autumn sydney finders keepers 2013

autumn sydney finders keepers 2013

3 Jun 2013

I don't know how, but I almost missed this year's Autumn Sydney Finders Keepers. When I realised they were on, I changed my schedule around a little on Saturday morning and made my way to the Market's new home at Australian Technology Park.



The new venue is a short walk from Redfern station which is a good thing but I'm a creature of habit and I can't say I'm a huge fan of the new site. It's a much bigger venue but a little lacking in atmosphere and I missed the buzz of the Eveleigh Farmers Market. 



At times parts of the venue looked quite empty and a number of stall holders were left looking a little lonely.



So what did I find at Sydney Finders Keepers?



There were food trucks and flowers.



I saw lots of old faces from previous markets but I managed to track down a few new favourites as well.




I visited my friends Kylie from Paperboat Press and Alischa from Bespoke Press. I bought some very pretty wrapping paper from Bespoke Press and Kylie very kindly gave me some ceramic bunting, one of her new products, which I'll feature on the blog in the coming months. I already know how I'll be using her gift.



Some very pretty flowers from Alischa's pop-up posy shop.




Lovely ceramics from Kim Wallace.



Some cute vintage wares from Charlie Foxtrot. Isn't that a great name?



I found lots of lovely baby clothes at Finders Keepers. These clothes are by daisy and moose.



Whilst these are from Fable Baby.



Some cute plushies from Craft Schmaft.



Great wooden boards from Sands Made.




And last but by no means least, some bright cushions from Jennifer and Smith.



I hope you enjoyed my visit to the Finders Keepers.

See you all again next week. 

Jillian

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xmas 2012 - bespoke press

xmas 2012 - bespoke press

2 Jan 2012

I spent Christmas with my family in Brisbane. On Christmas Day, I found this gift waiting for me. Look what I found inside.



A whole box of goodies from Bespoke Press, a gift from a thoughtful friend. Wasn't that sweet?



I hope you all had a good break from work and are looking forward to the New Year. Tomorrow is my first day back at work for 2012 and I'm wondering what the New Year will bring?

Jillian

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dark chocolate, pear and pistachio cakes - the christmas collection

dark chocolate, pear and pistachio cakes - the christmas collection

21 Dec 2011

I love letterpress and Alischa from Bespoke Press is an expert in the field. Alischa sent along this recipe for Dark Chocolate Pear and Pistachio cake and mentioned she often baked individual cakes for Christmas gifts. I thought that was a great idea and baked the cake in little bundt tins.



I'm not sure what it is about mini cakes but they just look so appealling!



Topping the cakes with the ganache was a bit of a labour of love. I was covered in chocolate and went out for dinner last Saturday night with chocolate stained fingers. Actually they're not looking that much better today.


Mini Dark Chocolate, Pear and Pistachio cakes (printable version)
adapted from Gourmet Traveller magazine, April 2010 - makes 4

Ingredients
150 gm (5 oz) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup pistachio kernels, plus extra to serve
100 gm (3½ oz) softened butter
100 gm (3½ oz) caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
100 g (⅔ cup) plain flour, sieved
Scant 1 teaspoon baking powder
½ Packham pear, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped

Chocolate ganache
75 gm (2½ oz) dark chocolate, chopped
75 ml (⅓ cup) pouring cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF. 

Grease and flour 4, 1 cup mini bundt tins. Process chocolate and pistachios in a food processor until coarse crumbs form and then set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until well combined, then stir in the plain flour and baking powder. Stir through the chocolate and pistachio mixture then the pear before spooning the mixture into the prepared tins. 

Bake until an inserted skewer withdraws clean (35-40 minutes) then cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

For the chocolate ganache, place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat to just below boiling, add to the chocolate and stand until the chocolate melts, then stir until smooth.

Set aside until slightly thickened before pouring over the top and sides of the cakes. Scatter with the remaining pistachios before putting the cakes aside to set.

Cakes will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


I don't really 'do' Christmas so here's one of the little cakes in front of my version of a Christmas tree.

I hope you're enjoying the daily posts. See you all again tomorrow,

Jillian

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the finders keeper - sydney

the finders keeper - sydney

25 May 2011

On Saturday morning I drove over to Eveleigh to check out the Farmers Markets and the autumn Sydney Finders Keepers. It was a spectacular day and as I was there really early, I checked out the produce first and took some photos - photos to follow.

A few of my design friends were going to be at the markets so I wanted to get there early so I could say hello and take a few snaps before the hordes descended.

There is always a bit of a decorative theme going on and on this occasion, it was balloons.

There were plenty of old favourites there - Elkhorn designs.



Some beautiful new goodies from Paperboat Press. Kylie gave me some sweet little tags to use and once I return from my trip away I'll get baking and show you how sweet the little tags are.

The lovely Alischa from Bespoke Press and some of her new items. I bought some of the 'hello' cards from her online shop a few weeks ago.

I found some new favourite stall holders as well.



I loved these items from Hideyo Designs. Wouldn't those paper flowers be gorgeous at a wedding? Now this is when I started to lose track of the stallholders and I'm ashamed to say, I can't identify any of the remaining stalls for you. Some of the stalls were unattended when I was taking photos/ many of the stall holders didn't have their business cards on display and some stalls were just too busy for me to approach. If any of my readers can identify the stalls and help me out, I'd be grateful.

On my stroll around the Finders Keepers I found pretty artworks and leather bags and Kylie's new range of paperweights.

Crocheted garlands, from Crayon Chick

funky fashions,

gorgeously translucent ceramics and

jewellery and cards.

I hope you enjoyed my trip to the Finders Keepers and my finds.

From all reports, it was a great day,

Jillian

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Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers

12 May 2010

On Saturday I visited the Finders Keepers Market. The markets were held in the Carriageworks building at the old Eveleigh Railway yards. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I was not alone.The Eveleigh Farmers Markets were being held in the adjacent building and open auditions for Hairspray were also underway.The place was heaving.



I've not been to Finders Keepers before and I was interested to see what was on display.

I really don't like crowds and wasn't feeling all that well so I picked out some local colour, the crowds and a few favourite stalls to photograph before leaving.

The first stall I visited belonged to Kylie of Paperboat Press. Kylie is a poet and a ceramicist and I already own a few pieces of Kylie's work. Kylie very kindly allowed me to photograph her stall and gave me a little care parcel to take home with me but more of that next week.

Next stop was Bespoke Press, to check out their letterpress goodies. I do love letterpress and one day would love to have some letterpress notecards made just for me. Alischa also very kindly allowed me to photograph her booth.

My last stop was knitknit. Unfortunately I don't have any contact details for the stall as the web address I have doesn't work, so apologies. The knitted tea cosy was so cute and I'd love one for my teapot at home. I was intrigued by the learn to knit sign. I learned to knit when I was about 5 so I thought every-one knew how to knit!

edit - here is the link to knit knit

I hope you enjoyed my little trip to Finders Keepers. I'll be back on Friday asking for some more travel tips from my blog readers, so until then,

Jillian

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