handmade anniversary cards

This weeks inspiration comes from two very special couples who will be celebrating their wedding anniversaries in a couple of weeks. My love to you all as you celebrate this very special day...

Michelle xx

leek and potato soup

I hadn't intended on doing another post this week but that changed after visiting my grandparents yesterday afternoon. Despite living on an average suburban block, my Deda John has managed to raise a thriving vegetable garden and 11 friendly free range chickens (one he has named Bianca after his #1 Home & Away crush *hehe*). He has never let me leave without taking some of his goodies and yesterday's visit was no different... Look at what he sent me home with!

With amazingly fresh organic produce like this, who wouldn't want to spend the afternoon in the kitchen? 

And since many of you have recently asked for my leek and potato soup recipe, I thought I'd share it on my blog. It's my favorite of all vegetable soups and super quick to make! Try it for yourself:

3 leeks

1 medium brown onion 

1 tablespoon butter (not margarine)

2 medium potatoes

1 litre chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Slice the leeks to a 2mm thickness, slicing up to where the leaves start. Place the leeks and sliced onions into a soup pot with the butter. Cook on low-medium heat until the leeks have wilted and softened. The temperature should be low enough that the leek and onion do not get any color at all. Add the peeled and chopped potatoes, remembering to use less starchy varieties otherwise the starch will overpower the leek, making the soup bland. Now for the liquid... I use either of these stock powders (whichever I have on hand) with 1 litre of liquid:

• 2 teaspoons Massel Stock Powder - Chicken Style (an all natural vegetarian stock powder) or
• 2 cubes Swiss Nature Organic Vegetable Cubes 

You can use any powdered or liquid stock as long as you use no more than a litre of liquid, otherwise the soup becomes bland. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook on low heat until the potatoes have cooked. Blend the soup until smooth, season to taste and enjoy it before the warm weather sets in!

Michelle xx

cinnamon cream swiss roll

If you're thinking there's nothing super special about a swiss roll, you'd be right. But this particular recipe brings back so many fond memories of my childhood that I just had to share it with you. My sister Kat and I have been making this since we were in primary school and it has been a hit, especially with my dad, uncles and grandfather. Anytime we were invited out or had a party at home, mum would get us to make a few of these and they would be gobbled up in an instant! 

I love making this swiss roll - it's quick and easy and almost impossible to stuff up. But having said that, I will admit that although mine always tastes great, Kat's always tastes so much better! Not even the KitchenAid, with the promise of improving my baking skills, would help me surpass my sisters baking skills *sigh*.

1/2 cup (75g) plain flour

3 tablespoons (30g) cornflour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon custard powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 eggs 

1/2 cup (125g) caster sugar

150ml thickened cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugar

A drop of vanilla essence

Before getting started you will need to:

- set the oven to 190 degrees (or slightly lower if you have a powerful fan forced oven - I set mine to about 180 degrees)

- grease a swiss roll pan, line the base with non-stick baking paper and set aside

- open a clean tea towel on the bench, sprinkle caster sugar on it and set aside

Now, to the recipe... Sift the flours, baking powder, custard powder and cinnamon. 

Separate the eggs, placing the egg whites in a mixing bowl. Using an electric bench or hand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff then gradually add the caster sugar while continuing to beat. Add the egg yolks and beat until the mixture forms a figure '8' and resembles thick cream. 

Using a tablespoon, FOLD in the sifted flour very lightly and remember NOT to overmix! If the mix looks too thick, add a teaspoon of water. Pour the mix into the lined pan and bake for 12 minutes. The cooked sponge should be light in color and light and springy to the touch. 

Turn the baked sponge onto the sugared tea towel, remove the paper, quickly trim all four sides to remove the crust and immediately roll up the cake and towel together. 

In another bowl, add the thickened cream, vanilla sugar and essence and beat until it becomes whipped cream. When the sponge is cool, unroll and spread the whipped cream. Roll and sprinkle a little more caster sugar and cinnamon.  

