Looking up down under

Carnival Cookies

2012-01-22T15:49:00.004+11:00

Saw this post on Cook Republic that day and I knew I had to try it! No butter and sugar! Guilt free snacking! :) I think it makes a great breakfast food as well.

It probably would look better with chopped chocolate but I was a bit lazy and used chocolate chips.

Ingredients
3 large over ripe mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup macadamia oil
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup hazelnut meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups crushed peanuts
1 cup choc chips
1 1/2 cups popped corn

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

In a large bowl, combine the bananas, vanilla and macadamia oil. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the oats, hazelnut meal, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and mixed spice. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix to combine. Fold in the chocolate, peanuts and popped corn.

The dough might appear looser than most cookies, but that is alright. Heap 1 tablespoon worth of cookie dough on to your palm and shape small balls. Place about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake for approximately 15-18 minutes until golden, swapping the baking sheet back to front once during the baking process. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Will stay just fine in the fridge for a week in an air-tight container.

Fresh cherry & almond cake

2011-12-23T18:01:00.003+11:00

Have been holding on to this recipe for a while and since it is cherry season now, I thought I'd give it a go. It has turned out yummy! I have baked it twice already .

Ingredients: -
1 cup almond meal
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
125g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup fresh cherries, pitted and chopped

Method: -
Preheat oven to 180C. Combine almond meal and flour sifted with baking powder and salt.

Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Fold in almond meal mixture. Add vanilla and cherries, mixing well.

These can be made into individual cupcakes or a whole cake which is what I have done. Bake about 20 minutes (cupcakes) or 35 minutes (whole cake) or until cooked when tested.

Autumn Caramel Corn flavours

2011-12-20T22:21:00.004+11:00

This is rather late for the season but it's because I try not to eat them immediately!
Here are Marron (chestnut) Aji and Honey Maple Caramel Corn.

iPhone owner

2011-11-29T11:50:00.004+11:00

We got ourselves iPhones over the weekend. Finally ending our time being extremely backward, while everyone around us migrated to smartphones over the years :)

The first photos we took were profile pictures for each other on the phones and then of course some of Pixie bunny! She does not look too pleased at more new weird devices planted in front of her face. She is trying to glare dangerous rays at me here.

Double chocolate loaf cake

2011-11-29T09:53:00.004+11:00

Someone said recently that I bake lots of cookies but not cakes. So I decided to show him and since he is always after chocolate cake, I found this recipe. I also added a heap of craisins that I found in my pantry :)

Ingredients: -
175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
140g self-raising flour
85g ground almonds
½ tsp baking powder
100ml milk
4 tbsp cocoa powder
50g plain chocolate chips or chunks

Method: -
Heat oven to 160C. Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment. I used my square tin because I wasn't sure if my loaf tin was large enough.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder, milk and cocoa until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, then scrape into the tin. Bake for 45-50 mins until golden, risen and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin, then lift out onto a wire rack over some kitchen paper.

Pineapple Upside Down cake

2011-11-29T09:40:00.005+11:00

Had friends coming over last Saturday and thought of a pineapple upside down cake for dessert while flipping through a magazine. I always look around for a simple recipe because if it is not simple, I probably wouldn't try it. Found this one from Nigella Lawson. It turned out great although I used a square tin instead of the round one.

Ingredients: -
Butter for greasing
2 x 15ml tablespoons sugar
6 slices pineapple from a 425g can, plus 3 x 15ml tablespoons of the juice
Glace cherries for decorating
100g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100g soft butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs

Method: -
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter a tarte Tatin tin (24cm wide at the top and 20cm diameter at the bottom) or use a 23cm cake tin (neither loose-bottomed nor springform).

Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the buttered base, and then arrange the pineapple slices.

Fill each pineapple ring with a glace cherry, and then dot one in each of the spaces in between.

Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, butter, caster sugar and eggs into a food processor and run the motor until the batter is smooth. (I mixed by hand so it is the usual order of butter and sugar until light and fluffy, eggs, and then flour, baking powder & bicarbonate of soda sifted in.) Then pour in the 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice to thin it a little.

