6::20 ~ melting moments

OCCASSION: we wanted to make something for daddy’s birthday that wasn’t a cake (he didn’t want a cake on the day)

BRIEF & RATIONALE: I’d been to the bakery, and was tempted to buy a melting moment. Then I saw they were $2 each, so I made them myself.

SOURCE: AWW Sweet Old Fashioned Favourites.

EASE OF MAKING: 7/10.

CHILD FRIENDLY? Mainly mix master based, so not really. Though they love when I pull out the piping gun to make the biscuits.

REALITY V COOKBOOK: 8/10 – I used a different shape to the book. And slightly overcooked the first batch.

TASTE: 9/10.

FINAL VERDICT: Winner. And long gone.

1::20 ~ double choc chip biscuits

First up on my twenty treats challenge – double choc chip biscuits. (not the usual choc chip I referred to in my previous post, it counts for challenge purposes!)

OCCASSION: we were in a biscuit kind of mood.

BRIEF & RATIONALE: me “who wants to make biscuits?” Bear – “chocolate ones!!”. These were the only chocolate biscuits in the first book I picked up. I’m lazy like that.

EASE OF MAKING: 6/10 – sifting and melting of chocolate required.

CHILD FRIENDLY? Yes – mixed by hand, plus the small people like helping with sifting (double the flour quantities listed if attempting this!)

REALITY V COOKBOOK: Fail. My biscuits looked nothing like the picture. I was 50g short of chocolate, but I wouldn’t have expected it to make that much difference.

TASTE: 4/10. They’re ok, but quite bitter due to high dark chocolate content. Master Three declared them “stinky”. The plate remains almost full, two and a half days later.

FINAL VERDICT: I think we’ll call them a fail for us. They are good from the point of view that it is easy-ish to get the children involved, melted chocolate notwithstanding. But everything else was a bit disappointing.

twenty treats.

 

{chocolate chips baked with my boy on Saturday while sick baby slept and Daddy took Bear to soccer}

We love to bake around here. There’s nothing like the smell of warm cake or fresh biscuits to bring the kitchen to life. The boys excitedly drag chairs over, and Butterfly will perch up on the bench, and then the squabbling begins. I want to put it in, no I do, he got to put in more than me, why can’t we do the eggs…but it all works out, and then we count down the minutes until we can pull it out and get it cool enough to eat.

But I’ve found, we tend to stick to two tried and true recipes. Chocolate cake, and a plain sweet biscuit. Both of which came from my great grandmother, and both of which I know by heart. It’s easy. It’s quick. Occasionally we’ll bake choc chip biscuits for a change, but this is the first batch in more months than I care to admit. Even my slices are in a rut. Bring a slice? Caramel slice it is.

So. I’m setting a challenge for myself. Twenty Treats. Time to crack out the recipe books and try something new. Sweet or savoury. Cake, biscuit, slice. I would say one per week, but we all know how that’ll end up!! So Twenty Treats, and not the same thing twice in a row. I may end up the size of a house.

just chillin’

Sometimes, there’s nothing quite like a quiet day at home. Playing. Cleaning. Baking. Being. Just what a Monday should be!

So I didn’t get the quilt finished. But it turns out the deadline isn’t as tight as I thought it was, so I’ve got a bit of wiggle room. I’m planning a big week of creating this week. A change mat. Perfecting (or at least improving) my FMQ technique. Some scrapping. Today was my day of rest. Tomorrow I get busy! Let’s do this!

Comfort food.

4pm. The school bus grinds to a halt at the end of a gravel side-road. The young girls, the last on the bus today, peel themselves from the cracked vinyl of the seats, and slinging backpacks laden with school books over one shoulder, they amble towards the front of the bus and clamber down the steps. Impatiently they wait for the bus to lurch away, and they break into a run, up the driveway and through the gate. They burst through the door, the previously almost-silence shattered by the clattering of school bags and shoes hastily discarded. The scent of promise wafts in the air. Their mother grins at them. How was school? The question is ignored, more pressing matters on their minds. What did you cook? Is it chocolate cake? The ends of the cake are quickly sliced. Slathered with butter. And, gone.

Now it’s I that does the baking, with my own two little ones at my knees. And I’m the one baking the comfort foods, the recipes that are copied from spidery writing on delicate, yellow paper. Wrapping it in checked tea-towels, and taking it to share with my mum. Completing the circle.

