Figolli -Maltese Easter cake/biscuit

Figolli  -Maltese Easter cake/biscuit

When my brother and I were young , Easter was not about getting excited receiving copious amounts of chocolate Easter eggs, instead it was eating ‘Figolli’ a Maltese Easter cake.

Since having a child of my own and living away from my Australian/Maltese family – it’s become more important for me to carry on the Figolli tradition for my own family (..but mostly, because it’s delicious!).

Ingredients;

300gram self-raising flour

200grams caster sugar

200grams butter

2 Eggs

Zest of 1 lemon and juice

Icing sugar for dusting

Milk (if dough is too dry)

FILLING;

Strawberry jam (or whatever flavour you prefer)

250 grams ground almonds

½ teaspoon almond essence

100grams sugar

100mls of water

Method

Rub butter into the flour. Beat eggs lightly and mix with sugar, lemon juice and zest.

Combine egg mixture with flour and butter. Form into a dough and if to dry add a little milk. Place into the fridge until ready to use.

For the filling; mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to boil. Add essence and simmer for a few minutes.  Then add ground almonds and stir well. Once fully combined remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Pre-heat oven at gas mark 4/ 180 C/ 350 F.

Roll out pastry and cut to 2 identical shapes (I used the bottom of a cake tin- also you could make small individual cakes by using cookie cutters).

Spread a thin layer of jam and on top of that the almond filling. (I press the filling flat using finger tips.)

Place the second layer of pastry on top and seal the edges together, also rub the edges with water to create a complete seal.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Leave to cool and then decorate with a sprinkle of icing sugar.

 

If you are feeling really adventurous decorate with royal icing and Easter eggs!

River treasures

With the warm weather, we've spent a couple of afternoons in the river and started to come across small fragments of pottery, some with beautiful detailed prints. There must have been a Victorian tip up-river, and these have been washed down over time.

With a bit off buffing up, they could make unique pieces of jewellery :)Which will be added to our Forage Etsy store soon!

Dress complete!!! (Final entry)

I have completed my dress- with little/minor mistakes on the way (all part of the learning experience).

From the previous post all that left to do was the zip and hem.

I attached and secured the zip in place, without too many difficulties!

Finally I measured and secured the hem with a slip stitch.

The dress is complete and it actually looks like a dress!!!

The pattern does ask for a belt and I did cut out fabric for belt but thinking about it, I doubt I would actually wear a matching fabric belt. 

So below is the dress with a belt I would wear and possible shrug.

I haven’t actually tried the dress on, though it’s my next thing to do and to make any final alterations before my friend’s wedding.

So what do you think?

Thanks for all your support and comments.

Spring Clean

We have a few projects on the go in and around the house/garden this Spring - most of it's been on hold for a while. So we will be posting as we make progress - for us it'll be a good opportunity in making/mending and promoting some nice furnishings we find along the way.

Firstly, renovating an upstairs room to be the Master bedroom of the house. From our knowledge this particular space has never been utilized as a bedroom, the previous owners used it as their living room and originally it was a first floor library with the Co-op general store on the lower levels.

The back wall had slightly damaged plasterboard- so we decided to remove a small section and replace it. Behind it we found wood panelling and from what we could initlially see, in a fairly good state.

So not what we had planned to do..! We removed all the plasterboard to reveal a beautiful original panelled wall.

 A light sand, trims and coat of paint will do the trick!

Our next projects are out in the garden – our little sanctuary, a place that provides us with fresh organic fruit and veg :)

We want to create a functional space for entertaining and dinning, that is practical for all seasons.

Then there is this shabby area of the garden, with over grown weeds and a shed that needs repairing.

Our plan here is to repair shed and give it a lick of paint.  Remove all weeds and replace with pretty flowers that make the bees happy :)

We intend to complete all projects in the next few weeks or months perhaps...... Will let you all know how we get on with regular updates.

