To make eight ice lollies you will need:

- Four Bananas

- 150ml Honey (spooned or squeezed onto a plate)

- 50g Unsweetened Dessicated Coconut (sprinkled onto a plate)

- Four Wooden Skewers

- Scissors

- A Small Baking Tray

- Baking Parchment or Greaseproof Paper

What to do:

To make the sticks for your lollies, take each skewer and cut in half. (Also cut the pointed end off)

Cut each Banana in half. Push one skewer into each banana half. Next cover each banana in honey. Then coat each banana in the coconut. Place each coated banana onto the baking tray lined with baking parchment. Freeze for a minimum of two hours. Then enjoy!

Apprentice of the Month – Ian Whiting

This month’s Apprentice of the Month goes to Ian Whiting, 20, from St Austell. Ian has shown real progress in the kitchen and at college,  has so far had full attendance whilst on the Fifteen Cornwall Programme, and always has a positive attitude. He has shown that he wants to learn has also progressed in his personal development. Good reports from the other chefs too!

Ian says: “Since I left school I’ve been going from job to job. I feel very lucky to have got onto the course; the opportunity has helped me to do something I have always wanted to do but never really had the chance until now. In the future I would love to move to New Zealand with my girlfriend and little boy to be a chef in one of the top restaurants”.

Progress by Personal Development – Kris Butler

Kris Butler is this month’s Progress by Personal Development winner. Kris is 21 and from Newquay, and has made real progress in addressing his issues. He’s also  been working hard and has completed all tasks that have been set him. Reports from the kitchen have also been excellent.

Kris says: “I can’t explain what it means to me to be on this course. This is my break. I’m going to put everything I can into it to achieve. I hope one day I’ll be walking into my own restaurant, cooking amazing food and hopefully helping other young people who are in the same position as I was before Fifteen.”

This month’s Apprentice of the Month has been supported by the Eden Project who kindly donated 2 tickets to see The XX at the Eden Sessions. To find out more about the Eden Sessions and who’s playing this year head to: http://www.edenproject.com/sessions/

The XX will play at the Eden Sessions on Tuesday 2^nd July, tickets cost £35.

What do you do when you are at Fifteen Cornwall? 

“As Assistant Training and Development chef my main role is to keep our apprentices focused, enthused and passionate about food and cooking utilising my years of experience to pass on the ‘Jamie effect’ that rubbed off on me during my time working with him.”

What do you do when you are not at Fifteen Cornwall?

“I spend my down time making gourmet baby food for my 7 month old little girl, fishing, body-boarding, foraging and honing my cookery skills at home, listening to music and scouring YouTube for funny videos!”

“How was your first day at Fifteen Cornwall?

“My first day at Fifteen Cornwall was spent getting to know the friendly and passionate staff and looking for ways to best utilise my experience within the kitchen and training programme.”

Tell us about the best dish you have ever eaten at Fifteen… 

“The best dish I have ever eaten at Fifteen was grilled red mullet from Looe with a delicious panzanella salad which was made using the infamous ‘Buttervilla’ heritage tomatoes, locally grown fresh basil and the best Puglian mammoth green olives…..mmmmm.”

Tell us about your favourite drink?

“My favourite drink is a fruit smoothie with bananas, frozen strawberries, honey, yoghurt and a spoonful of oats to add fibre, I dunno if this counts as a drink but it’s a delicious way to kick-start my day and its also very healthy and nutritious!”

What would be your ‘Desert Island Disc’ (album)?

“My desert island album would not be a disc as no one uses them anymore, instead I would opt for my ipod which has about a month worth of music ranging from Nessun Dorma by Luciano Pavarotti to Concrete Jungle by Bob Marley and The Wailers!”

What would be your Desert Island ingredient?

“ For my desert island ingredient? I would imagine this island would produce plenty of wild herbs, vegetation and fresh fish from the sea so I would ask for lots and lots of lamb in a freezer so I could enjoy my favourite meat cooked in a pit fire on the beach with my buddy Wilson (film reference).”

Who would you invite to your Last Supper? 

“My last supper guest list would include Morgan Freeman, Sir David Attenborough, Samuel L Jackson, Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand (I would separate them two), of course my lovely missus and I’m sure a few more people who I can’t think of right now.”

Finally, make us all laugh…

“A quick note on notices, if you notice this notice you’ll realise this notice was hardly worth noticing and upon noting that you notice nothing you could have noticed in the time it took to notice that!

Cheers n gone,

Ben Arthur – Fifteen Cornwall”

To make for at home your will need:

37.5ml Hendricks Gin

12.5ml Crème de Framboise

6 Raspberries (We love Buttervilla’s Cornish Raspberries)

Dash of lemon juice (about 12.5ml)

Dash of sugar syrup (about 12.5ml)

5 drops of rose water.

