...Pepparkakor

Not one Christmas goes by without me baking some traditional biscuits.

These are Danish Peparkakor (pepper and ginger biscuits), which get their distinctive flavour through the addition of lots of white pepper.

They are fun to make, and after baking you can pipe and stick with icing and decorations to your heart's content.

... a seashell ring

A sea theme seems to be going on... I was in Denmark a few months ago, and found a tiny little shell on the beach of Skagen. I decided to make it into this ring:

... Minions and other mystical beach creatures

My nephew loves the film 'Despicable Me', with its Minions, banana coloured little creatures who speak their own language, but are quite human in that they often get things wrong. We were on a beach together in Greece, and I decided to make some Minions for him; I collected a few pebbles and painted them yellow, added their blue dungarees, and funny faces with different expression...

But I also found these little "hats" that fitted perfectly onto small pebbles:

I love wandering up and down beaches looking for flotsam. I painted this large flat stone, and arranged it with pieces of wood that had literally been "sanded".

These must have been old spray tins, bashed by the water against pebbles into interesting shapes:

More sanded bits of wood:

... photo intaglio etchings

I took a photo intaglio etching class at East London Printmakers, led by Victoria Browne. 

Photo etching involves a process which is similar to screen printing. A photosensitive emulsion is applied to a surface (in this case a zinc plate), which is then covered by a (positive) black and white photo printed onto transparent plastic foil, and exposed to light. The photosensitive emulsion adheres to those areas of the plate which are exposed to light, whereas those areas covered by the black ink of the photo are washed off. 

When the plate is submerged into acid at the next stage, the acid will only bite away at the zinc which is not covered by emulsion, i.e. the small dots previously covered by black ink will turn into tiny recesses that will hold printing ink.  

I used this very early photo of the moon. As the background is a very large homogenous surface (rather than small dots), which would not have held any ink, I applied an aquatint to this area. You put your zinc plate into a large box that contains a fine rosin dust; aggravate the dust and let it settle on the plate; then carefully remove the plate and harden the small particles of dust with heat (a bunsen burner), and submerge the plate into acid once more to create more recesses.

I love how etching involves so many different processes, and you have to experiment by trial and error, taking notes at each stage, to achieve the outcome you want. 

The top print is after the aquatint was applied, the bottom print was before the aquatint.

... a screen print

Last Saturday I went to a screen printing workshop at  Print Club London.

It must have been the hottest day of the year, and it was actually quite nice to be inside this light, airy studio. Our tutor, Barry, made a point allowing us to be very hands-on in the workshop. His explanations and demonstrations of everything were so good, it was easy to follow and practice what we had been shown.

I brought a photograph of two sea-urchins. I had to turn it into a black and white image and remove any shading. While it's possible to create shading in screen printing (by using halftone dots), for a first attempt at this technique, it's easier not to.

... Reissumies - Finnish rye bread

I went to the Nordic Bakery a few weeks ago - it's a lovely Scandinavian cafe, nicely tucked away on Golden Square, so a fantastic escape from the hustle and bustle around Oxford Circus and Regent Street. It's the perfect place for brunch, as they serve very nice coffee and both sweet and savoury freshly baked delights! I ate an open rye sandwich with smoked salmon, which was delicious - I love rye bread, but this was a kind I had never tried before. It was a round little rye flatbread that was cut in half, buttered and topped with salmon - I thought this would make a delicious lunch for work, so I wanted to make some. The Nordic Bakery has recently published a cookbook, and I had a look through it but could not work out what these flatbreads are called, so I did some research and the closest thing I could find that matched this was Reissumies. It took me a long time to work this out, and there are few recipes for this online - I found one for Ruispala (another name for Reissumies, which are, it seems, also popular in Russia).

... Herman the German - the cake

10 days after being given a portion of sourdough called Herman the German, my Herman (who, if he was really German, would actually be called Hermann) was ready to be baked. I had to be quite organised and bought some takeaway boxes to pass Herman's "siblings" on in. I had also made the strategic decision not to split Herman the day before baking, but to pass the three portions of base dough on to friends together with a piece of cake. This worked very well, as after tasting this cake, they were all keen to give this 10-day process a go.

I came home late after a long day at work - but not late enough to stop me from baking Herman. The great thing about the recipe is that you don't need a mixer - just add all the ingredients, give it a stir with a wooden spoon, and it's basically ready. I followed the recipe, except for the fruit - I used 200g of blueberries, and instead of putting melted butter on top, I used butter flakes and sprinkled the brown sugar onto that. 

