The weekend that was

The weather is hotting up here in Brisbane, for the next few months we will be enjoying sun and sand.

Over the weekend we did just that and what a fab time we had, we drove to Wellington Point in the Redlands district, farmer Joe's old stomping ground, it is only about 45 minutes from the CBD we often go for a quick splash.

Unfortunately, on our most recent outing there the tide was out...so we decided to walk to a little island at the end of the sand bar.

The munchkins enjoyed chasing the little crabs as they scurried into their holes in the mud. The boys pretended to be pirates and drew treasure maps into the sand and dug for hidden treasure.

 The tide was low we made our way to the island

 

 Enjoying the cool water on a hot day

 

 We picked shells and coral on our way

 

 The choices were aplenty

 

 I was so proud of the munchkins we walked a 1 hour round trip

to the island

 

 The view from the Island

 

 We came back to the main land just when the sun was going down we unpacked our dinner, some boiled eggs, salad, fruit

and one last play before heading home.

 

 

And that was our weekend full of fun, sun and sand.

 

 

Cheers

Karla



Latin Dancing anyone?

 everyone had their dancing shoes

 even Luisa was keen for a dance broken leg and all

My Dancing Senorita shoes

Yuriko & Catherine looking fab

 

Last night some of my school mum friends and I had a girls night out the theme was a nice dinner followed by Latin Dancing.

I was so excited to go Latin Dancing I love to dance and Latin Dancing was such a big part of my life as a teenager and young adult, I used danced about 20 hours per week and I used to attend the classes and then helped with the classes, I guess like an instructor, then Saturday night would come and it was time to hit the club. I remember that I was one of those people that we would be begging the DJ for one more song before close time at 3am...those were the days.

Well not much Latin Dancing has happened for many years, unfortunately I had a life changing car accident a few years ago and that was the end of the girl in her high heels and her Latin Dancing.

Last night I was prepared, I had my shoes and I had the moves (not really) and off I went to meet the girls, we had the most delicious dinner at Fat Noodles inside the Casino, after a few glasses of bubbles it was time for some dancing but not before a stop over to Passion Tree. I have never been to such a place, the desserts were out of this world it broke every dieting rule ever made, it was so delish. We decided on this ice number when it came out we were in stitches it could of fed the whole restaurant.

We had so many laughs and we chin wagged until the cows came home the topics were very intellectual the topics ranged between children to Brazilian waxing and anything in between.

By the time we finished the biggest dessert of mankind it was time for Latin Dancing except that we were so full that instead of Dancing we rolled back home. 

Oh well not dancing after all but I had the same or more fun as those days when I was a dancing senorita and there is always next weekend.

Cheers
Karla

Old Fashioned Fun

This week the Country Lady came to visit overnight and she brought a huge bucket of her fresh organic limes, a light bulb went up as soon as we saw them "Lime Sale" the munchkins were so excited to set up their own Lime Sale at the front of the Whitecottage.

There were too many to just sell outside our home so what better way than send Farmer Joe to work with a bucket of fresh organic limes, he called me not long after he got into his office to let me know he had sold some on the street on the way in to the office.

Back at the Whitecottage we were all systems go, we had our table, our bucket full of limes, our sign and our coin jar, all we needed were some customers and it was not long before we were in business. We watched people from our window buying limes and my middle munchkins would run so excitedly to fetch the takings.

So here we are what a fun day it was on our Lime stand, master munchkin had fun and the Country Lady made enough money to buy some mulch.

It was never about making money but just to have plain old fashioned fun.

Weekend Baking - Pancakes

This morning my middle munchkin and I made pancakes for everyone to enjoy and well technically it's not baking but we are calling it so because they are as delicious as any baking sweet.

This is a good dish to cook with the little ones, we had so much fun while making them, master munchkin was so proud of himself.

What you need.

Double the amount if you have hungry little munchkins

150g Self Raising Flour
80g Castor Sugar
1 egg
185ml Milk
1/4 tsp Bicarbonate Soda
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
olive oil in spray can.
Strawberries, blueberries or bananas for topping
Maple syrup.

 

Method

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat with the electric hand held beater beat until smooth.

2. heat the pan on medium heat, spray with oil ( we don't want the oil to burn)

3. with a ladle spoon the pancake mix onto the pan cook for 1 minute or until bubbles start showing then flip it for 1 minute.