Crushed ice

Serve in: Double Rocks Glass

Garnish with: Three raspberries and a slice of lemon

How to Make:

- Muddle the raspberries at the bottom of your glass

-  Add Hendricks, Crème de  Framboise, Sugar Syrup and Lemon Juice

- Top up with crushed ice and stir to combine

- Taste make sure it is well balanced not to sweet or sour and adjust with lemon juice and sugar syrup

-  Garnish with raspberries and a slice

As bunting is great for decorating gardens and houses for Summer celebrations of all varieties I have persuaded her to share her bunting making knowledge.

What you’ll need:

- Pretty Fabric (Debbie picked up lots of old bedding from Charity Shops and Flea Markets, but bunting is also excellent for using up scraps of fabric left over from other projects)

- A couple of empty cereal packets folded flat to used to make templates

- Siccors

- A Pencil

- A Ruler

- A Sewing machine with thread (or the patience to do lots of hand stitching and a needle and thread)

- Pins

- An Iro

What to do:

- To begin, make two templates. The first a triangle with the top edge measuring 22cm and the sides roughly 27cm, this one is for cutting out the triangles of fabric. 

- Next make another template to show the spacing of the triangles along the band. To make this draw around the first triangle and the add a strip to the end measuring an extra 11cm. 

- Draw around your first cardboard template on the underside of your fabric. 

- Cut our your triangles leaving about half to a centimeter of fabric around the outside of the outline. You’ll need two of these for each triangle.

- Pin two triangles of fabric together with the front side of the fabric facing inwards (you’ll turn these the right way round later on).

- Sew along the two long sides of your triangle outline.

- Turn your triangle the right way round so you have the front side of your fabric on display and any messy sides hidden inside your double sided triangle. (Debbie likes to use a knitting needle)

- Iron flat, so you have neat flat triangle and snip away the little bits of inside seem that poke out. Repeat this triangle making process until you have enough to make your desired length. Every three triangles will give you roughly a metre of or Bunting.

- Now to make your top band. Cut a very long strip of fabric about 5cm wide (The length of this will depend on how much bunting you want to make, make as much or as little as you want, remembering every three triangles will give you about a meter of bunting). Fold this in half and Iron flat.

- Take your triangles and top band and assemble your bunting pinning one half of your band to each side of the triangles.

- Use your second cardboard template to keep the gap between each triangle the same and your bunting looking neat and professional.

- Next head back to your sewing machine and sew along your band to attach your triangles.

- Remove the pins and hey presto, you have bunting!

- Finally hang anywhere to set a beautiful scene for a wedding, garden party or adorn your front fence or wall for a country cottage feel. I can’t wait to see all our hard work at Debbie and Matt’s wedding!

For the Nature Safari you will need:

- Outdoor clothes

- A notebook

- A Pencil

- Something to sit on if it’s wet.

You are going to need your senses too:

- Sight

- Smell

- Sound

What to do:

Choose a leaf, from the photograph and make a sketch. (from left to right they are Ash, Sycamore, Oak, and Hawthorn,)

With your notebook and pencil find a quiet place in a wood, a park or a field to sit down.

Sit quietly, shut your eyes, and breathe in and out SLOWLY twenty times. LISTEN. What can you hear? Write in your notebook all the sounds you heard. Did you put wind in the trees? Birdsong? Could you hear water running?

Plants

Now, find a tree with your chosen leaf. Stand back and look carefully at the shape of the whole tree. Do all the branches start from the same place? Do they go straight up or do they curve downwards? Draw a sketch of the shape of your chosen tree.

Look for a flower you like. What does it smell like? Draw a sketch of the shape and note the colours.

Birds

Can you hear one particular bird singing? Can you move very quietly so that you can see it and put down a description in your notebook?

Insects

Look on flowers and leaves to find a butterfly, bee, hoverfly or any insect. Don’t touch it because insects are very delicate. Just watch to see what it’s doing, draw a sketch and have a guess as to what it might be.

When you get home, draw a picture using all your sketches.

These are some of the amazing insects you might see on your safari. How many will you spot?

Speckled bush cricket

Burying beetle

Garden tiger moth

Weevil

Sloebugs

If you have loved exploring all the amazing nature here are some links that will help you find more information.

