Sunday, October 26, 2008

A friend is having a blog candy giveaway

No, I haven't been busy crafting (I wish I had)... but lucky Myléne has.
Myléne is on the Krafty Lady DT with me and has a blog, and she's doing a giveaway

ALL you have to do to enter is click on the image below to get to her blog, and leave a comment:



Good luck!!!

France

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Hubby found a recipe site!

My darling hubby sent me this site: Ward Street Bistro
And when I saw the recipe for the Angel Food Cake
, and the pictures, I knew it would be a site I like, so I am sharing here (and also so I can find it easily myself in the future!). I used to always request Angel Food Cake from one of my relatives for my birthday (my step-grandmother, if there's such a thing... my grand dad's second wife, as the first one passed away a year before I was born). Anyway, I haven't had this cake in ... many many years!!
Not sure I'm going to have it anytime soon either, not until we have a different oven (and mixer!)... this is too difficult a cake to make!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

I feel clever :)

Because
1- I finally figured out, all on my own, what page Chris McL was talking about, and it's THIS ONE and yes, my cup cakes are/were on there!!! I saw them! hehehe!!!
2- Because I added pictures to yesterday's post
3- Because I had my first solo outing today and it feels great to drive oneself to the grocery shop (even if I still don't like doing groceries all that much)... I am starting to feel like my old, younger, self!!! And it's great! (well, only because I've driven from the time I was 16 until I moved here... other than that bones are still feeling old, and feet, and brain!!!)

I tried a new recipe from Allrecipes.com.au (which they borrowed from the American site). Strawberry cake(which IMO is more of a loaf)... And this is what I managed to achieve...


muffins for lunchboxes, and a loaf with the rest because I got lazy.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Recipes

Ok, so I don't think if you go to my profile on Allrecipes.com.au you get to see what I'm up to, so here's the recipes I uploaded there:
ANZAC Slice
Salmon Mousse
Quick Cinnamon Fudge
Chocolate Fudge
yeah, so, I like fiddling with fudge recipes :)
and
Banana Bread:


clicking on the image above will bring you to the recipe.

Anyway, if you try any of them (and some people who have tried them did like them) do post a review, and some stars (well, 5 is nice, but be honest, even if you like me!)...
And of course the other two I mention in my previous post...

And now, here's the recipe for this quick I-don't-feel-like-cooking-but-my-family-has-to-eat recipe:
DUTCH BABY

For each egg:
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar (US or Australian Tbsp, doesn't really matter - I use raw sugar, I've used Xylitol in smaller quantity, I've used white sugar, and brown sugar... and you may like to put more, or less)
you can add some vanilla too if you like, maybe 1/4 tsp for each egg.

I normally make this with 8 eggs for the 4 of us, and it's our dinner.

What you do: well, as you may know, from a previous post, I use my blender for this one :) Chuck the eggs, sugar and milk in the blender, blend a bit (WITH THE LID ON!) and then add the flour, blend, and then stop the blender, remove the lid, scrape the sides PUT LID BACK ON, and blend a wee bit more. If there's a few lumps it doesn't really matter. You can do this by hand with a whisk, or with egg beaters, whatever, doesn't really matter.

I use a 8x13 inch glass (Pyrex) pan (er, that's 20 x 30 cm I think), I put about 1 Tbsp butter in it, and make it melt by placing the pan in the oven while it heats up. I "paint" the butter on the sides and bottom of the pan, pour the mixture in there, and bake at 160-ish°C for about 20-30 minutes, until the sides rise (now that I put a picture you can really see what I mean). The sides will deflate when you take it out of the oven though, don't worry, it does that.

I serve it with fruit, sometimes apple sauce, or yoghurt.
It's a "sweet" dinner, but still nutritious.
You could make it for brunch by sprinkling it with icing sugar (confectionner's sugar) and maybe serving with chantilly cream or whipped cream... haven't done that yet :)

This is what it should look like:


This is a strange one which rised in the middle, we called it a ski hill:


So there you go!!

have a great weekend!
This post was edited on 19 October to add pictures, and a title to the Dutch Baby Recipe. Now as to why they call it a Dutch Baby, I dunno! If you do, leave me a comment!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

What am I doing??

