M.I.A

I've been woefully absent lately i know.  I don't really have a good excuse, just general laziness after work, and, to be truthful, i've been a bit on the apathetic-side when it comes to baking.  I'm trying to lose the last of my post-baby weight and cakes and biscuits are not helping my cause!  That's not to say i haven't been baking them though....

Above is a pic of the chocolate date cake and lemon yoghurt cake i made for the boys at work. I've also made them a batch of chocolate chippies, which seem to have been the most popular so far.  Tomorrow it's my birthday so i'm taking in gingerbread cupcakes with a caramel frosting and some chocolate crunch.  The gingerbread recipe is one of Harriet's- 'moist spicy gingerbread' and it's really good. The caramel frosting is kind of like russian fudge- yum yum (goodbye diet)  The chocolate crunch is my grannie's recipe and is one of my go-to baking items.  Sometimes i think Mila and Anton would be happy if they never had to see another piece of crunch ever again but its just so easy and forgiving to bake and it's the one thing i always seem to have the ingredients for, so i'm always in favour of baking it!

In other exciting news.. my friend Viv gave birth to a gorgeous wee baby boy on the 16th- Luca Waller.  He's a real cutey, you can definitely tell he's a boy, in fact i think he looks exactly like his dad. He's smaller than both my girls were at birth so i felt a bit nervous about holding him at first- it's unnerving having somebody else's life in your hands. And he's quite a jerky fella too- wee little arms and legs moving all over the place.

I don't have much else to report- that's the problem with working all week, it really interferes with your social life!

Below is my life over the past few weeks in iPhone photos- thank you work phone for documenting my boring life :-)  Has anyone out there been up to anything noteworthy?

Kate xx

And another one gone...

On Saturday afternoon me and my girls decided to be totally unneccessarily indulgent and so we baked chocolate cupcakes...with pieces of chocolate inside...and chocolate butter cream icing on top. Very very sweet. The chocolate we used was the cadbury block that has different types of filling...orange, pineappple, caramel, strawberry and coconut ice..so it was a bit of a surprise in each cupcake. The baking process itself was pretty sweet too...the girls are really into it and there are not enough tasks to keep them both satisfied! We also listened to a bit of classic Bon Jovi and they were singing along to 'Livin' on a prayer'...it doesn't get much sweeter than that.

Meanwhile, Herbert was enjoying a nap in a pot...as you do...

Later in the afternoon we brought out the singstar...the girls particularly like the 80s songs: Heaven is a place on earth, Material Girl, Wake me up before you go.... James even wanted to be Alice Cooper, but it's not that easy. I remember liking that song when I was about her age...strange as that seems. I feel like such a mum at times like these! Before long I'll be telling her about my long walks to school, barefoot through the snow .....

And today I bought Rory a new (to her), totally rad, bike. And she is almost able to ride it herself...it was awesome. Rory was so excited, giggling with nervous hysteria and likening it to a bit of a rocket launch. It was a bit of a workout for me running along with her this afternoon...trying to keep up, and keep yelling 'keep pedalling, keep pedalling!' at the same time...i'm rather unfit! But it was fun. I took some awful first photos of Rad Rory and her Rad bike (hey, i was exhausted by then)...and they don't even begn to convey the full extent of her enthusiasm...or the RADNESS of her bicycle!!

Anyway that's the weekend roundup. I'm pretty much over cupcakes now - it's merely the thrill of piping icing that keeps me hanging in there. Time for some new baking terrain to be explored.
What i'm not over is my bookshelf/ poster wall which I have just completed lately...My walls have been bare for too long and I know it will be awhile before I can spend money on art - or frames - so in the meantime I have chosen some pretty pictures, mostly from Frankie and NO magazines , plus a couple of others..got 2 picture walls going at the moment, still a work in progress, but they bring me much pleasure to the eye...as do all my books...I like to gaze at all the familiar titles and just feel a general comfort in their appearance and the knowledge of the words inside...what a geek. But now i'm a geek with some pretty wall coverings! Lovely...

Next time I will show you 'the hot dog lady'...a family favourite.

xx Harriet

Me Too...

I too had a crack at vanilla cupcakes today.  Mila and i baked a batch in the morning before i headed off to pick up Harriet for some crafty good times.  I used a recipe out of Ladies, a Plate (one of my favourite cookbooks in case you hadn't guessed- thanks again little sister for some astute Christmas gift giving!)

Later in the evening i finally got round to icing them with a vanilla butter cream type icing. I tried to have a go at piping but it turned out disastrous and in frustration i had to scoop all the icing back out of my plastic bag piper and just smear it on with a knife- the end result is tasty but lacking in finesse...Can you tell?!!!

Kate x

Cupcakes + Craft

It was a beautiful sunny morning today and Kate took me (and Juno) to the Kraftbomb, which is a little craft fair held monthly in a hall in Grey Lynn. There were lots of cute things, and some good looking books, I will definitely have to go back one day if I ever have disposable income! There were also lots of people crowded into the hall - so it was quite hard to move, and to take photos of all the pretty goods on display (especially as I get a bit shy taking pictures in such close quarters!).

Kate picked up this cute little print

Waiting for mummy to have a look around

Afterwards Kate shouted me coffee and a red velvet cupcake (thanks, big sister!). Very yummy, and it was so nice and warm sitting in the sunshine...too hot for a jumper! It felt so summery.

Sweet little girl in the background there...she was out with her Daddy having a cup of 'coffee' and waiting patiently for her toast...cute cute cute!

Then when I got home I made a batch of my own mini cupcakes. Not exactly adventurous - this is a simple Vanilla Cupcake recipe which is incredibly quick and easy to make, but with a pretty tasty result. I was missing the vanilla essence and one egg, but I just substituted a few spoonfuls of vanilla yoghurt instead and that seemed to work. I iced them with a chocolate buttercream icing - a little sloppy but tasty - and, oh lord, won't you buy me a decent piping bag instead of this 2 dollar shop crap!!!