Valentines Day - Chocolate, strawberry and cupcake bouquet

Valentines day. Commercial construction or genuine celebration of love? Well, both are wrong. Valentines day, or February 14th, is simply the eve of my birthday. Mwahahaha.. (cake to come).

Ok, but seriously, I have the most amazing boyfriend in the whole world. Don’t even try and argue with me, I’m sure your boyfriend is quite lovely too. But mine is better. The best. Ever.

Unlike my amazing boyfriend, I unfortunately do not have a romantic bone in my body. My idea of romance is spending the night in some seedy pub with a beer in one hand, while my other hand is giving either the finger or devil horns to a local indie/rock band.

But this year I thought I’d attempt to bring the cheese (you know, a classically romantic gesture that is so cliche it has actually become too cheesy for words!). And what better way to bring the cheese than with a home made gift.

An interesting alternative to the classic bouquet of flowers is the now popular chocolate bouquet. You can also get fresh fruit bouquets. Some specialty businesses (mostly in the USA) offer cupcake bouquets. How about we combine all three of these...

Complete with nutella cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate hearts. Yummo! Super easy and cheap to make. I think it makes a great alternative to flowers, and a fantastic option for a present to give a male. Handmade with love for my baby. Xxx.

MummyB's Butterfly Birthday Cake - Inspired by Peggy Porschen and her Romantic Cakes

A new year already. How quickly 12 months have flown by! For Christmas this year I was treated with an array of cooking books; Bourke Street Bakery, Max Brenner and Cake Wrecks, just to name a few.

But I also treated myself with a new addition to my cooking library. Peggy Porschen is an incredibly creative woman, and her cakes are absolutely divine. For some inspiration in 2010 I bought myself her book 'Romantic Cakes'.

And what perfect timing, it arrived on my doorstep at the beginning of January. Just in time for my Mother's birthday.

So here is the inspiration for MummyB’s birthday cake.

All of her cakes are just stunning and for inspiration, look no further than a Peggy Porschen designed cake. I just love the blue and brown colour scheme and Peggy provides some fantastic tips and tricks to make decorating super simple.

Admittedly my butterflies were not as professionally executed at Peggy’s (my piping bag was, and still is, MIA). But I think the colours work perfectly together and I’m sure I will be making plenty more of these butterflies.

Happy Birthday MummyB!

KayB's foodie guide to New Zealand

New Zealand is a ridiculously gorgeous country. Everywhere you look there is something new and beautiful to gaze upon.

Late November this year the boyfriend and I set off to spend two and a half glorious weeks driving around New Zealand. Both of our parents had ventured off to the land of the long white cloud at some stage during 2009 so we had plenty of first hand advice to run with. One fact my parents had brought back with them was that food in New Zealand was expensive and horrible. Bugger! How was I going to satisfy my inner foodie for the next two and a half weeks?

It seems my parents were very wrong (possibly aided by the fact that they only ate in pubs during their entire trip!). The Boy and I ate like royalty. Not to say we didn't have a couple of crappy meals, but the good experiences far out weighed the bad. And here are our tips for travelers heading to New Zealand.

Christchurch.

The Bicycle Thief.

If you didn’t look hard enough you would trip over this place. Dark, wooden interior bathed only in candle light shelters this place from prying eyes. But once you are inside the darkness is cosy and comfortable.

I am a huge fan of polenta. I think it is terribly under rated but unfortunately I cant spread the love of polenta because I cant cook it!

(Polenta fries $10.50 NZ)

The Bicycle Thief however can cook polenta. The best polenta chips I’ve ever eaten. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. And the boy loved them so much as well, he was actually trying to fit another day into Christchurch just so we could go back for more.

(Coppa Pizza - coppa salami, rosemary, walnut, ricotta, rocket. $30 NZ)

Reviews of The Bicycle Thief praise their gourmet pizzas which aided my choice for dinner that night, while the boy opted for a chicken main.

The pizza was gorgeous, with an amazing freshness added by the peppery rocket. My only comment would be that it was a tad on the salty side with the combination of the salami and ricotta.

