Summer

As I sit here in an autumnal jumper and listening to the rain falling outside I have realised that autumn has kind of snuck up on us. Don't get me wrong I was aware that it was coming, but the past couple of days the temperature had noticeably dropped. Autumn is in full swing and I have been reflecting on the summer that has just waved good bye to us.

Summer always brings with it longer days and shorter nights. Warmer temperatures even when its raining. A bright and wonderful colour show brings us something different each day with nature taking centre stage. Going into the garden and picking fruit/vegetables that you have been waiting for a couple of months to be just right. Having a day in the park and a picnic with your cousins. Sometimes summer can trick us into  thinking that it has gone for good but the sneaks back on us in September and squeezing every last bit of what it has. The anticipation and excitement of the arrival of a new family member whilst still enjoying the older ones. Summer, its been great and now it is over to the ever changing autumn. 

Baby Shower Gift Idea

As stated in the previous post it has been a big baby boom this year and I thought it would be nice to do a post on a gift idea of something different rather than the usual clothes, blankets and toys etc. You may or may not know that I love anything handmade, just knowing that someone has put hard work, effort and thought into the craft and what they have made just puts a huge smile on my face. So it may be no surprise that this is a handmade gift made by yours truly.

Embroidery hoop art has been all over the internet for a while now and I have always wanted to try it but never had the chance. The great thing about these are that you have 100% creative control and do whatever you want with them and make them for any occasion. In this instance the lovely mother to be hadn't found out the gender of the baby so instead to going with all neutral colours I went with all different colours. You can use any shape/size hoop, any fabric, buttons, beads, ribbons and anything you want. 

Just a couple of tips

• Always cut your fabric about and inch bigger than you need and tighten it as much as you can on the hoop.
• When finished fold and glue the excess fabric to the inside of the hoop to keep it secure 
• You can also cover the hoop in washi tape, fabric, ribbon, lace or whatever else looks good around it
• Just have fun with it, let your imagination run wild and you never know what you will come up with  

Here is the set of three colourful embroidery hoop wall art, ideal to hang in the baby's nursery  

A button hot air balloon 

Who doesn't love colourful bunting

Colourful ribbons 

The wholes on the side of the embroidery hoop are perfect for threading ribbon through

Close up of the cute teddy bear ribbon 

All read to be gifted 

Going to the park

Ever since I can remember in the summer holidays we would always go to the park. This could be either one of the smaller local parks or we would drive to one of the bigger parks out of town. The 'we' that I speak of wouldn't just be the members of the household, it would be all of the cousins, all of the aunties and uncles and even the grandma. We would always bring a picnic (sometimes even do a barbecue) and bats, balls and rackets. Even now at the age of 24 it always nice to see all my younger cousins and niece getting excited at all of animals and rides.   

For the past few years we have been going to the park a little bit earlier in the year as the blessed month of Ramadan  has taken place in the middle of the year. With yesterday being a bank holiday it seemed like the perfect time to gather the brood and go to the park. We drove to one of the bigger parks as the have animals and there is always something going on. Obviously I made a vlog of our time at the park (I didnt film the picnic) so here it is. 

Instagram Update

As stated previously at the beginning of this post, I have been pretty rubbish a blogging and showing you what has been going on with my life.  So I thought the best way to update you gust would be through my instagram pictures. If you are on instagram do come and follow me because it is where I upload the most and just to see what is going on with me (@capturing_my_world).

So I came back from Dubai to the rainy north of England 

The leaves started changing colour 

The picture of the cake I made for Eid Ul Adha made it into this Sorted Food video :)

It was still raining 

Autumn was in full swing 

My friend got married and it was beautiful wedding 

We went to Morocco

It was my birthday and this was a handmade car from my sister (you can see her blog post about it here)

The festive lights is Manchester Arndale were looking very nice 

The days were getting shorter and I realised that I was awake (most of the time) before the sun was 

And before I knew it, it was new years eve, and because it is my grandma's birthday in new years day we always spent the day with family and I baked a cake 

I was experimented with colours 

And had my first rainbow cupcake order

We finally started putting our VHS tape onto DVDs

One of the advantages of having shorter days is the I would see this whenever I left work 

No comment ;)

I was working all day on pancake day so the next day I made savoury sweetcorn pancakes with mushrooms and a freshly laid fried egg  

I bought a new baking book which I love 

I'm really getting into gardening 

I love watching the plants starting to pop out of the soil 

Also trying to be more healthy 

And Spring has officially sprung 

So now you are up to date with what has been going on. I think I might make this Instagram update a regular feature I quite like it. Remember for all my goings on check out my instagram (@capturing_my_world) and until next time, bye :) x 

