cherry ripe cupcakes
I work with cake lovers.
Every occasion is celebrated with cake.
You’re the new starter? You bring cake.
It’s your birthday? You bring cake.
You happened to swing past the cake shop on your way to work? You bring cake.
You do something noteworthy at work? You bring cake.
In my case, I’m leaving.
Which means I have to bring cake.
So I made a batch of Red Velvet cupcakes, and a batch of cherry ripe cupcakes.
Taste.com.au has the super easy recipe which I made into a cherry ripe cupcakes.
What you need
The Cupcakes
2 cups Self Raising Flour
¾ cup castor sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 eggs
125 g melted butter
¾ cup milk
2 (50g) packets glace cherries (chopped)
The Icing
400g icing sugar
50g soft butter
200g cream cheese
½ cup desiccated coconut.
The Method
Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder) in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.
Mix wet ingredients (eggs, butter, milk) together and then pour into dry ingredients.
Stir until just combined and then add the glace cherries.
Pour into patty cake lined cupcake tray.
Place in 200deg oven for 20 – 25 minutes.
While that’s in the oven make the icing.
With a mixer beat the butter and the icing sugar together.
Once that’s started to cream together, add the cream cheese until it looks smooth.
Add the coconut.
You need to wait for the cupcakes to cool before you can ice them – but once they’re iced, mmmm.
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Last week recap
Because its been a while, and this is why.
There were two mid week gigs. So last week I saw Portishead (amazing), and the national, (fantastic). Knitting group in Monday and finished a sock during the week.
Dinner and movies with friends.
Strata meeting for the apartment block I live in. Watched the entire first series of game of thrones.
Best friends birthday drinks.
And found out my start date for my new job.
And I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting some stuff.
This weekend isnt going to be much better. Quiz night, work Christmas party, brother in laws birthday, and Cold Chisel. and then start the new job Monday morning.
I think I’m trying to fit too much in.
So to keep this space ticking over I’ll be posting photos of exploits without commentary.
Hope you’re all enjoying the summer/lead up to Christmas too!!!
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a not boring packed lunch or how to use schnitzel as a verb, an adjective, and a noun
Who said a packed lunch has to be boring.
If you’re lucky enough to have a sandwich press in the office, you can have a lunch like this.
Chicken Schnitzel and salad.
It takes a little bit of effort to prepare. It really helps if you have a craving for chicken parma the night before and are schnitzeling chicken anyway.
So how to schnitzel a chicken.
In one bowl beat an egg.
In another pour in breadcrumbs.
Cover your rolling pin in glad wrap (so all the nasty raw chicken doesn’t seep into your wooden rolling pin – I don’t know if this is actually a thing but it helps me sleep at night), and take all your frustrations out on an unsuspecting chicken thigh.
Dip the beaten chicken thigh into the egg, then into the breadcrumbs (both sides), then into the sandwich press.
You now have two options.
You can put the schnitzeled chicken into a pan and cover with tinned tomatoes and cheese before plonking it in the oven.
OR
You can put the schnitzeled chicken into a plastic container for eating at work.
I chose both.
So here’s the chicken parma and here’s my work lunch.
I like to heat up my pre-cooked schnitzel in the sandwich press, but I suppose you could eat it cold or pop it in the microwave.
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a bow headband
There are so many cute headbands around at the moment.
inspired by a bow headband that I found in one of those ‘oh so trendy’ shops which keep popping up around where I live, I took the design and went “I can totally recreate that!”
The original design looked something like 
So I took my Moda Vera Marvel in black and a set of 4.5mm needles.
Cast On 25 stiches.
Knit in sockinette stitch (knit all rows) until headband is the desired length. I knit mine to be 45 cms. Don’t forget it will stretch a bit.
Bind Off and then use the tail to mattress stich the two ends together in a loop.
To make the bow shape
Cast On 10 stiches
Knit in garter stitch (alternate knit and purl rows) until the piece measures 10 cms.
Bind Off and mattress stich the two ends of that piece together, around the join of the first loop. This creates the bow.
It’s a subtle headband, but very effective at keeping the ears warm.
Have fun!
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Red velvet cupcakes
this wonderful recipe for velvet cupcakes is divine.
Not that i’ve done extensive research, but my first try at red velvet was a success and i’m blaming this recipe.
Or mostly the recipe to turn ordinary milk into buttermilk.
I am never prepared enough to buy (or remember to buy) all the ingredients for a recipe. And buttermilk always seems like a waste unless I’m planning on baking scones and pancakes in one week.
So that pretty much sold the recipe. And my oh my it was delicious.
To the point that I baked them before dinner, iced them just before going to knitting group, and when I got home there was three missing.
They were really good.
Om nom nom nom.
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inspiration from around the web this week
<a href="http://wildolive.blogspot.com/2011/11/story-of-making-your-story-book.html”>this DIY for making a story book, brought back memories of a pen-pal book my primary school best friend and I wrote with each other. Each letter was in an envelope which was then bound together to make a book.