I took the cake to work the next day, and it didn't last very long...

Here are some before and after shots:

... Austrian lunch for Austrian/German friends

I have a few Austrian/German friends in London, and we have taken turns in hosting dinners or lunches over the past few months, so this weekend it was my turn, and I decided to make roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. As temperatures here in London were absolutely arctic over the last few weeks, this seemed like a very good idea - however, today was perfectly summery. Still, the lunch went down fairly well. I did lots of research on how to make a pork roast, as this was my first.

I did what I usually do, and picked different elements from various recipes I found. I made sure the skin of the piece of pork I had bought was very dry (this makes the crackling really crispy) by patting it with kitchen towel. I carved long incisions across the skin with a sharp knife, rubbed a mixture of 1 tbsp crushed caraway and 1 tsp coarse sea salt all over it and stuffed garlic cloves into the incisions. I placed the pork on some carrots and onion wedges in a roasting dish and poured a cup of stock and half a bottle of dark ale around it.

I roasted this at 250C for about 30 minutes, then turned the temperature down to 190C and roasted it for another 2 hours, basting it occasionally and topping up with ale. This worked well - the meat was very tender and still moist inside, and the crackling was really "crackling". I made a gravy with what remained of the ale in the bottom of the roasting dish, which was nice, poured over the dumplings.

For dessert I made a lemon mousse - my sister's recipe. I thought after this hearty meal we could do with something light, or at least something that gives us the illusion of being light. I made this the night before to save time on the day, and also because it needs a few hours to set in the fridge.

Here's the recipe:

300ml double cream
3 eggs
180g sugar
2 unwaxed lemons (juice of two, zest of one of them)
2-3 sheets of gelatine

1. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with 1/3 of the sugar to form stiff peaks.
2. Beat the cream.
3. Soak the gelatine sheets in water.
4. Beat the yolks with the remaining sugar, the zest of one lemon. Slowly drizzle the juice of both lemons into the yolk mixture while beating. 
5. Drain the gelatine sheets and squeeze out the water. Then melt it in a little bit of water or alcohol. 
6. Put a few spoonfuls of the yolk mixture into the melted gelatine and stir it in. Then pour the gelatine mixture into the yolk mixture. (This prevents the mixture from getting lumpy).
7. Stir in the whipped cream.
8. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites. 
9. Distribute the mixture into ramekins or dessert bowls, cover and cool for at least four hours or overnight.

... Herman the German - Friendship Cake

I cannot describe the excitement I felt when I was given Herman the German friendship cake starter dough by my friend Michaela. This sourdough base has supposedly been passed on between friends for decades, so it feels quite special to be a part of that "chain".

When you are given a portion of dough, you have to tend to it for ten days, pampering and "feeding" it (it has a man's name presumably because women care for it). You add flour, sugar and milk half way through the process, and just before you bake the cake, you split the dough into four and give the other three portions to friends - so the cycle continues. The original recipe is said to originate from the Amish, but I suspect this technique has been wide-spread in German speaking countries for centuries.

I've had Herman for four days now - he smells pleasantly of beer (which is probably another reason why he is called Herman) and is bubbling away nicely. Hmmm.. I have just fed him, and he looks quite content:

I'm full of ideas of what I'll do with Herman when he's ready to go in the oven. I'm thinking blueberries... but let's see. I'll keep posting progress.

... white bread

What happens when you follow the recipe (left) and when you don't (right):

I made this plain white loaf, adding some fennel seeds to the dough for flavour. I let the dough rise for two hours as per the recipe, but wanted to see what happens if I don't give the dough a second knead - the answer is, it doesn't rise as much. I could have probably guessed that that's what would happen, as I've never come across a bread recipe that doesn't say you have to knead the dough a second time after rising, but I was surprised to see just what a difference this made. I didn't even knead the dough on the left for that long... Anyway, the lesson learnt is to stick to the recipe!

... a seashell pendant

I made this for a friend who loves the sea, and everything related to it. My mother brought me some seashells from home, and I thought I'd make a mould from one of them, but I quite liked the idea of exposing the inside of the shell, creating a little cave to hide something in, so I pressed the shell into the clay, let it dry and then sanded the back until it was smooth.  After firing, I attached a crystal bead to it, which dangles and even gives it a faint sound of a bell. In a certain light, the crystal also reflects into the silver of the shell. I'm pleased with this, and hope my friend will like it too!  I also practiced pencil drawing and thought I'd let this girl hold the pendant for the photo (although I didn't quite finish drawing her hand)...

