It’s by Monika, again. Girl’s got talent.

An entrance way dusted with beautiful light, and her sexy boy drinking my favourite chocolat chaud by Max Brenner.

Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia, with a sprinkling of blue bottles across the shoreline.

Shall I assume Paddington, Sydney, Australia? If not, I’ve gotta be close.

and cherry blossoms for the cherry girl.

Who do I speak of? Why, Amanda Gilligan of course, For The Love of Light contributor and polaroid photographer extraordinaire. Click here to view her photo blog, here to read her blog, and here to view her flickr pics. Enjoy, I know I have.

Monika has been snapping some awesome shots of her beautiful bubs lately, all of which are making me want some of my own. I know, I’ve been saying this for ten years now, so just get on with it right?! Hmm.

Check out Monika’s new pics here, they are swoooooners.

There is something about me and pastry chefs.

For some reason in my career, I find myself drawn to recipe writers who are ex-pastry chefs, their food and culinary vision making me jump up and down, giddy and light headed, as I lick my lips and salivate at the thought of how fabulous their latest creation will look with various stylish accoutrements I have in my props cupboard.

Right now, in the (blog)house kitchen I have exactly someone who fits the above description – whose creations make my mouth-water just to read the title of her latest materpiece, let alone her photographs and stories about how she came up with the recipe. And who secretly, I hope to work with one day to publish a book of her sweet work.

Please welcome to the (blog)house, recipe writer extraordinaire and author of the scrumptious blog called Cannelle Et Vanille, Aran Goyoaga…

To get you familiar with Aran’s recipes, here is one of my favourites, her champagne and pink grapefruit sorbet…

with lemon emulsion, lemon streusel and red currant jelly…

Here in the (blog)house kitchen, Aran has shared four of her favourite recipes with us, so get on in there now to take a look, but be prepared as you will want to grab your spatulas and bowls the moment you lay eyes on her photographs.

Thank you Aran, I am so pleased you are here, I do hope you enjoy your stay in the kitchen, and please don’t worry about cleaning up – Alfred will be happy to tidy any mess (because I know he likes to lick the bowls!).

Enjoy.

xx

Sydney photographer Jamie Williams is one of my favourites – he photographs all the Tibetan events back home and beyond, and has a way of capturing the moment perfectly. I will be featuring more of Jamie’s work soon, but for now I just wanted to show you this one which I love. It is available as a card too, and I bought a set of them a while back for birthdays and special occasions. This image is titled Enlightenment. He also shoots such events like Australian Fashion Week, and various festivals. Check out his flickr set here.