.Going....

Yikes!  Check out our chart today...back when we started our countdown to NZ it seemed like forever away, but time really did go sooooo fast and tomorrow we are off!!!
I am feeling semi-organised.  Have done a lot of the cleaning I wanted to (who wants to come home to a dirty house?) and have started pulling out clothes and other things we need to take away.

Strange as it sounds, I couldn't start getting organised until I had sewed a couple more little things...we are taking small suitcases as our carry-on bags and I had visions of having to be trying to contain textas, books, toys, food and other entertainment on the plane in the pocket in front of our seats because our bags would have to go in the overhead compartments.  So I decided to sew up a few bags to keep all of the plane entertainment together and easy to grab out of the bag...one each for the kids.

First of all, I made them each a zippered pencil case using my tutorial.

The applique on each one is part of some gorgeous panel fabric I bought a few weeks ago...love it!

 

Then I made each of the kids a Peek-A-Boy Toy Sack (using my tutorial again) to keep everything in...

 Just the perfect size to hold a few colouring in books, blank page art diaries, some snacks, little toys and of course, their new pencil cases!

And once I had finished sewing these a couple of nights ago, I felt ready - even though I still had a tonne of cleaning and organising and packing to do...at least the plane rides will (hopefully) be smooth sailing!
Happy holidays to you all!  I'll probably post now and then from New Zealand and keep you up to date with some of our adventures. xxx

.Thermomix Cooking - Cherry Ripe Slice.

I don't know about you, but Christmas gives me an instant free pass to cook lots of deliciously bad treats.  This year I've been trying out a few new ones with pleasing results.

I found this recipe for Cherry Ripe Slice and knew that it would be perfect for converting for the Thermomix.  It was really yummy - I only managed to have one small piece before it was all gone so I think I'll have to try it again before Christmas.  

The icing was supposed to be just chocolate spread over the top, but I tried adding a tablespoon of cream to turn it into more of a set ganache so that it would be easier to slice.  I also added a couple of drops of red food colouring to the cherry mixture to make it more red.

Cherry Ripe Slice 

For the base:
100g butter
150g self-raising flour
15g cocoa
75g caster sugar
100g plain sweet biscuits


For the filling:
300g glace cherries
150g dessicated coconut
1 tin condensed milk
5 drops red food colouring


For the icing:
200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
30g copha
1Tbs cream (optional, for softer chocolate)


To make the base:
Place butter into TMX bowl and melt on 60 degrees, speed 1 for 3 minutes.  Remove from bowl and set aside.
Without washing bowl, place flour, cocoa, sugar and biscuits into bowl.  Process on speed 4 for 20 seconds.
Add melted butter and combine on speed 4 for 20 seconds. (The mixture will be quite dry.)
Press into the base of a paper-lined slice tray and cook in a moderate oven for 15 minutes.


To make the filling:
Place 200g cherries into cleaned bowl and pulse on turbo 3-4 times.
Add coconut and pulse on turbo 3-4 times to combine.
Chop remaining 100g cherries into halves and add to bowl with condensed milk and food colouring.  Combine on speed 3 for 10 seconds.
Spread filling over base and cook in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before icing.


To make the icing:
Place all ingredients into clean and dry bowl and melt on 60 degrees, speed 3 for 3 minutes.  Spread over filling and place in fridge until set and cold.  Slice and serve.

.Gifts for teachers.

Every year as Christmas rolls closer, I tell myself that next year I will be more organised and start my sewing and shopping earlier...but I don't.  And I kind of like that last minute rush - it adds to the festivity in the air.  December would be boring without it, right?!

My children have been very blessed to have such wonderful teachers this year, both at school and at church.  They put so much time and effort into teaching them and we like to give them a pat on the back and a big thankyou for their efforts.

The zippered pouches we made for Oscar's school teachers last year were very well received, so we did the same for his teachers this year.  It's fun to see how well his writing has improved from one year to the next - last year he was copying my writing and this year he wrote straight onto the fabric with my water-erasable pen!

And for the children's church teachers, I made them a necklace with matching pair of earrings.  These ones are made with satin fabric and the earrings are made from little satin-covered buttons.

 

 These necklaces are pretty much the only ones I wear now - they are very sturdy and can take a lot of tugging and pulling from the kids and are really comfortable.  Plus, they don't get tangled in a heap like all of my other necklaces are...probably the main reason I keep reaching for these ones every time!

I might put together a tutorial for these once we get back from our holiday - they are really simple to make!

