Baking

Pecan is still baking away in there and I'm taking the time to become a Baking Goddess. Much to the delight of Hubby and not my waistline. I'm sure Pecan will appreciate it later as well especially when it comes to School Fetes (if they even still have them then, they'll probably be outlawed because of allergy risks!).

As part of my 25 4 25 plan, I decided that I'd bake Hubby a cake to celebrate him finishing uni. I asked Hubby what he wanted and he said whatever I wanted to bake. I told him that no that wasn't the point, the point was for him to be spoiled. So I wound up making a Banoffee Pie adapted from two different sources - Curtis Stone and taste.com.au. I didn't want individual pies so the second recipe was ruled out and I also wussed out on making pie pastry. But Curtis Stone's was just a little bit too sugarey for me and so I used the toffee from the taste recipe and simply boiled a can of skim condensed milk. So without further ado my Pie:

Ingredients

• 1 can skim condensed milk
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 3 large bananas (use as many as you want)
• 600ml whipping cream (I used less than this you but just whipped it all in case)
• 280g Marie biscuits
• 150g butter (melted)
• Milk to smooth out the toffee

Method

Crust

1. Line the bottom of a 22-23 cm springform pan with parchment paper (don't grease the sides).
2. Chop the biscuits in a food processor until they are finely ground.
3. Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and process to blend well. The crumbs should stick together when pressed.
4. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom and 3 ½ cm up the sides of the springform pan. Refrigerate for 20+ minutes.

 Toffee

1. Cover the can of condensed milk in cold water (make sure it's well covered) in a saucepan. Bring the water to boil and then leave to simmer for 3 hours (making sure the water continues to cover the can.
2. Take the can out of the water and once it's cooled slightly pop off the top. (Now I wound up double boiling this with some milk to get it to a smoother consistency). Use one cup to double boil and when it's a smooth as you can get it but still thick cover the bottom of the crust. I felt like I didn't have enough toffee but it worked out you could probably do 2 cans.
3. Leave the leftover toffee in the can (this will be the sauce over the pie and again I suggest double boiling and putting in some milk).

Pie Filling

1. Whip the cream using an electric beater.
2. Slice 2 bananas and put a little bit of lemon juice over.
3. Fold the bananas into the whipped cream and then put into the pie crust on top of the toffee.
4. Slice the remaining banana and again put lemon juice over the slices. Use these to decorate the top of the pie.
5. Spoon the remaining toffee sauce over the pie.

*Note the toffee didn't turn out as great as it could (very gluggy consistency) but still tasted really really yummy and I just couldn't justify using the extra sugar & butter it called for in Curtis Stone's recipe.

It was really yummy and we had it for afternoon tea with the in-laws after we asked my Father-in-Law to put up the remaining to shelves and a canvas print of Hubby and I at Sculpture by the Sea two years ago. We still had half the pie left so I told Hubby to take it to work before accidentally dropping it this morning whoops - luckily it pretty much stayed together.

2.5 Weeks

Totally unrelated but Pecan & his/her first club stamp - I am a terrible Mother!

So only 2.5 weeks left of work (but who really counts Thursday and Friday, once Wednesday is over it's all uphill from there). 2 more Mondays is still my favourite thing to say but I know I'm going to feel lost when it's over. Until the nesting bug kicks in, which I really hope it does with the state of my house at the moment!

I've already got a haircut lined up for my first week of leave and Mum has organised a sort-of family photo shoot. I can't wait to get some proper bump photos (yes I'll be posting more soon, according to Hubby I have a beachball in there), my cousin who is getting into photography really wants to get some but I'm not very camera friendly and would feel slightly uncomfortable but we're definitely taking him up on his offer of doing baby photos. I'm still tempted to get some professional ones done but then again saving $100s is lots more tempting.

