Dammit...

The perfect bath still eludes me- today it was way too hot and I came out with a headache. Wtf.

But on an happier note, Melbourne are in the Top 8! Wooooottt!!! :)

X
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Three cakes in three days....

Wow, I can't believe that I didn't blog about the time I made/decorate three cakes in three days. Or was it two? I can't remember. I was pulling 7am starts at workm and in addition to that, I made a commitment to make all these cakes!!!!

One was Nicole's hen's night cake:

Then there was Luz's cake:



And finally a cake I made for a colleague, Erin. She was celebrating her birthday with her Dad, so what the hell, I included him as well:

All of the cakes were chocolate dump it cakes with chocolate Bailey's buttercream.

I was particularly proud of these little sugar paste figures I made, little chickadee whose shell I made from moulding on an actual egg:

To the two frogs who Nicole used to kiss before she met Danial. And yes, I know that they are sad - they are sad because they lost their chance with Nicole! Actually, someone said to me "Um, did you know that your frogs are sad" and I'm like "I freaking made them, of course I know!" :)

Sooooooo not cut out to be a professional cake maker!!!!

xoxo

I call this one Henry...

Family photo...

Proof that two cakes were due the same day!!!



Melbourne Demons cake... I always wanted to make one!

My latest cake was this one which I made for my friend Jill's birthday. Jill is a massive Melbourne fan just like myself - and so is her whole family. So when I was invited to her family's dinner to celebrate her birthday at the local delicious Greek restaurant, Mezethes - I could not resist baking this cake!

The funny story behind it was that Luke, bless his heart dropped the figurine and broke its right arm, its right foot and its right HORN. I swear, everytime I use store bought figurines, someone will inevitably break it. First it was Jody breaking Nicole's Marily Monroe figurine for her Hen's night cake, then an unknown James Squire staff breaking a bit of James Bond's head and now this. Seriously.

Needless to say, I wasn't impressed. But I think I held it together alright - what do you think Luke?

I am particularly impressed with this cake because I started making it at 5pm and was done by 9.30pm. Yes, from making the cake from scratch, to the buttercream to the fondant to the decoration. So I was quite happy with that. It's not often that that happens. And furthermore, I also ate dinner and watched a spot of How I Met Your Mother in between.

And for the record, I made yet another chocolate cake because I noted that Jill liked chocolate cake - and EVEN THOUGH I didn't like making it (only because I didn't want everyone to think I'm a one trick pony) I did.

I should also say that Luke made amends by buying another figurine, so I put the second Demon where the three red candles are and moved the red candles to the bottom of the cake. I was quite happy with the end result. I can't believe I haven't got a photo of it though. I know that Jill's mom took a photo, so I might see whether I can get it off her and add it at a later stage.

Friday night footy...

End of another long week - TGIF! (I know I've already said that in my earlier post). I'm totally looking forward to Friday night footy. Tonight, it's a win win situation for me really - Melbourne needs the Bombers to lose to even have a shot at the top eight, but boy oh boy, wouldn't I love to see Hawthorn lose another one. I just CAN'T bring myself to go for them - the ONLY player I like on that team is Luke Hodge. He is a champion.

Anyway, for Friday night footy, I decided to make footy. Food that you need to eat with your fingers - wings, ribs, chips. My choice for this evening: RIBS and to be healthy - the reliable, and DELICIOUS sweet potato chips!

I used a combination of the slow cooker and the BBQ - (well, Luke worked the BBQ because I'm useless at it and he is awesome).

On hindsight, the only thing that I would have done differently would be to cook the ribs after they have been defrosted. I forgot to defrost the meat last night (and this morning) so when I came home at lunch, I just dumped all the FROZEN meat with the sauce and set it on auto. It cooked for seven hours, and it was quite tender, but not enough (well, the baby back ribs were - the spare ribs, not so much).

Yes, you picked it - I also used a combination of baby back and spare ribs. Only because it was the first time Luke and I were eating baby back ribs and I was unsure whether it would be enough for dinner (yes, we love our meat!)

SO - who wants the recipe? I didn't measure anything - so just use your instincts!!!

NESSIE'S MESSY RIBS

Ingredients

Ribs - as mentioned earlier, baby back ribs and spare ribs were used in this recipe
Tomato ketchup
Barbeque sauce
Worstershire sauce
Chili Sauce (I think I bought blended chilis or something - they are pretty spicy! If no blended chilis, I would just use some tobasco sauce or some chili flakes)
Tobasco sauce (I used it anyway, in addition to the chili)
3 tablespoons of brown sugar (this one I did measure - but not intentionally)
1 can of beer (I used Cascades Pale Ale cuz that's what we had in the fridge - leftover from the engagement party!!)

If it helps, the rule that I go by is one part ketchup to two parts BBQ sauce or vice versa. In this case, I didn't have much BBQ sauce, so I just used one part BBQ sauce to two parts ketchup.

I chucked eveything into the slow cooker and let it cook on Auto for about 7 hours.

Remove the cooked meat from the slow cooker and in a separate container, dissolve some cornflour with cold water and add to the sauce. Keep doing so until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

In the meantime, start the BBQ and sear the meat. Then baste the meat with the sauce and sear both sides.

Finally, put the meat into a large bowl and pour the remaining sauce over the meat.

Make sure there's lots of paper napkins and ENJOY!!!

Happy weekend!

xoxo

Special thanks to my lovely Luke for BBQ-ing! :) xoxo

Casual Friday

TGIF peeps!! This week has just FLOWN by but hey, it’s Friday and I’m definitely not complaining!

Am extremely excited about this outfit today ONLY because I found my black knit vest on my bedroom floor this morning (ask Luke about the dance of joy I did!) which I have been looking for ages. I think this black knit vest might have been one of my best investments EVER. It goes with pretty much everything. Dress it up, dress it down, the possibilities are endless! Today, I have paired it with a skinny black belt (which apparently is one of THE must-have fall accessories) make the whole look a bit more tailored and corporate. Just because it’s casual Friday, it does NOT mean that we have to look like slobs people!

Having said that though, I do feel like my outfit is not quite complete because I have failed to accessorize. I was in such a hurry this morning (it is true what they say, the closer you are, the later you are) that I forgot to wear some earrings, or even a scarf or drop necklace to tie the whole look together.

What are we all wearing today?

Happy weekend. J

xoxo

Hong Kong - here I come!!!

HONG KONG BABY!!!!

I'm so excited. Today I booked my tickets to Hong Kong. My mother is hitting a milestone next year (I'm not sure that she would want me to broadcast it) and so I have decided to take her for a very well-deserved holiday! We were tossing up a few ideas - Phuket, Chiang Mai, but the circumstances pointed us towards Hong Kong. So HONG KONG here we come!!

I booked and paid for my tickets today. Now I'm just waiting for my mother to tell me her preferred time and I will book her tickets!!!

I'm so excited - does anyone have any tips? Food, accommodation, things to see and do??

All suggestions welcome.

:)

Yay! Suppose it's time to update my travel blog huh!!!

xoxo

What to do with a shrunken vest...

So this morning Luke put on his grey Merino wool vest and found that as he had accidentally washed it in the washing machine, it had shrunk. He could still fit in it, and looked great, BUT, he wasn't comfortable in it, so I pounced! I offered to wear the vest for the day! (Yes, that is my good deed!)

But the upshot of that is that I got a new outfit for the day! And of course, I had to share. Thanks Lukey bear!

Hope you guys like my outfit today! xoxo