Shabby

Friday, September 26, 2008

Movie day



We went to watch Wall-E yesterday. We hardly go to the movies now - the last one we watched was Ratatouille. It looks like we only go for Pixar movies now. :D But that's because they are the best! The movie started with a short film called Presto which had one of the cutest bunnies I have seen in an animation. The movie itself was good too! I would have generally not bothered with science fiction shows but Wall-E is really quite an endearing character.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Tortoise and hare cookies





I having been eyeing these for ages and last week when I saw them at a price I was more willing to pay, I got a box! They taste good...after I managed to convince myself to bite into one because they look too good to eat.

Earl Grey Tea loaf with vine fruits




I tried this recipe today. Saw it in the newspapers last week and because there's tea in it, I thought I'd try it out.

Ingredients:
* 300ml boiling water
* 3 Earl Grey tea bags
* 125g soft brown sugar
* 2-1/2 cups mixed dried vine fruits (currants, raisins or sultanas) - I used raisins, dried cherries and currants
* 2 eggs, whisked
* 2-1/2 cups self-raising flour
* Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange (I used an organic orange because I don't like grating zest of conventional oranges)
* 1/2 cup chopped unblanched almonds
* 2 tbsp honey

Method:
Pour water over the tea bags in a large heat-proof bowl and leave for 5 mins. Remove tea bags, add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the vine fruit, stir and stand for at least 1 hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to moderate (I used approximately 180 degrees). Line a 24cm x 11cm loaf pan with baking paper.

Add the eggs, flour, orange zest and juice to the fruit mixture. Beat well. Spoon mixture into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with almonds and bake about 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the pan in a rack for 10 mins. While it's cooling, warm the honey slightly and drizzle over the top of the loaf. Serve thinly sliced (I skipped the honey bit though).

The end product is like a fruit bread and I like it because there is no butter involved. I don't seem to be able to taste the tea anymore though. It seems like the orange zest might have overpowered it maybe because my orange was too large?? But on the whole, I'm quite pleased with the outcome because the loaf rose really nicely and tastes healthy and good.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

What's in the oven?




Cupcakes!

The house smells yummy now :D

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Spring!

Spring is here ! Hmm winter did seem to pass quite quickly this year...The best part is seeing lovely flowers popping out where there were once bare branches. And not forgetting lovely sunny days again. We even spotted a bunch of people sunbathing just in front of their house - on the footpath mind you. They couldn't wait to get to a beach. Hehehe!

We had got out of the city for a change today and I spotted lots of lovely cherry blossom trees in bloom. I was oohing and aahing all over - pity I forgot to bring my camera and only had the phone camera to get some shots. But better than nothing...:D Realised that there aren't too many nice trees in the city which is why I've got that kind of reaction.