I've got lots of fun plans to do before Pecan makes his/her debut including a yummy 7 year anniversary dinner with Hubby at Rockpool. Our anniversary falls on Melbourne Cup this year so I'll definitely be taking advantage of that during the day (plus his exams will be over so triple celebration, unfortunately he still has thesis work to complete the week after).Hopefully I'll have a win on the horses this year, if I was really organised I'd do some kind of lunch but I think I need to calm down with the baking and organising and just relax.


Speaking of which this weekend (& Tuesday night) will be dedicated to making dessert on Sunday for my sister-in-law's birthday and organising an Engagement Dinner for my Mum and her partner. My other SiL who moved interstate is coming back for her birthday which means I get to see my beautiful nephew and fast-growing niece again, definitely looking forward to that. They both seem to have grown so much (just from looking at photos!) since we last saw them in July, but kids have a habit of doing that.

Cooking Class

Last weekend was a birthday celebration (of sorts) it was a belated present for one of my best friends (who should be in America by now...lucky thing!) and a very early celebration for my other best friend. We all signed up for a French pastry class.

Now whilst I know my way around a kitchen I was scared of pastry, it's still my aim to make a pie before I turn 26 but I'm quite happy just baking cakes etc... Well the fear has definitely gone away after a wonderful class, granted I was on team Rhubarb and therefore didn't have anything to do with cooking the pastry but I did pipe choux pastry out of a piping bag and that's pretty impressive for me!

I can't really remember what the desserts were called but I'm glad I got photos of them before we demolished them. I have to admit the second one (with our rhubarb filling) was my favourite. Helen, our awesome teacher, was fantastic at making us feel at home whilst at the same time teasing/teaching us, I would definitely recommend this class to anyone in the Perth area - although don't do it when pregnant because you get a free glass of wine/bubbly at the end. My face must have looked aghast because Helen asked what was wrong and I lamented that I was pregnant (can't see how they didn't realise with my bump!) and therefore couldn't drink :( Although I did sneak two sips which went straight to my head!

The only negative I have to say about the class was that it was my first experience with someone making an unwanted comment re: my pregnancy. I hear it bemoaned everywhere - people putting in their opinions, rubbing bellies without permission etc... but I hadn't experienced that until then (maybe I exude get the hell away from me vibes haha). It started out innocently enough the woman asking if this was my first and then how long I had to go. When I told her 9 weeks her jaw dropped and she said where on earth was I putting it all and that she guessed having a small baby would be easier in the long run...unless it was a big baby and there wasn't a lot of fluid! Needless to say I walked off and ignored her for the rest of it, stuffing one's face with yummy desserts is a good cure for idiotic people!

Saturday Sunshine and Laughs

Saturday was dedicated to picnics, baking, sunshine and laughs with a little bit of 'must-do' food shopping thrown into the mix as well as a short dog walk (gotta get my steps up for the Global Corporate Challenge as this is our beat your personal best weekend!).

After finishing our food shop I hurriedly started to bake using a yummy sounding recipe I found via: Chocolatesuze (anything with super easy in the title is a winner for me and I'll be posting the recipe on my food blog). Plus they were CHEESE muffins and because Hubby hates cheese I never get a chance to really cook with it :( Luckily my uni girlfriends love cheese and they were a big hit (although would have tasted better hot out of the oven slathered with butter!). We gorged ourselves on home made treats with yummy Old English scones, delicious mini-quiches (probably not on the list of recommended eating for pregnant people but YUMMO) and the most amazing macaroons (we were telling my buddy she should try out for MasterChef her baking skills are amazing and I know she and my scone making friend are both Baking Whizzes who would love nothing better than to open a little shop).

I ate too much and I think Pecan was battling my food baby because I didn't feel too good after that, probably not the best thing to do (gorge on food) after fasting on Friday for the second glucose test (more on that in my later Bonding with Bubs post). It was funny because I kept doing pathetic yoga poses trying to get comfortable but nothing other than walking/rocking worked (thanks basketball belly) but at least I look pregnant and not like some crazy person...

