Lately.

It has been quiet around here. A lull in blog posts.
It's not for lack of love, merely lack of interesting things to post about. Life just bubbles along at the moment. Filled with kids, baking, housework, sewing...washing. So, so much washing.
(And some taxes (boo!) and hut making (hooray!)..)

This week marks the start of the school holidays though. Hopefully, this will mean a little less rushing from home-school-kindy and a little more time to hang out, take photos and do blog-worthy things. I'm not usually one to look forward to the holidays, but I'm actually sort of looking forward to these ones. Just the thought of not having to be anywhere. Glorious.

Black-and-white-Michael-Jackson-cat Party! (Super mega lots of photos!)

 Okay, so I did think about trying to split this into multiple posts.. but meh. I will post all but Mol's costume in one post - it's just easier for both of us! Will just take a little longer to load..

Our sweet Otto turned 4 on Sunday!

Hi day was filled with lovely presents and lots of special treats, including a bit of a shindig with some friends and whanau.

Otto is such a creative wee soul, so when we talked about what kind of party he might like, I shouldn't really have been so surprised when he declared that he would like a 'Black-and-white-Michael-Jackson-cat' party. Those things all go together, right?!

Actually, it turns out they DO.
Who knew there were so many pictures of Michael Jackson holding cats!? While preparing for this party, I found 6 pictures, at different stages of his life, featuring felines!
(Otto was born 4 days after MJ passed away... kindred spirits?)
I, naturally, printed out all of these pictures, and made them into a fabulous bunting. I think it will need to be hung in the boys room when I take it down from the lounge wall.

We kept the other decorations fairly basic, too. Black table cloth, white plates, $2 shop lanterns, black+white balloons. We got out all the Michael Jackson records we have, and they provided the soundtrack for the party.

 I thought about trying to have black and white themed food, but I realised this was just not going to work. And, honestly, (my) kids prefer good old kiwi party food. Sausage rolls, cheerios, lollies, hundreds and thousands biscuits, chips etc. We had cheese and crackers, mandarins and mini sandwiches, too.
I printed out pictures of MJ, and popped them on kebab skewers, to decorate the table.

Otto chose his cake from the cake book - a cat.
(More specifically, a cat that looks like our cat, Porridge.)
I must say, it wasn't what I expected him to choose (the cat part of the birthday party theme came post-cake choosing..), but I was really pleased he didn't pick out something really difficult! Cake making is really not my strength! I had a bit of fun putting it all together, but it is certainly no prize-winning cake. Heh.

Our guests donned their black and white gear, and we dressed in costumes.
Abraham was an All Black (named Meow'a Nonu! Haha), I was a cat, Mollie a raccoon (a post about her outfit coming soon) and Otto and Aesop were Michael Jackson himself.

My dear boy looked so ridiculously sweet (albeit quite serious) in his little tux.
We had a bit of a scare, when the courier delivered his suit to the wrong house on Thursday morning. Luckily, with the help of a mutual friend, the woman in the house where it was delivered, tracked me down and got it to me on Friday. Phew! Small towns do pay off sometimes!
Otto was so pleased with how he looked - quite certain him and MJ were twins.
All his friends at the party decided to call him 'Little Michael' : )

We had such a great time!
Happy birthday, Otto Schnotto! We love you so much x

Queen of hearts' jam tarts - A post by Aesop.

In an attempt to get Aesop into a bit more writing, I thought I would tempt him with two things he enjoys - food and fame. Who ever said bribing kids with food wasn't a good plan clearly doesn't have a 7 year old : P
Aesop wrote this on paper and I typed it out for him - typing will be the next step in the plan!

Today I made jam tarts.
I found the recipe in my Kids Cooking book and wanted to make them.

Here's how I did it:



First I gathered all the ingredients.
Then I got a muffin tray and cut some circles in pastry.


And then I baked them.


And finally I poured some jam into them.



They were delicious.
I shared them with Mum, Dad, Aunty Holly, Uncle Ben and Otto.

I would love to make them again.

The weekend that was.

An engagement party. Some finished sewing. Delicious snacks (some baked by me and some from the freezer!). Dress ups. Cuddles. Family.

