Tutu Teaparty

Mila turned 3 on Monday and we celebrated with a tutu teaparty. I decided on the theme by mixing her two favourite things at the moment - ballet and teaparties. She loves to host teaparties outside her playhouse for teddy and her dolls, and she pretty much lives in a tutu. I've even checked on her in bed at night and often found her asleep in a tutu over top of her pyjamas.

She declared she wanted her party to be pink and later decided she wanted yellow too. So pink and yellow it was. The only tulle fabric I came across at spotlight was more of a mango/apricot pink so I decided to throw this 3rd colour into the mix a bit aswell. That is how my parties seem to grow - from one idea and then as I come across things I add to it. I wasn't going to shop around or make further trips to spotlight just because they were out of 'pink' tulle. I just improvise because if I start agonising over not being able to find perfection then it takes the fun out of it. I just like to 'go with the flow'.

The party was a great success and the kids had soooooo much fun. All the girls looked adorable in their tutus. I've posted lots of photos below and some tips etc. You will see that I get a lot of pretty party things from Dots n Spots www.dotsnspots.co.nz they are a fabulous local online business with heaps of gorgeous goodies. Denise featured in the waikato times article last week - check out her great website.

A mixture of lovely lanterns. Some I've had in the cupboard for ages and the plain white ones from dots n spots.

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and it had its first outing this week. I used it to sew the tutu skirt for the cake. It took a while reading the instruction book to re-learn how to thread a machine but I got there in the end (with a few little helpers). A great tip I had for sewing a tutu is to use elastic and pull the elastic while sewing and then when you let go after sewing it pulls the tulle and creates the gathered effect. So simple. I loved the final product, it was just as I imagined it would look. I'm still a bit useless when it comes to getting a smooth fondant finish on the icing. I tried two layers this time to smooth things out but it was still bumpy. Ohwell, I love the homemade look and when i have time I'll google how to do it properly.

Chippie Bags - I Love how a simple bag and ribbon transforms something as plain as chips into something so pretty and fun for the kids. This is always the biggest hit with the kids.

Once again I got out my dots n spots bottles and straws. Another total favourite with the kids. They are such an affordable way to make a party so pretty.

Time to put the pretty heart shape cookie set to good use :)

I had a brainwave to make these tutu gingerbread ladies when I was making the tutu skirts for the invites. So cute. Just eating one right now as I write this :)

I whipped up some labels for the choccie bars at the last minute. So easy to pop over some Whitaker chocolate bars and what wasn't eaten got popped into the favour boxes.

Gorgeous yellow favour boxes from dots n spots. The pretty glass lolly jar is from dots n spots also.

These miniature preserving jars were a great find from Farmers. I used strawberry dairyfood and thick n creamy custard to fill them. They would look so cool filled with a mixture of pink and yellow m&ms but I'm yet to find a supplier of single colour m&ms.

I love making cupcake toppers they are a simple way to add some personal touch. If you can't be bothered, dots n spots has lots of gorgeous toppers.

This has become my signature icing - mostly because I have no idea how to do it any other way. I was a bit stuck when I realised the night before the party that I was out of piping bags and had to make do with cutting the corner off a sandwich bag. Time to invest in a good piping set!!!

Last year I did a striped cake for Mila's birthday cake but it was a choc and vanilla stack and only 4 layers high. This year she wanted a pink cake and I decided to stripe it in pink and yellow to match the theme. I made the first cake and without really thinking I decided to use some raspberry compote to colour it. Well it turned bluey/purple. I was also using a very dense cake recipe with alot of moisture and the colour seemed to concentrate in the middle. But ohwell, I decided to just improvise and for the other layers I stuck with a simple buttercake recipe and food colouring. But the purple stayed in the mix. Only burnt cakes make it to the bin in my kitchen (and we did have one!!! ha ha) otherwise if its still yummy it just has to work, and I think it worked pretty well. Butter is far too expensive these days to be throwing away good cake.

Homemade tutu invites. I love making the invites.

