They Say What They Say

I've seen this floating around my flist and it's such a cool story it bears repeating.

Apparently the organisers of Flanvention, a Serenity/Firefly convention, went belly-up and cancelled at the very last moment, even though many fans had already arrived at the hotel for the event. So what happens? Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Mark Sheppard, Jonathan Woodward, Christina Hendricks and Adam Baldwin turn up anyway and start partying with the fans! Apparently Nathan Fillion even cleaned out his closet and started giving stuff away!!

How could you not love these people after reading that? Other actors would be bitching about not getting their appearance money, but these guys love their fans so much they went completely out of their way to say thank you to the people who support them. It warms the cockles of my heart it does.

I've seen this floating around my flist and it's such a cool story it bears repeating.

Apparently the organisers of Flanvention, a Serenity/Firefly convention, went belly-up and cancelled at the very last moment, even though many fans had already arrived at the hotel for the event. So what happens? Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Mark Sheppard, Jonathan Woodward, Christina Hendricks and Adam Baldwin turn up anyway and start partying with the fans! Apparently Nathan Fillion even cleaned out his closet and started giving stuff away!!

How could you not love these people after reading that? Other actors would be bitching about not getting their appearance money, but these guys love their fans so much they went completely out of their way to say thank you to the people who support them. It warms the cockles of my heart it does.

I arrived home to find cards in my letter box! Thank you in_the_bottle, scrunchy, and secret_garden. They're all fabulous!

Gah, back to work tomorrow, but after Saturday I have three weeks off and OMG, I am so looking forward! Three weeks without work will be heaven, and I'm even thinking about plonking a plane ticket onto my credit card so I can go and visit R in Brisbane the week after Christmas. It'll be the last chance I have to get away for more than a long weekend until about June so I should take advantage of the time off while I have it.

Meanwhile, the Christmas Stocking meme gakked from china_shop. Go on, give me a virtual gift!

( my xmas stocking )

I arrived home to find cards in my letter box! Thank you in_the_bottle, scrunchy, and secret_garden. They're all fabulous!

Gah, back to work tomorrow, but after Saturday I have three weeks off and OMG, I am so looking forward! Three weeks without work will be heaven, and I'm even thinking about plonking a plane ticket onto my credit card so I can go and visit R in Brisbane the week after Christmas. It'll be the last chance I have to get away for more than a long weekend until about June so I should take advantage of the time off while I have it.

Meanwhile, the Christmas Stocking meme gakked from china_shop. Go on, give me a virtual gift!

( my xmas stocking )

phoebesmum asked for a chocolate cake recipe so I thought I'd share it with you all. This is my absolute favourite chocolate cake recipe. I found in a 1990 edition of the Australian Women's Weekly and have been making it on a regular basis ever since. It has the double blessing of being dead easy and very delicious.

Please note, all measurements are Australian standard. I'll put the British/American amounts in brackets.

Quick Mix Chocolate Loaf
1 (1 1/4) cup self-raising flour
1/4 (1/3) cup cocoa
1 (1 1/4) cup castor sugar
1/2 (2/3) cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs lightly beaten
125g (4oz) butter, melted

Grease a 14cm x 21 cm loaf pan¹. Line base with paper and grease. Combine sifted flour and cocoa with remaining ingredients² in a bowl and beat until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake in a moderate oven (180C or around 350F) for about 50 minutes or until cake is cooked when tested. Let cake stand in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool. When cool, ice with Chocolate Icing³.

Chocolate Icing
90g (3oz) butter, softened
1 1/2 (1 3/4) cups icing sugar (confectioners or powdered sugar)
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) cocoa
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) milk

Beat butter in a small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Add icing sugar, sifted cocoa and milk. Beat until well combined.

Like most good chocolate cakes this one is actually better when it's a couple of days old because the flavour has had a chance to develop. Store in an airtight container to ensure it stays fresh.



¹ I usually use a round 20cm cake tin and it comes out fine. Just double check your cooking time as it may not need the full 50 minutes in a round pan.
² I also add a teaspoon of instant coffee powder to the mix because it helps bring out the chocolate flavour in the cocoa. Sift it in with the cocoa and flour.
³You can use whatever is your favourite icing recipe. I generally make chocolate glace icing because it's easier.

phoebesmum asked for a chocolate cake recipe so I thought I'd share it with you all. This is my absolute favourite chocolate cake recipe. I found in a 1990 edition of the Australian Women's Weekly and have been making it on a regular basis ever since. It has the double blessing of being dead easy and very delicious.

Please note, all measurements are Australian standard. I'll put the British/American amounts in brackets.

Quick Mix Chocolate Loaf
1 (1 1/4) cup self-raising flour
1/4 (1/3) cup cocoa
1 (1 1/4) cup castor sugar
1/2 (2/3) cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs lightly beaten
125g (4oz) butter, melted

Grease a 14cm x 21 cm loaf pan¹. Line base with paper and grease. Combine sifted flour and cocoa with remaining ingredients² in a bowl and beat until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake in a moderate oven (180C or around 350F) for about 50 minutes or until cake is cooked when tested. Let cake stand in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool. When cool, ice with Chocolate Icing³.

Chocolate Icing
90g (3oz) butter, softened
1 1/2 (1 3/4) cups icing sugar (confectioners or powdered sugar)
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) cocoa
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) milk

Beat butter in a small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Add icing sugar, sifted cocoa and milk. Beat until well combined.

Like most good chocolate cakes this one is actually better when it's a couple of days old because the flavour has had a chance to develop. Store in an airtight container to ensure it stays fresh.



¹ I usually use a round 20cm cake tin and it comes out fine. Just double check your cooking time as it may not need the full 50 minutes in a round pan.
² I also add a teaspoon of instant coffee powder to the mix because it helps bring out the chocolate flavour in the cocoa. Sift it in with the cocoa and flour.
³You can use whatever is your favourite icing recipe. I generally make chocolate glace icing because it's easier.