When you are running errands, you want to be comfortable but at the same time, don't want to look completely housewife frumpy. It wasn't a very hot day, so a tank and a light jacket were appropriate, and the scarf added another layer of warmth when the sun hid behind some clouds and the temperature dropped! This was also a very comfortable outfit to wear while watching my team win themselves a place in the top eight! :) Go Dees! x
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!!!!
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.
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
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.
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!!!
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!
My Sunday night bath. I had everything from the candles, to the bubbles, to the rubber ducky, my bath pillow and EVEN water with slices of orange in it...
I tried to set up the computer to play the Real Housewives of New York while I was in the bath (ok, don't judge me!) and it didn't work. So after stuffing around for a while, I got in and the water was COLD. But I still sat in there - I ran the bath, I am going to sit in there for a bit dammit.
Nope, after 15 minutes I had to get out. It was freezing. But no worries, I'll just have a hot shower.
THERE WAS NO HOT WATER LEFT!!!!!
So needless to say, my Sunday night bath was an epic FAIL. I'll try again on Saturday. But can I just say? HUMPH.
Ok - so double carbs. Super naughty, but hey, it was a quick and easy dinner and definitely a crowd pleaser. The thing that will take the longest to cook would be the pasta! Nom nom nom... :)
Luke's DELICIOUS garlic bread as a side! Not that we needed any sides...
PASTA CARBONARA
Ingredients
125g bacon. thinly sliced
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp crea,
2 tbsp parmasen cheese (grated)
Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp chopped parsley ( I just used dried parsley cuz that was all I had)
400g pasta (in this case, I used tagliatelle)
Method
Cook the pasta until al dente.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and cook bacon until crispy.
Beat egg yolks, cream, cheese, salt and pepper together.
Drain the pasta and toss with egg mix, bacon and parsley and serve.
Serves 4.
Enjoy. :)
Remember, this dish is VERY rich (plus, it's double carbs) so don't eat it every night.
Ok, so I have a confession to make. I was totally going to blog from my Blackberry last night in bed. Just some final thoughts on the day, etc (not that I can remember what they were now!). I tucked myself into bed and had my doona over my head to keep warm and started typing. After about ten words, I conceded that my hands were too cold and that I should warm up before continuing. So I put my phone down, and snuggled into the pillows to watch some Big Bang Theory.
I totally fell asleep.
And that wasn't the worst part. Apparently sometime during the night, I had rolled over my phone and it called Luke. And left a voicemail. Or should I say snoremail. Yup, I snored into the phone and it was recorded on voicemail for my fiance to hear. Not once, but TWICE.
So it was kinda funny when he told me, but embarassing at the same time! Me and sleep, I tell ya!
A win is a win is a win. :) That is all I can say. Whatever was said during the week, the ugly comments and the cheap shots.. it all doesn't matter! A win against a side that might be sliding? ( I don't think Essendon are sliding, but that's what people are going to say during the week). So freaking what. As I said, a win is a win is win. So proud of my boys!!!
Ok - sorry I have been MIA from this blog. It has been a busy few weeks! First of all, I finished up at RBF, and that was a crazy last week of work, just trying to get everything done, so I was up at the crack of dawn (and I don't mean 9am, but rather 4am!) trying to get it done, but at the end of the day, I can only do what I can do! And let's not forget that Penny arrived - she is AMAZING! For those of you who don't know, Penny is my new Blackberry Playbook and she is everything I hoped she would be! All those BB haters out there - shame on you! I LOVE my Playbook. Sure it's got it's limitations, but it's a tablet, what do you expect. Her first photoshoot and review should be coming up soon - when I get around to it... seems like the theme of this month! :)
Then I had a week off before I started my new job, where I did nothing at all. Seriously. Nothing. I have never been so lazy in my whole entire life! The week flew by and very soon, I had to start my new job! It's pretty cool, it's nice to be in an office again, although I have to share, but eh, can't complain! At least I'm no longer in a cubicle! Although I have to say that I didn't mind so much being in a cubicle in my old workplace, because the building was nice. This one is NOT. So an office is a bonus really. I have one window where I am overlooking the warehouse. FANCY. :)
But I get to park at work and drive home during lunch, so that is a bit of a bonus. The people seem nice, but I do miss my old colleagues! Especially chatting with Miss Anna Banana about her latest purchases (have you guys checked out her blog?), catching up with Miss Honor about her weekend shenanigans (the weirdest still being when she flew to Melbourne randomly for a weekend to deliver a passport!) and of course the emails from Miss Jules who would keep me in stitches! But I suppose these bonds take time to develop...
And I also started my training to run 10K. Yup, you read it right. I started counting calories and started training for 10K, 100 push ups and also 200 sit ups. But alas, after week one and feeling extremely proud of myself, I was struck down with the flu. You betcha. I feel like history has repeated itself! Last year when I first started my job, I got a terrible flu the second week I was there. I had to take a day off. This time, new job, week 2... BANG. The flu. AGAIN. Ridunk.
So training will have to wait a week. But I will get back on it and I hope that at the end of 13 weeks, I will be able to run 10K.
Latest obsessions? I am officially a reality TV junkie AND Real Housewives tragic. I now watch all the Real Housewives series, you name it. Orange County, New York (one of my faves), DC, Beverly Hills (love), New Jersey (LOVE LOVE), Atlanta (meh - but I like the way they talk) and also Miami (which is a bit meh as well, but hell, I will watch it anyway!).
Oh, and turns out Audrina has got a show too. Luke stumbled upon it when he was watching some of his shows online, so I jumped on to check it out. First of all, I did watched the clip with Audrina's mom having a go at Lauren Conrad after Audrina got kicked out of Dancing with the Stars. What a crazy bitch.
If you haven't seen it, here's the video:
After reading the reviews, I thought that it would be a bit boring. It has been called the poor person's "Keeping Up with the Kardashians", but I got into it a bit. But then again, who are we kidding - I just admitted that I'm a reality tv junkie! Lynn Patridge does shit my up the wall though - she is sooo mean to Casey, and a mother should NOT be allowed to speak to her daughter like that!
So after I watched all of Audrina, I looked around to see what else was new, and thought that I should check out Mob Wives. And OMFG - this is AWESOME. I love all of them - they are so cool, and SO WEIRD. I mean, who talks like that? And do these girls (well, in all fairness two of them) really think that they are mafia princesses? BUT, I still like them. I don't think I could even pick a favourite, but I would probably say that I like Carla the least. She's more mellow and a bit boring compared to the other three. But I like them all!
Check it:
Anyway, enough about TV ranting - I need to write another post on the footy!
