papenate pleasures

Grandma L - this one's for you! 

Beginning last year, my tradition of baking papenate for Christmas continues to dwarf me! The recipe is so huge, it nearly spilled out of my mixer. 9 cups of flour and 3 hours of baking later, I am still left with a half-filled bowl of dough!

trees of merry, trees of bright

I was lucky to be invited to the Festival of Trees Gala Dinner this week. In addition to live auction prizes such as Yacht voyages and vineyard visits, lavishly decorated trees, boughs and wreaths were auctioned off for charity. Themes spanned the globe, my favourites being a tree donned in oversized silver bells and ribbon and one that looked like in belonged in Narnia. Inspiration was abundant. As you can see, every element was considered. The five course meal was complete with a palette cleansing sorbet and white chocolate (edible!) ornament (see below) and a cirque du soleil inspired dessert trio.  

christmas cookie bake no. 1

this is what you get when you combine two girls, a bottle of wine and food colouring!

Badge Day

Recruit Constable Wilms, Downtown

Jeremy receiving his badge.

Class 117, led by Constable Sinclair

Entering the gymnasium where our loved ones spent the last 22 weeks in training, jokes were flying around about how the place looked as if it had been given a very thorough spit-shine! This is where the action happened. This is where these men and women transformed themselves from eager, wide eyed recruits to - well, eager but tough, recruit constables ready for the job that lay ahead.  

The ceremony began by the training staff, Deputy Chief, Superintendent and Inspector parading in to their designated spots in the front row, followed by the class coordinator, Constable Sinclair leading the recruit class in drill.  The class then lined up in the middle of the gym while two short speeches were given with respect to the honour and expectations of the badge. One by one, each recruit was called, their designated division announced, and one by one they accepted their badge and duty as a cop. 

help!!

Ok. Here's the scoop. We found out that we are way under budget with our selections for our home (fantastic news!!) which means that we are exploring our longing for a stone kitchen countertop and under-mount sink. Trouble is, we have two loves. Jer and I have looked at many House & Home photos of kitchens (yes, Jeremy too!) and we are stuck between white quartz (which has grey and silver flecks) and the traditional cream and grey cawarra. Thoughts?? 

grandma inspired cabbage soup

hello to my grandmas!! Last Saturday I made my weekly trip to the farmer's market and the cabbages were literally the size of pillows! I picked one up, along with 2 leeks, a baseball bat sized zucchini, fresh carrots, and yellow squash. I have no idea how to make borscht the way you do, however I must say that this soup tastes a little bit like my favourite childhood' Sunday after-church lunch' at Grandma's!