Well another party done and dusted. So much fun. I'm glad i'm getting slightly better at taking photos with my fancy Nikon camera, as these photos do a bit more justice to my hard work than the photos I usually take. This party was actually supposed to be photographed by a certain fabulous photographer for a certain fabulous magazine but unfortunately the photographer had to cancel at the last minute due to an emergency. Such a bummer as I'd so love to capture one of the kids parties with professional photos one day. Such a memory for them to treasure. Oh well - one day :)

I'm just trying to decide now whether to throw an easter egg hunt party for the kiddies. Not sure because we also have a combined birthday party for my two nieces over easter - could be too much chocolate for one weekend!! We shall see.........

Olivia

Back to Blogging!!!

I have decided to get back into blogging!! I haven't blogged in soooooo long because I've just been soooo busy with my kiddies.

I've just been featured with my beautiful daughter Mila in the Waikato Times (Sat 3rd March - Weekend). The article is about the new generation of stay at home mums who love to bake and throw a gorgeous party. It has inspired me to put some time aside to get back to my love of blogging and sharing tips and ideas. I've decided that I'm going to blog alot more about my love of everything, including parties, craft projects for the kids and of course still home interiors that make me drool :)

Above are some photos as shown in the waikato times of a little 'tea for two' tea party I literally threw together for the occasion. I'm throwing (well less throwing more putting together) Mila's tutu teaparty 3rd birthday party on Monday so I'll be back to blog on that along with a catch up on all the other parties thrown accross the year.

I also promise to post soon on the playhouse my husband and I created for the kids - along with a bit of a sneakpeek at the dollshouse renovation I'm working on.

Once again.....I have no idea if anyone reads this but its nice to have a place to share pretty things!! even if just one of two friends want some inspiration for the day :)

Homestyle Magazine

Our house has just featured in Homestyle Magazine! A great magazine that focuses on showcasing affordable homes. They picked us out from our builder's promo material.

It is really cool that a magazine supports more affordable homes. We would never have considered our modest home to be 'magazine worthy' but on the same hand we are really proud of what we achieved on our budget so it was nice to have that recognised. Being featured did have the downside of a frantic clean up to get the house photo worthy but it was a great excuse to do a long needed clean and it was a great plug for my hubby's fabulous landscaping.

You can check out a snippet online here. Our house is the lifestyle living article.

The photos above are featured on the website. My hubby built the woodfired pizza oven and outdoor fire place and he also built the outdoor table - isn't he clever. You will have to buy the mag to see more photos!!!

I'm not sure that anyone will even read this as I'm sure anyone following my blog lost hope on me ages ago!!! My pregnancy combined with a very energetic toddler (who refuses to sleep during the day) has left me with simply no time to blog which is a shame as I really love it and have missed it so much!!! I only managed this blog as hubby has taken Mila on a rare outing without me. Oh well, baby is due anyday now and as soon as we get Mila into our local daycare for a day or two a week I hope I can return to posting in the near future!!!

xoxoxox

Full Table

It has once again been far too long between posts!! It seems like whenever I end a previous post with a blurb about making sure I will post more frequently I jinx myself. This time the men in our families have been unwell again :( Between my dad, hubby's dad and hubby's granddad there have been angiograms, a stroke, heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery, - so lots of distraction. Hopefully they are all on the mend now!!!

In amongst the chaos I managed to recently host a lovely catch up dinner party for 8 dear friends while a one of these friends was visiting from Australia - so 10 guests including us - which is the most i've ever cooked for other than for family (where the pressure to succeed is never so great).

I thought I'd share with you my menu for the night. I decided to mix some old faithful recipes with some recipes I'd never tried before so that I was not being boring and challenging myself!! here we go....

Canapes:

- Artichoke, smoked chicken and cream cheese puff pastry pinwheels (new recipe I invented).

- Garlic, ginger and chilli prawn stacks (old faithful).

Entree:

- Parsnip and ham hock soup with apple and nutmeg (new recipe see in full below).

