Jordandchan

actually only a couple people call her that but in my head its sung like the mellow yellow song… anyhow…

i was very excited to be asked to create the cake for miss ellas first birthday party,
and it gave me a chance to branch out from the usual fondant covered wedding cakes that i am used to doing.

tim decided that we should have an iron chef of cake cooking but i think he may have been talked out of it…

it took a while to find something that all parties agreed to but we got there in the end when i found this cake

we were going to go for something that fit into this type of design but a bit more special for the lovely miss ella.

we started with a maderia cake baked by rach and cut it into the appropriate shape (a number 1).

 next came the icing that was a remarkable colour - and dried darker than first imagined

 it was decided very early on that there would be monkeys - so i had a lot of fun moulding monkeys and bananas

after that and with a lot of help from Kel cutting leaves, we managed to pull off quite an awesome finished product…

here is a couple photos of the construction

big thanks to kel and jordan who, as always, helped and encouraged me to a finished product that i was really happy with… and for telling me when to stop and leave it alone :)

here it is - the finished cake…

ok - post 1 for the birthday stuff

i decided very early on that i was not going to have a cake. far to busy for caking with everything else to organise - that was of course, only until i saw this cake (thanks martha stewart)

i was ablsolutely blown away by it and decided on the spot i wanted to have something similar but not nearly as big.
i figured with a 1st birthday and a wedding cake to do this year i should get in the practice and do one for myself… so i jumped on the computer and purchased some of the coolest things i have used yet for cake decorating -
edible diamonds
edible ribbon
butterflies (sadly not edible but they were awesome)
Kel made my cake (thanks kel), and also some cupcakes for my gluten free friend :)  and on thursday before the party i was decorating.
the plan was for something clean and simple and elegant. However, i got the urge to pipe something that ended up turning out exactly how i wanted it to… a cage/gazebo with an open door to let the butterflies escape and go free…
the back story of course being that i LOVE butterflies and i was feeling very uneasy about turning 30 so it fit the bill perfectly.
there were a few hairy moments putting it all together (and a few breakages, luckily i had made extras) but in the end - everything turned out spectacularly.
of course there were things i didnt love about it but not as many as usual.
anyways - here it is for your viewing pleasure…

thanks also to everyone around me while i was decorating and your patience…

back to place we got engaged - almost the same carriage - the ferris wheel at luna park - an enchanted evening…

on saturday night jordan treated me to a very special night out - after a gorgeous picnic with friends we headed off on the train to a secret location (well a secret to me), a quick change of transport and trying to not get recognised from people of my past - we made it to luna park. Keep reading…

Pad Thai, Himalayan, Dim Sum, Japanese Pancakes, Chilli Corn Cobs, Salt & Pepper Squid and more - as far as the eye could see…

Last night we went (along with D+K+P) to the Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park. Put on as a part of Crave Sydney, a large section of Hyde Park (nearest to St James station) was separated and large number of stalls were set up offering every imaginable type of Asian Cuisine, along with usual market staples like Gozlemes and (of course) a beer garden and bar.

There was a sea of tables and chairs set up, and although it wasn’t too full when we arrived, by the time we left it was thoroughly filled. Most stalls had dinner for about $10 and many would deliberately throw a few different dishes onto the plate, to give you the opportunity to sample a range of things. As it got darker, and fairy lights and chinese lanterns gave the whole area an almost magical feel.

We had a nice evening as the sun went down, having a beer, sharing some interesting new food, and good company. I can highly recommend it.

On Wednesday evening we headed of to the Canterbury Twilight Farmer’s Markets at Riccarton House. There is normally a weekend markets on but they have started running a Wednesday night market as well to see how it goes.

Keep reading…

The weather has lately taken a turn for the amazing - so we set off on Saturday for a splendid drive up to Oxford which contains nothing more than a few arty shops and Seagars cooking school and cafe.

We decided to have a light lunch and i chose the “tea plate” which contained a 3 tiered cake stand complete with hot savouries, sammiches of all shapes and sizes and sweet treats on the top…

It was a lovely time and thank you to Jordan for the lovely surprise of chosing our destination.

That’s right, we have a BBQ, and it is very, very, very, very exciting. Since we arrived, we have missed being able to just fire up the barbie for dinner like we would have back at fleet st. And as nice as our frying pan has been, it just doesn’t seem to do a good job of cooking meat, so it has been a long long time since we had a nice steak.

It all started because we want to organise a Grand Final (NRL) bbq for a few weeks time, and of course didn’t have a bbq. One of the ladies from Chan’s work heard that we were looking for one. and offered we could buy hers.

Keep reading…

Well, i think the best coffee we have had yet has been usurped. By a little place we found by accident while we were away in Methven on the weekend. Keep reading…

We headed out for a leisurely breakfast this morning after having slept in. C1 Espresso had a lot good things said about it on the net, so we thought we would check it out, and we were very impressed. Keep reading…

We headed to the hills on Saturday, for a day in Waipara, home of a whole bunch of wineries. Our first stop was actually a Salmon Farm, which anyone who has heard the story of our honeymoon will know was very exciting for both of us. But for very different reasons.

After that stop we drove the hour or so north to Waipara. The first winery we stopped at was called Mt Cass, and was a fabulous little place. The owner had to come out of his house to open up for us, and we spent a good 40 minutes there talking to him and his puppy Cass, a very large Giant Schnauzer. We also tasted 4 wines, and ended up coming home with a bottle of two of them.

The day turned into a slight comedy of errors from there as we visited another 5 or so places, including 2 olive farms, and all of them were closed. We stopped off at anothe winery called the Mud House, which was a lot grander affair. We got another couple of bottles and headed 10 minutes down the road to have our picnic lunch at the beach.

We continued back to Christchurch and stopped of at a little place called Brew Moon. Its a little micro-brewery and cafe and we has some fantastic afternoon tea, and some average coffee… We also grabbed a 640ml bottle of their Pale Ale to give a try, a bargain at only $6.

We thought we were safely on our way back home until we spotted Prenzel a bit further down the road. We first ran into Prenzel on our honeymoon. There was a shop down in Cromwell (down south) that stocked a few of prenzel’s products.They specialise in liqueurs, schnapps, olive oils, dahka and the like. On walking into the shop we were offered a glass of mulled wine (which was incredible) and given about a 10 minute introduction to their products. We wandered for a while and left with a bottle of the Mulled Wine mix (you make it up with boiling water) some Schnapps and a bottle of lemon infused rice bran oil (it has a higher flash point than olive oil, so you use it for cooking).

We finally headed home after an exhausting but enjoyable day, with a lot to show for our efforts.

As always, you can see all the photos in this flickr gallery.