The recipe was originally taken from Cookery The Australian (core reading for almost every primary and secondary school home economics class!) however Kat and I have each adapted the recipe to suit our recipient. Kat's is particularly tasty as she omits the cinnamon, custard powder and cream and uses ma's homemade plum jam with a dash of homemade liquer for the filling. This is dad's favorite!

But today's swiss roll has been made especially for my super amazing grandfather - Deda John. I'd better be off as I'm sure he's sitting in his favorite armchair waiting for the swiss roll and another cup of coffee. 

Michelle xx

my newest obsession...

I have a shameful secret and it's about time I got it off my chest! For years now, every time I went shopping I would stand with my hands and nose pressed against the window, peering into Wheel & Barrow or House. The object of my affection was a beautiful red KitchenAid mixer and I knew that owning one would miraculously improve my baking skills. But how on earth would I convince hubby to let me spend as much on a kitchen appliance as one would on a cheap used car??

As it turns out, there was no begging or bargaining involved! Hubby turned to me and must have felt absolute pity for me standing in the corner of Wheel & Barrow and staring *sulking* up at the KitchenAid display, because all I heard was "why don't you just get it?". But I wasn't taking the bait that easily! Dozens of ideas flooded through my mind as to why he suggested I get the mixer... Was it to avoid continually being dragged into every kitchen store while I ogled this beauty? Did he imagine I'd bake him every delectable delight while he took control of the television remote? Or did he think I'd say 'oh no honey, it's far too expensive!'. Then I noticed he had turned away and was meandering toward the exit! There was no way I was losing this opportunity so I lunged at the sales woman and said "I'll take it!"

So the order was placed! We didn't agree on getting the red KitchenAid (and I will admit he was right - I'd probably get bored with red as quickly as I've gotten bored with other decorating styles) but he did agree to me upgrading to the brushed nickel. And it was so worth the wait! It only took 8 years to finally convince myself that I deserve this splurge and probably another 8 years of baking for hubby for him to realise it's real value!

Introducing my newest obsession, lil' Mixie:

And no, you can't borrow it, unless of course your name is Bundy...

Michelle xx
 

homemade bath salts

 

 

Work for me lately has been extremely demanding and emotionally taxing. And when I'm feeling this drained and consumed, the only remedy is a hot bath. I love to light an organic soy candle, grab my iPod, add some homemade bath salts to the water and wash the day away.

In the past I would buy commercially prepared bath salts however I soon realised they included many harmful chemicals and additives - none of which actually improved the effectiveness of the salts. When I chose to move to a more organic way of living I had to look at more natural alternatives so I came up with this simple yet beautifully fragrant recipe:

4 cups of sea salt or a combination of 2 cups sea salt and 2 cups epsom salt

Your favourite essential oil

I prefer to use sea salt as opposed to regular salt as it does not contain iodine which apparently causes sensitivity in some people. Sea salt also generally has no anti-caking additives and is directly distilled from sea water. I also like to use epsom salt as it gives the body a boost of magnesium and relieves inflammation, muscle and joint pain.

Place the salts in a bowl and add several drops of your favourite essential oil. And if you have some on hand, add dried fragrant plants or flowers to match your essential oil (my favourite is lavender, chamomile or eucalyptus). Mix well and pour into an airtight container to avoid moisture. 

These bath salts are ridiculously cheap to make compared to the commercially prepared alternatives and they are a great gift to give to yourself because you deserve to relax and unwind as often as possible. Run yourself a bath, add a few spoonfuls of the salt and ENJOY!

Michelle xx

a themed birthday present for a very special nephew

This weekend we celebrated our nephew John's baptism and 1st birthday. It was a beautiful evening with great food and music, a magician and the company of wonderful friends and family. And as for John, we absolutely adore this lil' man and feel humbled to have shared this day with him and his parents.

