small things

[+] found this gorgeous camera while at the flea markets, cannot wait to try it out although don't have a clue where I can have film developed these days. I asked a fellow Aussie where she develops film since her blog is full of them and she has kindly not replied...I guess some things are top secret and only spoken while in a cone of silence
[+] a wooden toy to add to my collection, I love them! found this while at the markets. It was a marvellous day but oh so hot, I have the top of my feet sunburnt in the shape of thongs
[+] and how could I resist this cute pez dispenser? I actually bought it so I could withdraw money from the self checkout at Coles, there is never an atm when you need one
[+] this Judy Blume book was found while at an Anglicare op shop who sell children's books for 10 cents, I remember reading it when young which was quite a while ago but cannot remember what it is about so I will spend the weekend getting reacquainted with it
[+] PLUS the making of almond butter despite it being quite hot and humid outdoors, I really picked a bad time to make it but wanted to have a taste and experience the love everyone seems to have for it. I must say it is quite nice, although note quite sure how it is eaten

a pretty good week! have a wonderful weekend friends :) and if you are in Sydney don't forget to slip, slop, slap. 41C tomorrow YIKES!

crafty weekend

I got bitten by craft bug this weekend...but boy did I enjoy it!

a chocolate caramel slice weekend

I felt like cooking yesterday but truly I have been feeling so lethargic lately I really couldn't do anything too difficult, my solution? a chocolate caramel slice, not very healthy but sometimes you need to be a little wicked right? My only problem is the base turned out so terribly crumbly, I was grumbling to Andres about it but as much as I grumble it is still being eaten and as long as my 4 boys plus 1 are enjoying it I am happy.

Happy weekend friends :D

baking & absences

sitting here in my room, eating lunch at 2pm (daylight savings always messes up my eating habits) and patiently waiting for my cinnamon sugar pull-apart bread to finish baking.   I hope it is yummy and mostly I hope it leaves the yummiest smell in my house.  My need to bake took over today and I have ignored uni work... well, for a couple of hours anyway.

I know it has been the longest time since I have blogged, I have been busy with life, with iron injections, with dropping off my kids and a little uni work too but I also have been lazy and have not felt the desire to blog...THAT is the simple truth.  Does anyone else ever feel like that? I know I definitely do plus I am not a very exciting person in all honesty.

I have taken too long to write the above lines and now there is the most delicious aroma coming from my kitchen and I had better check it. I will try to be around a little more ;)




PS I will also try my hardest to photograph this bread after baking but I am not too sure if there will be any left :/

one crazy weekend

It has been one very crazy weekend that I think will take me all this week to recover from.  What a shame I won't get any sleep-ins as uni starts tomorrow *sigh*. this weekend has seen me travel over 450 kms and although it was a lot of fun I am so very glad to be at home and in my bed.

Friday was my papi's birthday. it was amazing seeing his face when we went to visit him with a tres leches cake knowing it was made especially for him, he looked like a 4 year old grinning from ear to ear. I am quite bored with this cake but everyone just loves it so. I was however able to indulge in my love of baking and made some lenguas de gato they were absolutely yumm-o! I let my kids have a taste test and they nearly gobbled them all up. I also made a potato and rosemary focaccia for our dinner and it was also eaten up quicker than I could cut it up into slices.

Saturday we went to Little Bay and today to The Entrance and took what feels like hundreds & hundreds of photos that will unfortunately have to wait, I am thoroughly exhausted from today's trip plus those who follow me on instagram know I finally have my hands on the Anne of Green Gables book that I want to hopefully get through without falling asleep. (I did include a little preview of Little Bay though...a truly gorgeous place).













I hope you were out in the sun enjoying this truly splendid weather...it was gorgeous wasn't it?

finally...baking

I wish I could bake more cakes around here but I always manage to get into trouble when I do, so when my kids cousins came over for a movie night I seized the opportunity to bake one that I have been dying to try for a while. Brown butter cake :)

Movies with completos? (Chilean hot dogs) they were happy....oh, and so was I!

tomorrow

what have I been up to lately?





baking some apple cake and making a duck egg cosy, instead of finishing off my last assignment. Although I do believe the egg cosy is going to have to be for pigeon eggs as it turned out so small.

