Christmas dresses for my nieces

When I said the blog would return to garment sewing, I didn’t say that all my Christmas sewing was over! Reindeer Retro Dress Before the final fitting (after which, the hem went up about 10 cm) Pattern: BurdaStyle 02-2011-101 I’ve made this pattern before, for Felicity. One of the 13 year old nieces likes retro

Goats’ cheese, tomato and (don’t forget the) basil tart

When baking, follow directions.  When cooking, go by your own taste.  ~Laiko Bahrs I think it odd sometimes that I have so many cookbooks and 100’s of food magazines and yet when I cook I almost never follow a recipe exactly. Don’t get me wrong when I bake I make sure I have a recipe

Out of hibernation… into the oven

It must be spring; even the freezer got a clean out the other day. Try as I might to keep the freezer organized…. I try to label everything that goes into deep storage and have designated shelves for different things containers with mystery contents still gradually accumulate in the freezer. Fortunately some of the surprises

Salted caramel chocolate tart with burnt oranges

We have two ladies (gospel preachers) staying with us this week, one of whom is a ‘foodie’. Together the ‘foodie’ and I were flicking through an assortment of back issues of food magazines looking for inspiration, planning the coming day’s meals. The everyday meals were a little dictated by ease and speed of preparation and