.Nan's Great Sponge.

(After all that sponge making and eating on the weekend I thought it only fitting to re-post Nan's famous sponge recipe from the archives, June 2008)

Myth: sponge cakes are hard to make.

They are not, they are actually one of the most easiest cakes around. Require little ingredients and just a bit of time.

My Nan is famous for her sponge. She always has a couple in the freezer to pull out when people come around. Before I was married and still living at home I was lucky enough to spend time with Nan once a week and help her with cleaning and jobs around the house. It was when she lived at her old house in the country and was more able than she is now, but still appreciated a bit of help with vacuuming and washing the floors. When Pop still went to work every day at the river and would drive home with his dog, Sandy on the back of the ute for a hot lunch. They are much older now and much less able. They don't live in the country anymore and Pop doesn't go to work. But those memories are still alive.

During one of my visits, Nan requested I do some cooking for her so that she could stock up the freezer with some goodies. It was that day she taught me how to make her world famous sponge cake. And I'm glad she taught me, standing over my shoulder with very definite instructions. If she had just handed me the recipe, it would have failed. I know I would have skipped the part where I was supposed to beat the eggs and sugar for "at least" 10 minutes. It would have been more like 2 or 3 minutes. And I know I wouldn't have bothered folding the dry ingredients in with a fork. I would have thrown them in and let the beaters do the mixing. And then my sponge would have failed.

Trust me when I say it is easy...as long as you follow the instructions exactly as they are written.
 

Nan's Great Sponge
3/4 cup castor sugar
4 eggs
3/4 cup cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp plain flour

Beat sugar and eggs for at least 10 minutes until very creamy.
Sift together baking powder, cornflour and plain flour. Add to egg mixture and stir with a fork until just combined.
Grease two sandwich tins and divide mixture evenly between the two. Gently tap each tin on the bench.
Bake in a 200 degree celcuis oven for 20 minutes.
When cool, fill with jam and whipped cream.  Dust with icing sugar or ice with passionfruit icing.

.Family Christmas.

One of my favourite things about the Christmas season is all of the "get-togethers" - especially when it involves family.  I come from a really big extended family on my Dad's side...6 boys and 1 girl, 29 grandchildren, and over 60 great-grandchildren!!  Before the family got so big we would get together a couple of times a year for a catch-up, always at Christmas and usually at ANZAC Day too.  With so many people to accommodate and a good number of them living far away, we haven't had a proper get together since Nan and Pop both passed away almost 2 years ago.  We also realised that without Nan and Pop here, the get togethers aren't just going to happen on their own anymore and so we organised an early Christmas BBQ for who ever could make it over the weekend.

There were a few items on the agenda (all food-related, of course!).  Number 1 was Nan's Great Sponge Bake-Off...our Nan was the BEST sponge maker ever.  There was always a sponge cake to finish off a meal and they were highly spoken of.  So, in memory of Nan's sponge we issued a challenge to anyone who wanted to enter the comp!

Being Nan's only daughter, Aunty Wanda was in charge of picking the winning sponge...and Becky was the (*ahem* lucky...) winner!  We couldn't help but think of Nan having a chuckle and loving watching us get all excited about re-creating her perfect sponge!  

The second important item was Aunty Wanda's Jelly Bags.  My Dad is constantly asking us to cook up some Jelly Bags for him - apparently a delicious dessert that Nan also used to make, but we had never tried so didn't know what he was talking about.  Luckily Aunty Wanda remembered them and cooked them up for us, basically they are a pancake-shaped thin sponge cake that is cooked then rolled up into a cone and filled with cream and jelly.  Here is Aunty Wanda sporting one of Nan's old "festive" tshirts!

Aside from a lot of eating (gotta love Christmas feasts!) there was also a bit of cousin bug catching...

 Little cousins playing...

 Chatting...

 Music making...

 And more chatting, eating and cricket playing...

But most important of all, it was the beginning of grasping hold of old traditions and adding some new and remembering and honouring our family roots.

.A gazillion shorts.

Before you get reading, let me warn you there are a gazillion photos to come...

The children all needed new shorts for Summer.  I'm determined to make instead of buy clothes for them when I can from now on.  I reckon I have enough fabric to clothe them until they are 18...

So I turned to the quick and easy "2-in-1" shorts from my book.  Well, they are quick if you are only making a couple of pairs - I got a little carried away and made THIRTEEN!!!!!!!

