Slimming World Friendly Pavlova

I made this beautiful thing for dessert after the Sunday roast. I tried to make syn free meringue, using egg whites and sweetener with 0.5tsp of vinegar as I'd seen other slimming world people talking about this. While the texture of the meringue was light and crisp, it had an odd aftertaste and wasn't as robust as bought meringue nests. I topped the layers of meringue with whipped fat free creme fraiche with vanilla extract and sweetener and lots of berries. 

Overall, it wasn't a complete fail. It was pretty, and the family liked it. The creme fraiche with the berries as really lovely. But there is certainly room for improvement. with the meringue, at least I didn't waste any syns on it! I think I will try the Slimming World recipes next time either the Summer Fruit Pavlova or the Double-Chocolate and Berry Pavlova. Or there's always the simple choice of a bought meringue nest for 1 syn. Has anyone found a syn free meringue recipe that works? Thanks for reading!
M x

Summer fruit pavlova

Summer fruit pavlova

Lampshade DIY

I've had a stripped back lampshade frame in my possession for years now with the intention of re-covering. But it has always been something that I have not got around to. However, since having more time on my hands, I have been able to do these kind of projects again.

I took the frame and simply wrapped each section in a different colour of tissue paper using a pva and water mix - like we did when we were kids. It was a little fiddly to begin with, but I'm really pleased with the end result: 

I have not covered the bottom section of the frame as I quite liked the openness. I've installed it into my Studio in the garden to add a bit of colour to the white walls and I'm really happy with the outcome. I'm still working on getting the place all sorted - the weather isn't helping! But once it's done I'll be in there drawing and painting. What do you think of my DIY effort?  This process could be transferred to all kinds of different frames from charity shops. You could try newspaper or patterned tissue paper depending on your room.Let me know if you try the DIY, I'd love to see your versions. 

Thanks for reading!

M x