All about food

It seems as though it's all about food around here lately! I was lucky again and won a copy of Bake by TV cook Rachel Allen (who I'd not heard of before but you all know how much I love to BAKE!) from Frills in the Hills (Liss), who was giving away three copies.

I collected mine from the post office yesterday and before I even finished flicking through the pages, had baked the chocolate chip version of the Banana Bread (with a little help from Tristan). The house is now smelling totally divine and I now have a whole recipe book full of new yummy things to try. Thanks again Liss.In crafty news, I'm hoping my PIF gifts arrive at their destinations soon - I sent them registered post, having learned from my last disaster (and no, it - missing quilt, see previous post - still hasn't turned up). I also finished piecing the top for my FIL's quilt - I can't show a picture, as he reads Facebook and this post will appear there automatically. If you follow me on Flickr, you can see a picture of it there.

Comfort food

Well it's been a cold and frosty winter here in Canberra; there is nothing better to chase away the winter blues with some home-cooked cupcakes and muffins. Oh and lemon delicious! I recently discovered Frills in the Hills - the food heaven awesome blog run by the baking goddess Liss - just in time for a lunch we went to a couple of Sundays ago.
She had posted a lemon delicious recipe and I thought that would be perfect for the lunch - I was so right! It was an easy recipe with five-star results. Yum!

She also posts lots of other yummies, so I urge you to check her out. I cooked these golden muffins today for the kids. I substituted golden syrup for the honey (hence the lovely caramel colour) and mashed banana for the currants. They were a hit with the kids!

But wait there's more! Romily and I (with some spoon-lickin' help from Tristan) baked some vanilla cupcakes from the AWW Bake cookbook on Friday. Romily's great contribution (aside from sifting the flour and also licking spoons) was choosing the bright yellow colour for the icing. You can see her icing efforts above :)

On the sewing front - there has been action! I finished the three Pay it Forward gifts; they will go in the post tomorrow. I will show a picture or two when they're en route. I have also cut the fabric for my FIL's birthday/Christmas present quilt. Will piece the top tonight after my sad boy (2yo molars are causing a LOT of grief) goes to sleep. Boy, he's been hard work these past three days! Poor kid has had a temp and been grumpy as all get out; walking around like a zombie. Let's hope this stage passes quickly!

And sadly, the Walk in the Park baby quilt I made has gone missing in the mail. I'm hoping Australia Post manages to track it down...it's the last time I ever send anything by ordinary post.

Winnings!

I hardly ever win anything on blog giveaways, but I was stoked to have two recently!

First off, was a fabric giveaway at Emma's place. She sent me some gorgeous fabric left over from the most incredible custom quilt she made.

Then I won a cute skirt pattern from OzMaterial Girls - the City Girl Skirt pattern. I really want to make some summer skirts for myself, so here's my chance!

I also received my Pay It Forward gift from Mands - a cute owl appliqued shopping bag and a very cute notebook - all for my inventions, featuring Bert & Ernie! Of course Romily has claimed both items for herself! Thanks Mands!Thanks everyone for being such generous, wonderful, crafty folk!

As for me, very little in the way of sewing going on - but I did do some cutting in preparation for making my PIF gifts. Soon! I also ordered some fabric for a hush-hush Christmas present I'm making for my FIL. Can't wait to get started on that project - it's going to be an Oh Fransson! quilt. I love her work!

While there has not been any sewing, there has been a little bit of baking :) I discovered, via Corrie from Retromummy, a fab blogger Liss, who has the most amazing, droolworthy recipes on her blog, Frills in the Hills. Go check her out - you won't be sorry! This was the lemon delicious I made on Sunday morning to take to a lunch we were invited to - it was a big hit! (I made a double batch - nom nom nom!)