Recently I have found myself really enjoying cupcakes, not just eating them but also decorating them.  At first I fell for the “icing gels” you can buy from the supermarkets but then I realised that I’m essentially paying top dollar for a little bit of coloured icing.  So now when I make my icing I separate a little out to colour, black, red, blue etc.  I then use a sandwich bag with the corner tip cut off as a disposable piping bag… cheap and easy!  Another thing that’s easy and quite cheap is this cupcake recipe… give it a go!

Ingredients

* 1 cup of self raising flour
* 3/4 cup of sugar
* 100 g butter
* 2 tablespoons cocoa
* 1/3 cup milk
* 2 eggs

Procedure

1. Beat butter and sugar until creamy
2. add eggs and milk, beat a little
3. Add flour & cocoa and beat until all combined
4. Place mixture in patty pans, cook at 180 degrees Celsius for approx. 14 min
5. Let cool on a wire rack then ice and decorate if desired.

I made pizza recently but while I was out shopping for all the toppings I neglected to properly read the sign in the deli window.  I got home and made a beautiful base with oregano and basil mixed through it then topped it with onions, olives, pineapple, capsicum, tomato, feta cheese, salami, bacon and Mozzarella cheese… yum!  Or at least it would have been if I had taken the time to notice the bacon pieces were in fact bacon STYLE pieces… yuck!  When it was cooked the bacon STYLE pieces were soft and mushy and tasted nothing like bacon, more like luncheon… double yuck!!! From now on I’ll make sure I read the WHOLE label because let me tell you – one word can make ALL the difference!

I have tried so many pavlova recipes and was so disappointed with the results I was about to give up on the humble pav, but then my grandmother gave me her recipe and it was fantastic!  So give it a try, just remember that a stainless steel mixing bowl is best but don’t stress if you don’t have one.

Ingredients

* 4 egg whites

* 1 & 1/4 cups of caster sugar

* 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

* 1 pinch of salt

Proceedure

1. Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.

2. Put the mixing bowl in hot water (just half fill your sink with hot water from the hot tap and sit the bowl in that) then add sugar gradually, one heaped tablespoon at a time.

3. Add vanilla essence, lemon juice and corn flour.

4. Line a tray with baking paper and spread mixture out to make a 23cm diameter circle.

5. Bake in a slow oven (150 degrees celsius) for 1 & 1/4  -  1 & 1/2 hours but allow to cool in the turned off oven with the door slightly ajar.

6. Top with whipped cream and fruit or mango fruche and fruit.

Now I have to say that my grandma would just die to see a pavlova with fruche on it instead of cream BUT if you are watching your weight or simply want to enjoy this fantastic sweet without clogging your arteries… give fruche a try!

I don’t buy 2 minute noodles very often because I find then quite tasteless with practically no nutritional value what so ever.  My youngest however does like them so I buy the baked variety rather than the fried, no need to add unnecessary fat to her diet.  This past shopping trip I came home with the latest from Maggi 2 minute range – extra delicious 2 minute noodles!  They come with a sachet of vegetables inside so I thought “at last noodles with a nutritional value greater than cardboard.”  When it came time to cook these vegetables I was sorely disappointed as I cut the top off the sachet and looked inside all that stared back at me was ONE dried corn kernel and about five tiny pieces of diced carrot.  Let me also say that those carrot pieces were SO small that I have seen my three year old nephew pick bigger boogers!  I truly feel that perhaps the noodle packet should say “new game in every pack – hunt for the vegetables.”

This recipe is another of my grandmothers gems (thanks Mama) and I just have to share it with you.  I use whatever chicken I have -  wings, drums, strips , cubes, it’s ALL good.  Just remember to vary your cooking time according to the cut you use.

Ingredients
* chicken (500g boneless or around 1kg for drums etc)
* 1/3 cup honey
* 1/3 cup lemon
* 1/3 cup hot water
* 3 chicken stock cubes
* 3 tablespoons of plain flour (approximately)

Procedure
1. Toss your chicken in some flour then cook in a little olive oil until almost done.
2. Mix the remaining ingredients together and add to the chicken. ( I mix it all in the measuring cup)
3. Simmer with the lid on until the chicken is completely cooked and the sauce has reduced and thickened.

It’s so easy to remember that once you read this you would have to hire some one to help you forget it.  Just think “3″… 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 and 3 stock cubes… dead easy!

