Just Like Martha

Afternoon tea yummies

We enjoyed a yummy afternoon tea last weekend to celebrate Mothers Day. Years ago my grandmother left me a special teaset which she brought with her when she arrived from England...I took the colours of pink and green from this special collection and a 'theme' evolved...

Some of the food I made and some I bought (after all it was "mothers" day), even made a trip to Adrian Zumbo's in Manly for some pink and green (themed of course) macarons...they were delicious!

I gathered up some 'paint chips' (anyone that follows my blog will know that I often use these in card making and other crafts - love their versitility).

I was happy how the table came together, lots of nice yummy treats to taste and share...

Apart from the "Zumbo" macaroons, we sampled baby bannana cupcakes, coconut slice, almond slice, melting moments, Taylors 'famous' scones jam and cream (she is sooo good at making scones), tiny lemon meringue tartlets and these 'newbies' thatre now a firm favourite..deconstructed ginger and salted caramel spoons...a delicious combination of ginger crumbs with sticky caramel topping and a sprinkle of salt flakes...Hmmm delicious and oh so easy!

Mothers Day was wonderful...the day began with breakfast (the girls had been up early and walked to our local baker walking in with 'hot' croissants and pastries (just like being back in Europe)... I was very spoilt...check out the home made cards...

LOL...dont you love the one that says "I heart U that's why I am never moving out"..

Back soon with THRIFTY THURSDAY, wait 'til you see what I found!!

Happy Birthday Dad xxx

My dad is celebrating his Birthday today...21 again!

I love this photo of 'me and my dad'..check out the old pool...and the cigarette, and dad what a figure!!!

Its a sunny day here in Sydney and mum and dad are on their way over to have lunch with us to celebrate...yippee!

Taylor has been busy baking a yummy cake (don't you just love schools holidays..I do!)

Happy Birthday to an extra special dad - enjoy xxx

Baking, baking and more baking

Well it has been a bake-a-thon here all week, I have had my "Martha" hat on and my wonderful new Kitchen Aid has been working overtime.

First up I was asked by a friend to bake a Birthday cake for her husbands surprise party, I was honoured to be asked but a little scared after all I am a 'home baker' not a talented cake decorator...but the cake she wanted was an easy, fun cake with a "sweet theme" (hmmm Mat sure has a thing for Kit Kats, Malteesers and M&Ms!!!)

Next on the baking list was some goodies for the school fete. Unfortunately a prior engagement meant we couldn't attend BUT we could still send some treats along to sell at the cake stall...

Yes, there was a definitely 'theme' going in the baking this week, but I thought they were the perfect little cakes to send to a school fete...fun and colourful!

A batch of rocky road packaged in little bags...and finally some cupcakes decorated with tiny sugar flowers..all packed up and ready to deliver to school.

Sadly we had a funeral this week in the family, I was unable to attend but wanted to help contribute..a few small platters of sweet treats, perfect with a cuppa...

Mini chocolate cakes with chocolate icing and a cranberry to decorate...

Vanilla meringues with a strawberry white chocolate filling...

Tiny lemon meringue tartlets...

And finally muesli muffins with a cream cheese topping.

To finish off my bake-a-thon a fun Birthday cake (yep on a roll with the fun, lolly theme LOL) for a special boy turning 13..HAPPY BIRTHDAY Aiden hope you liked your cake!

So you see I have been busy...LOVE a good BAKE!

Happy Sunday everyone, its a beautiful sunny day here in Sydney today, time to get out and enjoy!!!

Birhday party Sleepover

Last weekend Lilly celebrated her 13th Birthday with a sleepover party. She invited a couple of special friends and they planned to "dress up" and take lots of fun photos then just "chill" and giggle over a few girly movies...the perfect party plan.

First up 'invitations'....

Then we planned the PHOTO BOOTH, a few fun 'props' to pose with and a plain sheet and we had the perfect place to create lovely memories...

Next on my list for 'party planning' was food! The girls enjoyed healthy home made pizzas on our outdoor pizza oven for dinner but I think it was dessert they were really waiting for.....

The cake of course was the favourite, lots of oohs and aahhs when it was cut (gotta love Martha Stewart's rainbow cake)

Love the new little milk bottles filled with srawberry milk...and the 'marshmallow stacks' were a real hit too!

Way too much neopolitan icecream was consumed...with loads of sprinkles, yum!

And to finish off a selection of favourite lollies (there was a movie to watch after all)

The girls 'party favour' bag (the one I forgot to take a photo of) included these cute sleep shorts and a few other goodies...

The party was a hailed a huge success! What I loved more than anything was seeing a lovely bunch of 13 year old girls having some good old fashioned fun!

Celebration Dinner

Last weekend we had dinner with close friends to celebrate their recent "surprise wedding". They had 'escaped' overseas to get maried without anyone knowing so we wanted to 'surprise' them with a dinner to celebrate...a "WEDDING CELEBRATION" dinner, with all the trimmings..

Okay, so I love a theme...and a colour pallette to work with, I choose cream, grey, silver and white as the main colours and then accented with hession and natural card to compliment...I was so happy with the way it turned out....

Its amazing what you can do with simply one bunch of beautiful roses and some greenery from the garden, oh and assorted glassware in different shapes and sizes...

Next to each place setting was a chocolate and a bag of heart shaped gingerbread cookies ...

