Monday 16 December 2013

Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to those of you who are visiting for the first time as part of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop organised by Jo of  Serendipitous Stitching
My stitched piece is adapted from a free design by The Sampler Girl
This is also my finish for The Needlecraft Haven Monthly Challenge. My version is stitched in Carrie's Creations threads in Luna, Wine and Koala Claw. I changed it a little from the original, adding a couple of little snowflakes around the text and hearts between the snowflakes to carry the colours through the design a bit more. I also changed the three large snowflakes. I freely admit that this is more symptomatic of my problems than of any issue with the original design, but I looked at those snowflakes and I came over all Darth.

So I made mine symmetrical
Anyway back to the blog hop. Jo asked that we share a little about our Christmas food traditions. Ours are all very standard I'm afraid, turkey, Christmas pud etc, but we do always have baked brie for tea on Christmas Eve, which I make like this:-
Lightly oil an oven-proof dish with olive oil, chop a nice big bit of fresh Cornish Brie (of course you don't have to use Cornish Brie, but don't use the cheapy processed kind it doesn't melt properly) into largish wedges as required to fit the dish. Over the top scatter crushed peppercorns, some sprigs of thyme, a clove of garlic, roughly chopped, and some thick strips of zest pared from a lemon. Don't be too precious about chopping things up small, you're going for rustic here. Drizzle a little more olive oil on the top and bake at 180 for about ten minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve immediately with lots of warm crusty bread to dip into the meted cheese. I usually put out some sticks of carrot, cucumber and pepper as well so I can at least pretend it's a healthy meal!

17 comments:

Julie said...

I like your symmetrical flakes, I wasn't brave enough to change it!

Yummy, nice recipe.

Tina said...

Your ornament looks fab Christine,and baked Brie mmmmmmm will have a go x

Chris said...

Lovely ornament.
I think that the baked brie sounds wonderful.

Rhona said...

Love your ornament. I'd be joining you on the dark side as I would have to have my snowflakes symmetrical too! :)

Dani - tkdchick said...

Lovely finish! I'm with you on symmetry!

Anonymous said...

Christine,
Your finish is beautiful. I love the color changes you made. The Brie sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing.

stitchersanon said...

Wow..def. trying your recipe, it sounds amazing. Love your ornie; very pretty!

Cindy's Stitching said...

i love the way you finished this piece.

Kevin said...

I LOVE this ornament! I'm not familiar with the original, but your adaptation is really beautiful. Great job!

Jan Gartlan said...

Lovely ornie! Great recipe. No cornish brie in Tasmania unfortunately. I will have to adapt

Carol said...

I'm a symmetry lover, too, Christine--your ornament is wonderful!! May have to "steal" your idea if I ever stitch that one :)

Astrids dragon said...

But Darth did good this time, it looks great! I've got a little of him in me too.

It's been a long time since I've had brie, sounds like something I need to try. Thanks for sharing!

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Perfect finish! Even if you had to get a little Darth on it :)

EvalinaMaria said...

Very nice finish, thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Late in sending my Thank You for taking part!

I like that you have changed the snowflakes, they look more pleasing to the eye this way.

Gillie said...

I will do this ornament, I will! I love baked Brie especially with fig spread!

geeky Heather said...

LOL...all my friends will tell you I am the same way with symmetry!!