baking and making with my family of 9
mmmm…………homemade quiche with a green salad and crusty sourdough.
I followed the recipe for quiche lorraine from this book and it was such a success…I haven’t made pastry for years but it was soooo good and we were all impressed! Just ignore the 225g of butter and all the cream that went into it and you’re fine!!
look at the little christmas fairy I found in my garden today…..
I love nothing more than making little outfits for keira but sometimes I do buy things
we were actually trying to find a deep dish quiche pan at the mall this morning when I stumbled across this super cute outfit….
and for all the mummies of aspiring fairies it was $19.95 for the complete outfit from big w…..we like that!
I started this late last night and am so in love with the colours….they remind me of hydrangeas, one of my favourite flowers!
My pattern is here and I’m using bendigo cotton (surprised???) and a size 5 crochet hook (or the skinny end of my yellow hamanaka)….just make it as big as you’d like…I’m going for pram size and the cotton will be perfect for summer!
Thank you everyone for your lovely comments…the colours are parchment, wild lavender, damask rose and honeydew!
Gosh I married a good man! After we saw Julie and Julia, my lovely husband thought he’d get me Mastering the Art of French Cooking for our wedding anniversary later this month! I am feeling very special as he got me both volumes and its win win since we’ll all be enjoying delicious french food…perhaps in moderation to ensure we don’t grow out of our clothes!
Yesterday afternoon I tried out my first recipe in the book…..clafoutis…..all you need is a jar of cherries, milk, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla! The instructions were so straightforward, ingredients in cup and Tbsp measurements and it was soooo delicious….
So delicious that there isn’t much left……now the recipe called for granulated sugar to be dusted on top but I’m thinking icing sugar might look prettier next time.
Now I must admit…when I first received the shade card for Harmony, I was less than impressed. Sometimes Bendigo just get the colours wrong (who is putting lemon and coral in these shade cards…seriously!) But then I went on Ravelry and everyone was going nuts for harmony……
so I decided to get 2 balls to try and I’m loving it! springy, light, easy to knit with and stretchy….I’m making a cute kimono cardigan for miss tillie who lives in little cardigans…. Finn also loves harmony, so much so that he pulled the ball down and got 1/4 of it into a total mess…..
so I had to go and order more harmony this morning (and at $10.50 for 200g you can’t go wrong!) And look at who got a little short back and sides at mummy’s salon…I didn’t think I had it in me but trying to get everyone to the hairdressers all on my own was beyond me so I got out the little scissors………et voila! Just a few more stray hairs to trim at another sitting and he’s done!
We had been going for a bit of a pete murray style hairdo with finn but people kept telling me what pretty girls I had so it was time for a little trim!
the nice thing about crafting with paper is that safety scissors make it safe and easy for keira to join in! I was looking for something to make into cute kits and think this paper bunting is perfect as you don’t need a sewing machine or anything more than scissors, a hole punch and a bit of tape!!!!! (note to self…trim excess yarn hanging down!!)
so we have now decorated one blank wall in keira’s room and here is the other wall with a fabric bunting…..
and how pretty is today’s mail…..bendigo cotton in pink and lavender and bendigo harmony in gardenia and wisteria (I wasn’t too taken with the other colours!).
well the roses still aren’t planted, the tee isn’t finished and it was one of those mornings! I’d run out of clean cloth nappies, put a disposable through the wash (don’t do this!), finn jammed tillie between the glass door and flyscreen and hurt her, our homestay student spends most of her time on our internet and leaves the kitchen for me to clean up, someone in the family isn’t talking to me for some unknown reason and it all got on top of me this morning!! try dealing with this while getting everyone dressed and out the door for church by 9.30! I nearly lost the plot but thank goodness for a bit of peace and quiet at church, you always leave feeling happy and calm!
so we then went to our favourite sushi train (a first time for the babies)
and finished it off with ice-cream so now all is well in the world again! Alleluia!
Keira and I are now spending the afternoon trying to make our first paper buntings….hope to reveal them tomorrow!
