day 288: a number 1 banana cake

happy birthday mum, we love you :)

the finished banana cake, this was delicious

day 288 and it's my mum's birthday!  normally i would have a whole day of things planned for her so i am very disappointed i haven't been able to do anything for her as yet ... next weekend, i hope to make up for it big time as tomorrow is the day of my operation! i can't tell you how EXCITED and a little nervous i am :)  it was a day of absolute roll reversals today and again mum requested helping out and making a cake for HER birthday.  i am not in a position to say no so we went with it!  normally steve would have come to the rescue and made the cake but we also had an open home today and he was super busy cleaning and organising so the house looks good enough for someone to fall in love with and buy!  luckily my gorgeous friend lana dropped off yet more DELICIOUS food today, so at least mum didn't have to make dinner AND she came with birthday flowers.  can't tell you how much we all love her, she just always seems to be their when you need her most.

mum had some bananas that needed using so requested i pin a whole lot of banana cake recipes to my recipe must do's board for her to choose from.  i did as asked and she picked this one from all recipes, any cake called a number 1 banana cake sounds like a cake that should be tried :)

mum wanted to bake something so the house would smell good during the open home and boy did it smell good from the bedroom!  the recipe makes two 8" rounds so can be layered ... apparently my kitchen team are into layered cakes at the moment!  the intriguing thing about this recipe (that does require the heavy machinery to be taken out) is their is a tablespoon of baking soda in it, that's a lot of baking soda for a cake so it will be interesting to see how it tastes.

this cake uses the heavy machinery and a few dishes but it's worth it!

ready for the oven, mum loves her flowers lana :)

the baked cakes ready to be frosted

ready for a birthday celebration ... awesome job mum!

outcome:  couldn't taste the baking soda at all, this cake is definitely worth the dishes!  it was really delicious, nice and moist and loads of banana flavour.  definitely would make this as a treat cake for any occasion, even your mum's birthday ;)

my sincere thanks to my sweet mum for helping with today's p365 pinterest creation, you rock mum.  imagine having to make your own birthday cake, it just doesn't sit right with me but at least there was a cake and you were able to celebrate with family.  not only that, but you know we will make it up to you as soon as i can stand up!  thanks also goes to kevin ryan for uploading the banana cake recipe to all recipes, it has 4 1/2 stars and it is definitely worth every one of them :)

day 287: not your normal omelette

the not your ordinary, extremely tasty omelette :)

day 287 and it's nice having everyone here for the weekend, i feel less useless doing nothing!  my sweet mum is enjoying her new roll as part of the pinterest 365 team and asked to do another creation today in the kitchen, this was a request i was never going to turn down :)  we still have a lot of eggs (our chookies must be very happy at the moment) so mum thought we should find an omelette recipe on pinterest we could trial for an easy dinner.

i pinned a whole assortment of omelette recipes to my recipe must do's board for her to choose from.  she went with this recipe from pinch my salt.  it looked like a nice easy recipe and we were also enticed by the fresh herbs and use of sour cream, something i haven't put in an omelette before.

what was needed for this recipe, it's optional to have lego salt and pepper,  but they do make your quality of life better !

almost ready to be flipped :)

outcome:  these are really good.  the sour cream does something to the eggs that makes them beautifully rich and creamy.  this is probably the best omelette i have ever had as the combination of richness together with the fresh herbs was an absolute winner.  this is definitely a go to recipe when you want something quick and simple to make for breakfast, lunch, or dinner ... love a recipe that's so versatile!

thanks goes to pinch my salt for this very simple recipe for a very simple dinner made awesome by the inclusion of a very simple ingredient ... cool aye :)  my thanks also goes to the latest member of the pinterest 365, my sweet ma, dianne ... we love you and thank you so much for helping me continue to create each day!

day 286: very vanilla butter sponge cake

the finished triple layer very vanilla butter cake ... it was simply delicious, the photo doesn't do it justice :)

day 286 and it is a happy day today as my sweet mum has returned from singapore safely :)  being such a sweet mum she told steve to go off to work for the day and she would look after me ... steve jumped at the idea!  my mum is also one of my biggest pinterest supporters and said if i found a recipe she would be my kitchen team for today's creation.  after seeing the abuse of our eggs by my other half, she also suggested perhaps we make the most of the opportunity to save some eggs from being graffitied by using a recipe that needs lots of them :)  i totally agreed and, as steve was busy at work, the likelihood of getting through a blog post without any graffittied  eggs mysteriously turning up also seemed like a challenge we could definitely take on ... we shall see ;)

the very vanilla butter sponge cake recipe from sweetapolita seemed to fit the bill perfectly as it uses 6(!) eggs and as a bonus we also had the rest of the ingredients in the pantry.  the recipe is pinned to my recipe must do's board on pinterest.  you definitely need the heavy machinery out as i can hear mum from the bedroom pulling the mixer out of the cupboard.  according to my kitchen team, the recipe is very straightforward but does require a little time and effort.  mum originally thought she would just need the two tins for the cake but soon discovered the recipe makes a huge amount of mixture and this is definitely a three tier cake.

