Lost Weekend

Wow! That was one BUSY weekend, which seemed to fly by before it even started. In fact, I've felt like this whole YEAR has flown by! The 1st of December tomorrow, I can't believe it. I've made a Speckled Egg Christmas Mixtape which I've been waiting to put up. Once I hear that kind of music, I start to feel really Christmassy!

Of course, Isla and I had to get our toes looking shipshape, ready for our towns' anual Christmas Parade...

We had to be at the park early on Saturday morning. Too early for some, who decided to have a quick nap before Santa arrived.

Others were alert and on the lookout for Santa! Isla loved her Red Riding Hood costume, the children had such a lovely time, and the icing on the cake was that our centres' float won the category for "Best Kindergarten or Kohunga Reo". We've won a cupboard full of art resources so we're really excited (we're actually not a Kindergarten or a Kohunga Reo, we're an Early Childhood Centre, but that's ok!). You can see more of the parade here.

Anyway, with all the costuming, decorating, walking, chatting, photos and fun, I completely forgot about my Saturday Speckled Egg Recipe Book post. To be honest, there's not really anything too exciting happening in my kitchen of late. Just a lot of the above, big pots of vegies to be pureed into mush for Kyan, who just started solids (where does the time go?). However, I decided to make some Anzac Biscuits today as well, as they are Liams' favourite, so I will contribute the recipe for this iconic New Zealand cookie this week.

Anzac Biscuits

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut (you can use dessicated, but shredded is better)

1 cup of soft brown sugar

125grams of butter

2 tablespoons of Golden Syrup

1tsp baking soda

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Then in a saucepan, melt the butter and golden syrup, making sure it doesn't burn. Add the baking soda, this is the fun bit, it expands onto a lovely sort of foam. Mix the foam in with the dry ingredients and roll into little balls then place on a baking tray with approx 4cm between each cookie, as they expand quite a bit. Cook at 180 degrees celcius for about 15mins, or until golden. I like to squash each one with a fork about halfway through cooking, as they "puff" up a bit (something to do with the baking soda I presume!)

Book Tag

I've been busy. Busy, busy busy trying to get organised for the market I was talking about here
and I needed a break! So the invitation from Janelle to play a game of book tag was most welcome! This is how it works; Go to the closest book you have, not necessarily the book you have just read, or your favorite, but the closest. Turn to page 56 and copy out the 5th line, followed by the next 2 to 5 lines.

Well, my closest book was Tricia Guilds' 'Painted Country'. It was on the table because Isla was reading it while I sewed (bless her, her current reading material of choice is mainly Hairy McClary, her Dads' Fishing World magazine, or my interior design books, go figure).

Ok... Page 56...Rats, it's only a picture with no words (Murphys' Law!) So I'll have to do page 54. The 5th line onwards reads "this kitchen conveys all of that colour, energy, spontaneity and adventure, along with a certain reassuring familiarity on the use of the tiles, wood and stone. Although recently built and containing every modern convenience and labour-saving appliance hidden behind old farm gate fronts, it has the comfortable air of an old and settled place."

Sounds rather nice, doesn't it? My kitchen, by contrast has all the charms of an old and settled place, but none of the modern conveniences and labour saving devices! Maybe Santa would like to bring me a dishwasher... And an espresso machine?

I will invite some fellow bloggers to play too;

Sally-Anne, from Quite a Handful

Megan, from Pink Flower Buttons

and Louise, from Twenty Cent Mixture

It's Arrived!

A gorgeous bag, made from a page out of a vintage childrens' book... A pretty card with kind words inside...



A beautifully made tote bag just for me! I know, I know, we've all seen it here,
but this is what it looks like in my house. I think it likes it here. Thanks again Louise.

Caraway Crackers

Soft blocks for the shop. Love that Fantail fabric

And a wee apron too.

Now, on to the crackers

At first I couldn't believe it when I went to my Annas' house and realised she had actually made her own crackers. I mean, I knew she had the domestic goddess thing down pat, but this truly impressed me. Then she gave me the recipe and showed me it's actually not very tricky at all. I'd love her to start a food blog, but she's a BUSY law student and Mum, so we'll just have to be content with me plagiarizing from her. These are delicious with hummus. They might be nice for those vegans amongst us too? (I'm looking at you, Miss Twenty Cent Mixture)

Caraway Crackers

1 ½ cups Flour

Salt and Pepper

Caraway seeds (or fennel seeds, ground coriander, mixed herbs, or cumin also work)

2 tsp sesame seeds

60ml oil
100ml water

Mix all ingredients together and knead for one minute.

Wrap in cling-film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll dough out very thinly. Cut into rough squares or diamonds. Prick all over with a fork.

Bake at 170⁰C for 10 minutes.

Cool on racks. Store in an airtight container.

Zakka Sewing

Yeeeay! Thank you Fishpond! This fabulous book is now part of my collection!


The squirrel tea cosy, made from felt. So simple yet so stylish. Love love love it.

Embroidered house shoes for grown ups.

Hot Air Balloon purses. I think these are my favourite project from the book.

Bunny pencil case. See a free pattern and tutorial for this here

Flower shaped felt coasters.

What to make first?