Pour this mixture carefully over the cherry-studded pineapple rings; it will only just cover it, so spread it out gently.

Bake for 30 minutes, then ease a spatula around the edge of the tin, place a plate on top and, with one deft move, turn it upside-down.

Attempting macarons

2011-11-16T21:52:00.005+11:00

Thought I'd give this a try and I think it has turned out better than I expected, given my fear of not being able to get egg whites to the required consistency without a cake mixer. Also had no food colouring so this is not coloured but it is rosewater flavoured :)

There are only a couple that actually look like how it should but at least there are some...

Vanilla Ice Aji Caramel Corn

2011-11-15T17:45:00.003+11:00

Even though I just came back from Japan, I saw this in the Asian grocery here and still had to get it. Don't know where you actually get Caramel Corn in Japan itself (apart from the giant one that I found in a funky bookstore!). Don't really see it in supermarkets, drugstores, or even snack shops!

Giant caramel corn!

2011-11-15T17:30:00.004+11:00

I found the most amazing Caramel Corn in the last trip to Japan - Giant ones. These are huge! Each piece is approximately 5 times larger than the normal ones. Very cute but you really cannot eat that many at one go.

The flavour is a matcha dessert of some sort but I cannot tell what it is.

A little skirt

2011-10-12T15:34:00.002+11:00

Finally get to try sewing a tiny little skirt - I have no idea how small newborn babies can be!
I still think this is too large.

Blankie for the new niece

2011-10-08T10:59:00.005+11:00

Here's a pretty little blankie I've done for the next new arrival in our family! :)
I hope she likes it.

Fancy sweets!

2011-08-20T16:17:00.007+10:00

Went by the Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio today. So many yummy sounding sweets in one place! We bought a Chocolate, Caramel, Hazelnut & Mango spread, a Spicy Pineapple Jam, Persian Delight Dark Chocolate, a Coconut|Passionfruit|Ginger|Mint cup and an entire Chocolate|Mandarin|Salted Caramel cake! A bit extravagant but still, a treat for ourselves once in a while :)

Little apple pies

2011-07-25T23:05:00.007+10:00

Thought I'd try out this recipe after watching someone bake an apple pie on TV recently. I can't really be bothered to make an entire large pie, so these mini ones using puff pastry are probably easy enough.

Ingredients: -
2 sheets frozen puff pastry
12 ounces cut up red baking apples (approx. 2 medium sized apples)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 beaten egg

Method: -
Thaw puff pastry according to directions on package. Heat oven to 175C.

Peel, core and chop apples up coarsely. Combine apples with sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Flour surface lightly and cut pastry sheet into nine 3x3 squares.

Place approximately 1/4 cup apple mixture on each square and brush edge with beaten egg. Place second pastry square on the top of the already filled pastry to form a pocket. Press down border with fingers to seal and then press with fork to decorate the edges. Make a 1-inch L shape incision into each pie and fold back the pastry flap.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet and give each one an egg wash. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden.

Result: Not bad at all! The filling tastes quite good although I wish I knew how to fit more in them before baking.

Blueberry intense chocolate cookies

2011-07-24T20:24:00.003+10:00

Tried out last week's cookie recipe with a bar of Lindt Blueberry Intense. Wow, I didn't realise that the berry flavours in that bar are so powerful! The cookies now have a lovely fruity taste :) Quite different but still great for my cookie fix this week. I might try using all the different flavoured bars over time!

Itsy Bitsy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-07-17T14:46:00.004+10:00

Cannot remember how I came across this recipe but I am glad I did. They are yummy!

Ingredients: -
5 ounces (approx 140g) good-quality semi-sweet chocolate bar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (but you can substitute unbleached all-purpose flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, very, very finely chopped (by hand)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
scant 1 cup natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
scant 1 tablespoon organic unsulphured molasses (blackstrap)
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup large-grain sugar (for ex: turbinado)

Method: -
Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) degrees. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

Finely chop the chocolate bar into 1/8-inch pieces, more like shavings really. Try to avoid big lumps and chunks, which make flattening out the cookie dough later more difficult.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, walnuts, and shaved chocolate. Set aside.

