Dbee Robinson Artist - The Fat Struggling Menopausal Artist

Yet again my amazing kitchen duo has created the best cake ever leaving me time to trial a few butterflies on rice paper. Getting the paint consistency just right is always difficult so it's always best to do a few trial pieces first. Too thin and the paint bleeds into the paper, too thick and it causes issues later when backing the painting. All rice paper paintings require backing prior to framing as the paper is so thin. Click here ' Backing a rice paper painting ' to view an epic fail when backing a painting either too full of paint, damaged, etc. Anyway back to the best cake ever. I found a recipe online and adjusted it for my family's taste and to cook it in my new Ninja. Citrus Meringue cake using a Thermomix (TM5)  and baking in the Ninja smart lid (NSL) Note- Minutes (m) / Degrees (d) / Seconds (s) / speed (sp)  To save washing up, grind the orange and lemon peel for the cake in the TM5 first. 240g sugar and the peel from 1 lemon and 1 orange. Grind - sp9 / 8s ...

Well I never though I would say it but I just may have to. My new smartlid 15-1 Ninja is nearly as  amazing as my Thermomix. When I’m cooking, I open the lid like a kid a Christmas to see what’s inside. Is it cooked? Is it burnt? Have I got an hour of cleaning of the lid? But each time I use it I’m learning more and gaining confidence. Side by side they do most of the work and take out most of the chore in cooking amazing it easy and fast.  Today I cooked sausage, onions, veg and potatoes. The potatoes in the bottom, and using the double rack I put veg in the middle and the sausages and onions on the top. 250ml of water and 10 mins on steam air fry and it’s done. Seriously I thought after 10 mins I would turn the sausages, (the thin chipolata ones) but they were cooked already. So took out the rack and scooped out the potatoes tipped in some gravy thickener into the left liquid and switched to sauté for 2 mins. A little more listed added and the sausages and onions and switch ...

Having had my Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker with Smart Cook System 7.5L for a week or so now and feel I am able to to give it some sort of review.  I have cooked a few meals, cakes and bread in it and pretty much pleased. The Steam Bake function makes my cake and bread fluffy and, dare I say the word, moist. I have also tried to cook crispy kale and to be perfectly honest i’m not so sure it’s worth the effort, as it took quite some time to pick out all the crispy kale from the fan in the lid.  The steam function was interesting too, as the vegetables were eventually cooked taking twice the time started in the manual, and the veg was charred. Not sure if that was meant to happen, but certainly not what I expected steam meal to be. But I may have used the wrong setting.  I must also add I have used my Ninja to reheat meals by heating them fast in the pot using the sauté function and then switching to slow cook. I checked with a cooking probe that the meal wa...

David, my Husband seems to have a problem taking time off and using his holiday. He's not a workaholic, but he does care about his work and his team, so taking time off is always a worry to him. But today after some persuasion he took a day off to go to Windsor Castle. I put the place in the sat nav and off we went, after a few minutes we realised the sat nav was having a fit. All the way there it was trying to send us in a different direction. It wasn't until we got there David realised I had spelt Windsor without a D in it. I had a dyslexic sat nav. Who knew there was a place called Winsor near Brighton.! Was great seeing some shire horses and the fantastic building and paintings and all the beautiful items in the castle. I particularly loved the Rembrandt selfie portrait. Talking of selfies, there we were trying to get a selfie and we got photo bombed by the Queen herself and her Hubby. Obviously both also taking a well earned rest today too, but it was a little n...

This was a bespoke card in watercolour for a couple who loved their camper van and model helicopters. I thought it quite apt for todays blog as a friend recently asked me how I knew my Husband was the man for me to marry.  It's a really good question and one I have given considerable thought to, so here are 10 answers from both me and my David. I know there are more, but these just came to mind.  You know it's love when: 1 - Even though you never got an engagement ring, but they proposed with a cement goose..... you wouldn't part with that lump of painted cement for any diamond! 2 - They say you are beautiful/handsome the moment you wake up, with the drool still on the side of your cheek! 3 - They get up even when they are tired and pour you a glass of wine because you are too exhausted to move. 4 - They ban you from doing the smelly dirty jobs with the words, "That's for me to do, not you." 5 - They apologise when they are wrong....

Well its been a whole year since I endured a facial bone graft to rectify my cleft pallet. Its been a long and slow journey and I'm pleased to say the awful infection that damaged my initial bone grafts has not returned. ( Touch wood!!! ) I felt so ill for so long, over 4 years in fact, that I had forgotten what it was like to feel well, from total exhaustion all the time to my skin being too painful to touch. Now I am so happy to say I have nearly forgotten how ill I felt as I feel so full of energy again. Although it is still difficult to eat normally as my mouth still feels a little numb in places, it is all gradually coming back and have hope that the feeling in my mouth will fully return in time.  This painting above is called 'Contemplation Journey 1' and was purchased during my 6 week solo art exhibition "Lost and Found"  held in Penang, Malaysia at the gHotel. It is watercolour and ink on rice paper and I feel it shows my slow uphill journey back to h...

Happy International Women's Day, ok I'm a day late, but better late then never eh? Why March 8th you may wonder? Thank goodness for Wikipedia! Click here to find out more. Sometimes we need to remember us girls are awesome in our own right. No matter what we do in life I know most women strive for a better life for themselves and those around them. This painting was for Chinese New year of the Rabbit portrays the beauty of a gentle being to the flora and fauna around them. Its title - 'Lady with Chinese New Year Rabbit' is painted on rice paper using ink and watercolour. Its a copy of a poster Phoenix Printers in Penang Malaysia printed in 2013 and one of my favourite paintings I have done. This painting depicts a special friend of mine who is such a wonderfully kind hearted person who loves to hug everyone, especially babies. It's title - 'Hugs' shows unconditional maternal love and the beautiful Batik fabric used in Malaysia.  I was won...