Also, not pictured, a taste of roller derby... I get what all the hype is about. Rollerskating is a blast!
Alas, my body is just too had it from all this baby having and carrying, I think. Might leave it to the young 'uns (and young-bodied older lasses..)

It was all yellow.

If yesterday had to have a theme, it would have been yellow.
Sunshine, popcorn, and buttery yellow knitting. Lovely.

I also have a recipe to share with you. I had planned to do so earlier in the week, but it just seems to fit so perfectly with the 'yellow' theme, that it would be a shame not to share it today.
It is a recipe for Zucchini Loaf, given to me by my Mother-In-Law quite a few years ago now. It doesn't sound very appetising, but I swear it is one of the most moist and delicious things I ever bake. The 'healthiness' of the courgette is counter-balanced with a tonne of sugar, and even my kids will eat it. (Though, I confess, I did tell them it was banana until they'd finished the first piece..)

Charlotte's Zucchini Loaf

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla
1/2c oil

2c firmly packed grated zucchini (green or yellow)
1c walnuts or 3/4c choc chips (optional)

2 1/2c flour
4tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 177C (350F).
Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
Stir in zucchini and walnuts/choc chips.
Stir in flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Place in two loaf tins, and bake for approx 40 minutes.

I usually freeze one loaf and we devour the other, slathered in butter, quite promptly. Nyum.

Sweetness.

Yesterday was a flurry of last-minute Christmas baking/food crafting. I can quite honestly say I've not been around that much coconut in all my days.
We decided to package up wee parcels of homemade sweets for the families on Abraham's side, and this is what we are putting in them:

- Apricot balls. Recipe is from Tiny Happy. (These are gluten free/vegan, such a good recipe to have up ones sleeve for family with allergies!)

- Chocolate truffles. Recipe from PaisleyJade. I made a double batch, adding choc chips to one batch, and covering those in melted dark choc, and adding choc and glazed cherry pieces to the other and rolling them in cocoa powder.

- Shortbread. Another recipe from Tiny Happy. I'd never made shortbread before (I'd never made any of these things, actually..) but I'm pretty stoked with how it turned out. Might just be added to the 'go-to' recipe folder.

- Peppermint bark. Another recipe from PaisleyJade. What can I say, everyone seems to be doing it - and now I can see why.

- I also made the Oddfellow log recipe on Paisley Jade, but those are still setting. Fingers crossed they've worked out okay.

- And, I also made some, very spicy, crackers. No intentionally. I was a little heavy on the cayenne pepper, resulting in crackers that reallllly need to be dipped, or cheesed. Hoping the Boxing day crew will forgive me for that one. At least they look good, right?

Today's last few jobs are tidying, and making lemon sour cream cake and roast veg salad, then I'm done and dusted! Woo! I can't wait.

Sooo, wishing you all a fantabulous Christmas with your beloved ones. May your festive days be filled with love, warmth and cake. I'll see you in a few days time xx

Busy Bee.

After a lazy week, I woke up yesterday feeling productive. The most productive I've felt in some time.
I decided it was a good idea to get some baking done for the first week back at school/playcentre, and get a meal or two stocked in the freezer.

Our eating during this first stage of my pregnancy has been horrific, to put it mildly. I have had so many days where I was unable to stomach an evening meal, or even cook one. And as a result there has been a lot of takeout and easy-to-prepare pre-made food through our doors. Our grocery bill has gone up about $20 a week, with much less in the cupboards or freezer to show for it. We've spent more on takeaways each week than we normally would in a fortnight (or even a month, some weeks. Sigh.) It is time now for me to try and get this under control again.

Yesterday was a good start, I managed a double batch of pasta sauce and a huge meal of vegie soup. I baked muesli bar slice (which, even on my third different recipe, wasn't very successful. Guess it's just not a fan of margarine?), peanut butter choc chip cookies, and banana cake-muffins.

I also managed to get some of my 7 loads of wet washing dry, and turn over the compost. Phew. I hope this is a another sign that my routine is slowly returning to normal.

Oh, and just because it's cute, this is Otto's belly. He's 'got a baby in his puku', in case you were wondering why it's looking so gloriously rotund : )