mosaic road

Dump Cake

Such an unattractive name  and not a very pretty dessert but so fast to make and great to eat !!

As the name implies you do literally dump ingredients on top of each other to make this. There are endless variations too, as you can imagine. I layered my home cooked peaches, lots of them, in a oblong casserole. I tipped a pack of chocolate cake mix over the fruit. The cake mix had my own additions of cinnamon and crunchy muesli flakes. Melted butter is then poured over the cake mix and then into the oven. I may have blogged about this recipe a year ago but no matter as it's good to reinforce the good things in life and eating this is one of them.

Fabulous Movie

 

I escaped the hordes and the heat and went to the movies at 11.15 at Cinema Como with a friend and just thought this was the most brilliant movie -  a moving, sometimes devastating  and excellent interwoven story. I totally recommend this film.

The Case of the Disappearing Muffins

I made a very quick and easy batch of gingerbread muffins this morning. They vanished in an inkling. Usually there are only two of us in this household but currently we number five so muffins warm from the oven don't sit around for long .

Bedside Reading

I have always loved to read, maybe it has something to do with my mother being a librarian. Over the past few years I have not read enough, regretfully. Too much time on the laptop, I fear, is the cause. I want to improve on this in 2011. I am thoroughly enjoying 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett currently. It is a US bestseller, set in the 60's and written mainly in the vernacular of Mammy in Gone With the Wind. My children are big readers too and I know S is loving 'Brisinger' by Christopher Paolini as I have seen it lying round the house a lot keeping her company on the couch. I am enjoying mine so much I even took it to work today to read at lunchtime which is a far cry from the Who Weekly type of thing found in our tea room that I often peruse mindlessly.

 

Carrot Cake Muffins

Kelly at Jax does Design sent me a wonderful carrot cake recipe . It is meant to have an indulgent white chocolate cream cheese frosting on top. I loved the recipe and used it to make muffins. It certainly made a generous amount. For dietary/calorie cut back reasons I decided to forego the frosting. It was a hard decision to make and one I nearly didn't carry through as I love frosting, I love white chocolate and I love cream cheese. So you can see I was certainly  drawn to this recipe in a big way.The muffins even sadly sans frosting were wonderful.

Australia Day

Australia Day for me really is about having a public holiday. As it fell mid week this year it was a fabulous and restful hiatus right in the middle of the working week. I have been to the gym, had 2 capuccinos after that and then scrubbed my front porch with a high pressure hose. Then I have relaxed all afternoon watching back to back James Bond movies. I just wish we could have Australia Day every Wednesday !!

Chocolate Crumble - yum !!!

I baked some rhubarb and apple in the oven with cinnamon and allspice and then decided to use it in a crumble. The crumble ingredients I used were a little different to my usual ones. A change is a good as a holiday isn't it !! I used muesli flakes and choc chips instead of plain steel cut oats. My photo shows the crumble  looking a bit singed. Well, it is - only a tiny bit though. I walked the dogs while it was cooking and as always I was a bit longer than planned .

Peaches, no cream

Look at these golden beauties !! Peaches abound right now and I do love the yellow ones and they appear only so briefly. I dipped them in boiling water to remove their skin. My children have always preferred nectarines over peaches as they always complained when little that they did not like the "fur" meaning the peach skin. Hence, I peel them out of long habit. The flesh is lustrous, generous and sweet and you cannot stop at one.

A Luscious Lunch - long & late

Today was a perfect summer Sunday. I had a sleep in and then a lie in and then a quick trip to the gym and then we went to Mr Foxx [cafe] for coffee and carrot cake. There was a moving chore then to be done with my mattress base being exchanged for a wooden bed base belonging to L. He could not fit the larger wooden base in his room in his share house in East Melbourne. Once this was done the four of us meandered down Smith St looking at vintage furniture. By about 3 we decided to have lunch and enjoyed a shared platter, big sandwiches, limoncello on ice - just perfect and leisurely.

 

 

Choc Chip Banana Slice

Fresh fruit in our summer heat deteriorates pretty fast. Once in the fruit bowl it really needs to be eaten within 2 days or it is past it's use by date, looks sad and often gets mouldy. Bananas are no exception and blacken quickly. Banana bread, loaf and cake are my usual rescue remedies but today I made this great slice . Choc chips, oats and bananas - what's not to love ???? Please email me if you want to use up 2 tired bananas.