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Thursday, December 31, 2009

House Warming

ok, I think I am getting back on the blog wagon, and I hope things are a little more relaxed around here, so I can spend some time keeping this thing up to date! So, here is the post I've been meaning to do about cute home ware/housewarming gifts...

I know most have come across hard times lately. It's been a real rough 12 months for a lot of people. Having a job in the building industry has been difficult for me. But that doesn't mean gift giving needs to suffer too much. I love making gifts for people anyhow, so I suppose I haven't had to stray too far from my normal habits. I thought I'd share an example. I used a cookie-in-a-jar recipe from Bakerella, and put this together as a house warming gift:


I wish I had done some things in a different order, but I figured I needed to be sure the important ingredients fit in first, like the flour and sugar and chocolate. But it doesn't look the best to have the oats on top! Oh well, next time... I found this canister at K-Mart in Australia for 4 bucks too! You can add tons of different variations, like rice krispies, coconut, nuts, anything!

Then I made some labels to attach to the canister with instructions.

I also wanted to make up some general spice mixes too. I found these cute little screw-top jars from K-Mart in Australia for 2 bucks each. I went online and found an excellent site with tons of spice mixes to choose from. I picked out a few that used similar ingredients, so I didn't have to buy too many more spices than I already had on hand. I also made up some labels for these too.


I made my labels in Photoshop, and printed them onto sticker paper. Pretty simple. Except, I'm not a fan of how they turned out - the colours are too light. Other than that, these are really simple to make if you have some sort of computer editing skills. Just create your files, and print on sticker paper. I cut them out with a scalpel.

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Friday, November 27, 2009

Wow, I'm slack!

Oh my, it's been SO long since I have blogged, or even caught up on reading blogs. It's been a rough November! But there has also been a lot of good times too...I have so many entries in my head, too bad it's not possible to think them into existence.

Let's see...maybe I will post a few highlights, and then expand on them later (it's still really busy for me lately, working weekends too).

I took my laptop in to be repaired, and they had it for 3 weeks (I got it back 6 days ago), and the problem came back again! Grrrr. This was the number one reason for not blogging. Hubby and I had to do shift work with his computer. I worked days, he worked nights. So much fun :(

Friends of ours had a Halloween party, and I wanted to show you all our costumes. Not my finest work, but it was really fun. I also made some cute cupcakes for the party. Er, maybe not cute, more like morbid. I made a really quick and easy display thingy too. The party was also a housewarming, so I wanted to show you the gift I made for them. Everyone thought it was a cool idea, and so it seems I've passed the flame onto a few friends, and they are going to be doing them for Christmas gifts. I got the idea from a friend years ago, and I also came across a great blog tutorial for them too...I'll share soon...

I had my 30th birthday, and it's the birthday that keeps on giving. I got my first gift at the end of October, and keep getting them! There is still more in the mail, I am told. I will do a fun birthday present post once they all arrive. I got some really nice things this year :) Adam and I also managed to go away for my birthday weekend, and it was so lovely! You should see the place we stayed! (you will, one day)

News on the ankle front is so incredibly frustrating. I am still at physio, still taking the meds, and have now added tendon problems ontop of everything else. I've had to stop all unneccessary exercise. It's very frustrating. I have good days, but lately, most are bad (relative to a normal functioning ankle, but good compared to 8 months ago). I am hobbling again, and icing, and elevating, and everything I thought I was done with. I figured by now I would at least be able to go swimming, but no. Looks like this summer will be a write-off for me too. I hope to be better by March though, when my sister and bro-in-law come to visit. I'm doing my best...

I have lost 10 pounds in about 8 weeks. I also spent a week eating my left over birthday cake, so I can't say I've been overly strict with myself. But, I have lost the 10 pounds I gained while lying in bed for the first part of the year. And considering I can't exercise, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Work has been CRAZY! It's good though, since I have 6 months of wages to make up for, but gee, I am not used to working all day every day (weekends too). Should slow down again before Christmas. I am just glad that my sudden jump in work is allowing Adam and me to go to Hawaii in May! I was worried we'd be too poor still. Hopefully we can also get a car really soon...that's a whole other story.

So, that is my last month in a nut shell...I can't wait to start sharing again! Thanks for reading :)

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Friday, November 6, 2009

Akkk!

