What Is Really Cooking?

What is really cooking in the kitchen? Well, these days I like making something quick and easy. When I have a bit of time I like to try eco dyeing. I started natural dyeing years ago with wool using eucalytus leaves. Then I started dyeing using synthetic dye with cotton fabric, silk and pearl threads. Recently I discovered eco dyeing from India Flint's book Eco colour. A few bloggers such as Kaite and Deanna are also getting into eco dyeing too. My first project was a piece of vintage kimono silk using onion skins. I was quite happy with it so I moved on to dyeing a silk and linen shirt I got from an op-shop. 

The steamer is going on the cook top for nearly an hour. I'm a totally non technical person so I won't go into too much detail except that every plant and flower I see translates into "what colour will it dye?" I used purple hibiscus flowers to dye this shirt. 

It didn't turned out all that well, but it's to be expected with the trial and error method (India Flint wears this sort of coloured clothing all the time!). Anyway, I can always over-dye it again. Can you see the silk scarf? It has the same greenish shade as the dye so I decided to incorporate the scarf into the shirt! The scarf also came from an op-shop. 

 

I started cutting into the lovely silk scarf using the Broderie Perse method. I already put in some stitches and I'm so very happy with how it feels. I will add more flowers as I go. I think that I will over dye the whole thing after I complete the stitching.

Here are more dyed pieces. All except one was dyed using the boiling method. The silk and cotton pieces on the left were dyed with clover flowers. The piece on the top right was dyed using eco-dye method with red onion skins and the bottom right two pieces were dyed with camellia flowers.

  

Okay, what is really cooking in the kitchen? I whipped this To Die For Blueberry Muffin  last Sunday for Father's Day. OMG it turned out so well that I made a second batch on Monday this time using mixed berries instead of blueberry. 

See how they look? The golden crunchy topping is mouth-watering yummy. You got to try it for yourself. I love baking even though I don't like sweets, but I must say I enjoyed these blueberry muffins with my cuppa tea!

So what really is cooking in your kitchen? We are off to our DS again this weekend and from there we are heading down the South Coast to see a possibility blocks of land to build our retirement home. We all have to start somewhere don't we...!