The rainbow connection

I wish I could claim this idea as my own but I spotted them last week on Spearmint Baby and instantly knew I had to make them for our zoo trip.

I was so excited by them I wouldn't let any of the kids see them until I was time for them to be eaten and it was worth the wait to share the "magical cupcakes" with the kidlets.

I think this is something I'll be whipping out as much as possible even if it is only to maintain my "cool mum/aunty" status.

You could use any basic vanilla cupcake recipe but I wanted to have chocolate in there somewhere so I used the following recipe I found at Best Recipes

White Chocolate Mud Cake

250g butter

250g white chocolate

200 ml water

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1 cup self-raising flour

2 eggs, lighly beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tea spoon vanilla essence

ICING

125g butter

125g white chocolate, melted

3/4 cup icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 150 c

2. Heat butter, sugar, chocolate and water in a saucepan over low heat until combined.

3. Sift both flours together and blend into chocolate mixture.

4. Stir in eggs, sour cream and vanilla.

5. Pour mixture into a deep 20 cm tin and cook for approx. 1-2 hours depending on oven.

6. ICING Cream together butter and icing sugar. Spread over cooled cake.

(7 See if you can stop at just one!)

I halved this because I wasn't sure how it would turn out and half of the above mixture made 12 normal size cupcakes. I didn't have any sour cream so I replaced that with yoghurt and they were still yum.

In between steps 4 & 5 I divided the mixture into 4 bowls and added a couple of drops of food colouring. Then drizzled them into the cupcake cases. Like instructed on spearmint baby I used a fork to help add the different layers. I cooked mine for about 45 minutes.

a couple of satisfied customers

t.i.l.t.

Things I LOVE Thursday

I am LOVING me some beetroot chips at the moment. SOOOOOO Good.

Being $3 + per packet, I think I might have to try making my own.

I found this recipe on taste.com that I might try this weekend.

I'm also loving some quality Aussie TV.

I watched the first season of Tangle when Foxtel played them back to back recently.

I sort of wish I had recorded these to watch in one big session, I hate waiting for the next episode.

Finally something else I'm lovin' today is my new family portrait.

No words needed

Point and shoot and bears oh my

It's starting to become obvious that I have NO idea what a quiet weekend is anymore.

I like the idea of putting my feet up and watching a few DVDs on a lazy Sunday but that isn't really a 21 month old's idea of a good time.

The last time we went to the zoo was for a party when Sadie was about a month old, so with her love of animals I thought it was time to pay a visit to the zoo.

When we first arrived we started thinking it may have been a better idea to have saved the admission fee and just gone to the beach as Sadie was more excited about chasing birds.

That was until we got to the lion park.

The lions were almost singing at the crowd it was pretty amazing.

We got to see Mali the baby elephant in all her 300+ kilo cuteness, marveled at the seal enclosure and were all a little jealous of Abby's butterfly catching skills.

It is easy to see why the monkey's are the most popular, we could have spent all day watching the crazy little things the little one in the top photo was staring/playing with Sadie for a few minutes, definite highlight of the day.

P.S. My title is a bit misleading I'm not really sure what the plural version of point and shoot should be and there were no bears to be seen. (Obviously a very smart species!!!)

The elements of Zoe

There are so many elements of Rachel Zoe's life I'd love to have in my own

Her wardrobe,

living room, address book and husband to buy me "Dylan McKay's porshe".

Today what I would love most of all

is a big fluffy white robe to lounge around in.

(A couple of Missoni Home cushions wouldn't go astray either).

T.I.L.T

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

point and shoot

So this weekend as I thought about my point and shoot, I held back the tears as I took the side from Sadie's cot and transformed it into a bed. Well a day bed really, at night she sleeps with me, I mean us.

I love the raised eyebrow when people hear this. Yep we are co sleepers!!!

It hasn't always been that way and truth be told, now I think it's more for me than for her, nothing beats waking up with a little hand on your chest, although the occasional foot in the face 'aint so much fun.

So baby steps - some toys for company and chill time can be spent in her room. We'll even try for day sleeps in there (when they do happen), eventually she can spend the nights in her room.

But I'll give it until the end of winter.

Otherwise I would have to buy an electric blanket to keep me warm.

Oh and if anyone has any sleeping tips, especially if you were a co sleeper I would LOVE you to share with me.

FRUGAL FRIDAY

I can't keep this secret any longer, I need to tell the world.

These biscuits are AMAZING!

Not just taste but price as well.

Change from a fiver at Aldi.

Pretty sweet considering they are about three bucks each in cafes.

Don't say I never share xx

T.I.L.T.

Wowee, is it really Thursday already? It must be time to share somemore

THINGS I LOVE THURSDAY

This week is more of a Thank You than a love.

Thanks CRAYOLA you rock my world.

We love drawing in this house and I have spent a small fortune at two dollar shops on pencils and crayons. Eventually I dumped the cheap pencils that had little colour and bit the bullet and "allowed" Sadie to share my Derwents.

This caused a near riot in my house as my cousin still has a chip on his shoulder about me not sharing my Derwents with him when we were growing up. I swear I would have shared with him at least once, but more than likely they weren't put back in proper order, oh how good does a full tin of Derwents look!!!!

