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the lazy hazy days of summer

days 233, 234, 235 were all spent on the road camping in the most beautiful place, it was hard to come home ... which is probably why we didn't get home until fairly late last night :)  so we need a quick recap of the three days creations and then there will be another post later today for today's creation, well more of an experiment i think!

day 233 had me making this jello salad.  we went camping with friends and one of them and been looking at the camping pins i had pinned to my summer loving board and sent a request through for jello salad.  to be honest when she emailed this request all i could think of was lettuce and lime jello ... yuck!  as it turns out this recipe from camping cafe is all about fruit, vanilla pudding, cream, and marshmallows, much better and the recipe looked ideal for campers.  it was really easy to make, you simply tip all the ingredients into a bowl combine and then put in the chilly bin to cool for 3 hours ... and it was delicious.  if you don't like pineapple, you won't like this recipe as their is a really strong pineapple flavour so maybe substitute with two cans of fruit salad instead.  it was really good, nice and refreshing, and it does something funny to the marshmallows which is cool :)

A LOT of cool whip goes into this pudding, just as well it was fat free!

cut in some marshmallows

this little girl LOVED the salad!

day 234 and i made a present in the form of a trivet for the sweet family we went camping with.  we collected pebbles and sand glass from the beach that were nice and flat.  then during the evening i sat down with craft glue and glued them to the felt i had brought along with me.  the idea is pinned to my  summer loving board and comes from martha stewart weddings! no kidding, its amazing where inspiration will lead you :)  it turned out really well and is perfect for camping given the amount of hot food you cook and the more than likely plastic tables you eat on!  if you don't live near a beach, i am sure you can purchase bags of pebbles from your local handy man store and still make one. i am going to try and make a table runner for our dinning room using the same method.

what is needed for the trivet

the finished pebble trivet

day 235 and we got home late in the evening.  my very sweet, thoughtful mum had sussed out a pinterest recipe for me to make, got all the ingredients sorted, and helped me create some very yummy chocolate chip cookies.  the recipe comes from apple a day and states they are the best chewy, soft chocolate chip cookie ever.  and actually they are pretty darn hard to beat.  the mystery ingredient is cornstarch and you do need to whip out the heavy machinery for these, but let me tell you it is totally worth it.  they are so good, it was hard to stop, just as well the recipe makes plenty of them :)

the mix

the chewy cookies :)

my thanks goes to camping cafe for their awesome jello salad (and the hot chocolate mix, it was outstanding ... not too sweet, or chocolately, just perfect),  apple a day  for the BEST chewy chocolate cookies i have ever tasted AND as a bonus they were easy to make, and also to  martha stewart weddings  for the trivet idea :)  and FINALLY, thank you so much to my family and the ross-smiths for an amazing camping trip and helping me carry on my pinterest creation, and also my sweet, sweet, mum who took care of our open home AND had all creating ready for me to do when i got home so i wouldn't stress about ... love you guys :)

the view from our tent ... not too shabby ;)

these three peeps had a ball

the hot chocolate mix was a hit with my peeps :)

tracy's apple pie, fresh from the dutch oven

tracy's apple pie was absolutely delicious

one of the catch, freshly smoked ... it was delicious :)

the trivet came in very handy the following day for alan's freshly smoked fish!

day 231: kids camping kits

let's go camping

day 231 and tomorrow we are off bright (well some of us) and early camping in a very remote part of new zealand ... yes our country is remote and yes, there are even remoter places here with no shops, telecommunications, power, or roads ... sounds like an adventure is brewing, especially when you take a torn hamstring with you!  exercise can be dangerous ;)  as i mentioned yesterday, we are going with some awesome friends who have a daughter pollyanna's age.

normally i would refit the peeps travel kits for the long trip, but i didn't want to leave her out so i decided some camping kits were in order.  i found these treat bags on pinterest and figured i could go along with this inspiration ... aren't they gorgeous for a camping party.  they were uploaded by pinner lisa cressey and i think they are the perfect take home give for a camping party.  clearly, i needed to go a little bigger but i did use her s'mores idea and packed chocolate thins and marshmallows for everyone as well!

as for the actual peeps camping kits, i purchased some book bags and filled them with all sorts of goodies including books, a dvd (for the trip in the car), marshmallows, pens, notebooks, lollies, chips, games, puzzle book, and a few other bits and bobs.  i put in enough things so if it rains they have some edible goodies and games to play.

the goodies for inside the bags

the goodies inside as i fill, fill, fill ... i'd love the adult version of this :)

the finished camping bags ready to gift :)

outcome: pending, but the looks on their faces was totally worth the money and effort ... should become my catch cry!  if the packs work as well as the travel kits, we will have nothing to worry about and the journey should be a whine free one ;)

my thanks to pinner lisa cressey for providing such great inspiration for today's creation.  see you all first thing in the morning for an early creation before we leave to go camping, have a great day :)

day 230: hot chocolate mix

i have been getting a heap of emails recently (thank you so much i absolutely LOVE getting them) and i want to respond to you all with measurements, know-how, and detailed instructions in some cases!  i promise i will reply to you all next week!  unfortunately i have torn my hamstring and the pain is making me really tired ... my doctor told today it was a good thing we were going away for the weekend so i would stop trying to move around so much and just relax ... i'm an active relaxer, what can i say.  so to those people still waiting i am so sorry, i will get to you very soon  :)

