Sweet Pastel Easter Brunch

Hands up if you love Easter! Well I know I do and let's be honest, it's an excuse to eat all the chocolate you want without being judged :)

This fun pastel Easter dessert buffet was inspired by my current love of pastels and ribbon! I wanted to create a dessert buffet which would incorporate gorgeous ribbons in a range of fun colours but also have that soft, girly look. The main colours for the table are pink, mint greens, lilac and a pop of periwinkle! I made the backdrop from strips of ribbon tired onto a piece of rope - I really love how this makes the table and pulls everything together. The printable food tags have a gorgeous pale pink background from the lovely Cristina Re line, which I attached to mini bunnies as stands. I placed a few ceramic bunnies around the table to ensure the Easter 'look' was present.

There is nothing more fun than coloured food! I ensured the colours were incorporated in all the foods to tie it altogether. The main cake is a 3 tier sponge cake with a rough ombre look topped with a gorgeous flower. Push pops in mint and lilac as well as cake pops brought height to the table and were super tasty! Little nest cupcakes with mini easter eggs (large and small - lets be honest, you can never have enough cupcakes), white chocolate mousse with cute little bunny spoons tied with a gorgeous purple stripped ribbon, yummy macarons and mini meringues finished off the dessert table perfectly.

Hope you can grab some inspiration from this little dessert buffet and create something for your family and friends this Easter! Enjoy and eat lots of chocolate :)

Sweets: 'St Patricks Day' Baileys Irish Cream Cupcakes

Baileys Irish Cream Cupcakes

(18 cupcakes)

- 1 2/3 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cups boiling water
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream
- 120 gms unsalted softened butter
- 2 large eggs 
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Baileys Irish Cream Buttercream

- 250 gms unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp milk
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 4 tbsp Baileys Irish Cream
- Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C and line 2 muffin pans with baking cups.  Place boiling water, Baileys and cocoa in a small bowl and stir until combined; set aside for later use.

2. In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter, and vanilla extract at medium speed until fluffy and creamy. Add the eggs and beat well until combined.

3. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until combined. Add the cocoa mixture and beat until just combined.

4. Fill each baking cup 1/4 inch below the top of the liner. Bake cupcakes for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from tray and place on a wire rack to cool.

4. Beat butter in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add the rest of the ingredients. Increase speed to medium and mix for 6 minutes until light and fluffy.

5. Fit a piping bag with a decorative tip of your choice and pipe away!

Note: I crumbled a cupcake into the buttercream to give it some texture, you don't need to do this if you don't want to :)

Sweets: Ombre White Chocolate covered Red Velvet Cake Balls

Does anyone else love cake that's really dense? You know, the kind where you have some and feel full and satisfied instantly?

Well let I know I do! There's something about eating smaller portions of cake that I like - It's like your eating so little yet your so satisfied so you don't feel like you have to run 10 kms to get rid of the calories!

These Red Velvet Cake Balls are some of my favourite sweets of all time! I made these recently and wanted to take them to work for everyone to have a try, but mysteriously over the weekend they all disappeared….. in mine and my hubby bellies :)

These will make a great Valentines Day gift or a perfect addition to a dessert bar - I know I'll be making some for Valentines Day - you should too!

Eats: Salad Jars

Do you ever feel that making lunches for work gets so boring and repetitive after a while? I know it does for me, so a lot of the time I just buy my lunches and lets be honest, not only is buying your lunch everyday expensive, but you tend to make unhealthy food choices just because it's quicker and easier. These salad jars are a perfect lunch option, the flavours are endless and they keep fresh and tasty in the fridge for up to 8 days.

Now I'm not a salad eater myself, never have been, probably never will be - I know you think I'm crazy, I think I am too.  I've just never been able to eat it, it's the texture that puts me right off.  Anyway, this post isn't about my lack of salad eating ways, it's about my husbands LOVE for salad!

So I decided it would be nice for him to have some healthy and YUMMY salads for lunch! Since he isn't a big lunch eater, I know something rather small but substantial will go down great.

I was definitely inspired to whip up some yummy salads after reading Amy's post over HERE, she has some great recipes which look delicious!

So here are three recipes for salads in-a-jar, which are super easy to make and taste great too - according to my husband anyway :-P

Mexican chickpea salad with chilli/lime dressing
(Makes 4 jars)

Ingredients for salad
- Cooked brown rice
- Cooked chickpeas
- Salsa
- Red onion, chopped
- Grape tomatoes, halved
- Coriander, finely chopped
- Baby spinach leaves

Chilli/lime dressing (quantities per jar)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon crushed cumin seeds (powder)
- Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper

Method
1. Combine all your ingredients for the chilli/lime dressing into your jars, screw lids on, shake to combine.
2. Start building your salad component. You want to start with the ingredients which will absorb the dressing well, so I started with the following:
- Cooked brown rice
- Salsa
- Cooked chickpeas
- Red onion
- Tomatoes
- Coriander
- Lastly, pack in the spinach leaves