Dubai Diaries:The beach

Going to the beach in Dubai was one of those 'taking advantage of the amazing weather' kind of things. We knew we weren't really going to get another chance like this any time soon, so we sun creamed up and off we went. The beach was called Jumeirah beach and it was perfect because they do a ladies only day. With the sun glistening on the water and the warm sand between your toes it was easy to forget about the rainy days back in England. So here are some pictures that I took at the beach:

Umbrellas 

Dubai in the sand

Beach toys

Sun and the sky

Waves coming in 

The sun glistening on the water

The water

Palm trees and probably the only cloud in the sky 

Rubber dingies 

Something Light and Fresh

As stated in the previous post there was a lot of eating done on Eid-ul Fitr and the majority of the food contained some form of lamb or chicken. So after a weekend of eating a lot of carnivorous food, we wanted to cleanse our bodies and have some vegetable goodness. What was even better was that some of these vegetables came directly from our garden. This Spring Summer Minestrone recipe is perfect for having a lot of vegetables in one dish and its really easy to change the vegetables that you use and make it your own. The recipe I used was from the Jamie Oliver series Jamie Does....Venice (you can watch the full episode here). The soup was delicious and fresh and was exactly what was needed after a heavy food weekend.

Home-grown peas (and mums hands) 

Home-grown green beans 

A pot full of vegetables

Soup bubbling away 

The recipe

The book

The finished product

The Instagram picture 

Eid and Bithday celebrations

The day after the blessed month of Ramadan is over it is Eid (specificly Eid-ul fitr). One the day of Eid it is custom to pray a special Eid prayer and spend time with family, friends and loved ones. It also seems to be an excuse to eat food all day and have a permanent food coma :-). A tradition in our family is to always have seviyan (sweet vermicilli in milk) and boiled eggs; and the we spend the rest of the day with extended family at my grandma's house. On Eid-ul fitr there are also gifts or money given to loved ones as well. Also coincidently this year Eid landed on my dad's and cousin's birthday, so there was a lot of cake consumed. Here is a short video of the day.



Hope you all had a prosperous Ramadan and a wonderful Eid xxx

Ramadan gifts

As many of you know the holy month of Ramadan is in full swing now. In this month of Muslim's will fast from sunrise to sunset. Also in this month Muslim's increase their worship (through praying and reciting the Qur'an etc) to the all might Allah and increase their good deeds. Doing all of this helps Muslim's build their patience, be grateful for what we have that others around the world may not have, and most importantly to get closer to Allah in our hearts and on a spiritual level. The month of Ramadan was also the month in which the Qur'an was revealed and sent down to the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

It is custom in Ramadan to take gifts when visiting  loved ones and neighbours, and normally these gifts include a box or tray of dates (which many Muslim's open their fast with at sunset). However I wanted to try something different with dates this year. I made mini almond date truffles and mini coconut macaroons instead. I saw the recipe for almond date truffles about a year ago and thought they would make perfect Ramadan gifts, and my recent love for making coconut macaroons can be read about here. In the recipe for the truffles it does ask for medjol dates (which are quite sweet) however I didn't have any at the time so I used the dates I had and the added a bit of honey for some sweetness. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the process of making them but I did take a picture of the finished product.

Finished product tied up with ribbon and a home made gift tag

Close up  

The tags I made using parchment paper and washi tape for the decoration. On the other side of the tag I wrote a sentimental message, 'May this Ramadan bring you peace, prosperity, good health and brighten your life forever Ameen xx'. For your Ramadan gifts you can put whatever message you want, whatever feels right. Hope you all have a blessed month and may this Ramadan bring you peace, prosperity, good health and bright your life forever, Ameen xx

'They aren't macaroons, they don't have two sides'...

.....Was a direct quote from my cousin when he saw these coconut macaroons. Obviously he was thinking about their more fashionable and popular cousin the French macaron. I said to him 'just because it doesn't look like a typical macaroon, it doesn't mean that it isn't a macaroon'. Anyway the recipe and the method couldn't have been easier and the outcome of it all is even better. They had a wonderful marshmallowy taste to them and were just scrummy. The recipe I used was from here, but at the end I did dip each macaroon into dark chocolate just to add a little extra to them. I actually made mine quite big, I think I might try and make them a bit smaller next time, but you can make them whatever size you want. 

All of the ingredients that were used

Getting ready to mix

Mixing away

Ready for the oven

Baked and dipped in dark chocolate