We’ve all had a moment when we need to create something sweet for our gluten and/or dairy free guests…. and sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start? Well here is your answer, times two!
I always receive great feedback on my Flourless Chocolate Orange cake at parties (it is also dairy free!)…from those with a food intolerance, and those without. This recipe is so easy, and well-received, it is always my go-to!
This version was for my nephew (needed to be dairy-free)…
Heidi’s 1st birthday Cake, double layer with butter icing (needed to be gluten and dairy-free)…
Mum’s 70th Birthday cake… (just needed to be yummy!)
I’ve since created a variation to this wonderful chocolate cake. So it’s about bloody time I shared this version I created last November…
I was a bit bored with always turning to the same dessert option for my gluten and dairy free buddies, so here is a twist on the same recipe. As you can see in the photo, it can also be served up as individual desserts for a more ‘gourmet’ dining experience.
2 small thin-skinned oranges, approx. 375g total weight (or 1 large)
6 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons of ground coriander
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 vanilla pod (inside of pond only) or vanilla paste (the equivalent to a pod as indicated on the label)
200 g almond meal
250 g caster sugar
orange peel and/or segments, for decoration
Put the whole orange/oranges in a pot with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft (Note: make sure you check them frequently and add more water to stop them boiling dry)
Drain, and when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big pips.
Blend everything – pith, peel and all – in a food processor as smooth as you can get it.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter and line a 20cm tin (I prefer a springform tin, as is is a very moist cake, and it is easier to remove). Alternatively bake in individual tins as shown in the photo above.
Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almond meal, sugar, spices, vanilla and cocoa to the orange puree in the food processor. Blend until you have a smooth-ish cake mixture.
Pour into the cake tin and bake for an hour (test with a skewer – it should come out clean). Check after 45 minutes because you may have to cover with foil to prevent the cake burning before it is cooked through, or it may need a little less than an hour depending on your oven.
Leave the cake to get cool in the tin, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold take it out of the tin.
Simple garnish – Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated orange zest
Elaborate garnish – melt 100g of 70% cocoa dark chocolate with 30 g butter and a teaspoon of olive oil, add the rind of an orange. Poor over the top of the cake when cool, allowing to drip down the sides. Place the petals of a rose in the centre of the cake, with one rose bud sitting int he middle.
Spiced Syrup:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- Rind of 1 orange
- 6 cardomon pods (bruised)
- 2 cinnamon sticks broken up
- 2 Star anise
Place in Saucepan, bring to boil and reduce until syrupy. Can be poured over the cake hot or cold when serving.
Yoghurt for serving:
- Natural Greek yoghurt (use enough to serve some with each serving of cake eg. number of people)
- Grated orange rind, to taste
- Honey (to sweeten the yoghurt)
Serve a slice/portion of cake with the syrup and some yoghurt on the side. I try and place some of the whole spices from the syrup on each plate to use as garnish, with some orange segments and/or peel. I’ve said it before, but I will say it again… you can make this cake ahead of time and freeze it, it will defrost beautifully when you need to use it.
This is amazing served warm, especially on a cold winter night. But is equally tasty cool. The spices with the orange is a match to-die-for!
This upcycling project has dragged on for more than a year now…it is now on the wall and out of my head!
Some of you may remember my excitement in February 2012 (more than a year ago), when I stumbled across this bundle of rusted wire fence. It was in a paddock being cleared for development near our house.
Naturally, I pulled the car over and attempted to stuff it into the boot – luckily we have a station-wagon! And, naturally my husband looked at me with that usual look when I arrive home with something we hadn’t discussed. Since then it has been sitting in our garage driving him nuts … and secretly (well it’s no secret now) me too!
I had lots of inspiration for creating something with it, but a lot of trouble deciding what, and how.
I knew I wanted to use the tissue from old dressmaking patterns (was given this idea by something I saw in a shop once)… so started a collection of patterns I saw in opportunity shops:
My challenge with this artwork was how to keep the wire fence straight so I could hang it on the wall, and it wouldn’t scratch and leave rust marks on the wall.
I went to the local hardware store (heavily pregnant on a 35C day – yes, stupid!). All the store assistants were busy, so I sat down on a pile of wood to wait. I was then approached by a really helpful tradie who was loading his car with wood he had purchased, and asked if he could help me. It was such a lovely gesture, as I was about to give up and go home. I tried to explain to him my vision (whilst ignoring his facial expression when I said I was wanting to mount a 2m length of rusty fence wire onto a wall that would be covered in dressmaking patterns!). He was great, and recommended two 1.8m lengths of this wood which I then painted the colour of the wall it was to be mounted on:
As an aside: It so happened this builder giving me advice had some experience in erecting unusual pieces of artwork on to walls. He proceeded to tell me how he was requested to build and mount an enormous cross made from railway sleepers onto a wall. This wasn’t any wall… it was a wall inside a church. This Cross would be sitting above the coffin of Carl Williams during his funeral. Those who are not familiar with Carl Williams he is best described as: a convicted murderer and drug trafficker from the Australian state of Victoria. He was the central figure in the Melbourne gangland killings.
Whilst at the hardware store I also picked up some of these to attach the wire fence on to the lengths of wood…
And some of these to hang the masterpiece on to the wall…
All that was left to do was decide how to use the dressmaking patterns with the wire fence. After a few experiments of different techniques, I decided on weaving folded length of pattern through the wire fence…
I had to do this before fixing the fence to the wood. I wove vertically, and folded the tissue over to the back and fixed it with a household stapler (very technical stuff!). You can see below how the fence sits slightly out from the wall thanks to the two horizontal (top and bottom) pieces of wood it’s attached to.
My husband had his doubts the whole way through this project, he could really understand what I was trying to do. Even when I was weaving the tissue through the fence he still wasn’t sure about how it would look (neither did I!). My attitude with all my upcycling projects is “let’s wait and see what it looks like, and if we don’t like it we don’t need to use it!
We were both very surprised. I don’t think it would suit every house or wall… but it works in this space, in our home.
Finally I’m able to provide a tour of little Zoe’s nursery (she might be little, but her double chin is increasing in size daily, and the tops of her legs look like a stack of bagels!).
There is an abundance of ‘enthusiastic’ love thrown (almost literally) Zoe’s way by Heidi, the eyes tell the story in this photo…
My nursery post has been delayed because I was waiting on a few items purchased from eBay and another of my favourite sites, only then was I prepared to call it ‘finished’.
The main or should I say ‘hero’ colour (if I want to sound all interior design professional) is turquoise, with lots of other bright colours incorporated. I wanted to achieve a bright, light and kind of magical feeling in the room (I guess that is stating the obvious for a baby’s room, isn’t it?). I think I managed to do that…
The door…
The stunning little girl and balloon is hand crafted by One Sunday Morning made using Reclaimed plywood and vintage storybook pages. That said, I purchased it from my favourite art shop in Geelong Ballyhoo Art. I fell in love with two of these (a boy and girl facing each other) on the wall in a friend’s daughters room, I just had to have one (for Zoe, of course!).
The material-covered letters above are made by Toshi, I bought them from Bambolotta kids shop in Barwon Heads.
The walls…
The enormous turquoise elephant I sourced online from The Wall Sticker Co. who (as the name suggests) specialise in wall stickers (the ones you can peel off the wall without leaving any marks). It is one of the gorgeous hand-drawn designs from Jane Reiseger an illustrator who lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.
I have already posted about the birch tree bunting that I made, but here is a reminder.
These Indian-style wall hangings featuring elephants, dragonflies and fish I acquired from a pop-up shop in Geelong, Victoria called Popsicle shop. It was full of brightly coloured home-wares & clothes… I had to ‘pop’ in several times before it disappeared.
The shelves…
I placed two shelves on the wall (we all know I didn’t actually screw the shelves into the wall myself – my very handy husband did that for me!), which I have filled with all the things I love… until Zoe is old enough to tell me to get stuffed she doesn’t like any of it, and replaces it with her latest girly obsession!
The ceramic ornaments (below) I collected on a trip 10 years ago in Nicaragua. They were used as Christmas decorations on several occasions, but I thought the colours complimented Zoe’s room beautifully.
I acquired this dragonfly print below at the ‘Nightjar market’ in Torquay this summer, whilst heavily pregnant. I wanted to bring some local artistry into her room.
One of my favourite sites for online purchasing is ‘Hard to find’. I was specifically looking for artwork that featured a lady beetle/bug/bird (so many different names for such a small creature!).
Do I have some kind of fixation with ladybirds, I hear you ask? No, but there is a story behind it…
On the day I had my first scan for Zoe, and then numerous other occasions during the pregnancy I had lady beetles land on me. There was one day I went to the park with Heidi and sat down on the grass to find ourselves surrounded by lady beetles – yes, very weird! For those interested, I looked up what the meaning behind this might be…
“Ladybug teaches life is short and it teaches to let go of ones’ worries and fears, to trust in spirit and enjoy life. It brings the gifts of renewal and regeneration”
I thought it would be lovely to represent this in Zoe’s room somehow. And happened to stumble upon this gorgeous print called “Elsie and the Ladybirds” by Poppy Studio on my favourite website.
As a child I was enchanted by the story of Babar the Elephant. I couldn’t get enough. It made me feel happy, sad, confused and enlightened all at once. Naturally, I wanted to feature some Babar prints as well. I tried searching online, and they were expensive, and not the images I was after. Instead I went to eBay and bought several second-hand books (about $1.50 for each book!), and framed selected pages from the books instead!
Hanging below the book shelf I reused some paper butterflies I had from Heidi’s first birthday to make a garland…. (details on how to make these can be found here).
I had some small canvas’ hanging around, so took some left over material from the bunting (and a few other projects) and used it all to make letters for Zoe…
The dominant animal in Zoe’s room is elephants. Whilst I was trying to avoid birds, ’cause Heidi’s room is filled with them… I couldn’t help myself! I picked-up these metal, painted birds at a gorgeous shop in Geelong, Victoria called Goose.
Other decorations…
These amazing patterned, paper birds (Christmas decorations actually) I spied in a Torquay homeware shop. I used six of them to make a mobile to hang from the ceiling. Again providing that splash of turquoise.
Below are a couple of cushions I made with some turquoise material I had collected. I wanted to add splashes of turquoise wherever I could. You’ll also notice I covered the lampshade with one of the materials too.
The babushkas below were a gift from a friend. They knew I was going for a turquoise theme, so chose ever-so-well!
The final touch on the nursery is a beautiful, white dream catcher (another gift from a dear friend) … this will serve a very important role every night Zoe is asleep in her room.
Zoe hasn’t actually slept a night in her room yet… that will come. And, when I am ready to put her down there I’m happy that it has the feel and the magic that I was hoping for.
What would you say if asked what Easter smelled like? I would say hot cross buns…
I’ll have to confess our house has been smelling like Easter a lot lately (but more about that later).
If asked this same question when I was younger I would have said rosemary (not the distinct perfume of a distant elderly relative, but the fragrant herb!). Why Rosemary I hear you ask…
When we were kids (under 10 years old) we, my sister and I, would usually go to our grandparents house in a small seaside town called Point Lonsdale for Easter Sunday lunch. Our Aunt and Uncle, and two cousins would usually be there too. We loved going, but the trip was made especially sweeter at Easter due to the annual chocolate egg hunt.
Our Grandparents Gideon and Judy (Gran and Grandpa to us) would buy the hallow, egg sized chocolate eggs (and lots of them) and hide them all around their beautifully manicured garden. (Yes, I am getting to the rosemary bit)… Around their house was a neatly trimmed hedge of rosemary which seemed to be the hiding place of choice for these eggs. In our mad rush to collect the most eggs we would be diving our hands, arms and heads into this rosemary hedge to secure those Easter eggs. Resulting in a very vivid memory of Easter being associated with the smell of rosemary.
On a side note (perhaps you could even call this a confession)…my sister and I were particularly good at the Easter egg hunt. Completely motivated by greed, but nonetheless we always triumphed.
However every year we had to face the inevitable. Regardless of how many eggs we collected in that hunt we were directed by Gideon our grandfather to combine all the eggs and divide them evenly with our two cousins. I hated that part, and felt it extremely unfair that we did all the work, and then had to hand over ‘our’ eggs to our cousins. The strange thing about that… we went back every year with the same drive and enthusiasm to find the most eggs, knowing what the outcome would be. Perhaps out motivation wasn’t greed after all, simply the thrill of the chase?
Let’s move on from my childhood egg hunt issues, cause I would like to share with you the recipe responsible for the hot cross bun smell in our house. I’ve made these twice now, and they worked both times. Based on that alone, I am branding this a good recipe. But when you also add that they taste great, and are really easy to make – you’re onto a winner! I made these in the Thermomix, but I have included a non TM recipe option too. Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
20g mixed peel
250 g warm milk
500 g bakers flour
70 g butter
45 g sugar (or I use honey)
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
15 g dried yeast (or 20g fresh yeast)
100 g sultana
70g currants
Method:
TM = Thermomix instructions
Finely chop the mixed peel. TM: Place the mixed peel into the TM bowl and chop for 10 seconds on speed 10, then set aside.
