Friday's Craft Crush

Hello! I’m Jeanie B - writer and crafter living in East London - delighted to be here guest blogging for Craft Guerrilla.

Why not grab a pocketful of Crafty pic ‘n’ mix with CraftCandy - I have!

Maid of Gingerbread - yummy sculptural gingerbread

Last year I found myself at a conference in Leeds and after everyone headed to the pub to get pissed unwind, I was left twiddling my thumbs (beer’s not my thing). I fancied a swing dance class or craft session somewhere, but short of trawling through Google or accosting crafty vintage locals, I hadn’t a clue where to go…

…Which is why Craft Candy is such a good idea.

Crafty blogger Zoe Arch has been busy developing a brand new type of craft platform around the idea of word of mouth crafty info, which serves crafters like you and me, businesses and the wider community. 

Craft Candy has a website where you can find out what craft events or workshops are taking place locally but you can also download their free App which makes finding craft events neat and easy to navigate.

The App has links to social media tools like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and FB so likeminded crafters can keep in touch. It’s a whole lotta crafting cool in your pocket and if I’d had this functionality in Leeds last year I might have found my way to a Craft Café somewhere instead of watching bad TV in my hotel room.

I attended the Craft Candy launch last week and we got some wonderful treats. I had the best banoffi pie cupcake ever from TheTea’s Knees, no word of a lie.

The Tea's Knees wonderful cupcakes

Once I was home my daughter rifled through my Goodie bag and bagsied the mini cross stitch from Urban Cross Stitch.

Hand crafted goodies

A craft listing site is only useful when it is chock full of varied things to do across a wide area, so if you’re running workshops or have a regular craft night, register with Craft Candy to get your event listed and that way the service can grow and grow. 

Zoe’s motto is “if you don’t charge people to take part, then we won’t charge you”. Put simply, it’s free to list free of events on both the Craft Candy website and the Apps.

The universe is currently filling up with Craft startups and communities which is great for us makers and hobbyists (I’m out to reclaim the term hobby), but ultimately confusing as every other venture is Craft or Make something. 

I get Craftsy and Craft Candy mixed up with Craft Blogs and Make Lounges mistaken for Make Spaces and Make Places. I have the same trouble with Vintage outlets, which all seem to have vintage in their moniker. I’ll make it my mission to compile a list of innovative named outlets, ones I find easier to remember.

Craft Candy’s branding is sharp and recognizable, I love it when that happens.

I am off to Leeds again next month for the same conference, this time I may be able to navigate to craft events if they are happening nearby. But what if I get happy feet – come on all you start-up geniuses out there – where’s the Swing Dance listing app? 

Jeanie B - swing dancing writer who crafts between drafts - find her on Make It Up follow @jitterbug65 

Happy bunnies eat sweet brioche!

Craft Guerrilla gals (and guys) love to bake! It's a creative outlet so it's very much a weekly happening in CG Towers... plus we are pretty greedy too!
Mostly we are kept busy with crafting but we definitely always find time to bake! It's amazingly relaxing and also you can eat what you make which isn't possible with craft...ew, woolly pompoms are not tasty!
For Easter we've decided to try to bake our own French brioche loaf. Yummy, soft, sweet and heavenly served with lots of butter and jam...the perfect Easter weekend breakfast though we advise you to eat it as often as you like and not just for Easter! Somethings should be enjoyed more then once a year!!!
Having never attempted to make brioche we began with mild trepidation though with the aide of a bread machine it was simple and super quick! There are so many myths about brioche making but after trying this recipe I can truly say, hand on heart, that it isn't that difficult. It takes a little time but all good things do so... Try it, you won't be disappointed.

For two Brioche loaves you'll need...
ingredients:
     550g flour
     125ml of milk
     2 tbsp. creme fraiche (or buttermilk)
     2 eggs, beaten
     1.5 tsp. teaspoon salt
     110g of sugar
     110g unsalted butter
     1 tablespoon rum
     1 tablespoon orange blossom
     1 tsp vanilla extract
     25g fresh yeast

Place ingredients in your bread machine in the following order: milk, creme fraiche, eggs, salt, sugar, rum, orange blossom water and vanilla extract. Cover with flour. Dissolve the yeast in a tablespoons of water and pour over the flour.
Start your machine on the dough program. All machines vary time wise so please refer to your handbook to check the timings of your dough cycle as you'll need to add the butter half way through.
Once your machine is half way through the kneading cycle add the cubed butter which should be cut in smallish cubes. Add a tablespoon at a time so the machine can kneed it into the already mixed dough.
At the end of the program, remove the dough from the machine and divide it into two.(NOTE: You can do this by hand too once the dough cycle reaches the end. If you are doing it by hand knead just so the butter is evenly marbled through the dough but don't over knead it. You should be able to still see chunks of butter in your dough.) 

