GBBO - Week 7

Week 7 already and it was Victorian week. More importantly Paul Hollywood gave out a handshake. A rare sign of approval from our male judge.

First up in Victorian week was a game pie. It really wouldn't be Bake Off without pies. No soggy bottoms though this week although poor Flora struggled to get the filling cooked. I can't say I was excited by this bake. Making pies is too much like cooking and as we all know I find cooking extremely boring. If you are not like me though the Bake Off team have kindly published a recipe.

 For the technical we had a tennis cake. I had never heard of it before but it sounds a lot like Christmas cake but with different decorations. The difficulty for the bakers hear was the decoration. They had to make different types of icing and create a tennis net that would stand up. Oh, and the cake had to be cool enough to support it. I would have failed at this. I don't have the steadiest hand in the world at the best of times. No way would I have managed to sit the net up without destroying it. I wouldn't have baked it the icing though. If you fancy this or are taking part in the Bake Off challenge then you can find the recipe on the Bake Off webiste.

 The show stopper is one of the more boring of this season. It involved lady fingers and jelly. The good part was that they had to make it all themselves and they had to pick out the flavours. Anyone else ever heard of a Good Charlotte? Having said that some of them looked impressive. Including Tamal's which was topped with macarons. As a result Tamal was our winner. He got a Paul Hollywood handshake and produced the bets show stopper. It was kind of inevitable. I quite like Tamal though. He's not afraid to make fun of himself and I did think he deserved star baker this week.

It did mean we said goodbye to last weeks star baker, Mat. As I said last week I always felt like Mat struggled a little. Somehow he always managed to pull through. He was also the creator of one of my favourite bakes, the biscuit fire engine. This week though nothing seemed to go right for him at all. Including baking his icing much to the surprise of Nadiya. Mat will be missed as he is the only one who doesn't seem to get too stressed about the bakes.

I thought I would highlight one of my favourite bakers from last year. Chetna. Now, she wasn't the winner but she was one of the most adventurous when it came to flavours. She was also one of the nicest and part of a group that helped each other all the time. You can follow her on twitter and she has her own blog where she often posts yummy recipes.

http://chetnamakan.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/chetnamakan

Pins I Love - Baby Makes

Before I start I should point out that I am feeling in no way maternal. Nor is this a hint. I chose baby makes this week because I the secret projects I have been working on are for two friends who are expecting. It felt apt to be putting forward some ideas for anyone who has expecting friends. I should also point out that my secret projects are not hidden in this list. So I am spoiling nothing. I could actually have had a post containing nothing but baby knits my mum has done. She is constantly knitting baby things for people in her work. Every time she says that she is going to say no and knit something for herself she caves. This has been going on for over a year now and this time she is adamant.

Anyway, I digress and posting pics of my mums knits would defeat the purpose of my pinterest post. Plus all of these patterns are free (mostly from ravelry). The first one I picked for its stripes. I love stripes. I also can't knit cardigans or jumpers which makes me appreciate this sort of thing all the more. I personally wouldn't knit the leggings but that's just me. It is a pattern by Hanne Pjedsted and can be found on ravelry. As always just click on the image to get the link.

I love this little jacket. It looks so elven and appeals to my not so inner geek. I just thin this would look fab on any baby. Boy or Girl. I also love the cables. Like a stripe I am a sucker for a cable. This is a pattern by Jujube & Lolo and can be found on their blog. Sadly this blog hasn't been updated in a few years (as is the way with blogs). I have linked the blog too though in case you are interested.

Another cardigan and this one a relatively simple design. It has a spring like theme to it which is why I like it. It's the little buttons which set it off. I also like the plain knitting. It highlight that simple can be a good thing. This is another free pattern found on a blog. This one is called Anacapa Knits. This one is still up and running.

 Baby Converse! Much cheaper to crochet this than to buy them. Especially since babies outgrow everything so quickly! Another advantage is that these can be made to match any outfit. You have unlimited colour options. I have actually knitted something similar. I got the pattern from a knitting magazine and made them for a few baby showers. It doesn't have the little logo but it is very converse like (in my humble opinion). This is a free ravelry download.

Lastly a blanket. I usually always knit baby blankets. It's safer that way. I will get it finished and I don't need to worry about it fitting. This one is of course crochet. It's also reversible which is the appeal to me. I am not entirely sure about that green but you could do almost any colour combination. This is another ravelry download. I have a feeling that it will use US terms but it would be easy enough to get that translated.

So with that in mind here are some of my tips for making things for new mums or for baby showers.

1. Don't make the first size. Not if you want the baby to get use out of it.

2. Find out if mum is wanting to know the sex of the baby and is willing to pass it on. Most of the items I've picked out are gender neutral. These patterns are sometimes hard to come by mind you. If you know what the baby will be it makes it a little easier to personalise your gifts.

3. Find out what colours the parents like. Believe it or not there are some people out there who do not like baby colours. I am one of them. A friend of mine who has had a few babies also isn't a huge fan. Primary colours are good as are unusual combinations.