Warm milk and place in a large bowl TM: Place milk in TM Bowl and mix 1 minute, 90 degrees, speed 1
Place all remaining ingredients in the bowl with the milk and mix together. TM: Place remaining ingredients, including the mixed peel (except sultanas and currants) in TM Bowl and mix for 6 seconds, speed 7
Turn mixture out onto a clean bench and knead for 10-15 minutes. The hot cross bun dough is very sticky, especially at the start. To aid the kneading process, sieving a thin layer of additional plain flour onto the bench and over the top of the dough. Having slightly wet hands also helps. You can feel if the dough is ready. It’s not sticking anymore and it springs back and is smooth. All the sultanas are sticking out and you have to poke them back in.
TM: Set to closed lid position and Knead for 3 minutes, interval speed (should be soft in texture). Add sultanas and currants and Knead a further 1 minute, interval speed. Turn dough onto floured bread mat and hand knead for a few seconds
The remaining instructions are for both techniques…
Place in a greased bowl, cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 60-90 mins, or until double in size.
Pre heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius
Cut and shape into dinner roll size buns and place together on a greased/lined baking tray. Cover and prove in a warm place a further 15-20mins
Pipe with crosses and bake in oven for 15-20mins or until golden. Brush with hot sugar syrup while warm.
Piping mixture:
80g plain flour 1tsp oil
pinch salt 80g cold water
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until it forms a thin paste.Pour mixture into piping bag (or sandwich bag with a very small corner cut off). Pipe crosses onto buns
Sugar Syrup: 2tbsp boiling water 2tbsp sugar
Place ingredients in small bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved.
Eggs and other Easter activities…
I’ve been collating lots of Easter ideas on my Easter Pinterest Board, so please take a look if you are searching for baking and crafty Easter inspiration. Some of my favourites I have included below…
Another great resource is the 60 egg activities for kids from Tinkerlab for some creative Easter egg inspiration. My favourite of their long list of links being the ice eggs from A little learning for Two… with the warm weather we have been having lately these would be ideal for Easter.
Or as the blog eighteen25 suggests you could prepare some bunny tails…
Or some absolutely scrumptious looking bunny cupcakes as Betty Crocker …
Easter can be great fun, with so many activities centered around the occasion, especially in the weeks leading up to Easter. So get into the spirit and bake or create something for Easter this year.
It’s been w-a-a-a-a-a-y too long since my last post… but I have a wonderful excuse – I made a baby! I will have to give some of the credit to my wonderful husband too (for when he is reading this!).
We welcomed Zoe into the world at the end of January 2013… and I’ve spent the last 6 weeks falling deeply in love with her, and even more in love (if that’s possible) with Heidi, who is simply besotted with Zoe.
My chief helper Heidi also turned two last weekend…. somebody definitely broke into our home and stole those two years!!
Although I was up to my neck in dirty nappies and baby vomit (I had a week alone with the two kids whilst my husband traveled interstate for work), I couldn’t let the day come and go without making a bit of a fuss of Heidi. So we had a small family afternoon tea, and Heidi and I did some baking… (I must add that Heidi wears her Liberty print apron every time she cooks… most of the time naked underneath!)
Salted Caramel Macaroons
I ‘m not shy about telling you that these salted caramel macaroons were amazing… or that they were from a packet mix.
With new baby in tow, I had to cut some corners somewhere!
Anyone from Australia that knows a-thing-or-three about baking will have heard of Adriano Zumbo who is famous for his deserts, and especially macaroons. Well, I stumbled across his new bake-at-home packs and thought I would give them a whirl. I was impressed, they were quite easy, and there are videos on his websites for some of the tricky parts of each recipe, giving a little extra support.
Persian Love Cake The talk of Heidi’s second birthday party was the Persian Love Cake. It is always a massive hit.
The recipe originally came from Qöm, a Middle Eastern restaurant at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland (where I have spent a lot of time, as a very good friend managed the restaurant/bar above it for a while). I was given this recipe by my Thermomix consultant (Yes, I have also been very busy testing out my new Christmas present!!)
Ingredients
1 whole nutmeg
45gm pistachios
360gm almonds
220 gm raw sugar (I have cut back the sugar to 125g and it is still great!)
220 gm brown sugar (I have cut back the sugar to 125g and it is still great!)
120 gm unsalted butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
250 gm Greek-style yoghurt, plus extra to serve
Method
Preheat oven to 170.C
Grind nutmeg for 12 seconds on speed 9. Set aside.
Coarsely chop pistachios by pressing Turbo3 times. Set aside.
Grind almonds for 4 secs on speed 9. Add sugars , butter and salt. Mix on speed 5 for 15 seconds, using spatula to assist.
Pour half the mixture into a lined and greased 26cm springform pan. Gently press the mixture into the base using a jar or tablespoon.
Add 2 eggs, and nutmeg to the TM Bowl. Mix on speed 3 for 10 seconds, stopping after 5 seconds to incorporate ingredients with spatula. Add yoghurt and mix on speed 3, reverse for 10 seconds. Pour into prepared tin.
Scatter with pistachios around the edge and bake in oven til golden brown, 35 – 40 minutes. Make sure that the top of the cake doesn’t wobble if you shake the tin slightly.
Cool completely in tin on a wire rack to room temperature, then serve with extra yoghurt. Will keep in an airtight container up to one week (if you hide it).
Rosewater Cupcakes For Heidi’s birthday cake I made rosewater cupcakes. They sound rather posh, but they are simply vanilla cupcakes (packet mix again) with pink colouring and rosewater added to the icing! Heidi placed all the flowers on the top, with a little adjusting by Mum to ensure they were centered.
This year we combined Heidi’s birthday with her cousin Tommy who was turning six. Tommy can’t have dairy, so I made my trusty gluten and dairy free chocolate and orange cake. This too, is always a crowd pleaser. The sugar animals were found in the cake decorating section at the supermarket – the kids loved them.
I have to mention the little wooden soldiers holding the candles. They were used for both my brother’s birthday cakes (commencing their use almost 50 years ago!!). I love that Mum has kept them all these years so the tradition can continue!
I want to make it known that I haven’t given up on Bernice, was just momentarily distracted. I should still find the time to transform into Bernice now and then – even though I have two chief helpers to look after. However you might find my posts are lighter on text, and heavier on images… reducing the time it takes to post.
I have heaps of photos I’ve taken of things I’ve made over the last few months, but haven’t yet written the post… I’m hoping that might change over the coming weeks. Fingers crossed!
This birch tree trunk has accompanied us on two house moves…destined to be put to good use ‘one-day’…
That day has now finally arrived. And my husband is thrilled. It was clogging up his garage, apparently.
I have used it as the centre-piece to our new daughter’s nursery (due to arrive in 8 days time).
Once upon a time it was the feature tree in our Melbourne home (front left)…
Sadly we had to cut it down as it had a disease.
Which has resulted in it being upcycled to make a bunting for our new daughter’s room. My vision was to use the birch trunk horizontally to hold several bunting triangles. If you are finding this hard to follow… all will be revealed shortly!
I chose some beautiful material from a local patchwork shop in Geelong, Victoria. The materials were from a collection called Modern Whimsy designed by Laurie Wishbrun for Robert Kaufman. I loved the playful patterns, bright colours and the use of Turquoise… which I wanted as the predominant colour in the new nursery. Oh, and did I mention the distinct absence of pink was also important (that’s watermelon, NOT PINK!!).
I used a piece of A3 paper to cut the pattern for my bunting triangles (drawing the triangle from the corners to the bottom centre of the page). When cutting the pieces of material I added a seam allowance. I also used an old white bed-sheet to cut a back for each triangle. I didn’t want to waste this beautiful material where it wasn’t going to be seen.
For each bunting piece I also cut two rectangles to act as ties for each triangle (so I could attach each bunting to the piece of wood).
So, each bunting piece was a triangle (with a white back) and two ‘straps’. I sewed two sides of the triangle, leaving the top open, but folded/ironed in on itself, to sew in the straps.
Once the straps were sewn in, they looked like this…
I then pinned each bunting along the piece of birch tree, adjusting the length of each strap so that they hung straight (unfortunately trees don’t grow dead-straight!). I used some straps of leather to tie around the wood and hook it to the wall.
I am thrilled with the outcome, and so glad I waited this long to use the beautiful piece of wood – I love it!
My next nursery installment will follow soon, then I suspect I might be a little quiet whilst I attend to our new addition to the family. Here’s a little snapshot of my current state….
You’ve probably cottoned-on by now that I hate to throw things out. When my Gran sadly passed away in August this year, I struggled to put her beautiful liberty print shirts and dresses into a garbage bag destined for the opportunity shop.
Gran was extremely fond of Heidi (my chief helper), and had said to me before she passed that she wished she could take Heidi with her, because she was going to miss her dearly.
I was clear to me that I had to make something from Gran’s Liberty garments that would mean she could be with Heidi in Spirit if not in person.
It’s taken me a few months to willingly pull out the garments and chop them up to produce the pieces of material I needed. Once I had done that, I was lacking inspiration around what to make with it.
In the time I pondering my ideas Heidi (who is now 21 months old) was showing a very keen interest in cooking… which translates to stirring the ingredients, pressing the buttons on the food processor, holding the measuring cups for me… and tasting the mixture with a (very deep and enthusiastic) plunge of her finger, when I would turn my back! Despite her limited involvement in the cooking process, she still managed to get filthy!
An Apron….. that was the obvious use for Gran’s liberty prints.
I didn’t have a pattern, so I took to Pinterest to gather some inspiration on styles, shapes, tying options…
You can view my ‘Kids’ Pinterest board here.
And then set about making something simple for my little Heidi….
Because the liberty fabric is so fine/thin, I lined the back of the skirt and chest piece with some white fabric (recycled cotton sheets actually!).
I made a tube of material for the waist tie, and neck strap.
Heidi is going to grow so quickly, which is why I decided to use a button and adjustable neck strap (allowing for more button holes to be added over time – if needed!).
I had even kept the liberty covered buttons from Gran’s shirts, so I put them to good use too.
Here’s the finished product…
I will be combining this new apron with a set of miniature cooking utensils for my budding chef’s Christmas present in a few weeks time..
If only Gran could see my little helper putting her beautiful liberty prints to good use.
With the new baby due in about 6 weeks time there will be lots of posts coming your way about my nursery decorating exploits, and out-of-control nesting urges!! In the week before I had Heidi I went on a cooking frenzy – so look out!
I was blown away by an email this morning that had me thinking someone had read mine – I had to share my shock and excitement with you!
Here’s a little scene-setting …
I was getting ready to go to the beach with my daughter Heidi last weekend and was trying to find a bag in the house big enough to fit several buckets, spades, water bottles, hats, food, nappies, suncream etc. (you get the picture – a HEAP of stuff). I stopped and eyed off my pile of Ikea bags… But just couldn’t do it!
I then had a quiet moment to myself thinking about how useful a ‘cool looking’ Ikea bag would be!
Back to the present.
I receive an email from a friend this morning that read….
Hi All,
A friend of mine has launched this new bag which I guess could be referred to as the fashion-acceptable Ikea bag that we all know and love. Check out the website it will tell you how many uses there are for it and its only $20 inc delivery….perfect time to launch a new online product so we can all avoid the shops at xmas.
Yes, it has been absolutely a-g-e-s since my last post… I have a myriad of reasons to explain why, but I won’t bore you with all that. Instead I’m going to launch straight into sharing my recent crafty project from the weekend.
A very dear friend of mine is having a baby in about a months time. They are having a boy; knowing that, I offered to make something to help decorate their little man’s nursery. A theme of hot air balloons had already been decided upon. This theme was prompted by the daily sighting of hot air balloons cruising over Melbourne, at dawn, that they would view from their window.
I then set about collating all the bits I (assumed) was going to need to achieve this task…
Four paper lanterns or Asian paper light shades… you can choose coloured ones if you prefer….
Paper noodle boxes (I got these and the lanterns from a $2 discount shop)…
Four different colours of bright material to cover the lanterns….
Before using the material, paint the back of it (only the amount you will be using) thinly with craft glue. This will stop it from fraying when you cut your stripes and start gluing them. It is best to do this the day before so it has time to dry.
Some Burlap to cover the paper boxes to make the baskets….
You will also need some craft glue (if you hadn’t picked up on that already!)
OK – Let’s get started….
Place the box (covered in craft glue) on a square of burlap and cut the burlap so you can stick it up the sides, and fold it into the box…
Do this on all sides until completely covered… alternatively you could always paint the boxes, or leave them white!
Work out what size you need to make your material stripes so they fit evenly around your lantern, luckily these lanterns were made with sections (see picture above) so I simply traced over one of the sections to create a template.
Cut out your material stripes from the material that has dried (you will find it becomes a little stiff from the glue), then glue them onto the lantern. I chose to leave white in between, but you could cover the entire lantern with material.
Once everything has dried, attached your baskets to the bottom of each lantern – your attaching technique may be different depending on which lanterns you chose – I used fishing line and tied mine.
