Interesting Links – lovely piece of 14th century whitework :)
Machteld posted about a lovely piece of 14th century whitework – really very lovely:
“… They have a lovely piece of 14th century whitework on display …”
Needle Lace / Nadelspitze – working at a necklace :)
Maybe some of you remember my postings “Needle Lace / Nadelspitze – “Dritter Spitzenstich”” & “Needle Lace / Nadelspitze – “Stäbchen” & “Einfaches Gedrehtes Stäbchen”” and the small needle lace project which I started to practise my needle lace…
…first I wasn’t sure what to do with this small needle lace project and than I decided to turn it into a fancy needle lace necklace – especially because I am rather pleased with my new Blackberry cover - I think the progress looks nice and it’s quite interesting to see it ‘grow’ with every single stitch…
Needle Lace / Nadelspitze – a Ring :)
While I was playing around with needle lace I thought that it should be possible to make a cute needle lace ring and here is the result of my try
…I think the result is very cute – what do you think?
cooking – my favourite recipes – Red Currant with Chilli & with small Apple Pieces + cinnamon
It’s red currant time here in Austria – we call them “Ribiseln” here – and I tried three new recipes which I like so much that I thought I should share them with you
The next recipe I would like to share with you is the basic recipe that you need to continue with the other recipes:
Ribiselsaft / red currant juice
Put the red currant into a big pot and boil it up with a little water – filter it with the help of a kitchen machine, a sifter or a “Flotte Lotte” / Profi-Passiergerät
With the red currant juice you can continue with one of the next recipes:
Ribiselgelee mit Chili / red currant jelly with chilli
You need:
1,2 kg red currant juice / Ribiselsaft
3 chillis / Chilischoten
40 ml lemon juice
500 g preserving sugar 3:1 / Gelierzucker 3:1
some alcohol 80% / etwas Alkohol 80%
Remove the seeds of the chillis and cut them very small. Put the red currant juice with the preserving sugar, the lemon juice and the chillis into a big pot. Boil it up slowly and stir from time to time – boil it ‘bubbling’ vor about 5 minutes. Try a little bit of the jelly at a small cold plate – if it doesn’t jelly well enough after cooling down, cook it for some additional minutes… Fill the jelly immediately into preserving jars – using a pipette put some small drops of alcohol on top, inflame it and close the jar.
Ribiselgelee mit Apfelstückchen und Zimt /
red currant with small apple pieces and cinnamon
You need:
1 l red currant juice / Ribiselsaft
300 g small apple pieces / kleine Apfelwürfel
500g preserving sugar 3:1 / Gelierzucker 3:1
10 ml lemon juice / Zitronensaft
some cinnamon / Zimt
some alcohol 80% / etwas Alkohol 80%
Put the red currant juice, the small apple pieces, the preserving sugar, some cinnamon (as much as you like) and the lemon juice into a pot and boil it up slowly – cook it ‘wavy’ for about 8 minutes and test if it jellys well (see the recipe for the red currant with chilli) if not, cook it for some additional minutes. Fill the jelly into preserving jars – using a pipette put some small drops of alcohol on top, inflame it and close the jar – put the jars upside down for about 30 minutes.
fyi: normally I put my preserving jars and their covers into some boiling water with some vinegar before I fill in the jelly or the jam – therefore the third big pot with the glasses…
Here are the jars after my first try of this recipes – left with chilli, in the middle with the small apple pieces and on the right side the “Ribisel auf Preiselbeerart” – now I have about twice as much – I think that should be enough until it’s again red currant time…
cooking – my favourite recipes – Red Currant “auf Preiselbeerart”
It’s red currant time here in Austria – we call them “Ribiseln” here – and I tried three new recipes which I like so much that I thought I should share them with you
The first recipe I would like to share with you is:
Ribiseln auf “Preiselbeerart”
I think the best translation is: red currant to the type of cranberry sauce – as far as I know and the online dictionary tells me, cranberries aren’t the same like “Preiselbeeren” but the taste and the texture shall be similar…
…ok, you need for 2 jars á 500 ml:
1 kg red currant / Ribiseln
700 g (fine crystal?) sugar / Feinkristallzucker
Put the red currant into the pot and heat it up until it boils – cook it for 15 minutes – don’t stir! From time to time you can carefully shake the pot a little bit.
After cooking the red currant for 15 minutes add the sugar and cook them for another 15 minutes. Fill it hot into the preserving jars and close them tightly.
…it tastes great to beef, meat, cheese,… 
mjam!!!
For example: take some slices of bread, put some ham on top, than some cheese (maybe camembert,…) put it into the hot oven at about 200 °C for about 8 – 10 minutes… and eat it with some of the “Ribiseln auf Preiselbeerart” – very tasty!
my new wireless keyboard :)
Because I used to have my laptop near the couch at the couch table, I decided to give up my writing desk und to enlarge my boyfriends writing table with my desk – he is working quite a lot at home at his computer in the evening and I prefer to use the couch table and the dining table…
ok, to cut a long story short – he now has a “L” shaped writing table in front of the window for his computers, we bought also a good office chair for him and I moved with my HP docking station and my laptop to the couch table…
Needless to say that the most difficult thing was to find a place for all my things that I had on and under my table *lol*
Today my sweetheart decided that he wants to make his working place at home more ergonomic – lowered the height of the table and took my external keyboard to use it with his laptop…
…but with my laptop in its docking station its easier to write with an external keyboard and therefore I insisted on getting a replacement…
…and that’s what I got from my sweetheart:
Microsoft Tastatur Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000
A very nice and small bluetooth keyboard with an extra portable number pad – slightly curved – I am really very pleased and happy that he took my old and rather big keyboard away Sweetheart, have fun with my old keyboard – I definitely will have fun with my new one!