This is a great recipe that simply has to be shared.  It was brought to my attention when we were having a catch up coffee with friends and this beautiful moist carrot cake was dished up.  It was still warm and I swear if I wasn’t in the company of others I would have licked my fingers and sucked every tasty morsel off the baking paper that cake was cooked on. So, many thanks to Casey for this recipe… everyone say “hi” to Casey.   I will just add that the recipe  below is the standard one.  Casey has told me that she uses more carrots, less oil, macadamia nuts and no icing on top but we all fiddle with recipes to get them to our specific liking.  I implore you reader to give this recipe a go, I certainly will.

INGREDIENTS
*1 1/2 cups (about 2 medium) coarsely grated carrots
*1/2 cup finely chopped pecan nuts
*2 eggs, lightly beaten
*1 cup caster sugar
*3/4 cup vegetable oil
*3/4 cup self raising flour
*1/2 cup plain flour
*1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
*1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

icing
*1 x 125g packet cream cheese, chopped
*25g butter, softened
*1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind
*1 1/2 cups icing mixture, sifted

METHOD
Step 1. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees.  Grease 15cm x 25cm loaf pan with melted butter; cover base with non stick baking paper.
Step 2. Place carrots, nuts, eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl.  Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
Step 3. Sift flours, soda and cinnamon through a fine strainer over bowl of carrot mixture.  Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.  Pour mixture into prepared pan; put in oven.

Cook for 1 hour or until cake is lightly browned, test with a skewer.  Place on a rack to cool for 5 minutes then turn cake out of pan onto rack; peel away paper.

ICING: Place cream cheese, butter, rind and icing sugar in a small bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth.  Spread icing on top of cake.

In our house Dr. Pepper is king when it comes to soft drinks.  We don’t drink soft drink very often but when the doctor is in the house it’s a special occasion.  Since Schweppes stopped producing Dr. Pepper in Australia several years back we have had to pay premium prices for our beloved cola beverage.  None the less we occasionally treat ourselves to one, note I said one!  At dinner time the four of us will measure out this precious nectar from the gods… the kids always complain that Luke and I get more but that’s a parents right damn it!  I know it’s got some ridiculous amount of sugar in it but that’s why we only have it every now and then. We are like wine connoisseurs savouring every individual flavour that makes up the whole… love the stuff! Can’t say it enough…love it, love it, love it.

As a child I remember sitting at the table with my mother’s scrutinizing glare on me and the way I ate chicken wings.  Always knife and fork only, cutting the wing at the joints, separating the bones and eating every last piece of meat… leaving nothing but bare bone on the plate.  I specifically remember one night when my sister or I must have been having trouble with the task at hand and my mother sitting at the table in a conversation with God….”Why Lord why?”  Asking God why she had been given these children who couldn’t use a knife and fork, ate like pigs blah blah blah  etc etc  It must have worked on some level because to this day if I’m at a BBQ or some other function where chicken wings are served as “finger food”  I can’t go there.  I’ll eat my chicken wings with a knife and fork thank you very much.  I find it funny however that every chicken dish I make I use drumsticks that I debone and dice up.   Very rarely will I cook with chicken wings!

It’s not everyday you hear the words “I love Dick” come out of your husbands mouth but I did today. No, he’s hasn’t turned gay he has just been deprived of Dick Smith’s drinking chocolate for far too long. It’s not a necessary food item so for the past few weeks, dare I say months I have returned from grocery shopping minus the drinking chocolate. However the drought broke and I came home this week with a jar, so today as we opened it to make milkshakes we both expressed our love of this product. We love you Dick!

I was in the city the other day and happened to walk past the new Krispy Kreme donut store.  I couldn’t believe my eyes,  the store was full and the line up was out the door and around the corner!  There were mothers with prams, mothers with crying babies, students, workmen in grubby shorts, office workers in nice clean suits and even a lawyer decked out in black gown and white wig – they were all waiting in line for a donut.   Perhaps the store was so busy because it’s new and the only one in the state so far, perhaps it will die down once everyone is over the hype.  They sure don’t have me worked up that’s for sure. Last year my sister flew down to Sydney for the day and returned with a box of Krispy Kremes so we could see what us Queenslanders were missing out on.  The results of our donut research was conclusive, all six participants agreed that Dreamy Donuts were tastier and the selection much more attractive than the donuts from Krispy Kreme.  I doubt our research results will ever make an academic journal or conference but perhaps I simply have to do MORE research…yes that’s it…. more donuts must be consumed.  It’s for the greater good people!