I spotted a Donna Hay cupcake kit at a local 'providore/deli' earlier this year. I took one look at the price (around $15) and put it back. Then about 4 to 5 weeks ago I was at an upmarket green grocer (which also stocks expensive frozen things, cheeses & spices etc) - and I spotted the Donna Hay kits again. They were calling me! I decided to take the plunge and fork-out the $13.95 price tag to road test this product - because good or bad, I knew I'd get a blog post out of it.!
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Road-Testing: DONNA HAY -Lemon & Coconut Cupcake Kit
Friday, July 03, 2009
Thursday musings...

Dinner tonight was salmon fillets (I managed to land for half price), with baked potato and sweet potato & salad. I served the salmon with some homemade 'parsley pesto' I decided to whip-up in the pestle & mortar (inspired loosely by something I saw online). The pesto did wonders to enhance the flavour of everything.. it was quite garlicky & I made it with cashews & some jalapeno's for spice (instead of something like capers)... and other 'secret' ingredients. And I think for the first time ever I overcooked the salmon. I can ruin a roast quite easily, but never usually fish. I was stunned! Oh well.. the pesto added moisture and saved the meal I think.
I have a nail appointment tomorrow afternoon.. because mine are screaming for infills. I really like the nail salon I go to and always enjoy my time there. No doubt I'll Twitter a photo or two on the sidebar of my blog. So far I've been given chocolate hedgehog and an Anzac bikkie with my coffee's. The nail technician (& business owner) has a kind Mum who bakes especially for customers. The portion sizes are 'mini' ... but that's ok, it's the thought and homemade flavours that count. Have a great weekend everyone :)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Coconut Bread
COCONUT BREAD
This is a beautiful, dense, moist coconutty cake-bread, not to be confused with a spongey-light cake! In my opinion it has a shelf-life of two days, but you needn't worry because it'll be gobbled-up in no time! Otherwise it's freezable (wrap first, then put in an airtight container). If not eating it on the day you made it, try putting it under the griller to warm & brown slightly and spreading with some proper butter! Mmmm! My family loved this recipe - it's so easy, give it a try!
Ingredients:
-1 cup of plain flour
-1 cup of self raising flour
-1 cup desiccated coconut
-3/4 cup caster sugar
-1 & 1/2 cups of buttermilk (find in the milk section at the supermarket -picture supplied on blog)
-3 eggs lightly beaten
-100gm butter (melted)
-1.5 teaspoons coconut extract
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-Rice bran oil spray (or extra butter) for greasing tin
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-Grease a standard loaf tin (I sprayed mine with rice bran oil), then line with some baking paper (don't be overly fussed about how you do this, as long as the base is well covered).
-Preheat your oven to 180c or if fanforced, 160c.
-Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl (sifting flours first)
-Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined (don't use an electric mixer or 'overdo' the stirring).
-Pour mixture into greased/lined loaf tin & put tin on top of a baking tray.
-Bake in preheated oven approximately 1 hour.
-Allow Coconut Bread to cool in tin for 5 mins before turning out onto a wire rack or plate to cool.
Cooks Tip: Consider this easy recipe next time you need to 'contribute' a plate of something?
Monday, June 29, 2009
Breakfast @Sheraton, Lunch@Cheap&Nasty, Dinner @Small group...
Someone on the news last Friday asked rhetorically "Who doesn't have a Michael Jackson record"? Like, "Come on"!! I raise my hand up because I don't believe I actually ever have. I can remember listening to the album 'Off the Wall' in the early 80's & enjoying it (a friend owned it), but I never really was a true Michael Jackson fan even though he was talented and I enjoyed some of his music. I think my Mum and/or sister landed the single 'Ben' -which was a Sunday market purchase, but it was never really 'mine'. I can remember my sister owning a pair of Michael Jackson earrings too.. part of a Sunday market 50 cent (or $1?) 'lucky dip'.
