Pumpkin Pie - the cheats version

As you may know by now, I am not a cook, so when I found I could cheat at making a very delicious pumpkin pie, well I thought, If I can't do that then nobody can. 

Quite frankly, I usually only buy pumpkins to feature in my photos as they make such lovely table decorations, on the odd occasion I have made soup so as not to waste them.  Apparently we throw away tons of pumpkins every year, only having used them to make halloween lanterns and such, so it is rather naughty of me to make this cheats version but if you are either rubbish at cooking, and short of time, this is a great way to produce a 'home made' desert. 

Presentation is everything, particularly if you are cheating (insert winking emoji here), so some unusual and beautiful platters, pots and dishes will make this all the more welcoming and in the true sense of Hygge.

For this cheats version you will need ; a tin of 100% natural pumpkin, (I found the baking buddy one in Waitrose), and this comes with the recipe on the can. Also needed, two eggs lightly beaten, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves and condensed milk.  As condensed milk is very sweet I cut back on the granulated sugar and the taste was still sweet.

 I bought a ready made pastry base, the sort you use for tarts. Mix all the ingredients together, pour into the case and cook for about 40 minutes on about 180 Gas mark 4, so not to burn the crust.

The pie will set when it cools down but you need to check that its not too runny before you take it out of the oven.

That hole in mine is where I was checking if it was cooked.  The smell it filled the house with was glorious, very comforting and homely.

In true cheats fashion I also bought squirty cream and then sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top.  When presenting the dish I put my cinnamon in a little bowl from Rose & Grey, which they had sent me to style. They also have some serving bowls in the stone look design which I quite fancy getting to match, you can find it here http://www.roseandgrey.co.uk/stone-look-nibble-bowl. It's a nibbles bowl really but so lovely in colour and design, quite japanese looking, I can see it taking on many jobs in food preparation or even with a cute cactus in it.

My preparations for Hygge are now well underway, next stop get the fireside all cosy and set the scene for entertaining and welcoming in friends from the cold. 

This post is written and photographed by Janice Issitt Life & Style.

Chinese Money Plant Babies

My Pilea Peperomiodes has had babies! thank you, thank you, congratulations are in order for the miracle that this plant has thrived in my very incapable hands.  Also know as The Chinese Money Plant she has sprouted loads of little babies and so I took the gamble and snipped them off, dunked them in hormone rooting powder and planted them up.

I scoured the kitchen and cupboards for small individual pots for the baby plants and suddenly I spied this art deco coffee set. I bought this coffee set in Sweden because it is so adorable, however, it will never get used for coffee as the cups are so ridiculously tiny, they would never satiate our gallon sized appetites today.

Finally though, Ive found a use for the cups and milk jug and I think they look so dinky. Serendipitously, this week one of my sponsors - Rose & Grey, set us a styling challenge and this mini glass greenhouse arrived in the post.

Such perfect timing as these cups are seriously delicate and get knocked over so easily.  The mini glass greenhouse will keep them all in one place, away from the swinging tails of cats, and help to propagate my little money plants.

I like to make little nature tables all over the house, I can see this greenhouse being quite handy for all sorts of things. It's good to group display items together and I think it would look great full of shells and air plants too.

To get your own Mini Glass Greenhouse, pop over to Rose & Grey, it is brand new stock and perhaps you can also put an old coffee set to use with plant cuttings. 

There's nothing else to do now but cross my not-so green fingers and see if the baby Pilea's get roots!  

As a side note I also have baby hedgehogs which I am trying to hand rear, I volunteer for a wildlife animal hospital and this time of year they had hundreds of baby hedgehogs coming in for care, found by the public in many different circumstances, but all needing our help. They are so hard to hand rear, but it is really worth the effort to try and save this endangered species. Wish me luck. 

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Festive Pegboard

A quick update on the Rose & Grey white pegboard styling challenge, and I've added a festive theme to it this week.

The Autumn Surprise Project organised by 'Capture By Lucy' is drawing near so I picked up some paper, tape and tags this week to get an early start.

To get myself in the spirit I bought some mini mince pies, and promptly ate the whole packet! Woops, just a tad too early. 

I have also decorated the board with vintage baubles, fairy lights and leaves as I had these for some other styling photos I was working on and tidied them away on here. 

I'm off to Sisterhood Supper this weekend where we will be trying our hands at a few different crafts and rounding the day off with fine dining, all held at a great new venue called The Forge.

Lots of info about that and some weekend get away ideas next week, until then, I hope your festive preparations are coming along, just don't eat all the pies!

Pin Up Peg Board from Rose and Grey

This month's styling challenge from the on-line company Rose & Grey is a white peg board, definitely an old school item for sure.

The board comes with cute little wooden pegs which have different coloured tips, they are quite secure when pushed in and as you can see will take light weight objects.

I started with a children's theme as I had a lot of baby toys in the house.  No, don't go and get all broody on me, and no, I haven't got some exciting news to tell you, the only patter of tiny feet in this house are from cats .... lots of cats ...and squirrels. 

As I don't have children this is one area of decorating that has passed me by, and whilst I pride myself on having just about every prop imaginable for photos, I was severely lacking in the baby department.

The reason for the baby items came about because I was photographing some adorable keepsake toys which had been made from baby clothes and embroidered with the child's name and birth date.

It was a lucky coincidence really because I think the pegboard looks like something that would fit nicely in a nursery or young persons room, (although it is so completely versatile I can also imagine in in a stylish office) and it fits nicely with the keepsakes theme as this would be a great way to display cards, baby shoes and small toys.

And if it's not going from one extreme to another, here's my Styling The Seasons photo for Halloween, featuring my Ziggy, who was bribed with treats ... appropriately .... Ziggy says Treat not Trick!

Peg Board is available from Rose & Grey, Mirror Glass Stars from http://www.holycowhome.co.uk/ , broom Ikea, Hat Waitrose, and Keepsakes From My Sewing Room