father's day fun

lots of creativity happening at present - and fathers day was a great excuse - the kiddies and i made a list of daddies fav foods - one being carrot cake - then we came up with the idea of putting a bonfire on top of the cake with some marshmallows toasting around it...As it is one of our favourite family things to do, especially on the beach up at Kaikoura...We actually lit the candle and toasted the mini marshmallows! Yummy!

the flames are dried apricots and the wood is a flake bar

Tarn added some minifigures to represent us

opshopped books ready for daddy!

Daddy has been getting more into novels lately, so i came up with the idea of getting a pile of opshopped 50cent bargain action/political thrillers (Clive Custler, John Grisham etc) and gift wrapping them...

So after breakfast in bed, we took off to Taylors Mistake beach with a picnic of daddys fav foods, and had a fantastic time exploring, walking, playing on the playground, and paddling (although crazy wee gracie stripped off and had a chilly swim!)  Great, not so consumeristic way to celebrate Father's Day...

Part 2 of rainbow birthday party cake

this is my second attempt at a rainbow birthday cake - due to gracie having 2 parties - one for family and one for school friends...

rainbow cloud birthday cake

The rainbow is just a paper one with card glued between it to stiffen it.  The fluffy meringue type icing is 3 egg whites beaten till stiff, slowly add sugar syrup (caster sugar dissolved in water and boiled down), and beat till glossy.  Then add whatever food colouring - I used blue for the cake and left the cloud just white.  It works well, but some of the syrup did separate out from the egg white and pool at the edges of the cake.  Also the icing is quite sticky so needs to be stored in cool place, and preferably eaten in one day as it is raw egg.  Found the recipe in a cool DIY kids cake book i got at a local op shop some years ago...Love the effect for clouds and sky!

Gracie dressed up ready for her party

It was rather lovely to see gracie getting dressed up for her family party (she often prefers practical clothes) - but chose her flower girl dress I made her for her Uncle's wedding in England.  And she found the party hat at the local $2 shop to top it off :) Cutie...

rainbow streamers and rainbow coloured balloons

Easter Getaway to Okains Bay

The glorious weather continues, and camping with friends this Easter was the best way to enjoy it...

taking Gracie for a paddle around the estuary

heading out for a tiki tour in our sea kayak

my favourite thing to do this Easter!

hey! Where's my food?!?!

 The horse over the fence from our campsite got used to lots of lovely children feeding him...

Tarn helping decorate

balloons and streamers amongst the trees

Nia's 4th birthday celebrations

party picnic time!

 A gorgeous Easter holiday... :) J

aprons and gumboots

It was definitely a kitchen day today - lovely soft rain fell all day, which is great for our drought stricken earth.  It rained whilst i was picking peaches, collecting eggs and harvesting veges from the garden.  Which meant it was an apron AND gumboots day!  (I quite like aprons - and gumboots just top off the Domestic Goddess look!)

Anyhow, whilst finding my preserving recipe for peaches i got a wee bit distracted by jam.  And ended up making 2 jars of gorgeously red raspberry jam - courtesy of Alison Holst's recipe.  A lot quicker and simpler than i remember and a good quick fix.  Which then led me onto making a jam jar cover. Here it all is:

my hand dyed, upcycled doiley jam jar cover

Next on the menu was a Moroccan orange syrup cake - with almonds, eggs, breadcrumbs and rind of orange and lemon - then the fun part - pouring orange/lemon syrup infused with cinnamon over the top, waiting for a few minutes then tasting it....A citrus symphony i have to say...especially with a bit of cream drizzled over.  I found the recipe on Pinterest:
Moroccan Orange Syrup Cake

Dinner was a garden medley - courgette and feta quiche, with sweet corn and steamed beans.  Lovely to have an abundant garden...thanks to my lovely man, his army of worms, the compost he creates, and my chookies (chickens), who do a fantastic job with weed control and fertiliser.

I have tried a few quiche recipes, and quite like this one, as it has a brown rice crust, which is a bit more filling for my rapidly growing kiddies...
herbed zucchini and feta quiche

Here's hoping more rain falls on our poor parched earth.  And it was just the excuse I needed to try new things in the kitchen!

Autumn Harvest

My lovely man harvested more tomatoes from his glass house today, and made tomato sauce - I have to say it is the best batch yet - all because of the tomatoes hubby informs me - its been a bumper crop!

And that is not all that has been fruitful this season - our peach tree is laden - to the point where we had to tie it up and prop up some of the branches because of the weight of the crop....I had one today and it tasted like sunshine and dew all mixed together...

our beautiful peach tree

so I found a recipe for peach and almond tart - as they are members of the same family, I figured it would be a great flavour combo...peach and almond tart is a BBC Good Food recipe

Will keep you posted on how this turns out - it is filling the house with wonderful aromas...

The refreshing of my cushions is also on the creative menu this week - I thought i would share a picture of my latest refashion - the centre cushion is entirely upcycled from the table napkin backing and the hand embroidered table cloth front to the zip i took out of the tired previous cushion cover...

my new cushion covers

 Its lovely to breathe new life into beautiful linens that have been discarded in an op-shop.  The hours of work someone has lovingly devoted deserves to get a second chance to shine!  The cushion on the left is fabric i picked up at Spotlite - which was a surprise, I have to say.  Not often they have such funky fabric.

Off to get the tarts out of the oven - with a verdict to follow... :) J

Domestic Goddess on a Budget: How to Save Money and Time and Still be Gorgeous

50's inspired Apron

The lovely lady that i made this for is a bit longer in the torso, so i made it a bit longer in the bib.  It was a kitchen shower gift - so i included the book Domestic Goddess on a Budget, by Wendyl Nissen.  Amazing book! Highly recommend it - great for natural remedies, and cleaning products etc...The link is below:

Domestic Goddess on a Budget: How to Save Money and Time and Still be Gorgeous: This is a lively, user-friendly guide on how to get by on less without losing your sense of humour, your sense of style or your commitment to helping save the planet. Wendyl Nissen, New Zealand's very own budget-conscious domestic goddess, brings an entertaining and informative approach to everyday household activities, from cleaning your home with natural cleaning products - that you can make at a fraction of the cost of commercial cleaners - to turning your tiny plot of earth into a garden and furnishing your rooms with vintage furniture. Wendyl also provides lots of hints on how to reduce your grocery and power bills by adopting some of the habits and routines our grandparents grew up with.

PS - here is an apron i upcycled for gracie - the frill is from a pillow case, and the fabric is vintage - it is backed with ripstop nylon for messiness factors - which my daughter has a large dose of!