Well, it just keeps getting busier around here. My computer is in the shop, and has been for a week now. So, it might be a few more days yet, but I hope to get back to some regular posting soon! I still have a few in queue...

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Friday, October 30, 2009

Bamboo Trellis

Every time I do some sort of crafty-ish thing, I think, I should do a tutorial for my blog!, but then I start taking photos, and planning steps and wonder who else on earth would even want to make the odd random things I do? Plus, nothing I've done is all that complicated. As if someone couldn't figure it out for themselves...but, I have come across pillow cover tutorials too, and it can't get much simpler than covering a pillow...so, this may be completely ridiculous and silly and pointless and random, but here ya go...

This tutorial is for those who plant plants in small containers that need some structure in order to grow up, and not out.

Supplies:
Bamboo rods (about $6 for 6, I think, here in Oz)
Twine (about $10.00 for a million times more than you need)
Hand saw/power saw, whatever you feel more comfortable with
PVA glue or similar, optional
nails or screws, optional.


Method:
1. Mark & cut the bamboo horizontals to size. I have a 9" planter, and I allowed 2" overhang on either side of the verticals.

2. Optional step: Mark the profile of bamboo verticals onto the horizontals. I just did a rough half circle, the diameter of the verticals, which was about 1". No need to learn how to scribe anything properly. In fact, you don't even need to do this. I then used a belt sander to roughly round out those marks. You could use a hack saw, and roughly cut chunks out, maybe using sandpaper to smooth everything, but really, I only made these to fit tight because I had access to a huge mother belt sander, and it was easier than trying to clamp down a round rod of bamboo and use a jig saw (but you could also do that...but don't blame me when you cut your hand off)

3. Optional step: To secure the bamboo horizontals, you could easily nail or screw them to the verticals. I didn't do this, as my plant will surely not get that heavy. But, the twine will cover up a nail or screw nicely, so you might want to do this to make the twine wrapping that much easier. If you round out the horizontals, you could also place a nail or screw into the verticals to hang the horizontals on. That could be the easiest and quickest way to secure it.

4. Tie up your horizontals to the verticals with twine. I used a generous arm span length (like both arms outstretched from finger tips to finger tips +). I tried a few different ways to tie the horizontals, and I liked this way best: I started with a simple knot, and left a few inches excess. I held the knot to the back of the trellis, and began wrapping.

I wrapped 5 rounds on each sides of the intersections, and both diagonals.


On the last round, I tied a few more simple knots with the twine ends at the back of the trellis.

5. Once all intersections are wrapped in twine, cut off excess twine at the knots, and dab on a generous amount of glue to keep the knots secure, and to help keep the twine wrappings stay neatly in place. I used PVA wood glue and let it dry overnight.


6. Voila. Ram it into your planter, and then tie up your sorry little sprawling bougainvillea with some twine, and hope it starts to grow up, and not out :)

Tips:
*Bamboo rods can be found at probably any home depot / canadian tire / bunnings type place, in the garden section.
*Twine is probably overkill in this instance (it came in a HUGE length, for 10 bucks, and when will I ever use twine again?). You might just be able to use any type of string, like the stuff to tie up old school parcels for the mail, depending on how strong you need it, and how much you want to spend. But twine found in the garden store will most likely last outside for a good length of time, and it looks good - nice and chunky.

** Edit: This thing is still going strong, and supporting a now large bougainvillea. It's now July 2011.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Chicken & vegie sausage rolls


This is another recipe from that magazine I picked up from our local grocery store, Coles. You can download or view the PDF here. So many good recipes in that pdf, we've made a few so far. This was another great one. I made this weeks ago, before I began my calorie counting, but it might be ok for a more restricted diet if you buy the lower fat puff pastry sheets...I'll have to check.

Chicken & vegie sausage rolls

Ingredients:
300g chicken mince
½ onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp sesame seeds

Method:
1 Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan (about 400°F). Line two baking
trays with non-stick baking paper. Place the mince, onion,
garlic, carrot, zucchini and hoisin sauce into a large bowl.
Season with salt and pepper, and use clean hands to
thoroughly combine.


2 On a clean board, cut one pastry sheet in half. Lay ¼ of
the mixture along the centre of each piece, and roll pastry
over to enclose. Repeat with second pastry sheet. Brush
rolls with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Cut each roll in half and place, seam side down, onto the
prepared trays. Bake for 25 mins, until golden brown.