Using a mixer (or by hand) beat the butter until fluffy. Beat in the sugar and mix until it is also light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the molasses, then the egg, mixing until both are well incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mix and stir by hand until the ingredients barely come together into a uniform dough.

Scoop out the dough in exact, level teaspoons, then tear those pieces of dough in two before rolling each 1/2 teaspoon of dough into a ball shape. Place two inches apart on the baking sheets. Gently flatten each dough ball into a thin, round patty with two fingers and then sprinkle the top of each cookie with a pinch of large-grain sugar. Bake for 7 minutes or until cookies are golden and fragrant. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 12 dozen tiny, bite-sized cookies.

Strawberry and white chocolate muffins with pepitas

2011-07-07T21:58:00.006+10:00

Seem to have a baking bug going these days. Spotted this recipe online and since I have strawberries in the fridge, I decided to try it for breakfast.

Ingredients: -
2 cups self-raising flour
½ cup castor sugar
1 cup milk
⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
½ cup chopped strawberries
50g white chocolate buttons
3 tbsp pepitas

Method: -
Pre-heat oven to 200C. Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl. Combine milk, oil and eggs in a separate bowl, whisk lightly then stir in strawberries and chocolate buttons. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, pour in the milk mixture and mix lightly. Spoon batter into six greased muffin tins (½-cup capacity) until three-quarters full. Sprinkle pepitas over muffins and bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden and cooked. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.

I had leftover easter chocolate so I used that instead. The muffins are really moist and not greasy which is really good. The toasted seeds on the top also become crunchy. My muffin tins were smaller and I got 16 muffins.

Earl grey tea cake

2011-07-01T22:51:00.008+10:00

Spotted this recipe with my favourite tea in it so of course I had to try it out.

Ingredients: -
Melted butter, for greasing
2 Earl Grey tea bags
60ml (1/4 cup) boiling water
80ml (1/3 cup) milk
100g butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
160g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour

Marmalade icing
230g (1 1/2 cups) pure icing sugar
1 1/2 tbs breakfast marmalade
1 1/2 tbs fresh orange juice, approximately

Method: -
Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 12 medium (80ml/1/3 cup) muffin pans with the melted butter to lightly grease.

Empty the tea leaves from the tea bags into a cup and add the boiling water. Set aside for 3 minutes. Stir in the milk and then transfer to a large bowl.

Mix butter and sugar until pale and creamy, then add eggs, the tea mixture and flour. Beat until the mixture is pale and creamy (the mixture may look slightly curdled).

Spoon the mixture evenly into the greased pans. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2-3 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, to make the marmalade icing, combine the icing sugar and marmalade in a small bowl. Add enough juice to make a very thick paste.

Use a teaspoon dipped in hot water to spread the icing over the tops of the cooled cakes. Set aside for 15-20 minutes to allow the icing to set.

Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Variation: Use a round 20cm cake pan, the base and side lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake in an oven preheated to 180C for 40-45 mins or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Ice as above.

I made mine in a loaf pan and I don't usually bother with icing and it tastes great! ;)

Popcorn

2011-06-17T21:12:00.007+10:00

Thought I would try making popcorn today. I didn't have any nuts at home to add into the mixture so it is just plain caramel. Looks great :)

Plain popcorn just popped

Caramel popcorn

2011-06-13T16:02:00.002+10:00

Yay! I finally tried out my ninjabread men cookie cutters today! :)

Tried adding some fresh grated ginger this time but it is still not really spicy. Very yummy though! :)

Purple carrots

2011-06-07T21:23:00.003+10:00

Made soup with the purple carrots I got from the farmers' market on Saturday. The purple is really intense! Just like beetroot but still tastes like carrot :)

More pressies

2011-06-07T21:20:00.003+10:00

Got some more birthday pressies from SG today. From Godma, Mammo and Mathilda. Thank you all!

Birthday 2011

2011-06-04T20:28:00.010+10:00

Another birthday! Doesn't time fly?
This year, I thought we'd take a little trip out to Daylesford since we haven't gone anywhere out of Melbourne in ages.
With my birthday being on a Saturday, it turned out to be a great day to go as there was a farmers' market and makers' market going on as well.

