Easter Feasting

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. We capped ours off today with a visit from friends at our sons soccer match which was just great. Yesterday we had a feast with the family and I thought I would share with you some of the drool-worthy dishes that we stuffed ourselves with!

The rice had roast almonds and other yummy stuff. The chickens were cooked to perfection on the snazzy BBQ and for the Vego there were pea and haloumi fritters which were unbelievably yummy. Oh and the salad - I have to get the recipe for the dressing because it was sensational - I know there was honey in it! Baby spinach, roast pumpkin and sweet potato and roasted pine-nuts. Are you drooling yet?

And after all of this yumminess, our manly men got to and "constructed". Ok so they didn't make the whole thing - just added the cover but there were some challenges .... The end result means shade and rain protection for the coming Winter anyway!

My food offerings were limited to a trio of dips. I have never really made dips before and was surprised how quickly they came together and how utterly mouth watering they are. I made French Onion, Roast Capsicum and Tomato and Hummous - yum yum!
Can you believe we actually managed "afters" as well? How does home-made custard slice sound - oh yeah! I have been in a carbohydrate tailspin all day today but it was soooo worth it. Of course we managed to swill a few bottles of bubbly and one of the loveliest Verdehlos I have had in ages.

I did make some Easter gifts of the jewellery kind too. A leather cuff for my son which he has only removed to play soccer so I am guessing he likes it! I am not sure how long it will last as I chose the softest leather I had, but oh well, it looks and feels great! I made my daughters fella a leather and neoprene bracelet with some nut beads and he seemed happy too - boy jewellery is always a bit more challenging for me. I made ear-rings for the girls.

This pair for my eldest daughter ...

They are quite long and suit her beautifully. I am having a lot of fun messing around with enameling just now.  Because the green disc is larger than the orange disc, they hang in a nice chandelier kinda way.

Daughter Number 2 received these ...

The colour is called "Yacht Blue" - it is quickly becoming one of my favourites! The shiny green beads are from a strand of Vintage crystals that my daughter and I hunted up in a Thrift Store at Christmas time. There is some amethyst on there too and a nice clear crystal at the top - you can't see it in the pic but I aged a rhinestone rondell and added that to the top bit as well!

Now my darling niece has a 14 month old son so dangly earrings are not much chop most days so I made her some she can wear to work. I chose fairly neutral colours so they should team up nicely with lots of outfits ...

These are a lovely Charcoal enamel with a creamy pinkish shell. They look great on! I have shaped the ear wires so that they become a feature of the design rather than just a hanging mechanism.

 Wow, this turned into a lengthy post - didn't mean to bang on about the jools but I am finally "getting back in the saddle" as it were and I am a bit pleased with myself and my efforts!
Hope no-one suffers too badly from "Its-Not-The-Long-Weekend" Blues tomorrow!