Cranberry, chocolate honeycomb biscuits

With Christmas around the corner, there are lots of nice recipes popping up in all the newspapers. These sounded so yummy I had to try them out.

Ingredients: -
125g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 white chocolate, chopped
60g dried cranberries
60g chopped Violet Crumble
2 tbs water

Method: -
* Cream butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add egg and vanilla extract beating until thoroughly combined. Using a metal spoon, stir in flour sifted with baking powder, chocolate, cranberries, Violet Crumble and water. Mix well.
* Form mixture into a thick roll. Wrap in cling wrap and screw ends tightly to make a plump sausage. Label and freeze.
* Preheat the oven to 185C. Line baking trays with baking paper.
* To use, leave at room temperature to soften slightly then pinch off pieces of dough and roll into small balls the size of large marbles. Arrange on baking trays, allowing space for spreading during cooking and flatten slightly.
* Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden. Leave on baking trays for 2-3 minutes then remove to a rack to cool and crisp. When cold, store in an airtight container.

I didn't freeze all of the dough because I couldn't wait to bake some so I've got some to eat now and some in the freezer for later :)

Lovely glasses

We got these pretty Japanese glasses from Charli a couple of weeks ago. How nice of her to send them all the way to us!

Ladybug

Saw 3 ladybugs in one morning on the balcony. They are not the type of insects you would squish so when I found one in my veggies, I had to let it go outside.

Green food!

Felt in the mood for jelly yesterday when I saw the jelly packets in the supermarket so I got one - it's a lime flavour which explains the glowing colour. Hahaha....


Also got another Caramel Corn flavour - Matcha Kuromitsu which is black sugar honey syrup (yum!)

Cartoon bunny

Hehehe! Found this website while trying to find something to make Christmas cards. It's quite impressive!

Spay done

I got Pixie spayed on Monday! Something I had to make myself do however hard it was. She now has a shaved belly and a tattoo in her ear to show for it. When she got home, she didn't want to be locked in the cage and kept trying to find a way out. I let her out and she was all over the place like she didn't just have a major surgery. Had to keep her locked back in the cage because she might tear her wound. :S

So far it looks like she is doing ok. She does not want to eat her hay and pellets but she'll have papaya tablets, hay cubes, oats and coriander so that is not too bad. Still watching for more poop though...


An impatient patient


Tattooed girl

False pregnancy

I think Pixie is going through a false pregnancy phase! This morning I woke to see her busy carrying her fleece blankies around and planting them in the hay rack. When I took the blankies out, she would carry them back in again. Later on, there were even bunches of fur! :S

It was cute to watch her running around with the blankies and bunches of hay in her mouth but seeing the fur is quite heartbreaking. Luckily she has her spay booked in next week.

Clever bunny

We keep the hay in a laundry basket and Pixie goes in there to get her own hay sometimes. It is quite funny to watch because she will come flying out of the basket when she hears a noise.

Good news

"What's this news I hear?"
Today marks a day we all change our status in life. My sister has become a mommy, parents have become grandparents and I am an auntie. Pixie bunny has a human cousin (hehehe! according to a fellow bunny lover). Can't wait to see the baby!

Caramel Corn Cola

Another new flavour! I wonder if this will be fizzy?
There was Vanilla Soda but I didn't buy it :(

Pixie relaxes

This is not a common sight as well. Pixie is a skittish little bunny so seeing her relaxed is a treat. :)

Once in a lifetime

I got into work today and noticed that it was 9am on 9/9/09. I missed getting a photo of the time because it turned 9.01. Then I thought 9.09 was even better!

Spring!

We are officially out of winter! But it's not like it is warming up too quickly anyway. There are a few more sunny afternoons but it is generally cold still. Some people put snowmen around Melbourne yesterday just to remind people that winter was going to be over. That was quite cute.


Oops! I've dropped my nose!

Bunny flop

So far I have seen Pixie bunny flop only twice and once right in front of me! She is a nervous little fella so flopping is a really good sign. She has woken us up at night crashing around in panic at the drop of a pillow or whatever else has made a noise. Wonder what to do to make her less panicky...

Pixie art - toilet roll evolution

From left: New toilet roll to old ones
She actually eats them down to the small size :S

Watching a ballet!

I saw the poster for this ballet on the way to work for a while and thought maybe we should go and watch it because we are so inspired by watching So You Think You Can Dance on TV :) Hehehe!

We did on Friday and it was a really good experience. The sets were really impressive too. I really wish I learnt dancing!

Woo hoo! It's Spiderbunny!

This morning we woke up to find Spiderbunny climbing up windows and generally having a wonderful time. She was so pleased with herself that lots of binkies and dashes all over the floor followed :)

Hello what are you doing there?
Up she goes!
This is where she usually ends up

You've gone too high now Spiderbunny!

Pancake Caramel Corn

Oooh yummy! I haven't tried it yet but it must be good.

Bunny nose

Hello cute nostrils!

A busy busy day!

Went to the long-awaited organic expo in the morning. I went to the last one 2 years ago and I have been waiting for the next one! Pity it only happens here every other year. Got there in the late morning and spent about 2.5 hours and quite some money buying lots of sauces and healthy bars! There was also an animal farm set up in the expo and the bunnies there were so cute. They were extremely tame and when put on the lap of kids, the bunnies just sat there! None of my bunnies ever do that. There was also a huge himalayan bunny. It was massive compared to all the others!


