Here's what I'm eating today...

These are experimental truffles, I didn't make lots decorated as I ran out of time.

It's the main event day of my weekend getaway: this is why I've been making so many chocolate delights! Will need them to keep me going ^o^ 

These are my own invention, lemon meringue white chocolate truffles!

Nayu's Craft Time #107 I Sort of Return

I'm going on a trip! I wish this was my suitcase.

Hi everyone! I'm back, kind of :) Going away Fri-Mon for a family weekend hence my 'sort of' return. Weather still isn't my friend right now, and I still think I may be in aftereffects of ketamine on Sunday (my mega strong pain meds) at least that's what I'm telling myself! but I'm doing what I can when I can, which is all any of us can do. 

This morning it took extra long to wake up because my cat appeared. I started stroking her, but then she kept wanting attention so every few moments I'd stop I give her a few strokes. So it was partly her own fault that breakfast was late! 

So far this morning I have renewed my driving licence. Needs to be done by 10th April so I realised I needed to get a move on. While family members used the post office for renewal, a friend had used the online renewal which uses your passport photo, so in the name of expediency (is that a word? Is it the right word? Sorry if it isn't) I spent 30 minutes sorting that out. I had to change the details several times because I managed to make mistakes, including calling myself a Doctor instead of a Miss. That's a case of the cursor going down a few options by accident on that particular drop down menu. >o< It says I should get one within 2 weeks....let's hope that's true! 

Yummy!

I've made a load of yummy lemon meringue truffles, some like these ones (round) and others a variety of shapes. It can be a little tricky getting them out of the moulds as the truffle part is soft (there's a layer of white chocolate underneath so they can be picked up), so it will be much easier making simple chocolates (melt chocolate, pour in mould) after lunch today. All of these are for the weekend, and I'm sure they will be enjoyed, along with some flapjacks. 

That's another part of the this post's title. I'm going to try and schedule posts until Tuesday, since I don't know how much internet access I'll have at where I'm staying. That's the theory, anyway! Will wait and see what happens ^o^ Rapidly using up my energy reserves today so will save post writing until tomorrow. These posts require thought, whereas the reviews for my other blog, Nayu's Reading Corner, don't since I write the main review shortly after reading the book so it's a matter of copy and paste.

(+ Good Afternoon + Good Evening!)

Nayu's Craft Time #99 Truffle Time!

Guess what I've done today!

Those of you who are regular readers will know what this picture means. I'm making truffles! I truly wish someone would invent teleportation as I'd love to share how they taste with you. Not that I know yet, as the ones I've made today are still setting. 

Today I'm trialing a new type of truffles - yes, I know you'd like to taste them, but until that teleporter arrives on my doorstep you'll just have to try them out yourself. Recipe is here, thanks to Lindt. I'm using my normal method, making the truffle core (the previous recipe), then once cool cutting the core into pieces, dipping them into the same kind of chocolate and adding a decoration which look like this: 

My cute butterfly chocolate truffles!

My new version, well, it's something I thought of in December but due to being ill and busy then I couldn't try it until now. I've put a layer of melted chocolate at the bottom of the square containers which I use to set the truffle mix. I put it in the fridge for around 30 minutes, until it was set a bit. I took it out, made the truffle core and put it on top of the melted chocolate, then immediately after (no setting) I added another layer of melted chocolate. 

Yum yum!

I'm hoping that all 3 layers will stick together to create a truffle that won't melt over fingers as soon as it's picked up. Obviously no one goes around holding a truffle in their hand for minutes on end - it's usually a few seconds in the fingers before being eaten! However, if this works, and if I can cut them into small pieces easily I may be able to mass produce truffles! This would be perfect for a family event in March. 

Dipping truffles takes an awful lot of both time and energy for me. I'd love to make enough by March, but with writing and blogging, as well as allowing for a lot of rest time with the colder weather (see previous post for why it makes me ill), I don't have enough time to guarantee enough truffles. This new method is much quicker which is why if it works I'll be making a lot of people eat these sweet treats. 

I plan on making chocolate fudge for the event, as that's so easy for me to do. You'll have to find out tomorrow (or Tuesday if I don't have a good day) whether my experiment worked! Best bit about truffle making is there's always a bit of cream and chocolate left over to make a sumptious hot chocolate (that'll be after I've helped with the dishes tonight) 

This is my favourite kind of drink!

