going until all the stock has gone. Try a little of the rice, if it is still a little crunchy, you may need to add a little hot water – keep adding a little liquid and once gone, try the rice, until the rice is softened. (Sometimes I find it needs a little more – seems to depend on the brand of rice I have in the cupboard!)
Add in chopped stilton, to taste, the roasted squash and a handful of grated parmesan. Taste before adding salt and pepper to taste. (I find that using stilton, not much salt is required.)
Stir in to mix and serve immediately, sprinkled with a little more grated parmesan.
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Class or Challenge Title: SOAR
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: n/a
Brief Description: As well as painting some Christmas cards in watercolour, I also made some with sheets of printed music. As someone who cannot read music, they certainly look like strange markings to me!
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Class or Challenge Title: Transfiguration
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: https://www.aheadofthyme.com/2016/11/leftover-cranberry-sauce-muffins/
Brief Description: I always find I have leftover cranberry sauce after Christmas, so googled recipes to try and use it up. I found a recipe for cranberry muffins, so started making them and discovered I didn’t have enough cranberry sauce, so I had to substitute some of the cranberry sauce for apple sauce. They were not very pretty, but they tasted good – I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to buy cranberry sauce just to make them again though.
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