Love

Well, it's official, I'm in love.... with Pinterest.  We've been seeing each other for a while now but things are heating up as we approach Christmas and the holiday season.  I've madly been finding all my favourite things to make and do and putting together my Christmas Pinboard.  I'll be getting out the decorations next weekend after our Adelaide Pageant and the fun will really begin.  I'm making some papercraft decorations and all our christmas cards this year will be home made.  I'm looking forward to posting some pictures in the next month or so as my activity levels increase!!!

But for now I'm just going to share a couple of little things I've been trying out, one Christmas themed and one is just pretty!

This one is the Christmas stars and I'll be making loads of these to put on my walls and hang from the ceiling!  I found the inspiration at Annekata's blog - I'll put some pictures up once I've finished my star display!

Well Sunday was a complete success.... there was a very late night the night before as I always like to get everything ready as early as possible and know from previous experience that time goes very fast on the day of a child's birthday party!  I had fun decorating our family room in a Minnie Mouse style with loads of pink and black streamers and balloons, a Minnie tablecloth and helium balloons, Minnie napkins and pink cups, plates and cutlery.  There was a pin the flower on Minnie game, pass the parcel and musical statues to Minnie music.... loads of fun (and the kids enjoyed it too!)  Brooke didn't let go of her favourite present, a stuffed Minnie toy courtesy of Thomas!  There was a cupcake tower for all the little friends....

 

and a very Minnie Mouse cake for the family and friends at tea time....

 

I can't tell you how happy I was with the result as I was very worried I would never get the fondant to be black enough and that I would have trouble joining all the pieces of fondant together neat enough on the cake, but all those many jigsaw puzzles over the years have definitely made a difference.

To top it off, Brooke had to take a cake to childcare today but this time it was a Woolies sponge with cream as the centre does not allow home made food to be shared.... how can they endorse supermarket cakes full of goodness knows????  The centre even has a dummy cake with candles to blow out so the real cake doesn't get infected.... ha!

I wonder what cake Thomas will want for his next birthday?

 

Aah tonight I have my feet up, a cup of tea and a piece of left over cake, mmmm!

It's birthday time....

Well tomorrow it is my daughter's 4th birthday (and party) so I have spent the week madly getting everything ready to make her day special and memorable.  She is in love with Minnie Mouse at the moment so the theme has been all Minnie Mouse.  Thanks to Ebay, Google and Pinterest I have found plenty of Minnie inspiration and party ideas.  I also found a post in Alex and Ant's blog for the Donna Hay Rainbow cake:

Alex & Ant: Rainbow Cake 

 I am having some little friends over for a Minnie Mouse afternoon tea party and will be serving finger foods and cups of tea (pink cordial!) and her cake will be a cupcake tower to share with her friends and a Minnie Mouse cake for her family in the evening.  I have already made the cupcakes, Nigella Lawson's cupcakes:

Nigella's cupcake recipe

All I have to do now is get them iced and ready to go!  Photos will be included in my next post (if they are worthy!!!)

Well, off I go to get some balloons blown up and once the kids are in bed tonight I will be decorating the house ready for when they wake up..... and constructing the carefully hidden flat packed doll's house that I bought some time ago!

twomonkeys fabrics: Floor Cushion Tutorial

I thought I would share a great tutorial from Two Monkeys' blog as I am going to have a go at making these soon!



twomonkeys fabrics: Floor Cushion Tutorial: I have seen alot of these around online so I thought I would give them a go because I just love them. The way I have made them is so easy, ...

Two Monkeys floor cushions

I love this Blog and the fabrics! I am definitely going to have a go at making these cushions when I get a chance, to add to my kids growing collection of floor cushions!

Afternoon tea anyone?

I've been really busy lately juggling work and family life but still enjoy finding time to prepare some interesting and tasty meals and occasionally go out to socialise.  Last weekend we caught up as a family with another family we get along really well with.  We were going up to their house for the afternoon and for tea so I had to take something as I can't go empty handed anywhere!  I decided to make the Stephanie Alexander sponge cake I had seen Maggie Beer do on 'The Cook and The Chef' some time ago.  Here's the link:

Stephanie Alexander's sponge from 'Cook and the Chef'

I decided to use strawberries instead of rasberries as the kids prefer them.  I've posted a pic of my version

Everyone enjoyed the cake, although my husband found the crust a bit chewy.  I put that down to the fact that the cake is essentially flourless and made a little bit like a meringue.  Yummy strawberries this time of year!

Here are the ingredients, if you want the full method go to the link above!