(Pollo di Molla - chicken, pistachio, silverbeet ballotine on goats cheese & shallot potatoes with white truffle oil. $28 NZ)

The chicken was perfectly cooked (the waitress even explained to us how you can tell by the colour of the meat as to whether it is cooked correctly) and matched perfectly with the shallot potatoes and goats cheese.

Queenstown.

Aggy's Shack - Fish and Chips

Locals will tell you that Queenstown is the last place in the world to be bored. There is far too much to do. And eat. Fish and Chips in New Zealand are supposed to be the best in the world. I was skeptical but keen to test this theory. I only ate fish and chips once in New Zealand and yes, it was the best fish and chips I’ve ever eaten.

(Seafood basket for two $30 NZ)

On a beautiful corner of the lake stands a tiny yellow and black shack that sells fish and chips to locals and tourists alike. We go for the ultimate in fish and chip dinning by order a seafood basket for two. Now, I’m not one for shell fish.. prawns, mussels, lobsters, balmain bugs etc. I know, I know, call me crazy, but I will now bite my tongue because these prawns are the best I’ve ever eaten. I sucked all these bad boys down before the boy even got a look in! But he got to eat all the mussels, exclaiming ‘They taste like the sea! That’s how you know they’re fresh.’

By the time you get through all the seafood on the top, the chips at the bottom are soggy. But if you’ve eaten all that seafood, chances are you wont have any room left to eat the chips. They are purely there for ascetic purposes.

Or maybe you could feed them to the very friendly locals who are more than willing to take the food right out of your hands.

Wine Tastes - Central Otago Wine Experience.

A fun way to get the night started in Queenstown is to hit up the Wine Tastes - Central Otago Wine Experience. The place is filled with shag rugs and big leather arm chairs. But incase the decor doesn’t set the mood for you, Billy Holiday is playing softly in the background.

(Salami platter)

Head to the counter and grab a wine card, order a cheese platter then head straight to the nearest tasting bar to fill up your glass.

You insert your card into the machine and select the size of the taste you would like. The charge is added to you card which you pay at the end. The majority of wines on offer are New Zealand and the selection changes daily.

Fergburger.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy for this experience. It was an impulse stop and one which I highly recommend to anyone heading to New Zealand. Cheap food, cheap beer and the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten. We both opt for a classic Fergburger with prime New Zealand beef patty, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli and tomato relish. This is not a burger for the faint hearted. Its the kind of burger you eat with two hands and slather all over your face. You’ll also end up with lock jaw from trying to get your mouth around the entire burger!

Other fun options on the menu include the ‘Bun Laden’ falafel burger, ‘The Codfather’ fresh cod fish burger and the ‘Sweet Bambi’ with wild New Zealand deer and plum chutney.

Locations.

The Bicycle Thief

21 Latimer Square, Christchurch NZ

www.thebicyclethief.co.nz

Aggy's Shack - Fish and Chips

Cnr Marine Parade and Church Street, Queenstown

Wine Tastes - Central Otago Wine Experience.

14 Beach Street, Queenstown NZ

www.winetastes.co.nz

Fergburger

42 Shotover st, Queenstown NZ

www.fergburger.com

Two Step Oreo Cake

I’m back. I didn’t abandon you all, cross my heart and hope to die. I was enjoying some much deserved time off, frolicking in foreign lands.

But to make it up to you for leaving you alone for so long I have come back with gifts.
First up – my latest creation. The two step oreo cake.

Short of time? Need a sugar fix? Bored of the simple things like cakes and biscuits? Well, why not whack the two of them together! Volia – oreo cake.

Take one packet butter cake mix and one packet of oreo biscuits (approx. 12). Roughly chop the biscuits into chunks, make butter cake batter according to box, mix in oreo chunks and bake. See, two steps!

Now, if you want to get really fancy like I have, why not add a cream cheese frosting to finish it off?

