VIDA

Friends in France...

2009-12-14T14:18:00.002+11:00

My dear friend in France knows I love these biscuits and she was EXTREMELY generous to send me not 1 or 2, not even 5 or 6 boxes but no less than 14!!!!!!!! You have to love your friends in France - I know I adore mine!!! This is a painting I did to remind us of our time in Madrid... not bad for freehand and my first time... I am proud of me!

Childhood Christmas memories...

2009-12-13T18:51:00.004+11:00

What I remember about the family christmas tree of my youth is the lollies that my mother used to decorate the tree... they were Italian and they had ruffled ends... these were of various colours and my mother would have us string them on the tree... we would then eat them after the tree came down... so there was never the usual unpacking of decorations really... we used to have a real tree that was then used for firewood and the ash was worked in to the garden bed... nothing was wasted and all was done and dusted very quickly...

Years later when we came to Australia we bought a plastic tree and mum always used feathered birds to decorate the tree and I remember at some point buttlerflies joined the birds as decorations...

The girls and I made our own decorations many years ago and spent a good few days of the school holidays busy at the dinning table, cutting, sewing, buttoning and beading these...

Merry Christmas to all...

Visitors of the feathered variety...

2009-12-13T17:52:00.003+11:00

Just some of the little visitors that pass through...

Sunsets

2009-12-13T12:38:00.002+11:00

St Kilda beach has the most amazing sunsets... we are lucky enough to live on the 5th floor and we get such a clear view of the sky... it's just magic...

AWOL...

2009-09-06T17:28:00.000+10:00

Gone to Paris, London, Madrid, Rome, Lyon, Provence, Toulouse and Chantilly... see you soon... x

Bali

2009-07-18T14:23:00.004+10:00

Just a snipet of my time in Bali... more to follow... I swam in the sea at Sanur...

Made lifelong friends...

Ate like a queen...

Watched beautiful sunsets whilst sipping cocktails at Ku De Ta...

I watched over a dozen of the world's best Karate black belts (and higher) and even took a class!!!

Watched a traditional ceremony (western ceremony took place the following day) which was so symbolic...

Took an indonesian cooking class run by a Melbourne girl in Ubud...

Smiled a lot!!!!!!!!!!

Stayed in a palace...

Bali was beautiful... I attended the most beautiful wedding on earth...

Bali

2009-04-06T21:17:00.004+10:00

Seems these days all I do is ask for travel advice and here I am yet again, begging for more travel advice... I am off to Bali in July for a wedding... my dear friend Y is having a reception and I am lucky enough to have an invite... I have a little over a week in Bali prior to the wedding so I have plenty of time to explore...

This is where I am staying http://www.villabeji.com and I don't have any transport whilst there so would appreciate somewhere close by if possible.

I would love any advice anyone has to offer!

Vida x

Singapore here I come...

2008-12-08T21:39:00.003+11:00

I am all ears to anyone with any advice on my adventure to Singapore... I will be attending a couple of cupcake courses there and eating lots of EVERYTHING... If anyone knows the wheres and hows of Singapore I would appreciate your advice.

Vida x

Some old, some new, some even Crabapple Bakery style...

2008-08-20T14:06:00.003+10:00

Experiments in styles...

My favourite at the moment is the "clouds with stars and moon"... Vida x

Feasting on French Fare...

2008-08-07T20:11:00.002+10:00

Can you believe that I got these at the little fruit shop in Carlisle Street... how good is this? French wild mushrooms (at wild prices) and they smell like the earth itself... just a couple of handfuls made my sauce the best thing ever... good fillet steak from Leon's (also on Carlisle Street) and a potatoe, sugar snap peas, tomato, bacon and pesto salad and dinner was divine... Oh and did I mention... I painted this plate myself!?!?!?

Vida x

Ella's Sweet 16th...

2008-08-05T22:07:00.009+10:00

Ella turned 16 today and of course I was on cupcake duty... She had done work experience at one of Australia's most renowned restaurants and picture below was taken there... she had 20 friends join her for some dinner and lots of giggles... These were for a girl called Em who celebrated her 21st last weekend...

She wanted purple, pink and green as a theme...

I tried to vary the styles a bit...

I got lots of praise and my cupcakes were a hit...

Until next time... Vida x

Crabapple Bakery - forget them!!!

2008-07-11T18:47:00.005+10:00

These are some designs I have been playing with lately... I like this colour combo...

Using lollies with texture for centrepieces...
These flowers and butterflies are handmade... I even made the sugarpaste from scratch!!!

Vida x

Crabapple Bakery - Big Shoes to Fill...

