They Say What They Say

Thanks to everyone who offered me good wishes for my mum. I haven't seen her yet, but apparently she's not too bad, relatively speaking. At least this time she had the good sense to call my sister the minute she started feeling unwell instead of wallowing at home for days before she decided that maybe she should go and see her doctor who would then promptly admit her to hospital. Anyway I'm going to the old home town on the weekend so I'll find out more when I arrive and if I need to take a day off next week all the troops are rallying around so there shouldn't be drams in that regard.

Meanwhile I have distracted myself by buying a new mobile phone. It's not anything as schmancy as an iPhone, just a basic Nokia Navigator, but I can finally send and receive picture messages and it also doubles as an MP3 player! I've spent the evening downloading all the music I have on my PC and have set some Thom Yorke/PJ Harvey as my ringtone. There's nothing like a bit of plaintive crooning to grab your attention :~)

phoebesmum didn't realise that yo-yos could be biscuits (cookies) as well as toys, so I shall leave you with a recipe!

( Yo-yo Biscuits )

Thanks to everyone who offered me good wishes for my mum. I haven't seen her yet, but apparently she's not too bad, relatively speaking. At least this time she had the good sense to call my sister the minute she started feeling unwell instead of wallowing at home for days before she decided that maybe she should go and see her doctor who would then promptly admit her to hospital. Anyway I'm going to the old home town on the weekend so I'll find out more when I arrive and if I need to take a day off next week all the troops are rallying around so there shouldn't be drams in that regard.

Meanwhile I have distracted myself by buying a new mobile phone. It's not anything as schmancy as an iPhone, just a basic Nokia Navigator, but I can finally send and receive picture messages and it also doubles as an MP3 player! I've spent the evening downloading all the music I have on my PC and have set some Thom Yorke/PJ Harvey as my ringtone. There's nothing like a bit of plaintive crooning to grab your attention :~)

phoebesmum didn't realise that yo-yos could be biscuits (cookies) as well as toys, so I shall leave you with a recipe!

( Yo-yo Biscuits )

To cheer myself up after all the mother-related stress, I decided that I needed a treat. So tonight I made rice pudding for dessert. It's a new recipe that I recently found on taste.com.au and oh my god, it is seriously is the yummiest rice pudding ever! I am so in love with this rice pudding I would gladly eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That's how much I love it!

Caramelised Indian Rice Pudding

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
• 50g unsalted butter
• 200g arborio (risotto) rice
• 1.2L milk
• 1/2 cup (80g) sultanas
• 150g caster sugar

Method:

Place cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon, butter, rice, milk, sultanas and 50g of the caster sugar in a 8cm-deep, 20cm-round microwave-safe dish. Microwave for 35 minutes on high, stirring every 5 minutes, until rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. (At this stage I spooned the pudding into individual serving bowls before sprinkling on the extra sugar.) Sprinkle with remaining sugar, place under a hot grill and cook for 10 minutes until the sugar is bubbling and golden (similar to crème brûlée).

Yummiest. Rice. Pudding. Ever!

To cheer myself up after all the mother-related stress, I decided that I needed a treat. So tonight I made rice pudding for dessert. It's a new recipe that I recently found on taste.com.au and oh my god, it is seriously is the yummiest rice pudding ever! I am so in love with this rice pudding I would gladly eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That's how much I love it!

Caramelised Indian Rice Pudding

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
• 50g unsalted butter
• 200g arborio (risotto) rice
• 1.2L milk
• 1/2 cup (80g) sultanas
• 150g caster sugar

Method:

Place cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon, butter, rice, milk, sultanas and 50g of the caster sugar in a 8cm-deep, 20cm-round microwave-safe dish. Microwave for 35 minutes on high, stirring every 5 minutes, until rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. (At this stage I spooned the pudding into individual serving bowls before sprinkling on the extra sugar.) Sprinkle with remaining sugar, place under a hot grill and cook for 10 minutes until the sugar is bubbling and golden (similar to crème brûlée).

Yummiest. Rice. Pudding. Ever!

You know how last night I was talking about getting more sleep? Well I don't think that's going to be a problem tonight. I am so tired I am about to drop dead from exhaustion! The combination of getting up really early, my first day back at work, lady pains and the cold I picked up last week have all served to knock me over and stomp on me thoroughly.

*wilts*

But before I toddle off to dreamland, there's a couple of things to share with you.

