Wedded bliss

We have been a bit busy on the home front recently, with franctic organisation leading up to our wedding! We were married on the Swan River Foreshore and had an awesome lunch reception, followed by a party at our local pub and honeymoon in Bali. What larks!

We are now in the closeout stage of wedding shenanigans with thank yous and photos and christening of wedding gifts still to sort out, and life should slowly get back to more normal proportions!

Although... Christmas is coming so maybe it will just get even madder.

Image C Photography

Green tea cupcakes

The large quantity of tea that I received as kitchen tea gifts has inspired me to make green tea cupcakes. The link is somewhat obscure, but I got there in the end.



I started looking for some inspiration. Recipes are not that common so here are the top three for later use and experimentation.

• Not Quite Nigella


• Betty's Bites


• Daydream Delicious

Abalone love!

The abalone season here in Perth runs for one hour on a Sunday morning over five weeks. Yep, there is limited opportunity to bag your catch. In previous years it has been a six week season - this year it has been reduced to five due to an increased number of licences.

For various reasons (wedding, honeymoon, work) the first weekend of the season is the only one that C will be home and able to fish for the abolone; he made sure to go out and get his quota. Yum! I have never been as spoilt as I am with C, he makes sure to keep me happy with fresh fish and seafood.

Pretty flower

My knowledge of botany is limited, so I do not know what this flower is. That does not stop me from enjoying it. This speciman is in my front courtyard and I admired it on the way to work one morning. I see it around the area, many people also must admire its beauty!

WWotW: Procrastinate

Procrastinate verb to keep delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring =

Ricotta and coconut flatcakes with banana and honey

Yum! For breakfast this morning I felt like ricotta flatcakes. I knew that I had a recipe somewhere and dug it up! The original recipe served four so I thought that I would halve it and keep any leftovers for snacks during the week.

It was not too difficult to do - except that I forgot to halve the milk and only realised while I was halfway through pouring it into the dry ingredients. What a dopey girl I am! I bulked the batter back out again with additional dry ingredients and they still tasted great.

I served mine up with some ricotta, banana slices and a drizzle of lovely White Gum honey.

I have nine leftovers now, and they should make a great morning tea snack during the week at work with some cream cheese or even ricotta.

Recipe here.

Updating Austen

I love this take on the modern email Inbox of Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I am guessing that it is set after Elizabeth's trip to Huntsford to see the Collins' but before she has set off for Lambton to check out Pemberley.

I wonder what Emma would have had in her Inbox...
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A slice of France

For weeks before Jean Pierre Sancho opened its doors, I would walk past and wonder at what tasty treats we would soon be able to eat! Since it opened, I have never quite organised myself to try those treats, until this weekend.

I have a few friends who love their food, and K is at the top of the list. Selecting a suitable venue for food is always fun! We get to try new places and sample different foods. It had been an aeon since we had properly caught up and after changing our minds about breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, we settled on afternoon tea at JPS.

There was a bit of miscommunication about our meeting time but thankfully I brought a book and had something to do to keep me occupied. There was only so long that I could wait however without ordering food so I started without K.

The food was delicate and tasty and I will definitely have to brave the crowds for a workday lunch!

The view while I waited...

I was ravenous and ordered myself salmon and spinach quiche. Yum! The quiche was lovely with flakes of salmon and the pastry light. It was larger than I had expected and the salad was a welcome touch.

Still hungry, so had the most gorgeous coffee eclair and a hot chocolate. The chocolat chaud was served European style, at a temperature to drink immediately rather than having to wait for it to cool down.

K also ordered a slice of quiche and coffee eclair. Great minds think alike... although she did mention that quiche is BabyA's choice...

BabyA picking up the sultanas that she had thoughtfully decorated the floor with.

WWotW: Pronunciation

One word that is often mispronounced is "pronunciation".

The word pronouce has "ou", and pronunciation has only a "u". Therein lies the confusion!

