Thursday, April 28, 2011

A right ROYAL affair...



...ahhhh to be a princess-in-waiting, how wonderful! 






 I know I'll be glued to the telly on Friday night - how about you? 

For all the latest wedding details, like the procession route, visit:  The Royal Wedding 2011








Saturday, April 16, 2011

Bunny Ears

As Easter is just around the corner I thought I would share with you a very special family recipe.  My mother's side of the family is Latvian and with that comes lots of delicious food!  My Nan is an amazing cook and when I was growing up we would spend lots of time cooking together.  Out of all the different things we made "Bunny Ears" were our favourite (and everyone else's too!) and we would always make triple quantity batches.

"Bunny Ears" are traditionally made for Easter time, but once you've tasted these scrummy numbers I guarantee you won't be able to wait until Easter comes around again to make another batch!  ; )


Happy Easter and I hope you enjoy making and eating them as much as I do!



  

BUNNY EARS

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 egg
6 tbs sour cream
1-1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar (for finished cookies)
vegetable oil

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg slightly. Add the 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar and combine with a spoon. Add in the lemon rind and sour cream and mix well to combine. Sift or whisk together the flour and baking powder and gradually add to the wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition.

Lightly flour a pastry board and knead the dough for a few minutes until it is very elastic. Sprinkle a bit more flour on the pastry board and roll out the dough until it is 1/8" thick or less.

Use a pizza cutter, knife or pastry wheel and cut the dough into strips 3/4" wide. Then cut diagonally in the opposite direction every 2". Using a sharp knife, cut a small slit in the center of each piece of dough. Using one piece of dough at a time, pull one end through the slit in the center to form a Bunny Ear.

In a wok or deep fryer, heat approx. 1-1/2" of the oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. You should be able to see little movements on the surface of the oil.

Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, lower about 5 Bunny Ears at a time into the hot oil. Let them brown on one side for approximately 10 seconds, then turn them over and let the other side brown. Remove from the oil immediately and place on paper towels to drain. Continue until all of the Bunny Ears have been cooked.

Let the Bunny Ears cool and sprinkled with the 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar through a sieve.

Note: Letting the cookies cool before sprinkling with the sugar will help to keep them crisp.



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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Trafalgar's Square





Today I came across the most gorgeous illustrations I have ever seen!  Theses adorable watercolours are the creation of Kit Chase of Trafalgar's Square.  You can buy these and many other super cute prints at her Esty store here. 

Sooooo cute Kit - what beautiful inspiration! X

Saturday, April 2, 2011

COLLECTING IDEAS

I'm just starting to design my first collection of textiles!!  I'm soooo excited!  I've decided to base my collection around 3 different ranges.  I've been collecting some pictures for inspiration:



1. LAGUNE




2. NEON-BOTANIC
 



3. GEOMETRINEN