Pokémon for the Boys

After making endless outfits for my Miss Five to sample for the Toffeeapple range my Masters of the house were getting a little … let’s say desirous … of some homemade clothes as well. Now I have plans for some great shorts and pants for the boys (and a couple of Hawaiian shirts too) but I had a specific request for some Pokémon pants and shirt. Master SevenO even drew a design for me (see below).

After flicking through some old Notebook Magazines (still in dismay that it is out of print!) before passing on to my sister to enjoy I came across a bit about iron on transfers. Now I know they have been around for zonks but this one really looked beyond simple. So off I went to my local Big W, picked up a couple of short sleeve and long sleeve t-shirts along with the iron-on transfers from “Inspired”. I bought the ones that can go on any coloured t-shirt. Each of the kids picked a favourite Pokémon character online, printed it out on the reliable ink jet and voila. Even Miss Five got in on it and now all four kids have a Pokémon shirt.

Now for the pants…

Apple pikelets

Wow! It is bucketing down today! Sydney is awash with grey clouds. Master 3 and I attended playgroup with a great rendition of the hokey pokey.

I decided to start a blog to document the growth and progress of my new little business “Toffeeapple Kidswear” and one thing I have found is that I am open to distractions. This has to stop. So today I have tried to do my homework for the St George Business Mentoring seminars I am attending. I am to work out my profit & loss, break even point, equity and working capital and complete a budget and cashflow for the next 90 days. And…well…am distracted.

So in order to put the distraction into productive use I will prepare afternoon tea for the older kiddies before they get home from school. Apple pikelets today. I always hope they leave some but there is never any left! They are yummy with butter, jam, golden syrup or just on their own. The recipe is from www.taste.com.au.

Apple Pikelets

1 ½ cups of self raising flour, sifted

2 tablespoons of caster sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

300 ml buttermilk

½ cup apple puree (I have used a tin of apple baby food and even grated apple)                              

Method:

1.      Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Whisk egg and buttermilk together in a jug. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Whisk until smooth. Stir in puree.

2.      Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Brush base with butter. Using tablespoons of batter at a time, cook in batches for 2 to 3 minutes or until small bubbles start to form on the surface of pikelets. Carefully turn over. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

 



Four happy campers eating afternoon tea (bad lighting - sorry!)



Friday = Me Day (sometimes)

Today is Friday and every so often Friday is my “me” day. Three of the kiddies are in school and my toddler goes to his grandparents for a visit leaving me to fill in the time (yippee!!) Often during these times I attend a tile mosaic class. It is so relaxing and serene to be among other creative souls assembling tiles to create something.

Now I am not that great but am loving the process. I have just finished my first project which was a pot (standard beginner project). I was experimenting with cut squares as opposed to the hammer and smash method to see what I liked best. I am slowly planning a BIG project of mosaicking some old cement laundry tubs we use as planters in our yard. Still not sure what to do there…

So after a day of tiling and grouting I hope my creative juices are flowing so I can head into sewing some samples for Toffeeapple. My current range of colours are sienna and orange but I am going to go for a hunt for something in cornflour blue.

Hope everyone has a great weekend (a long weekend for us Aussies celebrating the Queen’s birthday!)

She Blogs

Today I had a great meeting with Melanie from Capture IT Sydney. We are working together to improve our businesses. Over tea and Anzac biscuits we brainstormed, bounced ideas off each other and provided feedback. So great to talk to like-minded fellows and have someone to talk to about the business other than a toddler.

One of the things that came out of it was that I should begin to blog. Now I love (lurrrve) reading other people’s blogs. There are so many clever and creative people out there. So I’ll give it a shot.

Anzac Biscuits (from taste.com.au)

Ingredients

• 1 cup (150g) plain flour
• 1 cup (90g) rolled oats
• 1 cup (85g) Ward McKenzie desiccated coconut
• 3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar
• 125g butter
• 2 tbs golden syrup
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Stir in the oats, coconut and brown sugar.
2. Put the butter, golden syrup and 2 tbs water in a small saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until melted. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
3. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
4. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place on the trays, about 5cm apart.
5. Press with a fork to flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Set aside on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack so it cools completely.