Yesterday I was super tired all day after a few hours of being awake. While I got in 2 hours of writing, I kind of didn't get heaps of craft done. I detangled some yarn, and made a pair of dishcloths, which I know is something but not as much as I can do. Still, it is better than nothing, as is this post! Have a great rest of the weekend! 

Nayu's Craft Time #93 The Truth About Making Chocolate + Disney Life Membership

This morning's work!

 ...you actually don't want to eat too many. Seriously. After a few hours of truffle making (including a lot of preparation and cleaning away plus the chocolate melting then dipping), I look at all the chocolate and think 'I'm giving it away to friends soon!' ^o^ 

I love chocolate, and I'm saving the leftovers for hot chocolate made the original way by melting chocolate into hot milk (& cream when I make more truffles later this week). Other than that I'm not really keeping any for myself. Friends and family are having them! 

Then there's the fudge, which appears to have multiplied in the freezer without me knowing. Maybe they are the opposite of gremlins, which I think you feed, keep warm, water and do something else to make them multiply & become evil. Only fudge is sweet, not evil, I haven't fed it, and I keep it cold. Either way I have more fudge than I thought - least condensed milk doesn't exactly go out of date in the cupboard! 

In theory I was going to do some crochet today, but with laundry needing doing (all the hanging up isn't so good for my weak arms on top of truffle making) I'm going to be watching anime first. And at least one Disney movie because...

...I've joined a free trial of Disney Life! 

A lot of you will have heard of Netflix, an online movie/TV low cost monthly subscription. Disney Life is like that - you can watch a lot of Disney movies (both what I call human drama and animation), but that's not it. You can listen to Disney music. You can read Disney books. You can play Disney games! 

At least you can if you aren't me. For some reason Disney Life app isn't supported on my Kindle Fire, or my tablets (both the same make). Thankfully I can access the movies on my laptop, just nothing else. Since I'm only joining for the free trial, having a month of watching Disney, then cancelling, that suits me fine. 

* mumbles about the evil that is Apple which can probably almost certainly access everything else, but since it will be a push to watch all I want to watch without adding in reading books and playing games it's possibly no bad thing I can only get the movies. * 

Some of the Disney movies will be ones I do craft to, only because there are parts I don't like so will need to stay preoccupied. Thankfully almost all the movies I want to see are on there - yay! Including Frozen Fever which I've heard about but not yet seen. 

So that's me sorted for movies over the next 29 or so days! Movies that I like but not love are great to do craft to because I don't mind not seeing all of the film (eyes do need to be on my project quite a bit). This afternoon I'm going to watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which I'm not sure if I like yet but I'm giving it a go. It's been at least 2 decades since I last saw it, so other than dwarves song I can't remember anything! 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, and let me know if you delve into chocolate making and Disney Life! To find out more check out the Disney Life website.

September 2015 Monthly Catch Up

This post is simultaneously being posted on Nayu's Reading Corner Picture source

Somehow August's Catch up on all my NCD posts didn't happen, but September#s is now ready! Here's what's been going on in my craft world - and baking ^o^

Nayu's Craft Time #65 I'm back! And how to buy me cake...

Please! Or yarn to keep on knitting ^o^

Nayu's Craft Time #70 Small milestone achieved! + Update

Find out how you helped me reach an important milestone!

Nayu's Craft Time #71 Baking and stuff

A brief post on what I've been baking - including bran flake marshmallow crispies!

 Nayu's Craft Time #72 This week's plans

Which include truffle making!

Nayu's Craft Time #73 The 3 Cs: Carrots, Crochet & Chocolate!

I work on a set of cream fingerless gloves bordered with this soft pink

Nayu's Recipes #1 Carrot, Orange and Tomato Smoothie

I share a smoothie recipe with you!

Nayu's Craft Time #74 Mini holiday

which involved more roll baking (white rather thn these super tasty sun-dried tomato and chilli rolls)

Nayu's Craft Time #75 Relaxation is bliss!

This post involves me squee-ing over having Elsa appear in the US fantasy drama Once Upon A Time season 4

Nayu's Recipes #2 Blueberry Green Smoothie

Can you guess what green veg I've snuck in with these blueberries?

