packing up the decorations

Happy 2011! Somehow my week of holidays over Christmas just flew by, and I have already finished my first week back at the office. I just thought I would share a few more pictures from Christmas (all the decorations are getting packed up this weekend) before getting stuck into the new year! I was thoroughly spoilt with gorgeous books, beautiful tea cups and caddies and lots of DVDs to get stuck into.

Mum made delicious Julekake (Norwegian Christmas bread) to eat for Christmas breakfast

I made Stollen (German Christmas bread) for Christmas Eve, filled with marzipan and loads of dried fruit

Lovely old decorations on loan from my grandparent’s house, they look so beautiful

Part of the huge nativity set that my grandfather used to set up, my Dad put it all together, I love it

I decorated the table for lunch with silver, white and green and made the bonbons myself to avoid repetitive jokes!  

Gorgeously decorated Christmas cake created by my youngest sister

mini christmas treats

I packed up some cute boxes of mini Christmas treats to give to my friends at an early Christmas dinner this week. Every year my best girlfriends and I go out to celebrate the silly season, and we have fun giving each other Kris Kringle gifts, cards and small sweet treats.

These desserts are very easy to make, which means you can make lots to give away to friends and family, and still have some left in the fridge to share with friends who pop over. I hope you enjoy making and enjoying them as much as I did.

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christmas pudding

Melt 200g dark chocolate and 1tbsp butter. Crumble 400g shop bought plum pudding into the mixture, add 2tbsp Grand Marnier and stir everything together. Use your hands to roll into small balls (about a small spoon size) and place on tray in fridge to set. When set, melt 100g white chocolate. Drizzle over the tops of the balls, and add slices of glace cherries to decorate. Pop back in the fridge to set.

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white chocolate rocky road

I don’t remember the quantities I used, but the ingredients are white chocolate, white marshmallows, red glace cherries, cranberries and almonds. Melt the chocolate and some of the marshmallows in a saucepan together. Stir in the remaining ingredients and spread out in a lined pan. Allow to chill in the fridge before slicing into small squares (it is very sweet).

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candy cane chocolate

Crush about 10 large candy canes in a plastic bag with a mallet or rolling pin. Melt about 200g dark chocolate, and spread over the base of a large, lined, baking tray. Sprinkle the candy cane shards over the chocolate. Allow to set in the fridge before breaking into pieces to eat.

my first gingerbread house

I have always loved gingerbread houses – edible desserts that you could only dream of living in – and as much as I appreciate the beauty of a fully iced gingerbread house, it’s the lollies that really attract me!

My boyfriend and I decided to create our own gingerbread house on the weekend. We had never made one before, and thought we were being a bit too ambitious for a first attempt, but we figured if we were going to put the effort in we may as well throw ourselves into it! Luckily we managed to pull it off, and if we may say so ourselves, we think it looks pretty damn awesome.

t2 {made to love} christmas

Still trying to choose Christmas presents for your loved ones? Perhaps something from t2‘s collection will catch your eye. Delicious teas and moroccan tea glasses abound, all wrapped up in glimmering gold paper and luxurious velvet ribbons. Sigh.

daylesford & hepburn springs mineral co

The summer weather has finally hit Melbourne. We are in the middle of a string of 30 degree days (with a few thunderstorms thrown in for good measure) and I am in desperate need of a refreshing drink when I get home from work. Lately I’ve been trying some of the delicious flavoured mineral water created by Daylesford & Hepburn Springs Mineral Co.

The blood orange and pink grapefruit flavours are my favourite so far but I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the rest of the range. I love how cheery yet chic the label design is – it definitely puts a smile on my face!

Images from Daylesford & Hepburn Mineral Springs Co

first weekend of december

The first weekend in December always sends me into a bit of excitement that Christmas really is just around the corner. I’ve been tagging recipes in books that I want to try, writing down ideas for decorating the table for christmas lunch, and gathering goodies to make my own crackers.

I haven’t started any Christmas baking yet, but I have been stirring a batch of Christmas Pudding Vodka (thanks for the recipe Lorraine!) which I started a few days ago. Every time I open the jar it smells more amazing as the fruits and spices mix together, slowly overtaking the powerful vodka. I’ve started making this super early so that it is ready to make lots of drinks in the week leading up to the big event.

I also went to the Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar yesterday. It is hosted by the Swedish Church in Toorak and runs on the first weekend of December every year. I like getting in early on the first day so I don’t miss out on all the good stuff! I brought home with me a gorgeous tin of gingerbread biscuits, delicious mulled wine chocolate, a cute reindeer decoration and lovely christmas spiced tea (chocolate and tea from Swedelicious).

Is Christmas excitement building in your home yet?

cupcakes and cookies

 Looking for something special to make your baking extra sweet? Perhaps some pretty cupcake liners or cute cookie cutters from sweet estelle are just what you are looking for. I’ve previously bought from this lovely store and everything went so successfully that I placed another order today (so hard to resist).

passionfruit puddings

This passionfruit pudding is very easy to whip up, making it perfect for a lazy weeknight on the couch. The recipe comes from bills food by the lovely Bill Granger and it was perfect for the current weather. It’s just about to hit summer in Melbourne so I’m craving the taste of fresh tropical fruits, but the weather is still chilly enough to need a comforting pudding and I am never one to resist a warm dessert.

Recipe adapted from Bill Granger

Ingredients

• 1 small spoon butter
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/3 C plain flour
• 1/4 C passionfruit pulp, plus extra to serve
• 3/4 C milk
• 2 eggs, separated

1. Preheat the oven to 170C and grease 4 ramekins.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until well combined. Mix in the flour, milk, passionfruit and egg yolks.
3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold the egg whites into the mixture and then pour into ramekins.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the top is golden.
6. Serve with extra passionfruit for a really strong taste.

christmas magazines

I seriously love Christmas. I love giving beautifully wrapped gifts to people and seeing their eyes light up as they see what’s inside. I enjoy all the food that manages to come out for just one month every year. I enjoy decorating the house with glistening ornaments. And I love Christmas magazines because they manage to gather all the joy of the season in one place to give you many more ideas for your celebrations.

About a week ago I bought some new Christmas magazines and now that December is almost upon us I thought I would share some of my favourite images with you. I bought Australian magazines InsideOut and RealLiving, and the British LivingEtc and they are all filled with so much goodness. I’m looking forward to the rest of the Christmas issues hitting the stands!

thankful

Although I live in Australia and didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving Day this week, I thought it was still appropriate to take a little time to think about the things I am thankful and grateful for, and wish everybody else a happy thanksgiving. Sometimes I get stressed and grumpy very easily so I’m taking the time to think positively instead.

I am incredibly thankful for….

• My loved ones – my family, my boyfriend (also my best friend) and my closest friends. These people are always there when I need support or someone to enjoy the fun times, and I’m lucky that they still love me even when I snap at them because I’m tired.
• Having an interesting job to go to every day (even though I sometimes don’t want to roll out of bed) and the opportunity to continue being educated.
• Being mostly healthy, and that having a cold this week was the worst illness I have had to whinge about for a while.
• The fact that when we lost my grandfather a few months ago there were so many people rallying around to help wherever they could. I’m looking forward to a new baby joining our family next year as the start of the next chapter.
• Living in a country where I have the opportunity to safely vote in a democratic election today.
• Being narrowly missed from being hit by two different cars yesterday makes me feel even luckier to be alive today.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend with  your loved ones and can find many things to be thankful for xxx