Creating the mobile I used two pieces of dowel (one hanging from the other with fishing line). With a very fine drill-bit I drilled holes at each end of the dowel, then tied the balloons with fishing line (threaded through the holes).
Getting the balance right with the hole in the middle of the dowel can be tricky. If you find when it is done that they are not hanging straight, glue a small coin into one of the baskets to adjust the weight – this trick worked perfectly for me.
You could also attached the balloons to a large circular ring, or hang them from a string stretching from one side of the room to the other. As I always like to remind myself and others – there are no rules, so be creative!
My blog is the perfect representation of my life… a yearning for variety, and the avoidance (at all costs) of a regimented schedule.
The result: one day I will be looting paddocks for discarded, rusty, wire fencing then stuffing wonton wrapper with chunks of dark chocolate (and documenting it all here along the way).
Surprisingly, if you met me in my professional work environment, I am quite the opposite…. focused, running from meeting to meeting, hitting deadlines – very regimented! It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally realised I am the opposite at home in an attempt to keep some kind of sanity balance in my life.
I’ve always wondered what people think of my blog, why they read it, and do I make readers dizzy jumping from fondants to chair painting?
That’s why it was such a thrill to have been nominated not once, but twice by two very talented, fellow bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award… and a relief that at least two people out there enjoy my versatility, here’s what The Common Tarte wrote to accompany their nomination:
Hey Bernice:Awesome blogger, food, crafts, creations left right and center. Sassy with class and wit, and some really fantastic ideas that I can’t wait to start trying.
Thanks L.J Simms from The Common Tarte… I obviously don’t make you dizzy with my blog topics.
The second nomination came from Mama Miyuki Easy Pansty (how I love that blog name, it makes me smile every time)
I do have some obligations as a recipient of this nomination (not quite as demanding as Miss Australia’s – but it’s all relative!), so here goes…
THE AWARD RULES AND REGULATIONS!!
You must state and link your Nominator(s). [done √ ]
You must tell everyone 7 things about yourself.
You must nominate 15 Blogs and let them know
7 things about me…
This must be an omen, 7 just happens to be my lucky number (I loved the 7-times table when I was younger).
I met my wonderful husband on an online dating site (before it was widely accepted to do so, thus making us so cutting-edge!)
I don’t eat meat off the bone (lamb shanks, chops, chicken wings, drumsticks) or chicken thighs, only chicken breast… I know – that’s really weird isn’t it?
When I was fifteen I co-authored a book with my father called ‘Your future success – a students guide to effective study’ it led to interviews on national live TV, and a multitude of radio stations.
If only I still looked that young a sprightly!
I absolutely adore my dog Jack, and sometimes think we have met in a previous life… making him almost human.
I played State level waterpolo in my teens.
I absolutely LOVE bacon, but it must be crispy… none of that uncooked fat around the edges… Oh, and chorizo too.
Now for my nominations…
1. Today’s Nest
I love this blog about ‘Modern life, home, food, art and design’… especially the new videos they have been doing… LOVED the cheeky Truffle making video. And the guide to Spring cleaning was great.
2. Colour me happy A very recent discovery. Loved The 31 Days of March feature… taking photos of numbers for each day of March… The imagery in the blog is beautifully captured, and displayed under different topics.
3. Twirling Betty
My dear childhood friend, and the inspiration behind starting Hey Bernice! Twirling Betty will make you smile with her stories and observations (used to described her latest crafty exploit, cooking experiment, or family) – something that makes you smile is very addictive! (That’s why I love my husband so much)
4. Tinkerlab Ever since I can remember I have been making and creating things… I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if I have discovered this site as a child…. Heaven comes to mind. So many ideas for kids activities, so little time. I love the marble run made with paper rolls.
5. Seventy Tree
There is something magical about the way Seventy Tree captures the everyday with her camera. We are blessed (through her blog) to see life through her eyes… there is beauty in everything around us, we juts need to be reminded.
6. Poppytalk A Canadian design blog that inspires me with every post. I love that there might be a recipe one day, a DYI project the next, a collection of photos around a theme the next.
7. Bright Bazaar I stumbled across this blog via Pinterest. Being the visual person that I am I was lured in by all the bright colours in the images pinned – I’m trying to bring more colour into my life now I live by the coast, and this blog inspires me to do so.
I am going to give you the remaining eight blogs in a part II of this post… I really want to think about this properly. This post has already taken me over a month to complete – I know… I’m getting very slack these days!! My chief helper and I have been struck-down with gastro this week… so I figured better a half-done post than none at all!
I have to share with you my latest acquisition. When shopping in Geelong (which is the closest big town to my seaside location) I spied a large skip (dumpster) on the side of the road. If you have read any of my previous posts you will know that I am no stranger to retrieving things from skips – this day was no exception!
Naturally there needs to be something worth rummaging for in the skip, I don’t just fossick without intent. Although it would be foolish to rule out intent-less fossicking completely – one day.
This skip had the remains of a shop fit-out in it (another victim of the retail slump), and sitting on top of all the wood, plasterboard and other debris were all the letters from the shop sign – BINGO!
So I parked the pram (where my chief helper was fast asleep – pictured in helping mode above) and proceeded to climb the side of the skip. To put things into perspective, the top of the skip was higher than me.
Yes, I did attract some attention from sidewalk diners not far from the scene. I allowed my internal voice to convince me that they were simply jealous that I saw the letters before they did, and continued on my way.
I scored a large ‘O’, and smaller ‘f’, ‘h’ and ‘a’.
I donated the ‘O’ and ‘f’ to Oliver and Flynn two of my chief helper’s buddies, kept the ‘h’ for my chief helper Heidi (which I will decorate down the track and share with you), and used the ‘a’ as a book-end…
I was a little upset later that day. It really concerns me that there was probably so much more in that skip that many people would have found useful, yet it was going straight to the tip… it’s got my mind ticking over.
Months ago I re-covered 2 canvases with burlap (I didn’t like the creation from a previous crafty exploit).
I had two ideas for these two new burlap canvases, but couldn’t decide.
Many would describe me as having a ‘thing’ for butterflies and birds. Previous ramblings featuring birds and butterflies are testament to that.
Before making a decision between these two beautiful creatures, I wanted to see what they looked like on the canvases, so created them both in a kinda draft format (so excuse all the pins holding everything onto the canvas).
There has been a gap of three months between the first option and the second.
Rather than get my nickers-in-a-knot making the final decision, I thought I’d let my blog readers decide for me.
**MILD PANIC SETS IN ***
What if I am overestimating how many of you there are, or even worse, how much you care about my burlap canvas?
I have chosen to soldier on with the idea, despite this major concern… I know you won’t disappoint (wink, wink… nudge, nudge!)
Ta-da…. Presenting the two options for you to choose from…
1. Butterflies - I completed the first option at Christmas and took photos of it.
I used a butterfly-punch to cut butterflies from old atlas pages, then pinned them onto the canvases. I did add a few metal butterflies (which I hand cut), for a little interest.
2. Birds – I completed these last week. I chose some very colourful quilting fabric. Then painted the back of the fabric with craft glue (to stiffen it, and to allow me to cut the fabric without it fraying – once it was dry). I got my bird inspiration from some stencils pinned on my Crafty Ideas board on Pinterest.
You can leave a comment below with your preferred option, vote in the top right corner of this page, or simply click on the VOTE button below and whisked away to my facebook page to place your official vote…
Surprise me, and cast a vote… but more importantly help me decide what ends up on my wall!
If you spend a little time on Pinterest (especially in the the DIY and crafty areas) you would most certainly have stumbled across the use of old plates or pie tins and candle sticks to make a cupcake stand.
Let’s face it, we all have old plates and candle sticks ‘floating’ around the house, that we NEVER use! And if you are lucky enough not to, take yourself down to your local thrift shop and you can probably pick some up for under $5 (or knock on your neighbours door and ask them to donate some of their ‘floaters’ to you!)
Ingenious was my first impression. You’ve probably noticed I get over-the-top-excited about an upcycling project… So much so that I wanted to give it a go myself.
The two things I love about upcycling…
1. That I can take something that most people would throw away and turn it into something I will use in my home, and love.
2. Keeping what you chose to upcycling out of landfill
3. [Actually there are three things....] stopping myself from buying something new when I really don’t need to.
You can view more of my recent upcycling inspirations on my Upcycling Board on Pinterest:
I gathered my ‘floaters’ from around the house, and filled any gaps with a couple of items from the thrift store. I worked out that the lighter the material each piece is made from the better. I glued my bits together, so weight was important. I chose to use two plates. You can have more than that, it looks great as they gradually get smaller as you go higher.
Using craft glue (or any other strong glue) I glued the wooden candle stick to the bottom plate (which was actually a tray, made of tin and very light)…
As a side note… I quite liked the saying on the tray “Friends are flowers in the garden of life”
I glued a narrow vase to the smaller glass plate….
Once both were dry (and secure – it pays to test the strength of your gluing. Sometimes you need to do it again, I did!). I then glued the wooden candle stick to the bottom of the glass plate…
As you can see there are no rules when making these… do as many tiers as you like, use what ever you can find, and you don’t even need to paint them. For my purpose there was so much going on with her cupcakes, I needed something neutral to hold them.
Go one, make an upcycler of yourself… create something to hold all the chocolate eggs this Easter, or the hot cross buns, then you can re-use it all year round.
Cheats chocolate fondant was my first attempt to master desserts in 2012 (I proudly announced my New Years resolution a few moths ago)…
I would hardly label this attempt as mastering. As the recipe title suggests [cheats], if you get it wrong it will still come out right!
Brilliant. I needed something that would boost my confidence, easing me into this accuracy challenge. To put the pressure of this challenge into perspective, here’s a saying my mum would recite to me when I was younger (and she still does occasionally now)….
“scratch-patch, rub-a-dub, near enough, good enough Bernice”
I can be an obsessive perfectionist with some things, and others (like cooking) accuracy and measuring is simply not my thing! If successful, this dessert challenge will teach me to be more accurate and precise when cooking. There is no better way to test that skill than cooking really intricate desserts.
The timing of this dessert challenge is probably not ideal… about a week after announcing I was going to master a long list of desserts using cream, butter and chocolate and all things sweet and full of fat, I accidentally discover I have around thirty gallstones, and have to have my gallbladder removed! For those not aware, the gallbladder is used to inject bile into the stomach to help digest fats… when you have gallstones (crystals in your gallbladder) you are meant to avoid fatty meals that might call on the gallbladder to have to ‘do its thing’. I’d been having small gall-stone attacks for several weeks, but didn’t know what it was. I have since been told that they are as painful as childbirth – I would have to agree after I had a four-hour attack on Friday (my worst yet), and I am still worn-out from it two days later! I am booked in to have it removed in two weeks, so please forgive me if I am a little quiet leading up to and after the operation.
Back to desserts, I cooked these fondants last weekend for a lunch we were hosting, and learned later that night that they should be placed on the ‘foods to avoid’ list when you have gallstones… but isn’t that what makes them SO tasty, all the butter, chocolate and ice-cream?
Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).
Place the flour, sugar, almond meal, eggwhites, butter and melted chocolate in a bowl and mix well to combine.
Spoon half the mixture into 4 x ½-cup capacity (125ml) lightly greased dariole moulds.
Divide the extra chocolate squares between the moulds and top with the remaining mixture.
Bake for 20–25 minutes or until cooked but soft in the middle.
Stand in tins for 5–7 minutes before turning out.
I served the fondant with icecream I had whipped-up. Using good quality vanilla icecream, I let it melt slightly, then added ground cinnamon and ground cardamon (to taste), stirred the icecream thoroughly, then placed it back in the freezer to re-freeze.
The garnish in the photo was also from the Donna Hay – Chocolate & Cinnamon wontons….
Chocolate and Cinnamon Wontons
16 wonton wrappers
2 tbsp butter, melted
16 small squares dark chocolate
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp fine sugar
Preheat oven to 180C.
Brush the edges of the wonton wrappers with a little butter
Place a chocolate square on one corner of each wrapper (in this photo I used half a Lindt ball, but a piece of dark chocolate worked better on a previous occasion).
Fold over the wrappers (on the diagonal) to enclose the chocolate, then press the edges to seal.
Place on a baking tray (preferably lined with non-stick baking paper to create less mess).
Brush wontons with butter and sprinkle with combined cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown & crispy.
I will try not to let me newly discovered medical condition stand in the way of my quest to master desserts… after all, I don’t need to taste the results of my baking, do I? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate test of my desire to achieve baking accuracy? We’ll see…
I’m off to select my next dessert – perhaps I should try a real [minus the 'cheats'] chocolate fondant!!!
We made it…. our (not so little) Heidi is now one! The photo below was taken before all her buddies arrived for her party last weekend. Whilst I love this photo, I prefer the ‘behind the scenes’ shots that show you her true personality…
Wow this is fun sitting on an adults chair…
I can perform all sorts of maneuvers on here…
I’m loving this Mum…
OK, I’ve had enough now, can I hop down please?….