Cobb Salad
(Makes 4 jars)

Ingredients for salad
- Baby spinach leaves
- Grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 4 to 6 hard boiled eggs, sliced
- Meat of your choice, turkey or chicken
- Cheese, grated

Balsamic dressing (quantities per jar)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper

Method
1. Combine all your ingredients for the balsamic dressing into your jars, screw lids on, shake to combine.
2. Start building your salad component. I started with the following:
- Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Egg
- You can put the meat here, I didn't use meat
- Spinach
- Lastly, sprinkle some cheese on top

Caesar salad with bacon - add cooked chicken if you wish
(Makes 4 jars)

Ingredients
- Cos lettuce leaves
- 4 to 6 hard boiled eggs, sliced
- Cooked bacon pieces
- Croutons
- Parmesan, shaved
- Caesar dressing

Method
1. Place a small amount of the caesar dressing in the base of your jar, DON'T shake!
2. Start building your salad component. I started with the following:
- Eggs
- Bacon
- Croutons
- Lettuce leaves
- Lastly, sprinkle parmesan on top


Notes:
- You want to ensure that the greenery is always on the top, away from the dressing otherwise it will just turn soggy.
- For best taste, tip your jar into a bowl once your ready to eat to enjoy all the wonderful flavours!


I hope you have fun creating some salads in jars - please let me know if you have some recipes, I'd love to try them out!

Thanks so much for stopping by xx

A weekend away in sunny Sydney… A beautiful wedding, delightful high tea and crazy taxi drivers!

This past weekend was wonderful, firstly I got to see one of my beautiful friends get married, which I have been looking forward to from when we both met & bonded over our wedding planning experiences & secondly I caught up with another dear friend who recently moved from Perth and relocated to Sydney.

We started our Friday early,  Jack & I had both not slept since the night before and left for the airport at 3am.  The flight was as nice as it could be, but I did freeze my butt off & the crew conveniently ran out of blankets just as they got to our seats :(

Arriving in a different state, I always look around and see how different & fast moving everything is compared to slow and steady Perth. Once we arrived safely at our hotel at the Star (The Darling) without being sick (What the hell is with Sydney taxi drivers!!) we decided to grab a quick lunch down at the Darling Harbour. We ate at Eat, Love, Pizza - which was delicious & I started the afternoon with none other than a cocktail - however the service was not up to par :( 

On our way back to the hotel we made a stop at Adriano Zumbo for some macarons! I wasn't a massive fan of the flavours - but still yum.

We then ventured back to the hotel (after Jack so kindly took a trillion photos of me posing & doing my thang) and did the hotely thing you do, such as check out all the nifty items, switches & take pointless photos - see below.

We decided to eat dinner at BLACK by Ezard in The Star complex, which was a big let down. From the moment we arrived at the restaurant to when we paid our bill - the service was awful! Everything, & I mean everything was such a let down :( now I hate to be a whiner, but we just couldn't believe the service and how unprofessional the waiters/ess were. The food was okay, nothing to rave about - but here's some photo's below.

We then ventured off to Cherry, a bar also in The Star complex near the casino thinking we could finish the night off good with a few cocktails/ciders. Yet again, the service was awful!! The bar was quiet empty as it was still early on in the night, so we decided to grab a cocktail and cider - after waiting about 10 minutes for our drinks to be made we made our way to a comfy looking booth. I took a sip of my nutty chaplin cocktail and hated it :( what a waste of $20! Jack drank his cider and we left to go back to our hotel room - but before we made it back to our room we stopped for some ice cream! Surely ice cream would brighten our moods??!! Unfortunately not, they got our order wrong and looked at us as if WE had committed I crime when I told them it was wrong!  What the hell is wrong with Sydney hospitality service!?

The next morning, I was super excited for Rach & Max's  wedding as I trotted off to get my hair done at The Star Hair & Beauty - salon selfie below of course ;-)

We then got ready to make our way to the ceremony at St Patricks Church in Sydney - but first our taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong church and we had to quickly figure out where the right church was - luckily it was across the road!

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and I cried as the gorgeous Rach walked down the aisle. 

The reception was at The Star Room in the IMAX Theatre on the Darling Harbour - such a wonderful location & we were lucky enough to witness fireworks as the night went on!

Jack & I had an amazing time, grooving on the dance floor & drinking way too many beers (Jack)!  What a fun night, and we are so blessed too be apart of such a wonderful experience. 

The following morning, I dragged my aching body out of bed and trotted off to meet my gorgeous friend Heather for High Tea at the Tea Rooms in the Queen Victoria Building. Was such a lovely morning, and so happy to have been able to sneak in a much needed catch up.

Soon after, it was time to head off to the airport back home, we were both glad to be heading back to slow moving Perth for a good sleep after a very sleep deprived few days.

So that was my weekend! We definitely had a crazy time with all the awful service, but seeing my amazing friends made it all so worth it!

Is it just me that has experienced bad service in Sydney? Or is it the norm for the hospitality industry in Sydney?