Nailbinding – another try :)
I had some wool left after my “Winter Pumpkin” hood project and therefore I thought it would be nice to practise my nailbinding a little bit
…I just wanted to make one mitten and embroider it and now, because I like it very much, I think about buying more wool and make another one… (and of course, to embroider both )…
…this mitten is rather close – maybe I give this one to a good friend of mine who has smaller hands and make a pair for myself in a different color
cooking – my favourite recipes – earl grey iced tea with ginger :)
Finally, after a very cold spring, t’s getting really hot here in Vienna and what’s better than a self made iced tea at a hot day while working at an embroidery project?
…ok, ice cream would be also fine but a good self made iced tea is a very good start 
…and also something that can be “cooked” quite easily
Recently we had a small BBQ with friends and one of my friends asked me for the recipe for my iced tea – therefore I thought it would be nice to share it also with you…
Ok, for one glass jug of iced tea you need:
- 3 tea spoons Earl Grey tea
- one knife point cardamom (dried, in powder form)
- one knife point ginger (dried, in powder form)
- several slices of fresh ginger (+ some extra slices for the final iced tea)
- juice of a half lemon
- ca. 3 table spoons honey (I prefer acacia honey)
…ok, for my iced tea I normally use two two glass jugs – in every glass jug I add:
- 3 tea spoons Earl Grey tea
- one knife point cardamom (dried, in powder form)
- one knife point ginger (dried, in powder form)
- several slices of fresh ginger
I fill the glass jugs with boiling water…
…and cover the glass jugs with two small plates – to protect the iced tea from insects (I think noone wants this extra proteins in the iced tea ) I normally cover the glass jugs also with a dish towel …
After some hours I add the juice of a half lemon for every glass jug and season to taste with honey (about 3 table spoons honey)… – when I prepare more than a glass jug I put the content of both glass jugs into a big bowl, add the juice of one lemon and season to taste with about 6 table spoons honey…
It’s easier to handle the iced tea in bottles than in glass jugs concerning the fridge – therefore I have some glass bottles for my iced tea – I wash them as soon as they are empty (see the left photo) with water with some vinegar and after drying I use them again for the next fresh iced tea
I put some slices of fresh ginger into the bottles (I love the spicy taste of ginger in my iced tea) and decant the iced tea through a sifter into the glass bottles… and carefully squeeze out the remains…
…and after some hours I enjoy my self made iced tea
…btw. you can use other spices and/or other kinds of tea too (for example: green tea, fruit tea,…) …whatever you add is ok, as long as you like the result …try out and have fun!
…and here another kind of iced tea – a recipe of one of my friends: When I Take my Sugar to Tea
interesting links – pouch with gold and silk embroidery :)
Zafania posted photos of her lovely pouch with gold and silk embroidery at the Historic Embroidery group at LJ:
Pouch with gold and silk embroidery
Very lovely!
Drachenwald – we have dragons ;) – Klosterstich / dragon fun project – 43hours :)
My last days were rather busy – visiting some friends for cake and coffee, BBQ with other friends, driving a MINI (car) for the first time,…
*lol* but I still managed to make some further progress – new status: ca. 43 hours
wool: Renaissance Dyeing
btw. I changed the color of two sections
another sewing and embroidery evening :)
Martina, one of my best friends, hosted a sewing and embroidery evening at her home – she cooked a very good Chili and we girls – Christina, Trixi, Anna and I – brought Apfelstrudel, Ribiselkuchen (red currant cake),… needless to say that in the end we had more cake that we could eat *lol*… eating and drinking apple and orange juice, mineral water, prosecco and wine we had a great sewing and embroidery evening …Martina was working at her two colored wool cloak, Trixi was knitting, Christina and Anna were working at new dresses – I was happy that I could help Anna to refit her dress a little bit at the top, I tried to explain to Chrisine the construction of a sleeve with overlapping seams but the progress was unfortunately to far to change anything… *sigh* and because Martina was hosting the evening I was able to make some progress concerning my cute dragon – Martina, thank you very much! …we discussed also the pimp up possibilities of some old skirts – Anna will change a “Trachten” skirt into a cute trouser skirt and Martina will maybe turn some lovely indian fabric (dark green with red borders and much gold and silver decoration) into a modern fancy tunic… and Martina also tried to get rid of some pink fabric that she got – Anna and I liked the color very much and were very happy to take this fabric home… It was a great evening… and I have to admit that we – Christine, Anna and I – had some additional fun at a children’s playground – three big girls & some swings… …I really love swinging…
interesting links – Hardanger :)
Jeanne (Just String blog) is working at a very nice Hardanger project and she shares her thoughts about this project and the progress (including a dilemma) – really very interesting and very nice Hardanger embroidery:
Just String – Hardanger category
(http://juststring.blogspot.com/search/label/hardanger)
…my favourite posts: Hardanger: Studying possibilities, Hardanger progress and a dilemma & Planning a path in hardanger
critique…
…sometimes you feel like you would like to criticise someone else – his/her clothes, work, embroidery,… ?