You SO should have listened when I first indicated I had HAD E-N-O-U-G-H!
Enough about the birthday girl, let me take you on a tour of the party food and decorations – Fun, fun, fun…
The Decorations
Whilst not the official theme, butterflies featured a lot in the decorations. As a centerpiece on the table I had a glass pot full of dead branches I had collected from the beach. I covered them in butterflies I had punched from wrapping paper and a miniature bunting to match the cake bunting (you can read more about that down below).
To make the butterflies…
Using a butterfly puncher, you simply slide the paper in and press down like a hole-puncher…too easy!
I then sewed two butterflies together (so there was a pattern on both sides), leaving a string to hang them…
After making all the butterflies I was left with the butterfly-punched-paper… what can I do with that? (mind ticking over…)
I decided to stick them to the paper boxes I was serving the salads in…
Then I served a series of finger food from the BBQ (being so busy cooking and serving I didn’t manage to take photos of all the BBQ food – I’m very annoyed, and terribly sorry about that)…
- Thai pork balls with ginger chilli sauce
These are my Thai chicken burger recipe, except I used pork mince, then rolled into balls and coated in sesame seeds. I half baked them in the oven at 180C, then finished them on the BBQ to give them the colour, and BBQ flavour.
- Moroccan chicken ribs with cucumber & yoghurt sauce
No special recipes here, the ribs were sprinkled in Masterfoods Moroccan seasoning, then cooked on the BBQ – yep, that easy!
- Chipollatas with tomato chutney
These chipolattas are something special, we need to order them from a deli in Geelong, who buy them from the famous butcher Jonathan’s – in Collingwood, Melbourne
I served two salads with the BBQ food, a potato salad (I make-up this recipe, so will follow with a post about this down the track – I need to record the measurements of everything first!), and an Asian Coleslaw (you can use Changs recipe or my recipe for Asian coleslaw) without any meat added. I actually did a hybrid of both recipes on the day (that’s Bernice, always changing the recipe!)
A party is not complete without honey joys… I used this recipe for those…
I also thought I better be responsible, and serve something healthy for the kids to snack on…
Now for the cupcakes…
I had seen a red velvet cupcake recipe attempted on master chef last year, and filed it away as something I would like to try to make one-day. That day arrived, and I whipped them up for Heidi’s party. I used this recipe. I’m not a big cupcake baker (muffins – yes, but very few cupcakes have been turned-out in Bernice’s kitchen). It was a very smart idea of mine to do a trial-run. This is what I discovered in the trial…
- Don’t over-fill the patties, 2/3 full only or they will overflow like volcanoes
- Yes they are ‘red’ velvet cupcakes, but I opted to put only 1 teaspoon of food colouring (of the 1-2 recommended), and they came out looking like chocolate cupcakes (the cocoa obviously won the battle of colour supremacy on that occasion)
So when I did the official baking I put less in the patties, reduced the cocoa slightly, and added more red food colouring…
They are iced with cream cheese icing, my favourite icing of all time (is it sad that I actually have a priority ranking for icings?). I used Pinterest (visit my parties pinterest board) for an injection of inspiration when it came to decorating the cupcakes – resulting in the ribbon, the coloured patties and the little heart on the top. PS. Have a good look at the cupcake stand, I made that too – I will post about that down the track too!
And the cake…
In addition to the cupcakes I made a gluten and dairy free cake (to cater for dietary requirements), this ended up being her birthday cake. I used my trusty flourless chocolate and orange cake recipe, and stacked two cakes on top of each other. I iced the cake with butter icing (using dairy free butter), and then I topped it with Persian Fairy Floss.
The gorgeous cake bunting was made by my very dear friend, and fellow crafter Twirling Betty, it finished the cake off perfectly – making it fit for a princess…
Stay tuned for my future posts about the potato salad recipe (it has a very surprising main ingredient – It will surprise you!) and how I made the cupcake stand from upcycling things from the op shop!
When I first did a post on Heidi’s nursery (very close to a year ago, when she was born) I kept mentioning it was her temporary nursery because we were renting at the time (and the walls were a very vibrant blue which I hated). Until we had moved into the house we were building I never felt that her room was as I wanted it to be… so here it is her ‘real’ nursery, finally!
Before we go any further, I must share with you a You Tube clip from a TV show called Portlandia. I haven’t seen this show (or even heard of it, until last night), however it was brought to my attention by a friend who was over for dinner. This particular clip is called ‘Put a bird on it’ … Whilst watching it all I could think about was Heidi’s nursery – enough said (for now)…
For the record there are also butterflies (tutorial here) featured in her nursery… I’m not completely bird obsessed…
Let’s start the tour of her new avery nursery. On her door… I made this bunting from a mobile I had that was made of gorgeous Indian fabric, ribbon, white felt and embroidery thread. I had a red bird left over from the vinyl decal you will see further into this post, so I perched it on the mini peg…
Here are the old book pages bunting (tutorial here), looking so much better on a white wall. And featured on the bookshelf is the first item I bought for her nursery, a print called ‘Ruby Slippers’ from the flowerpress store on Made it. There is also another red vinyl bird, and a blue material bird perched on the stick (and a sneaky duck on one of the book pages)…
And a red chicken…
A new item since moving is the rocking horse I transformed (see more here) for Heidi’s Christmas present, now a main feature in her room (no birds featured here!)…
A few of her buddies having a party in her cot (there’s a duck in there!)…
You’ve probably noticed that there is a touch of red theme throughout (a better angle of the blue bird)…
supported on the bookshelf by the red HEIDI letters from Typo, the red bunny bookend (a gift) and the red wooden buzzy-bee. Mum and Dad gave that to me, they were first released in the 1940′s, they are from New Zealand, and I had one when I was little.
We’ve also incorporated a little Heidi memorabilia… a framed movie poster for the Heidi Movie purchased online…
A very old Heidi Golden Book, a donation from one of the gorgeous girls in mothers group who received this as part of a bundle of old books she purchased from ebay…
And a further touch of red with my upcycled stools made from electrical-wire spindles (tutorial here), owls also featured in the material…
More birds… I stumbled across the most amazing vinyl stickers (red, of course!) online at My Munchkin Home…
Which then led to the acquisition of these bed sheets (for her single bed/day bed, or my bed when Heidi’s not well) covered in brilliantly coloured birds…
Which worked beautifully with the seed pod bird mobile hanging from the roof…
And the red (again) string of chickens from oxfam…. more birds!
It is probably more appropriate to call her nursery the avery… it is a little out-of-control, isn’t it? I promise, no more birds… it’s no wonder she is starting to mouth ‘birdie’ already… they surround her every night!
There is a story behind most of the items of furniture in our home – I like it that way (partly, because I love telling stories!!).
These four stools have recently become one of my transformation stories.
Where do I get the motivation (and time) to do all this? OK, I’ll be honest, these stools have been ‘on the go’ for close to a year now… my TAT (why should we leave abbreviating things to the gen-Yers!!)… turn around time is something that is not consistent from project to project. If I am going to be completely honest… I haven’t finished them all yet. They are a real pain in the backside to sand, it’s not fun… and when it’s not fun, my motivation takes a tumble.
The fun part was selecting the material for the stools… that was my favourite bit (pity that was done months ago!). To help with the decision I started a fabric board on Pinterest. I was toying around with bringing a splash of colour into the house, vs. something stylish but neutral. I went for stylish by neutral, and a colour that would compliment the kitchen bench they will be sitting under. I ended up choosing a beautiful hand screen printed working cloth from the Cloth fabric online store. It is called Spotcheck, and I used the chalk on raw…
If you want to try your hand at transforming some stools, here’s what you’ll need, and what I did:
- Some stools that will allow you to remove the padded seat easily (and replace it) so you can change the material – that’s what really transforms them (or a lick of paint).
- A staple gun and staples (or upholsterer pins could also do the job, as long as they are not too long – they will prick your bum!)
- An electric hand sander or mouse (it can be done by hand but will take longer)
- Sand paper (medium grain)
- Quilting batting (or some foam/sponge that can be cut to size)
- Durable material to cover the seats and enough to staple it underneath each seat as well.
1. Kindly asked my husband to look after Heidi for a morning while I visited op shops looking for stools.
2. Found four wooden stools for $15 each (I did take a photo and text it to above-mentioned hubby to check that he liked them)
3. Strategically positioned the four stools in the car (a minor miracle that they fit!), then headed home with a big smile on my face
4.Took the padded seat off the stools (they were attached with several screws)
5. Cut the dusty, old material off the wooden disc (I took the lazy approach and decided not to remove the old staples)
6. Bought some quilting batting to use as padding on the wooden seat, cut several layers the size of the disc and stapled to the top.
7. Sanded the old varnish off the wood. This was the not-so-fun part. Sanding (or painting) circular wood is very time consuming, and tedious (hence why I have only managed to complete two of the four chairs!). Because the varnish was old it did turn quickly into dust and come off easily… the electric sander can do most of the work, except in the tight spots where I switched to hand sanding (the really, really un-fun bit!).
7 a) alternatively I could have painted them, which was my original idea. I opted to sand back instead because it was likely that the paint would chip on the rim around the bottom where people would be resting their feet… I didn’t warm to the idea of having to re-touch the paint all the time!
8. Take your material and cut each piece leaving about 10-15cm extra around the edge for stapling underneath. 9. Once the material is cut, lay the good side down on a table/floor then place the padded side of the circular seat on top (padded side down). Take your staple gun or upholsterer pins and place four evenly spaced around the circle (dividing it into quarters). When you fold the material over before pinning/stapling, fold the cut edge under for a neater finish, and make sure you pull the material tight for a better finish overall. You’ll see below that you get a better finish if you angle the material after pulling it tight (you avoid wrinkles forming around the edge of the circle).
10. By pulling the material tight before each staple/pin it will ensure you have a smooth finish when you turn it over…
11. Attach/screw/glue the seats back onto the stool (once they are sanded or painted, and dry!), and you will have yourself a set of new stools.
These are the two I have almost finished (I’m a fuss-pot and need to get into the joins with the sandpaper)
If you look closely at the back two chairs I haven’t finished sanding them yet…I’ve been using them for three months and no one seems to have noticed – or they are too polite to say so!
What I love about these is that when I get sick of the material, I will take it off and recover the seats with something fresh.
Happy hunting for stools, and choosing material. And hope that you find stools made with flat wood, and no curves, it might mean you finish sanding yours!
Cheers,
It’s recently come to my attention that I’m quite confident when it comes to savoury cooking, but I have lost my way with the sweet stuff.
Back in my Hotel Management days (when I spent a third of my studies in the kitchen, mastering the finer culinary techniques) I was capable of turning out most recipes placed in front of me…. it’s fair to say I am a little out of touch now.
One of my new year resolutions was to get my confidence back when cooking sweets… especially some of the more difficult ones (They are defined as difficult for me when they require precision… it’s not one of my strong points in the kitchen). Things like pavlova, creme caramel, fondant, souffle, pastries. I want to become the dessert queen! There you go, I’ve said it now – so look out!
The first on my list to master was the pavlova. I am very embarrassed to admit until 18 December , 2011 (yes, 2 months ago!) I had never cooked a pavlova! My mother is famous for them, and I have been cooking and entertaining for around 20 years… and never pumped one out of my kitchen. My first one was a little flat.
The second time I got adventurous. I added rose water and red food colouring, and made individual, light pink pavlovas with cream and rose water strawberries on top – that was a month ago for Australia day… and they were a hit!
So when I offered to make a dessert plate for a 1st birthday party of one of little Heidi’s buddies I modified the rose water pavlova, and made mini rose water meringues. I’m getting better ever time, but I’m sure it takes years of practice to get them as good as mum does – it gives me something to aspire to.
Below is the first of many video tutorials I will be doing to accompany some of my post – please let me know what you think, and do tell me if they are a waste of my time (and yours!!)…
Rose Water Meringues
6 egg whites
440 g (15 oz) caster sugar,
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cornflour
1.5 tsp white vinegar
2 tbsp of rose water
red food colouring (several drops)
250ml whipping cream (full fat)
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a tray with baking paper.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add caster sugar, one third at a time, allowing each third to be well incorporated so you end up with a thick, glossy meringue. Fold through the vanilla, cornflour, white vinegar and a couple of drops of red food colouring (keep adding drops until you get a pale pink colour).
Spoon onto baking tray, or use a pipping bag. The size of your meringue is entirely up to you. I made small bite size meringues because they were finger food for a first birthday party.
In the video tutorial I was using a very nifty ‘apparatus’ from Tupperware calledBake 2 basics Squeeze it . I was christening it in the video, hopefully I will get a bit better with more use!
Place in the oven, lower the temp to 120C and bake for 10 minutes, check them at this point and then check every 5 minutes until they are hard on the outside, and very slightly brown. Turn the oven off, leaving the meringues to cool inside the oven, overnight preferably.
Place cool meringues on a serving tray with a bowl of whipped cream, or join two together with whipped cream just before serving.