2008-06-23T19:54:00.003+10:00

I am sure you have all heard the Crabapple Bakery went into voluntary liquidation earlier this month and so now there is a huge gap in the market where they left off... I cannot say that I am the one to fill that gap but I certainly will give it a shot... I have started to receive some commerical orders already and I am lucky enough to have access to a commerial kitchen in which to fill those orders... These are some cupcakes I made over the weekend including the handmade flowers...

My classes are getting lots of attention too with the school holidays commencing soon so I might be too busy to post over the next few weeks... Vida x

Las Chicas...

2008-06-14T13:24:00.005+10:00

My cupcakes are now available at Las Chicas in Carlisle Street, Balaclava... a short distance from home and my favourite St Kilda haunt...

I hope your guys get a chance to see them there, my cupcakes are on trial to see how things go but I am hoping I will be supported and that they sell well enough to survive... Vida x

The Business Card Company...

2008-06-03T19:10:00.004+10:00

Yippie, hooray, the Business Card Company have printed my business cards and I am so pleased... I did my homework for months and shopped around to get the best price and these guys were it...

The used one of my photos but they are very apt at doing whatever you need them to do!! Their prices were almost the same as if I had gone to Officeworks and done them myself... who wants to go through the trouble!!! I had checked out quite a number of the printers out there including the big chains and honestly these guys did it for less then half and almost a quarter to what all the others were charging... A lot of the work was done over the phone and through email and I believe you can pay to have it delivered even so if you are interstate it could work too... so guys I have done the leg work for you and all you have to do is call these guys and get your cards done... easy as 1 - 2 - 3.... Vida x

The Business Card Co. (Aust) Pty Ltd
Suite 2,

297 Bay Street,

Brighton 3186

Phone (03) 9530 8100

http://www.tbcc.com.au/

Email: inform@tbcc.com.au

A rose by any other name...

2008-06-03T12:10:00.008+10:00

This is my "rose" pasta... I got this idea from a fellow blogger who sadly now has invited guest only to her blog... a loss for everyone...

I filled these with goats cheese, roasted pumpkin and amaretto biscuits...

There is no recipe as I just made the pasta and add the filling along the length of the pasta... with the rough edges coming together to look thinner and petal like when rolled around... I made these ages ago so my memory is quite vague but I think I used either water or egg wash to "glue" the ends together... I then popped them into the freezer whilst I got the water ready... Angelika was firm on this advice as they held together with the freezing and you could then cook them at your leisure or leave them in the freezer...

Alana plans to do them for a school project and I have suggested using beetroot to colour the pasta and laying them on a bed of leaves so they look a lot more like roses as such...

I will post those photos once she is ready...

Vida x

Birthday Photos...

2008-05-12T19:55:00.005+10:00

Flowers from E,

Beautiful indulgent therapy at St Kilda Sea Baths from L,

Chocolates from A,

I made these,

This is me trying every pose in the book to avoid the "double chin"... am not too sure it worked but I did my best...

I had my spa treatment today and I feel radiant, silky smooth and I think I even dozed of at one stage but luckily my snoring woke me!!!

A funny point on the night - I invited three couples and ALL the women had names starting with V, there was me Vida, a friend of 28 years called Varinia, a friend for the last decade Veronica, and a more recent friend called Viviane - what are the chances?!?!? I mean there is not a Susan amongst us, V starting names are not common by any measure... just another oddity in my life... one I will never figure out I guess!!!

I had one of the best birthdays I have ever had in my life and I felt GREAT... life really is good at the moment!!!

Vida x

BIRTHDAY GIRL....

2008-05-10T07:55:00.002+10:00

It's my birthday today... photos will follow later today... 44 and feeling good! Vida x

Click away....

2008-05-08T08:09:00.005+10:00

Thanks to the wonderous Christie, you can now just click on the little cupcake with the red flower to your right on the side panel and you will be directed to my website... which will be updated soon to include new pictures... These terrific photos were taken by the lovely Jackie... so this is REAL teamwork!!! Vida x

Photos at last...

2008-05-06T21:12:00.002+10:00

Quince preserved, jellied and pasted....

2008-05-03T21:13:00.005+10:00

Pasted???? is that even right???

Sorry for the lack of posts but my camera cord is broken and I really am unable to upload to the laptop (any suggestions please sing out!!!) and so it seems a bit funny to just write without photos...

Anyway tonight the girls went off to the footy with family and friends and I had the run of the house (must get used to saying apartment) and it was time for me to catch up on kitchen capers. The quince were really waiting for me to get into action so finally I did and in a big way... well three ways that is, first preserved in my trustee Fowlers Vacola preserving "thing", then I cut some up and made a paste and I dare not waste the skin, pips and bits because they all went into a pot with water and sugar to make jelly. I almost thought I could make a cordial too but exhaustion got the better of me and really I did not have THAT many quince.