Well... Chris's comment here started something (nice to hear from you again Chris (and Pauline too!)...

No, I hadn't seen my picture on the front page of Allrecipes Australia... and I still don't think it was :) I have seen it on the front page of Allrecipes Canada, and in the competition on Allrecipes.com for the picture of the day that day, up against another 89-or-so pictures!!!

But Chris gave me an idea. I had just joined AllrecipesAU and I thought "why not upload my photo", mostly just for the fun of it, and because I was a wee bit proud of our cupcakes!

Well, lo and behold, I get an email from someone at AllrecipesAU asking if I could "translate into Australian" the two recipes I used from Allrecipes.com to make the cupcakes and I quote (without permission but I hope no one will mind - and a couple typos corrected too - and hyperlinked for ease of enjoyment! tee!hee!) "We wanted to compliment you on your beautiful photo of the cupcakes you made for your daughters's 10th birthday!
We see that you have referenced a cake and icing recipe that you used from allrecipes.com
If you have the time and inclination, we would love you to upload your version of the recipe to go with the photo. [...] but we thought it was such a great photo that it deserves a recipe!"
Well, wasn't I chuffed (and thankful for Chris's mention of having seen my pic, even though Chris, I'm still wondering where it was as it was not uploaded before I did upload it, but it doesn't matter, does it as it's there now!!!)

So I sent them my version of the recipe, but it was too similar to the original on the US site so I wasn't allowed to upload it, but Allrecipes.AU were, but it's funny, they uploaded all my comments and suggestions too, so you can compare for yourself.
Cake original: Fudge Cake
Cake on Australian site: Chocolate cup cakes (a few corrections were made by the editors, like vanilla essence instead of extract and plain flour instead of all purpose and icing instead of frosting but the text is mine!!! Yay me. I guess?! Oh, and not to mention that in my International Melting Pot of a kitchen I measure butter in cups and spoons, and measure flour in cups too... I don't have a good kitchen scale! So yes, a lot of editing, I guess, on Allrecipes.Au's site but still, a bit of me behind there.....)
Same with the icing
Frosting: Decorator Frosting
Icing: Cheerful Butter Icing (my version edited by them a wee bit.)

I've since uploaded a few more recipes which I consider mine as they have had a few alterations from the original... I think you can see those if you go here, I'll have to try it when I'm not logged in, I hope you can see all of a person's recipes and reviews, as that's one feature I quite like from Allrecipes.com.

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Cadbury Schweppes got back to me about my bag of mixed choc chips (see previous post) and I got a gift card... Might save it for Easter :) though, any day is a good day for chocolate!!!

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Since I've last posted, and if you read this post you'll be pleased to know that I now have a Western Australia Driver's Licence and that I'm no longer afraid of Roundabouts and almost no longer afraid of "Give Way" signs (though my instructor kept telling me I don't need to completely stop at them!!! *sigh* that's what you get from being a polite nice Canadian!)... and BONUS, no log book, no P plates, even though my Canadian permit (I had my last one, my Ontario one) expired in 2000!!! I was so clever to bring it with me, and my marriage certificate (to explain the change of last name!) etc... it all went very smoothly!!! Yay... but still no car to drive, the computer chip blew up in ours, thus its demise last Saturday...

Yesterday I had the evening from H-E-double-hockey-sticks.....
I'm in a rush to make dinner as my two took too long with showers after school and well, I was still detangling hair, and it was time to make dinner. So I made my fave on such occasions, a Dutch Baby (I'll post the recipe later, another day, it's a great "save me I don't want to cook" type of dinner!)...

