My new collection of smocked baby dresses

I have been working on a new collection of baby, smocked dresses

These are now available on Ebay  or in my Etsy shop

etsy.com/shop/jeanetteodonnell/ from the 1st May.

 Blue granny print  in cotton

Blue floral in 100% cotton 

Cream with pink roses 100% cotton 

White with pink bows and blue flowers 

cotton blend

Pink with white pin spots

cotton blend

Cream cotton twill with pink smocking and bullion roses 

All hand made and smocked 

I so love making baby clothes like these

What have you been making lately?

Join me at some lovely linky parties

including thecharmofhome.blogspot.com

The other links are on my side bar

Have a nice week

 xx jeanetteann

Choc chip biscuits and tea in the garden

I use this biscuit recipe for all my biscuit making and I just add different ingredients to it for a change each time I make them. Today I added cocoa powder and choc chips

Ingredients 
150grms plain flour (I sometimes use wholemeal if I have it )
75grms castor sugar
120grms soft margarine 
1/2tspn vanilla extract.

Sieve flour and sugar together and then rub in margarine to resemble breadcrumbs.
Add whatever you like at this stage and a 1/2 tspn vanilla
push mixture together to combine. Roll into sausage shapes

Cut into pieces and place on baking paper lined trays

Press down with a fork and bake in a fan forced 190c until golden

about 1/2  hour in my oven,but you will know your oven best so this may vary.

I double this recipe to get this many.

They keep really well in an air tight tin

They are ideal to have with a nice morning cuppa

Please join me,the weather is perfect today

I will join you at the linky parties 

The links are on my side bar

Enjoy and I hope you have a lovely blessed Easter break

xx Jeanetteann

Easy Rissotto

This is one of the cheapest and easy meals I make

I chop up lots of fresh veggies (whatever is in the fridge or garden)

Throw it into the wok with a tiny drop of oil on a high heat.

Stir fry for a few minutes about 5

Toss in a couple of handfuls of Aborio rice

stir fry for a few more minutes until well mixed 

Pour in a few spoonsful of chicken stock and stir until absorbed

Pour in about 2 more cupfuls of stock and stir

Simmer until hot

Put the lid on and turn heat right down low and leave

Check after about 10 mins and stir

until the liquid has almost gone but still quite moist

Check the grains of rice to make sure they are soft then toss in a knob of butter

and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Serve with some shaved pecorino cheese

Enjoy

Join me at my usual linky parties

the links are on my sidebar

xx jeanetteann

Bargain find for my new collection

I went searching for something nice today at my favourite Vinnies shop
I had nothing in particular in my mind,but had seen lots of Pyrex dishes around blogland that caught my eye,especially the pretty patterned ones. 
I loved the Amish ones I'd seen and had a look on Ebay. There were some lovely ones at such good prices,but the postage to Australia is far too high.  Sooooo, low and behold look what I found for $4.  
It's not the lovely Amish pattern,but for this price,I couldn't pass it up. I have one nice pyrex cornish blue casserole which I picked up in an auction lot for peanuts,so now I think you could say I have me the start of another obsession,I mean collection.



     I'm not sure what the pattern is, but I'm sure someone will tell me.
Shelia from Note Songs will certainly know,as she is an avid collector of Pyrex                                                      

This is the one I already had from the auction lot

I love the fact it's blue which is my favourite colour for my dishes

I am not going to restrict myself to one colour though,as I think all Pyrex is pretty 

I can't wait to check out some more places to really get this collection going

I am so in love with it. I know,I'm always in love with new collections but it keeps me

busy looking

Join me this week at some of my favourite linky parties

The links are on my side bar.

Have a nice day

xx jeanetteann

Roses and petals

We paid a visit to our son and his family at the weekend

Only the two older children were home

Kelly made us a cup of tea

and her older brother Keelan picked us a huge pumpkin

from his veggie patch and on the way out asked if I would like

a bunch of roses from their front garden

They are renting the house while their new one is being built

It was once owned by an Italian family.

Well you know how the older generation of  Italian families love their gardening

As well as vegetables they usually grow roses out front,

You would have to see the roses in this garden to believe it

There are about 2 dozen bushes,all different colours.

The 90 yr old man next door has the same. He is Italian too.

They sure know how to garden.

I wish I had my camera with me, but didn't 

This is the bunch I picked. The scent fills the house

As they started to wilt the petals were dropping. Well I couldn't 

throw them away,the scent was intoxicating.

I filled lots of bowls around the house to enjoy them longer.

I refreshed some dried ones I already had from my garden

These are the ones from our garden

I tend to go for the paler pinks and golds

but I'm enjoying the brighter colours too that I brought home

I wish you could smell them from where you are

I'll be enjoying them for many more days, I think

Have a happy week 

and join me at the linky parties.

The links are on my side bar.

xx jeanetteann 

Cooking economically

It isn't that difficult to make a little go a long way

I love to test myself when cooking to see how much

I can make with little

I roasted a chicken the other day 

and we had a meal for 2 with the legs and wings

We then had a sandwich for lunch the next day

with some chicken breast and salad

Today,I took all the left over meat off the bones and chopped it

Placed it into a bowl with 2 diced carrots,1 chopped onion

1 small cooked (in the skin then peeled) sweet potato,

corn stripped off 1 cooked cob and mixed together

I made a short pastry with 2 cups plain flour,125grms margarine pinch salt,1 egg

and a little iced water (I doubled this recipe to make what you see in the photo's)

I made all these pasties with the ingredients and egg washed them

With the little amount of filling (about 3/4 cup) 

 I had left over after making the pasties,I mixed in 

the left over egg wash and 2 more beaten eggs with a dollop of yogurt

Poured it into a small fry pan and made an omelette for lunch

This  was enough for 2 of us on buttered roll

Pasties hot out of the oven. I made large ones to have with salad as a meal

and small ones to put in the freezer for buffet lunches when the family come over 

With all the bones,skin and bits off the chicken left

I simmered with 2 bay leaves,1 onion with the skin on quartered

and salt and pepper and just covered with water

I strained it after about 1 hour,discarded the bones etc

Placed the stock into the fridge.

When the fat sets on the top, I take this off and keep the rest

to start my next pot of soup.

I feel good about my efforts today

What are you making  with little today. I love to get others ideas 

Join me at my usual linky parties I'm visiting today

The links are on my side bar.

Have a nice day 

xx jeanetteann