Form two braids and arrange on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Let rise for about 2 hours. Preheat oven to 180 ° C. Brush loaves with beaten egg. 
Bake for about 25 minutes.
*TIP: we used two silicone loaf molds just so to keep them tidy but you can bake them straight onto a floured oven tray!

(recipe taken from:http://delicesdhelene.over-blog.com/m/article-21710631.html) 

 

Enjoy toasted with lashings of butter and jam and a large bowl of café au lait! 

Happy Easter Craft lovers!

Do Make Say Think - Horns of a Rabbit from Sean Plaice on Vimeo.

A Creative Daughter of Walthamstow

After I posted my first guest blog, I realised that I hadn’t even introduced myself; let's put it down to nerves and try again!  My name is Gill and I am an artist and maker and blogger – I blog as Paisley Pedlar and you can find me on Facebook, Twitter and on my main blog at www.paisleypedlar.wordpress.com .  For this, my second guest post I would like to introduce you to my good friend and daughter of Walthamstow – Sonia Demetriou.

Sonia grew up in Walthamstow, living in Boundary Road (although her house is no longer there.  She went to school Gamuel Road Primary School and then on to Gasgoyne Secondary and McEntee Technical School before leaving aged 16 to become an apprentice Decorated Furniture Restorer in a studio in Chelsea.  A couple of years ago Sonia shared with me the germ of an idea for writing a book about her Greek Cypriot heritage and after several visits to Cyprus and many hours toiling over her PC keyboard,  “Androulas Kitchen – Cyprus on a Plate” was published at the end of 2012.  This amazing book starts with a brief explanation about why she wanted to write it and then follows on with all kinds of fascinating facts and stories about traditional Cypriot crafts such as basketry, weaving and lace making.  Many of these traditional crafts are in serious decline, with only a few craftsmen and women still working in the traditional way to keep the crafts alive.  Fully illustrated with beautiful colour photographs the book also focuses on traditional Cypriot cookery (there is a clue in the title) and includes some delicious recipes some with Sonia’s own contemporary twist, and it is one of these that she has kindly allowed me to share with you… Revani is found all over the Middle East in different versions and Sonias version is simply to die for – cakey, sticky, orangy and almondy, YUM!

Revani tis Sonias

125g unsalted butter

60g caster sugar

2 eggs

75g rice flour

100g plain flour

50g ground almonds

Juice of 1 large orange (or 2 small ones)

1 teaspoon baking powder

A few drops of almond essence

Handful of blanched almonds for the top

Syrup

Juice of 1 large orange (or 2 small ones)

100g caster sugar

·         Pre heat the oven to 180°C, Gas Mark 4

·         Grease a 10cmx20cm non stick baking tin (I also lined mine with greaseproof paper)

·         Sift the flour, rice flour and baking powder in to a bowl

·         Mix butter (softened) with the sugar until creamy in a separate bowl

·         Add the almond essence

·         In another bowl whisk the eggs together

·         Gradually add the egg mix to the butter and sugar, and add in the flour mixture

·         Mix together the orange juice and ground almonds and add to the rest of the cake mixture.  The consistency should be like a soft batter, if it is a little stiff add a few drops of milk.

·         Pour the mixture into the baking tin, sprinkle the blanched almonds on top and bake in the centre of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes until it is cooked in the middle.

·         While the cake is baking, place the orange juice and sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved and thickened.

·         When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and pierce the top with a skewer or knitting needle and pour the orange syrup over the cake and allow to cool in the baking tin.

·         Once cool, turn out on to a cooling rack and enjoy!

This cake is delicious, it is light but has a lovely cakey consistency and the sticky orangy flavour is really refreshing as well as satisfying.

Delicious Revani (tis Sonias)

You can find out more about Sonias book, “Androulas Kitchen –Cyprus on a Plate” at http://androulaskitchen.wordpress.com and on her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cyprusonaplate .  The book is available to buy direct from Sonia or from Amazon.