Cloe My Dear

Hello! It's been a long time since I've last blogged, but that's because...I WENT TO ENGLAND!!!! (and had the best time of my life ever!)

I have a host of posts lined up for you all, as I said in my last post, but for today I thought I'd share probably one of the best bonding-time walks I've ever had with my dog, Cloe.

We began with a routine walk to the park, where instead of going along our usually track like we usually do (to get our walk over and done with - tick! - for the day) I sat down on the grass and called her over. She was utterly confused, probably thinking 'I thought this was a walk!'

She didn't seem to mind too much, though - this yawn shows that she was rather happy to sit down for a minute after our efforts to get to the park itself.

But then....this look started to happen. The 'alright now, let's not be lazy, please let's keep walking!' look. (This is actually my favourite photo of the lot!)

And to my complete surprise, Cloe began to run, tearing across the grass until...

...she found something to rub herself against. I always find this an amusing thing that dog's do, and the fact that she did it while I had my camera made me very happy indeed :)

Eventually, after one of the best and most refreshing walks we've ever shared, we made it to the bay area just off the park, where Cloe enjoyed some good ol' digging and I found a jelly blubber or two to throw back into the water. 

A Day in the Life IV

 1. Got sent a video of my friend and I dancing like crazy in the middle of our school Common Room during a free period! Gotta love procrastination... :P
2. In love with Yankee Candles! My fav by far (haul was the previous post) is Vanilla and Lime
3. Spent some time with some little people this week and made tic-toc biscuit tea cups - blog post soon!
4. Missed Pancake Day last Tuesday, but made up for it on Sunday. Made plain everyday pancakes and jazzed some up with caramelised banana slices YUM

The Candle Burns - Yankee Candle Haul!

So I've been away to the land of my dreams - England! And absolutely loved every tea-drinking, teeth-chattering, sight-seeing moment! 

I have a whole host of posts lined up for this little blog, but until I get those organised, here is my very first Yankee Candle Haul!

Until very recently, Yankee Candles have been unavailable (or else extremely unaccessible) in Australia, but wandering through my local Spotlight yesterday, I found an entire shelf of these delicious smelling candles.

My eyes were drawn to them - I knew exactly what they were from YouTube, Instagram and, more importantly, my trip to England when in Liverpool I bought my very first Yankee Candle, and so began my love for them.

Relishing in the wonderful rain that England had (which turned into not-so-wonderful once the floods set in) I purchased the votive of 'November Rain', which I have yet to try, and didn't photograph because I accidentally (or intentionally but no knowing why) ripped the label and plastic covering off. (whoops!)

But now, onto the haul! For some reason, Spotlight only had the very Summer-y scents and so they were the ones that found their way to the till.

The candle I had my eye on was 'Vanilla Lime', since I had smelt it before and absolutely loved the sweet vanilla tinted with a hint of refreshing citrus. I love love love this scent, and purchased the votive instead of the tart since it's almost double the size and by chopping the candle in half I can easily use it as a tart if I want to.

Next I went for Lake Sunset, which has a subtle musk scent, and a gorgeous pale pink colour! I'm usually not drawn to musk (the scent of the lolly) but this is so sweet and soft that it's a delicious candle!

The last votive I bought this time around is a lovely, comforting scent of spices - Home Sweet Home. I bought this rather strong scented candle for my mum, who can handle the lingering spice much better than me. I believe she's used it today when she had friends over for lunch in this stormy Sydney weather.

The last two candles I purchased were Yankee Candle tarts, which you burn in an oil burner. These candles, for those of you who haven't used them before, do not come with a wick, but rather you sit them in the upper dish of an oil burner (usually I used mine for burning lavender essential oils during stressful times!) and light a tea light (I get mine from IKEA) which sits underneath in a little ceramic cave. The tea light gently melts the tart, and you can pop the melted wax in and out of the oil burner as many times as you like once the melted wax has settled and solidified again.

The first of the two tarts is this Clean Cotton scent, which, quite literally smells of clean linen. I found this scent to be almost soapy, but not overwhelmingly so. I'm interested to know whether the soft scent will hold when burnt.

And finally I have Mango Peach Salsa. I was tossing up between this and Waikiki Melon, but found that Mango Peach Salsa was a lot more fresh and fruity. Literally like one of those fruity drinks you get at resorts. Besides, I don't really like the smell of artificial watermelon, which I got in the latter candle. I think this particular tart will have to be burnt sometime soon as the Sydney hot weather seems to be fading (to my delight, I assure you!)

My ritual lately is to wake up early when no one in the house has yet stirred, and sit with a freshly brewed tea, a favourite book, and a candle burning next to me. It's lovely, and I'd encourage it for a bit of me-time, but when do you burn your candles?

