HIGH WALLS

easter

Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate Easter! As per usual, we filled our fridge with way to much chocolate and I ate enough to make myself sick. It was awesome. Here’s hoping you’re having a wonderful day no matter how you are spending your Sunday!

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Oh  Hello Easter! My you have come up on us quickly this year! For those of you, (like me!) who may have not even thought about their Easter shopping as of yet, here are a few last minute finds to get yourself ready for the Easter bunny’s visit this weekend…

1 / Alana Naylor brings us this wonderfully minimalist Print and great news - It’s on Sale!!

2 / Fix your best Easter cards or photos to the fridge with these adorable Bunny Magnets from the oh-so-clever Julia Wine.

3 / This teeny apricot bunny (from Under Umbrelland) comes complete with an even teenier carrot and packaged in a pretty matchbox, it’s the perfect Easter present to pop in the mail for someone far away!

4 /  Be sure your waking up on the right side of the bed on Easter morning with a  Best Bunny Pillowcase from Xenotees

diy-easter-eggsIf there’s one thing that I am sure of, it’s that I will never cease to be amazed at the sheer volume of Easter Egg decorating projects that come out of the woodwork every year! Who knew there could be so many ways to make a fragile little oval shape look so beautiful! Now, this amazement may be due to the fact that I haven’t tried my hand at egg decorating size primary school. In comparison, everyone is a million billion times more creative than me and my lack of effort. But looking at just these few DIY’s I have chosen to share with you today, I think it’s more due to the fact that these ladies are off-the-chain talented! It’s just the inspiration I needed to get off my butt and come up with my own Easter projects! What about you guys? Are you decorating eggs this Easter or do you have your own project in mind?

Golden Marbled Eggs / Metallic Egg Art Spotted Eggs
Abstract Painted Eggs / Illustrated Eggs / Watercolor Eggs

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ONE / Ahhhh! Zoey and Jasper are probably the cutest thing ever! Photographer mum Grace Chon takes photos of her adorable family members in their matching outfits and I love it!

TWO / Holy Moly! Would you look at these embossed rolling pins by Vatek! Foxes, cats, dinosaurs and even personalized words! Don’t tell me that your friends wouldn’t be super impressed when you presented them with cookies with these patterns!

THREE /  EmojiNation by Nastya Nudnik combines iPod Emoji’s and works of art in a lovely subtle way, I would love to have one of these on my wall just to see how many people noticed the modern influence. 

FOUR / This is my new cacti background and I love it! Thanks Design Sponge!

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Muffin | www.highwallsblog.com

Breakfast is one of those sacred things in the world of blogging. Show me a blogger who isn’t completely obsessed with breakfast (or brunch) dishes and I’ll show you a liar! The combination of carbs, eggs and bacon seems to be reserved for meals prior to 12pm and therefore everyone seems to feel the need to make it as gourmet as possible!

Sure, I’m as obsessed with fancy omelettes and quiches as the next girl, but can I be real with you for a second? You know what breakfast dish really gets me excited? McDonald’s breakfasts! I love love McDonald’s breakfast. Don’t look at me like that! I know you love it too! Some people are into the pancakes, some into the sausage and egg, but me… I’m all about the Bacon & Egg McMuffin.

But the problem with greasy take-out breakfast is, well, exactly that! It’s greasy take-out! Of course it tastes good, but feeling heavy and bloated is probably not the best way to start your day. So, to fulfil my love of the Bacon and Egg McMuffin without clogging my arteries on a regular basis, I have mastered the art of the home made “McMuffin”

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Muffin | www.highwallsblog.com Bacon & Egg Breakfast Muffin | www.highwallsblog.comBacon & Egg Breakfast Muffin | www.highwallsblog.com

INGREDIENTS:
(1 per muffin)
Eggs
Short Cut Bacon
Tomato
English Muffins
Spinach & Rocket
Cheese Slices
Avocado
Hash Browns (optional**)
1. Split each English muffin in half and set cut side up on a plate. Set aside for later.

2. Cook bacon and eggs in a frying pan over medium-high heat. For this step I suggest investing in some egg rings. They are inexpensive and make putting your muffin together 1000 time easier! To use the rings, place them into your frying pan and crack an egg into each ring. Allow to cook for a few minutes until the bottom and edges of the egg are cooked. At this point you can usually remove the egg ring with some tongs and flip the egg over to cook the top side. If the rings wont come away easily, just flip the egg over - ring and all - and you can remove it after you have finished cooking by running a butter knife around the edge.

3. Meanwhile, slice your vegetables: avocado, tomato and wash and dry the spinach and rocket. Top one side of the English muffin with avocado tomato and spinach/rocket. Season with salt and pepper.4. Take your egg fresh from the pan and put it on the other side of the English muffin. Here is the secret to getting that authentic “take-out” taste for your muffin - place a slice of cheese singles on top of your egg and top that with a peice (or two!) of crispy bacon. Of course you can use good quality cheeses instead, but trust me - its the processed cheese singles that you buy individually wrapped in plastic that will give you that guilty pleasure taste.

