Dark {Recipe}

I am going through my 'diet' recipe books - to find recipes that are good enough to pass for non-diet, but also minimise the number of points I add to my weekly allowance. It usually means that I have to change the number of portions - or the way they presented. I usually try to have individual pieces rather than a whole cake - so that it is easier to stop at one piece rather than be creative about the size of my slices.  

UK peeps may remember the TV show 'cook yourself thin' that showed you how to make yummy recipes to apparently loose weight. This recipe comes from the book published after the TV show. It is supposed to be a cake for 16 people... I am not planning a big party around the one cake, so I divided by 2 the amounts, and made 9 dark chocolate muffins out of them... It is still quite a lot of points - 8 per muffin to be precise - but honestly half of one of those sorts out your chocolate fix .. AND a chocolate muffin from a store is usually around 13 points, so it is still a better deal if you are going to have one... 

The cooking time is the killer of this recipe - as well as the long list of ingredients, although except for the vanilla pod and the beetroot I had everything - I seem to accumulate ingredients.. 

So here it goes, you will need (for 9 muffins):

• 125 g dark chocolate (I tend to take 70%)
• 1 1/2 medium eggs (slightly annoying as I divided the amounts by 2)
• 125g light muscovado sugar
• 1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 20g self-raising flour
• 20g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 12.5g cocoa powder
• 25g ground almonds
• 125g raw beetroot, peeled and finely grated (not that easy to find, I used cooked beetroot, but it is not ideal but clearly possible)
• 50ml strong coffee (I used some nescafe, added water et voila)
• 15ml sunflower oil

for the fudge topping (which makes this a real chocolate fix)

• 75g dark chocolate
• 1 1/2 tbsp strong black coffee
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 tbsp clear honey

What to do?

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C/ fan 140 C
2. Grease your muffin cases (if needed). Melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until all dissolved, then set aside to cool. In  a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, the scraped-out vanilla seeds, the maple syrup, and the honey for 3 minutes until pale and fluffy (I put it all in the KitchenAid to the maximum speed...).Gently fold in the flours, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cocoa and ground almonds until fully incorporated. 
3. Using some kitchen paper,dab the grated beetroot thoroughly to remove some of the excess moisture. Fold in the beetroot, cooled chocolate, coffee and oil, with the help of a spatula until thoroughly mixed together. 

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and cook in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes. After this time, cover the cake with foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre to see it is comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack. 
5. To make the fudge topping, melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then remove from heat and add the coffee and the vanilla essence. At this stage the chocolate will seize up slightly, but it will relax back once you add the honey and gently mix in. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes before icing the muffins.

I managed to take the pictures in between the rain - it feels like summer in a plate! Did you notice (one of) my latest charity shop purchase? I love that plate, and at 49p it was a bargain!

African Addition {Crochet}

I checked when I pinned this crochet flower - that was a year ago. Since then, I worked out that the Flickr title meant African flower - and that this was in fact a well-known crochet pattern. We were on... except that making a blanket out of crochet flowers is a doomed project at mine - I just do not have the stamina. And then I found a (free) pattern for a pincushion, that was totally up my street - a free quick pattern, hurray!

All I needed to do was: sit down, choose the colours and start crocheting. And once I had started, that was it. Started this morning, finished tonight - and I managed to get rid of two pincushions in the process. 

The basis of the pincushion is the African flower pattern that is used in very different ways - for bags, balls, blankets etc. I used 4 different colours - I did not go for flower colour schemes so that it could fit with my (future) hobby room, but also could accommodate all the colourful pins I have. 

I used sock yarns - so useful to have in your stash - in double, hook size 4 mm to ensure that the pincushion was big enough. The body of the pincushion colour is the same as the central pattern. 

I followed the pattern except for adding two ridges at the beginning of the body - I did add the ridge in the body of the pincushion. It is a very well written pattern - if you need to check what double crochet (UK) is, you can find a helpful tutorial here (I seem to always forget). 

I love how big it is - how it is sort of 'sectioned' so that I can put different pins in different places. It is a great in-between project that is really useful! 

Truly Myrtle Giveaway Winner

And the winner is.... 

Chrissy from Stitched Together and I cannot wait to see Skeppe in a forest semi-solid dark chartreuse green!! 

From bright to crazy {Japanese x and + block}

So I have finally joined a bee - I know this is very unlike me - a project that supposed to last a whole year, a year is a looooonnnngggg time, right? But I could not resist Patti's Japanese x and + bee. I love the pattern (tutorial here), and the end result. 

Also I knew I did not have in me - or in my stash - to make a whole quilt by myself, hence joining the bee. I have made so far ONE block - and yes we are nearing the end of May and I am supposed to have made 4... Arrrghh.. and no I don't think that ONE block is that good anyway ... double Arrghhh

                        * Don't forget to enter my knitting pattern giveaway here*

Although this block is really interesting to make the cutting is really time consuming. I spent 2 hours on cutting out all the pieces for the 4 blocks. I am just lucky that  Baby MiH has been sleeping for longer periods lately, and that my Mum is arriving tomorrow (Guess who is in charge of napping changing tomorrow...). 