We got there in 1 hour 15 mins which was much shorter than expected. First stop was the farmers' market where we bought cookies, spicy fruit bread, mushrooms, the most beautiful veggies and a bunch of multicoloured carrots! Really nice stuff there!

Then we headed to the makers' market to admire handmade crafty stuff. I got rocky road in various flavours and a yummy bag of brownie offcuts.

We wandered around the nice little shops around town centre. There are quite a number of antique, curios and collectible shops here! I found a nice bunch of vintage fabric and I couldn't help myself.

Lunch was a nice meal at a vegetarian cafe/bakery where I also got a nice loaf of walnut bread and a cherry pastry. Yum!

All in all, it was a nice day out! Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and pressies!

Pressies from Mammo and Mathilda - first lot

Update - 6 June

Cake baked by Laura over the weekend for me! :) So nice!

Birthday lilies have exploded open today too!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-05-21T18:47:00.003+10:00

Tried a colleague's peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies not long ago. They were so good that I have been thinking about peanut butter cookies for a while. I found this recipe in my collection.

Ingredients: -
3/4 cup butter (170g)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:-
1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the peanut butter, water and vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cookies are lightly toasted on the edges. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

They turned out not quite like the ones I had before but they are still good!

Yummy!

2011-05-03T22:55:00.002+10:00

The Sis got me these from her last trip to Japan and they are nice! I went through the whole bag at one go :P
Pity there aren't anymore.

Hinamatsuri caramel corn

2011-04-10T22:50:00.001+10:00

This one has a nice packet for the Doll Festival but the contents are regular flavoured.

Cute candy

2011-04-05T22:19:00.002+10:00

Laura came back from her exciting Japan holiday and got us girls in the office a cute packet of candy each. Mine were babushkas! They are so cute there is no way to open them.

Pretty cookies

2011-03-27T21:54:00.003+11:00

After the last successful attempt with the ginger & chilli cookies, I thought I would try a little "stained glass effect" with glace cherries. They do look nice don't they? And they taste good still! No chilli in this one though :)

Faces of a kid watching TV

2011-03-24T21:34:00.002+11:00

Hello there!

2011-03-17T22:34:00.003+11:00

It's been a while since a bunny appeared on these pages, so Pixie says hello!

My first zipper closure skirt

2011-03-16T21:59:00.004+11:00

I have been thinking for a while that A-line skirts cannot be that hard to sew so I decided to try and do one. This is how it turned out. A little bit wonky but still wearable :)

The zipper bit was tricky but I still managed to get it to work. And while an initial version didn't fit (!), the final one does now!

Ginger & Chilli cookies

2011-03-02T22:28:00.005+11:00

I have been thinking of doing these ever since I saw these Ginger & Chilli biscuits at David Jones.

I adapted the recipe using a Martha Stewart basic cookie recipe and added in ginger and chilli powder!

Ingredients: -
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (approx 113g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 chilli powder
Crystallized ginger

Method: -
1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl.
2. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Add flour mixture and beat until combined.
4. Add in chopped crystallized ginger.
5. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Shape each into a log and wrap in parchment/cling wrap. Refrigerate until very firm, about 2 hours.
6. Bake at 175°C until firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

These are almost the texture I have been trying to get from these refrigerated cookie recipes for a long time. They taste good but not very spicy at all. Maybe I should try adding more chilli and ginger next time.

Progress

2011-02-26T20:53:00.000+11:00

UPDATE 26 Feb: -

UPDATE 23 Feb: -

The first sunflower is getting larger and along with it are 2 smaller ones :)

And now there are two!

2011-02-20T19:01:00.002+11:00

The first sunflower is growing larger and it now has a companion! :)

Sunflower

2011-02-16T20:59:00.004+11:00

Update 17 Feb 2011: HERE WE ARE!

My very first sunflower is on the way! After quite a long time tending to it, making sure it has enough to drink and does not get blown over by strong winds, I think I might have a flower coming up. This is the largest plant I have planted so far! :)

More pretty flowers

2011-02-13T21:05:00.006+11:00

Got these at the market today because I really liked one of the colours. Guess which one? :)
These flowers never cease to amaze me when I see how they develop.

