Monday, 9 March 2015

Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes

So it's been a while since I wrote a baking blog.

I've wanted to make something I haven't made before, but I just couldn't decide what I wanted to make.

Charlotte wanted me to make lemon drizzle cake, so I changed it and made it into cupcakes.

I've never made lemon drizzle cakes, nor have I ever tried a lemon cake, so totally unsure about how it should actually taste, it was time to bake.

This recipe should make 24 cupcakes 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius

You will need:

250 grams of unsalted butter at room temperture
400 grams of caster sugar 250 grams for batter, 150 grams for icing
3 eggs, lightly beaten
250 grams of self-raising flour
zest and juice of 3 lemons

Line cupcake tray with cases.

With an electric whisk, whisk the butter, 250g of the sugar, eggs, flour, zest of 2 lemons and juice from 1 lemon until just combined. Fill the cases two thirds full, then bake on a middle shelf for 30 minutes, until a skewer poked in comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Once slightly cooled, poke holes in the top of the cupcakes.  Pour remaining lemon juice over the remaining 150 grams of sugar and the zest of 1 lemon and spoon over the cakes.

These cupcakes are super sweet and not recommended if you are on a diet.

Enjoy!




Aussie Out
xo
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Sunday, 8 March 2015

Netflix Roulette



So a couple of days ago, I had decided that coffee was going to be the drink of the day.  That was a big mistake.  I used to drink coffee every day but have since switched to tea so a normal intake of coffee turned me into a slightly hyper kid that had been given red cordial and all the sugar in the world.

Fast forward to that night, and although I had calmed down a lot, apparently my mind didn't want to sleep.

So when I have trouble sleeping, I normally put on a movie or some music and can fall asleep to that.

So I formed a plan.

Open netflix, pick a genre, close my eyes and randomly pick something for me to watch.

So I chose musicals because music can put me to sleep.

Closed my eyes and picked something.


Well I would want to go to sleep so I wouldn't have to watch this.

Next thing I know, it's 3am, I have watched the whole thing, and I am slightly concerned for myself as I knew all the words to his songs and an awful lot of his dance moves which I cannot explain.

Have I unknowingly had a case of Bieber Fever?  

Definitely not.

Did I enjoy the movie?

I really did.

I've lost the plot!

Aussie Out
xo
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Friday, 6 March 2015

A piercing tale - 2

Happy Sweet Sixteen Sam!  Lets go get you pierced!

Back when I was sixteen, belly button piercings were the "in thing."

Everybody had one.  Now I am not one to follow trends but my sister had talked me into it.  She had it done and with reassurances of how it doesn't even hurt and how I can get pretty belly button rings, and not to mention be super cool.  I caved.

As I was only 16, I needed my Mums permission.  She was not onboard at all.  However she did the standard "ask your father" thinking that my Dad would be completely against a piece of steel going through the belly button of his little girl.  

However that plan didn't work out so well for her when my Dad was all for it.

So with my Mum reluctantly onboard, she agreed to come with me and my sister.  It was a week until my birthday so my Mum decided that she was going to try and get her friend who had her belly pierced to tell me her horror story of the jewellery being rejected by her body.

I wasn't giving up.  I had it in my head that I had to be the cool little sister and if I backed out after agreeing to get it done, I would be the lamest person in the world.

Mum then went with a different tactic.  "What about those boots you had your eye on.  I will buy you the boots if you don't do this."

I did love the boots but my reputation was at risk so I turned that sweet sweet offer down.

The afternoon of my birthday, My Mum, my sister and I all set off in the car to the piercing parlour.  As I mentioned before, I am terrified of needles, so I was seriously starting to freak out.  My Mum had hope that I would back out.

I picked out a pretty purple belly bar, learned about care and cleaning, and signed my fate.

My Mum refused to come in the room with me so my sister joined me to hold my hand (but really she just laughed at me.)

I was marked up.
Was told to lie down.
The clamp was put on.
I had to put my hands under my body so I wouldn't move.
And then I broke out in a stress rash.

It covered my chest, my arms, and was slowly making its way up to my face.  The lady noticed and tried to calm me down, but i told her that the only way I would calm down would be if she just did it.

The next thing I remember is my mother yelling from the waiting room.

"Sam think about it.  You can still get the boots."

I replied.

"Oh no I can't anymore."

It was done!

It didn't get infected and I was the only person in my group of friends to get it done.

It was the perfect thing.

Fast forward 7 years later and it finally got infected.  And not a little bit.  It wasn't pretty.  I ended up having to take it out and because it wasn't the "in" thing anymore, I left it out.

I now have an ugly scar on my belly button due to the infection, the regret that I didn't show off my piercing enough when I actually had it and boot envy because I never did get those boots.

