On the 1st my youngest daughter turned 3 and I have been quite busy organising her birthday party. This was also the first time that her nonni were physically present for her birthday, so it was even more exciting for everyone! Yes! My parents are visiting us from Italy and we are having a great…
Halloween Punch
A glass of Halloween Punch becomes strangely inviting when lychee “eyes” peek through the deep purple drink, a spooky surprise for both little ghouls and grown-ups. I still remember my first Halloween in Australia. Back in Italy, we never really celebrated it, so I didn’t grow up trick-or-treating or making themed treats. Here, however, my…
PIZZETTE
Today I am going to share with you another piece of my childhood. I don’t remember ever attending a birthday party as a child where there was no focaccia and/or pizzette as part of the buffet. Usually you can buy these little pizze (pizzette actually means “little pizze”) at any bakery and kids love them. …
SEA MARSHMALLOW POPS
Organising a little girl’s birthday party can be lots of fun… but it also requires a bit of research. Especially when the little one has a clear idea of what she wants (and she’s only 5!). The theme HAD to be The Little Mermaid. So I started looking around the web for ideas (thank you…
THE LITTLE MERMAID FONDANT CAKE
As I am sure you have noticed, my eldest daughter loves The Little Mermaid so she requested an “Ariel cake” for her 5th birthday party. I must admit, I was a bit worried about it as making a human form out of fondant is not as easy as making an animal… in fact, it could…
VICTORIA’S 5TH BIRTHDAY
On the 16th my eldest daughter turned 5 and I have been quite busy organising her birthday parties. She celebrated in school with her friends on the 16th itself and I made her a Little Mermaid Yogurt Cake to take along and some Flounder Shortbread Cookie Pops to give as party favors. When she came…
FLOUNDER SHORTBREAD COOKIE POPS
As I have written in my previous post, yesterday was my eldest daughter’s 5th birthday. She had a small celebration with her friends at school and I made her a Little Mermaid yogurt cake to take with her. You may remember that last year I had made Hello Kitty cake pops to give to her…
THE LITTLE MERMAID YOGURT CAKE
Today is my eldest daughter’s 5th birthday. I cannot believe it’s already been 5 years since I first held her in my arms… she was so small! And now she’s growing to be a beautiful and sweet girl. I will be very busy in the next few days as we will be celebrating her birthday…
FAIRY BREAD
The first time I ever heard about “fairy bread” I was at a play-date with 2 other mums. When they explained to me what it was I found it hard to believe that someone could really go crazy for something like “that”. But let me tell you that I completely changed my mind the first…
MINI VEGEMITE AND CHEESE SANDWICHES
Vegemite is probably the most iconic Australian product. Wiki describes it as “a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract. […] Vegemite is made from used brewers’ yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, various vegetables, wheat and spice additives. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umami or malty – similar to beef bouillon.” …
SAVOURY ZUCCHINI MUFFINS
I must confess that while I am (still) pretty successful feeding vegetables to my 2 year old, I more often fail with my almost 5 year old. She is such a fussy eater, so when I saw this recipe I could not resist it and made it immediately: it was a success! I LOVE savoury…
Carbone della Befana (Italian Sweet Coal)
Don’t be fooled by its eerie look. Carbone della Befana, the traditional Italian Sweet Coal, is a wickedly fun and delicious treat to share at Halloween. Carbone della Befana, or Italian sweet coal, is one of those whimsical candies that instantly brings back childhood memories. In Italy, the holiday season lasts until 6 January, the…
GEORGIA’S 2ND BIRTHDAY
As some of you already know, these last few days have been quite hectic for me as I have been organising my youngest daughter’s birthday. Georgia turned 2 today (on December 1st) and we had a nice, quite family day as we had a little birthday party for her last Sunday with some of our…