Tuesday 3 July 2012

Ta-dah! Tuesday - Taking the Biscuit

It was nine years of wedded bliss for Mr FHCS and I earlier in the week, so we celebrated with a school time game of hooky and hit the South Bank again - luckily on the warmest day we've had in a while. I dug out a 50s sun-dress, and boy2 raised his game compliments wise, and declared me to be "as beautiful as a jammy dodger"! Something of an improvement on previous remarks, I think you'll agree.

I mention this not to boast about my obvious innate biscuity beauty, but because the day seemed to have a theme from the start. [I'll leave out the parts where we watched a trapeze artist, listened to poetry in Mandarin and ate a fish-finger sandwich. I am ruthless in my journalistic ways.] Anyway, we went to the Southbank Centre shop - kind of pricey, but sooo good for modern design and stuff to decorate the home you imagine you have when you read Living Etc. I have several imaginary homes, obviously, but whether they're sleek and modern or more ramshackle and involving poultry; they all have a playroom which needs furnishing. [It's imaginary! I know a real playroom would be filled to capacity with lidless felt-tips and lego]. But look! Wouldn't these cushions be lovely for it? And the children would treat their screen-printed loveliness with complete respect and never use them as weapons or stepping stones across shark infested carpet.






They're made by genius designer Nikki McWilliams, and you can find her shop here.

She - and the Southbank centre - also sells her wooden biscuit brooches. I was kind of tempted by the jammy dodger given boy2's earlier comment, but am realistic enough about my look to know that 'demented children's TV presenter gone to seed' is not a good one for me. They're cute though, eh?

Biscuit brooches £6.00 each

When the boys had friends to play I'd have to serve their biscuits on Yoyo Ceramic's modern homage to Homemaker china -  Yoyomaker.


I have a small collection of Homemaker, but I do think one large plate with the new interior icons (what, no laptop?) would make a good counterpoint to it. Or it would make a great wedding present for ultra stylish types, don't you think?

We had a wander around the shops of the OXO tower too, and came across the Suck UK shop, which is always great for quirkily designed bits and pieces [check online for lower prices first though]. Having seen Zoe's awesome word making biscuit stamper she bought in Japan, my eye was ready to be caught by these slightly less labour intensive versions. You can get 'Home Made', 'I Love You', or perfect for fans of none too subtle come ons Alice in Wonderland - 'Eat Me'.


The silicon part is removable for easy cleaning.

They come with a recipe for vanilla cookies, but as I had baking to do for the school Summer Fair, I tried it out with my fail-safe gingerbread recipe and it worked a treat.

Ta-dah!

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a go yourself.

Proper Gingerbread
6oz self raising flour
1 heaped tsp ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
2oz sugar
2oz butter or baking margarine
3 heaped tablespoons golden syrup
(this is enough for a family, I doubled for the school fair)

1. Mix the flour sugar and spices together and make breadcrumbs with the butter. It's quicker with a mixer but you can do it all by hand.
2. Add the syrup and mix to a stiff dough. This is really a lot easier and less sticky with a mixer. If you pour some olive oil into your tablespoon first, and then tip it out again, you'll find the syrup slides straight off the spoon.
3. Roll out onto a floured surface to about 1/2 centimetre thick. Cut out your desired shapes, or stick to circles and stamp with your stamper.
4. Transfer to a trays lined with greaseproof paper and cook at 160c for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Don't overcook, they'll harden once they're cool.

So, what have you all been up to? Add your thumbnail to the linky below, and don't forget to link back to Ta-dah! Tuesday in your post. If you can visit some other participants too that would be great. I feel like death at the moment so might retreat back to bed, but I promise I will get around to checking out all the links as usual.

Lakota x

PS. Don't forget my giveaway closes today - you could win a pair of tickets to Vintage Fashion Fair London in Primrose Hill. If I've shaken off this hideous sore throat I'll be there!

30 comments:

  1. So hungry now which is not good as I'm off to Sainsbury's now *doubles weekly shop budget* Love those cushions and those biscuit stamps! x

    ReplyDelete
  2. ...oh, by the way there's a discount code for gorgeous vintage fabric on my blog post! :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awe, I love your sons comment 'as beautiful as a Jammy dodger', how sweet :)
    Those cushions are fab! All this biscuit talk is making me hungry :P Thanks for sharing the gingerbread recipe, I will have to give it a go.
    Have a lovely week and a Happy (belated) 9th Wedding Anniversary.
    Magie x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brilliant! My 2 girls are great fans of the stepping stone cushion game jumping from sofa to sofa :o) Great receipe, I shall be using that this afternoon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Tunnocks cushions remind me of tea at my Grandma's house - and are definitely too nice for my house until the kids are at least 30. The cookie stamper is on my wishlist - another excuse to make more cookies always welcome :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've got a Tunnock's tea towel, maybe I should remake it into a top, always seemed too cute for the dishes!
    Love the look of your home-made biscuits, those stamps are brill! x

