After my last post and experiencing lots of thoughts and feelings on what I want to do with my life, the following reads have been helpful for gaining a bit of much-needed perspective.

• This article by author Justine Musk on developing a creative practice is fantastic. I like her explanation of how repeated actions become easier for neurons to transmit and how these habits can be used for the better in our creative work.
• After finding the above article I browsed Justine’s blog some more and found this article on embracing some of our flaws because they can actually be used positively. Just because someone may think something we do is weird/bad/wrong/too much, doesn’t mean that thing is always negative! Embrace your ‘too muchness’ and use it to your advantage.
• I found this website yesterday about living minimally and I found it pretty interesting. I admit I am materialistic in that I am very much affected by my surroundings and have always preferred to surround myself with aesthetically pleasing things (I’ve also discovered since having my own flat that I am neat/clean freak and mess drives me insane). As I’ve grown, I also like those things to have a function, but, generally, whatever it is is not always a necessity. I would like to simplify my living spaces and life a bit.
• Food for thought: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

To end, this isn’t so much as a read as a Do. This recipe sounds pretty amazing!

• Coconut & Lime Rice Pudding

One thing I know for sure is that if I don’t eat breakfast I will either a) be a raging bitch all morning, or b) vomit. Another thing I know for sure is that eating the same breakfast all the time is boring. I know people (ahem, grandma) who eat the same cereal every day and have done for years. I get tired of the same cereal by the time the box is three-quarters empty.

The last couple of days I’ve been delving into the world of porridge (aka oatmeal). I have a love-hate relationship with this grainy mush. If it’s too thick I won’t touch it, if it’s too runny I may as well drink an oat smoothie. Also, it’s capacity to sustain a person has seemed pathetic at best. I don’t want to eat at 7am and find myself hungry by 8:30. I know this sounds like a Rag on Porridge post, but it’s not, I assure you.

I’ve always found that if porridge is made with some fruit and spices it will sustain me for longer. Those quick-cook oats and instant porridge packets tend to use ground or small flaked (rolled) oats but I prefer to use wholegrain, large rolled oats because they’re more substantial (to me, anyway).

Here’s what I do!

Ingredients
2/3 cup wholegrain rolled oats
pinch of salt
cinnamon to taste (1/4 tsp for me)
6 peach slices, canned in juice
2-3 Tbsp peach juice
1/3 cup (79ml) of boiling water
1/3 + 1/6 cup (120ml) milk

Method
1. Put the oats, salt, cinnamon, peach slices and peach juice in a saucepan then add the water and milk.
2. Bring to a boil over med-high heat then simmer on a low-med heat, stirring occasionally, until porridge is the desired thickness. For me, it’s about 5-7 minutes.
3. Let porridge cool a bit before eating. Trust me.

Simmering porridge.

And we’re done! For variation you can use any kind of fruits you like, and your favourite spices. I used to use banana quite a bit with cinnamon, and grated apple with cinnamon too. Danielle uses blueberries in her baked oatmeal! I’ve also heard of people using fruit juice as the main liquid rather than milk and/or water.

Peach + cinnamon porridge with coffee.

What did you have for breakfast today?

This was me and one of the cats I am looking after while I house-sit. Sandy and I were trying our best to warm each other an hour ago and basically failing miserably, unfortunately. Today has been very chilly in New Zealand, all over. While Auckland (my city) does receive its fair share of cold, wet, icky winter days, it does not snow here.

Or does it??

Maybe just for today, and only a teeny bit, of which I didn’t get to see (damnit). There were some flurries in the downtown area early in the afternoon, but I don’t think campus got any, which is only a few blocks away (I was in lecture). To the south of the city however, there was a bit more. You can see some photos of it here.

What I really want to do though, is share an awesome recipe with you all. On the weekend it was my sister’s birthday so I decided to try making salted caramel cupcakes. I’d never tried the flavour before but after having read about it on the web and heard about it on TV I just had to. Salt and sweet? Together? Count me in.

After Googling I found a recipe for Triple Salted Caramel cupcakes on Sprinkle Bakes and got to work Sunday morning. Naturally I completely forgot to take photos of the finished batch, but they looked much like ones on the website except without the candied caramel chips (I drizzled the rest of the caramel filling over the icing.

They were a total hit! Honestly, my god, I think that might be my new favourite cupcake flavour, actually. I definitely love the mix of sweet caramel with the hint of salt through it, and they’re so pretty! Next time I might not pipe so much icing onto each cupcake as it was maybe a bit much…okay, who am I kidding, no such thing!

Love and hugs, S.

I’m so glad the new year is here! I really love the idea of starting fresh, especially after the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. My New Year’s Eve was very low-key. Josh was away staying with family so we spent it apart, but fortunately it’s not a particularly big deal of a night for either of us. As much as I love the ‘newness’ of a new year beginning, I’ve never been overly enthusiastic about welcoming the year with a big night out or anything. I spent it at home with my Mum (Dad was working night shift, so it was just us girls!). We watched TV, heard the midnight fireworks from all the way in the city, and then went to bed! See, verrrry low key.