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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Chili

This is one of my favorite meals ever. I make it every so often, but since adding up all the nutrition info, I am going to be making it a lot more. For my calorie counting diet (and the limited knowledge I have), this is a good ratio of taste, fibre, feeling full, and calories.

Chili
1 pkg Chili seasoning (I use pre-packaged Old El Paso brand, or make my own, see below)
1 can baked beans, I love Heinz BBQ flavour (400g can)
1 can diced tomatoes (400g can)
1 can kidney beans, drained (420g can)
1 can chick peas, drained (400g can)
ground beef, cooked. (200-300g)
onion, diced
garlic, crushed



1. Fry up the ground beef, onion and garlic until done.
2. Meanwhile, start to heat up diced tomatoes, kidney beans, chick peas, baked beans and spices.
3. Add meat, and continue to heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Heat up as long as you want to, really, just don't burn it!
4. Serve and enjoy!

Sometimes we'll have tortilla chips to dip in the chili (but I can't for a while - the whole diet thing).


There are lots of chili seasoning mixture recipes online, but I like this one:

Chili Seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder (you may want to vary this, depending on how hot your chili powder is)
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tbsp seasoning salt
2 tsp ground cumin

Use about 1/2 of this mixture for the recipe above.

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Friday, October 16, 2009

Apple Crisp...


...with strawberries!

This is one of my favorites ever. And the leftovers are so good too! I had mine with some vanilla flavoured yogurt. I added about 150g (1/2 cup?) of strawberries to this recipe too.

Here is the original recipe, and probably a lot of other good ones. I'm a fan of my Betty Crocker cookbooks, and it's nice to see at lot of those recipes online.


Ingredients:
4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cream or Ice cream, if desired

Method:
1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
2. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
3. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Once a week

I try for an entry at least once a week. Normally, that's no problem. I've had a busy week, and it's turning into another busy week, so it seems it has been a problem. I have like 4 entries in the pipeline, but either I haven't finished uploading photos, or I haven't finished typing everything out. Stay tuned, I will be back soon!

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Monday, October 5, 2009

Another Copy Cat!

**update: Yippeeeee! They were shut down!**

Wow, I am really beginning to hate ETSY, and other forms of handmade selling which allow anonymous rip-offs to feel free to sell their stolen goods. Another person who I have been following in blogland, and whose patterns I LOVE, is being completely ripped off on ETSY (to see the first incident I came across, here is an old post).

Please, avoid JustPatternsForYou! They are selling patterns made by other obviously more creative folk who originally created these patterns either for free, or were designed to be used, and not re-sold by someone else! This is what is so sad about the internet and copyright issues. I'm so completely appalled that people will even do this. I can't imagine being so completely uncreative, and just wanting to jump onto the handmade bandwagon to make a quick buck. It's the antithesis of creativity.

I have never understood copy-cats. I remember the first time I really came across one. I was in grade 4, and this one girl copied everything her best friend did. Even then I thought it was weird. Well, she continued to do this, even as her friends changed all the way through to highschool. I couldn't stand to be near her. She screamed of needing approval. The desperation was sickening, and this is the same thing, but worse, since they are outright lying, and it's hard to see their try-hardness since you don't have their best friend to compare them to.

It makes me angry, as you might be able to tell ;P

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Noosa






I totally forgot to post these. We went to Noosa a few weeks ago to meet up with some family friends from Canada. Their son moved out here and married an Aussie, like me (except he married and girl, and I married a boy, teehee). Anyhow it was a beautiful afternoon, and I haven't been to Noosa in almost a year now, so it was such a nice treat for me.

Hubby and I are into vintage photos, and lately, I've been really diggin' the whole slide feel. I'm sure my parents generation will cringe when they look at these. Here I have a fairly decent digital SLR camera, and I am using photoshop to blur and discolour the photos. But I love the feel of them. And heck, I'm not too young to not have photos of me in slide format either, so I suppose these remind me of looking through old albums.

I'm not going to give away all my tricks, mainly because I'm sure there is a better way to get this look, and there is definitely more that can be done, like sun spots on the lens, and such, but basically to get this look, you just really need to up the red and blue levels, usually more red than blue. Then you can add things like a border, scratches and some blur. Landscape photos obviously work the best, since they are so timeless.

