Upside-down quince cake

The humble quince...looks like a cross between a pear and an apple. And not nice to eat raw.

 

Photo by Sarah Ryan

But make up a nice vanilla bean sugar syrup and poach it for a few hours...and watch it change to a glorious jewel-like ruby pink-red colour.

 

                                    Photo by Sarah Ryan                                          Photo by Sarah Ryan
I was making an upside down cake so I sprinkled some brown sugar on the base and lined the tin with the sliced poached quince.

Decorated biscuits: using stencils

Two occasions: My great-niece's Georgina's 1st birthday party as well as Mother's Day....so some heart shaped biscuits were going to be fitting on both accounts.

Photo by Sarah Ryan

I usually use gingerbread biscuits for decorating as they keep really well, but this time I used a vanilla shortbread (they'd be eaten pretty quickly and the kids would like vanilla biscuits better, I reasoned...)

Little crochet storage basket

I haven't crocheted anything, ever, other than crocheting a chain when I was a kid. But I was tempted to have a go at this simple looking little basket...good for storing bits in the bathroom, or sitting room, or full of felt pebbles like mine here!

Photo by Sarah Ryan

A workshop was advertised at "Gather Handmade", a giftshop in Liverpool St, so I went along to have my first real go at crocheting.

Naked cakes

Naked cakes seem to be a bit of a trend, so I was keen to try out the method. Basicly, it's a style of icing a more formal or party cake, where the layers are still visible and no outer covering of frosting or icing is applied. Often fresh flowers are used for decoration.

Photo by Sarah Ryan

I decided I'd try it out so made two nice butter cakes.

Knee high socks

Can you get away with knee high socks if you're not a schoolgirl? I hope so, as I think they're great!

                                                                             Photo by Sarah Ryan

Take a look at the recent summer 2015 Prada runway shows where they look fantastic with just-to-the-knee length skirts (and the most amazing shoes).

Appliqué scarf

Appliqué:  [Pronunciation: ap-li-kay]   (n.) ornamentation, as a cutout design, that is sewn on to or otherwise applied to a piece of material (Source: OED online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 17 April 2015)

Now I am a bit of a scarf fan...so making another scarf was inevitable really...

 

 Photo by Sarah Ryan

So....I just happened to buy 50cm of cheesecloth, and 20cm of a white lace fabric.

A sweet brekky bite

Now I'm not a food critic, but so far my ratio here is a bit down on the food side, so a food-related post seemed in order.
What I like about Hobart bites at the moment is nicely described by Oonagh from Little Missy Patisserie when she said how she loves how the local bakeries/patisseries are showcasing their own specialities and uniqueness. Which I think hits the nail on the head.

Photo by Sarah Ryan

After a very lean day yesterday, I balanced it out by dropping in for a breakfast treat at Small Fry.

The doughnuts here have become a niche sweet treat, handmade each day with varying flavours. I chose Tiramisu, which had an espresso icing and a creamy mascarpone filling. Need I say it was delicous? It was.

There was also Apple Crumble (which I've had before - yum) and a Very Berry which was also very tempting. 

And I should add that following that, my other meals today will be laden with vegetables and chia seeds and natural yogurt and all good things like that! (Well, that's the plan...)