To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee

 

A nice surprise gift for me this week, a 1960’s edition of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’- with a specially written forward from Gregory Peck who played Atticus Finch in the film adaptation.

It’s one of my favourite books and movies; I was so thrilled because the copy I owned from high school was lost when we moved home. I’ll be trying my best to take care of this one.   

Leeds Vintage

We jumped onto the train this weekend to Leeds to see what what was on offer at The Light-Vintage Fashion Fair, and decided to take, what should have been a trip down memory lane to Granary Wharf, and it's subterranean craft and independent stores deep under the city.... Gone!!! Well, it's been at least 15 years since I last visited Leeds City Centre and as they say, time and new-car-park-development-opportunities wait for no-one :)

However, time appeared to have stood still in the basement of Vintage Pick & Mix, just opposite the Corn Exhcange

Where the bar/shop was filled out with racks of shirts, skirts, teenagers and trench coats - appropriately sound tracked with The Smiths 'I know it's over'. Maybe progress in the form of an inner city parking lot is not such a bad thing?!

A needed break found us at the A Nation of Shopkeepers , great little bar with some nice food if you find yourself near the city art gallery. A couple of Mojito's later, and getting post cocktail munchies - we set off in search for a decent ice-cream vendor, preferably serving the super-processed Mr Whippy variety of ice cream!

On the way, we found this little gem of a place:

Swiss Cottage Antiques, slightly on the outskirts of the city (we were well off the beaten track by then) but jammed with really interesting items (quite a few theatrical artefacts as well as domestic furnishings) packed into around six large rooms. The photos don't do it justice, and we'll certainly head out that way again in the car and have a good rummage around.

So, all in all not the most productive of vintage shopping trips, but had a couple of nice surprise finds on the way.



 

Pattern me a dress: 5th entry- dress nearly complete :)

I have pretty much completed the bodice of my dress- with just the side seams needing sewing together.

Done!  

The rear of the bodice is left opened for the zip.

Now onto the skirt!

The skirt has been a much simpler process; I have sewn the 2 rear section of the skirt leaving enough room for the zip, then sewed the 2 rear section to the front piece of the skirt and pressed.

I applied 2 loose running stitch parallel to each other at the waist of the skirt. With the gathering stitch complete I pulled the thread to gather the fabric to the measurement of the bodice.

Once again my sewing session is cut short but on the upside I think I will need only more session to complete the dress. (and possibly one more session closer to the date to make sure no further size adjustments are required)

It leaves me with just over a month to complete this dress so I’m definitely on track- which means I really need to concentrate in making more products for our Etsy store.

Stay connected for the final entry :)

Peanut butter and coconut cookies

Grey and wet weekends usually means baking time in the Forage household, both Mrs Forage and Toddler Forage love to cook and bake- so any excuse!

These cookies are delicious but beware they are very decadent and calorific, importantly the are very yummy but you have been warned! :)

Peanut butter and coconut cookies 

Ingredients:

185grams of plain flour

80grams self-raising flour

80grams of desiccated coconut

125grams of unsalted butter

110grams caster sugar

120grams honey

2 heaped tablespoons of peanut butter

METHOD

1) Pre-heat oven 180 degrees (gas mark 4/ 350F). Grease or line with baking paper, 2 baking trays.

2) Sift flour and add coconut in a large mixing bowl.

3) Combine the butter, sugar, honey and peanut butter into a saucepan and melt over a medium heat.

4) Once melted combine with flour mixture and with a metal spoon just until completely mixed through.

5) Scoop up approximately 1 tablespoon of mixture and roll, place on tray and flatten (I use a fork to flatten)

6) Bake for 10 minutes or till golden brown. Then leave to cool on tray and ENJOY!!

STORAGE: store for up to 4 days in air tight container.
* they make a great gift- perhaps a mothers day gifts??? ;)

Kew Gardens

Here are some pic's from our trip to Kew Gardens on the weekend- Oh yes! The lovely sun was shinning :)