Citrus Tart

I am house-sitting at my brothers place at the moment, and yesterday I discovered a little lemon tree loaded with fruit. Citrus are just so cheery during a gloomy winter - like natures vitamin balls! Mandarins, oranges, lemons, limes and tangelos are all in season.

His neighbour has some chickens and I was the lucky recipient of some beautiful free-range eggs with the yellowest yolks you have ever seen.

The idea of a citrus tart was forming in my mind, so I searched for a recipe on the internet which was super simple to make.

What did I love best?
That most of the ingredients came right from the garden.
(And yes... it was delicious!)

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it...

Ingredients
Sweet shortcrust pastry
6 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
Finely grated rind of 1 lime
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Method
Preheat oven to 190 C. Line a 30 cm flan pan with pastry and bake blind for 10-15 minutes until pastry is just cooked. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, lime juice, lemon juice and rind together. In a separate bowl beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently mix the egg whites into the egg yolks. Pour filling into baked pastry shell and cook for 15 minutes or until just set.

Lovely Cards

Isn't there something lovely about receiving packages in the post? It reminds me of the days of childhood birthdays and presents from overseas relatives. Well today I received a package from a friend of mine, Veronica.



Her sister is having a baby, so I had recently sent her a pair of my cloth baby shoes and in return I have received some of her hand drawn greeting cards. They are just wonderful so I wanted to share them with you. I particularly like Mugsy the Squirrel - he has a great personality with a touch of attitude.

It seems we hardly ever receive hand written letters these days. You know the ones with an actual stamp on it. Everything is by email now (which is great) but sometimes it is just nice to relax with a cup of tea and a nice letter and catch up with what has been going on with the ones you love.

As today is a rainy day - I plan to write a couple of cards to some overseas girlfriends I haven't seen for some time. Hopefully receiving hand written post will make them smile as much as it has made me...

Violet Embroidery

For some people the ultimate thrill is finding the perfect pair of shoes or the latest designer handbag, for me, however, finding a piece of beautiful vintage fabric hidden like a diamond in the rough sends my heart racing.

I was sifting through some odds and ends at an op shop (thrift store), the other day and happened upon an exquisitely hand crafted embroidery featuring little violet flowers. I virtually snatched it off the shelf (a-la-boxing day sale) and couldn't believe there wasn't another hundred people behind me vying for the same piece! Not to mention my excitement over the bargain price tag...

This embroidery was destined to be recycled into a one-of-a-kind baby shower gift. For some time now I have been making little cloth shoes, and have been planning to make a special little pair for a girlfriend of mine who is having a baby soon. I couldn't get home fast enough to start working on them!



Here is a picture of the finished shoes. I was really pleased with the way the vintage embroidery looks. They are fully reversible with a cream and green polka dot cotton on the inside. I used recycled corduroy for the soles to make them soft and comfortable for baby's delicate little feet.

I hope my friend likes them - and as there was enough fabric to make two pairs, the second pair will be going on sale in my Big Little Shop very shortly for another lucky person to discover!