24 June 2016

PHD

Project Half Done
Work in Progress
Unfinished Object

NO MORE!


With a press of the 'Submit' button
Finally Finished !

We are SO proud of her.


22 June 2016

Winter Solstice - a perfect day to bake.

And when I thought I was finished, we went for a coffee. 
I commented I had been baking, and the waitress replied she could cook 
but not bake as all her baking was lumpy...... 

So I thought why not? Let's share a recipe!


No Fail - Lumps are OK - Pretty Easy Cookies*

1. Gather your ingredients
125 g Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Caster (or White) Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Cup Self Raising Flour
3/4 Cup Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 Cup Chocolate Chips

2. Preheat your oven to 160 deg. C

3. Melt butter in a saucepan over a medium (not full blast) heat - or in the microwave.
When it is almost fully melted turn off the heat - it will continue to melt.
Allow it to cool slightly.


4. Put your Brown and White Sugars into a bowl.
Pour melted butter over.

Add Vanilla Essence
(here or in step 6 - it really doesn't matter)


5. The recipe says ...
Stir until sugar is mostly dissolved.

6. Lightly beat the Egg with a fork
Then Stir into the Sugar mixture.

Note: The sugar won't actually 'dissolve' in a warm butter mix.
So - it should look like this . >>>


7. A strainer makes the Best Sieve ever..

And in the interest of not having too much to wash up afterwards....
I just sift straight into the mix...


But the recipe says...

8. Sift Flours and Baking Powder together in a small bowl and then gradually mix into the Sugar mixture until combined.

Either way works!

9.  Stir through Chocolate Chips.
But, I have run out of this ingredient - so a quick check in the pantry found lots that I could substitute.

Maybe not EVERYTHING! ...
How did those cat treats end up on my bench?.....   SPIKE?

*I did actually sneak a sachet of extra fibre in at this stage as an afterthought (shhh... - don't tell them!...) but in future I would take out a spoonful of flour and add it at point 8.

10. Here is my "Secret Weapon" - My Grandmother used to call it a Penny Scoop and so that is what I call it!

It is a very small Ice-cream scoop which is just the right size to measure Cookie dough.

But if you don't have one of those-
Do your own thing - Any method of portioning dough is OK

And I also never "line" my cookie trays -
Just grease with a little smear of butter and we are good to go!

11.  Bake in the pre-heated Oven for 12 minutes or until golden.
Make sure you don't forget them (one batch I left in too long were almost burnt!)

You can pat them down with a slide while they are still hot if you don't want them too 'puffy'.

12. Remove from oven and allow to stay on the trays for 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
(IF they last that long!)

Place in a brown paper bag and give to anyone who knocks on the door while you are baking!

 Seriously! It actually did happen TWICE yesterday!!






* I didn't 'invent' this recipe - The original recipe can be found HERE at allrecipes.com.au


9 June 2016

Progress report

Yet again this week has flown past -
So - where am I up to in my "Bonny Hunter Challenge" ?



I made a bucket full of these from a whole lot of fabric that I had previously cut apart  ...


DS#2 came in while I was sewing and asked why I was making 'Bunting'.     :(




I sewed them (and a whole lot more) back together again to make a table full of these....


and THEN,
I was able to get down to the 'fun part' or rather the POINT of the exercise -

and there will be plenty of points to get right by the time I am done!

Nine down - Forty One to go!

Lookin' good so far, and the advantage of doing this as a Challenge rather than a Mystery?  ... at least I know where I am going to end up!




1 June 2016

First of June already?

Where DID the last fortnight go?
(Part Two)

Sunday was yet another distraction from what I was SUPPOSED to be doing...

The Victorian Knitters Association was having a Fair at our local Town Hall and of course, what I really needed was more wool.....
The Cream ball was just what I was looking for - 100% made and processed in Victoria.
Alpaca/ Merino 12 ply with a beautiful drape.
Can't wait to get it on the needles!



The rest of my free time this week has been spent cutting little squares and rectangles out of fabric and TRYING to turn these ....



Into THESE!

All 30 sets of them!




That's what I should have been doing...
But instead I ended up cleaning out the pantry and re-organising the shelves.

Finding forgotten 'must have' purchases.
Some of which I could not believe the 'use by' dates - lots of those ending up in the bin or worm farm.

With the exception of THESE....

Which got turned into
THESE!

OH YUM.... I have never seen my DH's eyebrows go so high when tasting these 'Adult Only' Cookies.
Just the thing with a good strong cup of coffee.

So - needless to say my adventures with Bonny Hunter have taken a back seat this week. Oh well - there is always next week ... and plenty of cookies!


First of June already?

Where DID the last fortnight go?
(Part One)

For starters, I had an appointment in High Street Prahran which led me to this adorable TEA SHOP.

(I know - I usually write up Coffee shops over on my other blog "Myrtle & Me" but I was so impressed - I made an exception this time.)

I have actually been watching the progress of this small shop over the last year - they have had some issues with their renovation and I was delighted that it was open for business last week.


Stainless Steel Cannisters containing 95 different blends of tea stand side by side, just waiting to be expertly brewed up and served in any of the beautiful China and Glassware that line the shelves.

The staff are passionate about their Tea and are very willing to spend the time educating you and showing off the various blends and brewing paraphernalia.

So what did we choose?

Green Earl Grey Cream for DS#2 who has declared it his "new favourite blend ever".
And I chose the exotically entitled 'Yunnan Golden Monkey Imperial' a beautiful light Black tea.

The best ever warm Friands rounded off the experience beautifully.
And, of course we brought some home as well!


Unfortunately This Shop has now Closed.
Tea Connoisseur
1218 High Street
ARMADALE  VIC  3143