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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Nerve Block, Part II

I went back to the pain clinic today and received the next nerve block. My previous one has worked fairly well, and it's been a lot nicer to live without the pain. I still get it, shooting pains, stabbing pains, whatever you want to call them. They feel like someone is pushing a pin into you, or you're standing on an ant hill, and the little buggers mad about it. You can't not jerk from the pain. It's sudden, but then it goes away, usually fairly quickly too, which is good. (Here is a page I look at all the time, to see what is going on in my foot.)

The nerve block I got today was a Radiofrequency Nerve Ablation. It was actually kind of funny (to me anyhow). Those squeamish about needles, skip this paragraph. The Dr. was kind and first injected me with a little bit of anesthetic. I was sitting on the bed with my left foot (the bad one) laying on the bed, with the inside of my ankle facing up. The nerve I am having trouble with branches off just beside that little ankle bone bump everyone has. You know, the bone that always gets cut on the chain of your bicycle when you're a kid. So I'm in fairly close watching distance. Needles do not bother me. In fact, I am quite interested to watch and see how everything is done. I think people who are scared of needles don't realize how shallow most of them go in you. This nerve branch is surprisingly close to the surface. Anyhoo, so then the nerve block starts. As far as I know, another needle of sorts is pushed in, and that is connected to the radio machine thingy by wires. Boy, this Dr. was accurate! I was watching him inject this second needle, and almost instantly he hit the nerve branch. It was like a tingling, spreading through my foot. It felt like I could feel every little branch come alive, and the tingling just radiated from my ankle to my toes. It was uncomfortable, but interesting, amusing. He then turned on the machine, and my whole body began pulsing, from my foot, to my leg, which was then just shaking my whole body! It was so funny! I'm sitting on the bed, looking like I am on some sort of amusement park ride! I was laughing my head off. I have no idea how the needle stayed in. I was really moving.

It was such a weird sensation, pulsing through my nerves. And then my foot started to go numb, as the pulsing calmed down. I was physically trying to hold my leg on the table, but it didn't work in the slightest, I was bouncing around like crazy. It reminds me of those things that used to be on those infomercials: Dr. Ho's something-or-others. These pads that you place on muscles, and it causes them to contract involuntarily. I remember a friend had them, and we used to put them on our arms, and our hands would turn into claws, and go all creepy. We thought it was hilarious. They also used to put those things on me when I had my slipped discs in my back, but they didn't work quite so hilariously.



But, my foot stayed relatively numb, like it was asleep, for probably a good hour or so. I had a bunch of errands to run, so I'm not really sure. I'm a bit sore now, and a little bit swollen too, from the injection site, but for the most part, so far so good. Any numbness is a welcome trade-off if it means I can get back to a normal life again. The Dr. recommended I keep on my meds for another 6 months at least, when I will see him again. But I am allowed to cut back as much as I can, which I am SO looking forward to.

The side effects are not so great. As well as most of the listed side effects, I think I now realize what it's like to have attention deficit disorder or something. I have such a problem focusing, remembering, learning for that matter. Even when I focus on staying focused, I somehow can't keep it up for long. It's so weird. I really try hard to focus, but I can't. It's like my eyes start wandering without my brain noticing. I am still working, but I really have to concentrate, and double check my work meticulously. So far so good on that front too, though. I can usually pull it all together, and at least I know what I am doing. I think if I had to retrain for a job, it might be another story.

Now, a good 14 hours on from the nerve block, I can feel some pain, but it's not too bad. More of a burning, and a rippling feeling. My toenail is getting better too, since the first nerve block. That seems to confirm that the nerve damage, or the original injury, has changed the physiology in my foot. I'm not entirely sure I understand how that can happen, but I'll have a look online. That's what the Dr's say. I'm still having trouble wearing shoes because of it, but at the same time the Dr. said I need to be especially careful since my nerves have been dulled, and I could easily do more damage because I don't feel the pain immediately.

And I have noticed that. I've been walking around, and suddenly realize I'm standing on some random item that fell on the floor, or like a pebble or something, and all of the sudden the pain hits, but by then it's too late, so it sticks around for a while. I'm so protective of my foot too. You should see me dance around when there are people who need to get by me, or when someone steps over you to say get to their seat in a movie theatre. I have a fear of a stranger accidentally causing me immense pain, and I won't be able to hide that fact. It would make them feel far worse than they need to, and I would feel like I am some sort of drama queen!

