Monday 29 October 2012

Spring Racing Style

With just a week now til Cup Day, it's time to turn from the scary spooks of Halloween and start to focus on the fashion of Spring Racing. And whilst most other bloggers out there are blogging about styling yourself this Spring Racing Carnival, I on the other hand have decided to blog about how you should be styling your dessert table!!

For those of you that are entertaining this Melbourne Cup Day and not heading to the track, be sure to include a beautifully themed dessert table in your spread. Impress your guests with some racing themed cupcakes and cookies and pretty up your table with some gorgeous spring flowers and grass mats. And most importantly ....embrace your colour wheel ladies! The same rules apply for dessert tables as they do for your Spring Racing outfits......go with beautiful bold colours and florals and always remember to accessorise!!
 
Here is a little inspiration to get your Spring Racing dessert table chi flowing. These are some of ideas I just love! Enjoy xx

Cupcakes by 180 Degrees Cupcake

Horse head chocolate pops by A Little Polka Dot

Image courtesy of Thorough Bred Center

Gingerbread horses by Bright Young Things

Dessert table by Cupcake Addiction

Dessert table by Sharnel Dollar Designs
 
Sharnel Dollar Designs
Image courtesy of Real Weddings



Monday 22 October 2012

Halloween Spider Crackles!



 
With Halloween only a week away now, I thought I would share with you a super easy Halloween treat recipe for some Spider Chocolate Crackles that you can make with kids or just make for yourself for a bit of Halloween fun!
 
You'll need the following:

80g white marshmallows
40g unsalted butter
1 tblspn caster sugar
1 tblspn cocoa powder
2 cups cocoa pops
packet of licorice straps
mini M&Ms
white icing pen (available at most supermarkets)

Line an oven tray with baking paper.
Place marshmallows, butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan over low heat and stir for 2 minutes or until melted.
Place cocoa pops in a bowl, add marshmallow mixture and stir to combine.
Cut 48 7cm-long, thin strips from licorice (mixture should make about 12 spiders).
Shape a tablespoon of crackle mixture into a 5cm round and place on prepared tray.
Lay 4 licorice strips across round as the legs, overhanging them evenly on each side. Sandwich with another round of crackle mixture.
Using the icing pen, dot 2 blobs on the front of each crackle and secure two M&Ms as the eyes. Then place another small dot on each M&M to finish the eyes.
Repeat with remaining crackle mixture. Refrigerate for an hour or until set. Then enjoy!!

P.S Just a reminder to if you are receiving this blog on email you are in the running to win our 1st Birthday giveaway hamper! Details here. Winner will be announced after the 31st October and will be advised via email. Fingers crossed to you all!


Saturday 13 October 2012

Some spooky inspiration!

It's just over two weeks now until Halloween! And although we don't really celebrate it here in Australia, you wouldn't know it.......every store I have gone in to these past two weeks the shelves have been over flowing with Halloween decorations and goodies (that and Christmas decorations.....hmmmm little early I think!) But you can take it from me there is some really fun decorations out there, Big W and Spotlight have been the stand out stores for me but why not start adventuring through all the $2 shops to see what fun things you can find? Get in to the spirit this year and perhaps throw your own spooky Halloween party or at least decorate the house and cosy up on the couch with a scary movie and some yummy Halloween treats. Or rather than give out the traditional lollies for the trick or treaters, why not make some of your own spooky treats?! There are plenty of printables available on etsy, so why not make this occasion a little bit special and little bit spooky!
 
I've been sprawling through blogs of late looking for my own inspiration and thought I would share some of these amazing Halloween parties and treat ideas I have found. Hope it ignites some inspiration in you too.
 
Enjoy x
 
Image courtesty of Amy Atlas
Halloween Glam Collection by The TomKat Studio


Halloween Dessert Table by Amy Atlas
Halloween Party Collection by Bird's Party
"Spook-a-licious" printables by Sweet Scarlet
 
Source http://acheibafo.wordpress.com/tag/halloween/
Pink Oven Cakes & Cookies



Sunday 7 October 2012

Some sweet and sticky birthday goodness!

