Cupcake Shapes!

To celebrate the conclusion of this semester's classes I put a few of my birthday pressies to good use and baked some miniature cupcakes for my class. As I had to fit them on to a baking tray they baked in the shape they were squished into on the tray:

Not picture perfect but I love the asymmetrical results. I call them cupcake shapes. Cupcakes are all the rage right now, even the Martha litmus test proves it- all week she has been featuring new cupcake flavours on her show in anticipation of her new line of product- Martha's Cupcakes. (Yes, I keep abreast of Marthaworld via her website). They all look soooo yummy but one really needs an electric mixer to make most of the recipes which my somewhat make-shift kitchen doesn't have (yet, maybe I will acquire one if the garage sale gods smile on me any time soon.) Anyway I managed to improvise and whipped up this batch of banana cupcakes from a random online recipe. They were ok, but mostly served as a pretty good vehicle for the yummy sour cream icing I made as a topping. I have to say, they were a hit! My classmates finished off every last one and I think I may have scored some much needed class participation marks from my civil procedure professor!

Kittens!

Congrats to one of my besties Anne at The City Sage and her hubby on the arrival of their two adorable kittens, Sophie and James Bond!! 

I'm sure the two adorable kitties are keeping them busy but just in case they wanted a new game to play, I thought I'd offer this suggestionclick here

Maroubra Beach

One of my favourite things about Sydney is the bounty of gorgeous beaches within a half hour drive of, well, anywhere. Yes everyone knows about Bondi but there are so many more gorgeous beaches that are just around the corner! This Sunday I was lucky enough to get an up-close view of Maroubra Beach, a beautiful, vast expanse of rocks, sand and ocean. Although it was a bit chilly to go for a dip, there were still plenty of diehard surfers willing to brave the chilly ocean. My new friend Georgia and I lunched at Pool Cafe, before stopping for a happy-snap by the beach. I thoroughly enjoyed my buttermilk pancakes with fruit compote,

but next time I will have to try the mushroom and Turkish toast combo that Georgia ordered- it looked divine! 

Thanks for a great day Georgia!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I have to say I think I may have outdone myself for my birthday celebration this past Saturday night. I wanted a fun Aussie BBQ with a cool relaxed, loungy vibe for people to mix, mingle, dance and eat. I have to say the whole night was a smashing success! I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my new friends: Nissa, who woke me up at 8am Saturday morning for a trip to the local market, and the mall for supplies, Lucinda (pictured above) and her bf Daniel for doing the music and clean-up, and my housemates Ramona, Dominic, and Anna for helping with the lighting and clean-up. 

To get the mood right I bought some cellophane and we covered the potlights in the ceiling to get a blue and red light-effect- it was so cool! Nissa and I also decorated the party room with balloons and streamers for a really fun, festive vibe. We even put balloons at the door to help guests find the house- so 1985!! I wore a vintage strapless pink dress with a big bow in the front- very "birthday girl" I thought!

For dinner, guests started out on ore douvres - tortilla chips (NOT easy to find here), salsa, homemade guacamole, crusty baguette with dip, and a cheese platter. For dinner we had homemade gourmet burgers, shrimp and scallop skewers (fresh from the Sydney Fish Market), market-fresh sweet corn, homemade potato salad and a garden salad. My friend Kathy also brought some delicious vegan dishes to round out the spread. For dessert Nissa made some divine brownies from one of my favourite Martha recipes, and a vegan chocolate cake. The boys even pitched in- making themselves very useful at the barbecue!

Lucinda and another new friend, Chad were amazing DJs- mixing a blend of Australian dance music, with some French techno, and mellow beats. I couldn't believe it but we even had a bit of a dance floor going! Overall about 35 people attended the party and I had a GREAT time. We concluded the evening with popping party poppers and present opening, all in all a great night! 

Three Random Pictures

Howdy... we'll I'm officially overwhelmed. It's work work work and I'm meant to be planning my birthday party this weekend. It's nothing too over the top- just a barbeque- but still, I like things to be just so and I get anxious about the prospect of doing a half-hearted job. Hopefully I will still be able to pull off a reasonably decent evening for my friends. I have lots to blog about but I'm too tired to do it properly at the moment so I leave you with three random pictures I selected from my iphoto library...

Bailey and me in my friend Kristen's old apartment. It was the cutest little place above a bakery in Rosedale. 

A beach in Wineglass Bay, Tasmania. I took this while traveling there in 2005. 

My dad behind the wheel of our rental car in Cuba two Christmases ago. Has it been that long since that wonderful trip already? 