Firstly, Jared and Jensen are at it again, being all cute and adorable at a public appearance. This time it was for the Red Bull Soap Box Derby, a charity event held in Vancouver over the weekend. Thanks to missyjack, there's a whole host of photos, vids and reports for your squeeing pleasure over at Super-wiki.

Secondly, OMG banananana bread! The other day I found this super easy recipe for banananana bread and seriously, it's the best thing ever!!

( The recipe, cos it's just so good I have to share )

It's bed tome for Laylee, me thinks.

*waves nighty-night*

You know how last night I was talking about getting more sleep? Well I don't think that's going to be a problem tonight. I am so tired I am about to drop dead from exhaustion! The combination of getting up really early, my first day back at work, lady pains and the cold I picked up last week have all served to knock me over and stomp on me thoroughly.

*wilts*

But before I toddle off to dreamland, there's a couple of things to share with you.

Firstly, Jared and Jensen are at it again, being all cute and adorable at a public appearance. This time it was for the Red Bull Soap Box Derby, a charity event held in Vancouver over the weekend. Thanks to missyjack, there's a whole host of photos, vids and reports for your squeeing pleasure over at Super-wiki.

Secondly, OMG banananana bread! The other day I found this super easy recipe for banananana bread and seriously, it's the best thing ever!!

( The recipe, cos it's just so good I have to share )

It's bed tome for Laylee, me thinks.

*waves nighty-night*

I was going to post some more pictures for the photo meme tonight, but I've had a bit of a day and not really feeling up to it.

It all started when I got woken at about 3am with the gastro thing I had last month. About two hours later I finally get back to sleep, only to be woken at 7am when my alarm went off. Somehow I made it to work on time, and I even went to gym, however the day also included:

• Feeling nauseous and/or sick all day
• Falling on my ass when I slipped on the tiles in the ladies toilet at work
• Being stood-up by the students I was supposed to present my first Introduction to Economics Databases class to
• Nearly getting squished by a dickhead driving a four-wheel-drive on my way home from gym
• Discovering that half of the contents of my vegetable crisper weren't as nearly as fresh as I thought they were
• Forgetting to buy milk when I went to the supermarket to replenish the contents of the crisper

I promise I will get to the rest of the photos later in the week. Just as soon as I've had a decent night's sleep and I stop feeling like I'm going to throw up at any minute.

However as a peace offering, here is the recipe for the lemon yoghurt cupcakes that I made last week, as requested by meadowlion.

I was going to post some more pictures for the photo meme tonight, but I've had a bit of a day and not really feeling up to it.

It all started when I got woken at about 3am with the gastro thing I had last month. About two hours later I finally get back to sleep, only to be woken at 7am when my alarm went off. Somehow I made it to work on time, and I even went to gym, however the day also included:

• Feeling nauseous and/or sick all day
• Falling on my ass when I slipped on the tiles in the ladies toilet at work
• Being stood-up by the students I was supposed to present my first Introduction to Economics Databases class to
• Nearly getting squished by a dickhead driving a four-wheel-drive on my way home from gym
• Discovering that half of the contents of my vegetable crisper weren't as nearly as fresh as I thought they were
• Forgetting to buy milk when I went to the supermarket to replenish the contents of the crisper

I promise I will get to the rest of the photos later in the week. Just as soon as I've had a decent night's sleep and I stop feeling like I'm going to throw up at any minute.

However as a peace offering, here is the recipe for the lemon yoghurt cupcakes that I made last week, as requested by meadowlion.

I made these to take over to a friend's house today and they were so yummy I just had to share the recipe with you.

Gingernuts

1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons ground ginger, depending on how gingery you like them
60g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
Extra ½ cup sugar (optional)

Sift flour and spices together and stir in sugar. Melt butter with golden syrup and pour into dry mixture. Mix well and roll into walnut-sized balls. If liked, roll balls in extra sugar before placing on greased baking tray. Press balls down lightly and bake in a very hot oven (230C/450F) for five minutes, then reduce the heat to moderate (180C/350F) and cook for a further 7-10 minutes. Makes around 20.

I made these to take over to a friend's house today and they were so yummy I just had to share the recipe with you.

Gingernuts

1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons ground ginger, depending on how gingery you like them
60g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
Extra ½ cup sugar (optional)

Sift flour and spices together and stir in sugar. Melt butter with golden syrup and pour into dry mixture. Mix well and roll into walnut-sized balls. If liked, roll balls in extra sugar before placing on greased baking tray. Press balls down lightly and bake in a very hot oven (230C/450F) for five minutes, then reduce the heat to moderate (180C/350F) and cook for a further 7-10 minutes. Makes around 20.