Pretty as a Picture

Meet my new friend - Sony NEX-3 which I got yesterday for my birthday from hubby. 

Isn't she pretty? I love her! She comes equipped with a 14.2 megapixel Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor, 2 lenses, 1 attachable flash, HD movie recording and some other features...but the thing I love most about her is the Sweep Panorama feature. I can't wait to take her overseas with me. Me + Sony, on top of the Eiffel Tower..

And her stylish white jacket with my Chanel-esque chain ♥ 

Happy Birthday Mum

July is my mum’s birthday and this year she celebrated her 60th milestone in 3 parts (I think she secretly wanted it to last for longer).

Part 1: Steam Boat Feast (pre-birthday weekend)
We all gathered at my mum’s best friend’s place (also known as my Aunty Connie) over a ferociously steaming hot pot, otherwise known as steam boat. It’s one of our favourite ways to eat during winter, mainly because it is so cold and this definitely warms your heart and delights your soul – with great friends + family and great conversation all sharing one big meal.

Aunty Connie prepared so much food, we pretty much ate from 3-9pm and there will still so much leave over.

Tiger prawns, fish fillet, octopus, fish balls, cuttlefish balls, tofu fish balls, meat balls (and every other type of 'ball' you can think of), sliced meat, liver, shiitake, choy sum and other green veges

Followed by Bread Top green tea cake, fruit salad and white cherries

Part 2: Family Dinner and Birthday Cupcakes (actual birthday)
Putting the skills learnt from cupcake class in good use, Christine, Belinda and I slaved all night to make and decorate cupcakes. Belinda baked organic vanilla cupcakes, while I made Guinness chocolate cupcakes (these are delicious…I’ll include a recipe the next time I make these).

Adding the final touches

Happy 60th Birthday mum! She loved her cupcakes...

...and I love my bows (Christine created the bow up-do)

Part 3: Brunch at Bills (post-birthday weekend)
Finally my mum loves a good celebrity chef, so to top of her birthday we took her to Bills in Surry Hills for brunch (actually it was more like lunch by the time we got seated).
We all order corn fritters (is there anything better?!) and Steak sandwiches.
We really wanted to order the Banana Ricotta Hotcakes – but we were so full. Next time...

A summary of mum's bday: Food, food and more food! We definitely ate our way through her birthday. Can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Mastering the Brownie

Brownies - MasterChef style.

This is the recipe adapted from Gary's Chocolate Gluttony - minus the additional gluttony, but I kept the chocolate sauce for good measure.  

I've halved the original recipe (not wanting to over-indulge considering all the trips to Max Brenner this week) Also not being a fan of dark chocolate, I substitued it with white chocolate and milk chocolate instead.

BROWNIES 

Makes roughly 14 slices. You can always double the recipe for more brownies.
125g melted butter
1 1/6 cup caster sugar
45g good quality cocoa powder
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
1/4 tsp baking powder, sifted
2 eggs
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup equal parts of chopped white and milk chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 165°C. Line baking/slice tin with baking paper. Add melted butter and sugar to an electric mixer and mix on medium speed, add cocoa powder and mix until combined and has a gooey consistency. 
2. Add eggs one at a time, allowing each one to mix through before adding the next. Add in the sifted flour and baking powder with electric mixer on low speed, beating until well combined. Stir through peanuts and chocolate until combined.  
3. Pour into baking tin and smooth over the surface with a palette knife. Bake for about 30 minutes until firm at the edges but still a little soft in the middle. Leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

CHOCOLATE SAUCE
75ml water
1 tbs caster sugar 
100g couverture milk  chocolate, chopped

Place sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. Add chocolate, leave for about 10-20 seconds and then stir until chocolate melts. Pour into a bowl and reserve. 

These brownies are absolutely delicious - next time I make these I think I'll make the chocolate chunks a bit bigger and try substituting the peanuts with another type of nut like walnuts or macadamias. You can't fault the chocolate sauce and it's so easy to make!

Locks of Love

With a love for all things wedding, Christine (aka Crystine’s Makeup and makeup artist extraordinaire) and I have always wanted to add hair styling to our repertoire. Clients are always asking Christine if she knows anyone that can style hair and now we can say “I DO”.

 
Hanging up our oven mitts and makeup brushes temporarily, Christine and I attended an intensive week of hair styling. Learning everything from setting the hair, blow-drying, straightening, curling, braids, twists, back combing, French rolls, chignon buns and variations in between – on the last day we got to pick our own style and create it on each other – so much fun! We definitely picked up a lot from the course and can’t wait to start creating hair styles on beautiful brides.

 

For bridal and special occasion hair and makeup enquiries, contact Crystine’s Makeup.

 

 Brushes, bobby pins, hair spray, Parlux and GHD; our teacher Sam shows us how it's done.

And a couple of the hair styles we created (the bun on the top right is inspired by Carrie's hair at Charlotte's wedding to Trey)

Christine chose for herself a half-up/half-down pony as worn by Olivia Wilde

Ta-Da! We altered in slightly to make it look more like a ponytail

 While I was Ga-Ga over the hair bow...

Lady Gaga- eat your heart out! I love bows!

The Prophecy of the Fortune Cookie

I had been thinking about travelling for months, but my fate was sealed when I cracked open a fortune cookie revealing the message:

Taking it as the sign I needed, I set out to book my flights and it wasn’t easy considering I had left it so last minute. Luckily everything worked out and I’m on my way! 4 cities and meeting up with 3 amazing friends – I can’t wait!
 
So it’s An nyoung South Korea, Ello London, Bonjour Paris and Yassou Greece.
 
With less than 15 days to go, and no idea where to go once I get to these cities, I better start downloading some ipad apps. Can’t believe how quickly the days are going by. Excitement plus!

The White List: Collette Dinnigan Bridal Collection

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? 

That would have to be Collette Dinnigan's 2010 bridal collection.

Taking inspiration from the classic tales of happily ever after, Collette Dinnigan's new "Snow White" bridal collection is a modern interpretation of timeless design delicately interwoven with couture craftsmanship.

This would have to be one of Dinnigan's sweetest collections yet. With intricate hand-beading and jewel details married with French laces, silk tulles and chiffons - these pretty creations are sure to awaken the childhood dreams of brides-to-be.

Definitely a collection for the romantics.

My favorities - French Cotton Lace strapless dress and Crystal Flowers Strapless Applique Bodice gown. Simply beautiful!

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was going to attempt to make a multi-coloured rainbow lollipop cake - well here it is.

In the making (click play…so appropriate for this post I think)

Melting white chocolate (cake flavour) and pretty rainbow-coloured batter all lined up in a row.

Layering the batter (note all the Fitness First class tables in the background. If you eat as much cake as I do...you're going to have to work out)

The final result ta-da!

The inside. It reminds me of Rainbow Paddlepop Lions.

Tiffany approves. She also reads Bride to Be Cakes in her spare time.

This cake took...
3 days (1 day for baking, 1 day for ganaching, 1 day for decorating)
6 different cupcake batter colours (pink, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple)
and 7 great Lollipop songs: 
Aqua - Lollipop
Lil Wayne - Lollipop
Mika - Lollipop
Ghetto E - Lollipops
The Chaordettes - Lollipop
Leslie Gore - Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbow
Millie Small - My Boy Lollipop

Now all we need is a little more sunshine...