This buttercream is to die for ...

So this morning I went into Poppy Cakes at The Emporium in Fortitude Valley and bought myself two cupcakes for sampling ...

I got myself a Chocolate with Chocolate Butter-cream and a Red Velvet with Vanilla Butter-cream, and the butter-cream on both (especially the chocolate) is to die for!

How did they get their butter-cream so soft? It's so creamy and dreamy - when it gets to room temperature it almost gets to the point of melting. Delicious! I must get myself a good butter-cream recipe (if anyone knows one, please direct me!).

The cupcakes themselves are quite nice - the cake is more "homely" than most commercial cupcakes I have tasted - but I have to say, I am a firm believer that a Red Velvet cake should have cream-cheese icing instead of butter-cream. There's something about cream-cheese icing that sets off a Red Velvet cake perfectly! However, in regards to the Red Velvet cupcake from Poppy Cakes, the butter-cream is that good I can forgive it for not being cream-cheese this time around.

Future dates at Poppy Cakes will be saved for the Chocolate with Chocolate Butter-cream cakes ... oh my goodness, heaven in a paper tray! They also have Chocolate with Passionfruit Butter-cream ... and I must get back there and try one! Hmmm, I wonder if they will let me buy some butter-cream on its own???

www.poppycakes.com.au

Photos courtesy of: www.poppycakes.com.au

Someone needs to eat a stick of butter wrapped in a waffle ...

And unfortunately that someone is LC.

Now I am not one to usually pick on what "celebrities" look like - I leave that to our friends at GoFugYourself - and I definitely don't usually talk about their weight (seeing as I too have have had problems in the past with being overly skinny), however I came across a picture of Lauren Conrad on HillsFreak blog this morning, and Lauren is not looking like her usual chipper and bright self.

She looks like she needs a good holiday and sleep and I believe she also should probably come to The Emporium with me and pig out on French custard-filled-and-sugar-coated donuts and fancy cupcakes, and have a big glass of milk (or eat a stick of butter wrapped in a waffle - I'd help her with that too).

As I've said before, I love The Hills, and I love Lauren Conrad, so I really hope that Lauren gets to enjoy some cupcakes and get a nice, long sleep soon.

Images courtesy of tlfan & HillsFreak

I think my cat is channelling Tila Tequila.

He sleeps in sinks for Pete's sake!

Let me introduce to you, my 6 month old Bengal x Himalayan kitten, Gizmo. He's the most insanely crazy, bizzare and weirdo cat I have ever known!

Now, for those that know me, they will already be aware of the fact that I have a love/hate relationship with Gizmo. In fact, my nickname for him is Spawn-of-Satan.

Yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking; "He's so cute!". Don't let his little amber eyes fool you into anything. He's been sent from the depths of Hades to unleash evilness upon my house. Someone upstairs, or below, is laughing at me.

So, "what does he do to be so evil?" I hear you ask. How about a list:

1. He destroyed my Christmas Tree! I had a beautiful masterpiece standing in my lounge room after hours of intensive labor, then just merely hours after that Gizmo had undone the beauty, made the Christmas Tree his new sleeping quarters, and destroyed lots of ornaments.
2. He pee'd in the car and flicked it all over me! I had to take him to the vet for his vaccinations and on the 2 minute car trip he pee'd in his cat cage and proceeded to flick pee everywhere all over our good car, my brand new leather jacket and himself, while simultaneously screaming at me. I went from being in a really chipper mood to being as dark as the Hades where he came from in the matter of seconds. Pure evil.
3. He jumps on your face when you sleep. And thinks it's hilarious.
4. He screams (miaows) non-stop. And not in that "cute" kitten way.
5. He has destroyed the underneath of our sofa. Thank goodness it's the underneath side ... thankfully he has left the couch well enough alone. I shall go and give him a kiss for this later.
6. He jumps on the kitchen benches, even though he's NOT allowed to. So naughty.
7. He climbs into the toilet. He has a fixation with anything water, due to his Bengal nature (Bengals apparently love water). Because he loves water he regularly sleeps in the bath, and now as I have discovered, he loves to sleep in sinks. The bathroom sink seems to be his favourite followed by the laundry. He has tried the kitchen sink a few times, but that gets welcomed by a lot of yelling on my part. Bathroom and laundry are not ideal, but I can overlook it - kitchen is a definite no-no! Toilet is an even bigger no-no. I have to keep all toilet lids down at all times. I fear what he'll do if he is left alone all day at home with an open toilet. Oh god. Help me now!
   
8. There's probably more, but to be honest, my brain just locks it all away cos if I remembered it all, I'd go insane.

However, regardless of his evilness, he still has a good side, and that's the fact that he and my lovely Luna are best friends.