Update:
Now I think these are dahlias, not chrysanthemums!

Apricot & oat cookies

2011-02-10T21:25:00.003+11:00

For some reason, I felt like rolled oats cookies on the way home so I got some rolled oats, found a recipe and tested it out. :)

Ingredients: -
1 1/2 cups (140g) rolled oats
2/3 cup (140g) brown sugar
200g pkt diced apricots (I used dried cherries and currants)
1 cup (150g) plain flour
2 tbs golden syrup
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
125g butter, melted, cooled

Method: -
1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. Combine the rolled oats, sugar, apricots and flour in a bowl. Place the golden syrup, bicarbonate of soda and 1/4 cup (60ml) boiling water in a small heatproof bowl. Stir until well combined. Set aside for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the butter.
3. Add the golden syrup mixture to the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside for 10 minutes.
4. Roll spoonfuls of the mixture into balls. Place on the lined trays about 4cm apart. Bake, swapping the trays around once, for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining mixture.

They are yummy!

Galettes

2011-01-26T16:32:00.005+11:00

Got some puff pastry recently to try out a Strawberry Galette recipe. Turns out that having the pastry handy is great since I can whip up a nice snack really quickly.

Just some apricot jam spread onto the pastry, put on the fruit, glaze edges with milk and bake at 200C until nicely puffed and golden.

I tried it with canned pineapple also and it's yummy too!

CNY presents

2011-01-26T16:30:00.002+11:00

Received my CNY pressie from Mammo and Mathilda yesterday! Lots of nice little goodies for me :) Yay!

Got myself a couple of nice things today

2011-01-09T16:22:00.008+11:00

We went to Camberwell market this morning as shoppers for a change and I spotted these really cute chrysanthemums. I am not usually a fan of chrysanthemums but these pompon ones are just so amazing! I spotted people admiring them on the street too. Hehe!

When I saw this biscuit tin at David Jones, I really couldn't resist either! Rose biscuits and beautiful tin. What a winner :) The biscuits are fantastic! Studded with almonds and scattered with French crystallized rose petals. Ooohh.....

Green tea panna cotta

2011-01-08T19:53:00.005+11:00

Been seeing so many panna cotta recipes around I decided to give it try. This is adapted from all the different recipes I've seen.

Ingredients: -
* 4 leaves gelatine
* 50g caster sugar
* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup cream
* 1 1/2 teaspoon matcha powder
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method: -
1. Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl and cover in cold water. Stand for 5 minutes and once soft, using hands squeeze out all excess liquid.

2. Combine the sugar, milk and cream in a small saucepan over a low heat, add the vanilla extract and matcha powder and allow to simmer for 4-8 minutes. Add the gelatine and continue to whisk to create a thicker smooth mixture. Cool slightly.

3. Pour the mixture into small ramekins and place in the refrigerator for about 6 hours or until set.

What I wake up to

2011-01-05T22:41:00.000+11:00

A little fella waiting for me to come and play :)

New teacup!

2011-01-03T10:58:00.002+11:00

New year, new cup to drink from =)
Love how cute little red riding hood is!

Honey fruitcake

2011-01-02T21:59:00.004+11:00

I've tried this recipe from Martha Stewart a couple of times now. It is good - much healthier than the store bought ones probably. Although the recipes makes a dozen muffin sized cakes, I've done mine as a whole cake each time just so it seems even more like a Christmas fruitcake. I used a 20cm x 20cm square tin. I also added all kinds of other dried fruit like currants and ginger too! I dropped making the glaze because I think it tastes great on its own already :)

Ingredients: -
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (about 170g)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup honey
* 1/4 cup apricot jam
* 2 large eggs
* 1 cup ricotta cheese or 3/4 cup whole milk
* 1 cup pecans or almonds, toasted and ground
* 1 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots (5 ounces)
* 3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries or cherries (5 ounces)

Method: -
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt.
2. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in honey and jam, and then eggs. Add flour mixture, and beat, alternating with ricotta/milk. Beat in nuts and dried fruit.
3. Press a square of parchment into each cup of a standard muffin tin to create a liner (you can also use baking cups). Divide batter evenly among liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. I baked the whole cake for approximately 45 mins to 1 hour. Transfer tin to a wire rack. Let stand for 10 minutes.