I love heather bailey! She wouldn’t know me from a bar of soap but she’s so clever and does the best floral fabrics ever!!! I stocked up on some more this week from her store as I knew her new range would be coming soon
and check out the new range! oohhhhh I can’t wait! It won’t be in my store as I’m sticking to the japanese fabric brief strictly but trust me I’ll be getting a nice healthy stash of it going on my own!
well the movie was fabulous! I had to giggle when retro daddy said ‘so what is this movie, a comedy or just about crafty bloggers!!!!’ he he! and while I ducked to the loo and he got a seat I found him in the back row…..he obviously took ‘date night’ quite literally! I moved him closer to the front so no tall person could obstruct my view and we shared our popcorn and diet cokes!
meryl was fabulous and its a sweet movie about life, love, cooking, blogging, french food……a nice night out. The book is arriving soon for me to read and I can’t wait…..and I’m reinspired to get back to some fancier cooking in the kitchen. You see before blogging and children I balanced out my investment banking career with courses at the cordon bleu, cordon vert (vegetarian cooking school) and other schools in the UK. If you love food you’ll love the movie too!
So this Saturday I’ll be hoping to plant my roses (finally), finish my 5th knitted tee (more tomorrow) and get these gorgeous needles photographed and in the store. This is just a selection of them but everyone coming to my house this week has commented on how gorgeous they are!
Don’t forget you can win in a pair in my giveaway which ends tomorrow!
tonight is date night…..it doesn’t happen too often around here but this movie is a good reason to take a night off and pop down to the cinemas for a bit of peace and quiet!
and here are the very cute reasons why I don’t go on date night as much as I’d like to….
these photos reflect their personality perfectly….Finnie is a cheeky giggler who loves everyone who walks in the door while tillie is a sensitive little thinker and likes to analyse the situation before jumping in…..
We don’t buy biscuits in this house, it’s too much fun to make them and we know whats in them. Most of the time they’re pretty healthy too! Here is Keira’s batch from yesterday, a variation on my one cup cookies.
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup SR flour
1 cup coconut
1 cup muesli (or oats)
1 cup m&m’s
1 cup of margerine (equates to about 3-4 heaped Tbsp)
Combine dry ingredients, melt margerine for 30 seconds or so in the microwave then add to mixture. Roll into balls and flatten on lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes in 180 degree oven. Soooo good and easy for little people to make as the measurements are so easy! We actually used 1/2 cup m&m’s and 1/2 cup choc chips because a certain daddy found the m&m bag late the night before!
You know me, love a good giveaway! Yesterday, I received a big box full of gorgeous Australian handmade knitting needles for my store (they’ll make it in there this week) and for you I have a cute pair called Betty Jane with funds donated to the Jane McGrath foundation, aren’t they adorable????
I’ve popped some cute yarn in too, lovely bamboo/cotton perfect for summer knitting!!!!!
Competition closed!!!! thank you for entering and congrats to catherine and her winning Ariel joke!
Day 6 of blogtoberfest and I’m still here…………..but don’t ask me for anything, don’t call me, don’t email me and certainly don’t pop over on a tuesday as I will be caring for my 1 year old niece every tuesday…thats 4 under 4 and I’m exhausted thinking about it….
busy busy busy but I’m a good sister plus the way I see it….. what is one extra one year old when you already have two doing the same thing! And this is a picture of keira yesterday who now likes to do her own hair (its different, its noice, I loike it) and was a co-operative model as I was playing around on my dad’s new SLR! I’ve added it to my list to santa this year….
I really love crochet and how easy it is to make things up and oh so easy to pull a bit out and start where you left off without losing all your work or dropping stitches (as often happens with knitting). So here is a little something I prepared earlier for you….a baby sunhat! I hope to have more sizes coming soon……
You’ll need 1 skein sugar n cream (or a worsted cotton) and a size 7 (for me that means the bigger end of my yellow hamanaka) crochet hook. You can pick up sugar n cream at american yarns, on ebay or perhaps you’re lucky enough to have it in your stash)
To start : ch 5 and form a ring with sl stitch.
1st round: ch 3 and 11dc in ring, slt stitch into 3rd ch at start of round
2nd & 3rd round: ch 3 and 2dc in each dc and sl st as before, repeat this round
4th round: ch 3 and dc in each dc, repeat this round 7 times or until you’re happy with the height of the hat
brim, ch 3 and 2dc in each dc around
2nd & 3rd round of brim : ch3 and dc in each dc
To finish: sc in each dc to finish off and weave in ends!
Now fit on a baby or wrap up as a present! Will fit the under 1’s (we all have big heads in this house, so unfortunately no living models were available!!!)