Our Mini-Moon

So after a long and much needed snooze, Mr B and I (Mrs B!) set off on our mini-moon. We are off to Europe later in the year, but thought we would treat ourselves to a week travelling our gorgeous state, because let's be honest, no one wants to go back to work 2 days after they get married!


All packed up and ready to hit the road!


Our first stop - Stanley! In this photo is The Nut, would you believe we walked up that? I did believe I was going to die several times on the way up, but the view from the top was so worth it!


This is Dip Falls - about 15 min drive out of Stanley - I have a fascination with waterfalls and these were just so incredibly beautiful


Words to live by Mr B!!


This old restored boat shed can be found at Cradle Mountain on the Dove Lake walk, see that Lake, Mr B and I trekked all the way around that, it was so very cold (possibly due to us packing totally inappropriately for cold bush walking climates!) but the scenery was spectacular and so worth it!


Plus we got to have a little picnic in the car when we got back!


I think over the course of the trip we went through a total of 9 mazes! This photo was taken when we finally got to the centre of the Westbury Maze. A few days earlier we were at a place called Tasmazia which is basically one giant maze and inside that are 7 other smaller mazes! So complex!!!


Our next stop was Coles Bay and first on our list of things to do was taking the kayaks out for a paddle and a fish!


We also did a 2 hour walk into Wineglass Bay while we were there, the view as you come out of the bush track onto the Bay is one of the most incredible things, I've never seen water so blue.


So we decided to make camp and have another picnic!


And just around the corner was Honeymoon Bay - how fitting!! And it was without a doubt the most stunning place we visited.




On our last night we had dinner at a restaurant called Madge Malloys. It's a fresh seafood restaurant right on the bay and really, when you can literally see the boat your dinner was caught on from your table, it's pretty cool! I had calamari and Mr B had trout, seriously good food!


Little bit sad to be on our way home, but still ridiculously happy!


And some of the goodies we managed to come home with from our trip!
Local whiskey cream, lime honey, raspberry honey, vanilla honey, cajun honey, bush dust (seasoning), and honeycomb!! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

Lots of Love

Mr and Mrs B x

Introducing Mr and Mrs B xx

Yep, that's us....Mr and Mrs B.....we finally made it to our big day and the whole thing was perfect. I really mean that, I spent 6 hours baking the wedding cupcakes the day before, it took forever because the kitchen was so hot the frosting kept melting off them, then I spent the night before the wedding sleeping on a tiny couch so my neck hurt, I was up at 5am to go to the hairdressers with Mum and the bridesmaids, the press studs on my dress broke when we were getting ready, then the straps on my dress broke during the reception, but you know what, none of that mattered at all. The day really was perfect and from the moment I walked through the doors and saw my gorgeous man waiting for me right through to when I finally fell asleep in his arms, neither of us stopped grinning once!


There were sexy cars....




Gorgeous girls and guys....


And one stupidly happy couple :)






And the cake not only came together beautifully but it tasted incredible, it was definetly worth the many many trial runs we went through!




My Mum and Dad and bridesmaids Allie and Ali really were amazing throughout not only the wedding itself, but the weeks leading up to it as well, such incredible pillars of support and strength that I couldn't have done without :)

And two very handsome boys, Brad and Jade, who stood by Mr B and did fabulous jobs as groomsmen.

And last, but certainly not least, my Mr B, for being everything to me and showing me a whole new world and a whole new level of love xx

Mrs B xx

Butterflies....

....my goodness, my stomach is churning, my palms are sweaty, my brain is a big ball of fuzzy mush and on one hand I feel ill but on the other hand I would like to curl up with the biggest mug of hot chocolate and the largest block of chocolate I can find...and a good book too of course :)

You see after three years of ups and downs and stress and joy, this weekend, in two whole days, I marry the man of my dreams.

Everything is planned, everything is done, all that is left is for me to make the cake tomorrow, to decorate the reception venue tomorrow night and then that's it...once Saturday gets here it is all out of my hands, I just hope everything goes well, I hope it's as beautiful as I've imagined, I hope I don't fall over walking down the aisle, I hope he thinks I look stunning, I hope it's everything he has dreamed of.

The ladies I work with put on a beautiful morning tea this morning, they really spoil me, I am lucky to work with such amazing people who have really taken me under their wing. They even made me a cake that said Emily loves Tynan!


So there will be a short break whilst we are away, but I will be back in about 10 days with photos galore and I'll have most of my brain cells back so I'll be diving head first back into the kitchen!!

See you all soon,

soon to be Mrs B xx

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was one of THE best yet....

Normally OH and I spend the day bouncing around between my parents and his Mother and step mother....

The day is always fantastic but it is also exhausting and OH and I normally get home mega late and are always buggered when we do our presents together...