Useful websites:

To identify birdsong:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/look_around/birds/1b.shtml

To identify insects:

www.uksafari.com/creepycrawlies.htm

To find out more about the Cornwall Wildlife Trust head to their website here:

http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/

Or find them on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/CornwallWildlife

Or follow them on Twitter:

@CornwallNature

Ingredients:

Tregothnan Earl Grey Tea infused into Plymouth Gin

Local Strawberries – we have used Buttervilla’s strawberries from South East Cornwall

Lemon Juice

Sugar Syrup – made with boiling water and sugar

The Method:

Firstly, take off the stalk and cut up into small pieces four local strawberries and then mash them up…

Secondly, pour in 50ml of Plymouth Gin infused with Early Grey…

Third and fourth – pour in 125ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice and a dash of sugar syrup. Then finally, put into a long cocktail shake with a good handful of ice and get shaking…

Then – double strain into a pre-chilled Coupe class and finish with a strawberry garnish. The colour, smell and drink is deliciously pink and summer fresh. Tell us what you think?

Day 2 of ‘How to Revive a chair’

You will need:

Your piece of furniture
Magnetic hammer
1.5 mm tacks
Staples and gun
Webbing stretcher
Hessian/Scrim
Coir/horsehair
Calico
Cotton wadding
Dacron
Fabric
Glue gun (optional)
Studs/Gimp trim

Step 1.  Measure the centre line of your chair.  Starting from the centre back, stretch your webbing over the front of the chair using your stretcher, tack your webbing down using your hammer (this will be the underside of your webbing), cut 1 inch back from tacks and cut, now fold over and re tack.  For larger chairs than shown in this picture, make your webbing 4 x 4 or more if necessary.

Step 2.  Cut your hessian so it will fit like pictured and with enough space for a 2 cm over lap.  I’m using a staple gun to attach the hessian due to all the holes in the chair from its original cane seat, tacks can be used and will provide more strength to larger chairs or ones that will have a lot of wear.

Step 3 & 4.  Put your coir filling into the middle of the chair and regulate so you have an even spreading.
Cut your cotton wadding to fit over the coir, this is to prevent the hair coming through the fabric on the chair.

Step 5.  Cut calico AND your chosen fabric as you did hessian, so that you have a good 2cm overlap.  For the application of the calico follow the same instructions as in step 2 except this time you are making a ‘seal’ over the hessian, coir & cotton wadding.  Again I’m stapling due to size of chair and holes.

Step 6. cut Dacron to fit over calico. This will prevent your fabric from moving.

Step 7.  Fold fabric and iron an inward pleat under the fabric to all the edges so the fabric fits perfectly over the Dacron and seals everything ‘in’ so all you see is the top layer of fabric and the wood of the chair – nothing else should be poking out!!

Now starting from the back neatly staple in a horizontal line that is parallel to the edge of the chair to secure your fabric down.  Do exactly the same to the front and then the sides.  You shouldn’t need to make folds if you have not over stuffed your chair and your fabric has been cut to the correct size.  However if you do, don’t give up!  Just make equal folds on the corners and secure down.

Step 8.  Apply your gimp braid with a glue gun and or tacks of matching colour OR use a line of studs or individual studs depending on what finish you want.

Step 9.  Cut a piece of hessian or calico (or any fabric that you want really!!) and attach neatly with staples to the underside of the chair, (folds inwards so you can’t see them) to cover up the webbing underneath the chair.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and relax, take a seat and pat yourself on the back!

Some of my work:

I’m a lover of all things home. I’m drawn to Scandi-esque design and 50’s furniture is my penchant.  My business Revival Furniture varies from customer furniture commissions, Interior decorating and styling,
selling my own painted and re-upholstered furniture, running regular workshops in the gorgeous locations of Cawsand, Cornwall and Noss Mayo in Devon, teaching people the art of Furniture Painting & decoupage.
My love of the Sea and countryside is reflected in my use of colour & fabrics and when I’m not working it’s where I usually am with my family.

If you’d like to learn more in a creative and fun atmosphere, you should come along to one of our workshops.

We run Furniture painting courses in Maker near Cawsand, Noss Mayo in South Devon & Tavistock, Devon.  We also have  weekend upholstery courses running in July and August in collaboration with Millbrook Upholstry.  For more information please contact us.

We offer arts retreat weekends, you can stay in the beautiful yurts and bell tents at Maker Camp on the Rame peninsula, whilst practising yoga, furniture painting, pottery, foraging, felt making, book binding.
These are perfect for groups of friends, hen parties, work events.
For more information please contact us.

