Rainbow Magic and Apple Pies

The colder it gets, the more comfort food sensitive I get…lol…last week it was the whisky cake , this week I had an abundance of apple harvest, so hey, why not an apple pie ! I posted a photo on my facebook page and I got so many recipe requests, I thought I’d better post it here on my blog.

The thing is, I never really follow a recipe. Some things, especially recipes, are handed down to me from my family just by watching (and enjoying them) and this one : the apple rum raising pie is one of them. Mind you, these handed down recipes from my grandma and my mother keep on getting different things added to it, and there it is: it becomes “my” recipe…which I will gladly “hand down” to you to have fun with and enjoy.

Have fun with it and most of all, it is not a hard recipe that requires you to have Heston Blumenthal skills…Bonus! lol

Here ‘s the recipe :

Yummy  Apple Rum Raisin  Pie !

For the Filling:

600grams of cubed apple pieces , I prefer Granny Smith apples but any apple is good

1.5 generous cups of raisins

3 tbs of Rum (but you can use whisky or brandy as well, or if you do not want an alcoholic pick me upper, use rum essence)

1 tsp grated nutmeg

1tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 oz/60g castor sugar
2oz/dark brown sugar
 

For the Super Rich Short crust Pastry:

340grams (12oz) plain flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tbs caster sugar

9oz/260g butter

3 tbs of ice cold water

2 egg yolks (1 yolk for the pastry and 1 egg yolk to brush over the pastry top to give it that extra nice golden look)

 

 

1. preheat oven 450F/230C, butter a round cake tin and sprinkle some bread crumbs to coat the butter)

2. place raisins, rum, cubed apples in bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over it, with the rum, nutmeg and the cinnamon and the sugar. Let it sit. If you want the taste to really be deep and yummy, let this mixture sit overnight!

3. Put the flour in a big bowl (or a foodprocessor) , add the salt and sugar. Blend thoroughly. Add small cubed pieces of the cold butter to the flour mixture and blend together until you get a nice crumbly texture. One tbsp at the time add the chilled water to bring it allo together and last but not least add the egg yolk to bind it all. Take the ball of dough and package it neatly in clingwrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

4. time to sip some rum ….waiting for the pastry to “mature”.

5. divide the pastry in two : one for the top an done for the bottom of the cake. Lay out a piece of clingwrap on your bench. Put the dough for the bottom on the bench and start hitting it to get it flat and rolling it out to fit your cake mold with enough dough to fit on the sides. You do not want to just have enough for the bottom : the apples need to be contained..lol. TIP: I put a layer of clingwrap on top of my dough when I start rolling (or beating it) this makes it easier to roll (it doesn’t stick everywhere!) AND most importantly, It is so much easier to lift the layer up and transport it to your cake tin !

6. Once the bottom pastry is in your tin, sprinkle a bit of bread crumbs on the bottom. This will help absorb the excess moisture of the filling. Repeat the same beating of the top layer of the pastry now and make sure you have enough t fit the top of your cake tin, it has to rest genty on the apple mix and you have to gently push the edges of sides and top layer together

7. Add the yummy apple rum raisin mix and even it out
8. drape the top layer of the pastry over the mix.
9. cut out little leave shaped openings and with a knife press a few leaf veins into the leafs and place on top of the pastry.
10. brush the pastry with the egg yolk
11. place in middle of the oven for 15mins
12. reduce the heat of the oven to 350F/180C an dcontinue to bake for another 40 minutes or until golden.
Let the pie cool down ..or ….grab a knife and cut yourself a piece.
Add cream and ice cream for a total decadent comfort feeling ! Enjoy!

This Apple Rum Raisin Pie should give you enough energy to tackle the following project like a Super Hero : the Magickal Earth Shawl !

This shawl is amazing ! the Pattern? Get yourself this awesome book : “Gathering of Lace” by Meg Swansen.
The name of the pattern is “Magickal Earth Shawl” by Sandy Terp (p.74, "Gathering of Lace", Meg Swansen. ISBN 1893762246)
  
This particular shawl pattern had caught my eye : celtic knots, unicorns, lots of beautiful symbolism. Only thing is: I am not a “beige” girl…I love my rainbows.
A good friend of mine suggested she would love to knit it for me with my long repeat yarn if I would make funky bunny batts for her. I could not get my batt machine working fast enough !
Elizabeth, you did an absolutely amazing job !!!! it is STUNNING ! I will wear and display it with pride and lots of love ! it is an heirloom piece for sure !!!