The Menu was simple but yummy (even if I do say so myself LOL)..we started with Smoked salmon, avocado salsa and prawn stack....then Atlantic salmon with soba noodles and mirin dressing, and green beans and broccolini to accompany...then Wedding cupcakes...and assorted 'tastings' of dessert. The truth is I couldn't decide when it came to choosing a dessert so I served a few, just tiny versions. There was vanilla pannacotta served with balsamic strawberries (thanks Jacki), lemon meringue tarts, custard creme brule and home made chocolates and toffee brittle to have with coffee.

CONGRATULATIONS Mr and Mrs T, we love you both and glad we got to celebrate such a special occassion with you....xxx

A new Year and a new TOY

Slowly starting to feel better, hopefully the second script of antibiotics has kicked in! Its probably a good thing that I have not felt well and have stayed away from the shops and all those amazing sales! Hmmm... well we did manage a visit to David Jones late last week and with the help of some vouchers and nifty price-matching look what follwed me home...

Oooooh yes thats right, its a bright and shiny, brand new, almond cream ARTISAN KITCHEN AID and its all mine, I can hardly contain myself. I have wanted one of these babies for such a long time...sick or not the next day I set about to make my first creation.....

A delicious sponge cake from Donna Hay ("A Cooks Guide")...since then we have also created yummy caramel ice cream and yesterday Taylor created some heavenly slices that sadly disappeared before we had the chance to take a photo!

Did I mentin I am LOVING my new toy? I feel very grown up and almost 'Martha like'! Look forward to sharing more goodness with you as I 'play'!

 

 

 

Dessert Anyone????

Inspired by the Spring Styling Workshop I attended a few weeks ago a recent "drinks evening" hosted at our place just had to have a dessert buffet! All the guests bought a 'savoury' plate to share and I organised lots of yummy dessert type treats for later in the evening.

The table began with beautiful spring flowers (which gave me an excuse to head to the flower markets early - yay!) and I added mini Lemon Meringue pies, homemade Rocky Road, Chocolate Mousse in tiny chocolate cups, Creme Brulee and Cheesecakes (thanks Jacki for the tip), Strawberry & goats cheese tartlets and an assortment of lollies and tiny cookies.

 

I was thrilled with the way it turned out and there was nothing much left at the end of the night so I think it was a HUGE success, I will definitely be creating more of these!

 

An Olympic Cake ????

Over the years I have made many a 'Birthday cake'...I have owned every WOMANS WEEKLY KIDS BIRTHDAY CAKE book every written and every year (as tradition would have it) the girls would choose their 'special' Birthday cake and the theme of their Birthday would evolve.

Over the years their have been Humpty Dumpty cakes, Dolly cakes, Butterflies, Teddy Bears, Flowers, Stars and even a Sandcastle cake, just to name a few.

Everyone that knows me well knows I love to bake, nothing fancy just good old fashioned baking ("just like Martha") but when a friend rang me and asked me to "create" her daughters "Olympic themed" Birthday cake I was a little daunted. Its one thing to make a cake for family (where hopefully any mistakes are forgiven LOL) but a party for 24 people....people that don't know me.....a special 10th Birthday celebration...eeek!

So, I took a deep breathe worked out my plan of attack and voilla....

 
 
I was so happy (and relieved) with the way it turned out, Charlie the Birthday girl was thrilled, she had asked for "butter cake, plain frosting, and Olympic theme", the cake was a huge hit and there were apparently no leftovers!

 

Thanks for stopping by x

Some inspiration....

A few weeks ago I attended a seminar which was held in the beautiful home of Leanne. When I signed up for the event I wasn't really sure what to expect, well I was 'blown away' and my head was spinning when I left with all sorts of ideas I couldn't wait to put into action.

First up was Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes who is not only an amazing cake decorator but a wonderful 'hostess' (she describes herself as being halfway between Donna Hay and Nigella Lawson)...we learned lots of tricks and clever tips on hosting guests as well as some clever ways to serve some old favourite foods at your next party.

 
 
Next up was the talented Jo from Show Pony who wooed us with her collection of wonderful storyboards and talked to us about using colour in our homes to invigorate your space (I tell you was hard not to pop on in to Bunnings on the way home and grab some paint - very inspiring Jo)

 
 
Love, love her little 'display collection' of goodies....turned a empty cormer into a warm and inviting space. 

 

Finally it was Leanne's time to share....dessert tables, candy bars, sweet trolleys, whatever you want to call them have beacome VERY poular recently. Thanks to the likes of the very famous Amy Atlas we have bee exposed to a whole new world of entertaining....Leanne from Sweet Style does it with style and elgegance.

 
 
 
 

And check out this adorable "spring themed" cake that Jacki made for Leanne's display...

 

You can see why my head was spinning when I left, three hours of 'inspiration overload'. I have had the oportunity since to experiment and play with some of the ideas so pop back later and I'll share what I managed to create.

Christmas treats in July

Yes, I know its already August (pinch and a punch and all that), but we celebrated "Christmas in July" with dear friends last Saturday night. I offered to bring all the Christmas chocolate treats that I make every year.....

 

We had a lovely night, great food, great company, even Christmas decorations and Gluwien made an appearance...my chocolate treats were also a hit!

 

Happy Christmas in July (posted in August!) xx