Can you see why this block is challenging me? Is this my colour scheme, nope - where are the neutrals, the greys - oh I am missing them.. I had to dig deep into my stash to find enough bright colours for 4 blocks, and we are only in May! 

I have actually no idea whether this works or not. It should be scrappy and it is, it should be bright and yes it is. And I know it is only one piece to be incorporated into a massive quilt, but I am not sure. What do you think? 

I shall go back to my 'comfort zone' block colour knitting project, and hope that either you will have an answer for me, or that somehow I can handle better this new challenge and be more confident in my choices. 

Steel {DIY | Hand Dying}

Making the most of my stash... This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately - I need to de-stash 1) my future sewing room is going to be small, so I need to clear space and 2) I will then be able to buy more suited material. There was a time when I was buying quite a lot of yarn, fabric or whatever for projects that never materialised in the end. And bits were part of big projects - some elements got used and some did not. This is the case of this white yarn. I used some of it already for my vintage crochet cushion, but I still have a fair amount left. 

With a baby, white is not exactly practical... and then I saw that Libby managed to hand dye her yarn for Outfit 4 - FINALLY someone told me how I could do it and where to get the dye in the UK! I was ready to go.  

* Don't forget to enter my knitting pattern giveaway here*

First I had to make the ball into a skein and tie it so it would not knot. I think I could have made the skein larger to be honest, it would have been a bit easier. However as you will see later I made the ties too tight - don't! 

Then the dying process... I bought the dye from Tall Yarns 'n Tales. On the basis of Libby's colour, I wanted something a bit darker, so I bought two dye kits: Autumn Sky and Charcoal. I did test it on a very small portion of yarn - the proportions were around 3/4 blue and 1/4 charcoal and it was too light. As I have only one skein, I decided that was enough of a test (I thought I was very good to test it in the first place), and went for it: 2/3 blue and 1/3 charcoal - and hoped for the best... There was blue, there was charcoal, it could not go wrong! 

I had 140g of yarn left, I put 4.5l of water (you will see some guidelines in Libby's post) and quite a bit of dye - it is a bit like my cooking style, a bit of this, a bit of that... As you can imagine I don't have any notes on how much dye I actually used... Sorry. I used a stainless steel pot - that I don't use for cooking. And off we went. I kept the temperature under 80 °C. I bought a cooking thermometer to make sure of it.  

Et voila! I present my first (only) skein of Steel in merino silk! And I love the colour, so I am slightly annoyed I was not more precise, but to be honest I needed a more precise scale for small amounts and I did not have one handy. It is worth having! 

The white skein has been in my stash for a couple of years, Steel is already being used! You can see the white speck showing - that is where I tied the yarn too tightly - it is going to look handmade.. Well that is the look I am going for, isn't it!

Truly Myrtle GIVEAWAY

Not so long ago I test knitted Skeppe for Libby, and now that the pattern is finalised and published, she is offering one of the MiH followers the chance to get it for free! 

So what do you reckon guys? It is an amazing pattern! 

The giveaway is open to all followers - old and new - one comment per person. In your comment, let me know in which colour you will be knitting Skeppe, and how you follow Made in Home. 

It will end in a week's time, so Tuesday May 21 at 10am - the winner will be announced then. Good luck!

FLIGHT O2C8R 01 {Le Challenge #2}

*Find out more about the Truly Myrtle knitting pattern giveaway here*

So it is the day to reveal my entry for le challenge! The theme this month was 'wings'... And a little someone thought it was a great theme because he got himself a fancy new jumper - in fact this my first ever hand-knitted cardigan. Hence starting by a baby size. 

**For those coming from Ginny and Tamis' blogs, welcome! It is not a WIP as it is Le Challenge deadline, but we would love to have more people to participate, so I hope this post will encourage you to participate.The next theme has now been revealed and is MARITIME - deadline June 15!** 

After having a serious blocking session, it fits him (but probably only for this week). I knitted 3-6 months size (he is 5 months today), added 2 cm to the length of the body (because I have a super tall baby), but I should have knitted the 6-12 months size (although I am not sure how a jumper is supposed to fit him a whole 6 months). 

If I am honest I will not knit this cardigan again until he is walking - I think it looks nicer on him when he is standing rather than sitting, it 'hangs' better. So let's say this is a first go at it so I know what to expect next time. And honestly I have a few things to learn before next time: I hate my garter stitch edging - I need to find a solution for it to look neater, grafting - can be improved, sewing the sleeves - again can be improved.  

 Pattern: Oscar by Lili Comme Tout (Ravelry)

Yarn: Rowan Baby Merino Silk DK in Zinc - it is a great yarn for baby garment (I used two and a bit balls in the end). 

Needle size: 3.5 mm and 4mm (as indicated on pattern)
Size: 3-6 months, but lengthen the body
Result: It is a great pattern that does not look too baby-ish, in fact it is quite interesting to look at. I will definitely knit another one maybe for next winter. It is quite quick - and the sand stitch makes it interesting (although I was confused for a while to what was the right side and the wrong side). It fits him - just. 

Let's talk about wings - I actually found the novelty buttons at my local John Lewis first and then the yarn to go with it - the pattern came later. So it is all starting with wings.  

All the Le Challenge other entries can be found here. Next theme will be announced on May 15 at 3pm!