Cupcake Wars - TV Love

There's a great show on the Food Network called Cupcake Wars! I'm loving it! I don't even make cakes, but I sure love eating them and I love a good competition.

In this show, (which was actually made about 2 years ago!) there are four contestants and a theme for each episode. The first challenge is to design a new flavoured cupcake to go with the theme. The second challenge is to design three cupcakes to go with the theme, and in this round, presentation plays a key role. The third challenge is to bake 1000 of those cupcakes in 2 hours and present them in a huge display for an event! Talk about stress! The contestants have a carpenter and four assistants to help them with the last challenge, but it is still full on!

Some of the contestants are so cute and all-American. 

This is Lindsay Morton from Dollhouse Bake Shoppe 

And this is Chloe Coscarelli, better known as Chef Chloe, who bakes vegan cupcakes.

Each of these ladies were the winners in their episodes.

The judges are pretty harsh, but have heaps of baking experience.

And some of the creations are just amazing!

I am sooo looking forward to the rest of the series!

Total yum!

xx

Film Love - Boardwalk Empire

In my search for all things art deco, I had been wanting to see Boardwalk Empire but wasn't able to find it on Graboid Video. Luckily for me it was on Foxtel last night, so we watched the first two episodes!

Now while I am not that into gangster stories, the costumes and sets were what I was watching! While the characters went about their business, I was busy scanning the backgrounds for decorating ideas!

I am tempted to buy one of these candlestick phones to use around the house:

And I was eyeing off all the lamps and chairs:

dining chairs and teasets:

desks and clocks:

paintings, sidetables  and doorways:

headboards and curtains:

And I was making mental notes of the costumes, hairstyles and shoes too:

I am hooked!

Have you had a chance to see Boardwalk Empire?

It sweeps you up into another world!

xx

In the city to see the Cake Boss

Last week we ventured into town on the train to the Convention Centre to see Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss. I took some shots of the city buildings, because I love the architecture and the combination of old and new.

Buddy's show was great!

He was warm, funny, and our cheeks were hurting at the end from laughing. The show involved bringing different groups of people up on stage to decorate cupcakes, and the audience cheered to show whose decorating was the best. They were pretty woeful efforts, but everyone on stage was so nervous in front of the crowd and the Boss. I certainly wouldn't have gone up there! Sometimes the contestants had danceoffs to choose a winner, when the cake decorating was too bad. It was a laugh! The music to accompany the comps was well chosen too - big favourites from over the years to get the crowd really pumped.

Buddy also spent time just talking to the crowd, telling us his story, and about his determination to make Carlo's Bakery a household name. He had a great message about family honour, togetherness, hard work, high goals, and being good. You couldn't help but leave the show smiling.

The only downer was that all the talk about cake had us hoping we would find canolis under our seats (Oprah style) but it was not to be. So we walked through the city after the show and found Miss Maud's where I indulged in a raspberry macaroon, and a slice of apple cake, which were delish!

Addicted to Tangle

I had this great big pile of ironing that built up and I tried to ignore it for so long, but I've been spending this week trying to conquer it! To keep me entertained I recorded 10 episodes of  Series 1 of the Aussie show Tangle and I've watched all of it in two days.

I didn't even catch a glimpse of it the first time around, but they played it the other day on Showtime because Series 2 starts today.

Tangle is a depiction of family life in Australia, with parents who don't know their kids, wives who don't know their husbands and past flames coming into their lives to stir up trouble. There is also a pretty scary take on teenage kids and how they can be doing the wrong things right under your nose. We all think we're raising our kids right, but are we?

There is a whole lot of sneaky, two-timing, activity going on, which you can see on any show, but the most thought-provoking stuff is what the kids are up to. Sneaking into each others' bedrooms to have sex, finding dead bodies and playing with them, having parties in deserted houses, smoking dope in their upstairs bedrooms while the parents are downstairs, driving cars underage, being beaten up by a friend and then going on a joyride with them in the next scene. So scary. This show completely gives the message to BE AWARE.

Why would I watch a show like this? The actors are well-known and include Ben Mendelsohn, Justine Clarke, Matt Day and Catherine McClements, the houses are very cool, and the twists and turns in the story are interesting to watch. I like to study character and see how people make choices.

At the end of Series 1, one of the main characters is hit by a car, so I'm intrigued to see what happens... Series 2 starts tonight if you want to tune into an eye-opening Australian drama!