First world problems

Aussie Out
xo



 
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Wednesday, 4 March 2015

A Work Of Art

You are sitting with your friend for 7+ years.

You get given a task.

If you are right handed use your left hand and if you are left handed, use your right.

Look at your friend.

Ready, set, DRAW!



Ok so the left is clearly me looking sassy and fab as I had curled my hair this day and decided that it was going to be a bright pink lipstick day.

On the left is Lucinda, with her eyelash coming from her eye, and her scarf that she knitted (because it's all about the details.)



As you can see from this picture taken the very same day, it's pretty spot on!

Don't worry, I wont quit my day job.

Aussie Out
xo
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Monday, 2 March 2015

The Haunted House



I just want to first point out that I am not crazy nor am I making any of this up.

Ok so it was quite a few years ago now, my Mum and I were looking for a new place to live because my brother got us thrown out of our old house (cheers for that bro.)

My friend was a real estate agent at the time so she said she would help us find a place for the two of us and our dog.

We had looked at a few places but they were either too small or too old.

Then one day we got a call from my friend that she found us a place and it was perfect for what we wanted.  So we hopped in the car and drove to the house.  It wasn't too far away from where we were staying and the rent was crazy cheap.  We could have the dog and because they were renovating the house, they didn't really care what we did to it.  It was strange however that the house was totally liveable, yet it was clear the owners had not been living in the house for some time.

But we didn't think too much about that and started packing ready to move in.

The first night it started.

I went to my room to go to sleep and my Mum did the same.  About 15 minutes after we had both gone to bed, we both heard a loud crash and then footsteps up the hallway.  However these footsteps sounded like someone was wearing big heavy boots.  My Mum yelled out at me asking what I was doing, and I yelled back telling her nothing I was trying to go to sleep but what was she doing.  She yelled back that she was also in bed.  Let the freak out begin.

We lived in this house for a year and in that year a lot of freaky stuff happened.  Things would fall over, the toilet seat would slam shut, my brother heard banging while he was using our shower but nobody was there, the vacuum cleaner would stop and start randomly, my Mum would see shadowed and lights in the hallway while she was in the lounge room.

They say that animals can see the dead, and I fully believe in this now as my dog would just randomly start barking at a corner of the room and jump up like there was someone there.  At first we thought he must be hearing something outside because it was by a window, but there never was.

Now the freakish thing that happened to me.  I was alone in the house as my Mum was at work.  I was sitting on the sofa with my dog asleep on my lap.  All of a sudden he woke up with a start and looked over at the window blinds.  The chord for the blind started swinging.  Now before anyone says anything, there was no breeze, the window was shut, all the doors were shut, there was no reason for this chord to swing.  However swing it did.  For a good 5 minutes, until it suddenly stopped.  It didn't just loose momentum and come to a stop.  It jolted to a stop.  I was terrified.  I called my Mum and she told me to take the dog and get out of the house for a while.

We started looking for a new place to live not much longer after that.

On moving day, our neighbours came up to us and instead of asking us why we were moving, said well done for lasting in that house for so long.  The owners of the house refused to stay in it.  They told us that one night while the man in the house was away for work, the woman ran to the neighbours saying strange things were happening in the house.  As they looked out the window, they saw the lights flicking on and off and shadows walking past the windows.

We then found out from the neighbours that there was an old lady that died in the house.  She died in my bedroom (which might explain why it was the coldest room in the house) and she would sit by the window and just stare (which could explain why my dog would jump up and bark at that window.)

Why this back story?

It's happening again.

I was in bed trying to get to sleep when I heard a creepy male voice whisper "hey."

Sounds stupid I know.  I told my housemates and didn't think much else about it.

A couple of nights later, trying to get to sleep, I heard the same voice whisper "girls."

After having a great laugh about us having a creepy ghost - and naming him Herb the perv - we didn't put much other thought into it.

However a couple of days ago, our stove top started sparking as if someone was trying to light the hobs.  But nobody was near it.  Might just be a malfunction.  Fine.

However the other day, I dropped my crochet needle on the floor.  I saw it fall, I heard it fall.  So I turned the light on to find it but it wasn't there.  Now my crochet hook is fluro green so it's not easy to miss.  Thinking that it might of somehow fallen behind my bed I told myself that I would find it the next day.

I have been cleaning and organising my room for  the past couple of days.  The great declutter of 2015.  But couldn't find my crochet hook anywhere.  So I went downstairs to get a drink of water, then headed back to my room.  When I walked back in, I saw my crochet hook in the middle of my bed.

Had Herb been up to new tricks?

Will he strike again?

Only time will tell!

Aussie Out
xo
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