Oreo cream cheese frosting.
· 1 tub of light Philadelphia cream cheese
· 25 g of unsalted butter
· 1-2 cups of sifted confectioners’ sugar
· 6-8 oreo biscuits, chopped finely
· Extra oreo biscuits to decorate (optional)

Cream butter and cream cheese together until light and pale in colour.
Slowly add sugar until well mixed (add to taste).
Stir in chopped oreo biscuits.

You will probably find many cream cheese frosting recipes that call for large amounts of butter, anywhere between 50 grams to 250 grams. This recipe is made to my own personal taste and a belief that if I wanted my frosting to taste of excess butter, then I would just make a butter cream frosting!

Next week, part two of my gifts to you all. KayB’s culinary adventures in New Zealand.

Grandma’s 80th Birthday.

What do you buy an 80 year old woman who doesn’t actually want anything for her birthday? You get her nothing, and instead make a cake. It’s a win win. And the perfect chance to attempt some handmade flowers. Not too bad for my first attempt. The design of the cake was meant to be old fashioned and sweet with lovely pastel colours, and it turned out just as I envisioned it.

The cake was butter cake with white chocolate and passionfruit ganache. I think the white chocolate passionfruit ganache will be making a return. I had my official taste testers over on the night I was making this cake, and luckily I had a large bowl of ganache left over because they sucked it down!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma.

Happy 7-Eleven Day - Epic adventures and free slurpees

Saturday was ‘7-Eleven Day’, one of the greatest marketing campaigns ever created, because it means free slurpees for everyone! This momentous occasion occurs every year on the 7th day of the 11th month. The only requirement to claim your free slurpee is that you must say ‘Happy 7-eleven day’ when you enter the store. It’s one slurpee per person, per store. So, obviously the best way to get the most out of your slurpee day is to hit up as many 7-Elevens as possible

I didn’t participate in 7-Eleven day last year, but my best friend (we’ll call her Moon) did. She managed to get around to 9 locations. We were determined to better this number.

The plan - 4pm on Saturday, myself, Moon and D-gale would head out with the intention of making out way to at least 11 different stores. And all before 7pm! The excitement of the day couldn’t stop me, as I was dying for a slurpee come 11am. One little slurpee wont impede on the days performance, will it? So off to Sutherland 7-Eleven and this is what I find...

('Broken' Machines at Sutherland)

Devastated! All four machines were out of order. I find this a little suspect, and not in the true spirit of 7-Eleven day! I will NOT be going back, ever!

(First slurpee of the day)

I had to wait till 4pm, but it was totally worth it! First stop, Georges Hall. Up to the counter we head and proceed to wish the store attendant a ‘Happy 7-Eleven day!’ He hands us the almighty orange cup. And we’re off and running. I opt for a traditional raspberry flavour, good way to start the day. Three sips in and D-gale cries out in pain ‘Brain freeze, brain freeze!’ Epic fail.

(D-gale's brain is freezing)

Next stop, Moorebank. The one simple rule that is laid out prior to starting is that you must finish your current slurpee before arriving at the next destination. This proved to be a big fail as both Moon and I attempted to chug our slurpees when we spot the red, green and orange of the Moorebank store. But we learnt fast! In we go to claim our second orange cup, and head to the machines to see what is on offer. We spot a new sports slurpee – berry ice flavour with electrolytes. D-gale gets straight into this one because, well, he’s an athlete and needs all the electrolytes he can get (at least that’s what he tells himself). Moon contemplates the added energy option for a moment, “Do I really need electrolytes this early in the game?” We decide not.

(Flavour of the day - Kiwi Strawberry!)

Off again and we hit up Bankstown and Penshurst (flavour picks for these locations were Lemon Lime Vanilla – imagine a sour warhead in liquid form! – and a mostly liquid/melted cola, disappointing from Penshurst).

(Moon out front of the Bankstown store)

Next stop is Hurstville, but as D-gale directs from the back seat, and Moon promises us that it’s just up the end of the street; we discover that the Hurstville store is no more! Outrage becomes us! But we press on.

Cronulla would have to be my favourite stop of the day. The place was teeming with young kids, old kids, big kids etc. And the store featured the friendliest staff I’ve ever come across. I walk in, camera in hand and the store attendant asks if my pictures will be in the newspaper. If only, but he does like the idea of being featured on the internet and suggests a photo of him posing in front of the slurpee machines.

