I made this: red kuta

I have always wanted to be able to make my own clothes. I never seem to like anything i find in the shops and the things a like are way too expensive for someone working for $3  an hour. When I came home i decided i would learn to make myself a kuta.

This is the first thing i have sewn. I have tried a few times but i always end up getting my mum to take over half way through. It is just quicker and neater if she does it. This time i stuck with it right till the almost end (she did the hem).

I think the tailors in Pokhara are pretty safe. I won't be opening a stitching shop anytime soon. The darts are a bit crooked and it is a little tight but i think for a first try it isn't bad.

I found the pattern at Burda Style and if you sign up for the free membership you get access to lots of FREE patterns. I think i will try to get the kuta perfect but i'd like to try something like this soon:

Afternoon tea top from Burda style

I made this: coffee coloured butterfly cakes

My cooking confidence has recently taken a battering. I admit I can't cook Dal Bhaat. When I make tea i always let the milk boil over. I never put enough chili in anything. Basically when it comes to producing anything in a Nepalese kitchen I am rubbish. 

But do not fear my children won't starve, I am able to report that it has been confirmed (by my mum, I may need an independent verification) that i am a "really good' Aussie cook. I love cooking, but most of my specialties involve an oven and a kitchen stocked with more than a pressure cooker and a fry pan. 

Anyway yesterday i dusted of my apron and baked these delicious coffee flavoured butterfly cakes. I don't care if it is rude to sing your own praises, these cakes are the best thing i have eaten all year. My mum and i ate four yesterday and i am trying not to finish them off before she returns from work. 

So in case your interested the recipe goes a little something like this:

Mix 3 teaspoons of instant coffee powder with 1 tablespoon of hot water with 125g butter (I used cooking margarine) in an electric mixer (or whatever you use to beat cakes).  Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla and beat until creamy. Add and mix 3/4 cup of brown sugar, firmly packed, i cup of self raising flour, 1/4 cup of custard powder. The custard powder gives it an extra special taste. Beat in 1/3 cup of milk, adding slowly or you will get lumps. Lastly add two eggs, one at a time. Beat on high until smooth.

You can cook in patty cases and make 12 small cakes or cool in a 20cm ring case. Bake in moderate oven for 30 mins. When cooled top with coffee flavoured icing and BAM the best cakes ever!