Sweet Paul - does it again

I've shared my love for the super talented stylist Paul Lowe aka Sweet Paul before. He showcases his talents through his popular blog and just now has celebrated the release of the 2nd edition of his online magazine. The Fall 2010 issue is packed with beautifully styled images, crafty ideas and drool worthy recipes! I'm just happy that it's still a little cool here so I can appreciate all the hearty, warm food he has in this issue!
Here's a bit of eye-candy to get your week started - but do pop over and browse all 109 pages of the Sweet Paul Fall 2010 emag. It's well worth it!

This table setting on page 102 is lovely and simple with beautiful textures and colours, but how can you look past that incredible lamp by Sarah Foote!

How about this super stylin pumpkin from page 14! Be sure to check out the full design collection!

 

Paul really gets his food prep and styling muscles flexing in a great 6 page mushroom recipe feature. These images are amazing and they look super tasty too!

And to finish off with desert I dare you not to drool over this Salted Caramel and Chocolate cake!

{all images from Sweet Paul Fall 2010}

lavender love

As I watched the bees buzz around my lavender over the weekend I was reminded of a recent Masterchef episode where lavender was used in cooking. I was drooling over the Jam filled donuts with lavender sugar and thrilled at the idea of attempting them... one day.
I love the scent of lavender and would like to have a go at cooking with it. There are plenty of recipes out there for Lavender Cookies, especially shortbread but my favourite is from the I love milk and cookies blog.

Jen not only gives a wonderful background tale about how she came to adapt this recipe, she accompanies it with these lovely, drool worthy pictures! See the story and recipe here! Jen is a Sydney girl living in London, but unfortunately it looks as though she has moved on from her blog with the last post over a year old. Luckily she has left this little gem out there for me to find.

 p.s isn't this a lovely colour combination - the lavender and powder blue!

My little foodie adventure hasn't ended here either. This tale was destined to make a full loop. Travelling through the food blog-isphere (which in itself is a large and wonderful place!) I ended up on another Aussie food blogger site, Spicy Ice Cream. Lisa shares a recipes for Lemon and Ricotta Baked Doughnuts (and I'm back to donuts!) that she has made from Gourmet Traveller magazine. I really like the idea of baking donuts. We don't have a deep fryer so any fried food we make involves a lot of oil and the smell of seems to stick around the house long after the food has been eaten.

I had spotted some lemon and lavender cookie recipes, so I think I could adapt all these recipes into one! Oven baked ricotta and lemon donuts with a dusting lavender sugar. I'll let you know how I go!

custom cupcakes

A little sweet finish to the week.

I just discovered these Cupcake wrappers over at Alfresco Emporium. These laser cut paper wrapper slip over a standard cupcake to really dress them up! They come in packs of 12 and a range of themes, including a little boy friendly cob-web design.

It's probably a bit ostentatious, but don't they look lovely! They could also hide any baking imperfections nicely. Shown here: Seashells, Baby(which comes in both blue and pink),  Butterfly and my favourite Ivy

a comfort place - Honey & Jam

Over the weekend I made a new find - a little place of pure comfort. Best of all it's not just one place, but over many of my online haunts - Flickr, Etsy and Blog-land. What I found was the the delight that is honey & jam.

The lovely Hannah shares both her beautiful images and scrumptious recipes with the world. I really like her style, like the above image, it's warm and comforting. The textures in this image make me all gooey inside - the rough, hand crafted mug (I want one!) and the sticky honey on aged timber = divine. It's like comfort food for my eyes!

 ... and you need not be left hungry. The honey & jam blog is a great source of comfort food recipes. These eggs above, went into her mum's birthday cake - a tres leche cake.
Hannah shares her life, images and her recipes! To get your own comfort fix find honey & jam on Flickr, Etsy (where she sell these lovely images) and her blog.

