Kitchen Tea

Weddings and Babies, these seem to be the things that everyone is doing! I was looking through my old blog posts and realised that i never actually posted anything about the lead up to my wedding, or even our actual wedding day! Mind you, I think I had like zero readers 2 and a half years ago, so that’s probably why.

You might know (I hope you do!) that I’m going to be a bridesmaid for my friend Carmen in October, and this has got me thinking about all the pre-wedding things you do. The post, and the next two (not necessarily the VERY next two) will be explaining the pre-wedding celebrations that I had before I got married.

My Kitchen Tea

What it is: A party for the bride, similar to a bridal shower, but with a focus on the kitchen. Guests usually bring a kitchen-realated gift. It’s generally a ‘girls only’ thing. When I was reading up about it I discovered that it’s mostly an Australian thing, is this true I wonder?

Anyway, we did mine a little different anyway… you’ll see soon!

Time before wedding: Mine was about two or three weeks before our wedding.

Who was invited: My famale family members including nana, mother-in-law, sister-in-law. Most guests were women from my church, around my mum’s age. I didn’t really have friends my age there, but I did have a few though who had come with their mums, or who couldn’t make it to other pre-wedding events. The main ‘purpose’ of the night was a bit of a ‘wise women’ sharing secrets of the kitchen with me!

Atmosphere: There was a lovely atmosphere that night. Everyone was just enjoying it, and had fun explaining their recipes and gifts. My mum’s friend, Anne, hosted it at her place, and she is such an amazing hostess!

What happened: we asked each guest to bring a recipe- something they liked to cook, and the ingredients necessary to make it (but not things that would go off before the wedding). We did it this way because before I got married I lived at home, with my family, and when Luke and I got married and moved in together we wouldn’t have any of those pantry basics. So then each woman there explained their recipe and gift. A lot of the recipes were either family recipes, or favourites of their family, which was really special.

My nana gave me the recipe for my Papa’s potato and leek soup. He loved to cook it . We were both sitting there nearly in tears as she gave it to me. The only thing I wish was different about my wedding was that he could have been there.

Thanks for visiting my site again! keep checking back for more updates!

Tags: bride, bridetobe, celebration, kitchen, kitchentea, pantrytea, wedding

A New Addition! -guest post

I’d like you to welcome today’s guest blogger- Fridge. Fridge is just new to blogging, so lets support her with lots of lovin’!

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Wow, my first attempt at blogging, how exciting! I’m only a new addition to the Carbis household too, and boy, am I getting a workout!! I’ve been filled up SO many times, and emptied as well! I am always FULL of different kinds of Tupperware, which I love. I think it adds a bit of colour to my complexion… I’m certainly enjoying being in such an open house- not like the clunky back dock at Joyce Maine. Talia says that she knew I was perfect when the men rolled me instead of carrying me. She appreciates the fact that I can look after myself like that.

Anyway, I’m really here to raise an important issue with you- appliance equality. A lot of appliances, and other kitchen products feel like there is always that one ‘special’ product that gets more TLC, more attention, and more use. Think of your poor blenders, wine coolers, mortar and pestle that never get used! The poor things have SUPPORT GROUPS to deal with the grief of not being used as often as they were designed too!! ‘Major’ appliances, like mix masters and microwaves never seem to be part of these… but they could be in your house, so watch out!!

I’ve attended a few of these meetings as a mentor because, well, I’ve had some issues with rejection in the past… and these are some ideas we thought of to help you make better use of your appliances!

1. Put us where you can see us! If you don’t have lots of bench space, that’s fine, but please try to put us at the front of the cupboard! Out of sight, out of mind!

2. Think, think about it! Why not PLAN to make a meal using one of us! If you can never think of a way to use a pestle and mortar, then why not make something like a Lamb Korma, buy the spices ‘whole’ instead of ‘ground’ and ground them up yourself! You’ll be suprised how easy it is- and how much it adds to the flavours of the dish!

3. Phone a friend. If you’ve got an appliance you don’t really use much, you could do an appliance swap! Ask a friend if they have something they don’t use much either, and swap for a week! The person who can think of the most ways to use the other’s appliance gets s home cooked dinner from the other one! This would be fun in a bigger group then 2 as well.

4. Google It. Maybe there are ways to use your appliances that you’ve just never thought of before? Have a search around the inter-webs and see what you can find!

5. Plan an outing. Never use that meat marinator? Then plan to have a bbq at the beach where you use it! Special occasions are the perfect time to use these things!

6. Give us away! If you really don’t think you’ll use us, then please put us in a new home where they will!

7. Use us unconventionally! If you really think you’ll never use your wine cooler AS a wine cooler, then use it as a vase! A container! A kids toy! A beer holder! JUST USE IT!!

Hopefully this has given you some pointed tips on how you use the products in your kitchen a little more effectively!! I will now leave you with a photo of my glorious self!

Tags: appliance, fridge, guest post, kitchen, korma, products, tips

The Bag Bag….

The night before last we finished all our TV series we were watching (LOST & Fringe mostly- WOW to the endings of both!!), which meant that last night I got the opportunity to do some more creative things! I had just been grocery shopping, and had left over plastic bags (yes, sometimes I use plastic bags- they’re handy for bins and such!). I don’t really have anywhere to put them, and had just been stuffing them in spare spaces in the kitchen! So I decided to do something about it!

The idea of the bag bag is simple enough- I didn’t use a pattern, and don’t have one for you either, you can just make it how you want. The basic idea though is to get a piece of material the length you want the bag bag to be (plus extra for turning over). Mine was 70-odd centimeters long, and 40-odd centimeters wide. I just folded it in half and ironed it all flat. Because I was using a scrappy piece of material, I ironed over where I wanted to sew the edges together.

Once that was sewn up I folded over the edges, and sewed around each.

Once they were folded over I just cut a little hole in it (this is all inside out by the way), so that I could tread through the straps I’d made. You could obviously use elastic, or ribbon, or a rope… anything really. I liked the idea of using something I could tie so that I could adjust it once I’d started using it.

Thread it through……

Now, this was my only little idea that I actually had myself (the rest has been basic, and the same as any other I’ve seen…). For the top, I used a longer cord, and instead of gathering it till it was the right size and then tying it off there, I just tied it at the end of the cords, so that I had a hanger!

Now it’s hangin’ in my pantry lookin’ all dandy! This was REALLY easy to make, so you should give it a try and then let me know how it went!

Tags: bag, cloth, fringe, howto, kitchen, lost, material, orange, plastic, Sewing, tutorial, useful