First swap ever!

2010-12-15T17:26:00.002+11:00

This year I decided to take part in a Christmas swap organised by one of my BLU friends Erica. I got paired up with one of her friends, Chiara from Italy and we sent each other handmade goodies, craft supplies, beads and fabric. Here is what I got. How lovely! :) Love the babushka necklace & felt brooch!

Coconut M&Ms

2010-11-19T16:03:00.004+11:00

I've been passing these at a candy shop at the train station for many days so I thought I would have to try it.
At first, they taste a little weird but it does grow on you and after a while, just tastes like M&Ms. Apparently I smelt like coconut after eating the pack :P

Fresh garlic

2010-11-15T23:56:00.001+11:00

I've never seen garlic so fresh that there are green stalks attached so I got these at the market on Saturday.
They look good don't they?

Gingerbread men

2010-11-12T22:41:00.006+11:00

I saw an article about ninjabread men and this really inspired me to make some gingerbread men because I really do like to eat them anyway.

But since I don't have those cutters, I had to make normal men.

Ingredients: -
150g butter, chopped
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon ground ginger, sifted
1 teaspoon mixed spice, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
3 cups plain flour, sifted
milk chocolate bits, to decorate

Method: -
1. Place butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Stir in bicarbonate of soda. Transfer to a large, heatproof bowl. Cool.
2. Stir in egg, ginger, mixed spice, baking powder and flour until combined. Divide dough in half. Shape into discs. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease 3 baking trays. Line with baking paper. Roll 1 dough disc between 2 sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick. Cut shapes from dough, re-rolling dough scraps.
4. Bake, 1 tray at a time, for 8 minutes or until just firm to touch. Stand on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Here are my gingerbread men.

And a gingerbread ghost. Hahaha!

Market flowers

2010-08-16T21:02:00.002+10:00

Got a giant lot of nice flowers from the market on Sunday. Three large bunches for only $5! They smell great too!

Onde-onde

2010-06-15T21:16:00.003+10:00

Second attempt at onde-onde today. It is actually quite easy to make and this time, I've got a batch done in about 15 mins (with some leftover gula melaka from the last round). The toughest bit was actually scraping the gula melaka together into little balls to be put in the centre of the glutinous rice balls. I've got no colouring at home so they are not coloured but they still taste good.

Ingredients (makes about 12):
½ cup glutinous rice flour
70ml water (cool to room temperature is fine) OR coconut milk
Palm sugar (gula melaka)

Method:
Shave palm sugar by slicing thin slivers off the block and then chop roughly. Pinch small amounts together and roll into small marbles. Freeze.

Knead glutinous rice flour with water or alternatively, coconut milk till a ball gathers and the dough is slightly moist. Add water gradually so that the dough does not get too wet. If the dough seems a little dry add a teaspoon of water or coconut milk and knead till incorporated.

To stuff the dough, pinch a small portion of the dough, toll roughly into a ball and squash so it's about four to five millimetres thick. Place palm sugar into the centre and gather dough around so the stuffing is covered, then pinch away any excess dough. Roll in palm of hands till you form a perfect ball.

Fill a medium to large pot with boiling water. When the balls are cooked, they will float to the top. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and transfer to sieve to drain for about five seconds. Don't leave for too long or they will get sticky and unmanageable.

Tip balls into desiccated coconut and roll till completely covered. Rest on paper towel to catch access moisture from balls as they cool.

Sujee Biscuits

2010-06-11T23:40:00.005+10:00

With cooking shows and celebrity chefs being all the rage now, Shawn got into the spirit of things and wanted to make some local food. We've now got a bunch of recipes for yam cake, onde-onde, chee cheong fun and sugee biscuits. We got most of the ingredients after work today and here is the first thing we tried out. Most of the recipes can be found here.

