A Collection of Thoughts

Sneak 3

Sneak 2

Poppy Blythe Questions

I have received a number of emails about Poppy and where to get Blythe dolls from so I thought I would put a quick explanation here for easy reference - and also let me start with the over rider that I am NO expert this is just what I have found in my  research so I hope it saves some of you some time.

I was really lucky in that a friend was in Japan and bought Poppy for me  -from Kiddyland in Harajuku - but if you happen to be in Japan or have a friend going apparently they are available in a number of good toy stores

Other than that ebay is the way to go  - just put in a search blythe

The release dates for dolls and the way each release has limited numbers seems like there are only certain times when they are available in any online stores. Much more detail about the release of each doll is available here

It seems to be cheaper to buy from  overseas than in Aus even with shipping costs

If you want to familiarise yourself with the history of Blythe dolls go here

Also check this is blythe  - there is a forum there with heaps of info - even a buying and selling section

There are many OOAK dolls out there - One of a Kind dolls - who have been customised - they are usually much more expensive than the NRFB - never removed from the box - dolls. Even more expensive again are the vintage 1972 dolls.

I have blog just for Poppy - with links for favourite Etsy sellers and some of her adventures just for fun

Ngaire while not a dolly owner, is obsessed and has set up a blog for all things Blythe- awesome links

Mel has a blog for Ruby her daughters doll who they are waiting not so patiently for

and if that is not enough there is also re- ment -  which is the little bits and pieces you often see  photographed with Blythe - its a whole new obsession all in itself - more details here and a whole re ment addict flickr gorup here

Also released each month and quickly become collectors items they are basically minature sets 1:6 scale.  Good places to purchase are ebay and etsy - Just  search re ment - or re-ment or rement 

Poppy may or may not have a couple of sets winging their way to her soon ;)

 Enjoy!!!

Countdown to August

Introducing "Haute Couture " our most favourite collection ever - I know we say that a lot but that's what the Tari girls  are all telling me so I totally believe them :) 

Sneaks appearing here until the 1st when the collection goes on sale

Plants teeth and sewing

eekk as I login in I am reminded that its  6 days since I have been here - with the ending of masterchef surely I have gained some hours in my day but it seems not. I did  read in the ppaper though that Julie's cookbook will be out in april  and that hey beign shootign a celebrity series in August

Crazy time with end of contracts and reporting due at work nearly there though and I should be resettled into whatever the next plan is in the next week or so .

Not much cooking happening here this weekend  but we did start a new project for the girls for school.
A trip to bunnings and Richard allowed them to choose their own seeds and a pot plant they came back armed with 4 different sorts of flowers a sunflower pot and cherry tomato pot

The packet says 10 - 12 days according to the girls and we will see something 

I hope we do could be tears otherwise

Along with this is of course a plant journal - so far we have the empty packets stuck in and  a series of  photos waiting to be printed....

any dentists out there ? Sof's new tooth is coming through but its a bit weird its right back - a LONG way back behind her other teeth and kinda crooked ... someone tell me thats normal and not the sign of many trips to the orthodontist in years to come ?? PLEASE

I have been doing some sewing  - Sof won a class award called the Stella Award - Tal's won it a few weeks back and it came home in scraggly box tied up with some ripped bubble wrap- this week it came home in a plastic bag - so we decided to make it a new home to be returned in. A padded bag which Sof decided on thecolours and style -my job was to do the  hand stitching for the star.

This was Sofia's first go on the sewing machine and I have to say I was pretty impressed - not too fast and quite straight. Tal's was dreadfully disappointed she didn't have anything to make so that will have to be next weekend no doubt or I will never hear the end of it.

Other than that -  sneaks peeks about to happen stay tuned  actually it'll be after I deal with the homework meltdown that is happening right now .