5. Take the two halves and sandwich them together! Voila! A healthier and even tastier take on the Bacon and Egg McMuffin!

** If you’re like me, and you think that the hash brown is what takes your muffin to the next level, you can buy them frozen from the supermarket and bake them in the oven while you’re cooking the rest of the meal. Personally, I like to sneak one into my muffin itself, because, that’s just how I roll…

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Muffin | www.highwallsblog.com

OE02.04.14

This weeks picks are my favourite just because, well, wooden accents are always pretty and always stylish…

ONE / This wooden lamp fixture  by Katerina Kopytina is so beautifully designed in its minimalistic shape and smooth features. AND you can get it in your choice of cord colours! Wouldn’t it look amazing to have a whole row of these babies in rainbow colours?

TWO / I wish someone had bought me these amazing modular Doll house buildings when I was a kid like these clever hand crafted designs from Manzanita Kids!

THREE / Okay, so these aren’t made of wood, but of course I am totally giddy for these eco friendly gems from the wonderful Bueno Market

FOUR / Tree Horn Designs have so many great faceted wooden peices but these simple blue earrings totally caught my eye!

Make your own Candy Coloured Letter Cake Toppers | www.highwallsblog.com

Confession time: I have the most ridiculously huge collection of (mostly unused) nail polishes! When my collection went from normal to excessive is unknown, but the end result is the same: a drawer full of vibrant colours out of which I probably only use around 4 or 5 (but let me tell you - those babies are on high rotation!) Every time I open the drawer I feel a twinge of guilt for my poor neglected colours. So, rather than let them sit there gathering dust, I’ve been on the hunt for other uses for my trusty nail polishes…

My favourite thing about using nail polish on surfaces other than actual finger nails, is how glossy and opaque the colour is. It reminds me almost of hard candy coating, which was my inspiration for these letter toppers! After I shared my recipe for mini strawberry crumb cakes, a few of you asked about the letter cake toppers featured along with the crumbly dessert.  What better time to share my first nail polish related project? Ask and ye shall receive! (I’m so good to you guys!)

Make your own Candy Coloured Letter Cake Toppers | www.highwallsblog.com Continue reading →

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- Upon discovering photos of The Giant Vintage Camera Cafe I suddenly feel the urge to go out for a coffee… brunch anyone?

- I saw the Lego movie on Friday night and it was AMAZING! Everybody needs to see this film, it is just SO hilarious and awesome!

- Look at these friggen adorable cat sweets! Not only are they super cute additions to your dessert plate, but they are entirely edible as well!

- After seeing one of their bags on designlovefest, I am totally smitten with Kertis and their line of beautiful leather products. Hello birthday wish-list!

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No one likes the look of a gloomy house which is probably why so many people utter the words ‘light and airy’ when they are planning out dream homes. Even if these aren’t phrases that you would use to describe your house at the moment, there is no reason that you cannot work towards making it a reality.

We’ve been looking at getting some repairs and changes done around our home and have found some really good tips to achieve a lighter and brighter effect within your home. You never know, within a few months it could feel like you are living in a totally transformed space!

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Eats | Chocolate Mud cake w/ berries and cream | www.highwallsblog.com

Every time somebody has a birthday in our house I make them a cake of their choice. One of my house-mates will, without fail, always want black forest cake. My other house-mate always tries to talk his way out of a cake until I force one upon him. But my boyfriend always is a man of variety. He has a different request every year and this year’s request was a goodun'; chocolate mudcake. Aww Yiss!

I always have a problem with making mudcake in that I can never decide on what kind of icing to put on the damn thing! I wanted to get away from rich chocolate icings, but I didn’t want to leave it un-iced. In the end I fell back on my old favourite; layers of delicious whipped cream goodness! Yay! Add some berries and everyone is impressed with all your ‘hard work’ (Disclaimer: no actual hard work required.)

Eats | Chocolate Mud cake w/ berries and cream | www.highwallsblog.com

1 1/2 cups of caster sugar
250g of chocolate
250g of chopped butter
3/4 cup of freshly brewed coffee
1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of sour cream
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla essenceThickened cream
1/2 cup of caster sugar
Berries to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C and grease a 22cm round cake pan and set aside.

2. Place the sugar, chocolate, butter and coffee in a large saucepan and stir over medium-low heat for 4 minutes or until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool.

3. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl and add the almond meal and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and combine with the sour cream and vanilla.

4. Gradually stir the sour cream and flour mixtures into the chocolate mixture, alternating in batches, until just combined.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and covering loosely with foil to prevent over browning, and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into the centre. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Whip together the cream and sugar in an electric mixer until stiff peaks start to form.

7. Cut the cake in half to create two layers and top one with cream. Place the other layer onto the cream and top with more cream and a handful of berries.

(Adapted from this recipe)