berry blondies

after success with the brownies last night I decided to play around with my blondie recipe....another winner! And since I'm out of the house most of the weekend I don't expect these to last long with retro daddy in the kitchen.....



300g white chocolate melts
100g butter
2 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup flour (I used plain but SR will give you a lighter brownie)
1/2 cup frozen berries

melt butter and chocolate over low heat and transfer to bowl. Gently stir in sugar, then eggs then sifted flour stirring gently after each addition then add your berries and combine. Pour into lined square cake tin and bake in 180 degree oven for 30-35 minutes and a knife comes out clean. Cool slightly, slice and serve.

This was perfect with a cup of peppermint tea and two episodes of Big love! what a night....

my chocolate raspberry brownies

oh my goodness! I didn't think my brownies could get any better....but they just have!I bought all the ingredients to try a new cookie recipe and then it dawned on me...what if I put raspberries in my brownie recipe! My trusty, old faithful, been making it for years brownie recipe......



200g dark cooking chocolate
100g butter
2 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
2/3 cup SR flour
1/3 -1/2 cup raspberries

melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Transfer to a large bowl and add in sugar, eggs and sifted flour gently mixing after you add each ingredient. Gently stir in raspberries (no need to defrost) and pour into lined square tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes in 180 oven. A knife should come out clean (unless you dip it straight in a berry of course) but you want them looking crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.



I should point out that I DID have enough ingredients for 2 batches but I had the most shocking day with 2 huge dramas on my Notebook projects that 1/2 a block of chocolate was eaten as I sat solving my problems...because as you all know ladies....chocolate solves everything! Chocolate doesn't equal love but it sure does help solve your problems....and I'm happy to say my problems are almost solved......

fat quarter city

that is my dining table at the moment as I madly cut, fold and press new fabrics to take to Mathilda's this weekend....thankfully we have oodles of stock and after the fat quarters are done, there are about 10 crocheted flowers to do for hats and then I'm all done.....



I'll also have huge clearance baskets with all my older fabrics priced to clear so if you're coming be sure to look for our baskets at the front of our table which include Far Far Away, Moda and lots of cosmo and kokka fabrics.....I'm under strict instructions from retro daddy to start clearing it out before I order more fabric......



so if you're in Sydney, Mathilda's is on this Sunday 9am-1pm at Riverview, Lane Cove and I'll be there with Katia and her lovely things....

knitting for beginners

30 stitches scarf
Originally uploaded by miss_fee

who knew that garter stitch could look so cool! With the official launch of classes for Notebook Magazine's The Craft Room happening this Saturday (oh my goodness where has the time gone) here is a sneak peek of one of the projects you can make in beginners knitting.

I just love it........and your teacher, well she only knitted her own wedding dress from Vogue knitting.....and it was stunning. To book your place just go here.....

cute book

I heart macarons.....ok so we call them macaroons here but tell me, is this not the sweetest book cover you have ever seen ???? I put this back at the newsagency yesterday but couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the day....



step by step pictures, umpteen flavours of macaroon and then lots of different fillings, pretty pictures...oh so much to love! I have fond memories of eating these in paris when retro daddy was working there for a few years....I'd stock up on them for the eurostar trip home back to london! Oh so sweet and light and delicious!!!! I think this will be my mothers day gift to myself!

EDITED TO ADD on my morning shop I found the AWW book on macaroons and cookies...not nearly as many recipes but I find AWW recipes foolproof so it came home with me!

long time no dress

Yes, it has been a long time between dresses for my big miss! Mind you with the way she poses these days who's looking at the dress....



I had seen this pattern (simplicity 3510) on posie gets cozy and knew I had to make it, as luck would have it SL had it in stock (please note that this does not always happen to me). Great pattern, lots of variations and I love the little pin tuck detail on the front, back and sleeves.



I decided to use a simple fabric to do a first version because little diva (otherwise known as keira) has been rejecting my outfits each morning so I thought keep it simple to see how she likes it. Next time I'll go for something a bit more flashy and also in a darker colour for winter too.



So this is a pink gingham from the Darla fabric range by Tanya Whelan (thanks Wynona for selling me some as Darla is one of my favourite ranges)



I will definitely be making this up again as it was easy, pretty and Keira adores it. That's all I need in my sewing these days.

zucchini and feta pancakes...

I made these last year from a moosewood cookbook....and that went back to the library and did I write down the recipe, oh nooooooooo! So I winged it and we had sucess as I remembered it was 4 zucchini's and 4 eggs. So here goes:



4 zucchini's grated
4 eggs separated
100g feta crumbled (I love danish feta all chopped up)
1/2 cup flour
1-2Tbsp finely diced red onion
salt and pepper to season
butter to fry pancakes in
lemon and mint to serve

- Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form and gently fold into mixture of grated zucchini's, feta, egg yolks, flour, red onion and then season.
- In a frypan melt a Tbsp of butter and drop in mixture ( I use a heaped tablespoon) and fry in batches. Turn over after a few minutes and cook on other side. Keep adding a bit more butter when necessary to your pan as you are frying them up.
- Serve with mint leaves and lemon juice. I think natural yoghurt would also be lovely. Be warned that these will go quickly!