So after we'd gossiped and stuffed our faces full of food we all trundled back to my friend's house and then made our ways back home. I think I collapsed on the couch for all of 5 minutes before taking the dog for a walk. I figured I needed it after all that food but I was still so uncomfortable that it was only a short walk (which was annoying and not conducive to an increased step count, fingers crossed for a big hike today).

Then after feeling sorry for myself and lazing about on the couch Hubby and I went to see Josh Thomas' new show 'Everything Ever'. Now, I'm not a fan of the Australian 'game-show' like show he's a part of on TV (Talkin' About Your Generation) but I do like his sense of humour. After seeing Dylan Moran live last month and being slightly disappointed I didn't go in with high hopes for Josh but I was laughing the entire time! I don't know if it's because he's in my age demographic or because he's a dinky di Australian (or just because he was poking fun at his life so much) but I really enjoyed the show. The Q & A bit at the end was stupid (too many idiot young people trying to be funny and asking Harry Potter questions!) but I can see that it would have worked in other situations. I definitely recommend going to see him if you ever get the chance but be prepared for a very politically incorrect show. As we were driving home I told Hubby we'd have to go again next time he's in town but that we'd need a babysitter...Hubby said it was crazy how we were now having to think of things like that and it really is but in a super awesome way :)

Cooking

So I used to cook, I know my whole Monday Yummy thing fell in a miserable heap (if you can't tell I'm a little bit bad when it comes to making sure to post things on exact days etc...), but really I used to cook - A LOT. And I really really enjoyed it as well. I'm no where near good enough to go on a cooking show and I always need to follow a recipe but I enjoyed finding yummy recipes and creating something to be proud of for dinner.

Unfortunately one of the side effects of this pregnancy has meant that other than baking I have no desire to cook! On the weekend I made an Impossible Coconut Pie which I almost screwed up even though it involved blending all ingredients and popping in the oven. Side Note: Make sure you've screwed your blender together correctly, eggs leaking out of the bottom does not help!

But baking is easy and other than forcing myself to abstain from licking the bowl I've been baking at least one cake a week! Hubby is very happy about this ha-ha.

Back to actual cooking though, I used to make about 80% of our dinners, 10% Hubby did and 10% was eating out. Now it's more 85% Hubby cooking and 15% take out, I'm so glad that I started pushing Hubby into cooking at least a couple of meals per week when we moved into this place. Little did we both now how handy it would become. I just feel terrible for making him cook all the time especially because he has exams etc... but I just really don't feel like cooking and it always makes me dizzy :( Hmpf, the pregnancy symptoms they don't warn you about!

Another side note: My niece and nephew go to Sydney tomorrow, we're all very sad about it. We had a big goodnight bed session with the nephew last night and all said goodbye to him. I promised we'd take him to the Zoo when we come over and he was so excited. Of course he has no idea he's going there to live forever but it's going to be very difficult saying goodbye to that cute little face when we finish our holiday in Sydney!

Monday Yummies

Technically it was leftovers but I did make it all from scratch!

I'm desperate to make pizza dough next!

Mexican Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs (I think we had about 5 and cut in half)
• Chicken stock cube
• Water
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper+ (add a bit extra)
• Can of red kidney beans
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp cumin+ (add a bit extra)
• Diced tomatoes (use a can we didn't have one so I cut up heaps of tomatoes)
• 1 onion chopped

Method

• Place chicken and stock cube in small frypan and then cover with water. Bring to simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes. Take the chicken out (let them cool and then shred the chicken). Reserve the liquid.
• Heat oil in the large saucepan. Add onion (cook for 5 minutes), add cumin and cayenne pepper stir for 30 seconds. Add the reserved liquid and diced tomatoes. Bring to boil.
• Add chicken & beans and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir occasionally for 10 minutes.

Corn Bread

Ingredients

• 150g self raising flour
• 175g polenta
• 1 can creamed corn
• Lots of cayenne pepper (I need to buy some chilli powder maybe that's hotter?!)
• 1 tbsp honey (makes it smell gorgeous but it's not sweet)
• 175ml buttermilk
• 50g melted butter
• Dash of salt
• Cheese - which I omitted because Hubby hates it but definitely would've made it better

Method

• Sift flour, polenta & salt in a bowl. Add corn, cayenne pepper, honey, buttermilk, butter (and cheese)
• Stir to combine. Transfer to a greased spring form pan (roughly 20cm).
• Bake for 30 minutes.

