Potato & Bacon Frittata

While we're already nearly half way through winter, comfort food makes its appearance to cheer one's cold body up. For the last week I have been rather busy in the kitchen cooking some of these winter warmers and decided to share with you one of my favourites of the moment. It is basically a good recipe for left overs but can be made from scratch. The potato and bacon frittata is a good one I have cooked a number of times now and I tend to tweak the recipe with what I have at hand in the fridge and pantry. When I made this one, it was a perfect opportunity to try out the new camera too. I cannot remember where I got the original base recipe for this from, but seeing as I change it slightly each time, I'll call this my recipe.

Ingredients:
- 3 medium potatoes peeled and roughly chopped (you can use left-over roast potatoes)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 2 bacon rashers, cooked and finely chopped
- 1/2 large capsicum, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 large bok choy, stalks chopped and leaves torn (alternatively you can use baby spinach, but I didn't have any on hand)
- 4 eggs, lightly whisked
- 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup finely grated colby cheese (or a cheese that has a good melt)
- a few sprigs of finely chopped parsley (I didn't have any growing at the moment so I used a teaspoon of dried parsley)

1. Pre-heat a fan forced oven to 200°C.
2. If not using left over roast potatoes, partly cook potatoes in water for 5-8 minutes in the microwave (or about 10 minutes in a pot on the stove), drained and put aside.
3. Heat a frying pan with oil, once hot add the onions and garlic and fry until lightly golden brown.
4. Add the potatoes and toss and stir until the outside edges are beginning to brown.
5. Grease a rectangular flan pan (approximately 15cm x 30cm) and tip the potato and onions in and evenly distribute around the pan.
6. Sprinkle over the finely chopped bacon, chopped capsicum and bok choy.
7. Whisk the eggs lightly with paprika, salt and pepper, pour over the potatoes and the other things in the flan.
8. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and parsley and place in the oven for 20 minutes or until egg is cooked through and potatoes are tender with the cheese browning on top.
9. Remove from the oven, slice and serve while hot.

This can serve four people as a side dish or two people for a main. It was delicious and the perfect food for the rainy weather we have been having recently.

Fabric Slip Book Cover DIY

Materials and Tools:

- Selected book to be covered

- Base fabric for cover, cut enough to cover the book plus extra for around the edges. (I used calico)

- Feature fabric - could be scrap or offcuts

- Large brown paper bag or card

- Fabric glue

- Wool/thread

- Cotton

- Fabric pen/marker or pencil

- Scissors; fabric, pinking shears and paper/stationary 

- Needles; sewing and wool/embroidery 

- Ruler

- Iron

- Pegs, peg clamps or bulldog clips

This is the book that I'm making the slip cover for. It is one of my cooking bibles I constantly refer to for any basic recipe. 

*I bought this book during my home economics class in grade 8 (15 odd years ago, eek!) for a dollar and it's the best dollar I've spent, I use it that much. The school apparently stopped using them years before I arrived and had them in storage a very long time so they decided to get rid of them. As you can see they obviously hired them out to students and inside was a list where people wrote their name when it was taken out and the last student to hire this particular one was in 1981 - nearly 2 years before I was born!

Lay the paper bag or card out (I used a paper bag) and hold the book on its spine and let the front and back cover lie flat on top. With a pencil trace around the book, mark where the spine is and you should be left with a large rectangle. Using a ruler add about 40-50mm around the rectangle and then draw where the corners are going to be cut and the location of where the spine is and proceed to cut out until you have something similar to what is pictured above. Lay that over the cover fabric and trace around using a fabric pen or marker.

I apologise for the poor photo but you can make out the lines I traced around the template and I added a further 15-20mm around that again, you'll see why in a moment.

As pictured above cut around the outer lines and cut 45 degree angles across the corners as it will make for neat and easy folds when it comes time to iron and glue down.

Using the iron, press and fold over the flaps and then apply some fabric glue and press and hold until it adheres. Leave the fabric to dry thoroughly before moving onto the next step. This will give you a neat edge and will stop the fabric from fraying. However instead of gluing, you could also stitch it up on a sewing machine.

Once dry fold over the larger flaps and using peg clamps, clamp over the corners holding the flaps together as shown. 

While clamped, stitch the corners together. I used a straight stitch and continued all the way along for a decorative look.

Using pinking shears, trim the edges of the feature fabric you want to use. For mine I chose Thea and Sami's Spoon & Whisk - fitting for a cookbook - which I picked up at the Bowerbird Bazaar a few months ago.

Using wool (either matching or in contrast colour), stitch around the edge, I used the blanket stitch to give it a pretty border.

Lay the cover out flat and then position the feature fabric piece where you want and then fold the ends over and stitch or glue to the inside of the cover flap.

Now slip the cover over the front and back covers of the book and viola! The book has a new lease on life!

Ma-ma Sue

On Monday night I lost someone dear to my heart, my beloved grandmother Sue. She was an extremely talented lady and inspired me to be the crafty individual I am today. I'm at a loss to think of the hundreds of things she used to make and do that we'll never see again. While she did pass on some tricks and secrets, there are many things such as most of her trademark recipes, which have gone with her. Now they will forever be memories of the awesome things she used to make, create and bake.

I'll miss the freshly baked goodies; always sitting on the table waiting for us to arrive when we visited. Everything from her trademark Rock Cakes (a recipe that was never recorded anywhere, not even in her beloved little black notebook where many of her other fabulous recipes were written), to lamingtons, kiss biscuits, Raspberry creams and jelly cakes and that morning tea staple; fruit cake.

Sue was gifted with a needle, crochet hook and knitting needles too. I have fond memories of visiting her and my pa-pa (who unfortunately passed on a few years back) and it wasn't an uncommon sight to see either a ball of wool with crochet hook or knitting needles attached; something marvellous being created, sitting in the living room or in her sewing room.

One such project that she had on the go for a few years was the crochet blanket (mentioned in the previous post) she made for me using our favourite shades of purple, pink and blue. This beautiful, intricately detailed creation was one of the main catalysts for me to pick up a crochet hook and start to learn the craft.

Sue, I truly admire your courage and determination to continue on with life with whatever it threw at you. You were an amazingly strong women who never gave up and was always willing to give selflessly to all those you held close. Love you always.