As you can see September was a pretty quiet month craft wise, at least for those things that I can show you. I'm trying to find a new routine for both blogging and craft, to get a fair balance of each. Finally building work is complete which means I can easily have a few hours of crochet without being needed for rounds of tea and checking progress. I plan to make October quite different from September! 

This quote says it all!

Nayu's Craft Time #75 Relaxation is bliss!

Can you guess who this is?

I've had an extremely quiet day. Family returned from the holidays, which is nice. I finished the 3rd season of Once Upon A Time - I'd technically finished it yet, but had somehow managed to watch the 4th disc before the 5th, so watched it to fill in the gaps. No wonder I was so confused yesterday, it explained everything I didn't understand. I'm starting season 4 today which includes Elsa from Frozen!!! Not that I'm excited or anything. 

Also been watching the latest new episodes to one of my favourite anime, Aikatsu.

It's cute, fun, about friendship and working on achieving your dreams! Very inspiring.

No craft today, kind of too tired to focus. I did take my truffles out the freezer, pop them into bags, and put them bag. They are currently uncoated, will do that step at a later date. 

They currently look like these right now, only most of them are squares

Enjoying just mooching around, hope to have another day of it tomorrow (only with more craft and reading). I'll leave you with a quote which is one I hold to: I'm chasing my dreams of publication and being a successful crochet artist! 

Nayu's Craft Time #74 Mini holiday

Time for a break...sadly not my suitcases! Picture source

Sorry for not posting the last few days - been a little busy preparing for my family to return from a long holiday. My type of parties involve me, my cat, anime, books and craft! There's still some bits that need to be set straight, as I rearrange where I keep things so they are handy.

I made some white rolls today - so not these which are sun-dried tomato!

I've stocked the cupboard full of groceries, bought a few treats and also made a few, which I'm not revealing just in case my family see this. They shouldn't, as they've nearly 24 hours of travelling to get back from Australia (visiting family), but I like to keep some things a surprise! Truffles are included, as are other sweet treats which I can't wait to tell you about!

My yummy truffles!

Due to supervising building work in our garden, I'm sort of having a mini holiday of my own, involving lots of gaming, reading and craft! Not much different from my partying except I'll be doing it in my room and won't be 'on call' if there are any problems. The only problem I hope to have is wondering where the save point is in the game ^o^

Here's Polka from my current game, Eternal Sonata. She's super cute! & I love doing battle with an umbrella ^o^

I confess to liking being able to do mini vacations when I want, now I'm self-employed. A lot of work happens, but a few days will have me refreshed and ready to write and crochet! See you in a few days!

A random pic, but matches well with my sentiment that even if it rains this week, it'll be sunny in my world ^o^

Nayu's Craft Time #73 The 3 Cs: Carrots, Crochet & Chocolate!

This inspiring quote matches today's weather!

Happy Thursday! Despite early morning rain it's looking to be bright and sunny, which is good news for the builders doing some work in the garden. Rain has held up progress, so clear skies are very welcome. 

Today I'm chatting about the 3 Cs, just because they are forming part of my day. First up is carrots! 

No, I'm not making a crochet carrot. I'm certain there is a pattern for it, I just don't have a need for any. I'm talking edible carrots!

Picture from a google search which wouldn't let me access the link for the photo

Tomorrow's post gives you the full recipe (with fun pictures) for the carrot, orange and tomato smoothie which I made today. 

Super tasty way to eat fruit & veg!

Crochet is the 2nd C in today's post. While I'm busy with a secret project which I can't show you, I can let you see what I'm working on with yarn 

This is 1 of 2 fingerless gloves I'm making, with a pink border at the top and bottom of the glove. It's a present for a friend but I plan on selling them here on NRC too! 

The 3rd C of the post, chocolate, is in reference to the yummy chocolate truffles I've been trying out. Today I'm going to make some milk chocolate truffles, then coat them tomorrow with white chocolate! Mmmm, chocolate... I'd make them now but need a break after blog work. Instead I'll make myself hungry by catching up on the latest episode of The Great British Bake Off! 

This is my second batch, which turned out much better than my first attempt!