Circles

We had the pleasure over the weekend of creating the wedding cake and custom invitations/stationery for the lovely Aleisha McCormack; comedian and reporter from Channel 10's The Circle!

Aleisha and Richard got married at the historic Boyd Baker House near Bacchus Marsh in Victoria - a fantastic 1960's architecturally-designed home nestled amongst the dense Aussie bushland.

Aleisha approached us late in 2011 to assist in creating the details for her big day. The brief was simple - use the amazing house and its surrounds as inspiration for a clean and simple design!

Aleisha hand-sewed the fabric bunting and napkins and her mate Kath from Frank Food and Me also made some extra delicious looking sweets for the dessert table. If you've been following Aleisha's wedding journey on The Circle, you'd know that she is a huge fan of incorporating DIY elements in weddings and everything came together perfectly on the day.

The 60's mod-look interior inspired the 'circles' cake design, with the addition of a statement bloom and yellow ombre effect giving it a contemporary twist. The stationery suite featured watercolour lettering along with a hand-sketched illustration of the Boyd Baker house. These techniques were also applied to the place cards, seating chart, table menus, favour boxes and the dessert buffet sign.

 It's a rare treat to chat with the bride and groom before their ceremony so it was wonderful to experience their reactions to the reception set-up and to meet face to face! Congratulations guys, thanks for letting us be a part of  the "Leish Rich wedding team" and for being such relaxed and hilariously funny clients!

Wedding cake, stationery suite and styling: Cake Ink.
Fabric bunting and napkins: The bride
Extra sweets: Frank Food and Me
Photography: Cake Ink.

Planning a NYC wedding

With only a little over two months to go, I thought I'd share with you my experience in planning our NYC wedding! Having been on the other side of the fence and contributing to the special day of many, I must admit it's been a very joyful and happy experience planning my own. It's given me a new found appreciation and perspective on life as a bride-to-be; the myriad of choices, the excitement, anticipation and the sense of the unknown. We can't wait to say our vows in front of our nearest and dearest in a way that reflects 'us' - small, intimate and classic.

Even from many thousands of miles away, our amazingly-awesome wedding vendors (many found via trawling through various wedding blogs) have gone above and beyond to make the planning process relatively easy, stress-free and a heap of fun.. who would have thought?! We honestly couldn't have done all the ground work without them.

I'd love to share a little bit about a couple of them and show you some of their fabulous work. We love being a part of this industry and it's inspiring to see other vendors who are so passionate, talented and devoted to their work. We feel so lucky to have these guys contributing to our vision and our special day... we look forward to meeting you in person!

Choosing our photographer was the first and one of the easiest choices we made. As soon as we saw Maggie Harkov's work, we were sold. Maggie captures such beauty and raw emotion in her images and she truly LOVES her job. Maggie is completely in love with love (her husband affectionately refers to her as Mrs. Hallmark... adorable) and this is clearly portrayed in her work. She makes a point of getting to know her clients on a personal level and remains friends with them long after the wedding. Amazing!

Maggie pointed us in the direction of a florist based near her home in Brooklyn that I instantly fell in love with...  Saipua create such unique and beautiful arrangements that really pay homage to the changing of the seasons. I really like their unstructured yet somehow polished arrangements that really steal the show. Since we are getting married in Autumn (Fall), our arrangements will most likely feature some gorgeous dahlias, heirloom roses, persimmons, crabapple, Asian pears, lace cap hydrangea, snowberry, sedum, amaranth and wild grasses. 



I found this featured interview on my hairstylist for the day, Stacy Pitt of Styles on B, that gives a glimpse in to her awesome hair studio in the East Village. Stacy has a background in art and applies principles learnt to hair - painting inspires her use of colour application and clay sculpting inspires her knack for 'moulding' hair in to a beautiful up-do. Love!

I won't reveal too much about the other details of the day (including the all-important CAKE)... I'll be sure to share them with you upon our return! I will however share some sneak peeks of the beautiful custom stationery that Samone has created for Stu and I... the images don't do them justice - they're simply perfect in every way and I can't thank you enough, Sammy.

For those of you who are in the throes of planning your wedding, I hope you're enjoying the journey as much as I am!

Janelle xo

Wedding photography: Maggie Harkov Photography

Flowers: Saipua in Brooklyn, NY

Hair: Styles on B, East Village, NY

Wedding stationery: Cake Ink.

feeling the cold??