 Later

Masterchef

tragic really that its finished

We are missing it way more than Next Top Model - we all loved the show so much even Richard would stop what he was doing and watch with us sometimes but really it was us girlies:)

The evening ritual of snuggling under a quilt to watch and plan recipes

For the final Richard made our usual Sunday night lamb roast in the crockpot and we made the dessert
 inspired by a delicious dessert I had at the markets the other day - you can see it here

White chocolate mousse with praline topping- I never have much success with gelatine so I searched till i found a recipe wiithout it :-)

I adapted this recipe for the mousse

Ingredients (serves 4)

    * 150g good-quality white chocolate, broken into squares
    * 4 egg whites
    * 70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
    * 160ml (2/3 cup) thickened cream

Method

   1. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Use a metal spoon to stir for 3-4 minutes or until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat.
   2. Use an electric beater to beat the egg whites in a medium, clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Add half the sugar and beat until the sugar dissolves. Add the remaining sugar and beat until glossy. Add the cream and beat until the mixture thickens. Add the white chocolate and use a metal spoon to fold until just combined.
    3.Place in the freezer for 15 minutes to set.- we left ours in an hour and was delicious!
   4. Remove from freezer and serve immediately.

and then for the pralineyou need

3/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup slivered almonds - toasted

Combine the sugar, water  in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer. Cook, without stirring, for 8 - 12 minutes or until golden brown. Use a pastry brush with cold water and brush the sides of the pot to stop the sugar from crystallising on the edge. (not sure whty this works but believe me it does! )

Spread piece of baking paper over a baking tray - sprinkle the toasted almonds over - pour the golden mixture and allow to set and cool - about 15 minutes.

Use a knife to break into pieces and add to the top of your mousse just before serving.

more poppy adventures

here

Last night

in our house was much excitement as we had our very first visit from the tooth fairy ...

some Dom things that you may not know about when the tooth fairy visits - im sure they are courtesy of "friends" from after school care where the momentous occasion occurred...

For your first tooth you get $5 and then $2 after that - what the?? said the Daddy tooth fairy he remembers when it was 50c

You have to put the tooth in a glass of water or the tooth fairy won't know its there - again what the??

You can't spend your $5 on lollies or else all your teeth will fall out - finally some sound advice - clearly from the oshie teachers !

and my favourite - and totally from my daughters - Poppy has to sit up and wait to meet the tooth fairy to make sure she does it right

For the record Poppy did wait up for the tooth fairy who did do it right and she even left behind pink glitter and after much toing and froing the fairy bank did manage to find the requested $5 albeit in $1 coins and the said $5 is going to be used on a book for drawing apparently- despite the visit to two book stores this afternoon we havent found "the " book yet

 and now we wait for tooth number one from twin number two.

PS More Poppy adventures here

Pasta Making 101

I have been back at work two days - and everyone asks how was your break- I keep joking that I have returned to work for a break- but part of that is not a joke - we had a lovely holiday but the girl s had this to do list a mile long - and heaven help me if we didn't do it.
As you know we have been avid fans of masterchef - and the girls kept going on about making pasta - we also saw someone make pasta at the Italian Poetry competition so it was on our list

Can I just say I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this- not only is it so delicious you won't believe it its really fun to do too.

I found our machine in at Big W for $22

So here we have in pictures Pasta Making 101

 We used a basic recipe of

  2 1/2 cups of 00 Italian flour
  4 eggs, at room temperature
  extra flour to dust

We split the recipe into two so I didn't have the when is it my turn question  - so a mound of flour make a well in the middle

 break an egg into the well - mix and then add the next one

once it becomes a soft dough start needing

until you get a nice firm dough - put aside for about 10 minutes to rest

cut off a small piece and feed it through the rollers of the pasta machine - we set ours to 4 and passed it through 4 times

folding it back on itself each time it goes through

it takes two sets of hands :)

The last time we sent it through we set it to 9 - that made it nice and thin
ready for cutting into fettuccine

tips for success - us plenty offlour - if it doesn't work roll it up and pass it back through the machine again :) we had very little failure though it was surprisingly simple

We prepared ours and left it on the bench under a clean tea towel for about an hour before we  cooked and ate it
Takes 30 secs  ( literally 1 ) to cook in hot water -  and we served it with fresh pesto  cracked pepper shaved parmesan and toasted pine nuts

Our next plan is to make sheets of pasta for our lasagna.

Poppy

More of Poppy's adventures can be found here