So for something a little special, we thought up a theme for his present based on the message we had written in his card:

I absolutely love creating themed presents and this one was particularly special. Here's what we created: 

We love you in the day time - A pair of Seed jeans, a Country Road cuff shirt, a Bauhaus shirt and a couple of pairs of Bonds bamboo socks.

We love you at bed time - A pair of Bonds pj's, a pair of Pure Baby organic slippers, a children's bible and a book titled 'A Treasury for One Year Old's'.

We love you in the summer time - An Adairs Kids candy stripe beach towel, Country Road board shorts, a pair of Havaiana's, Winnie the Pooh beach ball and Winnie the Pooh inflatable arm bands.

We love you at play time - Playskool 'Explore 'n Grow' Step Start Walk 'n Ride.

For the wrapping, I drew an outline of a sail boat and truck onto wrapping paper and glued these onto white gift bags and a gift box I had purchased from Spotlight. This is a very simple and effective way of coordinating your presents with your card, which in this case is a #1 used from the same wrapping paper. 

And with lil' John celebrating his actual birthday in a couple of weeks, I can't wait to add a few more special themed presents to these I have shared with you today.

Why not try thinking up a themed present for the next party you're invited to? I've tried the following themes in the past:

• baby bath time products in a mini rubber tub
• art and craft supplies 
• a collection of books in a handmade book bag
• feeding products
• gardening supplies in a terracotta pot
• cleaning products in a wash basket or basic baking or cooking supplies in a kitchen storage box (great for kitchen tea's)

Michelle xx

an ice-cream cake with a twist!

It's the day after George and Nick's surprise costume party and I'm up after only four hours of sleep. Why? Because it's George's actual birthday today and I've invited both of our families over for a birthday lunch. Yes, I am an absolute glutton for punishment!!

The house and garage is party ravaged and I think I forgot to undo my hairdo and remove my make-up last night because I've woken up looking like a glorified scarecrow! But the show must go on! It's surprising how much can be achieved off little sleep and a shot of adrenalin because we had the house and garage gleaming by the time everyone was due to arrive. (Me... not so gleaming, but it's George's birthday so what I look like is a little irrelevant!) 

Then I realised I had forgotten to organise another birthday cake for today! There was no time for extravagance so I had to think fast... George's favourite food is ice-cream but I couldn't pass a sundae off as a birthday cake and the traditional ice-cream cake with sprinkles has been a little over done of late. What to do? What to do?

A quick glimpse in my pantry revealed I only had the most basic of ingredients after yesterday's party so I had to think outside of the box. A little inspiration from Pinterest coupled with a few of my own ideas and here's what I came up with...

The 'cake' is a six scoop ice-cream cone made from vanilla cupcakes and butter icing. It may seem a little child-like but we're all children at heart on our birthday and you can never have enough whimsy when it comes to birthday parties!

Michelle xx
 

a touch of creativity for a very special surprise birthday party

While discussing plans with Nina for our partners upcoming birthdays, the idea was born to throw a joint surprise costume party! George and Nick had known each other since primary school and shared many of the same friends so it seemed easier to throw one party rather than two. Or so we thought! With only three weeks to conspire and plan, we certainly had our work cut out for us. Looking at our growing 'to do' lists one would think the most difficult part would be organising and throwing the party, but in fact it wasn't. It was all of the lying and sneaking around! Nina and I constructed the biggest tangled web of lies and although there were a few close calls, I think we managed to surprise them both in the end. Despite the miserable weather and downpour Melbourne received on the day, the party was a huge success! Everyone made an amazing effort with their costumes and there were only a few sore heads the next day!  

So here's a sneak peek at some of the creative bits from the party...
 

An XR6 Turbo mud cake modeled on George's current car

An XY black forest cake modeled on one of Nick's previous cars

The detail in these cakes was astounding - from the mini ford badges on the XR6 to the 12 slots on the XY - Eiffel Tower Chocolates, Confectionery & Cakes in Tullamarine (Melbourne) did a phenomenal job. And they tasted great too!

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peak and perhaps gained some inspiration for your upcoming event. Love to you all...

Michelle xx