We got Gizmo after our first cat, Ginny, died suddenly (poor Ginnykins, but that's another story). Luna and Ginny had grown up as kitten and puppy together, so Luna missed Ginny a lot, and it became apparent very quickly, that Luna was not the type of dog that could be on her own after losing her friend. Luna and Gizmo bonded very quickly, and they love each other and play together and keep each other happy. I'd go as far to say that Gizmo's relationship with Luna is probably more friendly than it was with Ginny. Gizmo sleeps with Luna and everything.

It's funny because when I think about it Luna is my Angel, and Gizmo is my Devil. I think I was meant to have both. They balance each other out perfectly, and I wouldn't have it any other way (but you may want to ask me that next time you hear me screaming at the cat). And I do have to admit, Gizmo is a very gorgeous cat - and he's funny. Even though I do yell at him quite a bit, he also makes me laugh (case in point - discovering him asleep in the sink yesterday).

Cute but evil. There's a combination that you probably never thought you'd hear. Enjoy the photos:

My Christmas Tree before (looking all beautiful):
And after Gizmo destroyed it:

Kitty in my sock draw, and I wanna touch it:
My babies:

OMG. I have a problem.

Chuck Bass is in my head, and he won't leave!

Not that I think this is necessarily a bad thing! He is extremely sexy ... in his lude and crude way.

However, after watching the rest of Season 2 of Gossip Girl last night, I have well and truly fallen in love with Mister Bass. Who would have thought that the guy who isn't the pin-up boy could get me so hot under the collar? I believe Nate was supposed to be the character that the viewers (ok, girls) were supposed to fall in love with, and Dan was supposed to be Seth Cohen 2.0, but it seems that Chuck is the one that has every girl drooling into her pillow.

And I love it. I do not, however, love having to wait for Season 3 to come out. Ed Westwick should be made to work all year round so I have enough Chuck-ness to keep me happy forever.

Photo courtsey of: Not sure where this photo of Ed Westwick originates from, but whoever took it, thank you!

Guess what?!

I have more canned chicken!

Don't be afraid, or repulsed! This needs to be viewed as an adventure!

This time, I have purchased two cans: Springwater & Sea Salt and Natural Smoke. I believe that these two flavours will confirm whether or not canned chicken actually tastes good. Yes, my can of Tomato & Onion was rather appetising, however this time around I must assess the taste of the chicken itself!

I had to laugh when I was going through the checkout at Woolworths yesterday. The checkout boy stopped when he got to the canned chicken and asked me if it was any good. Like everyone else (including me), he thought the concept was rather revolting. I pointed out that the concept of canned fish and seafood is probably more revolting than chicken, to which he agreed. I think now, because of me he's going to try some (although he may wait until next week to hear my feedback at my next shopping trip).

I haven't tasted either flavour yet, I need to wait until I am hungry. I have enjoyed eating French sugar-sprinkled-chocolate-custard-filled donuts, hot chocolate and expensive cupcakes at The Emporium this morning, so I am not in the mood for chicken at the moment.

When I do gather the strength and hunger to try it, I will let you all know!

My neighbours are ferals ...

... Ferals that just make me want to scream and act like a bogan on my driveway.

But I won't. I refuse to allow myself to stoop to the level of bogans (I am NOT a bogan) and run out onto the driveway and yell at them to "SHUT THE EFF UP!". I probably would have received a round of applause from my fellow neighbours in pain, but I just can't turn on the bogan switch - I can think it, but I just can't act it out!

Seriously though, they are grating on my nerves, A LOT. Here's a list of things they do:

1. Constantly talk loudly. From what I can tell there are four guys living in one unit together. They are always talking to each other (which is bizarre in itself, cos never in my life have I come across men that can talk so much, let alone to other men), but when I say talk, they actually YELL. They yell at each other and they're standing beside eachother. They do this constantly for HOURS on end (yesterday it was for 12 hours straight), and to all hours of the morning - on weekends and weeknights.
   
2. Cough up phlegm / spew LOUDLY. You know how old people who just don't care about anyone do this - well my neighbours do this, extremely loudly. One of them was doing this this morning for 5 minutes. I was enjoying my $4 Emporium cupcake when this happened. Needless to say that cupcake ended up tasting like cardboard. Disgusting (the phlegm, not the cupcake).
3. Look into my house. I HATE this. Seriously, get your OWN house.
   
4. STARE at me. So creepy, so gross. I am married, and I will NOT be talking to you at all. I swear I have heard them say "the girl next door". Ewww, no!

Yes, they are grating on my nerves like you wouldn't believe. They aren't neighbours in my block of townhouses; but in the block of flats next door. When they finally shut up last night and there was blissful silence, I couldn't enjoy it due to the ringing in my ears. Yes, they had been yelling for so long, I think I was experiencing the buzzing in the ears that you get from standing next to speakers at a concert.