... some life drawings

I recently started going to life drawing classes. There has been a different model every week so far - I found the male model the most challenging to draw, as the male form is not as familiar to me as the female, which has rather predictable lines and curves - the curves also give very useful points of reference that help when I want to check if something I'm about to draw is in the right position. But I guess the "unpredictability" of the male form is a good thing for practice, as I do not want to allow my brain to interpret and translate the object I'm trying to draw, but rather draw the lines and shapes and shadows I see.

 

... a knitted owl

The pattern for this owl was dark and light grey with white, but I wanted it to be nice and colourful, so I chose pink and green...

... a pendant with melted glass

This was my first experiment with glass. I placed a Swarovski crystal into this silver clay pendant before firing, and as it reached a certain temperature, it started to glow bright orange and it melted into this dew-drop shape, which I much prefer to a blingy crystal.

... a silver leaf

This leaf was made using silver clay paste. I picked a leaf (from a neighbour's hedge), and painted its back (which has more defined 'veins') with silver clay paste, building it up layer upon layer. After a few coats, I incorporated a piece of fine silver wire to form the finding of this pendant. Once it was dry, we fired it (we used a kiln, but torch firing should also work) - the leaf burns away and you are left with the intricate detail of the original leaf.

... a pair of booties

... a leaf inspired ring

This is the first metal clay project I made at home. Ever since I started my class and learning about the use of textures in metal clay jewellery, I have been drawn to trees and hedges in a new way. I went for an autumn walk in Epping Forest with friends a few weeks ago, and picked up some leaves that inspired me to make some pieces of jewellery.

I used this leaf to make my ring:

... a metal clay ring and hollow form pendant

Finally... my metal clay ring is made. I took much longer than I anticipated, because in the first week, we just practiced with Fimo, the following week we made the ring with clay, and only last week we got to fire it in the kiln. For this ring I carved a star shape into a piece of lino and pressed my silver clay into it. I deliberately left it a bit "rough round the edges" as I think this adds to the look I wanted to achieve. A bit of time, and it will have some nice patina between the rays of the star, which will make it stand out more. I read somewhere that you can achieve the patina more quickly by putting your piece of silver into a plastic bag with chopped up boiled egg. Hmmm... I think I'd rather wait for it to happen naturally.

As we only fired our rings, we also had time to make another pendant using syringe type clay. This was fiddly, but I'm keen to try again. For this, we had to create a basic shape using cork clay a few weeks ago. This was left to dry, and then we piped the silver clay onto it using a syringe. As it was fired, the cork burnt away inside, leaving this hollow form.

... a silver clay pendant

I recently started a metal clay jewellery course at the Art Academy. Metal clay is made of microscopic particles of precious metal (like silver or gold) mixed with an organic binder and water, making it into a moldable paste that can be worked with your hands, rolled out, cut and textured using anything from lace and wallpaper to leaves. When fired, the binder and water evaporate, and the metal particles sinter together, leaving a piece of solid silver.
In the first class we experimented with Fimo modelling clay, and last week I had my first go at using the real material (Art Clay). The clay feels cold and heavy, and you have to dab your work surface and roller with oil, so that it doesn't stick. It also dries out quite quickly, which means you have to work quite fast. I found a large rubber stamp, the pattern of which I liked, and saw the shape of a pendant in it, which I decided to cut out. I then cut a little 'window' into it and put it on the hotplate to dry. As this was a small piece of jewellery, we torch-fired it, rather than using a kiln. Unfortunately, my piece wasn't quite dry enough and had two traces of water in it when I fired it, so it cracked slightly in two places - next time I'll make sure it's completely dry, although I think the cracks give my piece a bit of 'edge'...
Next week it's rings and I can't wait - I have too many ideas already!

... hats for St Mungo's

St Mungo's is a charity which provides accommodation and support projects for homeless people. On 4 November 2011, St Mungo's will be organising a "Woolly Hat Day" to raise money for its good causes. Stitch London drummed up support to help knit 30 orange bobble hats, 2 of which I made. The hats will be worn by fundraisers including St Mungo's staff and clients, performers/ comedians, football/rugby teams and community people. Go St Mungo's! I'll be supporting you again on the day!