This post has been in the making for weeks (not the part about Farrah and Michael of course). I mentioned in my last post that I'd been sick.. hence chipping away at the 'drafts' section of my blogger dashboard, but my actual posts have been scanty. Recently I went away to a women's conference being 'PASSION 'O9' in Scoresby, Melbourne (church affiliated) - and I documented all of that via photo's on 'Twitter'. Twitter updates appear on the sidebar to the left & you can catch up with all photo's I post to Twitter via Twitpic -where I'm known as 'FWanderings'. That kind of 'quick journalling' was easy to do via my mobile phone while I was away. While I was at the conference I knew I was getting more unwell which meant I didn't do my radio spot last Tuesday or offer a 'Recipe of the Week'. And boy did I miss doing those things!
As written in my last post, last Friday night marked my 'return to society' (post-cold) when I attended a charity function to do with hubby's work (& I came away from the night with a BIG surprise from the silent auction I never would have guessed would be mine)!
Saturday night we attended a 70th birthday dinner at an inner-city restaurant & met a lovely couple with one of them being French (ie. food/culture.. LOTS to talk about). That was a nice evening - I have pictures of the food & might post them down the track!
Technical talk: It's also been harder to blog recently with 'Blogger' and Internet Explorer 8. There is a glitch that has somehow killed the 'drag and drop' function -so moving photo's around as been quite time consuming. I can only do it by manipulating HTML it seems- unless I log into hubby's computer in the study (which can be a pain when my photo's are on the laptop and I have trouble "finding" them in the back room).
So, onto this 'picture post' which has been in the pipeline for at least two to three weeks as I mentioned before. I'll be in the studio tomorrow (& here at my blog) with the recipe of the week!
Postscript: Received my girls school photo's last Friday (end of school term) and read her end of term report. Her best subject: Food Technology -- phew!
Breakfast at The Sheraton
Sometimes my new mobile phone takes an awful, blurry photo and at other times it surprises me. It seems to have a mind of its own as far as lighting & focus goes (despite the settings). Anyway, all photo's you see in this post are mobile phone pics. The above photo was taken on my way to 'Four Points Sheraton' -a breakfast I was treated to in the company of several others. The Sheraton is only one minute up the road from this spot and I'm about 10 to 15mins away from home (depending on traffic). This was taken close to 8am.
Front of the dining area at the Sheraton.
Excuse the order of the photo's! This was where I parked my car. Some 'bollards' can be seen up ahead.. being famous 'Geelong' paintings on thick pole-things! Made to look like people.
Bircher Muesli - way too sweet for my tastes (not as good as the Bircher Muesli at Cradle Mountain Lodge, Tasmania)! Then there's some stewed fruit, being plum/pear/apricot (missing flavour) & some greek-style yoghurt with berries (too tart for me, bit of a disappointment).
The Sheraton has an 'egg station' where you get your eggs made to order. I saw a giant omlette being made right before my eyes & this was my 'Eggs Benedict' which was a toasted English muffin, wilted spinach (which I requested), smoked salmon, two poached eggs & Hollandaise sauce ladled all over. Very nice! I didn't specify how many eggs I wanted either. I was impressed with the quality of the smoked salmon here. Apparantly they also do fresh waffles at this station - you just have to ask. This was all part of the 'buffet breakfast'. Other things on offer include bacon, eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, sausages, fresh fruit etc..
At the coffee making station. For me, this was an inferior blend.
Walking back to my car I spotted a closed eatery with one, lone bottle of preserves sitting on a table.
Again, excuse the order of the photo's! This was my view at breakfast.
Alongside the Sheraton (walking back to my car).. is this place called 'Sailors Rest' (restaurant). See the bottom section of the building with tables/chairs? This is the room hubby & I had our small wedding reception lunch one Thursday afternoon on a sunny day in April, 2005.
Sounds like a hearty meal!
Across the road from Sailors Rest.. Cunningham Pier in view. Lots of wedding photo's taken around here (not ours - we were married at The Botanical Gardens).
Near my car, looking back at the Sheraton.Not overly fantastic - but you get what you pay for sometimes.
