The best wines are the ones we drink with friends

Thanks to one of my gorgeous cousins, I have been having so much fun creating bespoke wine glass charms with some very fun themes! 

When I was approached to create these wine charms, I was SO excited because they were different from the styles I usually create and included themes that I adore.

The first set is one that many bookworms will love, a set of Harry Potter-themed charms featuring some of the most well known symbols from JK Rowling's books and the film adaptations of them.

The remaining sets are all music-themed, which is appropriate given that my cousin and I, and most of the cousins in our family, are amateur or professional musicians.  Are you musicians and/or Harry Potter fans? And let me know, which sets do you love best?

Thomas & Friends

Mamas, you've been asking when Domum Vindemia's popular Thomas & Friends buntings will be re-stocked, and I'm excited to announce that our re-stock has finally happened this week!

There are currently three Thomas the tank engine buntings in-store, with another two to be in-store soon.  There's a fun Christmas-themed Thomas bunting, perfect for getting your little one's room ready for the festive season, and the other buntings will feature Thomas and various others of the favourite characters.

So comment below, which Thomas & Friends characters do your little ones love (other than Thomas)?

I could never love anyone as I love my sisters

About a year ago I was excited to add Little Women-inspired lockets to Two Cheeky Monkeys, featuring a heartfelt quote from Jo March: I could never love anyone as I love my sisters.  These locket necklaces have been popular with Louisa May Alcott fans, and this past month I had the pleasure of creating matching bespoke necklaces for a customer.  

A little different from our usual Little Women necklaces, these bespoke necklaces were created with beads that matched the two sisters' birthstones, further representing their bond with each other!  I thought this was the sweetest idea, and it's a great opportunity to let all my customers know that I am more than happy to customise our existing designs to create something unique for you.

So tell me, would you choose necklaces with your birthstones on them, or would you rather beads in your favourite colours?

Thai-inspired sausage rolls

The Cheeky Monkeys and I aren't huge fans of sandwiches, unless they're filled with "fancy" or "gourmet" ingredients.  I'm not sure if this is because of my Chinese heritage, or if it's because we're a bit high maintenance, but it does make filling school lunchboxes a little more complicated.

So, almost every school holidays we spend a day baking up batches of sausage rolls to freeze and then pull out as needed when the school term starts again.  If your own cheeky monkeys love something other than sandwiches in their lunchboxes and love the flavours of Thai food, then you'll definitely want to give this recipe a try.

Makes 20.

Ingredients

- 500g minced pork

- 500g minced beef

- 1-2 carrots, grated

- 1 clove garlic, crushed

- half a stick of lemongrass, finely chopped

- 1-2 Tb of store bought Thai green curry paste

- 1/2 tsp of salt

- 1 egg, lightly beaten

- 5 sheets of butter puff pastry, thawed 

- 1 egg, extra, lightly beaten

- sesame seeds (optional)

Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 200⁰ C (390⁰ F). Line two trays with greaseproof baking paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together all ingredients except for the puff pastry.

3. Cut a pastry square in half, lengthwise, to give you two rectangles.  

4. Place spoonfuls of sausage mix along one long edge of a pastry rectangle.  Roll up the pastry to firmly enclose the sausage mix.  Cut the large sausage roll into two smaller rolls.  Place on tray.

5. Repeat step 4 with the remaining pastry sheets and sausage mix.

6. Brush the sausage rolls with the extra egg and sprinkle with the sesame seeds, if using.

7. Bake the sausage rolls  for 20-30 minutes, or until pastry is golden and filling is cooked through.

8. If you're freezing the sausage rolls for a rainy day, leave them on wire racks to cool completely.  Otherwise, enjoy them with a green salad and some chilli or tomato sauce on top!

If you share photos of your sausage rolls on Instagram, don't forget to tag @domumvindemia or @twocheekymonkeysdesigns so that I can see your delicious baking efforts.