Nora Turns 4!!!

So my little baby is a baby no longer. She is now officially a little girl and has left babyhood behind her.

Right from the beginning when she started talking about her party she wanted a pink heart cake and everything had to be pink. She knew exactly who she wanted to invite, where the party was to be held and lots of other little details too.

You can read about the party planning here and all about the little dramas and brilliant service I received.

So the day started with opening presents.

Don't you just love those socks. They are thigh highs and from her Granny.

Then once she was dressed and ready for school a quick photo shoot in the garden with her new tent. 

Baby sister also got some funky leggings with an attached skirt from Granny.

I made Nora this beautiful skirt for her birthday last year. You can read about it here. The moment she got home from school she insisted on wearing it because it is her birthday skirt. 

Now on to The Pink Heart Party...

Pink heart cake and cupcakes that were pink inside too, handbag party packs with beautiful butterfly tattoos and as well as beads to make necklaces.

The girls then went on a treasure hunt and each found something fun in the garden.

Pretty girl tattoos.

Cake, candles, presents and birthday wishes.

And so ended a wonderful day that I will always remember.

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Jessica Turns One!!!

My own little one turned one almost a month ago but I just have not gotten around to processing the far too many photographs I took. We also had an awesome family holiday in between when my family came to visit. I manage to process a few photos and then I have to stop to make bunting for a another little one I'm going to photograph or to crochet some new project that I can't wait to start or to fit clients in and make sure they have a wonderful experience. So finally here are some of my favourites...

 Jelly bean rainbow cake. I actually thought this cake would be a breeze. 7 layers each a different colour just iced together. So off I went and bought some nice new non-stick baking pans and I whipped up vast quantities of gluten and sugar free cake. (never mind the pure sugar jelly beans) My lovely new non-stick pans turned out to be sticky in the extreme despite greasing them so getting the 7 layers out was a major operation and then they had to be stuck back together with copious amounts of icing! To make matters worse I decided to bake the cake while out on our farm and assemble it once back home but due to the very fragile state of the cake it needed to be assembled immediately. Once done it was balanced on my mom's lap for transportation on a gravel road back to town!

 Lovely Lilibeth, that I had the pleasure of photographing for her first birthday, was so excited by our Jack Russell that she just had to stand up and take her first steps to follow after her. A very special moment I managed to capture on camera.

Now the birthday girl who for most of her short life has only slept for 30 minute stretches during the day decided on the afternoon of her party to sleep for an hour and a half and ended up missing most of her party!

 Let the smash and grab begin.

 

 Jelly beans are goooooood....

 Smash and grab.

 The family with both Grannies.

 Time for presents!

Penny had to escape the cake smash and grab action and decided my pot plant was a good spot!

I would like to thank those of my friends who could attend and make the day special. 
Jenni - my closest friend who I love with all my heart. Thank you for coming. After the year you have been through it meant the world to me.
Nicole - my sista from another mother. I know I can call you at any time and you will be there for me.
Esther - you always give great advice that really works. I appreciate you.
Kay-leigh - thank you for teaching me to crochet. I love it. I have far too many projects on the go at the moment. Taking the time to teach me is something that I will always treasure.
Coline - new friend who is just awesome! It's really great having you just a Whatsapp away! I'm inspired by your dedication to your family and the passion with which you mother Lilibeth.

I also did the birthday girl's own personal first birthday photo session. So check back soon because I am almost done with those cutie pie photos.

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Ultimate White Chocolate Chunk Cookie 'n Choc-kit Fudge Whitie

Most of you loved my post about the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie 'n Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar and I promised to try making a breastfeeding friendly version with white chocolate. I made them last weekend but just never got around to posting about it last week.

So I started off with the idea that I would just replace all the milk and dark chocolate with white chocolate and replace the Oreo's with a white chocolate biscuit. I had bought some white chocolate wafers but my husband vetoed those in an instant. He said I had to use white chocolate Choc-kits. Now I looooooove Choc-kits. I managed to find some but much to my disappointment I couldn't find white chocolate chips for the cookie base. So I bought some good quality white chocolate and made my own. They turned out more like white chocolate chunks rather than chips.

White chocolate chunk cookie base.

My little 3 year old was my big helper and she laid out the biscuits for me. 

When it came to making the Sticky Toffee Brownies, I used a little more white chocolate than dark chocolate just to get the flavour right. I also had to make more than I did for the brownies, the mixture was thicker and didn't cover the biscuits completely. I must add that I cooked the toffee mix a little longer to add extra fudgey toffeeness.

This was the final product. It doesn't look as decadent and mouth watering without the chocolate sauce drizzling over it but I had to leave that out. I guess I could have come up with a white chocolate version but I had used up all my white chocolate in the recipe itself. It was generally accepted that these were even better than the brown version.

These have been dubbed Whities despite not being at all white!

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Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie 'n Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar

So I found this ...

on this blog ... www.kevinandamanda.com and decided I had to make it. The sad thing is that I cannot have any of it because I am still breastfeeding and chocolate and a 5 month old baby do not mix well. I did have one little sliver to taste though. Absolutely decadent.

First you make a chocolate chip cookie mix and put it into a large lined baking tin.

The difference in colours is because the cookie recipe I used didn't make quite enough to cover the bottom of the dish so I whipped up half a batch more but I had run out of chocolate chips and substituted them with grated chocolate instead.

Then you put a layer of Oreos on top of that. Preferably what they call Double Stuffed Oreos. I've never seen them so I guess we don't get them.

Then you make a brownie mix and layer that on top and bake at 180 celcius for 45 minutes. I don't trust box mixes of brownies so I used my wicked sticky toffee brownie recipe.

 In the oven and we were all waiting with great expectation...

...And voila!!!!

Once they have cooled you stack two on top of each other ...Then you put a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top and top it all off with chocolate sauce.

Absolutely wickedly decadent.

As Amanda did, I have found people to give them away to because they must not be in my house! 

Here is the link to the original one by Amanda ... http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/new-recipes/ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookie-n-oreo-fudge-brownie-bar.html

After seeing how much everyone enjoyed them yesterday afternoon when we did Sunday afternoon 'Coffee and Cake' at a friend's house I think I need to come up with a white chocolate, breastfeeding friendly version. Check back early next week to see if I managed to come with something over the weekend ... I hope I do.