Phew, enough foot talk....Back to the ankle (heehee). I'll be quick. Still on a no-exercise regime because of the tissue in my heel/ankle. I talked to my physio last time, and she better explained what is happening, but I'm still not fully clear. But basically, since I haven't had complete range of motion in my foot since Jan 15, the tissue behind the tendon at the back of my ankle, above my heel is pinching, and therefore very inflamed. Supposedly this gets worse the longer you ignore it, and hence the no exercise regime. This needs to clear up before I can get back to jumping rope. It's actually quite painful too; sometimes I wake up at night from it. But it's nothing in comparison to nerve damage.

It's just so frustrating to hit so many road blocks. Everyone I talk to is amazed I am still having this much trouble. I am too. But, on the bright side, I am still allowed to stretch and do my knee-to-wall exercises. And I am getting a fairly consistent 7-9 cms, which is so good! I have about 8 cm to go, to be the same as my good leg. But even where things are now I am able to walk pretty normally down stairs, and down hills now. I have no limp most of the time too.

I'm in a relatively good place... it could be better (the drugs, the no exercise thing), but at least I am functioning.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Slice & Bake Cookies

Ok, last one for a while. I need to quit baking sweets. I was making up for lost time, but it's too much! (I may do something Halloween-y though, and oh yeah, a certain someone has a birthday next week...maybe I won't get to take a break after all...then it's Christmas too!...)


These were decent, but by far best straight out of the oven. I'm sure freezing would work well too. I refrigerated half the dough for a few days, and baked it a few days after the first. I like how you can customize the recipe yourself, and they give you a few different options in the book (but I think I'll leave their suggestions for you to find out).


This photo is from the cookbook:

Ingredients:

(from WW "cupcakes cheesecakes cookies" recipe book)

250g butter, softened
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup cornflour
2 tbsp milk
mini M&M's

Method:
Beat butter, sifted icing sugar, and vanilla in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in flours and M&M's, in two batches, then add the milk.

Divide the mixture in half. Wrap each log in baking paper; refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced) / 325°F. Line with trays baking paper.

Cut logs into 1cm slices and place on trays. Bake about 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

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Friday, September 25, 2009

blogs galore

PS. I'm starting another new blog (I know, I know! For those of you who were with me years ago, when it all began, I have abandoned my ORIGINAL blog, and have kind of spit that one in two). This one will be more...in depth, possibly some might say opinionated? I just want somewhere to blabber a bit more. I want to keep this blog more about creative things, and about lighthearted, or broken legged, life stuff...and have the other blog with more social commentary type stuff. Come on over, if you feel like it, and leave your thoughts. I want to have more discussions with people. I love learning how and why we think the things we do.

It's called Along The Roads...

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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Dust Storm

Whew, it's dusty! You can't even see Mt. Coolum!


I was having a little trouble breathing, not terrible, but not all that comfortable. I am still just trying not to cough, since when it starts, it won't end. And I need to renew my asthma inhaler too. It ran out after this little freak storm (supposedly there hasn't been one like this in 50 years). Here are a few photos, some 'before' and 'after' shots ...



The whole house was open, since it was quite hot that day, but we did close everything up after it hit us. You could see it coming, slowly, for hours. I was busy sewing, and didn't notice it right away, so we got plenty inside. It wasn't blowing either. It was very calm and still; very eerie. I suddenly noticed I could taste and smell it, and so I went to sit and relax, since I didn't want an asthma attack or something. It got quite hard to breathe for a while, and we shut all the windows and doors, and Adam went around the house spraying water from a spray bottle to try and capture the particles and get them out of the air. That kind of did seem to help. Then, once I knew I wasn't going to get worse, I mopped the freshly mopped from the day before floor, and it was so gross! Within hours you could feel that I had to do it again. I still need to go dust and wipe everything down yet. Luckily, I didn't have laundry out! We've had some really dusty days in the past, with some wind bringing us all the "top soil" (red dust) from the outback, but nothing like this, where the air was saturated by particles so small, you couldn't see them.

And this is what our floor turned into! I even mopped the day before the storm hit! And I still need another pass at it, it feels so gritty. There is also dust residue on everything. And of course, our apartment is entirely white. Lucky me.


