Kiri's Finest Curry

How could I resist this one...

It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and the smell emanating from my kitchen is starting to tease the kids... yes I know, good sign right. Well, here's hoping.
Curries remind me of my Nana Wyatt. I have so many wonderful memories of times spent sitting at her kitchen table in One Tree Hill and also Tauranga waiting to see what wonderful meal she had prepared.
The curry I'm making for dinner tonight is in memory of her <3
The best beef curry I remember eating was one Nana had made. The beef was so tender it melted in your mouth and the sauce was syrupy and had just the right amount of 'hot' to make it more-ishly dangerous.
Photo's will follow much later once curry and rice are complete. I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to make roti to go with the meal or not...

Continued Thursday p.m.

OK I was totally ready to post the photo's up last night of the curry, but good old Facebook got the better of me. It wasn't as if I hadn't downloaded them to my PC it was more of a 'yep I'll do it soon' and next thing you know I was falling asleep.
Anyway, it definately tasted better than it looks and we were a little bit hungry so the presentation was a little bit rushed, but I was satisfied that the beef was tender enough and the sauce was syrupy but I didn't add too much 'hot' to it for the sake of the little ones who haven't quite developed their spicy taste buds.
Oh, and I couldn't be bothered making roti, spent quite a bit of time on the phone yesterday (I know right, shock horror) and figured normal bread with LOADS of butter would be fine.
So, here are the pics... Now, what the heck am I gonna bake/cook next... 

Kiri's Fried Chicken

Since I started the blog today, I couldn't resist a further play on the Anagram KFC so I decided to make Kiri's Fried Chicken.
It's funny because I can't remember half of the herbs and spices I added and I substituted the deep fryer for a shallow frying pan and the fact the chicken drumsticks I bought were 'super-sized' rather than human sized (I'm sure the bag was labelled wrong because they definately look like they could've come from a turkey) the critics (Dada, Nate, Juni and Nika) all prefer it to Southern Fried Chicken and Chicken Magic (Chicken places in Rarotonga) so I guess that's a big enough compliment if any.

I wouldn't say personally that it compares to my favourite take out but it was definately cheaper than buying it and I just had to give it a go.
I also made my own take on potato and gravy and after discovering the state of my cabbage decided not to make a coleslaw so stuck to a throw it together salad instead which consisted of tomatoes, apples, capsicum and mayonaise.
I think the best news is there's no left overs and no stomach complaints which says it all.

What's in a name...

Kiri's Fun Cakes as the highlighted letter's suggest represent my favourite fast food chain. Family and friends who know me well are probably chuckling at themselves over this choice.
My original name choice was going to be Kiri Kan Kook but the fact that it's not very PC was not cool. This name was thought up years ago when I was dreaming about setting up a bakery in the Cook Islands and I'm glad I found a new name. lol.
For now, my dream is to create edible pieces that my friends and family are able to enjoy.
Please comment and if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to post.

Flower Bouquet for Deanna

So I've decided to make edible flower's for my neice's 21st.
I love tropical flowers and the challenging aspect of making them is giving me a huge adrenaline rush.
Her 21st is about 4 weeks away and with the kids being at home over the holidays I haven't managed to really start this project properly.
In everything I do, I try and 'maori-gyver' any necessary tools or materials. This is not evident in the final masterpiece e.g. if there is a 'certain tool' that's required to shape petals for the flowers, I will try and invent a mock version of that tool to make it work. In thus saving me money and time.
So, these are the first few flowers that I have made and painted...

The final pic is just an example of one of the many 'tools' that I have made to save money. You can buy the proper flower holder pots but this egg carton with flower in the holes works just as well.
Next week the kids return to school YYYYAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! and this will give me more time to get more creative with the harder flowers (Hibiscus and Birds of Paradise)
I will eventually join these flowers with wire and make more of them as a filler for the bouquet.
For now however, I am going to start getting our dinner ready and will post again once there's more progress.

How this started

With my sister's 40th birthday last year and a whole lot of time on my hands, it was the 'brain-child' of my mother's to make her a 'waka cake'.

This was my first attempt at making my cakes more realistic.
I have made cakes in the past before, for my kids birthdays, but nothing as challenging or creative as this.
While trial-running and attempting to make the different elements of this cake I was constantly combing the internet for ideas, tips and tricks.
Alot of this cake was inspired by images I found on the internet and I now have another cake to create for my sister's wedding at the end of this year and I will post photo's of my progress as I go on.