It's that time of year again...

Halloween is still in its infancy in Australia, but catching on fast. We'll be out doing the rounds tonight but I'm not too keen to dress as a ghoul if my daughter has her way

I went into the Work in Progress archives to find my Graveyard Halloween Chocolate Cake that I designed for a Halloween party last year. Recipe is included if you're interested

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I hope you enjoy the new wider format (bigger pics) to my blog. It's something that I've wanted to do for a while now, but Typepad was driving me crazy with the degree of difficulty understanding cryptic instructions. I am a bit slow with computery things

What are your doing for Halloween?

My thoughts have gone out to the people of Cinque Terre or 'Five Worlds' in Italy's Liguria region as the sleepy fishing villages have been devastated by torrential rain. It's hard to imagine rivers of mud pouring from the mountains behind, destroying roads, bridges and lives. Such a shame

We recently visited these 'worlds' in July and the picturesque buildings of faded pinks, blues, rusts and yellows were so beautiful I was inspired to draw one of the little harbours. I also love the wee clay architectural sculptures of Cinque Terre by Artisanie Europe (see below) 

Crave Sydney International Food Festival is on again this year and we decided to get in on the action. This weekend we headed to Taronga Zoo to sample some delights from local restaurants and couldn't go past the Chocolate Fondant with a glass of Pommery Champagne and Duck Pate on Brioche. Oh, the calories! Of course, it's always fun to visit the animals too

The festival is on until the end of October and there's still so many functions, cooking classes, tastings etc yet to see and taste. Just don't think of the expanding waisteline

My brother, Peter Edmunds owner and chocolatier of Lindsay & Edmunds Organic Chocolates, has been featured on the ABC program 'Feast: Kids in the Kitchen'. Three eagre kids are willing to learn about tempering chocolate and even more eagre to taste the results. So jealous

Pete is now offering chocolate making Birthday parties in the Canberra area. You can find contact details on his website