An Autumn Day

Earlier this week I took a drive with my husband and daughter out to the Mount Tomah Botanic Garden. I wanted to make the most of our day off together and to enjoy the autumn colours of the upper Blue Mountains. Here in Sydney the cool autumn weather that we experienced over the Easter long weekend seems to have retreated again and the days are unseasonably warm and sunny in the mid to high twenties.

We made our way to Mount Tomah via the Hawkesbury towns of Kurrajong and Bilpin, stopping at a roadside fruit stand to buy freshly picked pink lady apples, homemade plum jam and a bottle of famous Bilpin apple juice. The narrow windy roads flanked by orchards and rolling green hills remind me of driving through New Zealand's North Island. I found it interesting how much the landscape changed once we left the Hawkesbury and re-entered the Blue Mountains, returning to the gum forest.

The grounds and views from the Botanic Gardens are beautiful and breath taking. As are the views along the Bells Line of Road between Mount Tomah and Bell. It was a fantastic day out (although next time I will have to get organised and pack a picnic to eat in the gardens) and a timely reminder of what an amazing place I live in.

Babushka Dolls

Over a year ago I was given a lovely gift by my talented and crafty friend Caroline; a handprinted craft fabric panel by Kristen Doran. Half of the fabric is printed with 8 adorable dolls and the other half with pretty coordinating fabric.

I finally got my act together and decided to sew these little treasures up as a birthday gift for Nina. Some of them are a little wobbly but she doesn't seem to mind. As is her way, she loves the tiniest dolls the best.

I love Kristen Doran's products and think they make lovely gifts for crafty ladies.


Fabric panel image courtesy of Kristen Doran Design

Miffy Birthday Cake

The evolution of a Miffy birthday cake - apologies for the poor photos taken late at night

I was unable to find a recipe/template for a Miffy birthday cake for my daughter's 2nd birthday party so I decided to make my own. I borrowed a cake board from my sister and was limited to its size: 30cm x 45cm. I then scaled it down slightly to fit a 23cm round tin and a 23cm square tin, so that I could bake both in my oven at once. Feel free to use my templates to make your own Miffy birthday cake (Template 1) (Template 2).

18/4/11: Photobucket has removed my templates from their website due to copyright reasons (grr!). If you would like the templates emailed to you please leave a comment below including your email address, however I can not guarantee a speedy response as I now have newborn twins at home.

I used the same basic cake recipe that I had used for her 1st birthday cake (a simple number "1") but this time I used Bakels Whip 'n' Ice for the icing. A cake making friend recommended this to my mum and it was ideal; it is very white (essential for a white bunny) and quite easy to use. I think you have to purchase this from specialty cake decorating stores. Miffy would not be complete without her black outlines so these were done with licorice straps, licorice discs for eyes (2 year olds love licorice, right?!).

Although I couldn't bear to eat a piece at the party (having had my fill of cake cut-offs and icing the previous night) I would say it was a big success. The best part of the day for me was when Nina was asked what her favourite thing about her party was, and she replied "my Miffy cake". She is not even old enough to know how to suck up to her mother so I was thrilled and very touched.

Big Cook Little Cook

I might be biased but I think my husband is a genius! Sometimes I am a little wary when he decides to start baking without a recipe, and talks in ratios. But today the proof of his culinary prowess is in the pudding - or should I say cookies!

Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

250g butter

50g peanut putter

120g brown sugar

450g plain flour

100g dark chocolate chips

100g pecans, roughly chopped

2 eggs

3 tbs plain youghurt

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp all spice

Raw sugar for dusting

Method:

Preheat oven to 165°C

Combine the flour and spices in a large bowl and then rub in the butter and peanut butter until combined and sandy. Add the sugar. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and yoghurt and then add it to the rest of the mixture. Fold in the chocolate and pecans.

Form heaped teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place on baking trays approx 5cm apart. Flatten slightly and sprinkle with granulated raw sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Big cook (Jamie) and little cook (Nina) in action! Nina is the chief taster and in this picture she has just discovered that flour does not taste that great just on its own.

Tying the knot

I hope that people will forgive me for being such a bad blogger and lazy knitter over the past 5 weeks. I reason for this is that I am only just recovering from the insanity of planning a whirlwind wedding, over the Christmas period no less, and tying the knot on January 16th. It was a wonderful day and the weather was kind to us in that it didn't rain, although it was humid like the tropics (thank god for the fans!).

Thank you so much to our amazing friends and family, especially my bridesmaids and those who travelled from interstate and NZ.
Also a big, big thank you to Anna and Nicky for doing the flowers and saving the day when my Etsy hair pieces didn't arrive in time (the arrived on the Monday after!).

The highlights of the day had to be the first kiss with my husband (I know it sounds cheesy!) and the amazing 7-piece jazz band, Howler's Cotton Club.


I was expressly forbidden to take any knitting with me on the honeymoon, which would have seemed out of place lying on the beach at Kingscliff anyway...