Reduce, re-use, recycle

There's rightly been a lot of talk about the sustainability of clothing and the amount of clothes that get into landfill.

It's something I'm aware of, trying to be a bit more focused as to what I buy, getting full use out of items and trying to work out the best was to recycle rather than bin old items. Over the last few days however I have tried to do more than carefully buy and dispose of items.

Firstly my lovely pair of black dungarees have faded to a less that lovely grey colour. As they are still in excellent condition otherwise I decided to try redying them black.

It may sound a little odd but I was surprised by how black they became (and that the washing machine didn't become black).

Encouraged by thus first success I decided to move on to my next planned clothing renovation.

I like lightweight sweatshirts from a particular clothing brand and was going to buy myself another, when I remember a sweater dress from the same brand that I don't weat because it's too clingy.

A bit of work with the scissors and my sewing machine...

... and my dress is now a sweater, which incidentally go with my dungarees (and also benefitted from being ironed!).

I'm not sure that I will be able to rework all items that no longer fit or suit me but it's definitely got me thinking about what is possible. 

Baking - Part 3 - Party Time

 My recent baking phase is starting to feel less like a phase and more like a habit (all be it one that may be a little limited due to the impact on waistbands recently!).

In April I celebrated a birthday ending with a zero, due to the pandemic going out to celebrate or having friends round wasn't really an option so we decided to mark the actual day with an afternoon tea which I decided to mostly make myself. Luckily the recipes chosen either tasted better if left for or few days, or could withstand not being eaten on the day of baking so I didn't have a mad session baking immediately before the tea. 

I decided that the tea would include savoury scones, malt loaf and bakewell blondies.

First up in the baking schedule was the malt loaf. I've never made this before and haven't even eaten it that frequently. A recipe was selected, Nigel Slater's from the Guardian if you're interested, the malt extract was tracked down (a much nicer extract than the yeast variety to my mind and should also allow me to make bagels using it) and we were off.

Barring a slight oven temperature error all seemed to go well. 

Next up bakewell blondies from Jane's Patisserie website, rapidly becoming my go to for tasty and interesting cakes.

Having made Jane's Biscoff Blondies (you should give them a try) previously this recipe was easy enough, just wish Id bought better quality jam and taken a photo of the finished items. Because there is only two of us I made half the recipe quantity and baked it in a 2lb loaf tin. 

The recipe for the cheese and thyme scones, from the National Trust 50 Scone Recipes book, suggested they were best from the oven so they were cooked on my birthday.

And the finished effect...

We added some sausage rolls and a wedge of Baron Bigod cheese, in the background, which goes well with malt loaf. And as it was my birthday our accompanying beverage was French cider. 

All very tasty and enough made so that we could enjoy the bakes over the weekend.