I do love to shop

I do love shopping and dressing my little ones up and making them all look beautiful! If I had the time I'd love to sew more clothes for them but there isn't much of that time around here at the moment! So when I heard gymboree opened it's first australian store I was there in a flash to get some super cute outfits. I'm a huge fan of the complete outfit.....



All the little boys clothes are so preppy just how I like them with argyle sweaters and vests, navy puffer jackets, rugby shirts, chino's, cords and button down shirts....



and for my girls lots of pretty pinks with matching leggings, tights and hair clips as well as skirts and cardigans!



I was in heaven and I thought I was very restrained but the ladies behind the counter seemed impressed with the amount I was buying......I do have 3 little people to dress and maybe its a good thing for the family budget that the store is on the other side of Sydney....Parramatta Westfield to be exact and I hadn't been out there since my OLMC days but it was well worth the trip...I'm thinking once a month trips would be acceptable!

cherry ripe slice

yum, yum and double yum! I've never had cherry ripe slice but Bellsknits' recipe and pictures made me want to rush out and get the ingredients to make it with Keira!!!



very easy to make, very easy to eat! I might tweak my next batch with some cherry liqueur (for an adults only version) or double the cherries to make it more 'cherrier'! Finn showed absolutely no interest but my girls loved it and enjoyed it as a treat for afternoon tea...sure beats cheese and cruskits....



be warned it will go quickly and try to overlook the 250g copha that is required! I'll be making this one again...mind you at this rate I might be booking myself into Tony Ferguson as soon as I deliver this baby!

bakes and braids

Who needs cookbooks when you have blogs!!!!! I think Liss is my new mealplanner! Tonight I decided to try her creamy tuna tortellini bake....another winner! It's like tuna macaroni but instead of regular pasta you use tortellini (I used spinach and ricotta agnoletti) and add leek and mushroom and then lastly top with breadcrumbs as well as cheese! It was delicious, everyone ate it all up and loved it! I actually used more pasta than the recipe so mine isn't looking as creamy as Liss' version but it was still beautiful!



And totally unrelated to dinner, I've also decided I need to get a bit fancier with Keira's hair. Here is my first attempt at a braid over the top....its not perfect but she loves it, in fact you need to drag her away from the mirror. At the moment she's a single lady....you know 'all the single ladies, all the single ladies' and is telling me we need to buy her a single ladies dress so she can really be one.....hilarious!



If you need some hair inspiration I've found some pretty cute hair blogs.....now be warned that some are totally OTT with ribbon and stuff going every which way but the basic braids, ponytails and updo's are gorgeous.

heather ross on spoonflower

I love heather! Well I love both heather's (ross & bailey). And yes I will be stocking Far Far Away II....I can't wait! Anyway, about a fortnight ago I found out I could get Heather Ross on spoonflower and I was there straight away. What's not to love...cute little gnomes



and cute little mushrooms. You get to pick the colour, the length and don't have to pay a small fortune on ebay or etsy for a teeny tiny piece of it.



These will go in my special fabric tub (yes, I have one reserved for little bits of my very special fabrics) and be used in some quilts for my girls....but now I think some need more.....you know to really fill out the quilts!

a pretty pillowcase

I had picked up this alphabet panel in SL a while ago and it was so cute, not good quality but cute! As you can see there is a nice big dirty mark on the fabric, something you often find there when things have been walked over, chucked around, etc. On the weekend I actually went to buy 2m of pink minky for girly blankets and there were some big dirty marks over the first metre so I said please cut after the marks, the lady kept saying are you sure? they MIGHT wash out, I could do you a discount if you want to take the chance! no lady I'm thinking, its dirty and has dark green gross bits all over it, cut me 2 clean metres!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Anyway, back to my panels. So I found an unopened cheap ruffle pillowcase in the cupboard that I had wanted to use for another project and set to work. This is so easy, takes you no time at all and the trickiest thing is staying neat around all of the letters when you do your stitching. I can't wait to see keira's face when she comes home tonight......because a girl can never have too many pillows on her little bed.

from my kitchen this week

there has been a bit of cooking going on lately, one of the perks of being over my morning sickness! I made another delicious pear flan and I have to say much better the next day so make it late at night, pack it away and cut up and enjoy cold the next day...delicious!



and last night I was in the mood for my macaroni cheese, perfect comfort food and everyone loves it except retro daddy who is over it! What is your mac'n'cheese recipe as maybe I can try that on him? mine is so simple but love to know yours....this is a very bad photo of very good pasta!



