Dahlias

It's that time of the year where I spot dahlias on sale at the market and cannot help myself! They are such beautiful flowers! For some reason, I am so drawn to its fractal nature.

Purple carrots

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 :)

My first zipper closure skirt

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!

Progress

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!

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

Sunflower

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! :)

Got myself a couple of nice things today

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.....

What I wake up to

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

Market flowers

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

Sujee Biscuits

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!

Egg face

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

Woo hoo storm

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

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

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

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. :)

Cheesecake

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

Visiting bunny friends

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.

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!)

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!