A tale of two dresses...

It must have been years since I sewed myself a successful garment...I've done plenty of sewing, but haven't managed to make anything which is actually wearable. I was inspired to try another dress (this one didn't really work out like I'd imagined) by this post. It is a really easy dress to make and I am pleased to say my first effort was so successful (the chambray one) that I followed it up with a matching one!


And even better: now I can match our cushions.

Applesauce

Applesauce is not as exciting as it sounds - it's actually just an American name for pureed apple with a teeny pinch of cinnamon. Anyway, I saw this recipe the other day and seeing as I happened to have truckloads of pureed apple lying around (truly), I thought I'd whip it up for last night's NZNTM final.



Now, mine is not nearly as nice looking as the one in the recipe I used, my icing wasn't as thick and white and gorgeous looking, and I am not as flash a photographer as the folk at Smitten Kitchen, and I actually was unable to taste this as I still have a blocked nose, but the half dozen people who have tried it all say it is delicious...although I'm sure no-one would tell me otherwise anyway!

...and Danielle won, which was terrific - we whooped and clapped and shook our fists in the air!

Butterflies in my stomach...

I tried to distract myself by making a lovely time-consuming quiche for my lunch....


..and by finishing my latest sewing project with this fabric...


...but nothing can calm the butterflies I get in my stomach when I think about watching the final of New Zealand's Next Top Model tonight!!! OMG! Who will win? Danielle? Michaela? Elza? I so want it to be Danielle but I'm just not sure she can quite pull it off...

Eeek! I can't wait!

Feels like summer..

It was so lovely and warm today...I wore a short dress! And we ate lunch outside!


Salads, and smoked chicken and bread (which I am ashamed to say I didn't bake myself - I've had a cold this week and things have slipped a little in that department)..


..and we even got the deck chairs out for some lounging around. Matt sat on one and it broke. Total bummer. He is not fat. We don't know why it happened.


Boo came and sat with us too. Clem slept - for a brief while it felt like old times with just the three of us. Bliss.

Baking like a demon..

I'm not sure if it is the crazy weather we're having (at one point today I sat in the sun and thought I was getting burnt but now I am wrapped up inside with the heater on while it howls and rains outside), the huge aftershock we had today (a real doozy, the whole house felt like it was lifted and then smashed back into the ground), or just a general desire to go nuts in the kitchen, but I have really challenged myself in the baking department over the past day or so.

Firstly I made a chocolate and orange cake of Nigella Lawson's - from this blog. It wasn't so hard, but used muscavado sugar which was a little exciting for me. It was delicious and moist but unfortunately I don't have photos to prove it.

Then after reading this post this morning (that blog is an odd one - it's kind of sponsored by Fisher & Paykel and so you would expect it to be a bit sucky but it's actually pretty nice - they have lovely photos and good recipes), I got all excited about Belgian Biscuits and got down and dirty with a rolling pin.


These are a fiddly cookie if ever there was one - firstly you have to make the dough then refrigerate it, then roll it, bake the cookies, fill them with jam, ice them and then sprinkle them with red sugar that you also have to make along the way. What was I thinking? And the whole process was interrupted by the aforementioned aftershock and the ensuing phone calls and texting... Anyways, it was worth the effort because Belgian biscuits are probably in my top five of favourite cookies..



...and I had two sets of visitors and I took some round to a friend's place, so I was also able to be showered in baking praise which is always gratifying. Except for Sylvia (age 3) who outright told me she didn't like the cake. Ah well, you can't please everyone.

You know you're serious about baking when..

...you buy flour in a bag which comes with it's own handle.


Yes, the daily bread is still trucking!

New bunting!

Recently I saw some lovely bunting somewhere (I forget exactly where) - it was made with circles of lovely fabrics. This weekend I thought I'd try and whip up some of my own...



I'm not sure if it is exactly what I was going for, but it's kind of cool, and I think it could look nice in a little kid's bedroom, yes?