Homemade Baby Powder

Homemade Baby Powder

I have not long finished whipping up a batch of my sister Kimmie's Lavender and Rose Baby Powder. I purchased some stainless steel icing shakers from the kitchen section in the supermarket to put the powder in. The mesh in the lid of the shaker stops the lavender and rose petals from falling through. You just get the soft scented powder. I decorated them with cute stickers/decals. I have given them away to all the new mums that I know for their beautiful bubbas. They were so happy with their gift. It smells so dreamy! My family have all started to use it as well. My girls love it and it smells divine. There are no nasty chemicals also - which has to be good! The recipe for the talc is available on her blog. http://theserendipitycafe.blogspot.com/

Origami

Origami

I recently joined a fabulous forum http://lickyalipsdelish.com/forum/ and will be starting a thread on Origami in the arts and craft section of the forum. Here are some bright and colourful Origami pencils that I have made. I would love for you to join me there to chat about Origami and for you to post both piccies and info on any Origami pieces that you may have made. Hope to see you there soon :]



Love Joey


xxx

An Autumn Day At Mount Tamborine

An Autumn Day
With Dear Friends






Three weeks ago a very special friend and her little dolly (that’s what I call her baby daughter 12 months) and I spent the day together at Tamborine Mountain. Mount Tamborine is a beautiful place nestled in the hinterland of the Gold Coast, Australia. It’s a favourite place of ours to go together when we both have a free week day. Nice places to eat, lovely little one off shops to get lost in along Gallery Walk, local produce (avocados, macadamia nuts, fruit and veg ) beautiful homes and gardens, lots of treasures to be found. There are some very talented Artists,Craftsmen and women who live on Mount Tamborine. My favourite season of the year is Autumn. The magical colours of the leaves: yellow, orange, red, burgundy and the faded browns that have fallen and carpeted the ground which crunch when you walk on them are a real delight to my sight and soul. You just don’t get those colours on the Coast.



On one of our stops we visited the Nardoo Lavender Shop. I absolutely adore Lavender with its wonderful purple colour and soft, sweet calming aroma. What a beautiful place to spend some time wondering around and having a little look and smell. The shop sells a vast array of wonderful gifts. You can find old treasures, garden accessories, pampering products, creams, scrubs, soaps, beautiful linen aprons and tea towels. They stock many different types of dried lavender and oil grown from all over Australia and the world. I did not know that there were so many different aromas of lavender. Some have a soft scent, some quite bold and some very spicy. I purchased some dried lavender and some oil to make some of my sister Kimmie’s special Lavender Baby Powder.



For lunch we had decided to have a picnic at the Mount Tamborine Botanical Gardens. What a pretty little spot this is, so peaceful and relaxing. There must have been 10 Kookaburras sitting in trees and perched on top of pergolas around us as we sat by the lily pond eating our lunch and watching the ducks swimming. What a beautiful sight this was. We were very spoilt as there was only a handful of other people there. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. After our picnic we walked off our lunch by strolling around the 11 hectares of gardens broken in to different themes, the cherry blossom walk, the fragrant rose garden, the wisteria covered pergola, the tranquil Japanese garden with a running stream and a vast array of other Autumn trees and plantings. It has the most beautiful stone bridge to cross. The gardens are run by a dedicated team of local volunteers; it is a real credit to them, a gorgeous pocket of paradise.



There is only one way of topping off a magical day like this before winding our way back home down the mountain. It’s a visit to the Witches Chase Cheese Company. I am the biggest cheese fan in the world! Let me tell you, I adore the stuff. If there were to be no more cheese in the world tomorrow well I would lie down and cry. Anyway back to the cheeeese, sorry I’m drooling. I purchased a 1/2 piece of Camembert and 2 cups of the most delightful homemade blood orange sorbet, another one of my weaknesses. In case you’re wondering if I ate both cups well I’II set the record straight, one was for me and the other was for my darling friend to enjoy on our trip home. A wonderful day was had by all.





Love Joey

xxx

Organic Roast Chicken & Potatoes With Lemon, Garlic And Sage

Organic Roast Chicken with Potatoes with Lemon, Garlic and Sage

Ingredients

• 1 x 2kg free-range organic chicken• sea salt and freshly and ground black pepper• 2kg new potatoes with skin on• 1 large, preferably unwaxed, lemon• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves• a handful of fresh sage• olive oil• a handful of fresh rosemary sprigs.

Method

Rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Preheat your oven to 190ºC. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cut the new potatoes (skin on) into golf-ball-sized pieces, put them into the water with the whole lemon and the garlic cloves, and cook for 12 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this will give you crispier potatoes), then remove the lemon and garlic. Toss the potatoes in the pan while still hot so their outsides get fluffy – this will make them lovely and crispy when they roast.While the lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times. Get chicken out of the fridge, pat it with kitchen paper and rub it all over with olive oil. Push the garlic cloves, the whole lemon and herbs into the cavity, then put the chicken into a roasting tray and cook in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. Some lovely fat should have cooked out of it into the roasting tray, so toss the potatoes into this with the rosemary leaves. Shake the tray around, then make a gap in the centre of the potatoes and put the chicken back in. Cook for a further 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are nice and golden. (You can tell the chicken is cooked when the juices run clear.) Then I remove the lemon and garlic from inside the chicken, squeeze all the garlic flesh out of the skin, mush it up and smear it all over the chicken, discard the lemon and rosemary and carve the chicken at the table.

Yummy, Bon appetit!