Blue spot pot

I adore my birthday present from my sister - the gorgeous blue spot pot and delightful matching mugs - and now I have the perfect accompanyments - this vintage inspired tea strainer and T2 Strawberry bliss chai. Perfect for a lazy winters night in...

xxx

What would YOU do for the perfect pair of shoes???

I had a mercy dash today - a quick trip down the coast to get the forgotten pair of perfect shoes for a special outing tonight. My poor sister brought everything (and the kitchen sink) with her today for her week long trip but forgot the crucial component to tonights outfit...and what is a girl to do without those perfect pair of shoes?!?!

Totally worth it...she looked gorgeous (as always)...and her shoes rocked!

Enjoy your evening R! Love you xxx

xxx

Orange Manuka Honey cookies

My gourmet "go to" cookie recipe is one from Jo Seagar. We are having a birthday afternoon tea picnic tomorrow (it is fun when the birthday celebrations extend over a couple of months!) so I made them today to take along.

They are super easy, and only have a few ingredients. They are naturally gluten free and dairy free, although you definitely wouldn't know it. They are chewy, gooey and yet crispy in all the right places. I'm not one for delayed gratification but if you have the will power, they will last well too. Apparently they freeze and defrost well, although I must admit I've not tried.

Orange Manuka Honey Biscuits 


Ingredients

2 cups ground nuts (my favourite is almond, the recipe calls for pecan but I find it too heavy and dare I say, too nutty)
1 cup castor sugar
grated rind of 1 orange
2 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
1 tablespoon manuka honey, warmed (I must admit I just use regular honey....they would probably be even more divine with Manuka if you have ready access)
icing sugar to dust (approx 1/2 cup - if you are cooking for gluten free ppl then make sure your icing sugar is also gluten free!)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C and line baking trays with baking paper
Mix the ground almonds, sugar and orange rind together then add the egg whites and honey.
Roll small balls of the mixture in the icing sugar and then place on the baking tray.
Press them flat and bake until done. The recipe calls for 15-18 minutes, I usually cook them for about 12.
Cool on a wire rack.

(I don't have a fan forced oven so I try keep them away from the element as much as possible as the sugar under the cookie can burn if you're not careful - and believe me, that is a waste of a very good cookie!)

Bon appetit!

xxx

Ultimate one-bowl chocolate dessert cake

Our lovely Canadian intern celebrated her birthday this week - when asked what type of cake she would like, she said with a smile, chocolate! Not having made a chocolate cake for an eternity, this sent me scurrying to my default cooking guru - Donna Hay - and she did not fail me. There, in all its print glory, sat the recipe that was designed for me - a one-bowl recipe (bargin, reduced washing up!) that could be altered to cater for the gluten free kids at work. Sounded great to me! I braved the chocolate isle at Coles and found some good quality chocolate (as everyone knows that your recipe is only as good as your raw ingredients) and then I set to work.

I made it in one bowl, but had to 'dirty' a saucepan to melt the chocolate. I"ll forgive Donna this one, it didn't really add much to my washing up :-) Now, if someone could make a one spoon dish.....

This cake looked really good - gooey, moist and of course, chocolatey! Definitely worth a shot if you want a quick, easy, tasty, moist chocolate cake. Thanks Donna!

Most importantly, Happy Birthday C, hope you had a fabulous day, despite being at work. And hope  you enjoyed the chocolate cake for breakfast :-)

Donna Hay's ultimate one-bowl chocolate dessert cake

Ingredients

125g butter, chopped
375g dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup brown sugar (175g)
1/4 cup (35g) plain flour (I used gluten free)
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup almond meal (120g)
5 eggs
Topping - cocoa, crumbled twirls, icing sugar, melted chocolate etc etc

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C
Melt butter and chocolate together in a bowl (either in the microwave...beware burning the chocolate...or over a saucepan of simmering water)
Add sugar, flour, almond meal and milk  and mix to combine
Add the eggs and mix well
Pour into a cake tin (22cm springform, or I just used my bundt tin)
Cover the tin with aluminium foil and bake for 40 minutes
Uncover and cool in the tin
Serves 10 (apparently)

(I cooked mine for 60 minutes at 180 degrees but then my oven may be special. Basically cook until the skewer comes out clean).

Bon appetit!

xxx

Things that make you...smile....

I've got a weird mish-mash of songs running through my head....a mash up of "Things that make you go...hmmm...." and " these are a few of my favourite things...". Either way you look at it, these flowers make me smile. How can you not love the soothing colour mix of blue, white and purple? Ahh....delightful!

Hope you're finding some reasons to smile today xxx

Smile

Bloggers, I've been so slack. I"m sorry! Life has been a tad crazy the last couple of months. I'm finally surfacing from exams, work, birthdays and running to do a little catch up on the blogging front! This post should be last, because it happened most recently, but I"ll forgive myself a little backwards blogging if you will!

I received a lovely surprise parcel in the mail this week from a lovely friend from NZ who remembered it was my (30! shh.....) birthday and sent me this gorgeous inspirational quote. It now sits pride of place on top of my bookcase, next to my candles, which, by the way, make me smile. In fact, I might just go light one now....

Some good advice there! Thanks D!

xxx