Good News

Wow! THREE lots of good and exciting news in one day! First of all, I've been invited to be a stall holder at the Ecobubs market featured here.The organisers saw some of my products on Trade Me and got in contact. I'm really excited to be involved, it's my first ever market! Today I was emailed a list of the other stallholders' products and there is everything from natural beeswax crayons, wooden toys, organic merino clothing and eco-friendly nappies. If you happen to be in the Tauranga area please come along and say 'Hi'

A little purse to go into the shop

And a little Eskimo too.

My next exciting piece of news was that the lovely Kim from Heart in the Country has given me an award! Now, the novice blogger here had to send a quick email to find out what an award actually is and what to do with it, and there will be more about it in a future post when I pass it on. Fun!

Red love birds, commissioned for the shop.

And my third piece of good news was that I have won this giveaway! which is so exciting! I love reading Twenty Cent Mixture. A big, speckled, Thank-You to Louise for organising the Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap, the great blog, the inspiration, and the gorgeous Tote Bag!

So, as you can see, it was a great day for firsts, and for good news! Hope you had some good news today as well.

Speckled Angels

Here are my Speckled Angels, all wrapped up and ready to be posted off to their new homes, as part of the Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap 08.

There is Flickr group for the swap too. I can't wait to see what everyone else creates!

Wishing everyone in my swap group and their families a very Merry Christmas. I hope you like your Speckled Angels!

I've decided to start a Speckled Egg Recipe Book, using some of the many recipes I've collected over the years. If the recipe comes from a book or website, I'll be sure to aknowledge it at the end of the post. However, most come from my own head, are my own adaptations or variations of traditional recipes, or are gems gifted to me by either my best friend (domestic goddess extraordinaire) or my husband, who trained as a chef. I hope you enjoy them! I will update my recipe book each Saturday.

Ginger and Pistachio Slice (Very Decadent)

For the base: 1 cup shelled pistachios

125g butter, melted

1 packet wine biscuits or similar

1 cup coconut

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Crush the biscuits (not too finely). Lightly roast the nuts in the oven or in a dry pan. Add half the nuts to the butter along with all the other ingredients. Mix well and press into a sandwich tin(pan). Chill.

For the icing: 80g of softened butter

2 cups icing sugar

2 tblsp golden syrup

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 tblsp milk

Mix till smooth then spread over base and sprinkle remaining nuts on top. Chill, then cut into slices. Store in the fridge.

Omiage Inspiration

I want to share what is, for my crafting, the single most inspiring book I have ever read (brace yourself for a bit of a plug, it's worth it),

Omiage is the Japanese art of fabric folding, sister to the paper folding art of Origami. It also refers to the Japanese traditions of gift giving. The book is by Kumiko Sudo, and it contains 43 original design projects for everything from little dolls, flower shaped purses and pouches, incense holders, pincushions and little animals. Each one is absolutely gorgeous. The photography is beautiful, the colours are rich, the fabric combinations are genius and the projects are great for using up your smaller bits of fabric. The directions are simple and easy to follow, even for people like me who are allergic to direction-following!

"Enter the world of things tiny but delightful. I find that it is the most intricate of details that the artistry of Japanese craftsmanship is most evident. No matter how small, a gift made from fabric is the most intimate I can give. It is made with the hands, but the good wishes it carries come only from the heart."

Kumiko Sudo

And as if that wasn't fabulous enough, this little gem is winging it's way to me as we speak, and I have a feeling it might be similarly inspiring. I'll be sure to let you know.

Trying Something New.

I've always wanted to try making my own soap. Today I did, and it's surprisingly simple! Check out some fabulous ideas and recipes here.

I cheated a little, and started with a "Melt and Pour" coco palm oil soap base. I thought that I would try a more technical recipe once I have the knack! (Watch this space)

My Mother-in-Law sadly had to cull one of her huge Lavender bushes, so I made use of the sun-dried flowers. The scent was gorgeous.

Mix soap powder, lavender bits. a couple of drops of lavender oil, and hot water, to make a squishy kind of paste. Squeeze the mixture until it is smooth, then roll into balls, and press into shape. Leave overnight to harden.

I then decided to be a little bit creative, so I made coconut, honey, oat and cinnamon soaps too! A couple of stocking fillers perhaps?

Good Stuff...

A HUGE (as in-hanging off the end of the table huge)bolt of calico, given to me by a workmate, and some aprons already cut out and waiting for the sewing machine, which, in turn is waiting for the children to go to bed! I'm reminded of this post by the lovely Janelle.

Getting ready for Christmas. Here is Islas' stocking, made from cotton, corduroy and a piece of very vintage lace that belonged to my grandmother.

I'm very excited to be a part of this handmade ornament swap, and wanted to make a start as soon as possible! I had so many ideas, but decided on these felt angels with simple embroidered faces. See more of the swap here

A couple of eskimos for the shop. This one is made from one of my favourite fabrics, you can also see it used on my mixtape, and on the banner of my shop.

And another, this one from Kaffe Fasset fabric (I wanted to see what they'd look like with ears!)

And Islas' theory that this shell must have had a baby, because 'it has a hole in its' tummy, like Mama'. Although she noted that the doctor had neglected to stitch the hole up, so, not exactly like Mama.

(I considered explaining the effects of errosion etc, but the idea of a shell having a cesearean was just too sweet)