Ingredients
230g butter
150g castor or icing sugar (icing sugar creates shorter texture)
300g plain flour sifted
1 tsp baking powder sifted (you can omit this which results in a slightly more dense texture)
100g ground almonds/almond meal
1 tsp Vanilla or almond essence
Red glazed cherries, cut into tiny pieces for decoration

Method
Set oven to 160° C.
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla or almond essence till pale and fluffy.
Add flour and baking powder and mix with a wooden spoon.
Add almond meal and mix till combined.
Line baking tray with parchment. Roll dough into circles the size of large marbles about 1 inch apart. Top with a piece of cherry and squash down a little.
Bake for about 10 mins or till pale gold - these are not meant to be golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

They are quite yummy!

Another year older

2010-06-04T16:26:00.007+10:00

It's my birthday today and I am on leave to spend some time with myself :)
Since the Good Food and Wine show this year starts on the same day, I thought I would go and have a look and at the same time see my favourite Masterchef judges live. It is amazing that so many people are going to the show on a weekday too. Spent about 3 hours at the show. Lots of food samples to try and of course bags of stuff to buy. Here's what I got.

Here are the presents I've got this year too from Mathilda, Mammo and Godma. Thanks!

Flowers from Shawn.

Got to do a little bit of gardening when I got home which was nice because the plants aren't looking too good with the cold weather and hopefully some TLC will perk them up a bit.

New flavours!

2010-05-21T21:37:00.003+10:00

More new Caramel Corn flavours I've found :)
Rennyu ichigo (Condensed milk & strawberry)
Caramel hotcakes

Got some from Singapore from the sis via the cousin too.
Hinamatsuri Peach
Butter toast

Woo hoo! Yum yum! It's mind-boggling. They sound amazing.

Bunny lace bag

2010-04-22T21:45:00.006+10:00

I had to get this bunny lace when I saw it even though I didn't know what I would do with it. Bunny anything is always good. Today I made a bag out of it and here it is. =) I am quite proud of it.

A new bag

2010-04-04T15:45:00.004+10:00

Tried out a new tutorial for handbag recently. I decided to use my favourite pieces of fabric from the collection I have amassed over the years! I really quite like the finished product :) It is reversible too!

See tutorial here

Video conferencing with Samuel

2010-03-18T20:58:00.005+11:00

Samuel wonders who is talking?

Look at his cute smile!

Egg face

2010-03-16T22:39:00.002+11:00

I was cooking dinner today. Cracked 3 eggs into a bowl and I got this face. Hahaha!

Peanut butter biscuits

2010-03-13T12:44:00.007+11:00

Haven't done any baking for a while. Since I had some time this morning, thought I would try out a recipe I saw yesterday. They are quite good!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup cold-pressed canola oil
1/2 cup unsalted organic peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 large organic egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp water
1-1/4 organic whole spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp organic ground cinnamon
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate, at least 70% cocoa mass

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

In a medium bowl beat together oil and peanut butter until well combined. Beat in brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla and water, beating until well combined.

Combine spelt flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Stir into peanut butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chunks. The batter will be very thick and quite sticky.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool in tray for 5 minutes then remove to cooling rack.

Woo hoo storm

2010-03-06T18:31:00.005+11:00

Today we saw one of the scariest storms ever. Luckily we were in a car in Brunswick and slowly crawling down the road. The build up alone was quite spectacular. The sky got so dark even though it was only just 3pm and the wind started building up. Then a giant woosh and all the rain was pouring! Started hearing loud clunking on the roof of the car and we realised it was also hailing. That was quite scary. I yelped every time we got hit. Haha!

That did not last too long. It slowed down to normal rain. But when we got back to the city, I think it must have been worse there. There was so much leaves all over the ground. The leaves must have got torn off the trees and stuck on cars so much that they looked like camouflage. There were also clusters of hail around. Pity I only had the camera phone.

Hail downstairs near our apartment

Lots of drama around as a result of the storm in the news.