So last week was really a big week of celebrations, not only was it Meko's 1st birthday but it was also my birthday too! After still being on my health kick after my stay at a health retreat six weeks ago I decided it was time to really treat myself.....hey it was my birthday after all! Matt had kindly granted me an open menu on Friday night with my own personal Chef (albeit he is my husband!) to cook me whatever I want! Yippee! I knew straight away, it had to be lasagne and it had to be a sticky date and banana cake! And yes i said cake, not pudding. This was a little variation on the traditional pudding and was one of Matt's specialities. And let me tell you I was one happy little camper after my special birthday meal, the lasagne was to die for and the sticky date was out of this world! In fact we enjoyed it again Saturday and Sunday night too! Now there is one piece left......hmmmmmm, think i might leave that one for Matt though, my birthday fiesta is well and truly done now, time to get back on the oats and salads!!

I thought I woulds share with you the recipe for this sticky delight. If you too have a special occasion to bake for, this one is an absolute necessity!


Sticky Date & Banana Cake with Toffee Sauce
2 1/4 cups dates
1 banana
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
150g chopped unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups self raising flour, sifted

Toffee sauce
150g chopped unsalted butter
1 cup pouring cream
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees. Place the dates, water and bicarb soda in a bowl and set aside for 5 mins to fizz. Place the date mixture, butter, banana and sugar in a food processor and mix until well combined. Add the eggs and flour and process until just mixed through. Pour the mix into a lightly greased 20cm round tin lined with baking paper and bake for 60-70 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool for 10 mins before turning out.

To make the sauce, place the butter, cream and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and continue to stir for 8-10 mins or until it begins to thicken. Serve over the sticky date and banana cake and finish with vanilla ice cream.

Wednesday 3 October 2012

It's our 1st Birthday!! And we're celebrating with a giveaway!

Wow.....well I cannot believe it's been a whole year since we set up our dear little business Meko Creations. What a daunting concept it was a year ago to embark on registering our business and business name, obtaining an ABN and tax file number, creating and hosting our website, establishing our brand and logo, sourcing suppliers and equipment, entering the crazy world of social media and SEO and then there was the budget and our business plan! The past year has been a big learning curve to say the least, but we did it!  Not too dissimilar to having a first child I would think. I remember at our first party we did (which happened to be a 1st Birthday too) the parents stood in front of their guests during the speeches and congratulated each other on not killing the baby! Now I know how they feel! Congratulations Matt, we didn't kill the business.....just each other! He hee! Just joking :)

So to celebrate we are hosting a giveaway to all our devoted followers. For your chance to win a speciality Christmas Hamper valued at over $150 all you need to do is subscribe to this blog throughout the month of October. It's that easy......just enter your email address in the "Follow us on email" box to your right and you could go in the draw to win a hamper full of Christmas goodies. So what's in it I hear you ask? We have party products from Sambellina including their gorgeous Polkadot Multiblue range of party plates and cups, and their sweet little Xmas Birds and Xmas Lettering gift tags. We also have Zen Moment's best selling large Amber Bottle Candle in french pear (which just smells divine!) and Minq+Mode's seasonal range of boxed Christmas cards and Nutcracker gift tags and a set of their popular assorted Chevron gift tags. And it wouldn't be a Meko Christmas hamper without some Christmas goodies in it from us, so we'll be baking you half a dozen speciality mince pies and half a dozen gingerbread men and putting together some special Christmas lolly bags for you to enjoy. There will be a few other little surprises in there too, so make sure you subscribe to win! And to those devoted fans who already subscribe to our blog, don't fear, your already in the draw to win! How could we forget you :)

We have big plans for Meko as we head towards the terrible twos. And you will hear it here first, we plan to open an on line party shop! We will be your one stop shop for all your pretty little party supplies. We can't wait, alas there is a bit to do yet until we reach that stage!

Cheers and a Happy Birthday to us!

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