So I proceed to put my milk, and add eggs one by one to the blender jug. Then I place the blender jug on top of the blender in order to make room on our small kitchen bench to get the flour out to add to the mixture (yes, a Dutch Baby is made with those ingredients!)... well... someone most likely yours truly left the blender in the ON position (I must've been in a rush last time and just took it of without thinking... it happens sometimes, I just forget to think!)... well, even the split second it took me to put it in the OFF position wasn't enough to prevent a big egg mess all over my kitchen bench, the floor, the toaster, everything else that was on the counter, the floor, AND ME!!! And if you've ever had to clean egg up, it's not easy!!!

*sigh* well, I cleaned the kitchen as quickly as I could before I started hearing some "mummy! i'm hungry!!!" sounds... and tried to guess how many eggs had flown out of the blender, and how much milk I had lost, as I wanted to recuperate what was still inside the blender jug!!!
Well, it turned out to be a beautiful Dutch Baby.
BUT...

My "cool pants", not as in they are so fabulously fantastic that they are "Cool man" but in that they are not hot, and it's been hot here the last two days.... were dirty, they are the only pair of pants which survived last Summer and which I can stand when the thermometer rises above 30... they were eggy, to say the least... so I thought washing them before bed would be a good idea...
I've been going to bed around 10-10:30 lately, just too pooped to burn the midnight oil :) but last night I got a bit sidetracked and at 10:30 I realise I was ready for bed, but I hadn't washed my pants..... so I go for the short cycle, they aren't super dirty, just need a bit of a wash (seriously, I couldn't even see the egg stain anymore -- but I KNEW it was there!!!)...so I check all my pockets, and throw in a black top I like (again, not too hot, and it needed a bit of a pick-me-up as well)... keep myself busy for half an hour while the cycle runs its course... and get ready to hang the pants and shirt so they are ready this morning... what do I see? I can't believe my eyes, those darn cargo pants... so many pockets, I must've missed one... because... it snowed tissues in my washing machine..... millions of specks of tissue everywhere on my pants, and on my shirt!

I can't help but laugh a bit, and go show DH. By that time I'm in my nightgown, I go outside to hang the clothes, and when I come back inside, I realise my nightgown is inside out...

I figure there's only one thing to do: GET TO BED as soon as I can before something else happens.

This morning I wake up and feel a bit "not quite there", I manage to get the girls ready for school, and DH drives us to school/work in our cheapy car rental (can't expect much for $16 a day), and I'm grateful to not be walking or bussing this morning because it starts to sprinkle when I get to work. I'm tired, I don't feel too cheerful, and I have to go to the other office (sort of next door, actually,r eally next door) to finish a little dust job I was doing, and I have to unlock, and I manage to get the key completely and utterly stuck in the door. I think to myself, this is silly, this can't be... so I go back and ask J(one of the guys there) if he can help, and lucky for me, and I think he actually made my day, he told me that it's the lock that's hard to open - Yay! it wasn't my fault... my day went a wee bit better from there.... and I think, maybe, my stroke of bad luck is over.... I HOPE!

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Did anyone watch the first episode of Season 9 of CSI? (the Original Las Vegas one?)... goodness, soppy... I cried. (Oh Crap! Julie K!!! Oh no... you'll know exactly what that means, concerns Miami CD which is still HERE and not on its way to you! I am such not a good friend!!!)

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I feel guilty leaving you without any graphics, pictures, or any cool stuff...
but I can leave you with a cool tip. I found some really well priced Essential oils on eBay from Sally who is from Western Australia too... I love essential oils. Just wish I knew more about what to do with them... other than smell them!

That's it for now, enough already!! Hope I made you smile, as that's an important thing to keep doing!!!

Be well, be good, be nice.

France

Sunday, October 12, 2008

4 Cs

CAKES


After trying many different cake recipes during the holidays, to the delight of hubby and progeny (or should I say progenies?), we settled on Fudge Cake cupcakes and Decorator Frosting, from Allrecipes.com for the party.

I really had my heart set on Cupcake Cones, but my oven being so temperamental, the edges of the cones would burn on some, not on others, etc... quite the experiments, and some recipes don't "dome" as well as others.