(D-gale and the lovely/over excited Cronulla store attendant)

My second favourite is Caringbah. The store was decorated in orange, green and red streamers and handmade posters that are very welcoming. Good to see people getting into the spirit of 7-Eleven day!

(Home made art at the Caringbah store)

We’re running short on time so we decide to bypass Sutherland for fear of the machines still being ‘broken’ and wasting time. We’re off to the Rockdale store, but D-gale is a little concerned because our list doesn’t have a proper address for the Rockdale store. Heading down Rocky Point Road, we’re all buzzing from the copious amount of sugar, a beacon shines up ahead. We see the glorious red, orange and green of an unaccounted for 7-Eleven – Ramsgate.

(Moon, over excited and jacked up on sugar at the Ramsgate store)

The Ramsgate store came in very handy, as we couldn’t locate the Rockdale store. Fearing we will waste more time searching for it we decide to head onto Bexley. A quick toilet and food pit stop, then we arrive at our second last destination. The store attendant makes each of us wish him a ‘Happy 7-Eleven Day’ before handing over the magnificent orange cups.

(Moon "and so far today I've drunk this many slurpees!!")

Finally, we’re off and racing to our last stop, Narwee. It’s a glorious moment as we pull up to the front of the store. And I’m delighted to find cute, hand drawn signs informing customers that they must say ‘Happy 7-Eleven Day’ before they can have their free slurpee. I finish the day as I started, with a classic raspberry flavour.



3.4 litters and 3 1/2 hours later we are finished. 9 slurpees down, we didn’t quite get to the double digits we wanted but still a fair effort.

And now, I’m putting out the call to all of you. Put the date in your diary (it's easy to remember, 7/11/10) because I’m looking to travel in a convoy of cars to at least 10 locations. This year you could go in the running to win a year’s supply of slurpees (if you can look at another slurpee again) just by wearing one or all of the 7-Eleven colours and taking a picture of yourself with your free slurpee. I think a convoy of cars decked out in orange, green and red will come close to a win. And if not, at least we have helped to spread the love that exists between a person and their slurpee.

Store Locations

Georges Hall
689 Henry Lawson Drive & Tower Road Georges Hall
PH: 02 9791 1153

Moorebank
102 Heathcote Road
PH: 02 9600 6054

Bankstown
122 Old Town Centre Plaza
PH: 02 9790 419

Penshurst
612 Forest Road (Cnr. George Street)
PH: 02 9580 2181

Cronulla
47 The Kingsway (Cnr. Gosport Street)
PH: 02 9527 1217

Caringbah
367 The Kingsway (Cnr. Willarong Road)
PH: 02 9525 9392

Ramsgate
368 Rocky Point Road
PH: 02 9529 6940

Bexley
474 Forest Road
PH: 02 9502 2186

Narwee
161 Penshurst Road (Cnr. Hannans Road)
PH: 02 9153 7461

http://www.slurpee.com.au/

Can’t read my, can’t read my, my poker face.

It’s true. You can’t. That’s what thirteen years of drama classes will do. But that’s beside the point really. The point is, I made another cake this week, that has a poker face. Or poker table. Can you see the distinction, or am I stretching it just a little too far?

My boyfriend also has a lovely face. Poker face, that is. And to celebrate his face, and also his birthday, I made him this cake.

Chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache, his favourite. The entire cake is edible, right down to the poker cards.

I presented my boyfriend with this cake, along with other presents, at a surprise lunch with all his friends and family. Luckily for me he had no idea what was going on until the last minute when I pulled into the driveway of his favourite pub. SURPRISE!

He was very excited to see everyone there and very grateful that I had organised such a fantastic event in his honour. Now, because of the shockingly large number of people who actually enjoy reading this blog, I will not humiliate him by telling you all exactly how thanked me. And no, it’s not what you’re thinking you dirty, dirty people. Let’s just say he will be getting a large invoice from my plastic surgeon. Love you baby. Happy birthday!