Twas a Bonanza indeed!

The Thornbury Craft Bonanza returned to my house yesterday (not really in Thornbury I know).

Bev bought over these delicious cupcakes that she made using the Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe from Homemade - The Handmade Help Recipe Book.

Liesl bought over her soon to be prize winning scones - good luck with getting the scones to the showgrounds today Liesl!

I spent the afternoon whipping up a couple of adult sized crazy chefs hats.

Bev and Anna are going to wear them at the official launch of Homemade - The Handmade Help Recipe Book.

But first, we had to test them out, just to make sure that they could withstand the pressure in the kitchen.....

Serena doing an impression of the Swedish Chef from The Muppets!

Me - all chef hatted out (can you see my new curtains in the background)?

Bev selling the Cookbook
Bec looking like she's disco dancing....

....and Annabel who managed to colour co-ordinate the chefs hat with her t-shirt...clever girl!

Now why didn't we get a silly photo of Liesl in a crazy chefs hat????

We all missed Cathy who was sick in bed today..... can't wait 'til the next one girls.

The proof is in the pudding

I ended up going with the Sausage Bake recipe from the cookbook for dinner lastnight (which was delicious). I didn't have any cherry tomatoes, so I substituted a tin of diced tomatoes instead, which still worked perfectly. It's a great one pot (one oven dish) recipe which made cleaning up a breeze.

While the Sausage Bake was in the oven, I whipped up the Self Saucing Chocolate Sponge pudding. My vintage pyrex bowl was a little small, so I just stood it in a small oven tray to bake (luckily it caught all of the overflow)....

The best bit about living alone - I get the whole pudding to myself!

Cooking up a storm

My pre-ordered copies of Homemade - The Handmade Help Recipe Book arrived this week.

I've already gifted one copy to my mum, one to my older sister, and one to my sister-in-law. I still have one copy for my younger sister, and two copies for girlfriends, and the lucky last one for me!

My sister and I have already flicked right through the book and picked out our favourite recipes. She's making the Veal Ragu for dinner tomorrow night. I'm liking the sound of Past e Patate for my dinner tonight or maybe Sausage Bake (I have some snags in the fridge about to expire).

Then I'm dreaming of Chocolate Self Saucing pudding for dessert.

If you haven't bought a copy, then head on over to the website and snap one up pronto. They're only $15 and make a perfect gift - and the best bit is that you're not only helping to provide free copies for the Bushfire Survivors, but any other profits will be given directly to the Salvos.

Everyone who volunteered their time to make the book a reality, has done a tremendous job and should be very proud.

In case you haven't heard

The Handmade Help Recipe Book is now available for pre-order.

From the website:

In February 2009 Victoria was victim to the worst bushfires on record, which wiped out entire communities, caused 173 deaths and left thousands without homes or shelter.

The Handmade Help Recipe Book evolved as part of handmadehelpsout.blogspot.com by a group of crafters and artists who wanted to contribute to the recovery effort.

The result is a truly international cookbook, packed with treasured recipes and family favourites, donated by people across the globe who wanted to help including well-known chefs such as Margaret Fulton, Allan Campion and Michele Curtis.

All proceeds from sales of the recipe book will be donated to the Salvation Army

The book is available as a hard copy or as a pdf download. There will be a limited print run of hard copies, so it's best not to dilly dally or you'll miss out.

You may even find one of my recipes inside!

It's the perfect gift idea (I've ordered seven copies).