Hi there. Well... we are into August and racing towards spring time with new lambs starting to appear in the paddocks and the first of the spring flowers showing some colour in the garden after what seems to have been an incredibly long and wet winter in Canterbury!

It has been a busy week with family events at the other end of the country and I also attended the Bernina Roadshow event in Christchurch. I hope you took the chance to catch up with what is happening with specials, updates and promotions...but if not I will do my best to fill you in.

The really good news is there that there are some amazing sales coming up on the ex-Symposium machines which will be used in the classrooms for this event in Christchurch in October. Some of the machines will have done a few hours work and some will be brand new and never have made it out of the box! These will be sold for $1500 less than the new price, and will go back to Wellington to be fully serviced before being delivered after 16.1.17. The ex-Syposium models will be the Bernina 770, 570 QE and the 350 PE. These are available for PRE-ORDER NOW with a 10% non-refundable deposit. So be in quick!

You are welcome to come in and check these machines out in store or have a look on the Bernina NZ website

https://www.bernina.com/en-NZ/Products-NZ/BERNINA-products

For those of you with a Bernina 880 or 790 machine there is also an upgrade that is available which will be particularly useful for those with a passion for machine embroidery.

Just in case you were wondering...I have been doing some sewing in my spare time (?) and have just finished this little quilt featuring four different foundation pieced sheep who all seem to have their own personality! This will be a one day class on Saturday 2 September. (More details on the class page of the website).

Before I forget...last month’s winner of the $50.00 voucher from Annie’s is Rachel Amos from Ashburton. Well done Rachel, your voucher is waiting for you.

This week’s recipe is for the self-confessed cheese freaks among us, myself included. (As far as I am concerned, cheese is an essential food group!)

Cheese Straws and Plaits

• 125 g flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp dry mustard
• 90 g parmesan cheese
• 90 g butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tsp cold water
• 1 egg white lightly beaten
• Paprika

In a food processor mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper and mustard. Reserve three teaspoons of the parmesan and set aside. Add the butter and remaining parmesan to the mixture and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. With the machine running, add the egg yolks and water to form a dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board to a rectangle (approx 9” x 12”) Trim the edges and brush the surface with the egg white and sprinkle over the reserved parmesan. Cut into straws or twist two together to make plaits and bake at 200C for 8-10 mins or until lightly browned. Cool and place on a wire rack and when cold dust with paprika.

Happy stitching,

Rachel