Cake
60g corn flour
2 teaspoons custard powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon bicarb soda
2 large eggs
1/3 cup of castor sugar

Filling
300ml cream
230g fresh raspberries
Icing sugar for dusting

Finally another craft project finished

I have been planning to make both of the kids a beanbag pillow to lay on and watch TV or relax instead of piling all my good cushions from the lounge on the floor and getting them dirty!  I found a couple of panels at Spotlight and luckily they were on special (2 metres for the price of 1.)  I made the outside pillow cases using two panels sewn together with a large strip of velcro on one end.  I made two inserts, filled them with beans and sewed them completely to avoid any stray beans being released by my daughter unzipping or opening the covers!

Kids thought it was hilarious when we filled the inserts with the bean bag beans and some escaped into the house.... they had a race to see who could pick the most up first.

Anyway, I've posted a pic of the two cushions which ended up measuring a bit over a metre long.  The kids have loved lounging in them and have dragged them throughout the house wherever they go.  I'm happy with the results.

Mmmm dinner

Well here is a great recipe I just prepared today to have ready tomorrow night so Jason can slide it into the oven and have dinner ready for when I get home from work!  I'll get him to take a pic for me so I can upload it!!!

 

Chicken Leek and Mushroom pie

INGREDIENTS

1 brown onion finely diced

6 large button mushrooms sliced

2 leeks sliced

2 celery stalks finely diced

1 large chicken breast

250g bacon diced

Dried Tarragon (generous sprinkle)

Black pepper

1 cup chicken stock

2 tabs sour cream

30g butter

2 tabs olive oil

2 sheets puff pastry

METHOD

Saute onion, leek, celery and bacon in butter and oil until all vegetables are soft.  Add mushrooms and continue cooking until mushrooms are soft. Add chicken breast cut into small cubes and cook through.  Add tarragon and pepper and then stock and cook a further 10 minutes on low heat. Turn off heat and stir through sour cream and allow mixture to cool to room temperature.

Spray a ovenproof pie dish with oil and line base with one sheet of pastry. Add cooled filling and top with other pastry sheet. Brush top with egg wash and pierce a steam hole in centre.

Cook for 20 - 30 minutes at 180C or until pastry is crisp and lightly brown and centre is hot. Serve with mashed potato.

Yum!!!

Happy birthday to you...

It's my brothers birthday today so the kids and I are busy making and decorating a cake to take out for dinner for him. We are using Jamie Oliver's easy chocolate cake recipe from his website, the recipe is below. Thanks to Jamie I have a reliable and tasty cake that is always a hit with the family. We are going to decorate it like a poker chip as my brother is an avid poker player. I'll post some pics of the finished cake when it's finished.

Happy birthday Andrew!!!!!


Jamie Oliver’s Easy Chocolate Cake
(adapted from Jamie Oliver)

200 grams butter (I used salted butter)
200 grams sugar (I reduced to 175 grams)
200 grams flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, dissolved in a little hot water to form a smooth paste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 9-inch square tin.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes, on medium-high speed. Sift in flour and baking powder and fold with a spatula until just mixed. Stir in eggs and vanilla and then cocoa paste.

Transfer cake batter into tin and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cake cool in tin on a rack. Slice into squares and serve.

TIP
If top of cake looks like it will get burnt, cover the top with a piece of aluminium foil and continue baking until the cake is done.

Little girl (or boy) apron

 A simple little apron that I put together to add to a raffle we did to raise money at my son's kindy.  My daughter who modelled it, didn't want to let it go!  I am keen to make a few of these for my stall and hope that they are a hit.  Not sure what price I should ask for them though.  That's my problem, I never want to charge too much as I hate going to markets where homemade craft items are overpriced.  I have the template I used to make this if anyone wants it please let me know.

Long time, no see

There has been somewhat of a hiatus since I last posted on my blog as I have been busy with life and things I like to do have taken a back seat.  Over the past few months though I have rediscovered my love of reading and have been borrowing books from the library and enjoying a few new authors.  I will do some reviews on the books that I have read in the coming weeks so that others can get an idea of what there is to choose from.

I have started getting back in to the craft mode and have ventured back into Spotlight and Lincraft and spent a few dollars in anticipation of my annual Easter craft making for the kids.  This year though I am considering having a few items for sale at my market stall in April and my friend Cassie and I have been brainstorming and trialling a few ideas.  More of that later as well.

I am going to upload a few photos of various projects I have completed since last posting on the blog and would love to hear what others think of them.

Well, until I have more time I'll leave you with some pics to look over.