Facebook            https://www.facebook.com/pages/Revival-Furniture/271265613000963

                                https://www.facebook.com/groups/247106465393526/

Twitter                 Revivalliving

Pinterest             Katerevival

Phone   07545395018

Email revivalfurniturekg@gmail.com

Our furniture can be found to buy in The White Approach, Exmouth as well as online.

http://thewhiteapproach.blogspot.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-White-Approach-living-the-Vintage-life/117533358329629

All fabrics featured in this blog were kindly donated by St Judes

http://www.stjudesfabrics.co.uk/?gclid=CLXt9qfDrLcCFTMRtAodem8A0A

https://www.facebook.com/stjudesdesign

All paint and wax used is from Annie Sloan, see all the stockists in your area on their website.

How to ‘Revive’ a chair….

From this………………………………to this!!

First of all, half of the enjoyment is actually finding the furniture that you want to ‘up-cycle’.  Maybe it’s a piece that you’ve had at home for ages or maybe you’re a bit of a thrift store finder, carbooter, skip rummager like me!  It’s so satisfying to be able to give life back to something that maybe was someone elses rubbish! The beauty of old furniture is that it generally was made very well, beautiful dove tail joints, strong wood, good craftmanship. It is also individual so it can give an eclectic sought after look to your home.

This chair would originally have had a cane seat, no padding, hence why there are lots of little holes around the seat where the cane used to be.  I want to spice it up at bit and use some beautiful fabric, so as well as painting this chair I will show you how to re-upholster it from scratch.

It’s important to ensure that your piece is ‘stable’ and actually can be used for everyday use or your hardwork will be lost!

This little chair needed re-gluing in some areas, I’m using a standard wood glue that you can buy from any DIY store and have left over night to ensure it’s properly dried. I’ve also removed all the cane from the chair and given it a clean.

I’m going to use a reputable brand of Chalk paint, it’s easy to use, the colours are gorgeous and you don’t need to sand or prime the piece before hand- great if you’re looking to do up a larger piece like a wardrobe!

If you want to use an oil based paint then just make sure you sand your piece before and off you go!

When I’m painting a chair I like to turn it upside down and start the base first, I always paint all the corners first so that I’ve got in all the nooks and crannies and then can paint smooth brush strokes along the spindles and legs. 

Then I turn it onto its legs and paint the top part.  If there is lots of detail or small areas to get into, use a small brush so you don’t miss any areas.

Depending on the look you’re going for you can apply as many or as little coats of paint.  This chair is getting 3 coats as I want real ‘depth’ of colour.  My first coat was a rough and light one, making sure I’d covered all areas.  My second coat is still light as the paint ‘bonds’ well to its previous coat and the third is more of a touch up, making sure I have no patchiness.

I’m allowing drying time in between each coat which is about an hour and then re applying.
Once the paint is dry you will be ready for the next stage so have a cup of tea and possibly a Sunday roast, by which time you’ll be ready for the next stage.

I want to ‘seal’ the chalk paint so I’m using a clear wax.  I apply a really light coat so the paint appears to have a grease stain all over it.  The lighter the coat the better.  I prefer using a brush but a cloth is just as good. 

Leave this for up to an hour and then you’re ready to lightly sand out any imperfections, unwanted brushstrokes and add distressing if you want to.

Then re-wax your piece using a very slightly thicker layer and leave to dry (you shouldn’t be able to push your finger into the wax, your hand should glide over the surface).

Ensure the wax is dry (give it at least an hour) & buff with an old tee shirt or something alike that is lint free.  Put some welly into it and polish it until it gleams.

The wax has provided a protective layer to your piece, for areas of hard wearing just reapply more wax before the buffing stage, leave to dry and then buff.

I’m a lover of all things home. I’m drawn to Scandi-esque design and 50’s furniture is my penchant.  My business Revival Furniture varies from customer furniture commissions, Interior decorating and styling,
selling my own painted and re-upholstered furniture, running regular workshops in the gorgeous locations of Cawsand, Cornwall and Noss Mayo in Devon, teaching people the art of Furniture Painting & decoupage.

My love of the sea and countryside is reflected in my use of colour & fabrics and when I’m not working it’s where I usually am with my family.

If you’d like to learn more in a creative and fun atmosphere, you should come along to one of our workshops. 

We offer arts retreat weekends, you can stay in the beautiful yurts and bell tents at Maker Camp on the Rame peninsula, whilst practising yoga, furniture painting, pottery, foraging, felt making, book binding. For more information please contact us.

Facebook            https://www.facebook.com/pages/Revival-Furniture/271265613000963
https://www.facebook.com/groups/247106465393526/

Twitter                 Revivalliving

Pinterest             Katerevival

Phone   07545395018

Email revivalfurniturekg@gmail.com

 Our furniture can be found to buy in The White Approach, Exmouth as well as online.

http://thewhiteapproach.blogspot.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-White-Approach-living-the-Vintage-life/117533358329629

Our furniture can be found to buy in The White Approach, Exmouth as well as online.