Mia's Makings

What to do with loads of scrap material, leftovers from various large projects? Glove puppets! I have a friend who is crazy about owls and when I thought she could do with a surprise gift, I made her the owl above. Not that she would necessarily play with it, but a collector is always searching for unique items and I knew she didn't have one of these. It ended up as a decorative piece, covering a wine bottle, I think. How to make it? It is simple. Find two pieces of sturdy material, preferably something that doesn't fray. If the fabric does fray, you need to stitch the raw edges on the inside as well. Measure the pieces according to your hand, leaving wriggle room and space for seams. Stitch it up, leaving the bottom open and hem the edge. Done! I found it easier to decorate the puppet before stitching it up. On the owl I only left the wings to finish off at the end. Another friend of mine contacted me with tales of being run ragged by her 3-year old grandson. He

A while ago I ran out of sewing projects, shock horror! After making small bits and bobs, I decided to try something that would keep me busy for a while. Finding a proper pattern is not my style, so after searching for photos of dolls that other people had made, I got my scissors out. How hard could it be? That looks like a doll, doesn't it? A body with a head, arms and legs. Nothing fancy, but ok for a first attempt. I used quite heavy duty linen that I had left over from making a pair of viking trousers. The problem with this material was that it frayed badly and because I didn't have a sewing machine, I wasn't able to zigzag over the edges. Instead I had to leave enough material after stitching, in order to fold the edges inwards and stitch them again. I'm sure there are better ways of doing it, but it did the trick. When stitching the body up, I first had to pin the stuffed arms on... inside the body. Not the easiest thing I have ever done. Again, the

As promised earlier, I made a super healthy lunch. In fact it was so healthy that I can feel myself turning green and developing gills and feathers as we speak... Each portion (1/4 of the total) was no more than 140 calories and it would go nicely with a side salad. I opted for a tomato. 4 eggs 250 g pre-made seasoned cauliflower rice 50 ml semi skimmed milk 100 par-boiled broccoli 100 g prawns 100 g mussels 30 g leek seasoning Thoroughly mix the cauliflower rice with 1 egg. Press the mixture in the a small pie dish and make sure it is fairly even all over. Pre-bake the crust at 200 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, until it feels dry. Add broccoli and leak... ... then seafood.  Whisk the remaining 3 eggs with milk and seasoning.  I used salt, pepper, chilli flakes, leaf coriander and dill. Pour the mixture over the filling. A quiche normally takes 25 minutes to cook at 200 degrees, but as t

Hiya! Mia here, about to take flight as a first time blogger. All going well, there will be weekly entries containing various passions of mine. I am aiming for either Wednesday or Thursday as my main blog day, should anyone be interested. Why would anyone want to read my blog? Because I make stuff, stuff that you can eat, use, wear, play with or read and I have been asked numerous times to share my creations. Well, here they are! My passion for cooking developed in early childhood, when I was given a plastic hob on which I fried hazelnuts and cooked imaginary dinners for my dolls. From the age of 7 or 8 mum allowed me to use the real cooker to make myself something to eat after school. By not being scared of burning my fingers (which I probably did) or cooking something that wasn't edible (which I most likely did now and then), my confidence in the kitchen grew.  Measuring or strictly following recipes have never been of great importance, so please don't