We'll Always Have Rock Cakes.

 

 

When it comes to making scones, I'm a bit of a dunce. I just can't help overdoing things. I over knead the dough, I over flour each time I cut out my scone discs and I aways go overboard with the addition of dried fruit. I've always been a bit envious of my fiends at work who effortlessly turn out perfect batches of scones before work which they then share with the rest of us for morning tea, complete with a pot of jam and a tub of cream on the side.

 

This morning, my mum needed to bring something in for morning tea at her work. We needed something quick that would be perfect with a cup of mid morning tea. I didn't want to chance it with my scones, so I decided to have a go at another classic Australian baked good, the rock cake.

Mix and Melt Rock Cakes (from Best Recipes)

 

To make 2 dozen cakes, you will need:

 

2 cups SR flour, sifted

2/3 cup sugar

125g margarine or butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sultanas (I made up the total with chopped glacé cherries and slivered almonds)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs, lightly beaten

 

 

Method:

1. Place sugar and flour into a large mixing bowl
2. Add remaining dry ingredients. Mix slightly.
3. Make a well in the centre of the mix and add the butter, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
4. Spoon tablespoon fulls onto lined baking trays. I topped mine with sugar before baking.
5. Bake at 180C for 12-15 minutes.

 

They were so quick to make and what's not to love about the melt and mix, one bowl and a wooden spoon technique? The prep work was done before my morning mug of Moccona even had a chance to cool down.

There's also something very satisfying about seeing a batch of biscuits waiting to be baked first thing on a Wednesday morning.

 

 

Even Baby SSG took a moment out of his morning giggle and babble session to take a closer look.

 

 

Mum loved them and I've just had one for afternoon tea. This recipe makes a very crumby textured rock cake. Whilst other versions feature cinnamon and other spices, I much prefer the simple, homely taste of vanilla essence alone. The glacé cherries and slivered almonds worked well.

 

You know what? Perhaps I don't need to fret about refining my scone making technique. I've got rock cakes instead.

 

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A Mug of Tea. Breakfasts.

 

Have you ever had one of those days where, if you could, you'd put the kettle on and make a large mug of tea for google and the internet in general? Because it must be such hard and draining work, neither of them would have time to scratch themselves, let alone scrabble around for a tea bag in the office tea room.

 

Well, I made that mug of tea today and drank it on their behalf.

 

Perhaps I should elaborate. This morning, my iPhone developed the dreaded black screen of death. It suddenly refused to turn on and nothing I did to it could get rid of that blank screen of blackness. These things happen always happen at the worst possible time, don't they? My mind went into overdrive as the implications of my dead phone crossed my mind. Months of baby photos gone, being uncontactable the day after I'd left messages for friends to call me, the thought of having to visit an Apple store with a pram and baby in tow....

 

And just when my head was threatening to explode, google calmly stepped in to save my day and my phone. It turns out the sure fire way to fix 'black screen' is to press both the power switch on the top right corner of the phone and the circular master button on the front for a full 10 seconds. The white apple icon should then appear on screen and you're back in business.

 

In even more dramatic (!!) news, there's been a slight change to my breakfast lineup. I'm taking a break from Weetbix with my yoghurt and having BelVita breakfast biscuits instead. Goodbye, soggy wheaty stuff that doesn't always get enough yoghurt on it and hello crisp biscuits that I dip into my yoghurt instead. I've tried the cranberry and fig varieties of BelVita so far and of the two, fig is my favourite.

 

And so another day in Perth has come and gone. The endless blue sky over the river, the space and the easygoing speed at which my little corner of the city strolls at are so very calming, it's going to be hard to snap back into Sydney speed. Thank goodness I've go a few more weeks here.

 

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And Then There Were Cronuts.....

I don't know where I'd be without my daily fix of the Mail Online. Whether it's celebrity gossip, the low down on retail trends in the UK or even.... major world news (listed in order of priority, of course) - you can count on the Mail to tell it like how they think it should be.

www.thrillist.com

The highlight of today's issue would have to be these visions of butter pastry and cream. Trademarked already, cronuts are taking New York City by storm. You can get the low down here.

marivelous.me

A hybrid doughnut / croissant, cronuts consist of layers of croissant like pastry shaped into a donut, fried and then filled with layers of vanilla cream. The finishing touch is a dusting of rose petals. It's only a matter if the before we see a version of these in Australia, I reckon. Or else, I've just found the perfect reason to head back to New York.

 

 

 

In baking adventures on domestic soil, my rediscovery of retrotastic cooking appliances in my mum's kitchen continues. I dusted off mum's Kenwood mixer from the seventies yesterday. It's onto it's second motor but is still a demon at creaming sugar with butter. It's funny how present day KitchenAid mixers look more old school than this Kenwood model. Perhaps its because baking these days is a pursuit we tend to associate with the 'simpler', more certain times of the past and appliance designers see fit to perpetuate this notion.