Busy weekend

2010-02-14T21:02:00.009+11:00

It's the CNY and Valentine's weekend and although we haven't got much festivities here, we did go to the city where there was a little bit of CNY atmosphere which was nice. There were lion dances going on around the shops at Chinatown and ear-drum bursting firecrackers going off. I seem to have accomplished quite a bit at home though.

Balsam flowers sprouting!

Made a simple skirt for me...

...and a new handphone pouch.

Tried out a sponge cake recipe with the rice cooker. This turned out a little like steamed cake. I know someone who will like this!

We also wanted to arrange a bunny date for Pixie with a bunny that needed a new home. But his owner eventually did not get back to me. So no bunny friend for her this time. I have been toying with the idea of getting her a companion but the thought of what if they don't get along does make me a little hesitant. I thought perhaps that was a sign that I wasn't ready yet :P

I love hay

2010-02-11T20:58:00.003+11:00

The hay we got from Karen came in such a large bag, I thought it would definitely take a while to finish. But it looks like Pixie is going through it quite quickly. She even helps herself in the hay rack sometimes :)

Plants on our balcony now

2010-02-04T22:19:00.006+11:00

My plants are currently not doing too badly after a spell of no plants and everything drying up. I even had a couple of nasturtium flowers. :)

The cutest face

2010-02-04T21:30:00.005+11:00

This has been the cutest face around recently. That's Samuel, my dear nephew. I don't get to see much of him in person so we "converse" on Skype :)

Cheesecake

2010-01-23T12:15:00.003+11:00

Attempted a recipe that came with our new rice cooker. Doesn't look too bad!

Visiting bunny friends

2010-01-16T22:22:00.003+11:00

We visited Karen and Nimal at the Do Hop Inn today. We went round to get hay for Miss Pixie because she loves the hay they have since she boarded there.It was amazing! All her bunnies are so big and lovely! And they are everywhere in the house. Hehehe! I really do admire their dedication to the bunnies. Look forward to going to visit again but there is so much hay it will be a while to get through.

Cranberry, chocolate honeycomb biscuits

2009-12-11T22:57:00.005+11:00

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

2009-12-11T22:44:00.006+11:00

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

2009-11-08T21:26:00.001+11:00

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!

2009-11-01T22:17:00.004+11:00

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

2009-10-29T11:58:00.002+11:00

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

Spay done

2009-10-21T09:37:00.004+11:00

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

2009-10-10T22:55:00.004+11:00

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

2009-09-24T22:36:00.004+10:00

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

2009-09-16T18:34:00.005+10:00

"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

2009-09-15T22:37:00.002+10:00

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

Pixie relaxes

2009-09-09T22:16:00.002+10:00

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

2009-09-09T22:13:00.002+10:00

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!

2009-09-01T22:04:00.004+10:00

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

2009-08-24T17:01:00.002+10:00

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

2009-08-13T19:42:00.003+10:00

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

Watching a ballet!

2009-08-09T19:25:00.004+10:00

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!

2009-08-04T18:33:00.009+10:00

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

2009-07-29T21:02:00.002+10:00

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

Bunny nose

2009-07-28T23:09:00.001+10:00

Hello cute nostrils!

A busy busy day!

2009-07-25T21:32:00.000+10:00

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

2009-07-20T18:38:00.002+10:00

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?

2009-07-20T18:35:00.003+10:00

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

2009-07-16T20:53:00.008+10:00

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

2009-07-06T22:39:00.003+10:00

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

2009-07-05T21:21:00.003+10:00

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...

2009-07-03T22:38:00.003+10:00

Little bunny toy

2009-06-26T22:39:00.004+10:00

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

Cupcakes

2009-06-24T23:02:00.006+10:00

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

2009-06-15T20:58:00.002+10:00

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

2009-06-08T17:21:00.005+10:00

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

2009-06-07T22:40:00.004+10:00

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!

2009-06-04T21:50:00.001+10:00

They are starting to look more edible now.

Another birthday

2009-06-04T21:40:00.005+10:00

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

2009-05-31T21:09:00.002+10:00

It looks like we might have some mushrooms this week!

Playing with fleece

2009-05-30T10:55:00.001+10:00

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

Nomming veggies

2009-05-27T21:32:00.002+10:00

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