It started out as one pair each for my three.  Then my sister requested a pair each for her kids for Christmas.  And then I decided that while I was at it I would make few more for some other cousins for Christmas.  And then to top things off my kids got another pair each.  (That makes 13 pairs, by the way.)

I love these shorts because:

1.  They are quick and easy (did I already say that?)

2.  They are reversible - so really I made 26 pairs...

3.  Because they are reversible (lined) you don't need to neaten any raw edges with an overlocker or zig-zag stitch, making them even faster.

4.  They are looong - sitting just under the knee, more boardshort style.  So cute.

5.  They are comfortable - so the kids tell me.

Before you go out and make any though, let me warn you that you really should use two fabrics you REALLY LOVE.  I've made the mistake on the first pairs for each of my kids of using a fabric I love and then a fabric I'm not that crazy about on the other side, thinking that the preferred side would be worn most often.  Of course, the kids prefer my non-preferred side and I'm forever trying to trick them into wearing the side that I like best!

So, you ready for a fashion parade? 

Prints Charming, Rainbow Gardens/Erin McMorris, Weekends, Go Bike in Peach

Michael Miller, Giraffe Garden in Grey/Erin McMorris, Summersault, Pinwheels in Grass

Monaluna, Circa 50, Cars in Orange/Monaluna, Circa 50, Pebbles Lines in Citron

FD Textiles, Little Monsters in Blue/Red

Birch, Circa 60, Ukelele/ Laura Gunn, Magnolia, Textured Plaid in Turquoise

FD Textiles, Little Monsters in Blue/Orange

Prints Charming, Rainbow Gardens/Erin McMorris, Weekends, Go Bike in Peach

Monaluna, Circa 50, Cars in Orange/Monaluna, Circa 50, Pebbles Lines in Citron

Birch, Circa 60, Ukelele/ Laura Gunn, Magnolia, Textured Plaid in Turquoise

FD Textiles, Little Monsters in Blue/Orange

Anna Maria Horner, Innocent Crush, Bubble Burst in Lavender/Saffron Craig, Bird Tree, Bird Spot in Green

Erin McMorris, Weekends, Go Bike in Peach/Michael Miller Spot

Sarah Jane, Children At Play, Rockets in Blue/FD Textiles, Little Monsters in Blue/Red

FD Textiles, Little Monsters in Blue/Orange

FD Textiles, Little Monsters in Blue/Red

FD Textiles, Little Monsters in Blue/Red

Patty Young, Flora & Fauna, Blossoms in Red/Anna Maria Horner, Innocent Crush, Maybe in Indigo

Amy Butler, Midwest Modern II, Honeycomb in Sage, Anna Maria Horner, Innocent Crush, Bubble Burst in Lavender

Michael Miller, Giraffe Garden in Grey/Erin McMorris, Summersault, Pinwheels in Grass

Phew!!!
The problem with reversible clothes, is that it is hard to determine which side is the front and which is the back - especially as you can't include a size tag on the inside, because there isn't an inside!  So I cut a piece of decorative ribbon and sewed it to the back side of each pair of shorts to eliminate saggy crotches and wedgie bottoms!

And now I think shorts sewing is out of my system for a little while...

.Samples Sale.

Just a heads up for anyone who hasn't seen this on Facebook yet...

I've been cleaning out my cupboards and have got loads of Make It Perfect samples that need new homes!  Might be a quick and easy way to tick a few items off your Christmas list or perhaps just treat yourself to a little something special!

Check out some of the items for sale below and lots more on my Samples Sale page!!

(Postage is quoted within Australia - if you want to know about postage to the rest of the world, please contact me.)

 

 

.'Tis the Season.

For busy, busy weeks - does your calendar look like this?  As the big day draws near, the days seem to get busier.  I love it though, adds to the excitement!

For decorating Christmas trees.  We almost didn't do it this year.  Almost.  But it just wouldn't have been Christmas without a tree - even if we do only get to enjoy it for 15 days!  That is all we have done in the way of decorating this year.  Keeping things very simple, our big holiday is excitement enough.

 

 

For Christmas baking...after watching a few great Christ-centered videos last night for Family Home Evening we got to some gingerbread cooking and decorating.  Tommy was the cutest - carefully putting an m&m on each dot of icing then licking his little finger after every one!

 

For dodgy advent calenders.  I do feel bad that we aren't keeping up with our advent tradition this year but things are pretty crazy around here as we tidy up loose ends before we go away.  We are still doing lots of special things each day, just without the added pressure of having to do them. 

Hope Christmas is shaping up in your house, however you do it!