For now I am going to stop putting things off...starting tomorrow! great plan

sweet treat

Today I made my first ever macaroons...pistachio macaroons. They got a little burnt since Andres turned up the oven to 175°C when I told him 150°C, but still yummy. Very yummy. Tomorrow I'll try again.

long weekend

It has not stopped raining since I washed the car Friday...bad sign? I think so! We have been indoors all this long weekend.



But I made cake :) cake always cheers people up.

cinnamon snails

I am supposed to be reading today, but I've done everything but read. I thought I would cook some cinnamon snails, thinking to myself it will be nice to read with a nice aroma in the air. I made up the dough and left in the fridge while I cleaned up a little. I ended up cleaning the microwave, swept and mopped my dirty floors, cleaned the toilet and dusted! It is now 3pm and trying to get reading done while the kids are here will be hard. But the cinnamon snails were needed, fingers crossed I actually get to eat one.







I have tried other cinnamon snail recipes but this is the best one!

Cinnamon Snails
3 cups plain flour
pinch salt
2 tbsp sugar
250g butter
30g compressed yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
3 egg-yolks

1. Cream yeast with 1 tsp of the sugar. Add lukewarm milk, let stand in warm place 5 minutes.
2. Sift flour, salt and remaining sugar into bowl; rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add egg-yolks to yeast mixture, beat with beater for 3 minutes. Add to flour mixture, mix to a soft dough. Wrap dough in aluminium foil, refrigerate several hours or overnight.
4. Remove from refrigerator half-an-hour before dough is to be used. Roll out dough onto lightly floured surface. Spread walnut filling evenly over dough.
5. Roll up carefully as for swiss roll. Slice roll into 12 even slices, place into greased paper lined tin. Cover with clean cloth, let rise in warm place 15-20 minutes.
6. Bake in hot oven 15 minutes, reduce heat to moderate; cook further 10 minutes or until golden brown. When cold, drizzle over prepared icing.

Walnut Filling:
125g walnuts
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 egg whites

1. Place finely chopped walnuts, sugar and cinnamon into bowl; mix well. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, fold into walnut mixture.

Icing:
Place 3/4 cup sifted icing sugar and tsp butter in bowl; gradually beat in milk until icing is of pouring consistency. Stand bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly until icing is shiny.

pink cupcakes

I had my youngest son with me today due to illness. Yes! on my free day. Why is it they get sick during my days off? hmm it is very suspicious I tell you! After a dose of panadol he was feeling a little better so I asked him if he wanted to make cupcakes with his momma. He agreed but I had run out of butter and couldn't find the recipe for the cupcakes..GRR so had to take him to the shops to stock up on a few ingredients. By the time we got home I quickly made some dinner as the other three would be home soon, and while that was cooking I started on the cupcakes but my little helper was feeling dizzy so I ended up preparing them on my own. (Mr Potato Head was no help) :P

I got these pretty pastel patty liners and I had a hard time deciding whether or not to use them. I kept thinking to myself 'they are just paper' but at the same time I couldn't bare to use them, they are so pretty. I was hoping to make a garland as featured here and here....ah well. I will have to get some more and try to making the garland another time.

Full of vegetables

It is funny isn't it? the kids won't eat vegetables on their own but roll them in pastry and they come back for seconds. My kids aren't bad with their vegetables, just the youngest, but I put in some broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, onions & potatoes and she loved them.

I went to Windsor today with the intention of buying some vintage postcards but they weren't at all nice so I wandered around and found this gorgeous cupcake stand at this
'bargain shop' but thought it was a little dear at $19. I drove to Richmond and I love the drive there, it is like being in another time and I wish I could have taken photos while driving. I *was* looking for a medicare office but found this cute kitchen shop with such gorgeous gorgeous items, I had a wander inside and they also had these stands but for $30! I might have to go back for the stand but knowing my luck they won't have any left. I did manage to get these small tart tins, as I am dying to make some apple tarts. This weekend maybe?

do-ugh

I woke up cleaning and day ended the same way, it is never ending job...around here anyway. While cleaning the kitchen sink I cut myself on a piece of china I didn't see. I slid my finger on this tiniest piece of china and the blood starting pouring out. It is still sore but I still managed to cook for my four kangaroos today.

