Pompom garland

Spurred on by my recent craft purchases, I decided to start simple and make a pompom garland. I made about 18 small pompoms in three different colours and then strung them together on a long piece of wool, securing it at the end with another pompom. After leaving a long tail on the first finished pompom, I tied the yarn to an elastic threading needle (If you don't have one, get one. They come in useful for so many things!) to the end and threaded the pompoms together using this. An elastic needle has a rounded end which doesn't snag on anything which is perfect, as with a normal needle, the sharp pount would go through the yarn and pull the individual threads out. 

 

In the future I may use a double thickness of wool to thread them on, as that many pompoms is fairly weighty, and I think that if it was to get tugged at any point, it may not be strong enough.

For now I have displayed it above the DVD shelving on the way down the stairs, as it was looking a little bare since I took down the sparkly bower from Christmas with just the hooks left in the wood. However I was pleased that I did leave them there, as they allow me to change the accessories throughout the year. I also had some lovely grey filligree hearts that were bought form me as a present which looked very cute hanging underneath the garland. 

A Weekend of Baking...Ginger and Lemon Drizzle Cake

This year I asked my dad what he wanted for his birthday cake, to which he answered, something ginger with no chocolate. Now this to me is a conundrum, ginger and chocolate go so well together! What to do! So I did some research and found a Lemon drizzle and ginger cake, which basically is a ginger cake with lemon drizzle, filled with lemon curd mixed with diced stem ginger and a cream cheese icing filling. It was deliciously moist with a great flavour. The lemon hit you first then the heat from the ginger in the lemon curd, followed by the ginger in the cake and finally the cream cheese icing to finish it all off. It was the perfect way to round off a delicious meal, so much so that everyone took some home so they could have some more. 

The drizzle had zest mixed in with the sugar and juice, which added a lovely lemon crunchy crown to the top of the finished cake.

Tip: Cutting drizzle cakes in half is always a challenge as they are heavy and prone to breaking. Make sure that you use the longest knife you own and try and cut through in one stroke. If you do have to rotate it and go through from different angles, try and keep it level or you will end up with a bit of a mess in the middle. A cake lifter is also a very handy tool at this juncture as it will help you to lift the cake in one movement. Two hands can go wrong as when you pick it up, the cake can break in the middle and you will end up with a half in each hand, not a good look!