Tuesday, April 26, 2011

So What Exactly Is She???

We have so many new members on "SHE"team and so many people asking about the team, that I thought I would take the time to introduce us. First of all, I would like to explain what "She" is not. We are not a particular religious group. Contrary to some popular beliefs, homeschooling is not always a religious choice. We are not anti-public school, in fact, several of our members have children in public school and children schooling at home. This is also not a negative group. One of the things I have come to love and appreciate about this team over the past couple of years is that the group as a whole is so supportive of each other and always has a word of encouragement to help the day along.

Now...on to what "She" is...Here is the team description as found on our team page.



(Bookplates by Montserrat)



We are a group of artisans united by the bond of home education. SHE is a family-oriented team.






(Activity/Crayon Bag by Poppy Patch)

Shops must meet team requirements in addition to Etsy rules, especially in regard to mature content and prohibited items.

Items in your shop (and linked from your shop) must be family friendly. We will not consider anything with adult content, profanity, the occult, mysticism, or nudity. They would not be considered family friendly. SHE is a "G"-rated team.


If you are schooling at home, have recently schooled at home, or working towards schooling at home( starting in 6 months or less) and your items fit with our target audience and community as a whole, you are welcome on our team.
(Felt World Map by Garden Of Francis)


We come from a variety of backgrounds, locations and faiths. The purpose of Sheteam is to provide support and promotion of our Etsy shops, not to promote a particular religion, political view or philosophy.




~Posted by VeryVerdant

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Chocolate Cake!

Who loves chocolate cake? (ME!) Here are 2 of our favourite family recipes for you to enjoy.



125 grams butter
2 cups plain flour 
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1.5 cups milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarb)

Prepare a large cake tin (I used my fruit cake tin) with baking paper and oil or butter.
Melt butter and syrup. In a bowl sift flour, cocoa and baking powder.
Add the sugar and eggs, then vanilla, milk and baking soda, beat for 1 - 2 minutes.
Mix in the butter and syrup liquid, beat for less than 1 minute. Pour into tin, bake in a moderate oven for 35 - 40 minutes.

*Note - I ended up cooking mine for longer than stated as it was still gooey in the middle, so keep checking it with a skewer. I also covered the top of the cake with baking paper after the first 20 minutes of cooking to prevent burning or overcooking.



2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup plain yoghurt
3/4 cup cocoa
200g soft butter
1 & 1/2 tspn vanilla essence
1 tspn bicarb soda
1/4 tspn salt
3 cups SR flour
1 cup of hot, strong espresso OR 1 cup hot water with 3 heaped tspns instant coffee

Place all ingredients in this order in a food processor for 1 minute. Place in greased baking tin (2 loaf tins or 1 20cm tin)
Cook at 160 degrees (C) for about 1 hour, use a skewer in the middle to test for readiness.

This goes really well in the freezer.

Buttercream icing:

I usually beat a couple of tablespoons of butter until creamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar (and cocoa if you want chocolate icing- food colouring if you want it coloured) until it starts to get very thick. You can also add a small dash of milk to make it more creamy or to make a larger quantity so you can add more icing sugar without it being too dry.

This makes a really good. moist and flavoursome cake without being too rich or over the top.