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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Fruity Cordial*

I picked up this free magazine from our local grocery store, Coles (you can get a pdf copy here). And inside they had just what I was looking for: fruit concentrate syrup. I've looked a few times online for something fruity to make margaritas with, but this was simpler than just about anything I found, and just perfect. Especially since I was in the mood for a nice roof-top drink when we went to see the fireworks from last weekend.

If you don't want the whole magazine, then click on the image below, and it should be large enough to read the instructions:



I didn't have any honeydew (or mint) so I used watermelon, and did another batch with strawberries and kiwis. So simple, so good! I didn't really measure the fruit content, since you are adding the syrup to your drinks to taste anyhow. These were both really nice with pineapple juice, crushed ice and tequila. Not really a true margarita, but I'm no connoisseur. Or have it with soda water - it's like making your own gourmet pop** (oxymoron, I know).


*Translations for North Americans: cordial is a concentrated drink you add to water. Similar to the frozen concentrates we're used to, but the ones here in Oz are usually liquid room temperature versions of kool-aid. They are for kids, and disgusting. Cottees makes those. I hate all their products - they're terrible. There are a few nice cordials by Bickfords, like iced tea and lime, etc...

**Translations for Australians (**edit/ and Americans): pop is soft drink / soda, though I thought most of the aussies knew this... I asked for some orange pop the other day from KFC, and the girl had no idea, NONE, of what I was talking about. But I couldn't think of another word to describe what I wanted...I eventually just said "the orange drink". It's amazing how many misunderstandings there are between "western", english speaking countries. One day I will do a blog post about those...

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Friday, September 18, 2009

Wagon Wheels


This is another recipe from Women's Weekly cupcakes cheesecakes cookies recipe book. I'm all about this book right now.


Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cup self raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

marshmallows
jam (raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, whatever...)
375g semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:
1. Beat together butter, sugar and egg. Sift in flour and cocoa, and stir until uniform.
2. Roll out dough to 3mm thick between sheets of baking paper, and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) or 350°F, and line sheets with baking paper
4. Cut rounds from dough. I used a small cup (about 7cm across, which was the same size the book calls for) since I didn't have a round cookie cutter, but I think these ended up being too big. Next time I will use a much smaller cookie cutters.
5. Bake for 12 minutes, and cool on racks.
6. Cut marshmallows unto smaller pieces (or use mini marshmallows), and place onto bottom side of half the cookies you baked. Bake for a further 2 minutes to soften the marshmallows, but watch them to make sure they don't burn.


7. Spread jam onto the other half of the cookies, bottom side up, and press together with the marshmallow side of the other cookies.


8. Melt chocolate in a double boiler and possibly add some vegetable oil to keep chocolate spreadable. I might try these next time without adding oil, as I found the chocolate didn't ever set, and so you always have chocolate on your fingers when you eat one.
9. Coat the cookies with chocolate. Now, do this however you see fit, as it makes quite a mess. The book says to dip into a bowl of chocolate, but I didn't see how that would be all that neat. I laid all the cookies down on baking paper on a cookie sheet, and spread spoonfuls of chocolate on one side, trying to coat the edges as well. I then laid a sheet of baking paper overtop of the chcolate, and then rested another cookie sheet ontop. Then I flipped the whole thing over, and coated what used to be the bottom of the sandwiches with chocolate. I let them set in the fridge, and then froze them. I guess using your fingers and dipping them into a bowl might work...seemed to slippery for me...

Love Hubby's grease coated hands, dirty fingernail shot! I didn't even notice when I took the photo!

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Riverfire 2009


We went again this year to Riverfire, the Brisbane celebration of the river that meanders it's annoying way through the city (there are MANY bridges in Bris. Vancouverites, you have an idea what that might be like). We went last year too, but the people and traffic were insane, not to mention parking! And it was freezing cold! This year was gorgeous. No people, no traffic, and margaritas on the roof deck of our friends' place. It was lots of fun to see everything from this viewpoint, and kind of exciting to photograph. Though I had barely 5 minutes to set up, and therefore my tripod ended up being a little shaky, which you can see in some photos.

Here's the loot I took home with me:

(Below: this was the F1-11 Dump & Burn over the city, over-layed into one photo. I didn't know from where the F1-11's were coming, or to where they were going, so my shutter speed was only a few seconds, in case I needed to reposition the camera. It would have been nice to get one shot though)















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