My best and my most favourite pasta salad recipe

Hi peeps,

Well, I believe this is my best and my most favourite pasta salad recipe. Ever. Yes I have been watching (too much?) Charlie and Lola lately.  I have been making this recipe for over 10 years now.  I can not say which book I first saw the recipe in, this is my version, and how we like to eat it.  This salad we eat for dinner in summer (and winter, actually) and it is a great one to take along to a BBQ or a picnic.  It is very quick to prepare, got to love that.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.

 

Pasta Salad

• Cherry/small tomatoes (as many or as few as you like, I use between 10 and 20)
• 200g of your favourite feta (I like to use dodoni.  I LOVE dodoni, but any feta will do)
• A handful of green or black pitted olives (or a mixture of both, use as many or few as you like), chopped if you like.
• Large handful of basil leaves
• 300g pasta, penne or spirals work well
• Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half and chop the feta into cubes.
3. Make two foil parcels to cook the tomatoes and feta in. Using two lengths of foil (each about 50 or 60cm long), fold in half, and add the tomatoes to the centre of one, and the feta to the other.  Season to taste (salt and pepper on the tomatoes and pepper on the feta)  Fold the sides up around the food, and cover the top too, so each is well enclosed.
4. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes.  
5. Meanwhile, cook your pasta and drain.
6. When the tomatoes and feta are cooked, open each parcel carefully, they will be hot and a lot of steam will escape.  I allow the feta to cool for 10-20 minutes, this allows it to keep its shape better in the salad.  If you don't mind it getting all smashed up, use straight away.
7. Add the tomatoes, feta and olives to the pasta, mix well.  
8. Roughly rip the basil leaves up and mix through with everything else.
9. Enjoy!

Have a yummy day.

Cat xox

My (Mia Dress) Creative Space and Christmas bunting

Hi peeps,

I have been very busy sewing lately.  Of course, I have been making lots of zippered pouches and hair bobbles (I always have a small, or large, pile of zippered pouches on the go).  I have had a few custom orders from lovely friends and family, I really appreciate the support they have given me and that they love my creations.

One of the custom orders was a dress commissioned by a friend for her daughter, Mia.  My friend chose the fabric used in the main part of the dress ("La Dee Da" by Erin McMorris for FreeSpirit by Westminister Fibres).   She left the rest up to me.  I found the contrasting coral fabric in my stash ("Hello Pilgrim" by Lizzy House for Andover Fabrics), and knew immediately it was a perfect match.  I was worried though that it was too pink, my friend did not want a pink dress.  I took a gamble and made the dress anyway. My gamble paid off,  I am so happy with how it has turned out.  These fabrics are such a beautiful combination together.  Luckily, my friend loves the dress too (phew!)

On a whim, this morning I added this dress, now called "The Mia Dress" to my Etsy shop.  I have just enough fabric to make two more of them. The dress also comes with matching hair bobbles (you choose which pair)

Today I also added some Christmas bunting to my shop.

 

Right.  I best get cracking on finishing some more hand made Christmas presents. I hope to gift mainly hand made presents this year, and not just my creations.  I have been buying hand made items online throughout the year and stashing them away.  There was even a hand made market a few weeks ago held in Hong Kong.  It was a lovely surprise to see that hand made is getting more exposure here in HK.  I bought lots of lovely hand made goodies.  I can't show you them until after Christmas, I want them to be a surprise to their recipients. 

Happy Creative Space day to you.

Cat xox

It's giveaway time!

Hey peeps,

So who wants to win one of my hand made fabric zippered pouches?  You can choose what size (small, medium, large or travel/pencil case)  You can choose what fabric I make it in.  I will post to any valid address in the Universe.

All you have to do is like my Raspberry Rainbow Facebook page and leave a comment on the post about this giveaway.  Easy peasy.

I'll pick a winner on Sunday 11th November at 8pm (Hong Kong time) using random.org.

 

I am looking forward to making the lucky winners fabric zippered pouch.  What fabric and size would you choose?

 

Good luck!

Cat xox

My Raspberry Rainbow Etsy shop is here!

Hi lovelies,

It is with much excitement I can announce that my Etsy shop is (finally) open.

So far, I have zippered pouches (in 4 different sizes, three sizes have straps) and hair bobbles.  More items to come soon.

Happy Sunday to you.

Cat.

Meet the Gang, hair bobbles and zippered pouches

Hi peeps,

I have been very busy lately.  I am happy to say, I am very close to opening my very own etsy shop.  I am so excited and terrified all at the same time.  But more excited to be honest.

Here is a sneak peek of what I have been making. Of course there will be zippered pouches (in 4 different sizes)

There will also be a large selection of hair bobbles. I have so many other ideas swirling around my head, but I best get this shop open first.

 Squee!  I am excited.

Have a great day.  Cat. 

New tricks

Hi peeps,

Last night I went for a jog.  Well, it felt more like an uncoordinated shuffle and there was a lot of walking too, but there were a few moments of jogging.  I can tell you that this was my first adult run.  Ever.   The good news is I enjoyed it. The bad news is my legs are achy today, but not as sore as I thought they might be.

I have been thinking about starting running for months now, I even bought a pair of runners way back in August.  I am hoping that doing more exercise will help me sleep better every night.  For almost two whole years now, I have not been sleeping very well.  I find it difficult to get to sleep, and if I wake up, then it is difficult to get back to sleep.  I am so very tired every day.  I cant even blame the kids, they are pretty good sleepers (apart from recent early mornings)

I know exactly when my sleep disturbances started: when the Shropshire boy moved to Hong Kong before us.  I was still living in Melbourne with the girls, solo parenting.  There was no Shropshire boy there in the evenings to remind me when it was bed time.  This was back in December 2010.

Unfortunately, even after I moved to Hong Kong, this did not make getting to sleep any easier.  So that is why I am trying running.  I hope I can exhaust myself out, and get to sleep easier.

Wish me luck.

Have a great weekend.

Cat

Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Display

Hi peeps,

It feels like Monday today.  We have just had a lovely 4 day, long weekend here in Hong Kong, celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient harvest moon festival.  It is also known as the Lantern festival and many lantern displays can be found all over Hong Kong during this celebration.

Here are some photos I took during the festival, on two separate nights in two different locations.  The lanterns are quite amazing.  I just love the attention to detail and the scale of these lanterns (some are HUGE).  We had so much fun walking around them, it was a great atmosphere, with everyone admiring them. They really are so beautiful.

In the photo above, the real full moon is looking very tiny, overlooking the very large Golden Moon lantern.  This was spectacular, as it changed colour with pulsating lights, I hardly wanted to take my eyes off it, it was mesmerising. 

I need to keep reminding myself it is really Wednesday today.  It is not Monday.  Long weekends can do that to you.  Have a great day.

Cat.