 

Is this limited edition tomato and sweet chilli sauce the best thing since sliced bread (but before cronuts)? Quite possibly. I'll have to stock up when I get back to Sydney.

 

 

There is a little bit of Paris in Perth, after all. The search for today's mid morning skinny cap took me to the other end of the suburb where I found Barrett's Bakery, another one of those local institutions from my pre Sydney life. Famed for their bread, I did what the French often do and got myself a freshly baked baguette to take home for lunch.

www.facebook.com

Fellow Offspring fans, our moment has come. Season four starts on Channel Ten this week. My plan is to hoard the next few episodes on my iQ and have a marathon session of back to back episodes on one of those cold and wet wintry Sundays I know are coming our way. So I guess I'll be giving Twitter a wide berth in case I read a spoiler by mistake.

 

 

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The Forty Year Old Slow Cooker. A Day Without Chai.

 

 

 

What's not to love about a kitchen appliance that's still going strong in its forties?

Meet my mum's retrotastic Sanyo Slow Cooker. It's got all the features I love most about appliances from that era. That orange heating unit, the brown enamelled cooking bowl, the fabric coats power cord, even the font on the heat dial. Mum's slow cooker has survived three children and three house moves. Despite the signs of wear on the outside, the glassware is without a single crack or chip - which is more than I can say for my five year old model.

 

Mum unearthed the slow cooker this morning when we decided that it was perfect weather for chicken soup. As she got to work giving it a clean, I chopped the ingredients for our soup. It was just like the old days when I lived at home and would give mum a hand in the kitchen to prepare dinner after she'd come in from a long day at work.

Speaking of long days, I had a dire situation in the pantry earlier this week. A lone T2 Chai teabag with a whole day ahead of me. I usually have two (or more) mugs a day and the thought of being reduced to a single drink was almost enough to make me cancel the rest of the day. I've only recently discovered chai and I think I'm making up for lost time. I like the smoky, heady warmth in its taste. It has more soul than the black teas I usually drink yet it's more subtle with its flavours than coffee.

 

 

It was a long Thursday without my chai but today we were brought back together in spectacular fashion. I wasn't taking any chances with running out again during this stay in Perth so I bought a tin of 60 tea bags just in case.

 

 

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The Budget. Mothers Days.

 

Well ahoy there! It's felt like ages since I've last posted.

 

I've been on strict rations with my mobile data allowance these last few days which explains my absence from the blog. Too much fancy wifi-ing via my mobile phone by the looks of things. Fortunately, I'm now a day and a half out from the start of a new billing cycle with megabytes to fritter away so let's do this.

 

How have you all been? Besides waiting for the Federal Budget, I mean. The projected deficit is currently some crazy number - around $20 billion?! Then again, that was from today's paper. Who knows what it will be by the time I finish this post. Whatever the case, it looks like Mr Swan and Co. are feeling even less love for me than they did in the last budget (if that's even possible).

 

 

With that in mind, I've been applying myself to the art of austerity. As exemplified by my bottle of J&J baby oil. It was my go to makeup remover back in my student days and by jingo, it still works a treat in everything. Even those hardcore mascaras that practically renovate you entire lash line with the flick of a wand.

 

Does Pantene count as pinching pennies? It's all relative I guess. I've noticed that the supermarkets are now stocking spendy hair care these days so under $5 a bottle for Pantene looks frugal in comparison. I've mixed things up by trying the Nature Fusion conditioner with my old faithful Aqua Light shampoo. The Nature Fusion range has a lovely honey scent.

 

It's been Mothers Days for me this week. I'm blessed to have so many strong, generous and inspiring mothers in my life. So many that it has taken me most of this week to catch up with them all.

 

It's not a family lunch at my Aunty's unless her made from scratch spring rolls are on as entree.

 

Mothers Day proper was at my Aunty's house. We had a steam boat lunch on the back verandah, surrounded by my uncle's amazing citrus trees and herb garden. The next day, Baby SSG and I were guests of honour at a 'ladies lunch' at my parents' house. Many of the ladies present were the women who shaped my childhood with that blend of straight talking (delivered with tablespoons of love) and delicious home cooked food that you don't realise how much you miss and treasure until you're given it all again as an adult woman and new(ish) mother of one.

 

I've also caught up with my beautiful friends from uni and school who've barely changed except for their uncanny ability to maintain the thread of a conversion through squeals, tumbles and urgent requests for their attention from the children who've brought so much joy and contentment to their lives. Yes, we're all just a little different from our glory days at uni and then when we were flush with the freedom our first pay cheques from work bought us.

 

 

 

Speaking of mothers, I entered a new phase of my own fledgling motherhood today. I started Baby SSG on solids. It was a pretty smooth introduction actually. Baby SSG took to the concept of a spoon and organic baby rice like a discerning foodie. He's obviously got his parents' food loving genes. Barely a mess was made as those spoonfuls made it into his mouth and stayed put. I am told though, that the real fun begins when those curious, constantly moving hands decide to do the feeding for themselves.

 

 

 

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