Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Trunk

I first saw this idea on The Block 2012 and then recently came across Trunk and Orderly on The Design Files. Love the cases.



Images via The Design Files

Sally
xo

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Jungle fever


So wish these hot little planter holders weren't sold out. Totally need to keep an eye on The Small Garden and hope they are able to get more in. I think maybe the lion may be a bit scary for Harles though.


No. 1 & No. 2

Enjoy the weekend!

Sally
xo

Courtney Giles - you tick all the boxes

One of my favourite passtimes is trawling the web looking for styling ideas to jazz up my home. I was beyond excited to stumble across Courtney Giles, I love the colors she chooses and the mood they create.








 All images from Courtney Giles website - here


Sally
xo

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

My idea of a weekender

Posting these pictures so I don't forget what I want my weekend home to look like when I win Tatslotto, complete with the cows!


Naturally the living and kitchen would have floor heat for winter!






Images via

Sally
xo

My boys

Just a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Sally
xo

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Plate full of magic




I love love love profiteroles, and they are surprisingly easy to make. I think I might try and make this tower of goodness soon, this recipe has loads of great tips in it too.

Ingredients:

One pack of fresh raspberries
Pastry base:
1 good quality ready-made shortcrust pastry sheet
For the puff pastry (pâte a choux):
75 ml water/ 1/3 cup
75 ml/ 1/3 cup full cream milk
60 g/ 2 oz butter (cubed)
80 g/ 3 oz plain flour (sifted)
3 eggs
3 g/ 1/2 tsp
10 g / 2 tsp sugar

In a saucepan, add milk, water, butter, salt and sugar and bring to a simmer. Take the pan away from the heat and add the flour (in one go) and stir constantly until you get a smooth dough. Put back on a low heat for 1-2 minutes to dry it up slightly. Take away from heat. Add the eggs, one by one, and stir gradually to form a smooth dough. Leave to rest at room temperature.

For the caramel:
100 g/ 3.5 oz caster sugar
4 tbsp water
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

For the ‘crème patissière’ filling:
300 ml full cream milk
4 eggs yolks
40 g/ 1.5 oz butter
80 g/ 3 oz caster sugar
30 g/ 1 oz corn starch
1 tsp vanilla essence
A dash of rum or kirsch (optional)

In a saucepan, add milk, sugar, vanilla essence and bring to a simmer. Stir well and take off the heat. Add the egg yolks and whisk continuously. Drizzle the corn starch and whisk again – put on a low heat, for 2 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to a thick creamy sauce. Set aside and leave to cool. Then place in the refrigerator to set it properly (15-20 minutes).

Chantilly whipped cream:
250 ml/1 cup whipping cream
20 g/ 4 tsp icing sugar
Whip cream (I use electric whisks), add the sugar after 30 seconds and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Set aside in freezer until you need to use it.

Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 180°/ degrees celsius/ 360 F.
Roll pastry into a 8-10 cm/ 3-4 inches round shape and cut out four round disks – you can use a small cake tin or jar lid to make the shape. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray. Cover with a round of greased parchment paper and weigh pastry down with pastry weights (or dried beans). Bake 10 minutes, then remove paper and weights. Bake 10 minutes more. Set aside to cool.
Place the pate a choux dough in a pastry piping bag with a large nozzle and pipe small nut shapes onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside and leave to cool.
When all the ‘choux’ are cool, make a small slit in the base. Use pastry bag with the smallest nozzle tip and ‘inject’ each ‘choux’ with the crème patissière (approx one tbsp per choux). Set aside.
Now you can make the caramel. On a low heat, melt the sugar, teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, and four tablespoons of water in a saucepan. Let the mixture melt. It is very important not to stir until the color starts to turn golden. At this point, shake the pan, until the color slowly turns to caramel golden brown. This process will take approx 15 minutes. Be very careful not to burn the caramel. Take away from heat and place the saucepan in cold water for 5 seconds to stop the heating process.
Dip each ‘choux’ in the caramel, being very careful not too burn your fingers as it is very hot. You can use kitchen pliers or hold the ‘choux’ with a stick if you prefer. Set aside. I like to play around with the rest of the caramel and drizzle it on parchment paper. They can make nice decorations, and it’s delicious!
Now you can decorate the cake. First start with the pastry base, thinly layer with the crème patissière, then pipe little meringue shapes with the whipped cream. Add the caramel covered choux around the cake, and place raspberries around the choux and a few in the center. Continue and finish with whipped cream piped all around. Finish with one ‘choux’ on top.

images and recipe from Manger

Sally
xo

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Wallpaper

Finally we have nearly finished painting. If anyone had told me what a massive undertaking it was going to be I would have seriously considered paying a professional. Now that we are nearly finished there is talk of wallpapering a feature wall in each of the bedrooms - below are a few favorites.




Images via Schumacher

Happy Friday!

