Homemade bunting, flowery food and happy holidays

I feel ashamed that nothing has been written down for a while. The fault is entirely my own; I have spent far too much time doing and not enough time writing. The holidays are blissful and whilst cooking and making things are on my agenda, so are visits to the beach, garden parties and spending time with the family.

Homemade Bunting

With a new baby in the family it is always a pleasure to make some homemade personalised bunting as a gift. The first time I made these quirky country decorations was for my own summer wedding last year but since then, I have made many more personalised messages for friends and loved ones.



Where it all started; our wedding. Personalised bunting to celebrate in country-ish rustic style.



I have been an obsessive collector of vintage fabric for many years and have made much of it into patchwork quilts, curtains and cushions. Personalised bunting is the perfect use for those odd scraps that you can't quite get a square out of or offcuts from vintage curtains, aprons or tea towels.

Last month my sister hatched a girl baby so I collected together my favourite offcuts and planned a bunting banner for her little nest.

You need to make a load of hemmed rectangle flags in a white or creamy-coloured cotton according to how many letters in your message. My new niece has a very short, sweet, old fashioned name, so I'm going to throw in a couple of hearts as well.



As you can see, my stitching isn't super neat but I'm not entering any competitions and the overall effect can be very charming.



To make personalised bunting:

Make hemmed flags like the photograph

Draw and cut out the letters you need (use pinking shears to avoid fraying)

Pin letter right side up onto the white, hemmed flag

Sew around the letter with zigzag stitch

Attach some lace or ribbon to the bottom of the flag

Join the flags together at the top with bias binding or bunting tape and cover up the raw edge in the process (see below).



The joy of bias binding is that it will fold over a raw edge so there is no need for a hem. I fell in love with this floral bias binding from our local haberdashery. It comes in many patterns and takes ric-rac to a whole new level.



I was really pleased with the end result.

Flowery Food

When my mother asked me to bring some edible offerings to her birthday garden party I spent a while planning various breads, cakes and salads. It was on a dusky evening stroll around the vegetable garden that I struck inspiration. The courgette plants that have been extremely late in making courgettes this summer were sporting golden, trumpet-like flowers with the promise of tiny, finger-sized fruit at the base. Italians famously deep fry the flowers stuffed with various cheeses and I too, was determined to incorporate these yellow bells into a summery dish.

A seasonal vegetable and cheese tart seemed the perfect antidote to all the meat on offer at a barbecue and this would lend itself ideally to an edible floral display.

Broad bean, courgette and feta cheese tart was the perfect filling to be adorned with these exotic-looking courgette flowers.

I knew full well that the flowers would wilt in the oven but I hoped the pattern and colour of them would endure the heat.

I love the painterly style of the cooked yellow flowers against the white of the crumbly feta and fresh green of the beans and baby courgettes.

To make this tart:

Make an 8oz flour/4oz butter shortcrust pastry

Line a buttered flan dish with the pastry and bake blind at around 180C for approx 15 mins or until golden

Remove from oven while you prepare the filling

Boil 1/2 lb broad beans for 10 mins and then peel the tough grey skins off them

Place the beans in the pastry case

Cut up some feta cheese into cubes and scatter in with the beans

Taking a potato peeler, transform the baby courgettes into a pile of ribbons by continuing to peel the fruit in the same place over and over

Place the courgette ribbons into the pastry case

Add 2 tbsp of freshly chopped summer garden herbs (eg. parsley, basil, oregano, sorrel, tarragon)

Pour over 6 free range eggs, beaten with salt and pepper

Mix around the egg with the other ingredients to ensure even dispersal of filling

Place several washed courgette flowers in a pretty pattern on top of the contents of the tart

Brush the flowers with extra virgin olive oil to stop from burning

Bake the tart for approx 30mins or until the filling feels firm to the touch

With the rest of the courgette flowers, I threw them in a green salad for sweetness and colour variation. I really urge those of you who grow your own courgettes to try cooking and eating the flowers and I would welcome any other suggestions for their use.