Email: disassembledublin@gmail.com

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Crafty Day at Dees!
















The beautiful Dee is getting married so she needed to call in the troops for the upcoming nuptials for as she put it "The Wedding Craft Day Bonanza"! So we got a gang together, cracked open the bubbly and treats and got our craft on! These jars are for her centre pieces for the tables for both flowers and candles, but to be honest they could be used for absolutely anything, storing make-up brushes, pens and pencils, gift favours, sweets, etc....the list is pretty much endless! So that's why I decided to share these beautiful jars on the blog. They are very easy to make but the one thing I'd say is be prepared with your supplies, but once you have everything you need this is a great idea to get a gang of friends (crafty or not) together for a day of laughs and fun!:-)

Louise xx

Here is the list of what u'll need:

Materials:
Newspaper to cover tables/surfaces
Clean glass jars, every shape and size possible
Scissors
PVA glue (it dries clear on the glass)
Ribbons, twine, hessian, lace, straw, buttons (basically raid a haberdashery shop)
Paint brushes
Chalk paint, we used Annie Sloan chalk paint. This can be got in Rua in Dublin on Capel Street, or you can make your own, here's a link to a few different recipes that you could try: http://salvagedinspirations.com/best-homemade-chalk-paint-recipes/
Sand paper

AND THAT'S IT! Have Fun!:-) xx


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Red Velvet Cake














Love it or loathe it... Valentine's day is just two days away! So here at Disassemble Dublin we decided to bake a cake, because lets face it who doesn't love cake?!...and since Valentine's is upon us we decided to make a Red Velvet Cake. You may not guess from its extravagant appearance, but red velvet cake is deliciously light and extremely moreish. A classic in America, its becoming a favourite here.  Enjoy, but be warned this recipe makes a rather large cake so its perfect for sharing but equally not!;-)

Louise xx

For the cake:
120g soft butter
300g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
300g plain flour
10g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of salt
220g of buttermilk
1-2 teaspoons of red food colouring paste (I used the whole thing nice it was quite small)
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
1 heaped teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

For the icing:
110g of soft butter
400g of icing sugar
220g of soft cream cheese
a few drops of vanilla extract
and love hearts to decorate or whatever you like :-)

You will need:
Two 20cm round sandwich tins, greased with butter
and lined with greaseproof paper

Method:
1/ Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (gas mark 3)
2/ Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. With a wooden spoon or an electric whisk, cream them together until they are pale and fluffy
3/ Add the eggs one by one, and a few drops of vanilla extract, beating well after each addition.
4/ Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into the bowl in batches and fold in gently with a large metal spoon, adding the buttermilk gradually in between the batches of flour.
5/ Now add the red colouring until you have a deep-red batter - be brave with the dye, it needs to be truly red. Fold in gently until the mix is all one colour.
6/ Mix together the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda and add to the mixture, folding in the combining the ingredients thoroughly
7/ Divide the mixture between two cake tins and bake for 25-30mins until the cakes are firm, springy and pulls away from the sides of the tins easily.
8/ Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing
9/ Now for the frosting. Put the butter in a mixing bowl and sift over the icing sugar. Cream together until smooth. Add the cream cheese and a few drops of vanilla extract and mix well, check the taste and adjust if necessary.
10/ Place one of the cake layers upside down on a plate or cake stand so you have a nice flat surface. Spread the frosting. Put the other cake layer on top and use the remaining icing to cover the top and sides of the cake.



Sunday, February 9, 2014

Qinoa, pepper and feta salad







In a bid to eat healthy (please note this is a rare occasion...Wait til you see the next post we have for you!), we decide to cook up a Qinoa salad. We pretty much made it up as we went along to be honest but the taste of the final meal was scrumptious! This salad is also crazy easy to make and thankfully doesn't involve too much washing up eithe. Always a bonus in my book!

Recipe (serves 2):

1 cup of Qinoa
2 cups of water
1 yellow pepper cut into strips
1 small red onion diced
1 chicken stock cube
1/3 block of feta cheese
1/3 bag of fresh spinach
A drizzle of balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp of coconut oil


Place the stock cube in a pot with 2 cups of boiling water. Add the qinoa and cook until all the water is absorbed. Cook the prepared vegetables in a frying pan with the coconut oil for 5mins. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 5mins. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Combine the vegetables with the cooked qinoa and cruble feta cheese on top. Easy and delicious!