Pronunciation noun how words are pronounced =

Even Google knows the correct spelling. When I typed in "pronounciation" its response to the search request was:
Showing results for pronunciation. Search instead for pronounciation

19 slice pudding

My uni mate T is not often in Perth. He has been working overseas now for nearly four years and so when he comes back the uni crew have reason to celebrate! This time around was a fairly low key affair and he dusted off his culinary skills to impress us.

Impressed we were, first by a smooth and creamy chocolate mousse and then by his truly unique apple and currant bread and butter pudding. T was not content to follow the recipe in its recommended quantities. Six slices of bread was not generous enough! So nineteen slices later we had a pudding. Luckily he had bought two loaves of bread, otherwise he could have been in strife during the construction process.

You can see T proudly displaying his pudding. M is pointing out the fact that T bought THE WRONG BRAND OF CUSTARD!! Our friend P who also enjoyed mousse and pudding is employed by one of their rivals, and we really must support his employment.

Oh no! Not a puncture...

This morning I was all geared up to ride to work. As I made my way down the driveway I heard a noise. It sounded like paper was hitting my spokes. I looked behind me. I looked around. I looked down, and realised that my tyre was pancake status.

Oh dear. So back inside my bike and I went, and a quick change of outfit - no sexy lycra for the bus passengers - and I was out the door again on my trusty feet.

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Quiz for a cause

On Saturday evening we caught up with some friends for a quiz! The money raised all went to a good cause, the Breast Cancer Network Australia. This group provides support for those affected by breast cancer and much more.

Back to the quiz. There were questions, and lots of pink, and cupcakes for sale and all things good! We were not a standout, coming in the middle of the pack - back to studying for us! - but a good night was had by all and it was great to catch up with friends for a bit of a laugh.

Thank you P for organising the table and let us know when the quiz rocks around next year. I promise to study up on my trashy teen and reality TV in preparation for the quiz.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

There is a pretty tree in my front courtyard. The scent is sweet and the flowers change from purple to white! It is lovely to be welcomed home during the spring.

I was told that the common name for this plant is Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow. The fact sheet tells me that it is a shrub, although mine is shaped like a tree with a thin trunk!

Three Red Letters

I was intrigued to see these gaily decorated letters in the foyer at work. On closer inspection I realised that they were works of art, decorated by some of Australia's designers. They were done for the Australian Red Cross to raise awareness for blood donations and blood types. For more information and to see more letters, click here.

Wayne Cooper and Akira Isogawa

Bettina Liano

Ken Done

Girls Night In 2010

Last weekend saw our Girls Night In for 2010! The girls were trying to remember how long I have been doing it for, I think we have had five so far. The first one I am sure was a cheese night but the afternoon tea just seems a lot easier especially since a lot of my friends have children and I think that it is easier for them to drop in and eat cake!

In a contrast to last year, Sunday dawned as wet and windy. (Last year was very sunny and we had to keep moving the cakes on the table as the sunshine was melting the icing!)

Thank you to everyone who came and ate and also those who could not make it and donated. Our total raised for the Cancer Council so far is $545 with a couple of donations still to be received.

Mum pulled out lots of random pink sheets to adorn the tables, and one of her friends dropped around some lovely pink flowers to brighten up our tables.

This year there were seventeen of us to eat the yummy goodies! There were a few friends who baked for the occasion and we had the best spread ever this year.

Tasty treats included a P's pink pavlova, N's red velvet cake, Mum's spinach and ricotta rolls, M+S+M's mum's carrot cake, M's lemon slice, pink doughnuts, chocolate cupcakes with (pink!) white chocolate icing, lemon tart, cheese scones, musk sticks and salmon and cucumber sandwiches.

There cannot be a party without punch! This is a simple recipe, two litres of tropical punch juice, 1.25L each of lemonade and dry ginger ale and some strawberries. The ice block is actually half of the juice that mum froze.

I borrowed these poms from M, she made them for her daughter's first birthday and the colour was just right for us! Dad put them up for me before escaping the pink to go and visit his brother.

I think that Y was very optimistic in bringing her hat. Still, it made a pretty picture!