I also managed to sneak a heart shaped individual pavlova onto one of the trays as a valentine surprise. It is easier if you draw the heart onto the baking paper first to give yourself a guide to follow.
Which is best topped with cream, and strawberries cut into four (sprinkled with castor sugar and drizzled with rose water and let sit for an hour or so)… then placed on top!
Happy baking, and look out for all the other sweet things I will be attempting to master over the coming months.
Do we really need another social media photo sharing site… It’s hard to keep up these days isn’t it? I’ve been having a lot of fun with Instagram (and Tumblr, wordpress, facebook, Pinterest, twitter, google+….). How do they all differ, and what’s the point of them all, I here you ask?
Well, this might help… I was sent a great image yesterday that explains beautifully how all these social media sites fit together, and can (believe it or not) compliment each other:
I’m not going to go into the details of what you can do with Instagram, or what it is… all I will say is it’s a smart, easy and convenient way to document your life with photos (if that’s what you like doing!!). My favourite feature is the ability to choose different ‘looks’ or ‘filters’ for your images.
Here’s a sample of the photos I’ve been sharing via Instagram… (if you want to find me search for heybernice)
Our home-grown sunflower, I found the seeds when I was unpacking after moving, we planted them along the back fence (only one grew!)
A reminder of one of the reasons I wanted to leave Melbourne, the daily train ride to work (I only have to do it once a week now!)…
I love using it as a photo blog of Heidi’s life…
The good and the bad…
And to take photos of the best dog in the whole wide world…
Things that smell and taste great…
An evening walk on the golf course…
My favourite space in our house…
I’ve also recently set myself up on Tumblr… (it’s like a miniature blog – snapshots of everything) so look out for Hey Bernice there as well…
I guess you could call this Part II of Upcycling: Transforming garbage. I have ‘a thing’ about throwing things away that can be used for something else – it drives my husband crazy.
All around our house you’ll find items I have saved from the trash that are being stored until I get around to doing something with them.
Below are examples of the baby formula tin becoming a cooking utensil holder, and the bulk washing detergent bucket turned into toy box….
Here’s another option you can add to that list, the egg carton muffin box.
This one is a piece of cake (or should I say muffin – haha). Anyone (even those that shout from the rooftop that they haven’t a creative bone in their body) can achieve this one.
All you need is:
- An egg carton (one that doesn’t have packaging/printing all over the sides, or where you can peel off the packaging/sticker)
- Some colourful paper (I used wrapping paper)
- Craft glue
- Scissors
- A ruler
1. Where you can, peel off the sticker/packaging… otherwise you might have to stick the coloured paper over the sides as well.
2. Measure the size of the top of the egg carton and cut a piece of paper to stick on the top.
3. Use the craft glue to evenly cover the top of the egg carton and place the paper on top.
4. Press down firmly to ensure that all parts of the paper will stick to the carton
5. Leave to dry
Once covered you can place mini cupcakes or muffins in the egg carton. You will need a small muffin tin so they they will fit. In this egg-sample (the puns are getting a little annoying now aren’t they?). I made my delicious banana, date and bran muffins
So there you have it, one of the simplest transformations you will ever encounter – go on, give it a try.
While we’re on the topic of transforming garbage, I thought I would share with you a great idea I stumbled across. The entrepreneur behind this new product probably had the same addiction to reusing garbage that I have!
They are stickers that can be placed on different pieces of garbage to turn them into toys for kids! The company is called Box Play for Kids, here are some brilliant examples from their website:
The Juice carton truck…
The egg carton zoo…
The shoe box fridge…
That’s more than enough garbage-talk from me…. see you next time.
I stumbled across Heidi’s Christmas present by accident last year. I was returning to one of my favourite places to waste a Sunday afternoon… The Mill Markets with the intention of buying an old wooden Pinocchio I had spied on my last visit (It was to become another addition to Heidi’s nursery wall). I didn’t buy it the first time because I wasn’t completely certain I liked it. So there I was staring at the Pinocchio, again… still not sure.
I am usually a very quick decision maker, and seldom regret decisions I have made. So, whenever I’m not sure about something I should know by now to walk away. I did end up walking away, and thank goodness for that, or I wouldn’t have stumbled across this gorgeous old rocking horse, at a bargain price of $30!
Many of you are probably thinking how gorgeous the paint-work is, and that it’s bright and fun for a little girl – which I did too. But I wasn’t sold, it needed a little TLC (Tender loving care – who knows what other meaning that could have these days in a teenager’s text message!). Secondly, my husband barracks for West Coast Eagles Aussie rules footy team (Blue and yellow), and I couldn’t have him thinking it was a West Coast rocking horse!
My plan was to sand it back, and repaint it for Heidi’s Christmas present. I also wanted to add a mane and tail.
With Heidi’s nursery having a touch of red, I wanted red to feature in the new colour scheme. I did a lot of searching online and Pinterest for inspiration, and pinned some options onto my Kids pinboard. I decided on a white horse, black saddle/seat and red rocking apparatus (what do you call that part??). As much as I hate painting with enamel paint (it ends up all over me, then I have to wash down with mineral turpentine… and I can’t be bothered with the effort to wash the brushes either… Short answer – I’m Lazy!!!) I did use enamel for this project – it is a much better, shiny finish, and will ensure it survives the beating it is going to get over the years. I gave the horse two coats of paint after a thorough sand-back, and wipe down with a damp cloth.
We now have a beautifully fresh and inviting rocking horse sitting in Heidi’s nursery…
For the mane I chose Black – I bought a string of black tassels from the material shop. The mane is two lengths of tassels so it hangs down both sides…
I attached the mane with a staple gun. If you look closely below you can see the staples holding on the mane, that I then coloured black with a permanent marker.
I added a little detail to the heart at the front of the rocking horse….
I then opted for a curtain tassel for the tail. Here you can see the curtain tassel tail I attached to the underside of the seat/saddle with the staple gun…
After all that effort, I would love to say Heidi was overjoyed to see her new animal friend…Hmmmmm – I’m sure she will grow to like it!
Calling your help, I’m looking for a name for Heidi’s new horse… please send through your fun, quirky and imaginative name suggestions?
It’s official, salvaging furniture from the side of the road and restoring or transforming it is a hereditary trait.
Many months ago I mentioned to Mum that I wanted to replace the bench seats along the side of our dining table with six chairs.
I wanted the change-over to coincide with our move into our new house, but hadn’t seen anything I would be happy to spend money on. Being the thinker that she is, mum suggested that I re-use the chairs she was storing in the garage (my sister was holding on to them for a future use – yet to be determined!). So off we went to the garage to inspect them… they were perfect.
I was later informed by my 86-year-old grandmother that she and my grandfather had found these chairs on the side of the road, took them home and painted them green. They then finished them with special paint (that was apparently all the rage in the 1980′s) that gave them an antique look. This is when I realised that my love for transforming curb-side furniture has been passed down two generations!
Without a second-thought I loaded the chairs into the car, took them home and started to think about what I would do with them:
- Strip the paint off them myself (which I tried to do with one chair and gave-up when there were more than four coats of paint on them!)
- Pay someone to strip them for me (I was hesitant to do this because I didn’t think the quality of the wood would be worth the effort or cost)
- Paint over the multiple coats of paint they had already received.
I decided to paint over them, but what colour? I pondered on this for some time.
I really wanted to go a bright colour (was thinking duck-egg blue), but I knew I would get sick of it after a while… so I decided to paint them the same colour we had chosen as our wall paint. Solver “talc’ in an enamel gloss.
If you have ever painted anything with circular shape: a pole, tube, prong, round table/chair leg you will sympathise with me when I say it was a long, tedious and difficult job. To get the paint to cover the surface evenly was extremely challenging – it took me ages (and three coats on all six chairs). Each chair now has about seven coats of paint from all the transformations they have endured over the years!
Just as well they look wonderful around the table in our new home, or the effort would not have been worth it….
On the wall in this image you will see another project I am working on, burlap covered canvases with butterflies cut from atlas pages and metal – I’m not sure about it, so leaving it there to decide if I change it to birds instead (more about this in a future post).
We’ve found since changing from benches along each side of the table that we use the table more. It is less effort to pull out a chair to sit at the table. The benches were not ideal when entertaining – you couldn’t turn your chair slightly to face the person next to you when talking. All round a successful project, albeit the painting was extremely time-consuming.
We recently hosted 17 adults and 9 babies for a Christmas lunch, the perfect way to road-test a new house (especially the kitchen!). The secret to it running smoothly… good preparation (and a kitchen with plenty of bench space and a big oven!).
My husband and I usually host a Christmas BBQ & drinks every year for all our friends. Having recently moved 1.5 hours drive away from our friends, we decided we would keep it local and invite my amazing mothers group, their partners and babies over for a Christmas lunch.
It was also a dress-rehersal for us – we are hosting Christmas Day lunch this year. We needed to get into the festive spirit, so we ventured to the nursery the day before and bought a potted Christmas tree, and decorated that:
I then focussed my attention to the table, I wanted to creat a beach Christmas theme. I collected weathered branches from the Torquay foreshore, bought Star fish, filled hurricane lamps with sand and candles, and finally found a use for the shells I had collect over the years (this post is for all those people who have asked me over the years “What are you going to do with all the shells you’ve collected?”) …
Drinks Non-alcoholic punch (with a bottle of vodka sitting next to it, for those that wanted to spice things up a bit).
We did have dessert wine and cheese to serve as well, but no one had the room for it (but it did come in handy later that evening when there were still a few of us still ‘chatting’).
Here are the recipes… Where there isn’t a link to the recipe above (because it has already been a feature in a previous post) you will find the recipe below:
Baked Eggplant chips 2 eggplants (aubergines) medium – large Tandaco Southern Fried Chicken seasoning (or any other fish or chicken seasoning/coating)
Salt
Spray oil
- Slice eggplants into 1.5 cm slices lengthwise.
- Sprinkle with Salt and let stand for 10-20 mins (or until you can see little drops of liquid sitting on the flesh)
- Rinse off salt and cut into desired lengths (If you cut them too thin they will dry out too much in the oven, try to keep them about 1.5cm think)
- Generously spray a baking tray with oil
- Whilst wet, toss the eggplant chips in the seasoning mix (the skin doesn’t usually coat very well, so don’t worry too much about that)
- Arrange on the tray evenly spaced
- Spray the top of the eggplant pieces with oil
- Cook for 15-20 mins at 180C, turn each piece and continue cooking for another 15+ minutes.
- If they have not browned, turn the oven to 200C and cook until they look ready to eat. If you’re not sure if they are ready… just try one!
- Serve with an aoili. Alternatively light sour cream (for a healthier option) seasoned with cumin and garlic.
Slow cooked, smoked pork coated in 4-3-2-1 BBQ rub BBQ Rub
Combine the following…
4 tablespoons of sweet paprika
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic granules/powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
3 kg pork scotch roast (with the rind on)
hickory chips (for smoking)
Make sure you’ve soaked your Hickory chips in water for an hour before using them. Cut the rind off the meat. generously coat a 3kg of pork completely in the rub. Place the Hickory chips in a disposable cooking tray, or another small container that won’t melt of burn. Light the chips so that they start smoking, then place the bowl in the BBQ. Cook on the BBQ set up as an oven – it will require some moving around of BBQ plates etc (best to check your instruction book to know what to do) with the meat resting directly on a BBQ rack with a drip try beneath it to catch the meat juices. Slow cook with the lid closed, for 3.5 hours at 110C. take the meat off the BBQ and let it rest for 10- 15 minutes before carving.
Make sure you’ve soaked your Hickory chips in water for an hour before using them.
generously coat the top of the beef with the seeded mustard.
Place the Hickory chips in a disposable cooking tray, or another small container that won’t melt of burn. Light the chips so that they start smoking, then place the bowl in the BBQ.
Cook on the BBQ (set up as an oven – it will require some moving around of BBQ plates etc (best to check your instruction book to know what to do) with the meat resting directly on a BBQ rack with a drip try beneath it to catch the meat juices. Slow cook for 3.5 hours at 110C. take the meat off the BBQ and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before carving
Hollandaise sauce
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper.
Mix all the ingredients at high-speed in a blender.
Melt but do not brown 1/2 cup of butter, and blend into the above ingredients at high-speed. Serve immediately or stand container in warm water until required (placing cling wrap so it rests on the liquid to stop a film forming on the surface). You can freeze this sauce and reconstitute it over warm water.
Spinach salad with roasted baby tomatoes, houlumi, crispy prosciutto and a basil and lime vinaigrette
Baby spinach leaves
Shaved prosciutto slices
Houlumi
Baby/cherry tomatoes
Balsamic vinegar
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
Ground garlic
Olive oil
(all the quantities will depend on how many people you are catering for)
Pre heat over to 180C.
Cut all the stems off each of the spinach leaves (you don’t have to do this, but it makes it easier for your guests to eat!), wash and place in the serving bowl.
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut each of the tomatoes in half and place on the tray with the cut part facing up. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil over each of the tomatoes. Also sprinkle with ground garlic, sea salt and cracked pepper.