    ReplyDelete
  7. oooh proper gingerbread, sounds like such a treat. Adorable stampers! I'm a sucker for biscuits...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh I adore those cookie stampers! Ooh and yummy gingerbread too, mmmmmm!
    Victoria xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. I adore those Tunnocks cushions...brilliant idea. I too have several imaginary homes and these would go nicely on the wondow seat of the cottage in the Welsh hills!
    I love that comment. He has set the benchmark for all small boys forever I think. When...if...I ever become a granny I will hope for something as good as it. One son once said I made the best gravy in the world...xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  10. those tunnock cushions are ace! (imagine if they were real a real tunnocks cake, that big, wouldn't that be the best birthday cake you ever had!)i really really want a set of biscuit stamps, your look ace. i did have a go at using some little letter press after i saw zoes but it didn't work!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The cookie stampers (and your lovely cookies) really steal the show at the end of your post, and i can't for the life of me think of a bigger compliment than being as beautiful as a jammy dodger. I mean, they are really two biscuits stuck together, and they have jam AND sugar! There is not a lot that could be more beautiful. Hope you like the much less professional looking leaf shapes on my chicken pie!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I must look out that biscuit stamper for when the twins come to stay. We used to have one for bread that said “Good Morning Sushine” on your slice of toast - very cheering. I’m glad you had a lovely anniversary day out

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love the jammy dodger comment - praise indeed ! My boys always seem to notice when I've made an effort - makes me smile.
    The biscuit stampers are fabulous, really think I need one :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love the cushions and your stamped cookies look great. Think I may may to buy a stamper myself! M x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe, I'm Italian but in love with gingerbread and nobody here could bake it!! I really adore the biscuit stamps too!
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  16. I used to collect Homemaker pattern dishes as well. Thanks for showing us the Yoyomaker dishes. I didn't know they existed. Funny to think that the each object was at the height of modern design and will be looked back on as old-fashioned.

    Love the biscuit stamps. I'm impressed that the lettering is legible. (If I tried, I'm sure it would end up looking like a Cyrillic alphabet).

    ReplyDelete
  17. Happy Anniversary! Love the Tunnock's cushions, and I am almost POSITIVE you could fashion yourself a biscuit brooch of some kind, a talented crafty type like you!
    Your gingerbread sounds delicious - and you're SURE it's foolproof? Could even a not-ver-good baker like me manage it? I think I might have to try!
    Hope you feel better soon - have you done your summer fair or is it yet to happen? Oh the endless responsibilities of the PTA-involved parent...! xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love anything biscuit related <3 I am allll over this post.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Happy 9 year anniversary to you and your guy! WOW! I reallllly want one of those super cute Tunnock's Milk Chocolate Mallow Biscuit cushions! How adorable!

    Those home made gingerbread biscuits look yummy and the stamp is awesome! I may have to try your recipe for myself, I just made some easy peasy but oh so good chocolate cornflake clusters mmmmmmm! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  20. Happy 9 year aniversary!! Those biscuit cushions are fabulous. I want a Caramel Bar one for my living room. The biscuits look yummy. Those stamps are such a good idea. I like the 'Eat Me' one but I'm a sucker for anything ALice related. I reckon you could easily rock one of those biscuit brooches. 'Demented Children's TV presenter gone to seed' is a look I could totally live with! ;) xx

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ha ha, love the biscuit themed things! Ebay has some amazing Jammy Dodger necklaces! I TOTALLY love the shark infested waters thing, totally reminds me of the carpet in my nan's old house before they changed the carpets!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I totally love the Caramel Wafer biscuits cushions - I need to fill my house with them!

    Gems x

    Fashion, Well Done

    ReplyDelete
  23. Happy Anniversary to you both! It'll be 9 years for us too in December - 2003 was a special year! Love those cushions, and the biscuit stampers. I love the shop you mention, I always pop in on the way to a concert at the RFH.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The cushions are splendid, the cookies look delicious - I wonder if I can convince the awesome sister in law will make me some gluten free version? I'll keep you posted, I'm sure you can barely think straight from the suspense. Any chance of pics of you in the alleged 50s frock? SAY YES!

    Sarah xxx

    ReplyDelete
  25. Happy Anniversary amor!
    The pillow cushions are brilliant!
    Mmmm your ginger biscuits looks very tastt.
    Yes, show us your prosti self in 50's frock!
    Besos

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh I love those cookie stampers!

    I linked up to Ta-dah Tuesday. I've finally gotten off my butt and got around to making myself something to wear for the summer. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  27. What lovely goodies you have shown us!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Holy moly, those cushions are amazing! as for your gingerbreads, yummmmm. How cool are those stamps! You seriously do find the coolest things Lakota! I'm going to try n link up pics from my kiddy craft workshop, need to write a blog post xx

    ReplyDelete
  29. Those cushions are so great! I wouldn't be putting them on shark infested floors for sure, but i would sure;y rip them apart to eat stuff inside if i was a kid(A dumb one)

    Love your blog btw:)

    Shubhi's Revels!

    ReplyDelete
  30. What great finds - I love the biscuit cushions and stampers - genius!!! :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment - it's no fun unless I know what you think!

If you ask a question others might want answering too I'll reply here in the comments - if it's personal, I'll reply directly by email if you're set up.