Over the past month, I’ve been on the ridiculously painful hunt for some sweet shades to replace my current ASOS ones that are dying (read: paint chipping off).
I’ve never had a great relationship with sunglasses and having big nose certainly doesn’t make it easier! As I was telling a friend at work, I used to throw out the big bucks to get my hands on shiny high end designer offerings like Versace and Burberry. But now I’m over this silly craze and have been looking for more affordable, yet awesome sunnies!
Luckily, I’ve managed to find my perfect pair on my third attempt - third time lucky, right? A brand that’s new to me too, RAEN is an edgy Californian creation since 2008, influenced by the surf and street. It brings me back memories of my tomboy-ish fashion roots of adolescent times, neat! Their shades are definitely a bar cooler than me back in the 90s and after a quick trawl through their collection online, I think they’ve just become my new favourite go to brand for sunnies!
The pair I picked is Flowers by Alex Knost (from The Iconic) and I was absolutely thrilled by the quality. It came in a super sturdy brown leather case too, which you can get kind of see a peek of in the background of my photos.
Sunglasses are no easy feat to shop for online, I seriously think I got lucky this time. And if RAEN sunglasses can fit me well, then they can probably fit most people (seriously). I’ve scooped up three sunnies here, from a high, mid and low price range that took my fancy during my recent hunt - hope you enjoy them!
(1) The Number One by Karen Walker $267.28
(2) Flowers by Alex Knost by RAEN $189.95
(3) Black Gold Collection by Unity Eyewear $29.95
Have you had a scary run in with wasps before? It wasn’t until last week that I’d had a bit of a waspy situation… right outside my bedroom!
After some searching online, we worked out that they were Australian Paper Wasps. They’re known to build their paper-like cell-shaped hives, which I must admit are quite beautiful.
I’d seen them flying about when I’d been gardening a few weeks back but didn’t realise that the nest was right here within our own balcony. Scary right? Luckily, wasps don’t attack you unless you aggravate their home and for that, I left to Gareth and his father to do with a special wasp elimination spray we got from Bunnings.
Seriously scary stuff!
Have you had to get rid of a wasp or bee hive before, and what did you use to do it?
It’s that time of year again! When you bring out the hooks and needles and get all caught in the mess of yarn and warmth!
Ever since knitting a sub-par scarf for Gareth last winter (the yarn was really crappy), it’s been on my to do list to make him a proper one using some yarn of decent quality. From my stash, I picked out a dark wool 50% merino/50% acrylic blend and used a half double crochet (hdc) stitch the entire way through. Here’s a good graphic tutorial by Crochet Spot on how to do a hdc if you’re unsure.
When it came to the width and length of the scarf, why that was simply asking for feedback from Gareth about what he wanted. There’s no hard or fast rule for how long or wide it needs to be, just make sure it suits the style of whomever you’re creating it for. Happy crocheting season, I’d love to see what you make this year. And if you don’t know how to, I’d highly recommend buying a good book or using a great online source to assist.
What have you got planned to craft this year to keep warm?
Last week, I tried my hand at macaron making to make sure that the previous time wasn’t just a one time fluke. I was pretty happy at how they came out and noticed an improvement from the last batch. My friend Cheryl came over to help out too, although she had to leave before getting the chance to taste one. Next time right? :)
It’s Mother’s Day this upcoming weekend and this is the perfect culinary gift for any mother with a sweet tooth. My mum’s been harping on about these for a while, so my plan is to make a batch for her this weekend when I go to visit. I’m still undecided as to which flavour to make, please help me decide! At the moment, I’m thinking coffee or caramel flavoured, what do you think?
You can find the recipe for these lemon macarons after the jump! Note that for the shells, I used pretty much the exact same recipe as the one I used for the lime macarons, just a difference in food colouring. Note that they’re also about half the size as the lime ones, which is why you’ll make about double in this recipe below. The filling however, is a completely different recipe, translated from the same French book I used for the shells.
Lemon Macarons Recipe
Makes approx. 40 macarons
Time: 2.5hs
Preparation:
Using something with a round base, around 3mm diameter, trace around it several times onto paper, making sure you leave some space between each circle (approx. 2cm). Place this under your baking paper so you can use it as a template when you’re squeezing out the mixture.
Mixture:
- 200g almond meal
- 200g icing sugar
- 4 egg whites
- 200g caster sugar
- 75ml water
- Yellow food colouring
1. Mix the icing sugar with almond meal until well mixed. Set this almond/icing mixture aside.
2. In a saucepan, bring the water and caster sugar to the boil. Using a cooking themometer, ensure this liquid mix does not pass 115°C.
3. Meanwhile, beat the 2 egg whites, increasing speed once the liquid mix passes 105°C.
4. Turn off the heat of the liquid mix once it reaches 115°C and pour gently onto the egg whites and continue beating everything together for approx 10 minutes more. We’ll now refer to this as the ‘meringue mixture’.
5. Mix the almond/icing mix together with the other 2 egg whites, until you achieve a smooth well mixed paste. Add in a drop or two of yellow food colouring to get the colour you require.
6. With a spatula, mix a third of the meringue mixture in with the almond/icing mix, then gradually mix in the rest.
7. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and pipe out onto your baking paper. Using the traced circles as a guide, pipe from the centre of each circle. The paste will come out smoothly and spread out equally from this centrepoint.
8. Dab some mixture onto each corner of the baking paper so it sticks to the tray. Leave aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. This is the trick to create the “feet” of the macarons.
9. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
10. Bake for 14 minutes and once done, move the baking paper and macarons off the tray and onto a surface that will enable it to cool down fast.
Filling:
- 100ml lemon juice
- 2 eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 55g butter (room temperature, diced)
- 40g caster sugar
- 60g white choc (diced)
1. In a saucepan, simmer the lemon juice on a low heat.
2. Beat together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Once the juice is well heated, pour the mixture in with the juice and keep on a low heat until it starts to thicken. Continue stirring for about 3 minutes.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add in the diced butter and white chocolate. Mix well until everything has melted and uniform in texture.
4. Store the mixture in the fridge for at least an hour to cool.
5. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and pipe the macarons.
Bon appétit!
Let me know how your experience goes, I’d love to see any photos of your own macaron-making journeys. While they are time consuming, I consider to be well worth the trouble, particularly if you’re surprising your Mother!
