Be Right Back

I want to blog. I really really really do. I think of fun things to blog about all the time. I just don't have the time :( I am working almost non-stop. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but I don't even cook or clean at all anymore. I work, sometimes do exercise, eat and sleep. Maybe that will give you an idea...working on a new business that is getting busier and busier, while keeping your "day" job is rough. Right now, I am not busy enough to quit the day job...I hope I will be soon,  but until then I continue to juggle. And not do anything for myself (I know, I'm going to burn out, I'm trying to pace myself). I have not baked since...I don't even know when... I have sewing projects sitting on the kitchen table, that I don't eat at, for months now.  I really want this new business to work, so I have to just push through. I might fail, but I have learned a lot along the way. I was tempted to delete the blog...but I WANT to come back...Thanks for looking in on me, hopefully things will slow down a little soon.

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Vintage Finds

I've gone through too many kitchen timers than I care to count (teehee). It seems like I buy one every time I go to Ikea. I guess they don't last all that long, do they? My built-in oven timer doesn't work, so I needed something else. Gooey hands using the timer on the laptop wasn't cutting it. I love vintage, and have a few vintage kitchen items, so I looked for something on ebay. And I found the cutest little timer for about 10 bucks. It will never run our of batteries, nor does it require any power. It's a good old fashioned wind-up single bell timer, and so far I have never had a problem. I love it. The simpler, the better, it seems.

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Banana Cake with Hershey's ganache

I made this one again. It's such a nice recipe. This time I tried a chocolate ganache, and it was really good.

For the ganache, I heated up some cream in a double boiler, and added some squares of Hershey's milk and dark chocolate, and stirred until the chocolate was all melted. I then beat in some icing sugar until I reached the consistency I wanted. I think I added too much icing sugar though. It was still nice, but could have been a little softer.

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Roasted Vegetables

I don't have a lot of time to cook usually. Lately I've been so busy, I don't have time to do most things. We're growing a small business, and it's hard to work full time, and then have that to do too...but I have been trying to make more meals, meals that don't come out of packages. One of my goals for this year is to eat more vegetables. We do eat them, but they tend to be the same ones...in the same dishes...and it gets very boring. So, as busy as I have been, I'm proud that I have still been able to add more veggies to the mix. And recently, our favorite way to eat them has been like this:

Roast Vegetables
Ingredients:
1. selection of vegetables. I've been using a combination of Japanese pumpkin, potato, carrot, red pepper (capsicum), red & white onions, garlic, sweet potato...
2. olive oil
3. seasonings, such as rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic, sometimes I also add balsamic vinegar, etc...

Method:
1. Preheat over to 450°F / 230°C
2. Cut up all vegetables to about the same size. I usually cut up red pepper a little larger so it doesn't get too soggy. You could always add softer veggies a little later in the baking process.
3. Pat dry with a paper towel to get most of the surface moisture off the veggies.
4. Throw into a bowl, and add your oil and seasonings. (To make a tray of veggies, I end up using about a 1/4 cup of oil, but this varies. I probably use about 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1-2 tsp rosemary, but do whatever you feel like. I added about 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar to the mix in these photos).
5. Add some crushed garlic. I usually just lay a wide bladed knife over the garlic bulbs, and pound the knife to break the bulbs. Peel off the wrapping, and then cut into smaller pieces if you want.
6. Mix to coat veggies, and spread on a baking tray or dish in a single layer. You'll need to roast the veggies for about 45mins to an hour, checking on them every 15 minutes, and stirring them.

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Vintage Hairstyling - Beehive

Here is one of the 'do's I tried from a lovely book, Vintage Hairstyling. (Looks like the site is down at the moment, maybe google it and find a cached site) I did this about 6 months ago, and I cannot even imagine attempting this now. It's insanely humid here, and hot rollers in the hair for 45 minutes? I'd rather die. BUT, when I did attempt it, it went really well. I had to try the first step twice, and you can see from my photos, it's still a little messy, but I think it worked well. There is a lovely variation of this, where you leave half of it down, and once the weather behaves, it's something I am looking forward to trying.

Here is a shot from the book. I blurred the instructions, but you can tell that it offers a lot of step-by-step photos.

I love this book! I wish I had more time to experiment, and become fluent in styling my hair nicely.

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Pay It Forward

***UPDATE. ONE spot left...*** 

I signed up for this cool little thing, I'm sure a lot of you have already heard about. It's a Handmade Pay It Forward. I joined on facebook through a friend's status update. So, I posted on my status, and only one person agreed :( How sad. So, I'm bringing it to the blog :) I don't have many readers, but I figure I can round another 4 people up on here, right?

So, here's the deal. You can copy this quote below, and post it on your blog, or facebook, or whatever. The rules are simple:

Pay it Forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. They in turn must post this and send something they make to the first five people who comment on their status. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your five people sometime in 2011...

Then, get to work :)

If I get any replies to this, I will email you and get your address, or feel free to email me: ishouldbecleaningup at yahoo dot com

And, if you want, send me photos of what you make, and I will put a little post together here with all our handmade items...

Spread the handmade love!


***UPDATE. ONE spot left...***

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Banana Cake

This recipe was so amazing (lots of compliments). I've had banana bread before, but this was...cake! I couldn't find a recipe online that was close enough to this one, so I have to post it for you.  It's from the Women's Weekly Easy Baking cookbook. Great buy, by the way. There are appetizers and things for kids too. This cake is very moist, and very tasty.

Ingredients:
160g butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (you need about 4 medium sized bananas)
1 tsp baking soda / bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp hot milk
1 cup all-purpose flour / plain flour
2/3 cup self raising flour

Icing:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2-4 tbsp passionfruit pulp

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C (160° fan forced), and grease a cake tin. I used a round tin 8" / 20cm, and some fun small shaped tins, but square will also work. Line with baking paper.
2. Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Mash banana together. I used 4 over-ripe bananas. I needed to use some old ones I had in the freezer, but it's best to use really soft fresh ones in this recipe, I think. Stir into mixture.
4. Combine hot milk and baking soda together, and add to banana mixture.
5. Stir in sifted flours, and pour mixture into baking tin.
6. Bake 45 mins, approx. Leave it to cool a few minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Make icing by adding passionfruit pulp into icing sugar until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over cooled cake.

I think a lemon or lime icing would also work really well with this cake. Or add choc chips to the batter, and a chocolate ganache icing to make it really decadent.

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