Pinoy Hubby

My boyfriend and I have spent the last six months trying to buy a house. I say trying, because everything that could go wrong, did go wrong - between the vendors and our solicitor who equally appeared to dither, delay, they said they had sent things when they hadn't, and right before we exchanged it seemed like the vendors might have changed their minds (and on the day of completion, our solicitor got their bank details wrong so the money nearly didn't go through). That's not to mention the fact that the vendors drew out the process so much that our mortgage offer actually expired and we only secured an extension at the last minute. Still, we persevered and had to push through the sale of my house, and ended up moving in with my boyfriend's mum for three weeks until our vendors were willing to complete on their sale. Everything went into storage - several times when I wanted to cook something, I realised the pan I needed was over at Big Yellow and it wasn't worth ...

Here's a cute birthday card I made for a female friend, using a piece of pretty pink backing paper and some raised puffy stickers of a cat and some flowers. I also added a 'birthday wishes' sticker that has pink wording on a clear background.

These sweet chilli turkey burgers are low fat and really zingy, they make a lovely change from a beefburger and are very easy to make. Allow about 100-120g turkey mince per person. Mix the mince in a bowl with some chopped red onion, chopped spring onion, 1/2 tsp oregano per person and 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce per person. Combine well and shape into patties with your hands. Place on a foil lined tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with rocket, and tomato if desired, in a crusty bread roll or burger bun. I'm sending this to the Spice Trail Beach Barbecue Challenge, hosted by Vanesther at Bangers and Mash.

I made this card while a friend was pregnant before I knew whether she was expecting a boy or a girl; I made two cards and in the end this one was not needed! The embellishments were really cute and only cost 99p, I think from the Works - they are wooden and come with an adhesive pad already attached. I chose a piece of backing paper with birds that I thought would work well with the baby theme (they are not storks but not a million miles away) and used a silver outline border sticker to frame the backing paper, which I stuck in the middle of the card. I placed one of the baby embellishments in the middle and two more in the bottom corners, and a 'congratulations' silver outline sticker along the top. I've got this one ready now in case anyone else I know has a son!

My friend Jane just had a baby, yay! I made a girl and a boy card in anticipation as I didn't know which she was going to have; it turned out that she had a daughter. I went with the traditional pink theme and used a pink card blank, and cut a rectangle from a piece of printed backing paper that I thought would make a nice contrast. The swaddled baby, the small heart and the larger heart with the word 'baby' are made of wood, and all came from the same sticker pack. I think cards look nice where they are symmetrical and elements are within the lines but it can also look good to cross lines and borders, like I have done with the 'baby' heart which cuts through the border. The border itself is a silver outline sticker, as is the 'congratulations' word.

The feeling of sand in your toes, sun warming your skin and the sound of the sea lapping at the shore can't be beat... especially when it's the middle of the week and you feel like you are playing truant from work. I was getting to the end of my tether with the house buying process (five months and counting, thanks to Mr and Mrs C, the most awkward people I've ever had to deal with) and decided I needed to get away from it all. Unfortunately, with the sale of my house imminent I can't go away on holiday, but I realised I had only taken one day off since I started my new job back in February and it was about time for some R&R. Hearing that a heatwave was forecast I decided there was no time like the present and booked the following day off work - and a train ticket to Bournemouth. My boyfriend couldn't get any time off at such short notice but luckily one of my best friends is a supply teacher and didn't have any work on for the next day, so happily agree...

I'm not a fan of banana so I've never made banana bread or banana cupcakes other than these awesome Elvis cupcakes . But when Dr. Oetker sent me some of their newest products to try, including these banoffee sprinkles, I decided it was a great opportunity to make some banoffee cupcakes. Banoffee Cupcakes - an original recipe by Caroline Makes 75g butter 100g caster sugar 1 egg 2 soft bananas, mashed 100g self-raising flour 3 tbsp milk 1 tsp vanilla flavouring or a few twists of Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla from the grinder for the filling: 397g tin Carnation Caramel (or similar dulce de leche) for the frosting: 100g butter, softened 200g icing sugar Dr. Oetker edible cupcake cases (optional) Preheat oven to 175C. Cream the butter and the sugar then beat in the egg and the mashed bananas. Fold in the flour then the milk and either the vanilla flavouring or vanilla from the grinder. Dr. Oetker included this among the products they sent me to review. It cost...