4. Repeat until the pancake mix is finished.

5. Serve it with the fresh fruit and drizzle maple syrup and for drinks pour a glass of milk and add a dash of vanilla,

VIOLA!!! there you have it.

IMPORTANT: I use this same recipe for my picklets just cook for 30 seconds each side.

ENJOY COOKING WITH THE LITTLE ONES.

The Cupcake Lady







  

Your Presence is my Present

The Holidays are well and truly over, today was the first day back at school, I spent the day relaxing watched some TV and talked to my cousin in America and kept thinking how fast these holidays went, maybe this happened because we were having so much fun.

Speaking of fun, we were the hosts on steroids we had a total of 10 different types of hostings, we had friends staying over, morning teas, afternoon, teas, high teas, luncheons with old, new, school and instagram friends. They all had something in common we all had SO MUCH fun and they all were so generous with their time and gifts (for me).

I have spoken before about trying to send a small package of goodies when your friends come over to visit and I have said time and time again no one complains about going home with some baking or fresh eggs or something homemade.

Well now I can talk about how lucky I have been to receive hostess gifts over the last few weeks although not expected I am truly grateful because they have come from special people and I cherish them.

WHAT TO GIVE THE HOSTESS

I am a believer that a gift does not need to cost the earth but I think if you are inclined to give a hostess gift you should give something you will want to receive as a gift yourself.

For example

It is not a secret I am a baker so I will try to bring some sort of baked goods or bring something from my garden or eggs from our trusted chickens.

If you are time poor or not a baker why not give them a plant or something cute from a good store, the local bakery is always a hit for some yummy goodies.

Remember it is not about the price but about the thought behind the gift and don't feel pressure to bring a gift, after all

" your presence is my present"

I have had so many laughs and chats over the last two weeks and how lucky am I and my little family to have received these goodies.

 

When the Country Lady gives you Lemons - make Lemon cake

Over the weekend we visited the Country Lady and the Country Doctor and they have the most delish and wonderful looking citrus trees, I am totally jealous of the amount of  lemons and limes, and I am delighted to have come home with a huge bag of home grown lemons.

Well the Country Lady and her munchkins are coming overnight to the Whitecottage and I am so excited I am like a teenager seeing One Direction, I can not wait for all the chatter and eating that is going to be happening here, I might even open my special bottle of champers.

Anyhow yes I know I only saw her the other day and yes I do speak to her most days during the week but when we are together in person we talk about décor we look at magazines and share ideas on how to improve this and that or how to cook this and that.

What is most appropriate than to bake my famous lemon cake considering that the Country Lady gave us the lemons and the cake bakes perfecto!!!

why don't you give it a go, it is so delish

how to? on the recipe section. Enjoy The Cupcake Lady

Steak Sandwich

What's for dinner?

Steak Sandwich yes a bit unorthodox but rules are meant to be broken.

Today was a really hot day here in Brisbane and I only had the first born munchkin with me the other members of the Whitecottage were at work and Kindy. Master munchkin and I had a fabulous day just the two of us we had scheduled doctor appointment in the morning after that we decided to go for a wander to the shopping centre and had sushi for lunch master munchkin never gets bored of seeing that sushi train going round and round.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing we did some window shopping and it was time to get the rest of the family.

We picked some lettuce and tomatoes from the vegie patch had an early dinner in our outdoor area, I think a storm is coming our way the wind was blowing really hard. We enjoyed our steak sandwich and the cool breeze, we finished with a fruit platter.

STEAK SANDWICH

MAKES 4

Ingredients:

Beef steak 700g
lettuce
tomatoes
onions x2
whole egg mayonnaise
Dijon Mustard
Balsamic vinegar
Cajun Seasoning
Chilli Jam (optional)
olive oil
Sourdough bread or any other loaf of bread cut in thick slices


Method

*Cut beef steak in 4 sprinkle and rub with Cajun seasoning

*Brush olive oil on a hot grill and grill Beef steak 3 minutes each side remove and place in a baking dish and cover with Aluminium foil to let it rest.

* Cut Onion in thin slices and grill them, then pour a splash of balsamic vinegar and cook until caramelised

*place the bread on the grill for 1 minute each side or until nice and toastie

* Spread whole egg mayonnaise and Dijon mustard onto the bread

* Place your freshly picked tomatoes and lettuce, meat and Chilli Jam

and Viola!!!!! 
 
a Good meal for lunch or an early dinner.

Enjoy.

The Cupcake Lady