Weekend breakfast and a small book review.

So, I received this book during the week. I have wanted Sweet Paul's Eat & Make book since, well, it was released this year. And while I've been waiting VERY impatiently for my paper copy of the 2014 Fall issue of Sweet Paul magazine to arrive (stupid slow international post), I satisfied my Sweet Paul cravings by buying the book (finally). I'm yet to have a proper read through (some wonderful stories of Paul's journey), but flicking through I found a heap of recipes I wanted to try. I am dying to make the baked doughnuts (and finally put my mini doughnut pan to good use), there is an amazing looking lasagne I want to try, a really nice sounding recipe for a Skagen Salad, and of course the World's Best Cake. 

The smoked trout salad really appealed to me. My partner is Swedish, and this just sounded so Scandinavian so I just had to try it for breakfast! And I was soooo not disappointed!

I modified the instructions a bit - I used less smoked trout, used more red onion and shallot (scallion).

I lightly cooked the onion and shallot so we didn't have that raw onion taste for the day. As much as I love raw onion and shallots, the after taste isn't the best. That light cook kept the crunch, but took that after taste away.  

I also used more celery than required, but the more veggies the better! There is also some dill and lemon juice in there, and the dill is really what makes this dish, because dill is amazing and one of my favourite herbs ever. 

Then you mix it all up with a few tablespoons of good quality mayonnaise and done! 

Next, boiling eggs and toasting the rye bread. There is an amazing sounding recipe for Finnish Rye Bread in the book but instead I bought a super amazing rye sourdough. We're really lucky in Australia so have some amazing artisan bread makers, so it's really easy to find really amazing breads of all sorts. The eggs are hard boiled and I was really happy with my egg timing - they were JUST right. That perfect orange-y tinge (because freerange eggs are the best) with that slight hint of moisture. Then it's just simply assembling and there you have it. The most amazingly delicious Scandinavian-style smoked trout breakfast! Will 100%, definitely make this again. My new go-to weekend breakfast!

Sooooo yum!

So! There you have it! One of the most delicious breakfasts ever! Can't wait to have it again....

#1 A little bit of honey...

These "Little bit of honey..." posts will be where I talk about the good things at the moment. So, this is post number 1 in this series!

Even though we're officially in spring now, the camellia tree is still flowering, the last breath of winter. I love this tree and how when all of the leaves are off the trees, these trees are covered in gorgeous pink blooms. Although I love winter a lot, spring flowers always make me happy and to have these gorgeous flowers through the chilly months, always puts a smile on my face. 

I finished reading Pride and Prejudice! It took me just under 4 weeks, which I think is pretty good time considering I'm usually only reading it for an hour or so each weekday on the way home from work. The verdict? I loved it. I still think Persuasion is my favourite of Austen's novels so far, but I finally get all the hype around this book. I don't personally see Mr Darcy as nearly an amazing romantic figure as people claim him to be, I can understand why he has a fan base, but he's no Captain Wentworth...

On crafty-ness

Over the past couple of years, I have turned into a crazy craft lady. Yes, I may be 20-something, but already I'm well on my way to being a granny. What non-crafty people don't realise though is that craft is like, so hot right now.
I started off with quilting - my first quilt was made as a gift for my bf''s mum for Christmas a couple years ago. Since then I haven't had such a tight deadline to get a quilt done, so my next one, a granny square quilt, had been very, very slow. Have to cut some 300+ 2 1/2in squares, and I think I'm close to half cut, but I am taking it pretty easy.

Nice little pile of the California Girl range by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda (and a nice Tilda backdrop)

Went on to cutting some more of my fabrics for this today. I would really love to get started on sewing soon, but alas, heaps more fabric to cut. If I can at least get a few blocks sewn by the end of the year I'd be happy.

Close up of some Tilda fabric - seriously love this fabric!

As much as I love quilting, it can be a bit of a hassle to go to the table and cut fabric or sew after a long day. This is where I'm really happy that I taught myself to crochet. I've seen so many amazing things on Pinterest, there are some incredibly talented people out there. So, I took a day over the Christmas holidays last year, and taught myself the basics in one day. Made one lap blanket which took up a few months, but now I'm 172 squares into a 224 square blanket. Might seem like a lot, but if I can knock off a few a day, I can get there pretty quickly. Then it's just a matter of joining and making a boarder and then I'll have a queen size bed crochet blanket!

Pretttttyyyyy

The thing I really, really love about crochet is how mindless it is. I can just pick it up (although colour selection now is getting quite slim - picking from my 20 colours, which combo I haven't done yet is thankfully easy thanks to my colour chart!) when I'm watching the tv after a long day. I just need to make sure I don't get cramps in my arm if I crochet for too long!

Mmmmm pretty colours.
My big problem is I just have way too many projects - in my head. I'll be working on one at a time, but I have so many ideas in my head and I just can't wait to start them! Once I'm done with this blanket, I have a really really cool idea for the next one!