New Year’s day was spent chilling out at home. My eldest sister and her two kiddos came over for a visit so it was play time all the time! Then we decided it’d be fun for me to have a sleepover at her house, so I did. My nephew gets very excited when either I stay over or he comes to stay, so it was super-cute when he asked me over. More playing ensued and then it was time for the kids to head to bed, after which my sister and I had Pina Coladas and watched Life Is Beautiful. I’d never seen it before. It’s such a fantastic film though; truly beautiful and extremely sad at the same time. I was very much crying by the end.

Yesterday my sister and the kids brought me back home and then Josh came over, straight from his holiday. We had a Date Afternoon and went to see Gulliver’s Travels which was so hilarious I was in tears from laughing. Jack Black is always a favourite of mine, but he was sooo good in this, as was the rest of the stellar cast: Emily Blunt (LOVE), Amanda Peet, Jason Segel, the lovely Billy Connolly, and ever-amusing Catherine Tate. Great ensemble for such a fun and sweet film.

After the movie we went to Mexicali Fresh for an early dinner. We both got Macho Nachos, only difference being that I got mince instead of shredded beef, and guacamole (Josh hates avocado – BLASPHEMY!).

Of course, I only remembered to take photos after I had finished by yummy food! Silly me. Oh well, the point is, it was delicious and this photo proves it, because I have eaten pretty much all of it up!

This is an awesome mural in the restaurant. It makes me swoon because I love Dia de Los Muertos imagery (and history).

Finally, a little note about today: it’s been very, very hot and humid so my to-do list hasn’t been tackled quite as much. I am really an autumn and spring kind of gal…

Halloween in New Zealand is really not a big thing but I have always loved it. When I was little I would plan these elaborate costumes and haunted house displays, then by the time Halloween actually rolled around, something always happened so I couldn’t dress up and celebrate! One year I was sick, another I fell off a swing and hurt my back. I have not had much luck with this holiday, let me tell you.

Anyway, since I am stuck in bed with the ‘flu (who would have guessed…), I present to you a collection of often gross-looking but always creative and delicious foods for any decent Halloween party. And yes, while in my opinion candy should always be a staple of this holiday, it it not always about sugary treats. Why not impress your guests with a fabulous head of meat or delight your child (or inner-child) with a spooky bento lunch?

Really, the only rule I have is that it has to be edible (so as beautiful as polymer clay miniature foods are, they just don’t cut it).

To start, here is a gorgeous selection of colourful (and fairly healthy) foods to appease your party guests. Perhaps for the more refined gathering, perhaps? What with the caviar and all… Alternatively, you can opt for a black, red and brown or purple theme!

These look gross. But also yum. However they would be creepier if they were decorated like Salad Fingers. Actually, let’s not talk about Salad Fingers because he makes me shudder.

What is worse than deli meat*? A skinless head made of deli meat! I keep wondering, while looking at all the deli meat heads around the Internet, if some people use real dentures for the teeth? I think that would increase the ick-factor considerably.

*Because let’s be honest, deli meat isn’t exactly stellar anyway.

I reckon these would please any little tikes:

I know I would be totally stoked to find this waiting for me at a party. Or in my lunch box. At university.

I love this idea, especially the eyeballs. Mmm, eyeballs. I wonder if it means you really love someone if you say you want to eat their eyes since they are the ‘window to the soul’ and all?

Sorry, that was kind of weird, I know. Moving on – can’t keep away from the sweet stuff for too long!

Jelly (jello if you’re in North America) brains! I think these are fantastic and I want to make some for Christmas! What, why not?

Yeah, this is a good one for the table; it’s totally gross. I gagged on the inside when I saw this.

But not as much as I gagged FOR REAL when I saw this one. Poo is not a favourite topic of mine, especially when it has anything at all to do with food (which is kind of funny when you consider why poo exists…), so combining the delight of cake with something like cat poop and kitty litter is just…horrific. But also awesome and thus worthy of any self-respecting Halloween table.

Dig in!

Kiwi Biscuits are a New Zealand favourite (certainly among my family anyway!). Typically they’re made with chocolate chips but last weekend I was making them with my nephew and substituted Pebbles for the choc chips since we didn’t have any. Rainbow biscuits! And very popular with all who tried them.

Today I felt like baking again so I picked up M&Ms to use instead of Pebbles. Still rainbow, but a slightly different taste to Pebbles. (And by the way, M&Ms that have been in the oven are pretty much the most awesome candy ever.)

So, without further ado, here’s the recipe!

Ingredients:

200 grams (7.054 ounces) softened buttered
½ cup white sugar
4 tablespoons condensed milk
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 cups plain flour
1 ½ cups M&Ms (roughly; I didn’t measure, so add as many as you desire)

Method:

Combine butter and sugar until creamy. Add the condensed milk and mix well. Add the baking powder and flour and combine until just mixed. Add the M&Ms and mix all together.

Take tablespoons of the mix and roll into balls (will make 32 biscuits). Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Press the biscuits down slightly with a fork.

Bake at 180°C (356°F) for 20 minutes or until golden.

