Oh Fudge !!

Has anyone been following the programme called Sweets Made Simple, I am addicted to it and the ideas it gives you is marvellous.  Especially when you see how easy it is to make home made sweets.  I then went onto google and typed in How to Make Fudge and it come up with a video too so I went to Marks & Sparks in Upminster, Essex and got some essentials for making Vanilla Fudge which consists of Caster Sugar, Light Muscovado Sugar, Clotted Cream and Vanilla Extract which come to £15.  It was a bit dear, especially the Vanilla Extract at £3.50 but it goes a long way.

You simply measure and put it all into a saucepan on a low heat, stir with a wooden spoon till it's disolved. Then put the sugar theomometer in and wait till it reaches 116 c.  Then stir it whilst holding the saucepan into a bowl of cold water to stop the temperature rising anymore and it will start to thicken even more whilst stirring.  Here's a pic......

Then take the saucepan out of the water and keep beating it until it really really thickens up and starts to look grainy, then pull it all out onto a baking tray covered with parchment, flatten it out and then leave it alone.  I waited 20 minutes and then cut it with a sharp knife and this is what I got.....

Oh my goodness, it is divine.  We can't stop eating it.  It has such a buttery vanilla taste and I am going to make loads more.

My next addiction has been as per usual, my crochet.  I have done 75% of my latest blanket for a Christmas Present and I just love the way it's turning out.  I am so sad because I get so excited at the thought of being able to crochet all the way around it to finish it.  It is such a simple design and I do tend to keep within my comfort zone but whilst I am doing it, I am thinking up other projects.  The trouble is I get so annoyed that I don't have much time to do it.  If I'm lucky, I get maybe half hour before I go to work, half hour during my lunch break and then in the evening after walking the dog and doing the dinner, I get maybe two hours if I'm lucky.  If I could walk and crochet at the same time that would be good!

Here is the latest photo of the blanket.......

My acrylic yarn stash is huge now, Frank has bought me 16 balls in a week because he has found a really good yarn shop in Blackstock Road, London and he even showed the ladies a picture of my Primrose Afghan and my Tunisian Crochet Blanket and the ladies were really impressed.

When I get such good comments it inspires me to design more blankets and sell the patterns on my ravelry store....so watch this space for more.

I will finish with a photo of the ducks I fed the other morning on the way to work.  Some of them are the baby ducks that have got really big now and still got their baby feathers...

And here is a photo of Tammie not impressed with wearing her raincoat..