Results from the Donna Hay Challenge #1

The results are in with the challenge and I think it is clear that I am not a second Donna Hay.  I must first point out that I have never made macaroons or tasted macaroons.  So I think next time I will pick something that I know a little about.
The recipe was easy to follow, it didn't need any exotic grocery items, meaning I had all the things in my pantry already.  You already know that it is not possible to 'duck down the shops' in my part of the world. 

It was a little time consuming to make these macaroons.  Once I worked out that making a piping bag out of zip lock bags was the easiest way to get little dollops of mix onto the trays and then also to fill them with the chocolate filling, it saved a bit of time.
The big question is, 'Will I make them again?'.  Probably not.  At this point in my life I don't have a lot of spare fiddling time.  I like to get something in the oven and see results pretty fast.  I did enjoy making them though.  It was fun to try and make something special and play around with the photos.  I must also point out that I will never get a job with Donna as a stylist/photographer for her magazine.
They tasted fabulous and the jar was almost empty after our school cluster.

Donna Hay Challenge

Picture from Donna Hay

 I was very lucky for my birthday and Kristy bought me a subscription to the Donna Hay magazine.  It arrived in the mail this week and it is beautiful.  Her magazine really catches your eye (like I explained here once before).  I would love to sit in on a shoot one day and watch them create the beautiful layouts for each photo.  I think this would be my dream job, styling for Donna Hay or Country Style magazine.
This magazine really feeds my addiction to these types of things, smooth, glossy, inspiring and beautiful.
I did have thoughts of taking some photos of the magazine and making them look all beautiful for this post but I have run out of time.  I am trying to get school finished for the week, pack my family and horses for a gymkhana this weekend, AnK stuff and all the other boring housey things that need to be done before you go away.
So I am challenging myself to cook something out of each magazine and share it with you.  I will make more things out of the magazine but it will depend if they look like 'the picture' or not if I share them with you.  We all have that problem don't we?  I am sure it's not just me.

On Tuesday we have a school cluster day and we have to take a shared smoko.  So my challenge recipe for this magazine is the 'White Chocolate Macaroons' and I will take them as my shared smoko.
I have never made macaroons before so this is definitely a challenge.  The challenge is also to make them look like Donna's.

See you all next week with my results.

I LOVE Donna Hay

While I was in town on Monday afternoon I dropped into the newsagent and straight away this mag caught my eye.  It's funny what colours catch your attention and that is why I probably love pastels so much.  I see them everywhere
I am in love with the colours in Donna Hays Kids recipe book.  The pastels are so creamy and delicious looking.  The little melted choc cups on the front cover are just so cute.  I think I may use this idea for one the girls birthdays.  I may put some yummy ice-cream and toppings in them, or a little cake with a topping of some sort.  Those little cake stands are just gorgeous too.
I have decided that I may need to find myself some beautiful pastel kitchen ware.  Any ideas were to start or what items I should start with?

Angie

Cupcake Fever

Although it's still 3 weeks away Miss M and Master T have already began planning their 8th birthday.  The Donna Hay Kids Issues are spread all over my lounge room floor with ear marked pages on birthday party ideas.  Master T has requested a figure 8 race car track and Miss M after much deliberation wants a Giant Cupcake Cake !! So the Wilton Cupcake tin has been ordered and I have started the shopping list - chocolate bullets, musk sticks, lollipops, sprinkles......lots of icing sugar !!  We have also been practising perfecting our cupcake recipe.  I have finally found one that appears to be foolproof.

We made these little butterfly cakes yesterday and they worked out quite well.....and even tasted better than they looked.......filled with strawberry jam and whipped cream....YUM !!  Now onto the present list - Miss M wants a pettiskirt, a charm bracelet, more rainbow fairy books and some new singstar games.  Master T has an impressive list - motorbike (I don't think so !!), nintendo ds lite, pocket knife (!!!).  Now that our creek is down we're off to the shops - 6 hour return journey for us so hopefully I can fit in all the cake decorating, party food and present shopping lists whilst negotiating the list of dozer parts, cattle vaccine, ribbon supplies and groceries.  In the meantime we'll just enjoy our last week of school holidays :(

Don't forget our giveaway is still open until Australia Day - check out our previous posts or have a look at our Facebook Fans for more details.

Have a great weekend

Kristy