Weekend catch up - card making and a quick supper

I went to write a couple of birthday cards on Saturday and discovered that my stocks are severely depleted.

Card making was the first craft thing that I got into, and still enjoy, but you only need so many at a time.  But with only a couple of all occasion cards and a couple of birthday cards left it was time to get gluestick to the card and make some more.

I usually get caught in a theme and make a batch of about 5 or 6 cards at a go from the theme and currently I am well and truly hooked on Matroyshka dolls.

I had a quick look around the web for a suitable template but did not find anything that would suit my card sizes (15 x 10cm and 17 x 14 cm) so decided to make my own.  Out comes the trusty squared paper (I may have mentioned before that squared paper is one of my little pleasures in life), got the school geometry set out and made my own template.

I know I am not showing you the finished products but you may be receiving one so I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The main body is made from magazine pages, scrounged wrapping papers, hand decorated tissue papers and wall paper, then the head scarf is cut out as a separate piece, the face is some fleshy pink paper with the hair line and face hand drawn on.

I am going to see if I can get this as a pdf file for people to download and use from here.

Anyway, today's (Sunday's) car booting was not a great haul, but the drinkies and lunch with friends this afternoon was a great success, leaving me with little time for a project - so here is a great tasty quick and easy supper.


Baked Salmon and Garden Fresh Peas.



1 x salmon steak per peson
1 x cup fresh garden peas per person
1 teaspoon of butter per salmon steak
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to season
1 lemon cut into thin slices

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Take a shallow oven dish and put the peas in the bottom
Place a knob of butter on the peas, and balance the steak on top
Cover with a couple of slices of lemon
Season, then bake covered in the oven for 30 minutes.
Purists may say that is too long for salmon but I like mine cooked through, bake yours for less time if you prefer but the lemon and butter will stop it from drying out, and covering will keep the peas steam cooking without them becoming mushy.
If you like your peas mushy, boil them for a couple of minutes before baking or use frozen peas as these will be softer than fresh garden peas regardless of cooking times.