my mum couldn't get over how much mixture there was was ... mamma mia there was a lot ;)

the baked sponges

the only variations made in the test kitchen were to the icing for this recipe.  we weren't having a party tonight so after a p365 team discussion we went with plum jam and cream filling between the layers and a dusting of icing sugar on top ... a more victorian take on a sponge cake ;)

we used plum jam and whipped cream as the layer filling

outcome:  thanks to my sweet mum we have an outcome ... seriously AWESOME.  my mum is a great baker and this cake didn't disappoint, it was SO yummy.  i didn't have to do any dishes so i wasn't deterred by what mess this cake made, not that it would have mattered it tasted way to good to care.  the plum jam added a nice tartness to the cake so that it was powerfully sweet, something i appreciate in a good cake recipe.  this isn't a heavy cake at all, very light and fluffy.  if you added the meringue butter cream frosting to this cake you would have the ultimate in non-chocolate birthday cakes )

my sincere thanks to sweetapolita for this awesome, slightly overwhelming recipe.  if want any amazing food eye candy have a look at this link that has their 10 most liked recipes from 2011 ... holy moly, i think i may need to try more of their cake recipes, absolutely stunning looking cakes :)

day 285: decorated easter eggs

the finished eggs, they are still a bit wet in this picture but i was getting impatient for sleep, sorry :$
they actually look really cool they are all dry now, i will show you an update photo when i put then in a vase :)

day 285 and it's a pretty quick creation today.  as easter gets closer each day, i get more disappointed i haven't been able to decorate for this season.  i decided to find an easter craft that i could do from bed today, so when i can move i will at least have some things on hand to decorate with :)

these book covered easter eggs from lemon tree creations looked perfect.  they are pinned to my easter in autumn board on pinterest.  i had some papermache craft eggs that needed perking up and a vintage book that was already in pieces thanks to some flowers i made last year.

i went with a papermache application of the book pages onto the eggs rather than doing the model cutting tutorial found on lemon tree creations.  i decided i wasn't up for well made, more thrown together was what i was thinking for today's creation ... there will be time for well made later this month and the next!  to adhere the pages to the eggs i used mod podge in matte and applied it with a foam brush.

the bits and bobs for today's creating

the creating: rip, dab, dab some more :)

outcome:  really cute craft.  i actually left some of the eggs for the peeps to do because i figured they would enjoy doing this as well ... that and the fact i was exhausted after half an hour of creating~!  i plan to put them all in a glass vase on the table as the start of dressing the dining room for easter, but that will be for another day :)

thanks goes to the lemon tree creations for this great easter craft.  regardless of which months you celebrate easter this is a craft that will work well for easter.

day 284: fall bucket list

our fall bucket list ready to frame and have up as a reminder of all the cool things autumn offer :)

day 284 and things have been hard round here, that's an understatement but not as hard as others and my heart goes out to those families. my family have completely rallied around me and taken up all the slack i have left.  my operation is set for monday and i wanted to make sure the family (including me) had things to look forward to for the rest of the autumn season given the first month has been such a non event.  we haven't even been to a rugby game yet :(

i went to my autumn comfort board on pinterest looking for inspiration for today's creation.  looking at all that inspiration was just what i needed and i found the perfect thing to do today, an autumn bucket list.  i love these seasonal bucket lists that make you realise there is so much that each season offers your family that's worth doing.  i subconsciously know all these wonderful things happen each season but sometimes the grind of each day gets away on me and i forget to make the most of all the opportunities out there.

i found this great fall bucket list by katie at loves of life, unfortunately it is more fitting for the northern hemisphere seasons so this free printable wasn't going to work.  however i did find this free printable for a fall bucket list that allows you to create your own.  the free printable is from jessica of live as mom, her writing is so funny and a little bit addictive to keep reading!  jessica went with a limit of 25 things for her autumn bucket list.  given a month of autumn has almost gone i am going to limit our family list to the 20 things listed below:

the freely printable fall bucket list from jessica at lifeasmom.com, it's also available in colour if your printer hasn't run out of magenta ;)

