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Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
4 October 2007
I'm yummy...
Again with a bit of fun and a huge amount of laziness on my part. Enjoy...
4 May 2007
What's up???
Well I suppose that's the question you should be asking me. There are bloggers out there who seem to be able to write paragraph after paragraph about all sorts of things. I'm not one of those. I have a hard time thinking about what to write. I understand that this is my space and I can write whatever. I also know that I'm not going to get a million ongoing visitors who find my life and writings so fascinating that they can't go one day without seeing what I have to write.
A friend of mine recently sent me an email saying "I love your capacity to tell good stories about cheesecakes and HIV in the same blog." Now, I know she was being honest and truly meant what she had said but it made me think. I'm not sure what I write is that fascinating. Her comment did make me realise that this blog is exactly what I said it would be when I first started it over two years ago. This is just about me and the things I might find interesting. I never said you would be interested but am more than happy if you are so inclined.
This blog is a space in which I am able to talk about my life and what is currently going on. I do this so that my family and those few friends that are interested are able to keep up with what is happening in my part of the world. Occasionally I can also comment on certain things if I so choose. Seeing that we live in a relatively remote part of the world I don't get to see my family as much as I would like. To see my family requires me to get on a plane and fly usually around 25 plus hours. It's not like I can just pop in to see them. So I try to at least try to keep them posted about what is happening around here using this space.
I appreciate my friends words about my capacity to write about such a wide range of thins but the truth of it all is I write what I want to and what I write is not necessarily that ground breaking. I write for my self and if anyone is interested then I can only hope I at least make sure I spell check everything for them; other than that I can not promise what they will read will be even remotely interesting, kind of like this post.
Anyway, as to what's up, let me think. The oven is brilliant. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I'm as giddy as a school girl at the mall with my mothers credit card. I don't even know where to start. I love to cook and more specifically I love to bake. So lets just say for the next several months I will be reclaiming my life as a cook and I will be making up for a lot of lost time. Also, the new cook top, that we bought when we bought the oven, works correctly now that the proper gas-fittings have been installed so I'm now able to make a proper dinner.
In the short time that we've had the new oven. I've made:
Milk chocolate cheesecake
Pecan pie x2
Chocolate decadence cake
Oatmeal cookies w/white chocolate chunks and cranberries
Next up Pumpkin bread w/cranberry cream filling
What else is going on? Well James is still working most weekends on night duty, which is okay as it gives us most of the week Mon-Thursday to be together and do whatever chores need to be attended to. He also likes the nights because it keeps him away from the politics at work. I am still struggling with my neuropathy but that will never go away. I'm pretty well resigned to no more driving because of the amount of pain medicine I have to take now on a daily basis. I will just have to learn to continually adjust and I will. I have lost a few pounds/kilos, which is surprising considering all the baking I've been doing. Other than that we are just settling in getting ready for winter to truly arrive. We've had a few cold spells so far but nothing horrendous. James has done a lot of gardening and getting all the flower beds mulched and ready for their winter sleep. The Japanese Maple in the back yard is turning a lovely shade of red as usual. I love the fall colours but I am sad when that tree looses all its leaves, but i know it will be back next spring so there is something to look forward to as little as that is.
Well I suppose I've rambled on enough so I will stop for now. There is only so much boredom I can dish out in a day. Keep your eyes peeled for posts about our upcoming trip to Strahan with the bears in June and also pictures and stories will be forthcoming about our visit to the Hawkes Bay region on the North Island of New Zealand, which we are planing for August to visit our friend Moys. So you see there is something to look forward to if your really bored.
A friend of mine recently sent me an email saying "I love your capacity to tell good stories about cheesecakes and HIV in the same blog." Now, I know she was being honest and truly meant what she had said but it made me think. I'm not sure what I write is that fascinating. Her comment did make me realise that this blog is exactly what I said it would be when I first started it over two years ago. This is just about me and the things I might find interesting. I never said you would be interested but am more than happy if you are so inclined.