Anyway so we were happy with the colour but with the constant dropping pencils really aren't that toddler friendly (oh and lets not even talk about sharpened pencils).

So while passing the time in the stationery isles I stumbled across these

These Slick Sticks are THE BEST CRAYONS EVER. Good colour, in a plastic case so no cracking and they come off super easy with a baby wipe. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

Then we spread the love by using them to make wrapping paper.

Love all round xoxo

Point and toot

During the the week I decided that Sadie was going to experience her first train ride on Sunday. By the time Saturday rolled around, the weather was miserable, the house was untidy and I had a laundry full of washing (add to that a babydaddy that lumped around with a hangover all day Saturday). I was ready to can the idea but I got up Sunday morning and thought to myself, when Sadie gets older she really won't hold those clean clothes and house close to her heart and while she may not remember her train ride, I will and she will always have the photos to look at.

I'm not sure if it was the ride or people watching in the train that she enjoyed more, either way she had a smile on her face followed by yum in her tum after morning tea at the Lindt cafe. Babychinos, divine mochas and OMG Salty Caramel macaroons. Personal highlight was watching her charm the pants off all the kool kids at General Pants as she danced around the store while the babydaddy tried on jeans. I love this kid!

How was your weekend? Don't forget to play Point & Shoot.

Party In My Tummy

I've looked at the Frills in The Hills blog a few times, but in the last week or two I have been hooked and super inspired to cook.
I've tried a few recipes and have loads bookmarked. The potato and leek soup was easy and delicious. The Morrocan Meatballs are next on the list but I have to say the Bill Grainger's Chocolate Pudding takes the cake.

And if you don't believe me, this picture speaks a thousand words.






Thanks for the inspiration Melissa.
PS I think I love you

T.I.L.T.

Things I Love Thursday




Pay Day


Yeah yeah money is the root of all evils or something like that. BUT
Today is pay day. Pay Day means money
Money means I can buy stuff AND
Stuff makes me happy!

I want lots of stuff today and that is the only reason for getting out of bed and going to work.

Things I Loathe Thursday - I have NO time at the moment and Blogger is annoying me becasue I don't know what has happened to my settings but I can't format anything.
Grumble Gumble Grumble

Point & Shoot

My mum, my nan and my daughter (Saturday arvo)

Busy Busy Busy. Jam packed weekend for us
Friday I did a kid swap with my sis and bribed my 11 year old niece that It would be better to see Eclipse with me than her friends!! Loved it. Still Team Edward all the way, but Taylor Lautner certainly gave RPatz a run for his money in this one.
Saturday a quick trip to Kikki K then a visit to the Substation market, where Sadie had her face painted and we shared a yummy Red Velvet cupcake. Followed by a visit to my nan and then topped off the day with a Snuggies and Uggies drive in screening of Toy Stoy 3. Love love loved it so much, and yep I may have shed a tear. Jessie (the cowgirl) is a huge favourite of mine. It might be the red hair but I think it's mostly her excitable nature.
My weekend was completed with a brunch catch up with one of my favourite gals and yummy eclairs from Alpha Bakehouse in Yarraville. If you live in Melbourne's west a trip to Alpha is highly recommended. So many yummy cakes, but I think the eclairs are worth a visit on their own.
I'm glad my weekend was super busy, I'm always a bit sad after visiting my nan.
I feel so lucky that Sadie still has her great grandmother around. My Pa passed away the year before Sadie was born. He would have loved her, especially her cheeky side. Last week saw the third anniversary of his death and I don't miss him any less today than the day he left. I'm sure that he's watching over us and Sadie says Hi to his photo, but I still wish he was here.

So I'm getting in early with my point and shoot before it's even up on Fatmumslim
maybe my impatience is getting the better of me but my blogger settings seem to have been changed around and I can not figure out what I have done and can't format any of my posts ARRRGGGGHHHH

T.I.L.T.

Things I Love Thursday

Hi Hi. Welcome to another addition to T.I.L.T.

This week I am declaring my love for magazines.

If I'm honest magazines are probably more of an addiction or an obsession than a love.

With our recent move I even shocked myself with the amount of magazines I packed.

And that was after getting rid of four green bags full of them.

My current stash

I don't have any particular rules when it comes to my purchases. 

I am tending to steer away from trash mags, you know the ones where most of the articles start with " a source close to the star claims........".  As I can find most of those stories, true or not, online (and free).

Must haves are Shop Til You Drop, Real Living and Frankie.

Some months I'll buy all the home and craft type mags, the next month parenting mags then it's all about fashion. I used to love going to the airport for all the latest international releases, but now Borders provides me with all the page flicking love I crave, as well as a place to flick through them while sipping a nice hot coffee.

With the amount of money I've spent over the years I  could potentially have a wardrobe full of Chanel hand bags. The only problem is I wouldn't know which is the hottest must have.

I suppose my addiction could be worse, it's not like my habit will harm my health, pity the same can't be said for my purse strings.

Please feel free to play along. What are you loving today?