Childrens' Photographer - Foster Family

I had a great afternoon photographing my friends' children a little while ago. The boys had so much fun playing in the Autumn leaves. These boys don't stand still and made me work for the photos but they turned out great. Thankfully their little sister was a little more subdued. But give her time and I'm sure she'll be chasing those big brothers of hers soon.

Newborn Photographer - KiKi

I photographed my first newborn a few weeks ago. KiKi was 8 days old and such a beautiful little girl. We hardly heard a peep out of her the whole time. I'm looking forward to progressing this side of my business and taking more portrait photos for my friends and family. I've really been enjoying exploring and learning about portraiture.

Hope you enjoy some of the shots from the session as much as I did taking them.

Orange Poppyseed Loaf

I made this recipe yesterday and it was delicious. Half the cake was gone within 10 minutes of it coming out of the oven! I decided it needed some kind of icing so I used a buttercream icing with a small amount of orange juice added for flavour. Poppy seeds on the top to decorate. Enjoy!

2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cups wholemeal self raising flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup caster sugar
45g butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/3 cup orange juice

Grease a 14cmx21cm loaf pan and line base with baking paper.

Combine poppy seeds and milk in a bowl and stand for 15 minutes.

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl, then stir in sugar. Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients, add milk and poppy seeds mixture, melted butter, eggs, orange rind and juice. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are combined.

Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake in a 180C preheated oven for 45 minutes or until cake is cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Granny's Easy Apple Cake

I picked this recipe card up at my local fruit and vege store. I love apple desserts and this one is a winner.

1 1/2 cups Self Raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch salt
150g butter, chopped and softened
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
500g Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line 20cm cake tin with baking paper

Sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a bowl of a food processor. Process until combined. Add butter, process until combined. Add sugar and eggs, process until well combined.

Spoon half the mixture into the prepared cake tin (use wet fingers to spread out). Arrange apples over the mixture. Top with remaining mixture and smooth top. Bake for 55mins to 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10mins before turning onto a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.