Lay the prosciutto slices out individually on baking paper on a tray. Place in the oven and dry out until very crispy. remove from the oven, when cool break up into small bite size pieces.
At the same time bake the tomatoes in the oven until they are starting to brown, and shrivel slightly. Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray.
Cut the houlumi in half width-wise to make the square thinner. Pan fry with some olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Whilst still warm cut into small cubes. Ideally it is best to serve the salad while the houlumi is still warm, but I let it cool and served it later.
Sprinkle the tomatoes, prosciutto and houlumi over the top of the spinach leaves, pour the dressing over the top, and toss the salad before serving.
Asparagus with Balsamic reduction Asparagus
pine nuts
Balsamic vinegar
(quantities will depend on the number of guests)
Snap the base off the end of each asparagus spear (I recently learned this trick from mum – I love tat she’s still teaching me things! By snapping and not cutting you don’t get any tough bits, that should all break off).
Pour the balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan, bring to the boil, then let simmer to reduce it down and make it thicker. You want it to be thick enough to stick to the asparagus when you pour it over.
Using a non-stick frypan on medium heat (no oil), tip the pine nuts in and continue to stir until golden brown. Remove from the pan the minute they are done, otherwise they will continue to brown in the hot pan.
Bring water to the boil, and cook the asparagus so there is still some crunch when you bite it – best to keep testing (could be anywhere from 5 mins depending on how thick the spears are).
Arrange the asparagus on a serving plate, pour the balsamic reduction over the top, then sprinkle with pine nuts. You can serve this hot or cold.
Smashed Potatoes Potatoes (generally one potato per person)
Olive oil
Seas salt
Fresh Rosemary
- Wash the potatoes and boil until cooked through.
- Allow them to cool slightly to make handling a little easier (you don’t want to burn your fingers!)
- Heat your oven to 180C
- Place the potatoes on a large baking tray coated generously with olive oil.
- With a knife cut a cross into each potato (each line of the cross stretching from one side to the other of the potato), cutting almost all the way through to the tray.
- Take your potato masher, press down hard on each potato, with the aim to squash and open it up.
- If the potato ends up really flat, mess it up a bit so that there is some potato flesh and skin exposed to go crispy when you bake them again.
- Drizzle each potato with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and chopped rosemary.
- Place in the oven and bake until golden brown and with crispy bits. If they are not browning turn the oven up to 200C (but keep an eye on them!)
- Remove from the oven and serve (Yummo!)
Pavlova
6 egg whites
440 g (15 oz) caster sugar,
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cornflour
1.5 tsp white vinegar
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a tray with baking paper.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add caster sugar, one third at a time, allowing each third to be well incorporated so you end up with a thick, glossy meringue. Fold through the vanilla, cornflour, white vinegar.
Spoon into a greased and lined 23cm springform cake tin or spread in a high circle on a sheet of baking paper on a tray. Place int e oven, lower the temp to 120C and bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven off, leaving the pavlova to cool inside the oven overnight preferably.
Place cool pavlova on a serving tray and cover with whipped cream and you decorating of choice (fresh fruit, silver balls etc).
So there you have it… a really simple Christmas menu, allowing you to prepare a lot of things beforehand, and not having to do any last minute cooking while your guests are there – the perfect scenario!
Finally our new home is finished, we’ve been in three weeks now. If you’re interesetd in taking a look you can view the video walk-through on the Blog www.lot271.com.
I have taken heaps of photos before we moved all our stuff in which you can view here.
There will be some professional photos taken of the furnished house in the new year, so stay tuned for those
It was time to change my Christmas decorations, so I started a Pinterest Christmas board for inspiration. I then waited until we moved into our new house to get a feel for the place before I bought anything.
I think I have all I need for the new look this year, although it’s not on a tree, or decorating a table… Yet!
I am getting ahead of myself, but I thought I would give you a sneak peek anyway… I am really happy with the combo, and love the fresh and cheery colours.
I have resurrected some decorations I bought 10 years ago in Nicaragua (Central America)…
I acquired some new items in my favourite coastal homeware shops in Barwon Heads Frith and Rigby’s …
I am using some decorations I bought from Mozi and Country Road (I changed the ribbon colour!) several years ago…
And HAD to buy these from trusty Spotlight, they were talking to me from the shelf. I tried to walk away but they wouldn’t let me!
I will intermingle all these above with some gorgeous light blue balls from Myer…
Stay tuned for the results of combining everything, and adding a Christmas tree!
Actually, on the first day of Christmas my true love said to me…. “Now we’ve moved house can you finish off some of these crafty projects you have started (and never finished)!”
Amongst the box unpacking (we moved into our new house last week… you can visit my blog about building the house at www.lot271.com) I found some time to make my toilet-paper-roll-Christmas-wreath as I promised I would in my Christmas decoration post. I couldn’t have made it any earlier because I needed the extra time to collect enough toilet rolls! I think that is a good enough excuse, don’t you?
I can’t take the credit for the idea, it was a Pinterest discovery (care of the wonderful tutorial on the site See You There Designs)…
It seems there are a few crafty people out there making some creative stuff with toilet paper rolls. Check out this AMAZINGLY enormous wall art from Tibble Fork…
So here’s my Christmas creation. I’ve gone with a beachy Christmas theme this year. You will see over the coming weeks that I have chosen predominantly light blue, white and silver… with the addition of sand, shells, star fish and drift wood.
I used Kikki K Christmas gift tags to compliment the natural cardboard tones of the toilet paper, along with a star fish and some raffia and ribbon. Fingers crossed we don’t have a wet lead up to Christmas or I might end up with a rather soggy wreath (will keep you posted!!).
I stumbled across this rattan screen about 4 years ago. It was 7.30am, I was driving to work… my attention was drawn to a skip sitting outside a house in our street. Sticking out the top of the skip was a small portion of this rattan screen/room divider – It looked promising! So much so, if stopping to check it out meant I was late to work, it was a risk I was willing to take.
With years of experience under my belt, I would call myself a seasoned collector of junk from the footpath or skips. Even with that label clearly tattooed to my forehead it doesn’t make me feel any more comfortable about fossicking through other people’s junk. This morning was particularly awkward with a spectator sitting on the front porch of the house next door… monitoring my swift stop, reverse, park, inspect, grab and squeeze!
The ‘squeeze’ part of this mission was noteworthy. It probably deserved an audience… somehow I managed to ‘squeeze’ this three panel screen/room divider into my Holden Barina (tiny hatchback)! Where there is a will there is a way. On this occasion I would have broken the record for ‘Screen Squeezing into small cars’ if one actually existed (time was ticking, and I had to get to work). I toyed with the idea of driving 200m down the road and dropping the screen back at home - NO TIME! MUST GET TO WORK - so it traveled with me slid between the two front seats all the way to work, doing what it was designed to do – divide spaces in half!
For several reasons I found the hardest part of this mission luring my husband outside that night to help me retrieve it from the car:
a) I knew he was going to shake his head when he saw how I had positioned it in the car, then taken it to work and back;
b) If not approached correctly he would refuse to help me bring anymore junk into our home;
c) He wouldn’t be able to see the vision I had to transform it, which would make b) a more valid point in his mind!
Obviously the screen made it inside.
To transform it I strategically picked a weekend hubby was away playing golf – there was no room for doubters with this project.
1. The first thing I did was cut off all the woven rattan with a box cutting/Stanley knife. This took a while, and ruined my hands and chipped all my nails. It was very dusty between the rattan – Not a fun job. I was left with three wooden frames joined together with hinges.
2. I then went to the hardware store and purchased some chipboard/MDF to cover one side of each panel. If you take your measurements they will usually cut it to size for you (sometimes they charge a few dollars, often it is free).
3. Using a staple gun (or nails if you don’t have a gun) I attached the chipboard to each panel.
4. I then needed some inspiration to work out what to cover the panels with. I wanted a pattern, probably wallpaper (or material), and something unique. A friend from work told me about an amazing shop North of Melbourne, in Northcote, call Flashback Fabric and Wallpaper. They stock brilliant vintage wallpaper and fabric (as the name suggests!). When I visited I was confronted with the metallic, large floral wallpaper mum and dad had in their bathroom 30 years ago - that was a real ‘flashback’ for me!
I chose a gold and white pattern, detailed, but subtle colours…
Being a vintage wallpaper I needed some wallpaper glue to adhere it to the panels. I cut it down almost to size (leaving about 1 inch around the edges to hold onto, then using the box cutting knife trimed the excess around the edges after the glue had dried). It came up a treat!
I chose to leave the wood frame exposed on the back and sides, I was after a rustic look. Another option would have been to cover the back panels and/or paint them for a neater finish.
Next time you see an old screen, don’t write-it-off…. with a little imagination, and a bit of work you can have yourself a gorgeous and extremely unique room divider.
Our little Heidi is 8 months old today. I thought, by now, I would grow tired of making movies about each milestone (I’ve surprised myself!). This one is set to one of the songs my sister put on our wedding music playlist, and one of my personal favourites… Steal My Kisses by Ben Harper:
Apologies for being a little quiet lately, we move in two weeks (so I’ve been packing), I’ve gone back to work two days a week (I have less time for this fun stuff) and Heidi is on the move now so more of my time is spent moving her away from the dog, heater, rubbish bin….
It’s detox time for me at the moment. I’m on my third week, 3kg down and starting to feel great. I’ve said I will continue doing it until we move into our new house (another 5-6 weeks!).
I did a massive detox about 5 years ago, guided by a wonderful naturopath at Glow. For four months I cut out caffeine, dairy, wheat, red meat, fruit (except grapefruit), potatoes, corn, mushrooms, anything processed… you get the idea (it was really restrictive!!!). Along with all that I was systematically cleansing each internal organ of my body… bowel, stomach, kidney, liver using herbal tablets and powders.
You’re wondering why would I put myself through such deprivation? Apart from needing to lose some weight and get healthier, I was suffering from headaches (almost daily), my hands were peeling, I had really bad hay-fever that had come on when I turned 30, and I felt really sluggish.
After the detox I felt amazing. Not only had I lost over 10kg, my eyes were clear and white, skin glowing, headaches had gone, along with my peeling hands… and I never got hay-fever again! It was well worth the effort.
When I stopped breastfeeding I decided it was time to do it again. Rather than going to a naturopath I pulled out all the written material from my last detox, got some tablets/powders from the health food store and started the Hey Bernice self guided detox! The first week brought on a cold, which often happens. Now I am over that I am starting to feel great.
When I did the first detox Glow provided a great recipe book of ‘approved’ foods for detox. One of the best recipes in there was the almond crackers. Not only are they healthy for you, they’re also ideal for anyone that is gluten free or dairy free. I couldn’t believe that almond meal and water (with some herbs and spices) could make a biscuit!
Here’s this wonderful recipe…
Almond Crakers
Makes about 24 crackers
100g almond meal
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon paprika or chili powder
freshly ground black pepper
4-6 teaspoons of water (start with 4, then add more if you need it)
Pre heat oven to 180C.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl together, then add 4 teaspoons of the water to form a dough. Add more water if necessary, but be careful not to make it too wet.
Cut 2 pieces of baking paper (the size of a baking tray). Lay one sheet on the bench, and place the dough (shaped into a rectangle) onto the baking paper. Place the other sheet over the top of the dough. Take a rolling pin (or glass jar on it’s side) and roll the dough out as thin as you can between the 2 sheets of paper.
Try and keep the edges as even as you can.
Remove the top piece of paper, and score the mixture into square biscuit sized shapes with a sharp knife (or any other shape you might prefer).
Slide the paper and dough onto the baking tray, and cook for 7-9 minutes (until golden brown). Check after 5-7 minutes as the crackers around the edge will brown first, you can remove them from the tray (eat them!!) and continue to cook the remaining crackers.
Let cool, then enjoy!
They are great with Hummus dip (also detox friendly). You can also get creative with the herbs and spices you add. I even added some grated lemon rind one time.
Every day I am reminded of the disposable lifestyle we live – constantly chucking out packaging (glass, plastic and metal). So many of the things we put in the rubbish bin could be used for other purposes in our house – so I started collecting them.
For some reason it seems a lot worse with a baby… formula tins that seem to multiply, washing detergent packaging, empty wine bottles (they seem to mysteriously appear after all the washing and feeding is done for the day!!).
Empty wine bottle(s)… yes, there have been several occasions where a glass of wine was the reward after Heidi was in bed asleep!
Turned into vases or decorative ornaments…
I stuck different coloured ribbon around the top of each bottle.
Cling wrap packaging/box…
Now a mini muffin gift box…
I covered the box with beautiful wrapping paper from Mozi, and lined it with tissue paper (and filled it with my banana bran muffins)
Baby Formula Tin…
Now a [insert purpose here] holder (in this case cooking utensils)…
I covered the tin with burlap. I used two layers stuck together with iron-on webbing (so you can’t see through to the tin). I then sewed the burlap around the tin with red embroidery thread (holding it around the tin as I sewed to ensure it was firm enough to stay on). If you use the finished edge of the burlap, you don’t have to hem the burlap at the bottom of the tin.
