step 2: ice them, preferably in pretty colours

step 3: add a marshmallow (prepared a few days earlier) and wrap in cellophane.

step 4: decorate with a bunny rabbit

step 5: have a happy easter :)

but oh, summer. promise you’ll never leave me?

i love this time of year. we all know the weather isn’t supposed to be like this. the nights should be colder. we should at least be starting to think about hot chocolate and apple pie. but, no. it’s still long, hot, sleepless nights and endless sunshine and spontaneous sunday picnics.

i’m not going to lie; i love it.

i’m clinging to every last inch of summer as tightly as i can, and i’m not going to let go without a fight.

last weekend was a different story – we spent valentine’s day casually wandering around, having loads of fun. breakfast at a cafe:

chinese new year markets:

and i made this for my valentine, from bakerella’s recipe:

it was just lovely. but that was a whole week ago! next weekend will be the last one of summer. it just goes by so fast.

there’s been three very specific things i’ve wanted to make lately:

1. marshmallows. because i bought some homemade marshmallows at the markets recently and they were divine.

2. vegan chocolate avocado cake. because i saw laura’s post about joy the baker’s recipe and it sounded amazing. and weird, which i like. and i don’t eat eggs outside of cakes so it seems odd that i eat them inside of cakes. {it’s not a moral stance or anything, i’ve just never been able to eat them.}

3. banana bread. because we bought too many bananas last grocery shop and i needed to use them up.

so, first up: marshmallows. the recipe was fairly simple, but having never made anything like this before i had a bit of pre-marshmallow anxiety – “is this thick enough? how do i know what this is supposed to look like?!” – but they turned out perfectly. i’ve already planned to make these as easter gifts.

next up was the chocolate avocado cake. this was really simple; no different to a normal cake, really. i snuck a quick taste of the batter just as i was about to pour it into the pan, and was horrified to taste nothing but baking soda. ack! i forgot to put the sugar in! lesson learnt: ALWAYS TASTE YOUR COOKING. but with some extra stirring i was able to work it in just in time. i haven’t had a proper piece yet, but the bits i’ve sneakily broken off have been amazing. i’ll be taking it to an afternoon tea tomorrow, so i look forward to people trying it without knowing what it is. i was originally planning on making a different icing, but decided to make the avocado one just to see what it’s like. tastes good to me!

and lastly, banana bread. i got this recipe from the australian women’s weekly BAKE book. haven’t got it yet? go now. run. i haven’t tried this yet, but i think it might be a little overdone. i’ll sample some for morning tea tomorrow!

now why can’t i be this productive during the week?!

today i had a big clean up. finally threw out the bag of shoes that has been sitting at the back of my wardrobe for the last 5 years. i’ve moved house 4 times since i started that bag, and that bag of shoes – those shoes that one day i’m going to take to be re-heeled and then love them forever – always came with me. not anymore. they’re gone. i got rid of handbags, scarves, jewellery {all donated to vinnies, of course} and it feels good. almost cathartic, even.

i’ve also been busy. my sister & i will have a stall at the hills districts’ australia day celebrations this tuesday. if you’re in the area, be sure to come on by and have a look! we’ll also be selling some of our mum’s handbags. i’ve been working on a few new products for the stall, and my favourites are these create & live signs. i’ll have these {plus a few more} on sale as well as all of my cards and paper goods.

i hope your weekend was as fulfilling as mine! it is a shame about monday, though.

i’ve been watching conan since thecomedychannel started airing late night some time in the late ’90s. i’m genuinely very, very sad that his run on nbc has come to an end, but the most disappointing thing about today isn’t just that it’s conan’s last episode of the tonight show – it’s that this whole entire fiasco is coming to an end. late night tv has never been this good.

if you haven’t been following, i highly recommend you check out the recaps on tv.gawker. they’re amazing.

you need to watch the guild.

my dad

father’s day is 6 september in australia and new zealand (and maybe a few other countries as well). i have a couple of father’s day cards for sale in my etsy store.

spoon

which is why i’ve re-branded my etsy store, to smallstakes.etsy.com. the name comes from one of my favourite spoon songs, small stakes.

sunshine

which is rather convenient, because spring is most definitely on its way.

this is what it looks like from my kitchen window right now:

it has looked like this for most of the last fortnight, and will continue to look like this for most of the next month and beyond.

so, this is where i am:

in front of the heater with my gold sequined peter alexander slippers. ahhhh, bliss.

the only redeeming things is that at least it’s not that cold. it’s cold, but it’s not obscene-cold. we spent the recent long weekend in canberra and it was just absurdly cold.

so, now i shall spend the rest of my weekend cooking. tim has just moved in with me, so we’re getting a weekly food plan sorted. i’m going to make a chicken pasta bake that we can both take for lunch on the days that we don’t have leftovers. and then i’m going to make some toblerone cookies. yum!

i just bought us tickets to see 500 days of summer at the sydney film festival. i am so excited to see this movie.

zooey deschanel is insanely adorable.