Hot soup anyone?

Well I am home today from work feeling rather average.

When you tell people you aren't feeling too crash hot they all seem to have a remedy for you. Hot chicken soup, cups of tea, honey and lemon drinks ( no thank you! ) or my personal favourite ( which I use quite often ) screaming at people that they need to eat for garlic and ginger and they will never get sick in the first place! ( hmm well despite the fact that I am actually sick I stand by this claim...)

So, what do you tell people to do when they decided that your direction is the best place to cough?

R
xo

Chocolate!

Who doesn't love chocolate? It is warm and delicious and totally bad for you.
I headed down with my wonderful sister Sarah and Luke on Saturday to Phillip Island in sunny ( or not so sunny) Victoria. To my delight the small island has it's very own chocolate factory where there is absolutely going to be a flavour for every one. We made our purchases and sampled them over the rest of the weekend. My pineapple and coconut rough was amazing with it's soft centre and the ginger in milk chocolate was perfect.

Should you find yourself on Phillip Island ( I know I know who finds themselves on Phillip Island? ) I strongly suggest you visit Panny's with a full wallet and an empty belly!

R
xo

Picnic!

I love picnics. It's true. Luke also loves picnics. Being able to eat outdoors in such a beautiful city is totally irresistible.

In the Sound of Music, Maria took their kids (clad in curtain outfits) on a wonderful picnic that was so good they all just had to sing! I think a good picnic can have a similar effect on anyone ( minus the old curtains ).

So, seeing as I have a bit of experience at this I thought I would list my top 5 essentials for a good picnic. Here we go!

1. A picnic rug - nothing says " this is my spot " than a lovely tartan rug.
2. A bottle of bubbles ( champagne )! This works much better if you are able to get public transport to your location.
3. Wonderful dip and crackers - I always take my onion dip which is featured on this blog.
4. Something sweet like freshly baked home made cookies or some choc dipped strawberries.
5. A plastic bag! More and more parks now days have few or no bins so be sure to take a plastic bag to take your rubbish with you. After all - you want to preserve the your special spot for years to come!

What would your top 5 be?

R
Xo

Beautiful

A beautiful image to share with you today recently featured on Polka Dot Bride.

I just think it is stunning and captures their love so beautifully!

R
xo

Gadget Love - FRED

I have to admit that I can be a little obsessed with cool products. Even if all they do is look good I can go a little crazy. I was recently in a shop in Melbourne that is a heaven for me - it stocks kitchen goods and a huge range of produce. I was picking up one gadget after the other excitedly claiming " this is brilliant - I would LOVE one of these " to which Luke eventually responded " you want this whole shop!". He wasn't wrong!

So, I thought I would share with you today a brand that is so whacky and cool - Fred. My Mum bought me their wonderful M Cups yesterday which are featured above. They are 3 matryoshkas dolls with each of the 6 pieces being a different measurement - cool huh?

Luke also bought me the door stop a couple of years ago - took me a little while to figure out what it was!

What I love is that really have a different way of thinking about a product. Yes it has to be functional but it doesn't have to be boring!

Check out their website - www.worldwidefred.com.

There are heaps of stockists in Australia so keep an eye out for them!

R
xo

Wedding Love - 100 Layer Cake

Good morning! I woke up to be greeted by the most beautiful morning. Perfect blue skies and crisp air - the sort of day that leaves you smiling like an idiot.
I thought I would share another blog that I love with you today - 100 Layer Cake. It is a wedding blog that I find hugely inspriational with unique and amazing weddings featured. Yesterday they posted a fun wedding that I immediatley fell in love with. They have truely captured what a wedding should be about - love, fun and friends.
Check out the full post on www.100layercake.com/blog

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday! ( If your city is anything like mine today I don't think it will be hard! )

R
xo
All photos are from the 100 Layer Cake Blog

Double Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

This week at work we celebrated one of my colleagues 50th birthday so I honored this by making him some manly cupcakes - double chocolate stout cupcakes to be precise! They were lovely and moist with a subtle beer flavour. I highly recommend you try them out ( if I do say so myself! )


Ingredients
Cake
1 cup Double chocolate stout*
125g butter
2 cups self raising flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups caster sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
Icing
1 cup cream
200g bitter dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 170 degrees
Line 2 x 12 muffin trays with cupcake cases
In a saucepan, bring stout and butter to the simmer and whisk until combined.
Add in cocoa powder and whisk.
Once all are combined and smooth remove from heat.
In a bowl, mix the sugar and flour together.
In another bowl, mix egg and sour cream with an electric mixer until smooth.
Poor in chocolate/beer mix and mix until combined.
Add in dry ingredients and mix briefly. Now, using a wooden spoon fold ingredients until all are combined.
Divide equally into cases and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

To make the icing bring cream to the simmer and add in chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth.
Refrigerate until icing has thickened and spreadable. You may even do this the night before.

Spread icing over cupcakes and decorate with whatever takes your fancy. I choose colourful choc drops.

Makes 24.

R
xo

* I found a double chocolate stout at Dan Murphys however if you can't find one then you could use any stout such as Guinness.