GIVEAWAY!!!

Because we have been slack little bloggers and I have a lot of paper baking cups already, we are giving some away.  Wahoooo! 
The prize consists of two packs of Robert Gordon paper baking cups, each containing 50 beautiful cups – one pack of black and white stripes, and another of black with white spots.  Then, there is a pack of Paper Eskimo baking cups – 25 red cups with white stars.
Wanna win them?  You can enter in two ways:
1. Leave us a comment on this post.
2. Sign up to blogger and become a public follower (there’s a link on the right).
Easy huh?  And, if you are super excellent and enter both ways, well, you have two entries into the draw :)
The prize will be drawn next week on Monday the 28th (I’m thinking a pull a lucky name out of a hat draw).  That gives you plenty of time to tell your friends to enter too.  Hopefully that means if you miss out and they win, they’ll share with you :P 
The winner will be announced on the blog and will be contacted via email.

Update…

Baby Max has arrived!!  Courtenay gave birth to Max on the 10th of Feb.  He weighed 8lbs 9oz and was 55cm long.  Sooo cute!  Can’t wait to visit and have a cuddle :)

So, sorry that there hasn’t been any new recipes popping up on our blog, but obviously, Courtenay has been a little busy.  I’ve been busy too, not with babies, but with work – had to start back at school this month.  I have been crafting away because a lady has approached me about selling some of the stuff I have on felt. on her website, so I have been stitching together a small stock for her.

If you have been baking and want to help us out we are more than happy to have you as a guest blogger.  Just send me an email (see to the right of the blog posts) and we can sort stuff out :)

So, that is what the haps is.  If you are looking to make something last minute for Valentines day, you can easily adapt some of the recipes already on here.  Why not make some cookies?  Just use a heart shape cutter and colour the icing pink!  You could make truffles, but change the mint slice biscuits to Strawberry Oreos!  Or, if you really want to show off, have a go at making a Red Velvet Cake.  Yum yum!

Hope to get you some more pics of little Max and some new recipes on here soon!

Nestle New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker: Season 2

The show returns on TV3 and Food TV (channel 9 on SKY) this coming week. According to the Food TV website episode one for 2011 will air at 4pm, Saturday 12 February. What I am looking forward to more than the competition between the bakers (personally I wasn’t that excited by what the home bakers produced last year, with the exception of one or two recipes) are the master classes that accompany each episode, these are hosted by show judges Dean Brettschneider and Jade Lipton (new to the show this year).  Jade appears to be an amazing cake decorator and owns Cake Star in Brisbane, so I am excited to see what tips and tricks I can pick up from her in particular.  The first master class will air at 4pm, Sunday 13 February on Food TV.  Check out the Food TV website for more info on the contestants and upcoming competitions to be featured on the show.

Cakey Brownie Chocolatey Goodness

So this crazy mess in the picture is delicious.  Yesterday I tried out doubling the brownie mixture from the Marshmallow Brownie cupcakes.  It is really yum, but much more of a cake consistency than brownie base it makes using the original quantities.  I then tried out this heart cutter that Karyn got me from America but when I moved the hearts to get them in the picture I broke ‘em.  Fail.  I reckon multiplying the brownie mixture by four would make the most awesome cake, so that is the next thing I am going to try with this recipe.

Also, yesterday in the mail I received a cute little package that I had ordered from Cloth Kits in the UK.  They make up and send out sewing kits; everything is already printed on the fabric and they give you the thread needed too.  So, this is another project to work on when I get some spare time (or when I am not exhausted from being back at work).  I love receiving stuff in the mail – just like presents on Christmas.  Oh, and look at the ruler ribbon – sew cute!  And, they stock some stuff designed for them by Rob Ryan.  LOVE!  (I’m quite in love with paper cutting and he is one of the leaders in this artistic field).

 

Using Photoshop to Bake

I thought this was really clever…