Someone needs to teach these boys some manners! Stat! They're that bad even Luna barks at them ... she's just started barking right this minute and scared the bejeebus out of me. I guess she's had enough too!

Just have to say ...

... that Tila Tequila is a WHOLE punnet of strawberries short of a fruit salad.

Could that girl get any more whacked out? I'd like to say she's harmless, but at the same time, I don't think I can. She seems to like animals though, which is a good thing, but again, I kinda want to save her dog from her. I love dogs. And hers is such a cute dog. I just hope that amidst her crazy life and fame-whoring she actually gives that dog all the love and affection he needs.

This post from The Superficial just about made me wet my pants. "Just let me mourn in peace. In this tree. With my tits out". Hilarious ... and Tila, seriously!

Anyhow, she's definitely something short of something, and I think now is my cue to go to sleep, or perhaps go watch one episode of Gossip Girl ...

I have an addiction ... to Gossip ...

... Gossip Girl, that is.

I got into Gossip Girl when it first aired in the states, however I got half way through watching season 2 when it aired and then I missed the rest.

So part of my Christmas presents for 2009 was Gossip Girl seasons 1 and 2.


I am totally in love with it. I have a girl crush on Serena (could that girl and her clothes get any hotter?), Blair is the ultimate bitch and Chuck, well I love a bad boy. Nate is becoming more appealing too (but that could be because I recently discovered this weird thing for his look alike Zac Efron - which after this post, we will never mention again!). Still, Chuck is my number one. He's so slimy and disgusting, it's sexy.

Anyhow, I am only half way through season 2, and I don't know what happens nor do I know what happens in season 3 ... so please don't pull a Blair and spoil it!

Ta.

Canned chicken ... spew-tastic or yum?

Ok, so there's this new "phenomenon" in Australia and it's known as Heinz Canned Chicken.

Alright, it's hardly a phenomenon - I'd actually go as far to say it's more of an eek-omenon. A lot of people I have chatted to about canned chicken have all been quite revolted by the idea.

While I too was initially revolted by the idea of chicken in a can, the other day I found myself pondering about what it actually tasted like and whether or not it's actually any good. Apparently it's been a part of everyday USA life for some time now, and I am a fan of canned salmon and tuna and eat these regularly. I also really like canned sardines and I also have a thing for canned smoked oysters. I thought to myself, if I could love canned seafood so much (and when you think about the concept of canned seafood, it sounds far worse than the concept of canned chicken!), then surely I can bring myself to try the canned chicken.

So a couple of nights ago I found myself standing in Coles (I would have preferred to be in Woolworths, but you know, it meant more driving - Coles was closer), staring at a wall of Heinz Canned Chicken.

It comes in heaps of flavours; smoked chicken, mayo, tomato & onion, red curry, mustard mayo ... and more I can't remember, but like the tuna before it, it's there waiting, ready for you to eat it.

And so I bought a can. I ended up with tomato & onion - I did actually mean to buy just the plain smoked chicken, however I picked the tomato & onion up by mistake. Anyhow, I still opened it up and I tasted it. And I have to admit, it tasted good. I couldn't fault it. It was pretty much the same as canned tuna, except of course the texture was different (the chicken comes shredded by the way), and it didn't have the much hated fishy smell. The side of the can makes for some amusing reading (apparently there may be traces of fish in the product - mmm, maybe that's why it reminded me of tuna so much?); but once you get past that the actual taste is decent and it makes for a good snack.


Will I buy it again? Most likely - just like tuna it is a good pantry filler. However I have to try the plain "flavour" before I go out and buy too much ... it could be possible that the tomato & onion masked the real taste, so I must get myself the "original" chicken. When I try that I will post and update you all.

Until then, happy chickening!

More books ... they keep on breeding!

More books! Like I don't have enough to read already!

I have recently added to my list Marley & Me by John Grogan and LA Candy by Lauren Conrad.


Marley & Me has been on my list of books to buy for a while now, and I managed to score a copy on ebay for $6 including postage! My new year miracle! Don't know how I got it for that price considering the other auctions were going for nearly the recommended retail price. Yes, it's second hand, but I don't sniff at second hand books - there's something about a dog-eared book that makes it even more appealing. I believe books are soulful as it is, but a second hand book not only has soul about it, it has history!


LA Candy has come to me from the lovely Melissa (thanks Mel! I got rather excited with it arrived in the mail!)... she has kindly lent it to me to read while we await the new Lauren Conrad book. I'll admit it now, I LOVE The Hills. Yes I know. I don't know why I love it, but it's that kind of trashy TV that just sucks me right on in. To be honest, I don't even know what I love about it - it's hardly ground breaking and it's just about a bunch of girls bitch fighting and dating guys that aren't good for them at all, and it's shallow, but it makes for happy couch lazing. I like to do that ... couch lazing with good (or trashy, depending on how you see it) TV, chocolate, raspberries and cheese is awesome. Anyhow, Melissa assures me LA Candy is a good read - I believe it will be ridiculous and everything that The Hills is, and I know, just like her, I am going to read it cover to cover. And I am going to love it. And then I am going to go and buy her new book ... and contribute to her probably already overflowing bank account that she has from pretty much doing nothing but bitching about people on TV.

