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?
Lightly beating my eggs in a coffee mug!
See how my baking paper didn't go up over the edges? It doesn't matter.
It's perfectly normal (in this recipe) for the loaf to 'split' on top while cooking!
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).
Near my car, looking back at the Sheraton.
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.
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.
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).
This is essentially Bowl #2 with the whisked egg & milk and the gingernuts added. Once all mixed together it looks like ginger-coloured slop..nothing too pretty!
Can you see the files? Some of them are concealed by my head! Each file had photographic work that needed to be completed. That's my team leaders chair in the background (with a jacket over it). This work was completed in two weeks with me doing the bulk of it (I suspect?) because the TL has other responsibilities too. The three-drawer filing cabinet once had a 'Christmas tree' on top of it made out of sticky, blue plastic cylinders which were basically empty printing ribbon cartridges. Every time ribbons needed changing, the empty cylinders would be added to the ever-growing tree. At Easter time a temp. employee inserted mini Easter eggs into the cylinders which brightened up the 'blue-printing-cartridge-tree'. However in this pic there's no tree because after several years of living on top of the filing cabinet our TL got fed up with it and one day suddenly threw it in the bin! (Didn't quite fit, it was almost 3 feet high.. so it was kind of hanging out of the bin...broken in half as if thrown in there.. in an I-hate-Monday's rage or something)...
In my department we have a resident mega-sweet tooth with a constant lolly supply. Sometimes she'd share her surplus sugar and on this particular day I had a couple of pieces of King-Size Toblerone deposited on my desk. When i started working there I was given 3 deposits of Christmas red & green M&M's one day... and at Easter time.. chocolate eggs appeared at various times too from more than one source.
We discovered our city Medicare office now has a 'take a number' waiting system and some chairs to sit on. My girl didn't have a seat and was getting sick of waiting!
April 7th - our wedding anniversary. Hubby and I met (after work) at Lord of the Isles for a meal. An upmarket pub bistro that renovates a lot? We had a 'buy 1, get 1 free' Entertainment book coupon. It was the first time I'd been to this place and I'd only heard good reviews about it. Our experience wasn't so good.. & I don't think I'd go back. The photo above happens to be our shared 'Oyster Shooters' starter. They had far too much olive oil in them, it was like drinking shot-glasses of oil.
Hubby's dessert, a lemon/lime tart from memory. My main was a seafood caesar salad which had about a jar and a half of anchovies..just way too many -and that wasn't the only salty thing about it. Our side dish of 'stir-fried greens' were burnt (the oil I mean.. after the dish was initially forgotten about and we needed to prompt them about it). The food wasn't the only 'no likey' thing.. hence why I didn't do a post about this dining experience in April!
I was adamant that I wouldn't try McDonalds new iced coffee's as they're around $4?! I resisted for weeks.. but eventually caved one day when I was craving icy cold flavoured milk (that's how I like my flavoured milk). Too many ice cubes in this.. and nothing special at all. An iced coffee from the supermarket would have been better. Like Big M.
Taking home flowers after work. Hubby had sent them for our anniversary.
Hubby at his parents place on his Dad's 'walker' - which doubles as a seat. He's looking at his glasses case. He was recently prescribed glasses for the first time and needs them for reading/writing or using the computer (when he remembers).
Our 'cat enclosure'. Hubby & his best friend (over a number of weeks) 'sealed' it up so neighbourhood cats can't come in and our kitty can't get out. She has a ramp (above) and a viewing platform where she can observe the neighbours driveway and the street. She's had fights with other cats through the lattice work. Whenever other cats come and 'visit' her and scale the lattice work (Spiderman-style), she apparantly lunges at them. I haven't seen her do it but hubby has. I've only heard the screams & wailing..and not seen her 'in action' yet. She's affectionate & attention seeking whenever I go out there.
There's our 'ginger blob' Phoebe.. playing ball with my girl. Her other nickname is 'Kitty Mumu" (as in moo-moo).
Reflections in a capuccino machine in a Japanese takeaway joint. And I've never ordered cappucino there & I don't think I'll be going back. The two lovely Japanese girls that worked there have disappeared and now there is a language barrier because the new staff (including the boss) don't speak a word of English. I can't ask questions about the sushi or ask for what I want.. and sometimes pointing at a menu isn't enough.. so yeah.. Ta-Tah. It used to be the friendliest sushi joint in town, with good fresh hand rolls & lunch packs. 'Friendliness' and 'Japanese food' have never co-existed in my local area.. curiously/sadly. 
My girl and I made a train-trip to Melbourne late April to meet-up with some visitors from Germany -who we knew 'kind of' through 'You Tube,. Here they are (squatting for photo-zooming opportunities), mother & son at Eureka Skydeck 88 -with Melbourne in the background. Thank goodness for Entertainment Book coupons because we had a 'Buy 1 ticket, get 1 free' here and also at the (yawwwwwn) Melbourne Aquarium which was $33.50 for one adult entry! After being to 'Underwater World' on the Sunshine Coast in Qld multiple times and Seaworld and other semi-tropical tourist places.. for me, Melb. Aquarium just does not compare. We would have loved 'The Edge' experience at Skydeck, but for that we would have been given a pager.. and buzzed when it was our turn (a 2.5 hour wait that day + it cost extra).
My last hairdresser trip.. for a trim.
I love this little shop. It has some 'Blood Orange' body butter I'd love to get one day.. It also has candles and wallets and all sorts of pretty things I can't afford. I really liked the luggage in the window too. The large suitcase was over $600.
This beach walk happened on April 7th (my wedding anniversary). I hadn't done any decent walking since Cradle Mountain 3 weeks prior. I drove here straight from work after getting changed. I felt a bit 'alone' as I was used to walking here with my family. A storm was brewing and I climbed up a bit of a sand dune to take this pic. That was the last time I did a beach hike. I so miss being "in the groove". I parked my car at Barwon Heads and tried to walk to Ocean Grove & back as we usually do, but only made it half way... the wind and rain partially influenced my return.
And lastly, the 'Melbourne Cup Lady Bug' hat. Or at least that's what I called it in my mind. It was near the 'nice suitcases' shop and we were in there window shopping for my girl. This hat had been heavily reduced in price (you can see the price tag below).. to $35. Hubby really wanted me to go back and buy it the following week but I didn't. The owner of this shop (as well as having milliner skills & handmaking the Lady Bug hat) also collects Marilyn Monroe memorabilia.. so it's everywhere! (But not for sale). Can you see (above) the 'shop lady' watching me? She was hoping desperately (I think) to make a sale.
My girl thought this hat was the funniest thing EVAH!
Since I've been enjoying some good bread recently and reminiscing about baguettes and buns that I've eaten (see last post) - I thought it would be great to revisit the bagels hubby and I 
For weeks I have been hoarding a tin of unsweetened chestnut puree in the pantry. I had planned the purchase of it for many months. The $8-ish price tag put me off, but I knew that one day I'd buy it, try it and blog about it! It's from France (as you'll see in the photo's below) and you can find it in most supermarkets now near other imported foods. I found my tin near little jars of Italian tapenade & pesto and dried, handmade pasta (but not in the pasta aisle).. actually it was near the fruit and veg!
I had almost zero crumbs on the presentation plates. Normally with cakes I need to wipe away crumbs to take photo's, but this was too easy, being an 'almost flourless' cake. No nuts (ie. almond meal) either. It's like a surprise/miracle cake.. you wonder how it will hold together, but it does, as you can see in the photo's.