The yarn used in the original pattern is a very thin 2/48 yarn which was no longer available.  The Rainbow Magickal Shawl was knitted with one skein  of my looooong repeat rainbow lace weight  yarn, 700meters/100g ,  around 330-350grams of it. Size is about 160cm/70” square !

The Celtic symbolism celebrates the earth; the never ending vine embracing all, the evergreen trees with their promise of immortality, the magic of the unicorn, the compass points and intertwined knots showing our interdependence on each other. The center circle shows the seas, the mountains, sky and, at the very centre, the feminine moon reminds us of the source of life and creativity.

I have some skeins of this gorgeous lace yarn enough for you to make this project (or any other happy project) in stock for tonight’s update! It is a wonderful yarn to work with and wears beautifully.
 

Long Repeat Rainbow Yarn

Huge Skeins of 330-350grams!   With  a meterage of 700m/100grams, one skein is about 2.5 kilometres of yarn !!!

AU$70

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!

Dates to put in your Calendar !!

May

Saturday 23rd, 10am-4pm

Victorian Hand Knitters Guild Show
Coburg Town Hall

THE extra ordinary super fluffy yarny event in Melbourne !!! I will be there with lots of hand dyed tops for spinning and felting and happy rainbow yarn and sock yarn, some extra special art yarns and much much more!!!! As well as some amazing Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and bowls that are pure magic to spin on !

JULY

Friday July 17th- Sunday 19th, 9am-5pm

Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show

THE event of the year !!!! Not to be missed!! I will be there in the Flower (Power Bunny) Shed again with heaps of new goodies, hand dyed and hand spun, IxCHeL new blends and rare sheep breed adventures and much much more ! Including a world first of something AMAZING AND FUN!!!!! Shhh not telling ! but it is AWESOME !!!!

JULY/August

Friday, July 31 to Sunday, August 2

Mapleton Craft Retreat (Queensland)

Read all about it here: http://qldspinners.org.au/2014/10/16/mapleton-craft-retreat-2-0/

and please sign up because this is going to be an amazing retreat filled with fibery super fun ! Lots of workshops and fun stuff planned !!!! 

Saturday , September 26th

Play day at Pascoe Vale

More about this exciting event later !

Sunday , September 27th

Sheep and Woolcraft Field Day

A perfect fibre and craft day hosted by the Black n Coloured Sheep association of Australia and an absolute MUST!

How To Order:

1. You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or ixchelbunny at yahoo dot com dot au
2. message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny.

I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods.

Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !

 RABBIT ON !

((hugs))

Charly

 

Dinna Fash...Eat Cake

I’m a romantic…I’m also a scientist..and an artist..there You have it : is a constant battle between logic and the romantic fearlessness of adventure and jumping in the deep end…: Sturm und Drang…(look it up..: “literary movement of the late 18th century that exalted nature, feeling, and human individualism and sought to overthrow the Enlightenment cult of Rationalism.)
The encyclopedia Brittanica goes on saying: Self-discipline was not a tenet of the Sturm und Drang, and the movement soon exhausted itself”….yep, typically me: Always exhausting myself...lol 

I also always back the underdog or go for the harder to travel path as if there was really no other choice.. It is far from rational, but I somehow feel emotionally inclined to do that: I mean do everything, how diverse and obscure it may seem. So maybe I am Sturm und Drang and Renaissance mixed together in a nice combo, who knows? Once you know what the essence of your “nature” is, embrace it I say and just go with it..with a vengeance ! Don't fight it, it's no use... 

And so here I am today, with a medical degree and a Phd in the Arts, backing rare breeds and dyeing wool and spinning yarns…see, there is no logic….lol

I have finished all the blending and dyeing of the Outlander adventure with the very rare Soay sheep this week and sent all of it off to those who signed in with their own little Jamie :-)  A huge amount of long days and late nights went into that adventure and ….Totally in the Highland mood  I made a Scottish Whiskey cake ....again.

Here ‘s the recipe , just in case you want to have a choice between unleashing the flying monkeys or making yourself a darn good cake ….

SCOTTISH WHISKEY CAKE .....FREEDOM !

Makes one loaf/ heart

6oz/170g chopped walnuts

3oz/85 g raisins

3oz/85g currants

4oz/115 g self raising flour

¼ tsp salt

4 oz/115g butter

8oz/225g caster sugar

3 eggs at room temperature, separated

1 tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

3fl oz/85ml whiskey ( grab a wee bit more if you wanna soak the currants and raising in whiskey overnight...or have a wee sip while baking)

Icing sugar for decoration

1. preheat oven 325F/170C, butter a 9x5inch/23x13cm loaf tin or get one of those awesome silicone things ou don’t have to butter or line at all (see the heart cake)

2. place walnuts,raisins, currants in bowl. Sprinkle 2 tbs flour, mix and set aside. Sift together salt and flour.

