“Yawwwwn - what a boring TV show!”
“Mommy, can you please change the channel?”
“Ugh, the tv is so BORING, I wanna go to bed”
Right, 11:30pm and Mr. Woofy and I are about ready for bed. Don’t forget to check Sweetnicks on Sunday for the roundup of Weekend Dog Blogging #46 
Technorati Tags: golden retrievers, dogs, weekend dog blogging
The amazing Meeta, author of the What’s For Lunch Honey food blog, thought up an idea. An amazing idea. An idea which would bring together members of the blogging community in a way never done before.
Her idea? Get everyone to enter a random draw where everyone is given the address of another person and must then send them a postcard. I wonder if she had any idea just how popular this idea was going to be, as people all over the globe have flocked to her in order to take part in this idea! With the stellar response, Blogger Postcards From The World took off!
Melbourne city lit up by night
I must admit, I had a really hard time picking a postcard. I adore Melbourne, and wondered which photo would portray it at it’s best? The fairy penguins at Port Phillip Bay? The beauty of St Kilda Pier? Or the beautiful sandstone building which is Flinders St Train Station? In the end, I decided on this picture of Melbourne lit up at night - the sight that I love the most. Particularly in summer, I love walking around the city and looking at the buildings around me - the ‘Paris’ end of Collins St with it’s towering sandstone architecture and old world glamour, the tall steel and glass contraptions in the business district, and all the lights reflecting off the Yarra River.
Addressed, stamped and posted - I hope my secret postcard recipient loves this picture as much as I did
Just got back from my afternoon walk with Mr. Woofy - unfortunately we had to make it a short one as it’s blowing up a gale in Melbourne this afternoon. So much so, in fact, that it looks like my pool has a wave machine built into it. However, we had a nice enough walk and managed to get a great photo of the sun hiding behind some gorgeous clouds
Mr. Woofy walking against the wind.
“Scratch my belly…please?”
How beautiful is that? The sun was hiding behind some rather menacing storm clouds as it was starting to set when I took this shot.
Check out Sweetnicks and see all the other lovely puppies taking part in in Weekend Dog Blogging #45!
Technorati Tags: golden retrievers, dogs, weekend dog blogging
Well, sort of, anyway. I bought a pair of black leather, mid-calf boots which are beautiful and helped elevate my mood after making kimchi with my mother till 3am in the morning. Ay-yay-yay!
I met my dear Katy for a late lunch today as it’d been awhile since I’d seen her lovely face, and we decided to go to Chillipadi for a quick, healthy and cheap meal. We were having a bit of a samey day, we both had orange juice with a teriyaki chicken dish (as well as me ending up buying the same style boots as her, both of us getting print wrap dresses from the same store and getting the same pair of earrings…) which was brilliant. My only complaint? That I didn’t get more steamed bok choy with the ample serving of chicken and rice!
The lovely Katy whilst waiting for our meal.
Teriyaki chicken and rice from Chillipadi
You can see what generous servings we got! For $10 we got a huge mound of rice as well as some quite well-sized pieces of teriyaki chicken and some steamed bok choy. The chicken was quite good, but I felt that it was slightly overcooked (what is it with restaurants and overcooked meat) which isn’t an utter sin as chicken is one of those meats which I think is quite easy to overcook. Unfortunately, overcooked chicken is quite tough, but thankfully it was only slightly so.
Also, I have a confession (which isn’t food related). During our shopping spree, Katy and I went to Pezzi in Melbourne Central to check out the earrings…and we both left with 2 new pairs each…
I think I’m an earring addict.
Technorati Tags: restaurant review, earrings, shopping, friends
One of my favourite cakes in my repetoire is a cinnamon teacake which takes a total of about 45 minutes from start to finish, and is the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of coffee or tea. The cake itself is very simply flavoured, but the cinnamon sugar on top provides crunch as well as a little spicy sweetness that seems to enhance the soft vanilla flavour of the cake itself.
This is one of those strange dense-but-light cakes in that it feels quite heavy, but upon biting into it you’ll experience a light, buttery, moist crumb which seems to instantly dissolve and leave you hankering for more.
Though I like this cake just the way it is, feel free to add a variety of fruits for different flavours - I’ve made it with strawberries and apples before and they were both wonderful (as well as being so loved by the family that they didn’t last 24 hours!)
Isn’t it beautiful? Browned and crisp outside, the inside is an entirely different experience…
Ingredients
Cake
120g butter at room temperature
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract*
1 1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup milk
*Vanilla extract is not vanilla essence. Vanilla extract is made using real vanilla beans, whilst essence is made by oxidizing lignin, a waste product of the wood pulp industry, to make vanillin. Extract is, in my own opinion, a lot stronger in flavour and has less of an alcoholic smell.
Topping
30g butter, melted
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line an 18cm cake tin and set aside for now.
2. Using electric beaters, beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and creamy. Add egg gradually, beating well after each addition to prevent curdling (though it doesn’t really affect the cake at all). Add the vanilla extract and beat till combined.
3. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl. Using a metal spoon, fold in sifted flours alternately with milk and stir till smooth.
4. Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth over the surface. Bake for about 30 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
5. Stand cake in tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
6. Whilst the cake is still warm, brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with combined sugar and cinnamon. If the sugar melts, then sprinkle some more on, you want the cake to look like it has a light sugar dusting on top.
Buttery, unbearably light and with the delicate hint of vanilla, it’s hard to stop at just one slice with this cake!
Technorati Tags: cinnamon sugar, teacake, coffee cake, cake