day 230 and i reckon camping and hot chocolates are synonymous :)  we are off camping this weekend as our last major getaway for this summer.  we are going to the tippety top of the coromandel with amazing friends who are good at camping and have all the things that you need ... we don't but we try~!  we always come home with the best camping stories, mostly because we camp sporadically and generally go with a "she'll be right" attitude that fails to live up to its promise somewhere along the way!  sometimes i look back at our camping adventures and wonder why our two peeps still trust us :)

anyway, i wanted to make sure we pitched in with the things we could provide, mostly food options~!  this hot chocolate mix, i figured would be the perfect start.  it is on the camping cafe website and they have some awesome looking recipes for campers, so of which i will be trying during our trip away for pinterest.  the recipe, along with a whole host of other ones, is pinned to my summer loving board.

this hot chocolate mix will save buying the ready made sachets, and i figured as the nights cool down, this would be a perfect drink for peeps and adults alike to warm up with.  the camping cafe then has suggestions on how to make this mix into the worlds best hot cocoa ... which we will definitely also be using while away.

notice the choc bits bag has already been opened.....and some are missing......Steve?

you simply mix powdered sugar, salt, cocoa, powdered milk, and milk chocolate drops together.  then when you want to use the mix you add 3 heaped tablespoons to the mug with hot water ... sounds GOOD!

outcome: well it was completely easy to make, seriously grab a big plastic container and add ingredients according to instructions.  put the lid on and shake ... really, really hard to see anyone finding this difficult!  the mix smells amazing and i think this would fantastic gifts just by putting it in a cute jar, adding a label with the instructions and some marshmallows ... great idea for gifting during the winter, don't you think?

day 220: peanut butter m&m cookies and a wrap of pinterest creations on the raod in taupo

the family bach, is always such a relaxing place for a getaway !

day 220 was yesterday while we were in taupo, which is halfway between wellington and auckland on the north island of new zealand (here is a map if you want to see where in the world i have been this past weekend!)  .... so what did we get up to?  

this adorable girl and her very sweet poppy did some of this

we three did some time in here ... teaching my littlest sister how to make  this cake so she can wow her new flatmates

 

we did a fair amount of eating

we didn't do any of this as the weather continues to be terrible

we did a fair proportion of this because the weather was foul ...  

 

he did a lot of this when the weather allowed for it

we mostly did this

some of us tried to do this, some better than others

these two did a lot of this which meant we were really well fed

and finally i did some of this to keep p365 going :)

yesterdays creation was another recipe ... peanut butter m&m cookies ... they were REALLY good, not too peanut buttery but the combination between the sweet and salty tastes was an absolute winner :)  the recipe was made according to the instructions from the curvy carrot (such a cute name for a website) and it is also pinned to my recipe must do's board.  the adorable family i spent the weekend with kept eating the m&m's so the only change i made was to top up the m&m count with some chocolate drops leftover from the banana s'mores.

speaking of which, the s'mores i made for pinterest on saturday were a big hit for dessert.  we were all agreed they won't have been half as successful without the crunchy cereal on top, so when you make them don't do it without adding the crunch factor!  the recipe is on my summer loving board and is from quick dish by tablespoon .. another cool name for a website :)  we had our banana s'mores with ice cream as well, YUMMO.  the recipe was SO easy and while the men (my sweet dad and husband) did overcook them on the bbq slightly (the marshmallows disappeared totally from sight, but their lovely sweetness stuck around thankfully!) they were mighty fine and definitely something i would happily make again.  they would be perfect for school camps and such things as the peeps could easily make them for an easy sweet treat.

what you need for banana s'mores

filled and ready to be wrapped

i chose to make these while drinking brancott estate rose, that's optional but totally adds to the experience ;)

this lovely man was in charge ....

with this lovely man of the s'mores grilling

the end result ... the crunchy cereal totally makes these divine :)

ok, back later today with day 221's creation :)  but in the meantime my gratitude goes to the curvy carrot and quick dish for fantastic recipes that fed the crew with such delicious food while we were relaxing in taupo ... made taking p365 on the road a joy!

day 202: summertime subway art

the perfect start to my summertime decor!

day 202 and i am getting ready to redecorate from christmas to summer (when it gets here, the weather is not very summery at the moment).  i found this summer subway art on pinterest from today's fabulous finds and pinned it to my summer loving board.

janet from today's fabulous finds provides TEN different colour combinations for this summertime subway art.  it's really user friendly as you click on the colour combo you want, copy the large image over to windows and then manipulate it with regards to size and saturation.  i went 400% with colour saturation and used an 8" x 10" frame.

this image was so easy to manipulate in word :)

printed and ready for the frame

outcome: nice and bright, a perfect start for adding some summer into our décor :)  love the colours of this one and think i will use these colours as a base for the rest of the things i add to the house for summer, especially the vibrant blue, yellow, green, and the very refreshing white.

my thanks goes to janet at today's fabulous finds for this cool piece of typesetting that's perfect for making my home more summer friendly even if the weather's not cooperating!