The corn bread was pretty ho hum (I even added lots more spice that what the recipe called for!) but was wicked for just tearing chunks off and throwing in the soup.

Chicken Tonight

I'm trying out being a Domestic Goddess today ha-ha. Finally (almost) made a bedroom clean and tidy and now I'm pottering around the good ol' internet trying to find a yummy dish to cook with the chicken thighs I pulled out of the freezer.

I've decided I'm going to make cornbread as well seeing as the Butter Milk I bought is no doubt due to go off soon. Don't you hate when you buy heaps of yummy things to use in all these 'planned' dishes during the week and it never winds up happening. I guess I blame that on full-time work and just being exhausted after it. Especially with this past week which has been insane!

Today was the sister-in-law's birthday and we finally got her the pair of gold sneakers she wanted only to find out she bought a pair on ebay yesterday! Damn it don't buy stuff so close to your birthday people...oh well she was happy with the second-hand i-Pod at least. Not that we could compare with the $300 Mimco bracelet the her brother & sister-in-law (the one I'm not so keen on) got her. I'm sucky when it comes to presents with their family some how everyone always gives great presents to everyone but me and the Hubby. I joked with him today that we must be the least liked haha I think it's been 2 years in a row that I haven't received anything. Which wouldn't bother me (I'm not a gimme-gimme person) except that I wish I was on level footing with the brother's wife seeing as we're both in-laws. Oh well I just have to build a bridge and get over that...unfortunately it's a lot easier to say than do.

In other news, I miss my Husband! I forgot how much study time uni took up but at least when I did it I actually stayed home. He's always at uni (even now) and I'm starting to feel a bit lonely. But in the end it is all for the best! Poor thing keeps getting rejected for vac work programs though which I know is really getting him down. But with the amount of people applying and the fact that he doesn't have a super duper course average something yucky in my tummy is telling me he won't be getting work over the long summer break :( I just hope he does for his sake, I know it's getting to him but he'd never let on and he'll just feel so down.

Random side note: a dove has taken to eating the dog biscuits we leave outside and I think our dog is ok with that! He's now sitting at the open door and just watching he bird...too damn cute!

Monday Yummies

So tonight was yum!

Yesterday the Boy made a great sausage stroganoff (I really had to bite my tongue when he kept disappearing off in the middle of it all though!).

I made Creamy Caper Chicken a la Jess:

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs (about 5 small ones)
• Lemon, herb & garlic seasoning - used to season the chicken
• Cayenne Pepper - used to season the chicken
• 1 tsp minced garlic (naughty me I didn't use real garlic)
• 1.5tbsp seeded mustard
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup white wine
• chicken stock cube
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• Butter (your choice) 
• 2 tbsp well drained capers
• Cherry tomatoes (optional - I probably wouldn't add these last time & would go for sundried tomato)

Method

1. Cut chicken thighs into pieces and cover a plate with the seasoning + cayenne pepper. Mix the seasoning and chicken together (at this point I added more seasoning + CP, you could probably just mix in a freezer bag!).
2. Melt butter in a large pan on high heat. When all melted add the chicken, brown it and turn down to mid-heat then cook until pretty much cooked through.
3. Remove chicken to a plate and cover.
4. Add wine to pan along with the minced garlic and mustard. Bring to boil and cover leave on mid-heat for about 5 minutes then add stock cube and boiling water.
5. Add cream, bring to boil and then turn down to low (cover) and let simmer.
6. Add chicken to sauce and heat chicken
7. Voila ready to serve!

We ate this with rice but you could easily eat it with pasta - rice was just good for soaking up the yummy yummy sauce! Also to get some veggies I probably would have added green beans.