2Tbsp butter/marg
2Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1-2 cups grated cheese

I melt my butter and add in the flour, when it starts to bubble whisk in the milk and keep stirring till it thickens. Turn off heat and mix in cheese till it's all melted in and add to cooked pasta (one 500g bag is perfect). I love mine with lashings of black pepper too.

and then today I did a batch of raisin oat cookies (recipe here), delicious! And my cookie jar is overflowing so the recipe goes a long way and perfect to keep the twinnies entertained while miss keira does her ballet class this afternoon. Thankfully there are no rules of disclosure so I don't need to tell anyone how many hot cookies I had with my cup of peppermint tea



these will truly feed an army.....and the cute little placemat was whipped up over the weekend with some very cute fabric from my store!

free cone day

Well today was the first Ben & Jerry's free cone day in Australia....so when I heard about it from Frills in the Hills we decided to meet up and enjoy an ice-cream with our little ones! Little did I know I'd be interviewed by Channel 9 news...I might have actually put on some makeup or lip gloss but hopefully they put the cute interview with keira telling them all about strawberry ice-cream! it was adorable!



I must say I'd never heard of free cone day so I assumed it was buy one get one free but nope from 1pm-8pm it's free ice creams all day!!!!! It normally costs me $20 to get us all ice-creams so it was a nice treat to get them for free



Finn tucked straight into his



Tillie was a bit more reserved but hung on to that cone for dear life, screaming and crying when I had to take it from her to get her in the car! Thanks Liss for the heads up, it was a great day and so lovely to meet such a sweet blogger, as sweet as her recipes!!!



and if you're in Sydney it's not too late, open till 8pm! So good!

quilting with Sarah Fielke

In more exciting news for Notebook Magazine's The Craft Room, the June timetable is now up here with new crafts including papercrafts and also quilting with the very talented Sarah Fielke. This is the one and only quilt I made from her first book....



It's a one day class where you come empty handed and go home with a small quilt or cushion. Beginners come and learn everything about quilting and more experienced quilters can work at their own pace with Sarah's expert teaching. I'm looking forward to learning how to do the nice big hand quilting with perle cotton...as in learning the right way not my self taught could be dodgy way!



Book your tickets for June here.....

on the needles

oh dear this is embarrassing! somehow I started 3 knitting projects within a week...first up was the pixie hat from vintage baby knits, so cute but taking me like forever to knit up in a 4ply (gorgeous yarn from celia's basket)



so I moved on to the mason dixon baby kimono in some melody, also lovely and the colour sapphire is just gorgeous.



then on sunday night while watching underbelly (I'm seriously underwhelmed by this version, yawn, my grandma was right...just switch it off!),I decided to make my own pattern for leg warmers...so far so good. Cast on 40 stitches of 8ply (I'm using luxury) on a set of 4mm dpn's, grab a safety pin if you can't find your stitch markers! Once you're past the rib (k1,p1) you're on fire so hopefully by Sunday I will have finished these babies and will give you the pattern.



and I promise not to start anymore knitting projects as I'm running out of room for WIP's!!!!

cute buttons

I love making my blog look cute and when I found a new blog to love (I've been finding lots of those lately)...I found these cute buttons and things on shabby blogs to add to your blog like these....



go and check them out, seriously cute!

pear flan

more cooking than craft going on here lately!! I thought I'd try the yummy pear flan recipe that I found on a new blog I love called frills in the hills! She's a mum of twins, loves to bake, and lives up in my part of sydney so of course I love it! Here is my flan before it went in the oven...



and here is the after.....we had family drop in while it was in the oven so talk about perfect timing! It just did us for afternoon tea and dessert and everyone loved it!!!!



Very easy recipe and I love that there is no butter in it as I feel I can justify more slices...not that there is anything left! Definitely give this recipe a go and thanks melissa for a great recipe!

Sushi uncut

I haven't made sushi in years!!! But my little darlings almost send me broke with the amount of sushi they eat each week so I thought I'd give it a go and I've got to say....a winner!



All you need are nori sheets, some avocado or fillings, rice (I just used medium grain which I had in the pantry), some sushi rice reasoning and a mat which I already had floating around. The great thing is that everything came from the supermarket so you have no excuses to not make your own! Everyone ate it all up and there was a teeny bit of rice left which I put in some inari wrappers (I get mine at tokyo mart in northbridge, the best japanese supermarket in town!!!).



Now most of my lovely readers know that I put nice pretty pictures on my blog...but today I thought I'd show you the behind the scenes! No last minute hair tidying, no posing and a flash going off in the window! I just was laughing so much as I was taking these thinking no way are these making it to my blog....



but since it's crazy here most of the time and it's been a crazy week....why not share.....a taste of life at my house!



and yes, guess who had the joy of cleaning up afterwards!!! But I hope to hear about your sushi experiences soon, it's just so easy....

what I should be doing today

Today I should be catching up on laundry, washing the floors, getting all orders out the door and making some cookies for when my tummy starts rumbling about an hour after I've eaten......



what I am doing is using some of the the lovely new fabric in my store! It's not fair to be shipping it out the door and not using any!!!! As I suspected, green apples and little red riding hood are my top sellers but keira wants a dress from the cute little girls so that is on my agenda today when the babies nap. Plus I can do that while a load or two of washing is on!!!!

rest assured all orders are now done and by the door...in fact since writing this post I'm back on the computer doing last minute work on the June timetable for The Craft Room....wait till you see who is teaching quilting in Sydney...I can't wait and will be at the classes with bells on!