3.cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy .Beat in the egg yokes one by one.

4. mix nutmeg, cinnamon and whiskey. Fold in the butter mixture , alternating with the flour mixture.

5. In another bowl, beat hhte egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into whiskey mixture until just blended; fold in the walnut mix.

6. Bake in oven for about 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Dust with icing sugar over a template.

7. ENJOY!

So, what else is on the menu today? Well, I talked about Romantic and this rare sheep breed is just that : a romantic sheep …in the sense of Mary Shelley and Lord Byron that is: It is the Manx Loaghtan !
It conjures up images of the movie “Hell Boy” but these sheep are the epitome of gentle awesomeness ! here are photos illustrating the flow from little lamb to adult heroism:

The origins of these primitive sheep are not fully understood but their ancestors are thought to go back to the Iron Age.
They share many characteristics with other primitive sheep and are part of the Northern Short Tail group of sheep.
These related primitive sheep were spread round Scandinavia, Iceland, the Scottish Islands and the Isle of Man by the Vikings.
The Manx Loaghtan is still one of the rarest of breeds in the British Isles and since 1973 the Rare Breeds Survival Trust has helped promote these wonderful sheep.
Up to the 18th century these sheep covered the Manx hills in their thousands. Gradually they were replaced by modern sheep that mature quicker and are heavier. Obviously modern economics are far from romantic..lol
In the last 120 years the Manx Loaghtan came close to extinction 3 times and was only saved by the dedication and foresight of a few people.
In the 1950s numbers were down to less than a 100!!!
 Happily today there are just over a thousand and their future seems much brighter as people have come again to appreciate the wool which is naturally a dark tan colour, soft, light yet very warm.

The first thing that you notice about Manx Loaghtan sheep is their impressive set of horns. Both sexes have 2, 4 or even 6 horns!

As the name suggests, the Manx Loaghtan originated on the Isle Of Man. It is a small, ancient hill breed. Originally white with some grey and black sheep but few of the reddish-brown colour we see today (the word 'Loaghtan' comes from the Manx for 'mouse brown').

Like many other heritage breeds, the Loaghtan was once popular but declined in the early 20th century. The breed was rescued by enthusiasts both on the Isle of Man and in England, and is now popular as a conservation grazer that will eat almost anything!

The breed is considered 'at risk' by the Rare Breed Survival Trust, with fewer than 1,500 registered breeding ewes.

Most Loaghtans have a medium staple length fleece, which in varying shades of brown getting paler with age, although they bleach to cream in the sun. The lambs are born black and generally achieve their particular shade of brown during the first year.

The fleece is very nice and soft witjh a staple length of between 70mm-100mm with around 22-28micron. It is great to spin for close to skin wear or for outerwear as well. I love this sheep. It has such an old world feel to it and so ancient in a way and ofcourse the fleece itself is just magic to spin up.

Please understand that I do not have a lot of stock of this exceptional rare breed fibre. Do not wait too long to pounce on this weeks update to avoid disappointment. I am offering you this all scoured and cleaned and pulled into luscious tops ready to spin in its natural colour. I will always be tempted to overdye grey fleeces (like you will see in later updates with the grey merino and silk blend I am working on as well) but there is no way I am tempted to overdye this luscious honey brown caramel coloured Manx Loughtan fibre. It is amazing just the way it is !

Before I give you all the details or ordering your Manx Loughtan top, I have added all the information for the IxCHeL clubs starting next month ! Yes ! Next month!!!! There are only a couple of weeks left to sign up for the last trimester of the year ! Don’t miss out ! Membership will give you access to very special blends only released to club members in one of a kind colourways !

Manx Loughtan

Rare Sheep breed Tops

A rare sheep breed that is a magical addition to your stash !

100grams (+/-3.5Oz); AU$21  -SOLD OUT ...SORRY-

Manx Loughtan top

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!

Dates to put in your Calendar !!

May

Saturday 23rd, 10am-4pm

Victorian Hand Knitters Guild Show Coburg Town Hall

THE extra ordinary super fluffy yarny event in Melbourne !!! I will be there with lots of hand dyed tops for spinning and felting and happy rainbow yarn and sock yarn, some extra special art yarns and much much more!!!! As well as some amazing Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and bowls that are pure magic to spin on !