My Massive Weekend

G'day to all my loyal readers. Apologies for being awol the past week or so. I've been very busy job hunting and trying to get "me head" around contracts. My how judges love to write in such a way that makes English sound like another language! To make up for my utterly lack-luster (ok "academically productive") weekend last week, this past weekend was filled with fun! First up was a reunion with a mate from Oakville, Missy, whom I know through a couple mutual friends and from taking her amazing fitness classes at Goodlife in Oakville. (Oh how I miss my spa-like women's gym in Oakville!!) She was in Sydney for the weekend and of course we just had to say hello!  We went to a German Pub in The Rocks (the oldest part of Sydney where many original, convict-built buildings are still in use) for a 'bier', followed by a stop at a gourmet chocolate shop where I treated myself to one luscious chocolate truffle.


Next we wandered down to the harbour to take in the magnificent Opera House and Harbour Bridge. (Did you know the Aussie government originally set up the Australian Lottery to raise funds to build the bridge?). It was great to see her but sad to say goodbye after such a quick visit. 

Next up was dinner with my new friend Jane. Jane was one of the first people I met in Sydney and we hit it off right away! She has amazing taste in art, decor and clothing (as evidenced here in these paintings and her clothes which I am wearing). Her jazz musician bf came over and we all sat down to a divine Thai curry Jane whipped up while I was playing dress-up in her closet. 

My new uni friends gathered at our mate Angus' new house in Paddington for his house warming party. The house is gorgeous. Think stone floors, high ceilings with ornate crown molding, arched doorways, beautiful furniture and artwork shipped over from Zimbabwe and even a famous guy next door! 

You never know what you're going to see when out and about in Sydney. Saturday was no exception as my route took me via Circular Quay where this contortionist was demonstrating how she could put her legs behind her head and rotate herself around in circles on a disk. I moved on just as she was about to squeeze herself into a small box atop a ladder. I'm a bit leery of stunt shows after watching the youtube video of the escape artist who almost drowned whilst performing a stunt at a basketball game half-time show. 

That night was my friend Bonnie's 21st birthday party. In Australia 21sts are a really big deal and people go all out for the celebration. We listened to speeches and watched a slide show while devouring the huge spread of lasagnas, schnitzel, garlic bread and brownies. Yum! There was music and dancing and even an impromptu sing-along! I loved the Polaroid camera. The images made me think of a classic 1970s scrapbook.

Finally my weekend ended with La Galette! A gathering of friends at my mate Christophe's flat to eat galette, which apparently is a french pastry dish. Hidden inside is a little token and whoever gets that in their slice is the "king" and gets to wear a crown. Not to be one to show up empty handed, I baked a lemon cake using my new-to-me silicon cake dish bought at a garage sale a while ago. Works really well!

Just Ordered: Dog Bark Kit.

The dog drama. It's been 2 months since I first moved here and while I LOVE my house I am not loving the dogs across the ally. Rather, I'm irritated at their owners' flagrant disregard for neighbourhood peace and quiet. Every time they leave the house these owners leave their 2, very easily excited dogs, outside in the backyard. Each time someone walks by the dogs bark and yap and cause an unholy racket, sometimes for hours on end. This of course, is occurring at all hours of the day. I've even been woken up at 6am on a Saturday morning for Christ sake! After two solid hours of barking yesterday afternoon while I was trying to work, I'd finally had enough. I went round to the house to find that I couldn't even knock on the door due to a large gate with a deadbolt preventing access to the front yard area. (Probably to keep people like me out.) Incidentally another neighbour, also at his wit's end was investigating the noise and recommended we call the council to lodge a complaint. I followed through this morning and I am eagerly awaiting my "dog bark kit." Also, they promised to send these people some "tips on keeping dogs quiet." I wait with baited breath to see the results. Stay tuned!

HAPPY EASTER!

Well it's a little sad that I'm away from my family during Easter but I'm consoling myself by eating all the chocolate that's being distributed here in Australia. I'm shocked at how big a deal Easter is here. I feel like at home Easter is kind of a blip on the radar for kids and the people who design store displays. Here it's a full on cultural holiday with bakeries inviting customers to "beat the rush" and "order your Easter hot crossed buns today!" We get a whole week off uni (news to me as of 5pm last Wednesday when it came to my attention that we didn't have class next week.) Everyone from my Contract Law professor to my pilates instructor has been handing out chocolate and there are celebrations aplenty- fairs, picnics, and boozy nights out on the town (not me of course, I'm too busy studying.) Yesterday (Friday) I was half thinking that I'd perhaps visit the fish market as I had the day off and it's something that has been highly recommended to me to explore. That idea was quickly given the kybosh when I heard on the news that Good Friday is the Sydney Fish Market's busiest day of the year, with over 50 000 visitors expected. Of all the days to think to go it had to be Good Friday! lol. Sufficed to say that plan is taking a raincheck. I did make my weekly trip to the market this morning and came home with a suitcase (my new shopping strategy) full of fresh fruits and veggies and my very favourite yogurt. I combine this award winning yogurt with fresh passionfruit for the most divine snack in existence. Here, take a look. 



Simply combine these ingredients and...

Voila! A healthy and scrumptious snack!

To all my friends and family at home, (and anybody else who reads this)- Happy Easter! I miss you!!!