One Weekend Wonder: 197 Daisies

Over the weekend, I have been slowly making fondant daisies for Sophie's birthday cake  (the photo above shows only a quarter of those I have created).  Back when I first posted about my vision for her party and the picnic theme I was picturing , I was still unsure on the cake, until Catherine left a comment suggesting tying in the flowers on my inspiration board in some way.  A bit of Googling had me deciding on a simple round cake with buttercream frosting, covered in a sprinkling of edible daisies.  However, with pre-made sugar decorations costing around fifty cents each, I instead bought myself two cutters and a pack of fondant icing and added the task of making a whole bunch of these to my party preparations.

I must admit, this activity lost its novelty factor about halfway through and became a tad tiring (although making these flowers is actually very easy).  I now understand why prettily decorated wedding cakes are so expensive.  However, one positive that came from this repetitive task was that it gave me time to sit and think and reminisce...

As I worked away, I thought back to where I was at this time last year... three days away from my due date.. Sophie was head down after having been 'turned' a few weeks earlier when we discovered she was breech.  My labour bag had been packed, complete with presents for my big girl for each day she would visit me in hospital.  Grace's patchwork quilt had been finally sewn (my one 'must-do' on my list of 'nesting tasks'.)  My round belly (whilst small and compact) was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.  I was feeling a mixture of emotions... excitement at being able to finally meet our precious bub and also apprehension about how I would adjust to being a Mama to two little ones.

And yesterday, as I continued on with my mundane task and made daisy after daisy and became lost in my thoughts, I looked over to Grace and Sophie playing in the living room beside me and realised  how lucky I am to be at this point, one year on, with my precious little family and this life I am so blessed to have...


Pop over to Claire's One Weekend Wonder Link-Up to see what others have been up to this weekend...

Cooking Club: Teatime Treats

On Saturday afternoon, we had our 'Teatime Treats' Cooking Club get together and I think this theme would have to be one of my favourites we've had so far. Dishes could be either sweet or savoury as long as they were something suitable for a morning or afternoon tea.



To decorate the table, I used a more 'Nanna-looking' white embroidered tablecloth and added some touches of pink and mauve with a bunch of pink ranunculi and two small jars of Geraldton Wax (which I snipped from the bushes growing beside the road at the end of the street). A piece of pretty pink floral fabric leftover from Grace's quilt made the perfect placemat for the centre of the table. I really didn't want to use my boring old white and silver crockery so I borrowed some pretty teacups, saucers and side-plates from my Mum and sister to put together with my own and ended up with a mix of different patterns, all within the same colour palette. I tried to research the correct way of setting the table for an afternoon tea - some references placed the cup and saucer on top of the side plate, others described what I did.



As a small party favour for each guest, I bought some cute floral paper bags from Etsy shop Jade L'il Craft which I filled with a selection of different tea bags. The spot prize for this month was a cookbook filled with scrumptious looking chocolate recipes.





Our menu consisted of:

- Chicken and Asparagus Sausage Rolls
- Arancini
- Lemon Cake
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Ginger Fluff Sponge
- Spicy Apple Teacake
- Chocolate Chip Cookies

Next month, we are going to have a potluck theme of 'Something I Enjoy Cooking' so I'm hoping we'll have a range of things like soup, mains, dessert, cake and so on.


For anyone who would like to try it out, here is the recipe for the Lemon Cake which was so moist and tasty...


Lemon Cake

5 eggs
250g castor sugar
250g melted butter
250g flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 lemons (juice and zest)
250g icing sugar
100g melted butter (for icing)

Beat eggs and sugar and then slowly add melted butter. Add sifted flour and baking powder and mix. Cook for approximately 10 mins at 180°C (my friend said she used her biggest slice tin which is about double the size of a normal one). For the topping, mix icing sugar, melted butter and the lemon juice and zest. Prick the cake with a fork and pour over topping mix while still hot and allow to soak through.