cake and the doctor

This weekend I finally had a good, albeit nerdy, reason to have another crack at that Blackforest cake I've unsuccessfully made several times before - the Dr Who Season Finale - the perfect excuse to watch telly and eat cake! We had a little get together for it at our lovely friends' place and their dog, Motown, slept through Doctor Who but perked up enormously for a walk down the wonderfully named Storey Street to chase dogs and sniff random mushrooms. 

If you want to give it a crack, here is the recipe I used. I adapted it to 3 layers in the end because 10 was just becoming insanely out of control - and this cake had to be bus transportable, but don't worry, 3 layers will still have you reclining post-cake on the couch in a delicious, chocolately daze.


(Images: my flickr)

bigger than your average thursday

Quite a day here, yesterday!

Just when you think things are rock solid, something momentous will happen, like the Prime Minister getting ousted and replaced by our first female PM - in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. 

And we're also out of the World Cup, along with Italy...

It's all kind of surreal.


(Pic 2: ABC)

art and cockatoos

It was such gorgeous Winter weather this weekend - sunny and blue skies, perfect for ferries catching and island adventures! K and I headed over to Cockatoo Island with some friends to see the Biennale of Sydney.
I think we might all have enjoyed romping round the island and checking out its various buildings, amusing signage and industrial wonders a teensy bit more than the actual Biennale exhibits (with the exception of the green room and AES+F's Feast of Trimalchio - a nine channel animation of over 75,000 photographs - which was incredible!). 

After taking in as much culture as we could handle on a gloriously sunny day, we tempered the high-falutin arty farty rigmarole with some low-brow fare - bread and babaganoush (which was actually at the gourmet end of things) meat pies and the Australian classic (according to Masterchef anyway) Golden Gaytimes - what a way to finish!

Scandinavian love

I could listen to the Norwegian singer Erlend Oye's voice all day long.  You would know him from the band Kings of Convenience. Having just devoured their latest offering, Declaration of Dependence,  I was terribly excited to discover that Erlend Oye is part of a new project, The Whitest Boy Alive.  Hurrah!

music to snap your fingers to

If you haven't stumbled across this marvellous lady yet, prepare your dancing shoes - Janelle Monae's music is infectious! For my fellow Aussie's preparing for the first day of the working week after the long weekend, this one's to get you in the mood. Happy Tuesday!!

things to make you happy

One of my all time favourite films is Stranger than Fiction. I cannot say enough good things about this movie.  It has it all: Emma Thompson (my long wished for undiscovered Aunt), Will Ferrell being wonderfully low-key, Dustin Hoffman being hilarious and Maggie Gyllenhaal playing the feisty owner of my dream bakery, The Uprising. I could go on...

Anyway, one of the nicest things about this movie is the reminder that life is about the little things:

As Harold took a bite of Bavarian sugar cookie, he finally felt as if everything was going to be ok. Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. 

Ana Pascal: Did you like the cookies?
Harold Crick: Yes. Thank you for forcing me to eat them. 

Just thinking about this movie again made me want to make some biscuits, not that I generally need much encouragement, and so last night whilst K watched TV, I rolled up my sleeves and went into my bakery (aka the kitchen) and made these biscuits.  They weren't Bavarian Sugar Cookies I Know, but they were still pretty good.

Gingernut Biscuits

Adapted from: Homecooked, Favourite Recipes from Australian Kitchens 

185g unsalted butter, melted

4 cups all-purpose plain flour (you can use wholemeal if you prefer, or half half)

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tbspn ground ginger (the more gingery the better I feel)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup golden syrup 

1 egg

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F and grease two oven trays.

Sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a bowl. Add the sugar, golden syrup, butter and egg. Scoop the mixture together to form a dough. 

Break off chunks of dough and with your hands, roll each biscuit into a small ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers.

Bake for about 10 minutes. The biscuits will be cracked on the top and soft inside. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. They will harden up as they cool.

You probably won't need to force yourself to eat them, you just will.

after the rain

After the colossal downpour of rain on Friday, the weekend was a pleasant respite with a few patches of sunshine even and we got heaps of stuff done around the house which is always awesomely satisfying.  
Outside in the natural world, the plants were putting on a display - I don't think I'll ever get tired of photographing the changing leaves.  We also consumed some damn fine meals (and drinks) - Yum cha at Marigold, delicious red wine at a new wine bar on Curlewis Street, Bondi and home-made lasagna to round things out on Sunday night, bless this eating weather! I'm already dreaming about the long weekend!

giveaway!

Today I am excited to announce that I have a giveaway from Buyster, a fantastic Australian based online shop which sells everything from kitchenware to kids toys. 

They're offering this fabulous Willow Milk Jug by W2 Products (creators of the Pantone Mug). This jug would be perfect I think for winter hot chocolate sessions or even for holding a bunch of flowers.

Buyster also sells furniture and I've been quite tempted by their bar stools, especially as the ones we've currently got at home came from a high school art department! Check out their wide range at Melbourne Bar Stools. For a chance to win the jug, please visit Buyster and leave a comment below. A winner will be chosen at random tomorrow. Good luck!


Update: Geoff is the lucky winner, congratulations! Thanks everyone for your comments!