Treats from Marias day

Feijoa cupcakes

Ingredients:
75g Butter, softened
1 C Sugar
1 C Mashed feijoas
1/2 C milk
1 t baking soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking powder

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar, add feijoas.
2. Heat milk and add baking soda. Add to butter mixture along with eggs & vanilla.
3. Sift flour & baking powder over mixture and mix together.
4. Pour into muffin tin lined with patty cases. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20-25mins or until skewer comes out clean when tested.
When cool top with cream cheese frosting

White Chocolate and Raspberry cupcakes

Ingredients:
100g butter, softened
3/4 C Castor sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 C plain flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 C milk
100 g melted white chocolate
1 1/2 C frozen raspberries

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.
2. place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric mixers until light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add eggs & beat well after each addition.
4. Sift over flour & baking powder and beat until combined.
5. Fold through milk, chocolate and raspberries.
6. Spoon into 12 lined muffin tins and cook for 20 -25mins or until skewer come out clean when tested.
When cool top with white chocolate ganache

ENJOY!!

kids art cork boards Thurs 26th May

Maria hosted mums group today and was great to get together with Patty, Tiarnie, Talia and Pippa! We made Kids art cork boards. Maria had cork board tiles which we all used differently to create ways to display our kids art. Check out the different designs....

These are Shanayes (Shanayes Tiarnies daughter and only 8!) cork boards. She used elastic on the one on the left in a criss-cross pattern so you could put art under the elastic. the one on the right has buttons and coloured pencils. Too clever Naye!!!

This is Talias cork board. The cork cam already in the frame only $4.79 at Mitre 10!!! Talia added red trim to hang on the wall, buttons on the frame and a piece of red string and little wooden pegs. Awesome Talia!

This is Pattys cork board. She used a cork tile then covered it with fabric, added coloured string at the top and bottom with wooden ladybug pegs. love the little doll in the corner!! Great stuff Patty!!

This is Pippas cork board. She painted a wooden frame, then glued a cork tile to the back of the frame and covered it with fabric. Looking good!!

 This is Marias cork board. She used a green frame, cut her cork tiles into 4 squares and painted them, then glued them to the back of the frame. She then decorated the frame with buttons, little coloured pencil and paint brushes. She also wrote "My Art" out of bits and bobs......so creative!!!

So get creative, there are soOo many ways you can do it and they all are unique and such a nice way to display your kids art!!!!

Pippas eats....ohh lala

Here are the recipes for the lunch we had a Pippas on Thursday.

PUMPKIN & KUMARA SOUP

Ingredients: 
2-3kg Pumpkin
2 large carrots
2 medium Red/purple Kumara
2 celery stalks
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 L Chicken Stock
1 L Vegetable stock
300mls cream
100g grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

Method:
1. Peel and cube kumara, carrot & pumpkin. Set aside.
2. Dice onion, garlic and celery. Place in a large pot and saute until onion is clear. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Add the pumpkin, carrot, Kumara & stock and bring to the boil.
4. Lower heat and simmer for 40 mins or until veges are soft.
5. Allow soup to cool slightly then blend till smooth.
6. Stir through cream and freshly grated parmesan. Check seasonings again and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Tips and Tricks:

I've made this soup in different ways but have found it tastes the best when I use powdered stock and make up with boiling water, also it can handle lots of cracked pepper so don't be shy :) I also use and stick blender to blend and just stick it straight in the pot (less cleaning that way). Also you don't need to be "perfect" when cutting up your veges because they all get blended up anyway. It also freezes well too, I usually put some aside before added the cheese and cream and freeze then when I thaw it, I heat it up and add the cream and cheese just before serving. It also always tastes better the next day so if you're having people over you can make it the night before. ENJOY!!! 

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE BROWNIE

Ingredients:
250g butter
1 C cocoa
1 C caster sugar
3/4 C raspberry jam (I used the jam we made at Heidis last week..YUMMY!)
4 eggs lightly beaten
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/4 C Plain flour
1/4 t baking soda

Method:
1. Melt butter in a saucepan, whisk in cocoa and cook until bubbling.
2. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar and jam. Add eggs & vanilla and stir until smooth.
3. Fold in flour & baking soda. Pour into slice tin lined with baking paper.

Cheesecake topping
1. Beat 250g cream cheese, 1/3 C castor sugar, 1 egg & 1/2 t vanilla extract with electric mixer until smooth.
2. Fold in 1 1/2 C frozen raspberries. Spoon over brownie mix.
3. Bake at 160 degrees celcius for 40-45mins or until cooked. Cool in tin before cutting.

Hope you enjoy these recipes  love Pippa :)

"No sew" Blankets Thurs 19th May 2011

Today we learned how to make a cosy, cuddly blanket without a sewing machine. It was so nice to have Maria, Ria & Patty over at Pippas and make a blanket for Kim who has just had a baby boy!!!

Here are the instructions for making a "no sew blanket"

1. You need 2 different colours of Polar fleece fabric, get 1.5 meters of each. (we chose a pattern and plain colour)

2. Pin Fabrics together with right sides facing out. Trim salvage edge and any excess fabric with scissors.

3.Cut a 7cm X 7cm square from each corner. (We made a cardboard cutout so it was easier)

4.Cut slits in the fabric 2cm wide and 7cm deep all the way around the blanket. (we made another cardboard cutout as a guide)

5. Starting at one end on the blanket take the first strips and tie together in a double knot. (we tied them so the bottom colour tassel was sticking up the top to get a contrast of colours). Continue this all the way around the blanket.

You're DONE!!!! Check out our blankets........

Red airplane print with green fleece underneath (I made this one by myself and it took 1hr even with ALL my boys interruptions) and.....

Creamy yellow baby animal print with chocolate brown underneath we made as a group and gave to Kim. These blankets are both folded in quarters so they're nice and big. So get making and creating :)