So with the help of the recipes above, and a gizmo I had picked up from Multix at Woolies (I think?!) I set off to make little cupcakes...


I found the candles at IGA.

The great thing about this icing is that unless it's left in a hot car for too long, it remains pretty stiff, and does not stick to plastic wrap, so it's perfect for cakes you have to bring somewhere!!

My photos did make it on the front page of Allrecipes as 'newly added photos', probably because I picked Canada as my location - if I had USA they'd be drowned by other "new photos". I had picked Australia before as my location, but it would give me measurements in grams, and I am very much used to cups, if I have the choice I prefer cups -- also the fact that I don't have a kitchen scale for food doesn't help!; and if I pick Australia now it goes to the new site, for which I did register, but which seems much more demanding on my computer, for some reason, I'll have to email them about that!!! See the *** below.

The cupcake photos are mine, and the iced ones are on there twice, once submitted for the frosting page, and once for the cake page, haven't yet found a way around submitting the same pic twice, I'd rather have submitted one pic for the two recipes, since it was the same pic? Dunno... sometimes things make no sense to me :)



CARS
Sometimes you wonder why things happen the way they do... I guess in the end there's always an answer to be found, but we don't always find it... Yesterday, on our way to the party (which we ended up having at Tropical Twist) we're about to turn the corner, just very near our house, and our car died! AGAIN! (though now we think we have a better idea of what's wrong with it, which is not what we previously thought was wrong, so maybe it can get fixed for good this time. Let's hope!!). Luckily my phone was charged up, and I called one of the other mums and asked her if she could come rescue me and the birthday girls! On the way back we got a ride with a different mum (the first mum had committed to bring other kids back home) and when we got to our house, her daughter wanted to come for a play, and the three girls had a wonderful time, so maybe that's why our car broke down, so that little Miss M (I avoid putting other kids's names on my blog) could come have a play with my two little Misses...


Still, we really could have done with a working car this weekend :) if only to finish the birthday present shopping! Hmmm, maybe we'll need a second car?! :)



CRAFTING
Anyway, and nope, haven't touched stamping or polymer clay since July... still... and won't today as I have to get yet another cake ready for the actual day :)
hmmm, which one to make..... Maybe cake making can be considered "crafty"?



COMPLAINTS
Oh, yeah, the *** above.... well, if you're not happy about something, you should politely let someone know... A couple of weeks ago we went to Maccas (yes, even good parents sometimes need Maccas!) and 1) they were out of the Littlest Pet Shop toys, disappointment but we can survive 2) one of our nugget Happy Meal was missing a nugget (well, that's annoying but we can survive), and 3) we asked for BBQ sauce (though seeing what that sauce did to some coins I had in my bag one time when such a BBQ container decided to leak in my bag, and yes, good parents might take their kids to maccas twice!!) I wonder why I let the girls eat that stuff, but anyway, we asked for BBQ and we got Sweet and Sour which the Happy Meal eaters in this house don't like. Ok, we could survive, but three "not too good" things on the one meal sort of got me annoyed... so I wrote a letter, and in return we have received two free happy meals (hmmm, am I still a good parent if I take my kids to maccas 3 times? 4? )

And another similar thing, I bought some dark choc chips (see above, been trying a lot of recipes lately) and when I poured them in, there were dark choc chips, but also milk choc chips... now, if I wanted milk choc chips, I would have bought milk choc chips.... so a little email went to Cadbury telling them about my experience (well, yes, chocolate is chocolate but the point is that I expect to receive what I pay for, not a substitute, specially without warning -- that goes for the sauce at maccas too!) and I was told I would hear back from them via mail, so I'm waiting :) Free chocolate for a year? probably not, but a coupon for a replacement pack would probably be fair compensation for my distress! LOL!

I hope you all had wonderful school holidays, I played Working Mum while DH played Stay at Home Mum. Oh well, the progeny is kept happy, that's all that matters!

Cheerio!