This blog is a space in which I am able to talk about my life and what is currently going on. I do this so that my family and those few friends that are interested are able to keep up with what is happening in my part of the world. Occasionally I can also comment on certain things if I so choose. Seeing that we live in a relatively remote part of the world I don't get to see my family as much as I would like. To see my family requires me to get on a plane and fly usually around 25 plus hours. It's not like I can just pop in to see them. So I try to at least try to keep them posted about what is happening around here using this space.
I appreciate my friends words about my capacity to write about such a wide range of thins but the truth of it all is I write what I want to and what I write is not necessarily that ground breaking. I write for my self and if anyone is interested then I can only hope I at least make sure I spell check everything for them; other than that I can not promise what they will read will be even remotely interesting, kind of like this post.
Anyway, as to what's up, let me think. The oven is brilliant. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I'm as giddy as a school girl at the mall with my mothers credit card. I don't even know where to start. I love to cook and more specifically I love to bake. So lets just say for the next several months I will be reclaiming my life as a cook and I will be making up for a lot of lost time. Also, the new cook top, that we bought when we bought the oven, works correctly now that the proper gas-fittings have been installed so I'm now able to make a proper dinner.
In the short time that we've had the new oven. I've made:
Milk chocolate cheesecake
Pecan pie x2
Chocolate decadence cake
Oatmeal cookies w/white chocolate chunks and cranberries
Next up Pumpkin bread w/cranberry cream filling
What else is going on? Well James is still working most weekends on night duty, which is okay as it gives us most of the week Mon-Thursday to be together and do whatever chores need to be attended to. He also likes the nights because it keeps him away from the politics at work. I am still struggling with my neuropathy but that will never go away. I'm pretty well resigned to no more driving because of the amount of pain medicine I have to take now on a daily basis. I will just have to learn to continually adjust and I will. I have lost a few pounds/kilos, which is surprising considering all the baking I've been doing. Other than that we are just settling in getting ready for winter to truly arrive. We've had a few cold spells so far but nothing horrendous. James has done a lot of gardening and getting all the flower beds mulched and ready for their winter sleep. The Japanese Maple in the back yard is turning a lovely shade of red as usual. I love the fall colours but I am sad when that tree looses all its leaves, but i know it will be back next spring so there is something to look forward to as little as that is.
Well I suppose I've rambled on enough so I will stop for now. There is only so much boredom I can dish out in a day. Keep your eyes peeled for posts about our upcoming trip to Strahan with the bears in June and also pictures and stories will be forthcoming about our visit to the Hawkes Bay region on the North Island of New Zealand, which we are planing for August to visit our friend Moys. So you see there is something to look forward to if your really bored.
26 April 2007
I'm pathetic...
Why you ask? Well I'm going to tell you even if you didn't ask. I'm sure you remember my recent post about the upcoming arrival of our new oven and cook top Well it arrived last Tuesday and this past Monday it was installed. I was, and still am, as giddy as a school girl going on her first date ya'll! Now getting this excited over a new oven and cook top is pretty pathetic in my view, but then again what the hell do I care if someone thinks I'm pathetic. I got a new oven!
As I said it was installed on Monday and the first thing I said I was going to cook was a cheesecake. Well, I lied. I thought better of it and decided we should eat dinner first so I made a meatloaf. The whole experience was surreal. It's not like I've never used an oven before but I've not been able to use an oven properly for the past eight years and I was not sure what to expect. The most recent, and now late, oven burned everything to a crisp within the first 30 minutes no matter how much time I took off the overall cooking time or even how many degrees I cut back off the required temperature. I love too bake and cook and it was so frustrating to spend so much time trying to make something and to have that oven turn it into something so disgusting the the cat would hiss at.
So anyway, I popped the meatloaf into the new oven and watched it bake. Seriously, I sat there for the whole hour and watched it bake and to be honest if the pan it was in had not come out of the oven blistering hot I would have sworn the meat was still cold in the middle. But alas, the new oven did not let me down and the meatloaf was not only hot in the middle but it was PERFECT!
I thought well lets give my most prized recipe a go and I decided to make a cheesecake. Now my cheesecakes are almost legend among my family and friends and as I said I had not been able to make one in over eight years so all of my new friends and family here in Australia have never had the luxury of eating any of these gastronomic delights. I chose to make the milk chocolate version and like all of my cheesecakes they take three and a half hours to bake because you can't hurry perfection. I went to bed Monday night at 12:30 after placing what looked to be a perfectly cooked cheesecake in the fridge to cool. I did not dream of cheesecake as that would have not been so pathetic as it would have been just weird.
