Porcupine Meatballs

This is one of Iris's favourite meals. She usually asks for seconds when I serve it and you know how rare that is with a picky toddler!!

420g can concentrated tomato soup
500g beef mince
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup long grain rice, rinsed
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
mashed potato to serve

Place soup and 1 3/4 cups cold water in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to the boil.

Meanwhile, combine mince, onion, rice, garlic and parsley in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Using one tablespoon of mixture at a time, roll mixture into balls.

Add meatballs to boiling soup. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until rice is tender and meatballs cooked through. Serve with mashed potato.

A new friend for Lou

This is Lou's new friend Bunny (original I know lol). He's from one of the funky friends factory patterns I got at the stitches and craft show. It was a pretty easy pattern to sew up. The instructions were clear and easy to follow and I didn't make any silly mistakes requiring unpicking for a change. I think now I'm familiar with the pattern I could sew another one in a few hours. Lou caught sight of him as just as I was finishing sewing the stuffing hole closed and sat at my feet saying "that that that" and pointing until she could finally give him a cuddle. I haven't been able to get a photo of her holding him though because she kept flapping him around her head and squealing excitedly. I also bought patterns to make a monkey and an elephant and I'm hoping they're as quick and easy to sew as the bunny...

Stitches and Craft Show 2010

I've been excitedly waiting to visit the Stitches and Craft Show for a few months now. Last year they introduced a space called the incubator which included stalls from some of my favourite craft bloggers and designers and it was the highlight of the show for me. When I heard the incubator was coming back again this year I couldn't wait to get there! Well I certainly wasn't disappointed! There were so many great stalls to look at and everyone I spoke to was friendly and helpful. I got to meet some of the faces behind the blogs I read and see some of their creations in person. There were lots of activities to participate in as well. I really liked the craft bars where you could pull up a chair and try your hand at a new craft for free. I had Lou with me and her patience only held out long enough for me to do some knitting but I managed to learn an easier way of casting on and holding my needles while I was there.

As usual the show was a difficult exercise in self restraint lol. There were so many lovely patterns, pieces of fabric and craft bits and bobs to choose from it was hard not to blow out the budget but this is what I came home with...

I got some lovely fabric, a skirt kit and an oliver + s pattern from Earthgirl Fabrics, a children's jacket pattern from Kelani, some fleece softie patterns from Funky Friends Factory, some felt flowers from Papoose and a lovely big piece of rainbow felt from Winterwood to make the girl's birthday crowns with.

The show is on till Sunday and the details are here for anybody thinking about going...