A monday treat

I thought I would kick the week off with a sugar hit from one of the most beautiful food blogs -cannelle et vanille. A treat, full of mouth watering images where the photos look as delicious as the subjects.
I have mused about macarons previously and the super talented Aran Goyoaga has quite a fabulous collection of my favourite sweets! Scroll through them all here.
Here is just a small sample:

Get your own sugar fix at the wonderful blog, or on flickr, or you can check out Aran's portfolio.

Red Velvet Cupcake - Virtual Sweet Tooth

Would you like your Red Velvet cupcake served with bokeh?, originally uploaded by ~ A.n.a. (catching up!).

I'm trying to be very good and control my sweet tooth. I thought I would enjoy a virtual cupcake this afternoon. This image definitely makes my mouth water - a yummy cupcake captured wonderfully! Not sure it's helping quell my sweet craving... especially when I learn that this cupcake came from The Cupcake Bakery, Sydney. Really happy I don't work in the city!

Sweet Baking - Sugar & Spice Tags

As an out and proud sweet tooth, I wish I had more time for baking. I've already confessed a passion for macarons and even made a (failed) attempt at baking some for Christmas. They will take some practicing to get right. I've stuck to simpler baking since, like some sherry soaked Christmas cakes and some Finnish pulla (sweet buns). I think baked goods are always a nice gift and today I have found some great ways to make them even more presentable. These Sugar & Spice tags add some fun and colour to plates of food.

These are from Farouche's Etsy shop. I like the quirky phrases like this one above about Grandma's dentures.

I also really like the photos of these products. They are so colourful. There is a good mix in the illustration styles but they all have a great retro feel to them and the colours are so vibrant.

  

You can also check out their range of Giclee prints. These come in beautiful, vibrant colours and are all individually hand printed. Once again there is a great sense of humour in the quotes and images.

I am definitely a Farouche fan and am now off to check out their blog.

Sweet nothings

I have labelled this post Sweet Nothings purely because I am so short on time, but find that these are precisely the moments when I need "prettiness" the most. So today's short but oh-so-sweet post is pure eye candy from the incredible gallery of Amy Atlas Events.

 

 

 

I promise another post in the future about this beautiful website - but for now I will leave you to explore for yourself as I gobble down some lunch! Unfortunately mine is nowhere near as appealing as this spread looks! mmmm sweets for lunch what a great idea :-)

Sweeeet macs

I have a current crush to fess up to... macarons! I love to look at them and more importantly to eat them. I think they are the 'new' cupcakes as the sweet of choice for those who embrace the pretty things in life!

What's not to like? These fluffy, divine pillows of eggs, almond meal and sugar, were cleverly concocted by the French and are a delicate, bite-size treat for sweet tooths like me. Don't know your macarons from macaroons - wikipedia can help you out here. The delicate image above however is from Aussie food blog Raspberri Cupcakes (just the name makes me drool a little!) Pop over here to read the fabulous tale behind these beautiful pink creations. She has a brilliant and funny way of telling her story - plus there is a recipe too!

What I really appreciate are the 'work in progress' photos she provides. I really appreciate these when cooking - especially something as complex as macarons. It's comforting to check your on the right path and reading her story it's a little miracle there are any to share at all!

... and then how devine is this shot! Don't you wish it had been you taking the bite! Just rewards for the hard work that goes into making macarons.

For Sydney-siders another local food blogger - Chocolate Suze - has conducted important market research comparing Lindt Maracons with Adriano Zumbo's. Check it out here... and of course if anyone wants to join me in giving a second opinion and verifying the results, I'll be there with bells on. The only question is which ones do we taste test first?

 OH my just read that Adriano Zumbo is celebrating his brithday by creating 60 macaron flavours and turning "the patisserie into a macaron paradise"! When - Tomorrow (november 6th)! 60 crazy flavours including: Iced Vovo, Goats Cheese and Bluebery, Golden Gaytime, Blue Cheese and Pear, Popcorn and Cheeseburger to name just a few! How would you choose?!