Yummy!

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

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

Cute candy

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

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

Hello there!

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

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!

Ginger & Chilli cookies

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

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! :)

More pretty flowers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New teacup!

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

Honey fruitcake

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.