Working for The Co-op

I finally landed a job with my dream employer, The Co-op. I started 2 weeks ago and it's been great.
There are a lot of changes happening as The Co-op hit a pretty bad patch when The Co-op Bank suffered some serious losses. I was a bit miffed to find out that The Co-op now only owns 20% of The Co-op Bank as I bank with Smile and own a Co-op Member Credit Card. 

But being now an employee and a colleague member is in a different league. I went to the 'Back to being Co-op' session on Monday and thoroughly enjoyed it. The idea is to go back to The Co-op's roots, i.e. the Rochdale pioneers who pooled together to open a shop where they'd sell proper flour, not chalk. 

And yesterday, I met some of the Food Business' Quality Assurance team - how they verify potential suppliers' credentials and check products supplied. Is this olive oil really extra virgin??? Stuff that doesn't sell gets passed onto FareShare who redistribute to local charities. I got a goodie bag of toilet paper, crisps, mackerel and apple. :) And said goodie bag is made from recycled material: check this entry on The Co-op's blog.

:)
I'm also part of the Taste Team so yesterday we got a sample of Italian meats like Parma Ham and Salami. And on Wednesdays, there is a tasting session on the ground floor. Last week we had a lush goats cheese pizza, today granola! There was also a talk about a co-operative producing cocoa in the Ivory Coast that benefits from The Co-op's stance on fair trade.

Tomorrow I'll be lending my colleagues a hand at my local Co-op Store, promoting the new membership. 1% of what you spend on Co-op own brand products (and wills, and funeral plans) will go back to your community.

Sewing Project: Upcycling a Jumper into a Cardigan

Hi,
as I mentioned in my April post, I have several sewing projects I need to finish, and here is one I have finally managed to complete: turning a cashmere jumper into a cardigan/ jacket.
I started this project at a French Knots 'Clothes Clinic' workshop in June 2015. My grandma gave me that jumper in the 1990s, so it was a bit tight, but it is cashmere and a lovely almond green colour, so, despite the fact that it seems to be a magnet for moths, I just could let go of it.
Jo encouraged me to be quite radical about it, and I liked the idea of a Chanel-style cardigan/ jacket, so I chopped off the ribs at the bottom so that the hem would sit at my waist, and cut the cuffs off so that it would have 3/4 sleeves. I also widened the neckline and cut the front straight in the middle.



I then started sewing some floral bias binding along the 2 front edges and the neckline. Then, unfortunately, the project sat in the sewing room for more than a year, where two moths managed to have another go at it.
But I picked it up again on Tuesday for French Knots' Sewcial, and finished it yesterday at last. Here is the finished product:

It's good to have finally finished this. Now, I have another six French Knots projects to finish, in particular my Advent bunting that I started in November 2014 and didn't finish in time for Christmas 2014, nor Christmas 2015. I really want to put it up by 1st of December 2016 - it's good to have a deadline.
I will incorporate the patchwork star cushion I made in September 2014 into a quilt I started in October 2014.
I still keep the Dorset brooch in my handbag (started in January 2015) - must admit whenever I have a moment, I tend to read my Kobo rather than progress this embroidery progress. It would look perfect on my new cardigan though.
Still need to sew the buttons on  the patchwork clock (started January 2015).
And still need to assemble the bamboo handle bag (started in February 2015).
I also now have a snap purse to finish, and I made a dolman-sleeved T-shirt yesterday - my first attempt with jersey - that just a hem and cuffs.
Watch this space!

Baking: Banana Tea Bread

Hi,
not posted in a while, probably hit by SAD.
But I've managed to catch up with quite a few things over the past few weeks, such as cleaning the windows (with diluted vinegar and a microfibre cloth, very easy) and tidying up my 'sweet' recipes.

I have several categories, the most imposing ones being chocolate and lemon, but also fruit (from apricot brioche tarte to summer pudding) and things to make for Christmas presents (chutneys, biscuits, spicy nuts, etc.).

In the course of that, I've determined to try my own recipe of brownie.

But first, a repeat of Annie Bell's Banana and Date Tea Bread, a recipe I cut out of The Independent a long time ago. My friend David gave me 2 bananas on Friday and by now (Wednesday) they still hadn't gone completely mushy, but were soft enough for this recipe.

Annie starts with the mashed bananas, chopped dates and golden syrup. I swapped the dates with prunes and the syrup with very fragrant honey from Marsden, West Yorkshire.

Butter creamed with muscovado sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp milk.

Instead of just plain flour, I used 100g of freshly delivered Marriage's organic light brown plain flour (sounds nice not using bleached flour!) (as well as very old baking powder) and 150g or so of left-over wholemeal self-raising flour - I hope there was enough moisture in the recipe to allow for the wholemeal portion. And then I added 40g desiccated coconut, and some milk chocolate stars, for lushness.

Lookin' goooood... Hope the kids like it...