So now I wait for everything to cool a little then I can store it all away. The quince paste will take a week or so to set and then I can wrap that up and label/tag it. I do have some lovely tags my dear friend gifted me last year and I might just use them and return the favour by giving her some paste.

I hope I can get some pictures tomorrow and somehow upload them to show you. I will miss the sweet perfume the quince have delighted me with these past few weeks sitting on my coffee table but I will enjoy eating them too... Perhaps a little bit of the jelly as my liquid for a few cupcakes or even in the icing perhaps... yum...

Pink and pretty is all I see in the jars in my kitchen, such glee!!! Ahhh a poet to boot!!

Perhaps the lovely Jackie would like some of my spoils for all her talents helping me photograph my cupcakes, in order to update my website... lookout Jackie, I am coming your way!!!

Vida x

Now Available...

2008-04-19T21:17:00.012+10:00

My cupcakes (I Bake Babycakes t/a Class Cupcake) are now available at the award winning Red Rhumba Cafe Restaurant, 98 Waverley Road, Malvern East... Drop by, have a coffee, say hello to Kevin the owner and sample my very own cupcakes!! Vida x

Red Rhumba doesn't have a website but you can still look it up and here's a link to the cafe on Your Restaurants. (Thanks Thanh.

http://yourrestaurants/redrhumba"

Vida x

Big in the Country and lots of Country Hospitality!

2008-04-10T19:29:00.005+10:00

Oooops, I bragged about being on page 3 when in fact, on seeing the paper again, it's page 8, which really kinda looks like 3!!! Anyway I done good, just to get there at all!!!! This is the Ararat newspaper and lady furthest to my left (your right) is Jenny, a dear and wonderful friend who helped me and my family settle into a new neighbourhood more than a decade ago... she lost her father just three short months after I lost mine... the lady closest to myself is Judy (her mum) and the wife to Bill who lost his life to cancer. Judy wanted to raise $5,000 in Bill's honour and I am proud to have been asked to help and proud to say she more than achieved her goal!!!! Not bad considering how hard the country has been hit by draught etc.

The money will go to The Cancer Council for research/and or whatever their needs may be. A plaque will be put up in Bills memory... Both my parents suffered from cancer and I was also doing this very much for them both...

These cute "cupcakes" are made of soap and were gifted to me by Jenny in recognition of my support of this fundraiser... The quince is from Judy's tree, also gifted to me as well as eggs, chutney, chocolates and so much more...

I do so love fresh produce, free range eggs and lovely homemade goods... I really appreciated all my gifts... oh and did I mention I was taken to a lovely lunch in a sweet cafe in Ararat too!! I cannot tell you the number of people that thanked me for my cupcake efforts too, I felt very appreciated and cared for...

Judy held a fashion parade for over 100 people, a morning tea for more than 30 (I went up twice over the last month to help with the food for both), a relay and a garage sale... she worked so hard to show her love and respect of her husband of over 50 years... I met Bill on many occasions and he was a good, honest man... they both were very avid fundraisers in their community and again it was a pleasure to give back to them both...

Thank you to all of you who take the time to share my experiences...

My living room is perfumed with the sweet fragrance of quince... time for sweet dreams and rest... Vida x

Classes & Catering...

2008-04-09T10:57:00.002+10:00

Thank you to those of you who told me my website sucks... it's ok... I am learning and it is a work in progress clearly... I will get there and it will be great... feels good to know what is wrong because then I can fix it or more to the point get someone more capable to fix it...

On the other hand the catering aspect is going along in leaps and bounds... it started with an order for 2 dozen and then it became an order for 10 dozen and this week again an order for 10 dozen...

This picture shows the latest order for 10 dozen... they look like little soldiers... this one was never going to be too intricate as it was for a fundraiser and I was wearing all the cost (not the way to do good business) but they still look cute and hopefully I will get a student or two come my from it... wish me luck, I am travelling to Ararat with these babies in tow... Vida x

Class Cupcake Begins in a Few Weeks...

2008-04-04T09:58:00.004+11:00

Well I have done it... I have put up a website advertising my classes and now I hope people will be interested enough to attend...

Supplies have started to arrive and I hope I am ready!!!!

I will (as the website tells you) share all my knowledge about cupcakes... I have spent almost two years researching all I can and I will not be holding back any information... I will give you a goodie bag to take home which includes piping bags and nozzles, cupcake liners in assorted colours, also 4 food colourings to get started with, I will show you techniques, I will give you many recipes and it will all be done in under 3 hours and hopefully it will be comfortable and welcoming in my own home... I will provide cupcakes to decorate and take home... You only need to bring yourself and nothing else...

My website is http://www.classcupcake.com.au/

Let me know what you think... If you think I could add more to the experience please let me know!! Vida x