JULY

Friday July 17th- Sunday 19th, 9am-5pm

Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show

THE event of the year !!!! Not to be missed!! I will be there in the Flower (Power Bunny) Shed again with heaps of new goodies, hand dyed and hand spun, IxCHeL new blends and rare sheep breed adventures and much much more ! Including a world first of something AMAZING AND FUN!!!!! Shhh not telling ! but it is AWESOME !!!!

JULY/August

Friday, July 31 to Sunday, August 2,

Mapleton Craft Retreat (Queensland)

Read all about it here: http://qldspinners.org.au/2014/10/16/mapleton-craft-retreat-2-0/

and please sign up because this is going to be an amazing retreat filled with fibery super fun ! Lots of workshops and fun stuff planned !!!!

 

Saturday , September 26th

Play day at Pascoe Vale 

More about this exciting event later !

How To Order:

1. You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or ixchelbunny at yahoo dot com dot au
2. message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny.

I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods.

Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !

 RABBIT ON !

((hugs))

Charly

Ooopsie

Well, some things you just cannot plan. It doesn’t matter how busy you are or how many things you have got going on. No. Sometimes there is just this Gremlin that throws a spanner in the works.
My gremlin was called “Flu” with his mate “Exhaustion” and I tell ya: they got me good. I have been practically unable to do anything substantial all week all because of that.

So am I pamicking with the McClelland Spinners and Weavers “Sock it to me show” tomorrow at the Sculpture park in Langwarrin? Am I? Well, to tell you the truth, there comes a time that panic doesn’t really help anymore and it is time to take it in stride and just say to yourself: “well, it is what it is. I have done as much as humanely possible. Let’s Go and have some fibre fun!”

So that is what I plan on doing. Saying that I am grateful that the Bearded Dragon is coming with me:

A. To help me set up,
B. to have his beautiful spindles and bowls there (more on that later! With photos! And believe me you do not want to miss the photos ..lol)
 C. to catch me when I decide to collapse in a heap
 D. To be the amazing driver he is so I don’t have to think about what roads I have to take to get there (It’s about a 2 hour drive for him, it would be about a 3 hour drive for me no doubt..lol)


So, where does that leave all of you lovely people , who are a bit further away from tomorrows show than I am?
Well, I had some goodies planned ofcourse ! but that kinda fell away due to the visit of the gremlins. BUT! Do not despair , I have some freshly blended magic bunny tops left that are awesome to spin.

Here are some preview photos of some phangs and spindles fresh from the Lair of the Bearded Dragon and packed for tomorrows Show at the McClelland Sculpture Park !

Enjoy!


Just message me on Ravelry or facebook or email me to place your order. Have a wonderful weekend and happy spinning and creating !
Big hugs
Charly

Magic Bunny Tops

New solid Magical colours

100+grams/ 3.6 oz AU$24


Organic Merino, angora bunny, cashmere, Rainbow glitz special combo

Black Magic

 

Black Berry

Magic Moss

Blood Red

Magic Bunny Tardis

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!

 

Dates to put in your Calendar !!

April

Saturday 11th April 10am-3pm

McClelland Spinners and Weavers Open day “sock it to me”

I will be there with lots of hand dyed tops for spinning and felting and happy rainbow yarn and sock yarn !!!! As well as some amazing Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and bowls that are pure magic to spin on !

May

Saturday 23rd, 10am-4pm

Victorian Hand Knitters Guild Show Coburg Town Hall

THE extra ordinary super fluffy yarny event in Melbourne !!! I will be there with lots of hand dyed tops for spinning and felting and happy rainbow yarn and sock yarn, some extra special art yarns and much much more!!!! As well as some amazing Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and bowls that are pure magic to spin on !

JULY

Friday July 17th- Sunday 19th, 9am-5pm

Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show

THE event of the year !!!! Not to be missed!! I will be there in the Flower (Power Bunny) Shed again with heaps of new goodies, hand dyed and hand spun, IxCHeL new blends and rare sheep breed adventures and much much more ! Including a world first of something AMAZING AND FUN!!!!! Shhh not telling ! but it is AWESOME !!!!

JULY/August

Friday, July 31 to Sunday, August 2,

Mapleton Craft Retreat (Queensland)

Read all about it here: http://qldspinners.org.au/2014/10/16/mapleton-craft-retreat-2-0/

and please sign up because this is going to be an amazing retreat filled with fibery super fun ! Lots of workshops and fun stuff planned !!!!

 

Saturday , September 26th

Play day at Pascoe Vale 

More about this exciting event later !