…if yes, you should maybe read this intersting article:
http://attack-laurel.livejournal.com/167972.html
I really recommend that before you criticise someone else, think about what nice things you can tell about his/her work… and if you want to add a critique – ask yourself if you really know what you are talking about and if you are 100% sure, ask the person if he/she wants your advise and if not, respect it…
Just a small example – when I was rather new to embroidery, I started a project and a “good friend” told me that the color combination is awful and it doesn’t look good – guess what – I never finished this project and I am quite sure I won’t ever finish it… *sigh*
…therefore – before you add a critique – even if you think that this critique is very important and eye-catching – think, think, think and ask before you discourage someone other or take away the fun working at a project,…
Maybe it won’t change the world but it would make mundane and SCA life easier – change always starts with what you are doing…
Drachenwald – we have dragons ;) – Klosterstich / dragon fun project .1 :)
…and again some progress concerning my lovely little dragon – the work of about 13.5 hours
I again use the lovely threads from ‘Renaissance Dyeing’ for this embroidery – it’s my favourite wool for Klosterstich – starting this fun project I realised that I unfortunately ran out of my favourite blue & red color but nevertheless I decided to use another very bright red wool from R.D. and to order my favourite blue and red color to complete my color range for further projects – Renaissance Dyeing handled my order very fast and my new blue and red hanks already arrived including some samples of other colors – thanks Andie!!! – and now I have enough blue wool for the background
You may ask why I am ordering 250 m hanks – the answer is quite easy – 25m are rather nice for special colors and rather small sections but I order basic colors like red, yellow, blue and white only in 250m hanks because I am sure that I will need them und use them up
…btw. this here are my Renaissance Dyeing threads – the ‘basic’ color range I am working with including the new order, but most of this threads are still “leftovers” of my Weiberlisten Wallhanging …and if you don’t find the color you are looking for at the Renaissance Dyeing website – just contact Andie, maybe she has some threads with special colors hidden in her ‘treasury chest’ like the special green wool for the grass hills of my Weiberlisten Wallhanging *sigh* yeah, that’s customer service
cooking – my favourite recipes – Palatschinken / Austrian Pancakes :)
We really love ‘Palatschinken’ – rather thin Austrian pancakes – at home we prefer to eat them with jam, Nutella, …
…and when we visit the “Palatschinkenpfandl” we order them with a filling with cheese, some kind of meat or maybe mushrooms or asparagus,…
“Palatschinken” are really very versatile and you can eat them for dinner or lunch or even for breakfast…
Ok, for Palatschinken for about 2 good eater you need:
- 120 g flour
- 4-5 eggs
- 0,25 liter milk
- pinch of salt
- oil for the pan (and a dash for the dough)
The recipe is rather easy – mix flour and milk together (mixing flour and milk first should help a little to prevent small flour crumbs), add the eggs, a pinch of salt and a dash of oil and put the dough aside for about 30 minutes…
After 30 minutes take a pan (I recommend a non-stick frying pan) and heat it up – for Palatschinken it’s important to get the pan to a rather high temperature – than I put a good dash of oil into the pan and with a kitchen paper I dispense the oil on the inside and at the same time I remove superplus oil. I put the kitchen paper with the surplus oil into a small ceramic bowl (because I use it after every pan cake and before I add dough into the pan for the next one… (you can see the small white bowl with the kitchen paper right behind the pan at the photo)
Caution! The pan and the oil is very hot – be careful and don’t hurt your yourself!
Take a dipper/ladle (?) and stir the dough before you put some of the dough into the pan – I am a right hander and take the pan into my left hand and add the dough with the dipper in my right hand – I start with holding the pan at an angle of ca. 45° when I put the dough into the pan and than I start to turn the pan to get an even thin pancake before I put it back on the stove… I am sure, as soon as you try to make your first ‘Palatschinken you will know what I mean
…as a rule of thumb I flip the pancake as soon as the border gets a nice brown color (or when I can move the pancake inside the pan by just shaking the pan – a spatula is a very useful item for flipping the pancakes …after flipping the pancake it just needs little time until it’s finished – I just let the pancake slip from the pan to the plate besides the pan and again start with the oil and kitchen paper for the next one…
In my opinion any kind of jam can be used to get rid of the Palatschinken again
…and my boyfriend loves to eat them with some “Wiener Staubzucker” (Viennese powdered sugar) on top…
…btw. there are normally no leftover “Palatschinken” when we finish dinner or lunch – they don’t survive very long…
btw. if you add a little bit more salt to the dough and cut the pancakes intos stripes of about 5mm, you can use them as a inlay for beef broth,… in this form we call them “Frittaten”