Sally
xo

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Biscuiteers

Not sure if it's because I'm a little bit pecking and craving a coffee and something sweet, or if I think that creating these little masterpieces would be the best job ever! So I had to share some pictures of the beautiful creations the UK based Biscuiteers have come up with.






Images from biscuiteers

I'm sure they taste as divine as they look too - oh how I want one of those purple cupcakes right now! Gosh, I nearly forgot to mention, did you notice the tins the biscuits and cakes come in, could you ask for better packaging, I think not.

Sally
xo

Monday, June 4, 2012

For the love of wallpaper

I have always loved wallpaper, I only wish I was brave enough to use it. I would adore to go crazy with some Josef Frank wallpaper, although not sure how I would even get my hands on it in Melbourne but that's not the point.



Images: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Sally
xo

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Weekend Instagram

My attempt at Grilled Panzanella Salad - Camille Styles is so right, this is the best salad.

Our attempt at recreating the Lobster Roll from Golden Fields restaurant in St. Kilda. I think we did a great job, tasted so good!

My profiterols puffin in the oven

Friday night's dinner at Longrain with friends

This photo is nothing out of the ordinary - GK shopping (again).

Hope you had a lovely weekend.

Sally
xo

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Most fabulous room ever

This is the most amazing room I have ever seen. If I had this room in my house I would never leave. Imagine being here at night when the stars are out and you have lit candles all over the place.


Happy Friday all, hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Sally
xo

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Grilled Panzanella Salad

So winter officially starts tomorrow, my least favorite season of the year. But this year I'm determined to enjoy it. I have my new UGG's which I plan to spend as much time in as possible, and it's so nice to curl up with a glass of red wine and watch DVD's or read knowing that it's cold outside and you don't want to be out there anyway.

I know salads are mostly reserved for summer, but I saw this beauty on Camille Styles blog this week and thought it looked so amazing that I really want to give it a whirl this weekend. This version has no meat in it which may cause GK's toes to curl (maybe add some chicken??)





    • 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, quartered
    • 2 yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, quartered
    • 2 zucchini, trimmed, cut on the diagonal into 1/2″ thick pieces
    • 4 slices crusty white italian bread
    • olive oil, salt & pepper
    • 1 english cucumber, peeled and chopped
    • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
    • 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
    • 1/3 cup mint leaves, chopped
    • 1/3 cup basil leaves, chiffonade
    • 1/3 cup olive oil
    • 1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar
    • 4 oz piece of feta, broken into chunks (I’d love to try this with fresh mozzarella next time!)
    1. Heat grill to medium. Brush peppers, zucchini, and bread on both sides with oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Grill peppers and zucchini until slightly charred and just tender, turning often, about 6 minutes. Add bread for the last 3 minutes of cooking, and grill until lightly charred and just crisp, turning often. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool.
    2. Meanwhile, combine cucumber, tomatoes, olives, mint and basil in a large bowl. Chop peppers, zucchini into 1/2″ pieces and add to bowl. Tear bread into 1″ pieces and add to bowl.
    3. Whisk oil and vinegar together, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add dressing to salad, toss to gently coat, and add feta.
Sally
xo



Sunday, May 27, 2012

Winter blues

 My little fury friend is not a big fan of winter. He prefers to snuggle on the couch when it's cold.


For that matter it's not my favourite season either, but no chance of cold feet in my house this winter - I am never taking these off!


I can't believe I blinked and the weekend was over and now I'm back at work. Looking for a necklace like the one below to jazz up a few of my work outfits.


Sally
xo

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

WD-40

I find this totally fascinating - I'm buying some WD-40 on the weekend!

The following comes from snopes.com

Who knew? I had a neighbour who bought a new car. I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of his car (for some unknown reason). I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news. He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do.... probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open. Another neighbour came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off. It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint job on the car. I'm impressed!

WD-40 who knew? 'Water Displacement #40'. The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and de-greaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'water displacement' compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Convair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts. Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you... When you read the 'shower door' part, try it. It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works just as well as glass. It's a miracle! Then try it on your stove top ... Viola! It's now shinier than it's ever been. You'll be amazed.

WD-40 uses:
1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4. Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps flies off cows . (I love this one!)
6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewellery chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots .
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18. It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers...
22 Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open..
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes splattered grease on stove.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida's favourite use is: 'cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers.'
38. The favourite use in the state of New York , WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41. WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls.. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The lipstick is gone!
43. If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start.

P.S. The basic ingredient is ... FISH OIL!
 
Sorry if this is a little boring, but I had no idea one can could do all this, so I hope it works.
 
Sally
xo

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

See - I need to go to New York

 Majorly loving Tory Burch's spring summer line, so sad they don't ship to Australia. This is why I need to go to New York. How cute is the dog posing in the basket, there is no chance Harley would sit in a basket like that.










Sally
xo