Christmas Shopping List

I really do admire people who manage to be organised. One of my sister's is like this, she's the organised one of us - always keeping in regular contact with family and friends, always the one to remember (in advance) when someone's birthday or some sort of event is coming up. She has two beautiful young boys, works part time, and yet still manages to find the energy to get everything done - mostly making it look effortless!

But, if you're anything like me around this time of year you'll have countless pieces of paper lying around the house with lists, lists and more lists! Lists of people you need to send cards to, lists of people you need to give presents to, lists of christmas parties and events, lists of things you need to bake for the big day - the list just goes on and on (pun intended). I've recently been introduced to the blog of a shop that I love (thanks to my sister, A) - the shop is called Lark, and it's blog is The Lark Blog. While scrolling back and reading through their entries I came across this fantastic free printable. It combines all of your lists onto one very cute page. I'm planning on printing a couple out for myself to put up on the fridge - no more endless pieces of paper for me!

What about you lovelies? Do you have anything special or cooking related on your wishlist this year? Are you organised with your plans for Christmas?

Breakfast at Emporium on Piper, Kyneton

After staying at my sister, A's, house over the weekend, we decided to head into Kyneton for breakfast. It was a toss up between a couple of cafes but in the end we chose Emporium on Piper - a place that we've both been a few times and really enjoyed. It's a little bit seperate from the main strip of shops on Piper St - and I probably wouldn't have found it unless my sister had originally told me about it. The photo (above) shows the entrance to the cafe, but around to the left there's another entrance (actually on Piper St) which takes you past some outdoor tables and in to the shop side of the Emporium. That's definitely worth checking out as well, as they have lots of great looking products. But for now we'll stick to the cafe and breakfast!

One thing I always know when I go to Emporium on Piper is that I'll get a great coffee. It's consistantly good - I'm not sure what brand they use but they should definitely stick with it. We both ended up having two of these - skinny for me and normal for A.

I love having eggs for breakfast - especially poached (it makes me feel like I'm being just that little bit more healthy) but when I spotted this dish of sauteed mushrooms and thyme on grilled sourdough with goat cheese I couldn't resist. And the waiter kindly allowed me to have a couple of poached eggs on the side. I wasn't wrong - the combination was amazing.

A decided to have the BLT with local bacon, lettuce, slow roasted tomato and avocado mayo. She was torn between this and the corn fritters, but saw on FourSquare that someone had proclaimed this the best BLT. And they weren't wrong, apparently - A said this was one of the best BLT's she's ever had - although it looked a little messy.

Around the cafe they had all these different products that you could buy - going from hot chocolate to cold drinks to jars of sauces and chutneys. Behind us though, these boxes and bottles of cake decorating things caught my eye (surprise surprise!). I just wanted to buy all of them.

Excuse the blurriness in this photo. I thought I'd still include it to show you the range of products they had.

These were my favourites - I wanted to buy a tube of each colour, but couldn't really afford to at that price. I might have to save my pennies and buy myself a tube or two in the future.

Details:
Emporium on Piper
89 Piper St,
Kyneton
Victoria 3444
Ph. (03) 54226611

My new toy!

After much yearning, and finally a fairly good tax return, I decided to go out and buy myself a KitchenAid. Isn't it pretty -

As you can see I went for the imperial grey which I love. I felt it was just that bit different, yet still would go with any kitchen. The other colour I was leaning towards was the red, but I thought that the grey was more 'me'. I ended up getting it at a nearby shop called Zoe's Kitchen who had brand new machines for $699 and refurbished ones for $599. I decided to spend the little bit extra to get a brand new one, with the 5 year warranty. And of course, now I'm yearning for all the attachments that you can get with it - especially the pasta and ice cream ones! I've already ordered an extra paddle from Amazon that has rubber along one side which automatically scrapes the bowl for you.

Oh! Hi!