Better get reading! Funny that I am going to probably read the 2 newest books in my collection before anything else gets read ... always the way!

Macarons ... how I love thee.

As I have mentioned, I love to cook ... and by that I mean I love to bake.


For some reason I have this uncanny ability to cook with egg white. My mother and her sister are naturally fantastic cooks (and two people that keep me forever wanting to improve - hopefully my cooking skills will get to their level one day), however for some reason neither of them can work with egg white.

Both try and fail working with egg white, most notably pavlova. Yes, they can make them, but I have this bizarre ability to turn a pavlova into the most marshmallowey thing you have ever tasted. I don't know how I do it, but I do. Egg whites and me are like this: X.

And for some reason my bizarre ability to work with egg white crosses over to the world of macarons. I have only made them 3 times in my life from Nigella Lawson's Domestic Goddess recipes and they always work and always taste spot on and have the right texture. Ok, I admit, I have only had frilly feet two out of the three times, but the time I didn't get frilly feet was when I made the chocolate macarons photographed, just after New Year's day and the weather was unbearably humid and hot (it was also my first time working with chocolate macarons). Frilly feet aside, I find it odd that I can make macarons without much hassle when chefs and cooks all over the world preach that they're the hardest biscuit to make.

To be honest, I think they're all just making a sponge cake out of a little egg white ... I think failures with egg white come from being afraid of failure. I also think lots of cooks and chefs treat egg white with too much care. I just stick my egg white in my Sunbeam Mix Master and beat it. Yes, I do that to my macarons. And while there are probably cooks and chefs out there would probably faint and die upon hearing this, to them I say "meh".

They taste good and that's all that matters! However, my piping abilities leave much to be desired and I am hoping that the below contraption from Chalet (oh, how I love Chalet) will help rectify my poor piping skills (it definitely saves on batter wastage ... I make the biggest mess with piping bags!). I am dying to make perfectly round macarons!

Behold, at the wonder that is my Chalet "I Did it Myself" Decoration Set:

Those things called resolutions ...

So slack ...


Ok, so here I am, blogging the last 14 days ... or really what was the most eventful of my 14 days - which to be honest probably isn't that much!

I am going to go day by day and do multiple entries, as I prefer to read tidbits over large, massive posts ... I like to skim ... I also like to look at photos! So here goes!

Well, since my last "real" post New Year's has come and gone (New Year's eve was not eventful at all, unfortunately!), and yes, I have made some New Year's resolutions. This year I have chosen things that I want to stick to, because they will have a good outcome!

1. Must save money. By that I mean I can't buy shoes, clothes or make-up willy-nilly like I have been. Yeah, I know. Heart breaking.
2. Must book holiday to Canada and the USA. Vancouver, New York, Houston, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA and (hopefully) a trip back to Hawai'i is on the agenda and hence why resolution number 1 has been made. A shopping ban is made much easier when you promise yourself the reward of shopping in the USA (I get dizzy thinking about it!).
3. Get fit/eat more healthy (and don't eat unhealthy food at work). I dont' think I need to elaborate - it's the same resolution 40 million other people have made this year and every year before that! But I must stop eating the food I have been during working hours. Not good.
   
4. Read more books! I admit, that since my first post I actually haven't read ... haven't had time!
5. Cook more from my cooking books and magazines. I LOVE to cook (I am a keen baker), and I also LOVE cooking books and magazines. I pour over the pages, the photos, the ingredients, yet I hardly ever cook from my collection. Must cook more, and be more adventurous (well, it's not me that isn't adventurous with food - my husband, D, well he's a bit of a picky bugger - little does he know that's all going to change!).
6. Go to a raging New Year's Eve party. Because all other New Year's Eve's over the past decade were rather dull. Must change that!
   

So yes, there are some resolutions for the year ... and hopefully I can stick to them (I have a feeling that number 6 may just be the hardest to do!). I have already promised D that the pair of sandals I bought from Sportsgirl last Sunday was the last pair of shoes I will buy until we go on our holiday in September.

I regretted saying that the second it left my mouth. No shoes for 9 months? I am going to die!

New Year's catch ups ...

Ok, so I have been slack.

It's been 13 days since my last blog entry ... so I am about to update you all with about a million and one entries ... I have things to post (including my adventures with canned-chicken as requested), I just haven't posted them!

So, stay tuned ... in the meantime here's a photo that I took the other day of my bat-shit-crazy kitten, Gizmo. Think he's a tad hungry? Bless.