30 Day Blog Journal - Day 3

Oh, I'm running a day behind, but anyway, here are my

FAVOURITE TV SHOWS:

To give me ideas for food, and how to make people happy,

because she has such a powerful way of overhauling failing hairdressing salons,

because you can see the way people live, find out what works well and what does not,

and then apply the good things to your own life

because she has the perfect strategies for helping parents to control their children's behaviour,

because I love photography, makeup, and clothes!

I know, I'm a total reality show junkie, but hey, I enjoy seeing people have their fifteen minutes of fame!

Masterchef - Down to the final two

Yet again I've been sucked in by a TV show, this time, it's Masterchef.

My Mum got me onto it this past week, and I've actually only watched about 4 episodes. Tonight's episode was nail-biting as each of the three contestants had to cook for a dinner for 35. They had 6 hours to prepare, and worked non-stop!

Sadly, Claire was eliminated, as she just couldn't get on top of the timing.
So now it's down to these two, Callum and Adam.

The final is on Sunday. Who do you think/hope will win?

My vote is Callum. Go Callum!!

Phoneline working again!

I'm back! Sorry I've been away so long, when I'd promised to post every day this month. I had all intentions, but something weird happened to our phoneline last Friday, and it only started working again last night (Tuesday). We have been without phone, internet, and X-Box for 5 days!! Seriously, it felt like a fortnight!

But I have been spending my time watching episode after episode of a great show on Foxtel called Clean House.

In each episode, they help a family clean the clutter out of their house by analysing why it is so cluttered (and believe me the houses are wrecks!), which enables the family to let go of all their 'foolishness'. They then have a garage sale and the money raised goes towards furniture and fittings to help organise and beautify their home. Love it! So I've been making a huge pile of things to go in a garage sale, (but we'll probably take it to a swap meet), and going though all my magazines, that date back to 1993 (shame on me!) I've reorganised most of the back shed, and cleared clutter from nearly all the rooms in the house. Just the study to go. And now there's only two weeks of holiday before I have to go back to work!! Eek!

In other news, I've posted a book review of The Time Traveller's Wife at Wise Owl Books.

So who won Top Model?

Teyona!

America's Next Top Model Cycle 12

I've been watching re-runs of Top Model all holidays - LOVE it! The way the photos turn out fascinates me. On Tuesday night we find out the winner of Cycle 12. I know the results are already all over the internet, but if it was up to you, who do you think should be the winner of this series?


Aminat (pronounced Ameena)


Teyona


or Allison???

Project Runway Australia Final

I'm not a sewer, but I do love fashion, and in this show, you get to watch it being created! Wednesday 16th, 8.30 pm on Arena is the final show, and it is down to William, Lauren and Anthony. Here are the party dresses they created in 8 hours (I think it was??).

William's:

Lauren's:

And Anthony's:

That's just a taste of what they have been doing. Anthony has got some killer designs for his final collection, but I hope Lauren gets it together and wins! (William's designs are a bit frumpy, I think!)

Who will win Hell's Kitchen this time?

I don't know why I keep watching this show. There's a lot of yelling and carrying on, and I would never train someone using this style, but....I guess I just like to see people persevere through trials and tribulations and succeed in the end.

So who will win this series, I wonder (if you've seen the final, don't tell me!)

Danny only really stuffed up for the first time last week.

But Paula has barely done a thing wrong all series.

Paula is the one, I'm sure.

I will be there in the last minutes, I know. Anyone else have this addiction?

Wendy xx

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

I know I am a complete reality tv junkie, but I just have to share that I LOVE this show! I watched an episode today, about the Bell family, and I just cried and cried. The youngest girl has a rare form of anemia and needs two blood transfusions each month. Not only does she promote blood drives and gift collections for children in hospital, but she had to live in a house in disrepair because the family spends at least $10000 a year on medical costs, and could not afford to do it up.

Well, Ty Pennington and his crew came to the rescue and built them a massive house, which had beautiful decor, Spanish in flavour. I love the bookshelves in the bedroom, and might have to steal this idea.

And I just needed to show the eldest daughter's perfectly organised wardrobe. Gorgeous!

Check out this show if you get a chance. The houses and decor are stunning, and it is all for a good cause - helping those who help others. Keep the tissues nearby...