- Served with blue cheese and honey bruschetta (old faithful).

Main Course:

- Mustard, thyme and rosemary crumb crusted eye fillet.

- Roast beetroot, feta and mint, orzo salad.

- Gourmet potatoes with garlic aioli.

- Lemon butter brocoli (all old faithfuls).

Dessert:

- Baked chocolate marscapone cheesecake (new recipe see in full below).

The meal and evening were a great success (except for the dreadfully overcooked brocoli). I have to say the soup and the cheesecake were DIVINE and hence I've shared the recipes below. I actually loved cooking for 10 as it was so satisfying to use up all the food instead of having mountains of leftovers like I usually do. I also loved putting all my cutlery and crockery to use, including my new charger plates that were such a great find last week (as seen in the photo). They are actually platters I found on sale and I thought they would make great charger plates and they did. Such a simple way to make a table formal and pretty.

Anyway I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did :)

Parsnip and ham hock soup with apple and nutmeg:

1 ham or bacon hock (confession I used bacon bones as I find they have more depth of flavour)

1.5 litres of water

1 sprig of lemon thyme or ordinary thyme

4 large parsnips, peeled and diced

1 small onion diced

25g butter

2 sweet apples, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Garnish: cream, thyme, pepper

Above serves 6.

Simmer hock in water for 1 hour (I did 2 hours which reduced the liquid and meant I had to add more water at the end process).

Remove and set aside hock, striping meat to add later.

Cool stock and remove fat (I cooled overnight).

Add thyme, parsnips and onion to stock and simmer for 40min.

Discard thyme and process till smooth, then add meat to soup.

Heat butter and saute apple and nutmeg for 5 min, add to the soup and heat to serve.

Add garnish.

Baked Chocolate Marscapone Cheesecake:

Crust:

1.5 cups of biscuit crumb (I used a mix of malt biscuits and digestives and I actually upped this to 2 cups and altered the rest of the crust ingredients accordingly as I thought 1.5 would be a bit stingy and I was right!)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

16 ounces (480 grams) cream cheese softened

1 and 3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

16 ounces (480 grams) marscapone cheese

6 eggs (I used 4 large eggs from our own chooks)

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate melted

For the crust, combine the crumbs, sugar and cocoa in a bowl and mix well, add butter, stir till crumbly. Press the mixture over the bottom and up the side of a 9 inch spring form pan.

For the filling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees (apparently around 180 celcius but I went with 160 for my fan oven). Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, add marscapone and beat till blended. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each. Add chocolate and mix together well.

Spread the mixture into the pan. Bake in a water bath for 1 and 3/4 hours. Cool pan on rack then chill for 8-10 hours before serving.

Note: I would recommend covering the pan with foil after an hour. I thought mine was burning and I took it out a 1/2 hr early thinking it was done. I chilled it over night and in the morning it was still a tad wobbly. After some trusty googling for a quick fix I braved another attempt at baking it in a water bath this time wrapping the tin in foil to avoid drying the base. I baked it for another hour and then thought I ruined it completely as the condensation from the foil made it look water logged!!! After getting over my defeat I decided to just stick it in the fridge and call it a "mousse cake" if it was still a flop. The end result?? a DELICIOUS cheesecake. It was soooooooo yummy and the perfect texture. The crust was like a brownie almost - soooo good. I would recommend sticking to the original recipe but it goes to show you can save a mistake (although I only had the luxury off the save as I had baked it the night before the dinner party and not the day of:)

Olivia :)

Back to blogging :)

It feels like forever since I've visited blog land - over a month to be exact !!! I said in my last post that I had a lot on my plate but it hasn't so much been a lot on my plate keeping me occupied as much as it is a bun in my oven keeping me very very couch bound !!! I'm thrilled beyond thrilled to be expecting again - I'm very nearly 4 months along now - but I suffer from terrible first trimester sickness and it means I simply cannot stomach many everyday tasks such as eating, cooking, cleaning and computering!!! My poor daughter has had to entertain herself around me lying on the couch for last couple of months. But I am now out of the worst of it with just some residual evening time nausea. I really don't know why morning sickness is called that, I mean, yes for me the bulk of vomitting was in the mornings but the malaria/food poisoning/dehydration/fatigue like symptoms were 24 hours !! But hey I am not complaining at all, its worth every single second of it and I have to say that while its hard to go through it with a toddler at home it was harder the first time round sitting in an office everyday and hiding my trips to the toilets from co-workers (toilets that backed on to the office reception and were shared with clients!!).