How To Order:

1. You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or ixchelbunny at yahoo dot com dot au
2. message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny.

I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods.

Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !

 RABBIT ON !

((hugs))

Charly

The Easter Bunny is here

I am not going to say it has been busy or hectic, because I tend to keep saying that every week…lol...so I will stop all that timey wimey stuff.

Saying that: I have been busy preparing this special Easter Update :-)  including a very special Easter Bunny Magic tops blend that looks like Spring Time !
Also, I have finally finished some very fluffy and super soft Bunnymink 3 ply yarn I told you about last week AND last but not least: some yummy Easter Funky Bunny Batts.

So lucky for everybody: this week there is a bit more to snaffle than last week ! woohooo !

Enjoy the long chocolaty fluffy Easter Weekend! I know I will, cuddling my gorgeous happy fluffy bunnies and eating chocolate eggs and spinning some fluffy yarns.


Just message me on Ravelry or facebook or email me to place your order. Have a wonderful weekend and happy spinning and creating !
Big hugs
Charly

Magic Bunny Tops

Special EASTER BLENDING in SPRING TIME colours

100+grams/ 3.6 oz AU$24
Special Easter price for 500 grams : $96  that is a 20%  discount valid during the long Easter weekend !

Organic Merino, angora bunny, cashmere, Rainbow glitz special combo

The very special Easter blend fo the IxCHeL Magic Bunny Tops

 

 

Bunny Mink 3 ply yarn

Hands pun and hand dyed

+/- 50grams/ 1.7 oz AU$28
300meters / 50grams !
ndls 3.25-4mm

70% long haired mink, 30% English angora bunny : all combed and animal friendly harvested !

Basilisk-SOLD-

Windblown-SOLD-

Direwolf -SOLD-

Dragonstone-SOLD-

Tourmaline-SOLD-

Bunny Indigo -SOLD-

Leviathan-SOLD-

Shadowcat  -sold-
(the most luscious honey colour I have ever seen! Love it! Especially combined with the pale pink I dyed with mushroom it is by far the most dreamy colour combo ever! Really ! I know! Yellow and pink! Who would have guessed? lol)

Maegi -SOLD-

Winter Child-SOLD-

Valyria (THE colour of this season : a deep luxurious velvet)-SOLD-

Stormlands A velvet and indigo : a gothic kind of colour combo -SOLD-

Funky Bunny Batts -ALL SOLD-

Hand dyed and carded with love

+/- 150 +grams/ 5.2 oz AU$36

BFL, merino, angora bunny, cashmere. Glitz, bamboo, silk, tencel, angelina

White Walker Party

Rhaegal

Vhagar

Meraxes

Drogon

Balerion

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if you have any questions okay? Always happy to enable. All my contact details are to be found at the end of this weeks blog entry. Have fun !!!

 

Dates to put in your Calendar !!

March

April

Saturday 11th April 10am-3pm

McClelland Spinners and Weavers Open day “sock it to me”

I will be there with lots of hand dyed tops for spinning and felting and happy rainbow yarn and sock yarn !!!! As well as some amazing Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and bowls that are pure magic to spin on !

May

Saturday 23rd, 10am-4pm

Victorian Hand Knitters Guild Show Coburg Town Hall

THE extra ordinary super fluffy yarny event in Melbourne !!! I will be there with lots of hand dyed tops for spinning and felting and happy rainbow yarn and sock yarn, some extra special art yarns and much much more!!!! As well as some amazing Lair of the Bearded Dragon spindles and bowls that are pure magic to spin on !

JULY

Friday July 17th- Sunday 19th, 9am-5pm

Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show

THE event of the year !!!! Not to be missed!! I will be there in the Flower (Power Bunny) Shed again with heaps of new goodies, hand dyed and hand spun, IxCHeL new blends and rare sheep breed adventures and much much more ! Including a world first of something AMAZING AND FUN!!!!! Shhh not telling ! but it is AWESOME !!!!

JULY/August

Friday, July 31 to Sunday, August 2,

Mapleton Craft Retreat (Queensland)

Read all about it here: http://qldspinners.org.au/2014/10/16/mapleton-craft-retreat-2-0/

and please sign up because this is going to be an amazing retreat filled with fibery super fun ! Lots of workshops and fun stuff planned !!!!

 

Saturday , September 26th

Play day at Pascoe Vale 

More about this exciting event later !

How To Order:

1. You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or ixchelbunny at yahoo dot com dot au
2. message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny.

I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods.

Any questions? Any custom orders for yarn or dyeing fibre? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !

 RABBIT ON !

((hugs))

Charly