STEALING CANDY PARTY

Another post that should have been written weeks ago.

I had the pleasure of hosting a Stealing Candy Party for some friends.  I love having parties mostly because I love party food.

As most people were coming after tea I didn't want to overface them so as well as crisps I made my fail safe aubergine dip, from Nigella's Feast. 

 It's always a winner!  

 I serve it with strips of warm pitta bread.  Mmmm!

Of course I didn't want to hold back on the sweet treats!

As it was the last week of pre-school for tiny kidlet (hold back tears) and I had my parents visiting I thought I could make loads of cakes and biscuits to distrubute.

 I made vanilla macarons with chocolate ganache. 

Lime and coconut macarons, I know, look at me whipping out macarons like some kind of french pattiserie chef (see here for macaron dispair).

 Chocolate whoopie pies with vanilla filling. 

I heard so much about whoopie pies being the new cupcakes that I was determined to have a go.  They are so easy to make and absolutely delicious, if you've never tried, go on...try...you won't regret it!

 Another classic favourite, lemon and poppy seed thins from a Martha Cookie special.

I also purchased some lovely Stealing Candy goodies, some of which are presents so I can't show them here.  But I did treat myself to this gorgeous containers which have been used every day since!

I wanted to get some of these lovely bowls as well but totally forgot with so much going on. 

 So it was a nice surprise when my Toddler Group gave me a set as a leaving present. 

I have been running it for a year and now will be taking a back seat when tiny kidlet starts big school (sobs).

We hastely packaged up most of the remaining treats (saving some for the parents) and I dispatched them with the kidlet to pre-school where they went down like...well cake!

(I would have like to have printed out a nice label but no time.)

MORE THAN A MAMA FAIR

As I mentioned in my previous post I am terribly behind with all my news and photos.

A long time ago (or at least it seems) we had our More Than A Mama Pimms and Pamper Evening.

It was a lovely evening and all the stalls were fabulous.  Unfortunately the night coincided with an England game in the World Cup (you can just see a glimpse of an England cookie below!) so it wasn't as well attended as previous events, but we had a fabulous night!

As per usual my photos of my own stall were appalling!  I managed to salvage a few but you can only see a bit.

I went for an afternoon tea theme with loads of pretty cups and saucers and my Nana's old embroidered table cloths.

I was selling boxes of afternoon teas with cupcakes, lemon drizzle cakes, macarons and scones.  With one of my usual flashes of brilliance I decided to add a small pot of jam to each box.  So I bought my cute little jars, spent an afternoon making jam and came out with (granted very delicious) strawberry jam that had cost me £1.20 a (4oz) pot just to make!  

This is why I would never win the apprentice! 

I get too carried away with nice ideas and lose track of the costs!

Anyway I thought I would show you some of the other stall holders who were there.

 This is Stealing Candy with gorgeous homeware, more of which to come.

The always fabulous Heartfelt Handmade.

Gorgeous baby accesories from IslaBBaby.

Beautiful hand made candles from Heather Emily

Funky kids clothes from  Rockabye-Baby

 I absolutely love this chair from Boxing Clever .

 How fabulous are these up-cycled knecklaces from Oh Sew Vintage?

 Quirky ceramics and illustrations from Katy Leigh.

 More vintage teacups from Stephanie Rose Tiaras and Flowers, this time planted with pretty flowers.

 Fabulous hand embelished shoes from Lucypeachslice.

There were other stalls there but unfortunately I don't have their details.  Our other More Than A Mama members were Richard Roscoe Photography (more than a papa) and Sharon from Virgin Vie
I'll leave you with a picture of some scones for my 'afternoon tea in a box' which would be lovely with some strawberry jam on, now where could I get me some of that?

Oh I lied, a quick ps!  Head over to Torie Jane for a pretty bakeware giveaway.  On second thoughts don't, because I really want to win!

FAIRY CAKE

Hi All!

I feel like I've been neglecting you, but I have been in a whirl wind of cake and end of term so lots of apologies.

I have many many posts in my head and in my camera and hopefully now things are calming down a bit I can get them out.

To start with a bit of a cutie.

 This is a cake for a little blond girl who is turning 4.

 

I really enjoyed doing this cake as you may tell,

 

my favourite bit is the trail of lady birds.

 I hope you like it too!

(ps unfortunately I am finding my pictures on other cake websites so I am having to watermark my pics which I hate having to do.  Please feel free to copy my posts or pictures for you blog as long as you credit me and link back to my blog)

COSMO AWARDS

Cosmo are hosting blog awards.  I have submitted the fabulous Heartfelthandmade for the e-tailer catagory, and Fashion Baby Yeah! for New fashion blogger.

  If you like my blog and have the time maybe you could submit me here (no pressure)

 What's that? You need an incentive! Cheeky!

Well here is a pretty cake!

xx

DRESSES AND FAIRIES

 A quick post to keep you all up to speed with this weeks shenanigans .  I have a very busy couple of weeks coming up so I took the opportunity to finish off a couple of jobs I had started and then put down in favour of other projects.When I got married I was determined to have a Trousseau and I bought a beautiful skirt from Jackpot as part of it

However within minutes of being on honeymoon I put on weight and the skirt was too tight.   I passed it on to my Mum  who recently returned it and I was loathed to pass it on again as it held too many memories.

 So I decided to make a dress for big kidlet, I have done some sewing in the past but still thought I should go for the easiest pattern I could find.  Unfortunately there wasn't quite enough width on the skirt so I had to improvise a bit.  And the dress was slipping off her shoulders so I also had to add a tie at the back to keep it up.

 

I was very happy with the corsage, she hasn't worn it yet.

 

My next job was to use the artwork I created for my Mad Hatters Tea Party.  I loved the silhouettes that had been left so I gathered together some bits and bobs and made pictures for the kidlet's bedroom.

ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL

I started this blog about three weeks ago and am determined to post while there are still some elderflowers on the trees!  So here goes.

Every year I get very excited when the elderflowers start blooming, I feel as if summer has really arrived.  Of course very often the sun hasn't, but the smell of the elderflower makes me feel summery anyway!

So here is the recipe for elderflower cordial. It is so easy to make that I am always tempted to make gallons of the stuff especially as we are surrounded by so many beautiful elder trees, and if I had a bigger freezer I would.

On a sunny morning, or in the UK just wait for a break in the clouds, go out and gather your elderflowers.  You could make the five minute stroll to the field by yourself.  Or you could take two little people with you and make it an hour and a half nature walk...ok when I say 'nature walk' what I actually mean is stopping and pointing at every stick in the path and shouting 'I'm the stick man!' and being so petrified of brambles or nettles or dog poo that you become frozen with fear every 30 seconds.

Once you have return to the safety of the house and downed, sorry, partaken of a small(ish) glass of wine to recover from the nature walk (I had a vision of my family being very outdoorsy...we are not!) make your cordial. 

The recipe follows.  Enjoy!

 

The cordial will last for a few months in a dark cool spot or you can freeze it for some summery goodness in the winter. 

 

To strain the cordial I use a clean tea towel in a sieve, you can use a muslin if you have one. 

Remember to sterilise your bottles.

As I write the kidlets are finally asleep and I am enjoying my elderflower cordial mixed with sparkling water and wine....and relax.