If I recall correctly we had both read Anne of Green Gables, and so naturally it had a tragic ending, like so many writers club stories had.
it’s such a pretty watch – and a really easy DIY
this tutorial also posted at the hairpin has got me really excited for sewing again.
I have a car back and the first place I’m going is my local fabric store.
I need to find that perfect pattern for a dress that I can just make in so many fabrics it’s not funny. Maybe this modcloth pattern
This really cute thread holder cosy from Scathingly Brilliant.
Although first I need someone handy in my life (wouldn’t it be useful if I lived with someone who enjoyed carpentry – oh wait! I do!) who could build me a thread holder.
A Sparkley Silver Lining finally inspired me to design buttons for all my alter-egos (look to the right! woo – look at that. And whilst you’re looking right, why not check out my google+ profile – it contains the highlights of my daily google reader addiction)
And finally from etsy this gadget wallet. I’m pretty sure I can reverse engineer it and make it myself, but I need this in my life.
For those iPad owners around the place with iOs5 installed, the newsstand feature has free issues of magazines available. The
Mollie Makes magazine has an awesome tutorial on making a wallet. Maybe it could be adapted.
<46
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Pasta to keep vampires away
This was my signature dish when I was studying. It was during my teenage rebellion because it’s always had too much garlic in it (which I had to buy myself, as garlic was never in the house).
It’s not healthy but it will keep the vampires away. (Assuming your vampires subscribe to the common trait of disliking garlic. I like vampires that don’t like garlic.)
Step 1
Put grated cheese, crushed garlic, herbs, salt & pepper in a bowl.
Step 2
Cook angel hair pasta
Step 3
Add pasta to cheese & garlic using the starchy water as a sauce.
Step 4
Eat – preferably with white wine and big bang theory.
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A leisurely lunch at Blackbird
It was a Thursday.
Lunch was beckoning.
And it was too nice a day to be inside. So my packed lunch went in the fridge for another day, and a colleague and I walked down to grab a bite to eat.
We spotted Blackbird, and even though I have a phobia of actual birds, birds in name only don’t scare me.
We had a look at the menu on the window (always a good start), found something that we liked and so decided to stay.
We were both delighted. The service was fantastic, the food was divine, and it really made the most of the view.
It’s not generally a good sign when there’s no one else in the resteraunt but it really didn’t matter, we both had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch.
In particular what impressed me was the attention to detail. The waiter (silly me, forgot to catch his name) really made us feel welcome.
It’s not often I notice someone’s professionalism, but that’s what he had. Customer service was excellent, he had a light, jokey manner without being too over the top and made us feel comfortable and at home. You could tell that he more-than-likely enjoyed his job, which is a pleasure.
And then the food, was so much more than I was expecting.
I ordered the steak sandwich, having some preconceived expectations about steak sandwiches in general and baulking a little at the price ($23 is on the expensive side for a sandwich). This should not be called a steak sandwich. A sandwich it was not. This was a little slice of heaven on ciabatta.
The steak was cooked just the way I like it. Drag a cow past a heater once or twice (go on picture it). With the combination of the dressing and the rocket, and the really thick frites was just divine.
My colleague had the barley risotto, with beetroot and parmesan. Which apparently was wonderful as well. The bright pink dish was a little off-putting at first, but once we asked the waiter what was going on (and he knew what he was talking about) it made perfect sense.
And then we ordered desert.
Chocolate Fondant with chocolate syrup and white chocolate ice-cream.
We really should have shared desert.
I now understand what recipes talk about when they say the centre should be gooey. This was soo gooey.
I gained 5 kilos while eating it, and enjoyed every one of them.
The drinks list was very extensive, however being during the working day it wasn’t that kind of work lunch.
I think the next after-work drinks party will have to be held there. Even if it’s just to see the interior of the place.
With the location on the water, the service, the chocolate!, it’s a pity that I’m leaving this job soon and I won’t be able to have lunch there.
Definitely a keeper.
It was a little on the expensive side, but worth every penny.
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chorizo macaroni
This is a recipe made up of leftovers. The leftover macaroni was cooked as a result of a macaroni flood (I tipped the bag a little way and it all came flooding into the water). The chorizo was the only meat that was in the fridge (it’s almost shopping day), and all the other ingredients are all things I always have in the cupboard.
The Recipe
½ chopped onion
½ stick Chorizo chopped in slices and then in halfs.
400g tin Tomatoes
1 glug Worcestershire sauce
2 glugs Tomato sauce
½ cup peas (I used frozen)
Fresh parsley
3 cups cooked Macaroni
Cheese to garnish
The Method
Fry the onion and chorizo in hot oil.
Once that’s cooked, add the tinned tomatoes, Worcestershire, and tomato sauce. Let that bubble away before adding the frozen peas.
Add the chopped fresh parsley (or whatever herbs you have).
Add the macaroni (it doesn’t need to be heated, the sauce will heat it through).
Once the macaroni is warm, serve in bowls with grated cheese over the top.
Serves 4
One serve went as is for the Mister.
One serve went over steamed frozen vegetables for myself.
One serve went in the freezer for another day.
And the final serve went towards my lunch.
polka-dots & sparkles 