I made the kids this Chilean biscuit, not really a biscuit but wouldn't know what to class it as. They are called calzones rotos which translates 'torn underwear'. It is a dough that is cut into rectangles with a slit in the middle, one end is passed through the slit forming a twist. They are then fried and when golden sprinkled with a lot of icing sugar yum!. I've included the recipe, just in case ;)

Calzones Rotos
3 cups of plain flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg & 2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of grated orange rind

1. Sift flour, baking powder and icing sugar into a bowl.




2. Add softened butter, egg, egg yolks and orange rind and form into a dough. If too dry add water (I usually add 1/2 cup). Knead dough until soft and not sticky.




3. Roll out dough on a floured board leaving it quite thin 1-2cm and cut into rectangles. Cut a slit in the middle but not too large just big enough for one end to pass through.




4. Heat oil in frying pan and when hot fry a couple at a time. Draining well when they are lightly browned and while still warm sprinkle with icing sugar. Enjoy!

the one

Yes! woohoo these are the ones. The recipe I have been searching for...now I have to figure out what to do with the leftover egg whites :/

two weeks left

Experimenting with textures...fun :)

I forgot to mention that yesterday I got my uni results. Two credits & two distinctions! I was told that if I passed I was going to be taken to Sizzler but my four men are away camping this weekend, how convenient :/

I made some alfajores yesterday, but this recipe isn't the one I was looking for. These are more like cookies and the ones I want are like wafer biscuits. I am trying again tomorrow with another recipe. I need to find this recipe.

Two weeks left of holidays and most of the things I wanted to do haven't been done. My list has been revised and I hope that in these two weeks I have left I can at least cross off one.

[+] Go to Adriano Zumbo's patisserie (who has been watching MasterChef? his creations are CRAZY beautiful)
[+] Go to the Blue Mountains
[+] Read at least one book more
[+] Watch Toy Story 3 at the drive-in

Fingers crossed ;)

hungry boys

Made some scones for my boys today, it seems nothing will fill them up! Food that used to last me two days, I am now lucky if it last a couple of hours. I think I am going to be exhausted after the school holidays :(

But, that aside these have to be the best scones around. So fluffy and so easy to make too! and only three ingredients.

fishy fishy

I made some cocktail fishcakes today and the whole house smelt of fish. I had to open doors and windows to let the smell out. I also lit this yummy candle, I love the smell. I only hope the clothes don't smell of fish. Bleurgh!



I finally figured out the ears...he is almost complete. Such a cute little owl, although my fingers are sore from the crochet hook.



I have no plans for the weekend, we did want to go watch Toy Story 3 at the drive-in (only $22 for a family of 6..so cheap!) but we don't have a radio in the car. It is a good thing though, the windows always fog up when we go to the drive-in. Hope you all have a nice weekend, I am so tired I am off to bed.

Greek yoghurt cake

I was craving something sweet this afternoon, and unfortunately we only had cookies. So I got out the recipe book and decided on a Greek Yoghurt cake. I was in the middle of making it when I realised I didn't have yoghurt, that is right! the main ingredient and I didn't have any, so I quickly ducked down to the corner store. That sort of stuff always happens to me.

long weekend

I unfortunately was busy all day yesterday. We had a family BBQ. I was so exhausted after it all ended that I didn't have the energy to even check my emails. Not that I had any :( I made a cake yesterday, tres leches cake that I ended up having to remake again today as my kids didn't get to eat any. But alas, it has disappeared again!

birthday cookie

I made a chocolate birthday cookie today. I told Alec I would make it for him and he has been bugging me everyday to make it. The photo didn't come out too clear but it has two chocolate cookies and chocolate frosting on the top of both. It was so sweet! You have to have a really small slice.