Today I hung out at the zoo with my eldest sister, her kids, and friends of theirs. I always love going to the zoo, and because we arrived fairly early we were there around feeding time, meaning we got to see many of the more elusive animals. Unfortunately I only had my phone’s camera and not my DSLR, so I decided not to snap any shots of the animals. Besides, even if I wanted too, the little rascal below wouldn’t let me put her down! I think she’s missed me. Usually I see her when I’m with my mum and my niece is very much a granny’s girl. I felt all special and needed, hehe.

The animal highlight for me today was probably the baby baboon, who was doing roly-polies on the grass, chasing adult baboons and generally being comical and kid-like. He (it was definitely a boy) was an awesome little dude! And with ears for miles.

We also did some resting by the elephant…

…where the boys climbed trees…

(My nephew is currently obsessed with Spiderman.)

…and so did Persia, with help. And yes, she has got her finger up her nose, the current fascination.

This one is nice and blurry because they were both over being on the elephant statue by the time I finished shooting a little video and snapped this.

So that has pretty much been my day. I did bake a cake in a mug, but the boyfriend didn’t have any cocoa powder so I improvised and turned it into a coffee cake. It came out a bit tough and dry, so perhaps I overcooked it and/or added a bit too much flour to sub the cocoa powder I didn’t have. I do want to try and find a nicer recipe though because it’s a neat idea and super-easy for those times you feel like a sweet baked treat but don’t want to slave over it for an hour. Or go to the shop, for that matter.

Saturday is for baking! Well, at least this Saturday is for baking (and colouring one’s hair but that’s not what this post is about). Actually, I don’t know if you could call today a Baking Day because that would insinuate that lots of baking has been happening and I’ve only made one batch of scones and have no plans to bake anything else. Well, whatever, at least I’ve been productive!

These scones are made from the good ol’ Cheese Scone recipe in the Edmonds Cookery Book (Kiwi staple, of course), except I put in more cayenne popper and mustard power (still not enough though) and added a wee piece of ham to the top of each one.

A Lesson In Pronunciation
‘Scone’ is pronounced sk-onn, not sk-own, okay? Please remember this. Sounds silly to say ‘skown’!

My verdict is that they are rather nom, though perhaps slightly drier than I would have liked, and as I mentioned above, more cayenne pepper and mustard power would have been better. My male person is coming over later, so we shall see what he thinks and then I will edit this post and share his thoughts.

What’s your favourite thing to bake?

ETA: The boyfriend’s verdict was that they were indeed a bit dry and could have done with cayenne pepper and cheese. But he still ate most of them.

I finally upgraded my WordPress and so far I’m loving it. The new dashboard design is very useful as most things are but one click away. I really hate having to go to two other pages to find what it is I want! Aside from this brief examination I have not explored much else, yet.

Christmas is only four days away! How insane is that? This year has gone so fast for me and I keep thinking about how it seems like only six months ago we celebrated Christmas. I have been wishing for that childhood state where time just goes on and on and nothing seems to fly by you.

Anyway, this year is my first Christmas being properly vegan, so I am having to plan a bit better what I will actually be eating. Side dishes are usually fine as there are plenty of salads, vegetables (the joys of a Summer Christmas are easy BBQs and lots of salad), breads, etc. made without animal ingredients. However, main dishes are a little different, obviously, because I wont be stuffing myself with any meat.

My family have done a lunch with my mother’s family and dinner with my father’s for years. Since the grandparents are getting older, this year it’s lunch at our place and dinner at my eldest sister’s. So I have two mains to think about and have decided on a nut loaf for lunch (I’ve never had one, but they look easy to make and good for a lunch meal) and cous cous stuffed field mushrooms for dinner. I want to re-create that gorgeous stuffed mushroom I had at a restaurant awhile back — it was just that good! I hope there wasn’t some secret ingredient that the dish can’t be without, or I’ll be, well, screwed.

For dessert I’m making two apple pies, with The Worlds Most Awesome Pastry Recipe, that can be found in Tatiana’s Table by Paullina Simons (Pie Crust 1). No, seriously, it’s the best.

If you celebrate Christmas, or another holiday at this time of year, what are the traditions your family has? What foods do you eat? I would love to know!

Last night I made a chocolate and banana cake, made with The PPK’s Chocolate Banana Cupcake recipe. I’ve used the recipe for cupcakes before and thought I’d use it for a cake because it’s moist and, well, yum!

I ended up making two cakes (baking for about 35 minutes each) because the tin I used was too large for the mix and the first cake came out more like a flat-ish disk. I sandwiched the two cakes together, using vegan butter icing as a filler and on top.

Vegan Butter Icing

I don’t tend to use measurements for this and add a little at a time to get whatever consistency and taste I desire.

Ingredients

• Vegan margarine
• Icing (powdered) sugar
• Vanilla extract (use the real stuff, if you have it!)

Directions
In a medium sized bowl start off with about 3 decent tablespoons on margerine. Add in about 1/2 cup of icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Slowly mix all together using a fork until smooth, ensuring to get all the margarine and sugar from around the sides and on the bottom. Try the mix. Need some more sugar? Add it. Need some more vailla? Add it. Too butter? Add more sugar. Too crumbly? Add more margarine. Keep trying until it’s to your taste.

Use however you wish.