 

1. Infinity scarf by Shanionie

2. Angus & Celeste necklace

3. Alannah Hill bootie

4. Burberry Autumn/Winter 2012 collection

5. Gorman babushka tweed jacket

6. Belt by Anthropologie

7. Montana tote from Tilkah

Chicken mini pies recipe + the winner of our giveaway

What a cold rainy wet day here in Melbourne today, the perfect day for staying indoors and doing some cooking! We road-tested this chicken pie recipe a couple weeks ago, and made some more yesterday - they are a big hit with the men of the house - and piping hot, perfect for the wintery weather. Recipe is below - it is a tweaked version from Donna Hay - love her style and no-fuss approach to delish easy recipes!!

We also selected a random winner of the beautiful Peggy Porschen book earlier in the week (for those of you that didn't see on facebook!) - the lucky Letitia from South Australia will soon receive the gorgeous book in the post - congrats! Thanks to all of you that took the time to enter.

Chicken mini pies (inspired by Donna Hay's version)
Ingredients:
2-3 cups shredded cold cooked chicken (we cook a big roast chook and use the leftover meat!)
150ml sour cream
1 cup grated tasty cheese
4 sheets thawed store-bought puff pastry
1 egg
This is where we get creative with what's in the fridge: you can add peas, mushrooms, onion, leek, carrot, zucchini, pumpkin - just pre-cook, roast or fry off (except the peas you can chuck them in frozen)
salt & pepper
fresh herbs - basil or parsley work well, or we love dried taragon! such a good combo with chicken
Method:
Put the shredded chicken into a big bowl and mix through sour cream, cheese, salt & pepper to taste, herbs and whatever veg you like (you could add pieces of ham or bacon instead). Cut the sheets of pastry into quarters, add a heaped tablespoon of chicken filling to the centre of each square (once you make one parcel you will be able to judge how much filling you need). Brush the edges of each square with beaten egg, and bring the corners together in the middle, pinching the pastry sealed as you go to form little square parcels. Place on a baking dish lined with baking paper, and brush with egg to create a nice golden glow in the oven. Bake at 190°C for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is beautifully golden and crispy. Yum!

Happy Friday!

Mother's Day at our place + a book giveaway!

We wanted to treat our Mums over the weekend by doing what we love most: baking,
crafting and styling up a little Mother's Day brunch!

We made some delicious tea cakes from the new book by celebrity cake maker Peggy Porschen; Boutique Baking! Peggy's new offering is a collection of recipes and decorating techniques for desserts served in her gorgeous pink London-based Cake Parlour (swoon!). We made the neopolitan bundt cake and the pink Victoria sponge... not a crumb left in sight!

We love Peggy's new book so much that we had to share by giving a copy away to one lucky reader!  Simply leave us a comment below, even just pop in to say g'day, and we'll announce a random winner on the 22nd May 2012. Competition is open to Aussie and international readers. Good luck!



Cakes, printed menus and name tags by us
Favour gift wrap by funky Aussie stationery designer Inky Co.



loving these for Mum...

1. Necklace by Emily Green

2. French Lace belli band wrap from Inky Co.

3. FREE PRINTABLE from us!! :)

4. Aunty Cookie art print 

5. Yardage Design tea towel

6. Apron by Pretty Parcel 

7. Whale gift tags by tree & print

8. Belladonna body butter from Mor

bake day

We love a good cookie, and Anzac biscuits are one of our all-time faves and super easy. 

For those of you who might not know, during World War I the wives and mums of Aussie and Kiwi soldiers created ANZAC (which stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) bikkies from simple, non-perishable ingredients and packaged them in air-tight tins to send to their beloved men off overseas representing our country. We celebrate ANZAC Day on April 25, a day to reflect on those we lost in the war, and around this time you can buy the bikkies from fundraising groups raising money for the veterans - but we love them and make them all year round! They are perfectly crisp around the outside, soft and chewy in the middle and go beautifully with a pot of Australian Afternoon tea (we are loving this blend from Twinings)!

This recipe is tried and tested, from the Australian Womens Weekly

ANZAC biscuits

makes 25 (or about 18 big ones)

125g (4 oz) butter, chopped

2 tablespoons golden syrup or treacle (or we used molasses!)

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda (baking soda)

1 cup (220g) firmly packed light brown sugar (we use slightly less, about 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup (40g) dessicated coconut

1 cup (90g) rolled oats

1 cup (150g) plain (all-purpose) flour

Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F. Line oven trays with baking paper.

Stir butter, syrup and water in a large saucepan over a low heat until smooth. Remove from heat, and add bicarb soda and stir til frothy. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls, place onto trays about 5cm (2 inches) apart and flatten slightly.

Bake about 20 mins, cool on trays. The biscuits should still feel soft when they're cooked as they firm up as they cool. Store in an airtight container. Watch them disappear!