Making a spinach & ham quiche. This is the 'blind baked' crust using 3 sheets of packet-shortcrust-pastry.
Pre-cooked ham, spinach, spring onion and parsley mixture.
My wonderful Pillivuyt dish is huge. This made 12 slices & used 14 eggs!
Finished quiche. My oven bakes unevenly. With something this size, you can easily tell by the uneven browning (I should have moved it around during the browning process).
Two 'flash photography' quick-pics taken (in a room with little light) on my mobile at our small group - showing everyone's food offerings on my plate. Someone made porcupine meatballs, there was also a mixed salad, cold bbq chicken, corn on the cob & chipolata sausages wrapped in puff pastry. Afterwards (not pictured) there were some Hungarian pastries filled with a minced walnut mixture and dusted with icing sugar - yum!
When my girl saw this photo(she was at 'youth group' on the night) - she thought the quiche was a slice of pizza. We missed out on small group last Friday because of the 'Go Red For Women' charity event. It's nice to begin the small-group evenings with a sit-down meal together (not balancing it on our laps either) & it's always a 'surprise' re: what people will bring.Saturday, June 27, 2009
'Go Red For Women' charity event & God says "workout Maria!"....
Pics via hubby's mobile phone. Mine was accidentally left in the car & the room had very dim lighting!
Last night marked my 'return' to society (haha!) -after a week of being sick (..thanks family! -- they had it for two weeks before me, but I started improving after 5 to 6 days praise God)! Hubby's work involves coronary care so he was part of a fundraiser for the 'Go Red for Women' campaign - raising awareness about women's heart health. Last night's charity function raised money from ticket sales (only $10 each) and also a silent auction of donated items. We all enjoyed some hot finger food, so half the ticket proceeds went to the Heart Foundation. All up $2,500 was raised by a few hospital workers with some creativity, initiative and passion! They did a great job. Most people wore red on the night too.
You'll never guess, I now have a ONE YEAR 'Contours' gym membership!!! The package we successfully bid on includes the membership valued at over $700 and a $40 florist voucher. We paid $150 for it via the auction! Hubby (earlier in the evening) saw there was only 1 bid of $50 and grabbed the pen saying "Surely they need to get more for this prize than $50!" I was like "But if nobody else bids, then we need to pay $150!" We both agreed if that were the case, then it would be a very good deal. I was sure someone else would bid because the other prizes had multiple bidders. 'Contours' was the major sponsor of the night. Anyway.. God obviously wants me to go to the gym and do some strength training on this '29 minute' workout plan that 'Contours' promotes. I also have a gym bag, towel, drink bottle, lanyard & some personal 1-on-sessions and healthy eating thingy's and motivational sessions or something. Anyway, I must get ready now for the birthday party we're going to tonight. It's at a restaurant in town. Just had to share!

Last night's music, one guy and his guitar. He was pretty good.Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Maria's Swedish Meatballs
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the 20th anniversary concert of the most successful tribute band ever, "Bjorn Again". It was planned months ago via my work's social club. Each week I contributed $2 for me and $2 for hubby to be part of the club and it paid off because for around $50 outlay we received two tickets to the concert (worth around $65 each) + the return 'private hire' bus journey.
On our way to Melbourne - hubby and I had front row seats here
We first went out to dinner...but more on that another time, that will be a separate blog post! But seeing the ABBA tribute band inspired me to do something Swedish for my recipe of the week!
This pic was taken with my mobile phone after we were 'moved' to a spot closer to the stage, which was awesome. 'Bjorn Again' didn't disappoint. I've heard them on YouTube or on TV shows and not felt overly impressed with their sound. I understand that they don't use the same people to play the various Abba band members (ie. they alternate & take turns). The four we had in Melbourne were better than anything I've heard from Bjorn Again anywhere else. The 'blonde' was particularly wonderful, who was in character for the part of 'Agnetha'. Almost identical to the original voice -just beautiful. Brilliant music & lots of cheezy Swedish? accents & humour! Occasionally they deviated from Abba music too which was very entertaining.. like when the girls went to change costume once, the boys had some 'banter' then guitar solo's and sang Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer". Another example was when their song 'S.O.S.' also briefly deviated to 'Sending out an S.O.S.' by 'The Police' (Sting).Now the secret ingredient in my recipe this week is GINGERNUT biscuits!
