The sweetest baby gift

My mother-in-law recently gave me the sweetest littlest baby gift ever - a coat and a bonnet she had handmade for Stu when he was a newborn!

Despite being over 40 years old, they are in immaculate condition. It's hard to imagine Stu, my tall, big, handsome husband ever being small enough to fit into these. Hehe. But then I was presented with photographic evidence:

I cannot wait to dress my baby up in Stu's old bonnet and coat. I am beyond amazed and so touched I cried happy tears. What was the BEST baby gift you received?

Upside down cinnamon plum cake

I almost always buy plums when I see them at the shops. They're sweet and juicy and the skin provides just the right amount of tartness. But I've never cooked with them before.

Then I chanced upon this recipe via Sue's blog. I knew right away I would be making this on the weekend. I was so smitten with the colours of the cake; golden brown and yellow inside, red and dark purple on top. How gorgeous and very autumn like!

This recipe is adapted from here. I skipped the raisins and cloves because I didn't have any in the pantry. To compensate, I went a bit nuts with the cinnamon because as far as I'm concerned,there's no such thing as too much cinnamon.

Ingredients

4 plums, halved and de-stoned

1 cup self raising flour

150g of butter, softened

1 cup raw brown sugar

2 eggs

Generous sprinkling of ground cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius

2. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.

3. Place the halved plums cut side down on the bottom of the tin.

4. Put the flour, butter, sugar, eggs, salt and cinnamon into the food processor and pulse until the mixture forms a thick smooth consistency.

5. Spoon the mixture over the plums, smoothing over the top to ensure the tin is evenly filled.

6. Bake in oven for 40 minutes.

7. Allow to cool in the tin. Then place a wire cooling rack over the top of the tin and turn the cake out, upside down. Lift off the greaseproof paper carefully.

Antipodes Apostle Skin-Brightening and Tone-Correcting Serum: review and giveaway!

Ever since when I was growing up, I had dry skin which meant that while my peers were battling acne and spots, I was blessed with spotless clear skin. Now that I'm in my thirties though, I found the same dry skin condition is now making my skin look dehydrated and dull. I very quickly realised that I was going to need something "supercharged" to combat these problems and I believe I have found it in Antipodes' Apostle Skin-Brightening and Tone-Correcting Serum.

This product was sent to me by the lovely people at Antipodes, a New Zealand based organic skincare brand that uses carefully select bioactive extracts from sustainably cultivated native plants to create products that are scientifically and clinically shown to help promote youthful skin. No synthetic preservatives or nasty chemicals here!

The Apostle Serum is water-based; more specifically, it uses Waiwera's artesiam water which comes from deep within the earth and is blessed with a variety of beneficial minerals. This explains its water-light consistency, which makes it super easy for the skin to absorb without leaving a sticky or oily residue. I pat on a few drops every morning and night before my day or night cream.

This products promises results in 5 days, but let me tell you this: my skin felt immediately softer and smoother after just 1 application. With repeated use over 4-5 weeks, my skin maintained that softness and I'm spotting a nice natural glow (though, I admit that might be also be due to my pregnancy).  In any case, this is one product I'm happy with and highly recommend to anyone concerned about skin dullness.

Giveaway time! Antipodes is giving 1 lucky reader the chance to win a full size bottle of their Apostle Skin-Brightening and Tone-Correcting Serum (RRP: NZD$65.00). For your chance to win, simply tell me as a comment on this post, why you would like to try this product. There's just one condition: you must either 'like' my Facebook Page or follow me on Goggle Friend Connect or on BlogLovin.

Giveaway ends on Friday 24th May, 5pm EST and is open to Australian residents only. Good luck!

DIY embellished hair combs

I have a little stash of old earrings, discarded rhinestones, beads and buttons that I knew someday I would find a use for. On the weekend, I put my crafting hat on and Voila! Inspiration struck and I set off to make these embellished hair combs. Here's how you can make your own too.

You'll need:
Beads, rhinestones, buttons, earrings, brooches, pearls etc
Plastic hair combs
Fabric ibbon
Thread and needle
Hot glue gun
Scissors

For the rhinestone hair comb:

1. Tie a knot with ribbon at one end of the hair comb.
2. Weave the ribbon in and out of the teeth of the hair comb. When you have reached the end of the hair comb, weave back in opposite direction and tie a knot at the end to secure.
3. If using old earrings, twist off the spikes using a pair of pliers
4. Add your rhinestone, beads, buttons or other pieces to the hair comb using a hot glue gun. Make sure to overlap so the ribbon doesn't show.

For the beaded hair comb:

1. Tie a knot with ribbon at one end of the hair comb, making sure to leave enough ribbon to tie into a bow.
2. Weave the ribbon in and out of the teeth of the hair comb. When you have reached the end of the hair comb, weave back in opposite direction and tie a bow at the end to secure.
3. Thread pearls through and weave in and out of the comb. When you have reached the end, make 3 or 4 back stitches to secure the thread and cut off the excess.

Herbarium series #3

My vegetable garden is in a bit of a state at the moment. Only the toughest, most established herbs and chilli plants have survived; everything else looks a little bit sad and dry. So today, I'm bringing you herbs from my mother-in-law's garden!

I love the dandelion-esque flowers on the garlic chives - how pretty and unexpected. I've been told the flowers are delicious in stirfries when they are still tender but these were too far gone for me to try. The basil flowers seem to bring in the bees in drives, it must produce some sweet nectar.

Are you growing any herbs at the moment?