Gratitude Wrap...

Well i decided to finally make a gratitude wrap today, i have been meaning to make one for a couple of weeks! You can read all about how to make one here http://www.soulemama.com/SouleMamaGratitudeWrap.pdf and you can also see the reason behind them here http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2008/07/gratitude.html!

I started sewing this morning then my sis Tracey called to say that they had a power blackout so they came around to my house where there was power. They stayed a couple of hours and just as they left all the power in my house (and area) had a blackout!!! I lost my power for nearly 4 hours and it was SOOOOO hot!! I cant imagine living without some sort of cooling in this heat. On a good note whilst we had no power i started to read a book i have been meaning to read for a while, and i am now half way through it and completely engrossed! (hopefully finish it tonight!!)

Anyway, dont look too closely at my pics. I have made sooo many mistakes in making this wrap! I guess thats one way to learn right?? I decided after today i really need to invest in some lessons, especially in regards to bias binding ARRGGGHHH!!

Here are the pics





Oh i forgot to say, you can use these to put in cards, and stamps and pens with the idea being (as you might have read if you read the links above) that you always have stuff handy to write thank yous or letters of appreciation. I think i will put a diary and a notebook and pens in this one! I just have to get to the shops to find a nice diary and notepad!

Baking baking baking...

On the weekend i got a surprise pressie from my hubby!! i was SOOO excited! Actually i cant believe i havent blogged about my pressie and excitement already!! I got a Kenwood Chef which i just love! So suffice to say...even though the weather has been SOOO HOT these past few days, lots of baking has been happening in my kitchen.

This is my new baby



This morning i decided to bake some sugar cookies with the girls, i thought they would love to use their cookie cutters and then ice them together!

Here is some of the shapes they did before they were baked



Half way through rolling these cookies out i got a call from my gorgeous sis Donna who said she was dropping by for a visit! When Donna and the girls got here we quickly decorated the few that were baked and then the girls quickly demolished them!!! I will probably bake up the rest of the dough tomorrow and decorate the rest with the girls.

Olivia

Hannah

Caitlyn

Ellie

I thought i might post the sugar cookie recipe in case anyone out there wants to try it! Its a great recipe to use with cookie cutters and then just ice with a royal icing

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
6 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
250g butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt

Directions
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients a little at a time until it all comes together to form a dough. Chill for 1-2 hours.

Bake for 8-10 mins or until just starting to go gold/brown on the edges.

HAPPY BAKING

Summer Days...

Yesterday we took the girls down to Phillip Island for the afternoon/night. Our first stop down there was to see the koala's which the girls loved - we only saw about 8 or so though and were expecting to see a few more!





We then went to the beach for a play and a swim!!! It was a beautiful afternoon and the girls just love it when we go to the beach! We are lucky enough to go a fair bit as we only live twenty mins or so out of frankston and over an hour to get to the island!















After that we went and had some dinner before heading to the penguin parade! We sat waiting for the penguins from 8:15pm til nearly 9:30pm before the first one showed up but it was a beautiful experience though and well worth the wait!!

Happy Birthday Kai!

Well today we had my nephew Kai's 3rd Birthday at Hungry Jacks! It was so nice to see him enjoying his party as he has had a rough year and totally deserves to be loved and spoilt! Thought i would share a few pics from his bday!











I thought i would also include a link to my Flickr account to a set of photos of all the cakes i have made over the years (well most of them anyway!) Hope you enjoy the pics!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisebeddoes/sets/72157603980827241/

Dressing up days...

Well today it is meant to be 38 degrees and so the girls and i have decided to stay inside in the cooling today! We havent been doing much really, but the girls have been into the dress ups for the past couple of days, and so i thought i would share a few pics of my girls!







I processed the photos a bit more high key/ cooler than i normally would but i think it was nice to have a different effect once in a while!

I read the book Vanishing Acts, by Jodie Picoult yesterday (yes the whole book in one day, it was too hot to go anywhere and the girls were happily playing :-)) and it was a really good book. I have also read her book My Sisters Keeper and that book was amazing as well so i think i might have to read some more of her books.

Hannah keeps asking when i might sew the tops for the dolls, in actual fact i have been putting it off for fear of it being too difficult for me to do!! I really should get out my sewing again and see what i can do for the dolls!

More blogging to come later...

Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes!!

This afternoon i finally got around to make Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes! I LOVE ferrero rocher chocolates so when i found this recipe on hot to eat a cupcakes blog (found here http://howtoeatacupcake.net/2009/01/ferrero-rocher-mini-cupcakes.html) i knew i would one day have to make them!!

Cupcake recipe adapted from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman
Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes
Makes 36 regular cupcakes

3 1/2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
225g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups Nutella (i ended up using a whole large jar and most of a small jar including the filling!)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Ganache
400g semi-sweet or milk chocolate ( i used half and half depends on your taste)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

Filling
36 whole dry roasted hazelnuts
Left over nutella

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius . Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners ( i used gold foil to give the ferrero rocher feel).
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes) . Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add 1 3/4 cups of Nutella and blend thoroughly. (Warm the milk in the microwave. Stir in instant coffee until disolved.) Alternately add flour mixture and milk, blending well after each addition (Don't overmix this makes them tough! Blend only until no traces of flour remain.)
4. Using a ice cream scoop (or spoon if you dont have an ice cream scoop) , fill each cup with batter. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.
5. When cupcakes are cool, use a round icing tip to remove part of the centre of the cupcake. Fill them with the remaining Nutella and push a hazelnut (whole) in the centre.
6. Make the ganache. Put chocolate chips and cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium hear for for 2-3 minutes, depending on your microwave. Stir gently with a rubber spatula. Heat for 40-50 more seconds. Stir until well blended. Let sit about 30 minutes, or until ganache is spreadable. Stir in chopped hazelnuts and spread on cupcakes.

This is what the final cupcake looked like!! SOOOOO YUMMY!!! A MUST FOR FERRERO LOVERS LIKE MYSELF!

Sewing, sewing & more sewing!!

Yesterday, my little girl woke up with an upset tummy and i knew that we wouldn't be heading out anywhere all day so i set myself up for a day of sewing!! I thought i would try and sew the dolls clothes that i had previously promised the girls! They were excited and so off i went! I decided to make some little jeans with ruffles on the bottom!! Lets just say as a complete novice sewer they took a lot longer than im sure they are meant to but i think i am learning lots and lots about all the functions of my sewing machine and i am sure thats what its all about right!!!

Anyway here is a pic of the two pairs of jeans i ended up making for my girls dolls! Dont look too close they are definitely not close to perfect! In face the edges are quiet messy really BUT they look like jeans and they fit the dolls and most of all the girls were very happy!!!!! So now my next project is...yup...you guessed it!! TOPS!! I just hope they arent too hard!! I will update with pics of the matching tops this week hopefully once i get back into some more sewing!



And one of my little girl who wasnt feeling so well and fell asleep on the couch mid morning! She looked so peaceful



Im off to bake some ferrero rocher cupcakes so ill be back later to share pics!