Maria's Swedish Meatballs
Makes 25 meatballs (slightly larger than a golf ball) & Serves 4 to 6
In Bowl #1
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-800 grams of minced meat (Preferably half beef, half pork)
-1/2 finely chopped medium onion
-1/4 cup fresh chopped dill (or 1 heaped teaspoon dried dill)
-1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
-50 grams of Cranberry sauce from a jar (about 1 large, heaped tablespoonful)
-1/2 cup breadcrumbs
-2 teaspoons of powdered beef stock (I use Massels brand)
-1 teaspoon of salt
-Pepper (a few shakes to taste, I used white pepper)
In Bowl #2
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-1 large egg & 1/2 cup of milk whisked together, then add:
-1 packet crushed & ground Gingernut biscuits (IMPORTANT: before crushing biscuits take out 6 which are reserved for the gravy) - This will yield around 1.5 cups of biscuit crumbs, around 200grams. I bought Arnotts brand.
-500grams of good quality pasta - cooked to packet directions (I used Italian made 'radiator' shaped pasta, being 'radiatori' - paying homage to the Swedish Volvo as crazy as that sounds)!
-1/4 cup rice bran oil (or peanut oil) for frying meatballs
Gravy
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-1/2 chopped onion
-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or one level teaspoon dried)
-3 tablespoons plain flour
-2 tablespoons butter
-1 cup water
-2 cups room temperature skim milk
-1 tablespoon chicken stock
-100grams cranberry sauce
-3 tablespoons of light sour cream (I use Weight Watchers brand)
- 6 (remaining) Gingernut biscuits (ground)
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*Mix together all of Bowl #1 ingredients
*Add combined Bowl #2 ingredients to Bowl #1
*With wet hands, form meatballs slightly larger than golfballs (you should have approx 25)
*Refrigerate 60 minutes (I did it a run-out-of-time shortcut & put them in the freezer for around 25 mins!)
*Heat a non-stick pan & add rice bran or peanut oil
*Brown meatballs in two batches, set aside
*Meatballs won't be cooked all the way through, you'll finish the cooking process in the gravy
*Boil water & cook pasta as you prepare meatball gravy
Prepare Gravy:
*Leaving meatball juices in the pan, over medium heat add butter, cranberry sauce & onion - fry for two minutes
*Add flour & 'cook' stirring with a wooden spoon for a minute
*Add half the dill (1 tablespoon) & cup of water stirring briskly as sauce thickens
*Add cranberry sauce & chicken stock powder, keep stirring to incorporate into gravy
*Add milk, one cup at a time, gradually.. stirring, working out any lumps to thicken gravy
*Add remaining 6 ground Gingernut biscuits, keep stirring
*Simmer gravy for 5 minutes
*Add meatballs, carefully stir so all meatballs are coated in gravy, then cover with a lid or make a lid out of a sheet of aluminium foil as I do
*Simmer meatballs in gravy for another 5 minutes & add sourcream and remaining dill, stirring well with a wooden spoon, being careful to mix in well, in and around the meatballs without damaging them
*Cover meatballs again & simmer 10 to 15 minutes. 'Test' a meatball by removing one onto a plate and cutting it in half to see that it's cooked all the way through and not pink.
*Serve meatballs & gravy in bowls over drained pasta and top with a sprig of dill as a garnish. *Serve with a side salad (optional)
(Left) My girl pounding the Gingernuts with a meat tenderiser (Right) Two meats
(Left) Radiator "radiatori" pasta, paying homage to that other famous Swedish thing, the 'Volvo'


















