Pallet for Home

These are my brandy & ginger biscuit truffles, that have become a bit of a hit with family and friends. I thought I share the recipe with you. I never follow any recipe exactly so I suggest you do the same and adapt amounts and exact ingredients where you feel necessary!

Enjoy - and do let me know how you get on!




2. Add condensed milk and stir. If you are adding cream, add now.

3. Add the coconut and ginger biscuit crumbs and stir it in.

4. Add the brandy, stir until everything is smooth. If the mix is still a bit thick, add a bit of normal milk (or more brandy!), but don't make it too runny.

5. Put in the fridge for around 4 hours or until stiffened up.

6. Once ready, spread chocolate powder on a dinner plate. Take a small amount of chocolate emulsion in your hands and roll into a little ball. Roll into the chocolate powder until fully covered. Truffle done!
Try rolling them into desiccated coconut or chocolate sprinkles to create different versions.

7. Put back in the fridge to let them stiffen up a bit. Done!

8.  Wrap some of them individually and put them in a little box if you are giving them away, like I did (I got the wrappers and box from Hobbycraft).

NB: dip your fingers in a bowl of water every now and then when doing the rolling, to avoid the chocolate sticking too much to your fingers.

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December is an expensive month. It's all about eating that special food, wearing those special clothes, adding that special decoration to your home, let alone buying all those extra special gifts for everyone. It's fun (right?), but it's madness! This blog is all about tastefully saving money by recycling, buying vintage or making stuff yourself, so I thought I do a post about DIY Christmas gifts. I mean, how much better is it to give or receive something that's been lovingly hand-made? Much better than trawling those jam-packed shops looking for....for what actually?

For the drinks & nibbles

I came across this idea on addicted2decorating which I really liked. Stenciling or painting a wooden tray. An ideal blank 'canvas' for any creation.



For the ladies

Jewelery is always a nice idea. A woman can never have too many necklaces, I say. I really like the idea of recycling old buttons (sew them as decoration onto cushions, clothes, etc), and like me, you probably have quite a few of them lying around in boxes and drawers. Hey, why not make a necklace out of them?
 
This example is from www.treehugger.com


 
Here's a helpful How-To on www.craftstylish.com


For the bathroom junkie

Making soap is something I've always wanted to try but somehow it looks like a lot of work...! I love the way hand-made soap looks though, cut into big colourful chunks - and I would be so happy with a gift like this! Have a look on teachsoap.com for all the how-to instructions if you fancy giving it a go. If you think it's all too much hassle - why not buy some off etsy - plenty of people who are happy to do the hard work for you.




For the traveler / explorer

Something very original and highly unusual I came across on a site called Inhabitat Green Gift Guide, is a "personalised walking tour" on Google maps! "Show them your hometown – or even their hometown!" they say. "You can either print it out and make it part of a tour booklet, or, depending on your internet skills, post it on a simple website. Alternately, you could lead them down your streets with a personalized podcast". Sounds very 2011!



For the sweet tooth

And what about making some home-made chocolate truffles and presenting them in cute little boxes? I made truffles for the first time last weekend and they were so easy to make and absolutely delicious. Needless to say they didn't last very long... But as they're so easy to make I think I'll make another batch and bring them home to my family for Christmas (I'd have to put them in my suitcase in hold though, cause I don't think they'd survive the flight otherwise ;-)

Ever seen 'artworks' in department stores? Mass produced prints and ornaments, without any personality and emotion? I guess some people just want something to match their curtains, but there's so much beautiful, affordable art available so why not give your home a little bit more personality?

I just received this portrait of me and my husband tonight:



I've been fortunate to have a talented painter as a colleague, who offered me to paint a portrait of me and my hubby - as a wedding present to us. It's based on one of our wedding photos and I absolutely LOVE it. I am so pleased with it that I will do a bit of word-of-mouth promotion for her in return for this amazing gift: go and visit fionajack.viewbook.com. Fiona is happy to work from photographs and ship overseas - and she's got a special Christmas offer on just now! Prices start from £95 ($150) for A4 size. Go on, treat yourself and your walls ;-)

Full article on www.dornob.com