There was a craft and quilt fair happening on this weekend as well and I spent a long time deciding if I should go there. We did in the end - in the evening because we wanted to find out more about some sewing machines. There were loads of fabric and I really had to rein myself in! We spent about 3 hours there! That made for a huge amount of walking in one day but it was fun!

The view at night

Now that Pixie can run around as she pleases, she has a new favourite nightspot. This is what we see before we sleep :)

Are you kidding?

We saw this sign on Saturday below our apartment. The person who did this obviously didn't give it any thought.
PS: We do have lifts here.

Pixie Houdini

Pixie bunny has been tearing her way out of her cage recently in the mornings. The only thing that worries me about that is that she cannot get back in on her own if she gets out while we are out at work. Today when I got back, it was apparent that she got out during the day but amazingly, she was back in her cage! It is ridiculous how she did that because the gap is really not that big and she would not have something to stand on to get back in. Unless she has amazing aim to jump perfectly into the hole.


The mess I came back to (actually was not bad at all considering she was unsupervised).

We think it is time she goes "free range" in the balcony. So she is wandering about now and enjoying the views. :)

7th anniversary

It's out 7th anniversary today! We didn't go out for dinner today because it is a work day and anyway, it gets boring eating outside. We met up during lunch time though :)

Darlink got me flowers too!

Rainy market day

We had quite a tough day at the market today with the intermittent showers throughout the whole morning. It was plastic covers on and off so many times that I kind of lost count. But in the end, we still did ok.

One of the best things about today was that I spotted a guy with 2 beautiful Shiba Inu dogs. One black and one brown. I was so struck by how lovely the brown one looked that I went up and asked the guy about them and gave the dog a little head rub :) No pictures because it didn't even cross my mind then.

I do lots of dog spotting at the market - there are always many different ones around and it is fun to watch them greet and play with each other too.

And then there were 3...

Little bunny toy

Here's a little stuffed bunny made out of fabric designed by my sister with a little bell for a tail :)

Cupcakes

Decided to bake us some cupcakes for breakfast as I am tired of having bread. Tested out a recipe from the Masterchef forums again! Hehehe! But I made some modifications to it too.

Ingredients: -
100g unsalted butter, softened
185g caster sugar (I used soft brown sugar, no caster sugar at home)
1 tsp vanilla bean extract
2 eggs
200g self-raising flour (I used wholemeal self-raising flour because that is what I have)
1/2 cup (125ml) milk

Method: -
1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160C fan-forced). Line muffin pans with paper cases of your choice.

2. Beat butter and sugar until pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add vanilla extract. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.

3. Spoon some mixture into paper cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.


Yum yum! I added some cocoa powder and chocolate shavings.

More Pixie bunny pics

Pixie bunny is now approximately 5+ human years old. She is growing quite quickly! She is generally a good little girl except for a specific patch of mat that she MUST try and tear up!

Macadamia & chocolate chip cookies

Haven't baked anything in a long while so I thought I'd do some baking today since it is a holiday. Saw this recipe on the Masterchef forums and I was quite tempted because there is a particular brand of macadamia and white chocolate chip cookies that I really like which I can only get from the Magnolia Square fairs. I only did a half-sized batch (which already got me 41 cookies) and used chocolate chips since I had those at home. They are yummy!

Ingredients:
400 gm White Chocolate
340 gm Macadamias
225 gm Butter at room temperature
225 gm Brown sugar
170 gm Granulated sugar
1 tsp Salt
3 Eggs
60 ml Honey
2 tsp Vanilla extract.
510 gm Plain flour.
1.5 tsp Baking Soda.

Method:
Chop the chocolate and nuts coarsely and set aside.

Mix together the butter, sugars and salt until well combined.

Add the eggs, honey and vanilla and mix until combined.

Sift the flour and baking soda in and mix until combined.

Stir in the chocolate and nuts.

Portion the mixture out using heaped dessert spoonfuls. Roll the portions into balls using the palms of your hands and press down slightly on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake at 175C for 15 minutes.

Home grown mushrooms

The first mushroom


Some more mushrooms - we've had 6 so far and I think there are lots more to come. The texture is smoother than the ones we buy from the market.

Mushrooms are growing bigger!

They are starting to look more edible now.

Another birthday

It's my birthday today (and would also have been Bobber's). It was still a work day for me but we went out for a nice dinner and I had cake this morning :)



Pressies from Mammo and sis

I tried to share my pressie opening ceremony with Pixie but she was not interested. She rather try and lift weights. Hahaha!

Mushroom progress

It looks like we might have some mushrooms this week!

Playing with fleece

I wonder if all bunnies like chasing fleece because they both do :)

Nomming veggies

She looks so cute eating veggies. It's all done at high speed like she is on fast forward :)

Growing fast!

Pixie is growing really quickly! She is currently like a meerkat crossed with spiderman. It's amazing how she leaps around without fear. I have had to "rescue" her from odd spots she's found herself in by just jumping up onto anything. She jumped onto the tiny window ledge behind in the picture today and didn't know what to do next. Hehe!