Anyway enough about me. I cannot wait to catch up on all my favourite blogs. I would be lying if I said I missed you while I was sick, because I didn't, I missed nothing other than not feeling like vomitting. But now that I have returned to normality I miss you all soooo much. I even went shopping the other day and saw the most gorgeous upholstered chairs that I want for Mila's room and I couldn't believe how good it felt to be excited about furniture again!!! AND to top this off I'm hosting a dinner party for 10 people in a couple of weeks - me -cooking - cuisine - yah !!!! I thought I'd never care for another recipe again!!! so excited to care again.

Ok so this can be a catch up post and I hope to post every couple or few days from here on in.

Olivia :)

Thanks for awarding me :)

I feel very undeserving of an award given that I have been a terribly absent blogger of late !!! But of course I accept it wholeheartedly :) I was finally catching up on comments and posts from my fellow bloggers and saw that the lovely Moerks had nominated me....how fabulous and kind !!! such a nice surprise (sorry I'm soooo late in noticing).

By the looks of things I need to list 10 things that make me happy, so here goes....

1. My Daughter and all her new little expressions and tricks (currently she has learnt to use my lipgloss to paint her toenails and I have no idea how given I never ever paint my toenails) :)

2. My husband, he is my wonderful :)

3. All the rest of my family, never a dull moment (seriously if I had a permanent video camera and no concern for privacy we could have made millions on reality tv!! pure entertainment)

4. My friends - so loyal and so lovely.

5. The surgeons, anaethetists and nurses at Waikato hospital for keeping my Dad around for the last 20 years (and many more to come), such angels!

6. Mint icecream.

7. The big bang theory (TV programme that I strangely happen to adore).

8. A clean kitchen.

9. Going out for Sunday breakfast.

10. And the rarest of the rare................................... a sleep in :)

Thanks again to the Moerks! I would definitely pass this award onto you if you had not already given it to me :) I'm not sure there are many blogs I follow that are left to pass this on to as I am so terribly late in getting organised !!! here are some of my fave bloggers and if you have already received the award just ignore it but please know I appreciate you all....

Rachael at A Room For Everyone

Kerri at Driftwood Interiors

Kerry at A Tranquil Townhouse

Karyn at Hope Island Home and Living

Mrs C at Building the Dream in Ireland

I have also noticed I have a few new followers, so I would love the opportunity to visit the blogs of my new followers and I'll be sure to pass this award on further very shortly :)

I have to ask that you bear with my sporadic posts for a few more weeks as I have a tonne on my plate. I'm looking forward to a bit of calm in a few weeks so I can blog till my heart is content, and catch up with everyone. I have such a backlog of ideas at the moment, just no time !!

:)

Chic Shack

I feel like I have been living in the twilight zone the last couple of weeks. A mix of being super sick myself and having my poor Dad in and out of hospital (thankfully now recovering nicely from some pretty major surgery). I just glanced outside to see my 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets out on the line where they have been hanging for over a week now....opps!! Needless to say I haven't had the time to so much as glance at my lonely computer :(

As a quick catch up post I thought I'd share the above images from a lovely London furniture store 'Chic Shack' that my dearest friend Amie showed me the website for. They may have been blogged about before but I have not personally come across them in blog land and I think its just gorgeous (I especially love the kids rooms and nurseries). Check out their website for some lovely inspiration http://www.chicshack.net/

Olivia :)

hopefully no more sicknesses for a while we have had more than our fair share!!