Today, we were blessed with yet more rain. Cabin fever threatened. So we bundled the children into the car, and set off in search of adventure. Or shops. Unfortunately, it appears I have used up my current “drag-husband-to-fabric-store” credit. But we managed some productive shopping nonetheless. And coffee. With some yummy citrus tart. And only two tantrums over who had the better biscuit. Tomorrow is our last day with daddy on holidays. So we are making it count. Trains. Long breakfasts. Family time. Painting. Stories. Hopefully not too many “that’s MY toy” moments. Enjoying every second. It’s 2010, the rain has arrived at long last, and all is right with my little world. Monday is still a whole day away. Let’s do this!

Yum, yum

It’s raining. Toys no longer hold the appeal they did just yesterday. Books have been read, songs have been sung, dances have been danced. With crafty inspiration running low, the boy and I have been baking. Some old-school honey crackles, and some racing car biscuits (which were a packet mix, which may or may not have been a bribe to behave while shopping…)

 

 

With the rain settling in, it’s going to be a cozy, crafty knd of day. Housework to power through, then strapping on my dancing shoes and busting a move to the Wiggles. Some more stories. Lots of cuddles & giggles & moments that make my heart melt. Two small boys, one crafty mama, and lots of boxes left over from recent birthdays. It’s going to get interesting! Let’s do this!

Fun Friday…

We had a blast yesterday. I got the blocks joined for D9P, and the border chosen. And much to the toddlers delight, we baked biscuits. Teddy bear and star and duck and people biscuits. I didn’t do such a great job of ignoring hte housework, but I suppose that’s a plus. Though I still have a massive pile of dirty washing to plow through. Seriously, where does it come from? Am I the only one drowning in washing? I also managed to add Twitter to my blog yesterday (sounds like it should be easy, huh? Well, yeah, if you use your brain. Something I struggle with constantly). If you’re on twitter, leave me a comment with your user name & I’ll follow you. Or you can follow me by clicking on my updates over there –>

 

At first I didn’t get the whole twitter thing, and to be honest, not sure I still do. But I find myself, having just hit the publish button, thinking, oh, should’ve said this, should’ve said that, so now I can tweet it instead!

 

Today, we’ve been like a tribe of chipmunks on a suger high. We’ve sung, we’ve danced, we’ve painted an old sheet to use for cubby houses. We still have a shoebox house to make, and maybe some puppets too. I really should attempt to conquer Mt Clothesiosko (both clean and dirty). And I really hope to swing a bit of sewing time to whack this border on, then head to the fabric shop over the weekend for wadding. I’m going to finish this week on a high note!

Monday Munchies

What better to do with a small boy on a rainy day but some baking!

I had a stack of very ripe bananas, and was planning on cooking up a big batch of muffins, but then I found this super easy recipe over on Bluebird’s blog:

2 pieces of fruit

2 cups of wholemeal flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

spices and/or nuts to taste

 

Chuck it all in a bowl & mix together (I did it by hand), bake in a moderate oven. The original recipe said a hour at 180, but my fanforced oven seems to bake hot, so I only needed 45 minutes at 160 (I used 160, as I know with my oven I need to take 20 degrees of unless it’s specified a temp for fan firced).

 

The end result? A yummy, healthy alternative to cake!

 

Then, we made a batch of yummy choc-chip cookies. These are great for making with him, as there is lots of hand mixing, which he insists on doing, of course!

Sick Bubba…

Poor Little Bear has been sick the last few days, so no sewing or scrapping to be shown at the minute. I did, however, get a chance to do some baking today.

Very simple, but oh so yummy! I love these bikkies, they are made from my great-grandmother’s recipe, and remind me of a time when I wasn’t so grown-up, or so busy. Just the smell of these takes me back to my childhood, evoking memories of climbing off the school bus, racing into the kitchen, and downing multiple, still-warm biscuits with a glass of cold milk. After homework, the bikkies were then cool enough to go round two, involving dunking the biscuits in said milk! It seems the tradition will live on, as Bear has taken quite a liking to these ‘bissits’, and even helped me make this batch, using his (pre-washed) playdough cutters to make shaped biscuits, which he thinks is pretty cool.

 

The only problem with being all domestic and baking yummy biscuits is all the taste testing required. I think DH would be quite shocked to see the real quantity this recipe makes ! *blush* Also, when baking with toddlers, be prepared to share your beaters *sob*, no longer can I sneak a quick lick of the beaters whilst the oven works its magic. Now, beaters belong to the little helper. Sigh, the price we pay for the joy of small children!