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!!

Easter Show Wrapup (better late then never...)

As we approach the last days of April I thought it was about time I posted about our "Easter Show outing"! When the girls were younger we used to try and make it an outing every 'other year' but somehow we have missed the past few years...it was time!

It was a lovely Autumn day and we headed off in the morning with packed lunches and comfy walking shoes. Our tickets included transport, no need to worry about driving and finding car parking..perfect! Our Easter treat to all the grandparents was Easter Show tickets...how special that we were all able to meet up and enjoy afternoon tea with the ladies from the Country Womens Association .....cups of tea and scones all round..when we were there the ladies had baked a grant total already of 38,618 scones!!! WOW!

The decorated cakes are always a favourite to visit, A M A Z I N G!!!

Time for a quick photo with a favoutite...

AND another with a bannana?????

What is a trip to the Easter show without a turn on the 'Clowns' in the carnival area...

Winners are grinners!!

We didn't go on any other rides in the Carnival area but I couldn't resist taking some photos.....

We were content wandering and just 'taking it all in', there was so much to see and do and of course no trip to the Easter Show is complete without a visit to the Animal Nursery (always been a favourite with my girls even since they were 'little people').

The evening entertainment in the arena was fantastic! We grabbed some healthy sushi and yummy hot chips and settled in for the "Showtime Spectacular"...my favourite was the 'Stockmans Ride" and of course the 15 minute fireworks finale.."Colours of the outback"! We hopped on the bus for the drive home exhausted but happy xx

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!

Cruising the Northern Beaches...

We have a visitor from the UK staying with us for a week. Gillian is very familiar with Sydney having lived here on a teacher exchange many years ago, but it had been a while since she had visited the northern beaches....so that is exactly where we went on my day off this week!

Sadly no that is NOT my car, pretty cool huh! It seems there were other people 'crusing the beaches' too!

First stop my favourite coffee shop to visit in Mona Vale... Armchair Collective, with its amazing coffee, tea, milkshakes, treats etc (the list goes on - very yummy place to visit for breakky!)...

Gotta love a bathtub filled with wonderful flowers and plants to purchase..

Lots of yummy treats for sale...ahhh and the homewares are to die for! If you are ever in Mona Vale make sure you stop by for a visit!

We then drove up to Palm Beach driving past lots of wonderful beaches on the way (Newport, Whale Beach and Bungan just to name a few) I had never really noticed befor how the sand changes colour from beach to beach, by the time we had reached Palm Beach the sand is quite an orange colour..

We had a good look around, ooohed and ahhhed at some of the amazing houses then headed on over to The Boathouse for lunch.

Thoroughly enjoyed my roast vegie panini..

Definitely glad I ordered the Chai tea...

Although it was cloudy and overcast the view was still very pleasant...

The flowers on display and ready for sale inside were amazing...

and the putside view pretty good too..

Enroute home we called in to Freshwater (or "Freshie" as we affectionately call it - best beach in the world!!)

Hope you have enjoyed "cruising" with me, I loved showing Gillian our special part of the world xx

Whats in the Cookie Jar THIS VALENTINES DAY?

VALENTINES DAY COOKIES of course!

The girls made a batch last night to share with their friends at school today, the rest will be enjoyed over the coming days in for afternoon tea treats I am sure.

One might even appear with a cuppa later tonight??? It is Valentines Day after all!

The cookies were sourced from Taste and are called "Christmas Cookies", they are easy to make and the inclusion of custard powder in the recipe makes them extra yummy! You can of course decorate them with icing, sadly we ran out of time last night but hey I think they are pretty yum just the way they are!

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'!

 

 

 

Almost Halloween

Everybody seems to be blogging about Halloween at the moment...it is of course just around the corner. The variety shops (or $2 shops as we fondly refer to them as) are filled with decorations and costumes galore and the craft world is buzzing with ideas. Now that the girls are older we don't really celebrate Halloween, it actually falls around the same day as my Birthday so we are usually otherwise occupied...BUT if I did I think I'd be "just like Martha..."

 

Loving this to 'welcome' guests....

I bet this looks fantastic in dim light...

Roses anyone???

If I was 'entertaining' over Halloween what better way to serve dessert.....

Black lollies a MUST at the Halloween table...yum I LOVE black licorice and balck jelly beans.

Source: all photos - www.marthastewart.com

The ultimate Haunted House cake!

Source: www.theidearoom.com

 Perhaps these little 'mummies' could be the take home treat..simple chocolates wrapped in white crepe paper with goggly eyes (sometimes its the easy ideas that have the most impact)

So how are YOU celebrating Halloween???