*I have not been sponsored by Yankee Candle

Another Year Over, And a New One Just Begun

Happy New Year!!

 

As exciting as the prospect of a fresh start, new opportunities, and a clean slate is at the beginning of the year, left-over Christmas food stuffs still permeate my house.

 

Stuff like mince meat that my mum and I used for mince pies during Christmas.

 

 

 

For a twist on the classic but Christmas-y mince pie, we made drop cookies with a mince pie filling instead of the traditional jam or marmalade.

 

The photos of these yummy treats seem to be missing, so instead here's my cute reindeer mug filled with warming tea. Forgive me for no photos?

 

 

 

While you can't see the mince pie version, here's a photo of the drop cookies (same recipe used for the mince pie version) with nutella and jams adorning it.

 

 

 

The recipe I used can be found here: http://www.aww.com.au/food/recipes/2005/5/quince-jam-drop-cookies/

Just substitute the quince with mince meat :)

A Day in the Life III

1) The perfect morning - a good book (currently Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie), a glorious Christmas tree, and a total sense of calm

2) Homemade fresh pasta with broccoli sauce and florets. Recipe coming soon!

3) Flowers from my parents for having done well in my final school year exams. While the roses smell literally like lollies, my favourites have to be the snapdragons!

4) Christmas light hunting on two occasions this week. First, as pictured, with my cousin, Daycha, and secondly last night with my friend, Phebe. 

Every Little Thing

In a season filled with presents, gift wrapping, and shiny lights, I think it's important to remember the little things, and how grateful we are for them.

This year, I am thankful for...

 ... the playfulness of my adorable dog (even when she's just woken up)...

...the precious time I spent with my darling cat...



...the sweet times...



...baking with my mum...

...going on adventures with my dad...



...getting through my final school year relatively unscathed (and having so much fun with friends, too)...



The Snow is Falling

Christmas in Sydney is not at all cold (though 2012's Christmas certainly seemed so - let's hope for a repeat, shall we?). Nope. Not one bit as freezing as Europe and those other Northern countries. Even our Winter is warm in comparison.

But for some reason I long for sub-zero temperatures, sweaters and socks, hot chocolate and a cozy fireplace.

Those cold nights wrapped up in blankets, with hot chocolate and a favourite movie.(Titanic, anyone?) *Sigh* Those are the kind of things a girl wants....

But instead of sulking and remembering how UNBEARABLY HOT it is in Summer, and how not-really-cold it is in Winter, I made CHOCOLATE SNOWMEN!!! YAY

 

These cake balls are eeeeeeeeeasy - so easy in fact I've already made them three times this Christmas season!

All you need to do is bake up any chocolate cake recipe you fancy (or any other flavour, for that matter), and then when it has cooled, crumble it with your fingers into a bowl until the cake resembles crumbs.

Right. Good work. That was fun, I know. Now make a small amount (maybe 1/2 - 1 cup full) of buttercream. Should be chocolate, I guess, but so long as it's sugar I really don't think anyone will care! Mix this into your cake crumbs until everything is slightly sticky with frosting.

Roll balls of cake (about 1-2 Tablespoons full) and put them on a baking sheet lined with baking/parchment paper. These balls of deliciousness need to be chilled until firm - about 30 minutes.

 

Once the balls are chilled, melt some white chocolate buttons (I end up using about 2 packets, but not all at once since the chocolate resets quickly) and dip each ball into the chocolate. I'll admit, this is the hardest part for me, and the least likeable part of the process. BUT it gets better from here!

As soon as a ball has had its dunking in chocolate, place it back on the baking paper and quickly put a marshmallow on top for the snowman's head. Repeat with the rest of the balls, then chill them again in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. 

Decorating time!!! Melt some more white chocolate, and, one snowman at a time, drizzle the chocolate over its marshmallow head until the whole marshmallow is covered with chocolate.

You don't want to drizzle so much chocolate that you can't see the first layer of chocolate on the cake ball, though, since you want the snowmen to look as though they are melting :D 

Now, quick as you can before the chocolate sets, stick a fruit tingle or other flat disc-shaped lolly onto the marshmallow head as a hat base.

Wrap a sour strap (cut into 4 so it's not so chunky) around the snowman's neck for a scarf to keep himself from getting too cold.

Then drop cachous onto the head for eyes, and a small orange (or blue for a frostbite snowman!) chocolate chip for the nose.

If you wish, you can add more coloured choc chips, some M&M's or some cachous onto the body for buttons.

Dip a mini marshmallow into some white chocolate so that it will stick to the fruit tingle hat base.

 

And voila! Gorgeous and addictive chocolate cake snowmen! Perfect for that Christmas party, or just for some fun and yummy-ness!