• go to a blues rugby game
• make a pumpkin pie
• make apple prints bags with the peeps
• make mum's famous carrot and pumpkin soup
• go to the movie the best exotic marigold hotel
• make decorative easter eggs with the peeps
• go to the anzac dawn service at parakai (we go to one each year, this year it will be a local one)
• read a classic storybook, book must have been written at least 50 years ago  (each member of the family)
• make wednesday nights into movie nights with an easy dinner and cuddled up under blankets with hot chocolates
• visit with nana at the mount
• have a family craft day to make an autumn banner
• make an apple pie
• make some mini egg cookies
• make time to play games with the peeps on sunday evenings
• make homemade easter buns
• go to takapuna beach for an autumn walk and finish with hot drinks at the beach cafe
• go to a netball game to support the northern mystics
• make a dessert pizza for doing in the pizza oven
• send easter eggs in the post to all the peeps friends
• make an 'autumn' inspired dinner each week for the remainder of the season

outcome:  we won't know until the end of this season but i already feel more positive and excited about the weeks ahead and doing lots of fun family-focused things.  it is so true, when something is written down rather than thoughts swirling around it is far more likely to be done because it is out there for all of you to remember and make time for.  i love the idea of bucket lists for the everyday and always, it's a way of remembering how important each day is and not just the festive, warm seasons.  i am a great one for getting excited about christmas, birthdays, easter, and all the holidays way in advance and forgetting about how rewarding the every day can be if you put a little effort in.  hopefully a list like the one above with be a great reminder .... now i just need to get steve to go out and buy a frame for it!

my thanks to both katie at loves of life and jessica of lifeasmom.com for their wonderfully inspiring fall bucket lists.  they are such a great idea and something i hope to adopt for my family during every season :)

day 283: home school learning units

the units we printed out, heaps of pages of knowledge, advice, worksheets, and projects

day 283 and steve and i made huge progress during the morning before i went to the doc's for a meds checkup.  we discussed how we were going to make home life work: enable steve to get HIS work done, continue the peeps schooling, keep the house work done, and do a pinterest creation each day.

we were having morning tea together in our bedroom (because lets face it that's where i spend all my time at the moment) discussing how to make the most out of the peeps learning at the moment given it couldn't be done in the usual way that we did things.  the four of us decided unit focused work would be the best way to go as that would suit the fact we couldn't guarantee what each day was going to bring at the moment.  steve and i went on pinterest to my home school projects board and found some great units that would allow us to focus on a topic but cover different areas of the curriculum.

the best ones we found were from the home school share group.  we printed out their beethoven lives upstairs unit and their ancient egypt unit.  they are both pinned to my home school projects board along with many of their other units  both units cover various areas of the curriculum and have the facts, mini projects, suggested reading books, and lots of ideas.  the ancient egyptian unit is centered around making a mini book for each learning area and i love that idea.  i find with my littlest peep if she has to make something to do with her learning she retains the facts and knowledge much better and much longer than if she just does a worksheet or writing on the subject .. that quote that says "involve me and i will learn" is very apt for her!

outcome:  as sensible parents (yeah right!) do we had the peeps do their daily spelling and maths test after we returned from the doc's before we got started on the exciting new units.  i had meds to take and then things went down hill .... VERY fast and the learning for the afternoon was cancelled due to limited numbers.  so we haven't yet trialed the units but given how fast the peeps got down to their maths and spelling so they could get to the unit work, is a very positive sign~!

my sincere thanks to the homeschool share group for all the amazing units they have that are freely downloadable.  the homeschool share website is one of the very best home schooling resource websites i have come across and i can definitely recommend the site for all sorts of resources for learning :)

one day late ...

hello all, it's been a couple of days since posting sorry.  unfortunately i had a trip to the hospital due to a reaction to some of the medications i am on for my back.  i require an operation (in a week or two hopefully) to fix a problem with my back causing crushed nerves down my left side so life is a little complicated until that is fixed.

thanks mo for updating on yesterday's comments.  the good news is i had my first trip in an ambulance, the bad news is i can't remember much of it!
the good news is steve also got his first trip in an ambulance and he remembers it, the bad news is he spent his time doing that and not helping finish the pinterest creation we had started before i was whipped away ... geez i don't understand this guys priorities ;)
the good news is i am now home and recovering, the bad news is i have even more medication to take to counteract the effects of the other meds!
the bad news is we missed a day in pinterest creating, the good news is we will carry on and just finish one day later than originally scheduled.
the bad news is this is totally gutting to me, the good news is it's not going to stop me finishing my personal challenge :)
the good news is the eggs seem relatively unaffected by the family's experiences over the last two days (there are just more of them now!), the bad news is steve will still probably find a way to make sure they keep popping up in each blog post ... sorry!

i will be back later today with a creation and the creation we had started the other day, which is now also complete ...

standard hospital accessory to go with pretty gown (no photo of gown!)

eggsactly what kirsty is doing right now