The next day we had invited two of our favourite people over for after dinner dessert. So at 7:30 that night the truth was known and all I can say is "IT'S A MIRACLE" I can bake again. I have been healed. The cheesecake was as smooth, creamy and evenly baked as any I have made in the past if not better. I feel redeemed after all the past two years of burnt and mutilated baked goods seem like a bad dream.
Now if that story isn't pathetic I don't know what is. Aren't you glad you stop by everyday to see what I may have written and the best I can do is talk about an oven and a cheesecake. Well what can I say I never promised you stories filled with debauchery, drugs, alcohol and naked escapades. You get what you get. HMMM... debauchery, drugs, alcohol and naked escapades there could be a story or two in that....NAH!!!
As I said it was installed on Monday and the first thing I said I was going to cook was a cheesecake. Well, I lied. I thought better of it and decided we should eat dinner first so I made a meatloaf. The whole experience was surreal. It's not like I've never used an oven before but I've not been able to use an oven properly for the past eight years and I was not sure what to expect. The most recent, and now late, oven burned everything to a crisp within the first 30 minutes no matter how much time I took off the overall cooking time or even how many degrees I cut back off the required temperature. I love too bake and cook and it was so frustrating to spend so much time trying to make something and to have that oven turn it into something so disgusting the the cat would hiss at.
So anyway, I popped the meatloaf into the new oven and watched it bake. Seriously, I sat there for the whole hour and watched it bake and to be honest if the pan it was in had not come out of the oven blistering hot I would have sworn the meat was still cold in the middle. But alas, the new oven did not let me down and the meatloaf was not only hot in the middle but it was PERFECT!
I thought well lets give my most prized recipe a go and I decided to make a cheesecake. Now my cheesecakes are almost legend among my family and friends and as I said I had not been able to make one in over eight years so all of my new friends and family here in Australia have never had the luxury of eating any of these gastronomic delights. I chose to make the milk chocolate version and like all of my cheesecakes they take three and a half hours to bake because you can't hurry perfection. I went to bed Monday night at 12:30 after placing what looked to be a perfectly cooked cheesecake in the fridge to cool. I did not dream of cheesecake as that would have not been so pathetic as it would have been just weird.
The next day we had invited two of our favourite people over for after dinner dessert. So at 7:30 that night the truth was known and all I can say is "IT'S A MIRACLE" I can bake again. I have been healed. The cheesecake was as smooth, creamy and evenly baked as any I have made in the past if not better. I feel redeemed after all the past two years of burnt and mutilated baked goods seem like a bad dream.
Now if that story isn't pathetic I don't know what is. Aren't you glad you stop by everyday to see what I may have written and the best I can do is talk about an oven and a cheesecake. Well what can I say I never promised you stories filled with debauchery, drugs, alcohol and naked escapades. You get what you get. HMMM... debauchery, drugs, alcohol and naked escapades there could be a story or two in that....NAH!!!
7 March 2007
Busy as usual...
You know when I retired I was supposed to relax, well it seems now I have more things to do than I know what to do with and they just keep coming. Anyway, this is my feeble attempt at telling you why I haven't been posting lately but it is true, I am doing all sorts of things right now that keep me from posting. Lets see:
- Refinishing two bifold doors to go between the lounge room (It's what we call the living room in Australia) and the kitchen. The doors were in the shed when we bought the house and we have talked about fixing them and putting them back up for two years but I/we never had time to focus on this so now I/we do. I'll take a picture of the finished product.
- I have been baking up a storm. I know this is a choice but we have guests right now and besides everyone loves my cakes and pies. Recently creations have included dutch apple pie, peanut putter pie and just yesterday a carrot cake. I realize that this is not a necessary chore but it has kept me busy none the less.
- We went to Cradle Mountain last weekend and once again walked around the mountain but not as far as we did last time when James almost met an untimely demise. This also is a choice not a chore but it did keep me away from the computer.
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