Any tins can also be easily covered with contact…
Washing detergent bucket…
Now a toy box…
I covered the bucket and lid with patterned contact.
There is one more Pinterest inspiration I wanted to make (and still will), this one…
Using toilet paper rolls to make a christmas wreath. Details about how to make the wreath can be found on See you There! I think I have allowed myself just enough time to save up the rolls to have it completed by Christmas… naturally, you will be seeing the end result in a month or so!
I know you’ve all been waiting, wondering… hoping, that I make another movie for this 6 month milestone. Well, here it is!
If I was to speak the truth for a moment, most of you probably aren’t that interested at all. I do however know that a lot of friends and relatives that don’t live nearby that love them – so this is for you (actually it’s for Heidi too when she grows up, and me – I can’t help it, I love making them!!!) …
A few months ago I was trying to explain to my sister how good these burgers are, at the time I didn’t get the kind of focus and acknowledgement I was after. Months down the track she finally got to try them at Mum and Dad’s (Saturday night just gone) and kindly told me on Sunday how amazing they were. When I told her that the recipe was going to be my next post she promptly responded “That recipe is too good to share, that’s the kind of thing you want to keep a secret!”. I think that says it all – Don’t you?
I might just add… I especially love them because I’m not a massive meat eater, and the beautiful flavours added to the beef pattie disguise that really meaty flavour of the burger perfectly for me! As the recipe describes it “This modern take on the classic burger flavours the meat with garlic, ginger and sesame oil and serves it with soy-braised onions and chilli spiked mayonnaise”
Mum put me onto these, she clippered the recipe from the newspaper one weekend a few months ago. I’ve been told by a friend who also found the recipe and loves it that it came from The Age newspaper, Epicure section.
Korean beef burgers
Serves 4
600g minced beef (it says not too lean, but I like it lean and mince my own beef for that reason)
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 egg beaten
3 tbsp chopped spring onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
2cm knob of ginger, finely grated
1 tsp sugar
sea salt and pepper
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, halved and finely sliced
2 tbsp mirin (Japanese rice wine)
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar or wine vinegar
3 tbsp whole-egg mayonnaise
1 tsp chilli sauce (or sweet chilli sauce if you prefer)
4 burger buns (I use wholemeal buns to be a little healthier)
2 tsp sesame seeds
8 soft lettuce leaves
1/2 cucumber sliced
2 carrots cut into ribbons (use a sharp peeler)
2 small tomatoes sliced
Mix the beef (using your hands) with 2 tbsp soy sauce, sesame oil, egg, spring onions, garlic, ginger, sugar, salt and pepper. Form into patties of a suitable size for your buns and refrigerate for an hour.
Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a frying pan and cook onions over medium heat for 10 minutes, tossing well until softened. Add remaining soy, mirin and vinegar and cook for 5-10 minutes more until golden brown, Set aside.
Whisk mayonnaise with the chili sauce.
Brush burgers with remaining vegetable oil and grill or pan fry over medium heat for 4 minutes on each side, until golden browned (beware of burning).
Split burger buns and lightly grill, or toast the insides.
Layer base buns with lettuce leaves, cucumber, carrot, tomato and beef burgers. Finish off with onions, and sesame seeds. Place the mayonnaise on the bun top.
As you well know I have been known to stumble across a lot of (what many would refer to as ‘junk’) items for my up-cycling projects from the footpath.
I stooped to a new low for this one. They were found in the skip at our block, where the builders toss all their house building remnants (that sounds a lot better then rubbish – doesn’t it!). Actually, if the truth be known, I personally didn’t rummage around in the skip to find these – my mother-in-law did! What hope has our little Heidi got with the foraging genes on both sides of the family!!!
We were showing the progress of the house to my husband’s parents one weekend, when I hear a muffled voice from a head diving into the skip “Hey Bernice, look at these… you could make them into little stools for Heidi”. I didn’t need time to consider this – I was sold. They were in the boot of the car as my (very understanding and often perplexed) husband lets out another sigh!
I have been sticking to a ‘touch of red’ theme for Heidi’s nursery, so I knew the base of the stools were going to have to be painted red. I then went on the hunt for some ‘fun’ but not too girly material to cover the seat/top.
I found this really cute forest and owl fabric at Spotlight… which tied in the red beautifully. I got the paint shop to match up the red in the fabric (it turned out to be Geranium Red) with a high gloss, water based sample paint pot.
I cleaned up the spindles with the sander (mainly around the edges of the wood – the outside bits). The piece down the middle is actually made of heavy duty cardboard tubes! I carefully chose which end I wanted sitting on the floor. Knowing we have floorboards in our new house I didn’t want the metal fasteners scratching the floor. One end seemed to have flatter fasteners than the other (although I planned to cover the base with felt anyway, I didn’t want any metal protruding).
I gave both spindles two coats of the Geranium Red paint (leaving them to dry overnight between each coat)
To ensure a comfy seat for Heidi and her buddies I bought some stuffing. I chose one that comes in sheets, so I could cut it to the right sized circle, and layer it several times to give a bit more cushioning.
I placed the stools on the fabric and traced around the top, allowing about 7cm extra material to fasten the fabric underneath the stool top with a staple gun.
With all my pieces measured and cut, it was time to put it all together.
Placing the stuffing onto the stool, then the material on top of that, I carefully turned it all upside down to start stapling the material in place. When securing the material start with four staples evening spaced around the circle to get the tension right and material spaced evenly to avoid gathers. Fold the material under as you staple for a neater finish, and to avoid the material fraying down the track.
Once all the stapling is complete you will need to staple and/or glue your felt to the bottom (I chose a felt to match the red paint). This is not absolutely necessary, but will stop any scratches on wooden floors when the little monsters drag the stools across the room!
Voila – two tiny stools for my little strudel!
The challenge now is to find yourself a wooden and cardboard spindle to have your way with – good luck!
When you’re little you dream about being famous for something…. dancing, ballet, horse riding. I never thought I would be famous (well amongst my friends – does that count?) for making sausage rolls.
I don’t know when it all started, but over about 15 years I have developed a little bit of notoriety for my sausage rolls. To be honest I don’t think they are very different to anyone elses – but who am I to argue with the masses.
There is one claim to fame I will happily take – that a friend’s five year old loves them (and my banana bran muffins), and he doesn’t eat much other than Kabana! So that was a big triumph! The great thing about this recipe is you can pack it with carrot (or zuchini… or anything that can be grated), wrap it in pastry, top it with tomato sauce… and the kids will never know!
So here’s the recipe… (with a few variations):
Bernice’s Sausage Rolls
1 packet of puff pastry (usually 6 sheets)
500g pork and veal mince (the supermarket should sell it mixed, or you can mince your own in the food processor for a leaner mince – I do!)
500g sausage mince (you can use the supermarket sausages and squeeze the mince out, or look for mince without the sausage skin, which saves all the hassle)
NOTE: I will often just use 1kg of the pork and veal mince as it is a lot healthier – especially if you mince it yourself!)
3 medium carrots grated
1 medium onion grated (squeeze the juice off) or finely diced
1 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Milk to glaze
Spread the pastry sheets out on the bench (leaving the plastic sheet on the underside). Take a knife and run it down the centre of each pastry sheet. Mix all the ingredients (except the pastry, of course!!) together in a bowl. I find it is best to use your hands to mix it – yes it’s a messy job, but will mix together better this way. With a spoon, place a line of meat mixture down the length of one half of the pastry sheet, closer to one edge. Take the edge that the mince is closest to and roll it over to meet the other side. Run a pastry brush (or your finger!) with milk on it down the length of the pastry where the two sides meet to help it stick together.
Place the sausage roll on the bench, with the join underneath. With a sharp knife cut the length of sausage roll you wish to have. Then prick with a fork. Place on a greased (or lined) baking tray, brush with milk, and cook until golden brown (20-30 minutes depending on your oven).
Best served freshly cooked, however they do freeze really well.
About a year ago I was at a baby expo in Melbourne. [sigh], yes, I was one of those people who actually attended those things. Anyone that has also been will agree that you will never go again (even with a free ticket) – never again… the prams… everywhere!! Whilst there I entered a competition at one of the many professional baby photographer stalls (I saw it as a chance to get out of the pathway of all the prams and catch my breath for a while). The prize was a personal photo shoot with your family, the focus being your new arrival. Sounded great, who wouldn’t want some beautiful memories captured by a professional photographer – Free!
Much to my excitement I get a call at work a month later congratulating me on my win. Fantastic!! The lady on the phone then wanted book in a time for the photos to be taken – then and there! I was only 5 months pregnant! I really wasn’t ready to book in a time for photos to be taken four months before I was due – so much needed to happen between now and then, she was being way too pushy.
Then the fine print was revealed…. I had won the cost of the shoot (mid week mind-you … the unpopular times!), I then needed to spend a minimum of $200 on their cheapest print in order to claim the prize. I was having a lot of trouble getting the message across I didn’t want to lock-in a time now, she was clearly working on commission for bookings made. At this point I was looking for any excuse to get off the phone and not claim the prize; I told her that we had just upgraded our camera (which was true), and I was going to try my hand at taking some of those special baby shots myself (really? was I going to do that??). There we had it – my (unrealistic) commitment to myself to take some beautiful baby shots just like the professionals – Easy! It worked, she ended the sales pitch, and wished me well.
I’ve now had nearly five months learning (on the job) about taking photos of babies. It is a challenging task. It’s easier photographing a dog – at least they will look at you when you say their name! We don’t have a professional camera, it’s a Canon EOS 550D – good enough to get some high quality shots. I am still learning all the features, and most of the time I fluke the settings on the camera to get that great photo. I do adjust my photos afterwards – mostly the brightness and exposure, occasionally the saturation and white level. I have never taken a photo that hasn’t looked better slightly adjusted.
Of every twenty to thirty photos taken, I (usually) get one good one…. I’ve needed some time, and a little patience too! (two things many new mothers are not in abundance of). Having an ongoing collection of really lovely (set-up) shots of Heidi at different stages is great, but the spontaneous, personality filled, special moment shots are often the best ones (not perfectly focused, and dark – but they make you smile or sigh anyway)…
A few little tips I’ve use as a guide when attempting to imitate the professionals (I’m sure if you asked a professional photographer you would get some amazing advice – this is simply what has worked for me!):
The time of day is important (not for light, but to get the best mood from your little one)- mornings without a doubt have been the most successful time, and straight after a feed.
Natural light is always the best. Try and position them near a window, where there is lots of light shining in (but not directly on them or they will be squinting the whole time).
Angle – try different angles. The ‘front on’, ‘baby in the centre of the picture’ look can get a bit boring. Side on, close up, from above, behind… anything really.
Background – look it see what you are capturing in the background – this can make or break a good photo. Placing them on a large plain rug, that covers the entire background (up the back too) is always good. You can do this on the sofa, placing the rug over the entire sofa (cushions and back).
Black and white always looks great. Let’s face it …. our little ones always have marks, blotches, scratches, milk spots on their faces… shooting in black and white doesn’t seem to pick this up as much.
Outfit – I try for something bright or soft and dreamy for colour photos, white always looks great for black and white photos (especially with a white background)
Anyway, enough from me… here are some of my favourites:
I also made sure I got some shots with me and my husband in them too – mum and dad can too easily be forgotten (these are the hardest, because when you like the shot of yourself, Heidi will have her eyes closed – luck plays a big part here)…
This plain white wall with some texture in it works brilliantly for a backdrop…
Self timer and tripod helped with this one … (the biggest challenge of all – trying to get Heidi to look at the camera when there is no-one standing behind it calling out, or waving their hand)
I don’t think I have quiteachieved the quality and style of the professional photo shoot, but I have achieved my goal of getting some special shots of Heidi. More importantly I have photos from every stage of her development, rather than just that one moment in time with the professional. I think one photo shoot and the cost of prints would probably cost the same as the camera, which will give us years of memories.
Kikki K Ingrid gel pens (I used the silver one for the flight path of the dragon fly)…
The completed thank-you card …
and envelope…
Whilst at the shop, I saw these train die cut cards, and couldn’t resist…
Using material at home I sewed a piece onto the inside of the card to fill the space… I tried it with gingham and stripe – I think the gingham looks better…
I had a few comments from friends about how I managed to find the time to make thank-you cards with a new baby – I didn’t… I was very tricky, and made them before Heidi was born!
I few weeks ago I was asked by one of the mums at mothers group about cooking with almond meal, and the type of cooking you can do with it. It reminded me of the wonderful biscuit recipe I was given when I was doing a detox that consisted only of almond meal, water, salt, paprika and herbs – they were so healthy and really yummy (thank goodness because I had to stop eating fruit, dairy, carbohydrates, red meat, and everything processed – I was basically living on vegies, chicken and some nuts … I looked and felt amazing afterwards though!!!!). I will try and find the recipe for those biscuits, but in the meantime I found a wonderful recipe for flourless orange and chocolate cake – definitely not detox approved!!