This year the universe smiled upon us, we had dinner with OH's Mum and brothers and sisters a few days before Christmas, on Christmas Eve we had our traditional 8 ball tournament with Mum and Dad before dinner with OH's step Mum and family which left Christmas Day to spend with my parents and we even got to squeeze in some time to ourselves!

And on Christmas morning when I woke up, our christmas lillies were out, they looked as gorgeous as they smelt :)


OH got to live his childhood dream of being in Ghostbusters (I've never seen someone so excited about a spraying backpack!)


I got to live my adulthood dream of being in the roller derby (except I've never skated before so the only injuries I was causing were to myself....there was lots of screaming, pleading, giggling and begging for my life...)


Then it was onto Mum and Dad's, as always the table was beautifully set...


And we were greeted with a spread of biscuits, cheeses,salad, seasoned chicken breast, dolmades, dips and of course freshly dug new potatoes! All washed down with some midori (very festively coloured if you have the melon and the strawberry!)


On Christmas Day it is compulsory to wear your Christmas hat or your Christmas ears!




And because any Christmas brunch is not complete without dessert, we finished off with some fresh strawberries, chocolate cream and wafer straws :)


OH and I headed home mid afternoon and had the rest of our presents together. For the first time ever we had dinner together on Christmas night. We even had a few drinks and curled up on the bean bags watching a movie and it was the perfect end to a perfect Christmas season.

And at the end of the day, there is nothing better then spending Christmas time with your family....


And seeing the excitement on someone's face when you give them something they really really wanted...


All in all, the day was.....


I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas with your families and friends.

Em x

Christmas Pudding (without the pudding!)

As most of you know, my OH is not a 'cakey' person...

Cake has to be disguised as some sort of dessert....

But Christmas pudding is a total no go.... so each year when Mum gives me some of her Christmas pudding, I like to make something special for OH and this year I thought I would make him his very own Christmas pudding, but without the pudding part!

All I did was....

line a pudding steamer with cling wrap

Line the base and sides with sliced chocolate sponge roll

Fill with softened caramel ice cream and place in the freezer for 3-4 hours

Cover the top with sponge roll as well.

Freeze overnight.

The following night combine 1/3 cup cream, 2 tbspns brown sugar and 80g white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 40 second bursts until well combined. Allow to cool for 5 mins.

Remove the pudding from the mould and pour over the cooled sauce.

Place mint leave and jaffas on top to create the 'pudding effect'





An easy Christmas dessert that looks impressive, tastes delicious and will keep the non-pudding lovers happy!!

Em x

Merry Christmas

Just thought I would stop by and say Merry Christmas and thank you for all your support throughout the year :) 2012 is a big year for OH and I, we get married in 14 days!! Then we are off to Europe for a belated honeymoon in May!!

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas, filled with love, laughter and goodies!!

Em and Tynan xx

Mum's Bishops Cake

When I was younger I remember my Mum baking up a storm at Christmas time - there were puddings and cakes and mini truffles and all sorts of goodies. One of the things I remember most is this Bishops Cake. Mum always used to make a heap of them and then cut them in half and give them away as gifts to people. I used to think it was a bit rough giving people half a cake, but now i understand why....they look so pretty when they are cut and I believe the name comes from the fact that they look like a stained glass window when cut - to be honest when I was little I thought it was because the nuts in the top looked like a Bishops Hat...hey, it's totally plausible!

Anyway, this year I wanted to make something to give a few of the special people in my life and this was the first thing that came to mind - it's delicious, it's pretty and it's easy, ticks all the boxes!!

Now this recipe makes 1 tall loaf or I actually doubled the recipe and baked it in a sheet pan which gave me 8 decent sized squares...they weren't as tall as the ones I remember Mum making, but still looked great!

All you need is:

250g brazil nuts
250g macadamia nuts
12 pitted dates
2 glace pineapple circles cut into chunks
6 glace apricots sliced
1 cup red and green glace cherries
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tspn vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 150C

Grease a 21x11cm loaf tin or a large sheet cake pan and line the base and sides with baking paper.

Place the nuts and fruit in a bowl.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the fruit.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until nice and thick. Pour over the fruit and nut mixture and stir to combine.

Spoon the mixture into prepared tin - try to arrange it so you get a good mix of everything.

Bake for around 45 - 60mins. I recommend checking it at 45mins with a skewer, if the cake is golden and the skewer is clean then it's done, if not, give it another 10-15mins.

Allow the cake to cool before removing from pan and peeling off the baking paper.


Now like I said before, if you are giving this away and you make a single loaf, then cut it in half or if you make a sheet cake, cut into nice squares. I recommend using an electric knife to cut it as it looks really pretty with a nice straight edge. I have wrapped all my pieces in two layers of cling wrap and then in some cellophane and they make really nice gifts to give to people, plus you get the added bonus of a home made pressie :)

And Mum tells me this cake is best served sliced very thin (with your electric knife) with a nice tasty cheese!

Em x