Flourless chocolate and orange cake
2 small thin-skinned oranges, approx. 375g total weight (or 1 large)
6 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
200 g almond meal
250 g caster sugar
50 g cocoa
orange peel, for decoration (I used 2 rose buds)
Put the whole orange/oranges in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft (Note: make sure you check them frequently and add more water to stop them boiling dry)
Drain, and when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big pips.
Blend everything – pith, peel and all – in a food processor as smooth as you can get it.
Preheat the oven to 180°C Butter and line a 20cm tin.
Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almond meal, sugar and cocoa to the orange puree in the food processor. Blend until you have a smooth-ish cake mixture.
Pour into the cake tin and bake for an hour (test with a skewer – it should come out clean). Check after 45 minutes because you may have to cover with foil to prevent the cake burning before it is cooked through, or it may need a little less than an hour depending on your oven.
Leave the cake to get cool in the tin, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold take it out of the tin.
Simple garnish – Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated orange zest
Elaborate garnish – melt 100g of 70% cocoa dark chocolate with 30 g butter and a teaspoon of olive oil, add the rind of an orange. Poor over the top of the cake when cool, allowing to drip down the sides. Place the petals of a rose in the centre of the cake, with one rose bud sitting int he middle.
More recently I used this cake as my daughters 1st Birthday cake. I cooked two, and stacked them on top of each other and covered them in butter icing… it was a hit!
Whilst this cake is perfect for the gluten and dairy-free among us… it is also guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser for those without dietary requirements.
Our little Heidi is four months old today… the time has just flown by (maybe because I have spent every spare minute watching our house get built and writing blogs!!!). I was scanning through some of the photos I have taken in those months, and have to admit I didn’t think the photos from the first few weeks were our baby – I didn’t recognise her. I won’t write about what every parent realises when looking back at photos of their newborn… because one day little Heidi will be reading this – she will have the chance to discover this for herself when she grows up and has her own kids.
Looking through the photos I appreciate how anal I can be about organising stuff. Whilst it was great to have all the photos filed under each week of her life, to see the changes occurring… I do however think there will come a time when I will have to stop doing that, because:
a. beyond her second year I am going to lose count of which week we are in, and b. filing like that is bordering on a little scary!!!
Anyhow… here are the results of my diligent filing, in chronological order… Heidi’s first 4 months (don’t panic – it’s only as long as the song… and it is not every photos ever taken!!). I must give credit to my sister who introduced me to the song I used (Secret Heart by Feist). I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it, she included it in the wedding music mix she created for our big day two years ago and is simply perfect for this movie.
My husband and I often cook up san choy bow – it’s a really simple recipe and a healthy meal. We try and make it even healthier by adding a few extra vegetables to the recipe. This is a great meal for those kids that don’t like vegies ’cause it all gets mixed in with the meat, and disguised with sauces (as long as you’re mega secretive, and don’t let them spy all the vegies on the chopping board before you cook it!) Here’s our version below…
San Choy Bow (with lots of vegetables!)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3cm piece ginger (about 1 tablespoon) finely grated
1 small red chili, removing the the seeds and finely chopped
500 grams chicken or pork mince (we make our own lean mince using pork leg steaks or chicken breast/thigh in the food processor!!)
1 x 230g tin water chestnuts, finely chopped
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 table spoons of Kecap Manis
2 teaspoons cornflour
3 shallots (spring onions), finely sliced
1/2 can baby corn, finely chopped
2 carrots finely chopped
6 mushrooms, finely chopped
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (to toast – place in a saucepan without any oil or butter stirring constantly)
8 iceberg lettuce leaves, washed and trimmed
Heat sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat, and add the garlic, ginger and chili and stir fry until fragrant.
Add the mince and stir until cooked. Add the all the vegetables, followed by the oyster, kecap manis and soy sauces.
Dissolve the cornflour in one quarter of a cup of water and add to the pan. Stir for another couple of minutes until the cornflour has cooked out and the vegetables are cooked.
Take the pan off the heat and stir through the shallots. Serve a generous spoonful on a lettuce leaf, sprinkled with sesame seeds.
In follow-up to my previous post Sewing Things… I have added a few more items to my list of things I have made. I can safely say I am getting back into the swing of sewing again after 20 years away from a machine.
I made this dress from a fabulous book my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas called Making Baby Clothes by Rob Merrett, there will be plenty more exhibits from this book to come… (Note: this dress has a touch of Bernice to it – I change patterns like I do recipes!!)
With our impending move to the beach I though it only fitting that Heidi have her own personalised beach towels…
I spiced up a white jumpsuit for Heidi…
And made some nappy coveralls for the Little Miss… (this pattern is also from the book mentioned above, except I added extra strips of material to jazz them up a bit)
Yes, I have been busy… I had a deadline, ’cause I had to pack up the sewing machine this weekend – we needed our dining table back to entertain guests (I can’t wait to have more space for Bernice to play in the new house!).
My dear friend of more than 25 years, and fellow crafty person Twirling Betty was recently contacted by Master Chef magazine to feature her cake buntings. I am not surprised, because they are simply stunning! Now is the perfect time to share with you the talents of Twirling Betty before she becomes famous and backed-up with orders for her cake buntings.
Twirling Betty is the mastermind behind these unique and ever-so-fun cake banners and buntings that will spruce up a cake for any occasion. If you want to know more, Betty talks about her cake buntings and preparing the photos for Master Chef magazine in more detail in her Twirling Betty blog. I know you are going to love what you see, so if you wish to own one of your own, or have Betty customise one for you, visit her shop on Etsy or Made It (within Australia) to arrange all that.
Here are some of my favourites from Betty’s range:
To add that finishing touch to your cake for a lunch, dinner, BBQ, afternoon tea, baby shower or kitchen tea…
Perfect for christenings, graduations, bar mitzvah’s, engagements or weddings…
To personalise a cake for that special occasion (and person!) …
To mark the occasion (and can be used over and over!) …
Not only does she do cake buntings, but bunting cards are one of her specialties too….
One of her signature items is the stylish fabric sun visor for adults and the little ones…
Twirling Betty is also the reason that I started this blog (which helps me to escape the monotony of nappy changing and feeding), she encouraged me to do so 18 months ago – and for that I thank her, and if you like reading this blog, so should you!
I defy anyone to pass up a hot apple crumble with custard and ice cream on a cold wintery day (and we’ve had a few of those lately in Melbourne – winds straight from Antarctica!!!). This is my favourite apple crumble recipe, which I cook in Summer, Autumn, Spring… and Winter (it’s that good!!!). I did alter this recipe when I had gestational diabetes to be low GI (so I didn’t have to miss out for several months), so I will give you both versions.
My dear friend Coco introduced me to this. She offered to make the dessert for a dinner party at my place about 4 years ago. She arrived with this apple crumble from the Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union of Victoria Cookbook (that’s quite the mouthful!!). It went down so well, there wasn’t a crumb (or should I say crumble) left over. She had also given me the cookbook, so I was able to continue feeding myself with apple crumble forever more…
Apple Crumble
6 apples (granny Smith are the best for cooking)
1/2 cup sugar (I only used 1 tablespoon of sugar here for a low GI version)
1/4 cup water
Note - I have also used rhubarb and apple, raspberry and apple, & blueberry and apple as the fruit.
Topping
1/2 cup of brown, raw or white sugar (I would use 1/2 cup of stevia for a low GI version, or reduce the sugar to 1/4 of a cup)
1/2 cup plain flour (I would use wholemeal flour for a low GI version)
1/2 cup coconut or muesli (I use rolled oats or half coconut, half oats)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Peel, core and slice apples. In a saucepan, cook with the water and sugar until soft. Place in a greased pie dish (or individual ramekins), combine the topping ingredients and cover the fruit mixture . Bake at 180C for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crunchy on the top.
Best served with ice-cream, custard and cream…. Yummmmmm! Undoubtedly the best way to warm yourself tummy this winter (or Summer, Autumn and Spring!).
I’ve been busy with the sewing machine the last few weeks. Babies are popping out all over the place, so have been making towels for other peoples babies, and managed to squeeze in some things for Heidi too. Here’s what I’ve been up to…
Making a towel for little a little Angus….
Using this beautiful material from Two Monkeys Fabric Shop (it reminded me of Spring) I made two towels for Heidi…
And a material bunting for the door of Heidi’s nursery …
I don’t need to be reminded why we have chosen to make a sea change… I have never once had any regrets about moving out of the city, or building our new home. However this morning I welcomed the very powerful reminder I was given about the benefits of a coastal lifestyle.
Being such a (rare) beautiful day I thought I would experience first hand the amazing Jan Juc to Bells beach coastal walk everyone in mothers group (and mum) has been raving about. So I packed the dog and Heidi in the car, and drove from Geelong (our temporary home) to Jan Juc (next door to our future home, when our house is finished). Words won’t do it justice, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking…
I am still invigorated from walking this morning… the ocean, air, hills, birds and wild flowers. Heidi loved it too, but didn’t like the mosquito that decided to bite her on the cheek!
I can’t wait until we’ve moved in and living closer to this gorgeous part of the world!
For those of you that are keen to do this walk, the maps are below (care of http://www.nearmap.com)…
Wouldn’t you love to wake up to these on your rostered-day-off?
I served these up for my husband last week when he was home on a week day. I tried to keep them as healthy as possible – using fruit as the filling, wholemeal flour in the crepes, and natural yoghurt instead of cream/ice-cream as a topping… here’s the recipe:
Spiced apple crepes
Serves 4
The crepes
3 eggs
120g Wholemeal flour (or white if you would prefer)
pinch of salt
375ml milk
butter for cooking them
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Whisk the milk with the eggs and pour onto the flour, keep whisking until the mixture is smooth. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. If required, pour the batter through a sieve to remove any lumps. Whisk the batter before you start cooking. Melt some butter in a non-stick pan (or you can use spray oil) on a medium heat. Pour off any excess butter before you place the mixture into the pan. use a ladle to pour some mixture into the pan, tilting the pan around to cover the enter base. When golden brown on the underside, flip the crepe over with a spatula. Allow to brown on the other side. Place on a plate and cover with a tea-towel until you are ready to use.
The filling
6 apples (granny smith are best for cooking)
1 tspn ground ginger (if you don’t like ginger you can leave this out)
1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 tspn ground cinnamon)
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
butter for cooking
Peel the apples and slice into chunky segments. Place all the ingredient into a fry pan with butter and cook until apples are soft and golden.
I also cooked up an alternate filling using pears and frozen blueberries, with honey added to taste…. They well really delicious too.
The topping
1 cup of natural yoghurt (greek style)
honey to taste
Mix in enough honey to flavour the yoghurt, make sure you don’t make it too sweet!
To Assemble
Place the crepes in a low oven (100C) to warm.
Place a crepe on the serving plate, spoon some apple filling onto one 1/4 of the crepe, fold the crepe in half over the mixture, then in to quarter, over the mixture, repeat this again – allowing 2 filled crepes per plate. Drizzle the honeyed yoghurt over the top of the crepes, then serve with a dusting of icing sugar.
Tip: you can add some cinnamon and ginger (by taste) to the icing sugar to give it a little kick!
I started mothers group a few weeks ago. Each week we are asked to bring a plate of food each – which results in around 10 plates of food. If we had all been starved for days on a deserted island I think this would be a suitable quantity of food for the occasion – instead we are all post pregnancy mums trying to shed a few extra kilos. An abundance of food is the last thing we need!
One clever member of the group suggested that a couple of people each week bring a plate (reducing the amount of food, whilst also taking the pressure of all of us to produce something each week). So I volunteered to go ‘on duty’ this week. We also agreed to have a savoury and a sweet option. In typical baby brain mode I couldn’t remember what I had agreed to bring, so ended up having to make both a sweet and savoury option – that will teach me to pay more attention next time!!
To keep it yummy and healthy I decided to take my hummus dip with carrots and rice crackers. It got rave reviews and the recipe was requested, so here it goes…
I have been making this hummus for years from my all-time favourite go-to cookbook Campion & Curtis in the Kitchen – it is not a glamorous cookbook full of photos, they describe it as ‘Essential recipes for the modern Australian home’. I refer to this book more than any other (and I have a lot of cookbooks to choose from).
Note: I have altered the recipe for convenience and use canned chickpeas.
Hummus Dip
1 can of chick peas (drained),
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
90ml tahini (you will find this int he health food section of the supermarket)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
sweet paprika
Place chickpeas in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add garlic, tahini, spices, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Blend until all ingredients are smooth and well combined. If it is thick add some water. You can adjust the seasoning by adding extra spices, lemon juice or salt and pepper. Place in a bowl, drizzle some oil oil over the top and sprinkle with sweet paprika.
This dip is a great snack with carrots or celery. I also love it with rice crackers or Lebanese bread. I used this dip when I was on a 4 months detox a few years back, it really satisfies when you are starving but want to keep things healthy.
You’ve probably cottoned-on by now that I hate to throw things out. When my Gran sadly passed away in August this year, I struggled to put her beautiful liberty print shirts and dresses into a garbage bag destined for the opportunity shop.
