Whoopee Pies from The Caker

Whoopee pies are apparently the next BIG thing after cupcakes and macaroons so obviously I HAD to try them . I have been reading this Auckland baker's blog for a while now and she posted an entry saying she was making them for sale. So I jumped in and bought ummm .. a couple. I ordered half a dozen each of salted caramel and peanut butter. Yum! Jordan aka the baker was so sweet, she chucked in a few more for free. Great for my wallet, bad for my waistline.

Cuuuuttteeeeeee packaging.

Oh hello there, my little crumbly darlings. This was the salted caramel I think(!).



Whoopee pies are like a cross between a cake and a biscuit and look like a giant macaroon. They taste even better a few days' old, kinda like how spag bol and lasagne always taste better a few days later. All that yummy flavours needed a few days to soak through, I reckon.

Peanut butter ones....





I am pretty sure I ate half of these babies. Don't ask me which flavour I liked better. It would be like asking me which one of my nephew and nieces is my favourite. Shsssssh it's a secret. I can't tell you.

Mel's Birthday Cake

Heaps of entries to catch up on because I'm running about 2 months behind in my posting but this one can't wait. The cake I commissioned for Mel's birthday dinner with her mates. Andrew is too honest and fessed up about the cake so I am free to take all the glory for it. Freeeeeeeeeeeee. OH yeah Viv helped with the colour scheme because I have no imagination and couldn't imagine it in my head. I thought baby pink and black would look way too weird but it turned out very well. I should be a party co-ordinator. It's so purrrrrrrrretty.

I think Mel was happy with it. Hard to tell since Hii girls are so hard to please! A more in-depth post about the night will follow very very soon. I think.

Royal Easter Show + Dinner at The Mulberry

Back in Easter, I went to the Royal Easter Show with Damon. I haven't been since I was 16 on my birthday!! Verdict: Way overpriced and a waste of time. I did come home with bags of gourmet nuts that I bought from one of the food stands though so all is not lost!

Art exhibition:


Animal competitions:



What Mum must have felt like after popping out 6 kids in 12 years:

What Mum felt like while feeding Monica when she was a (big hungry) baby:

Kiddie rides:

Haha this reminded me of all the mind-numbing rides Monica had to go on with Lauren:


Then we headed out into the open where the adult rides and more importantly, where the FOOD were!!

Balloons......

Pony rides:

Rides galore:



Games that have been rigged so the most you'll ever get for your $5 and efforts is a $0.50 plastic junk. Probably.... carnies, don't sue me!



The obligatory ghost house/train:

I can never go past a Haunted House without thinking about the anecdote re Mel. She was in Singapore with Monica many many many maaaaaany moons ago when they decided to go to one. They got inside the front entrance and nothing had happened yet at that stage. Mel started screaming in the dark, closed her eyes and ran all the way to the exit. True story.

Anyway we were too cheapskate so we didn't go on any rides. We did stuff our faces with a giant bag of cotton floss candy and an overpriced hot dog though. After that we headed off to dinner at Mulberry as I got a good deal for a 2 course meal + a cocktail each. Yay for cheap daily deals.
Here's Damon with his girlie drink and my appletini.

Entree for Damon: Prawn cocktail

Mine was the pork belly... oh so good. Check out the thin crispy piece of crackling! Mopped the whole thing up. Yum!

Innards shot of ma pork belly:

I chose a healthier main : fish of some sort. Can't remember the details now but it was really good too. Nice and tender, flavoursome.

Damon's steak and mash:

We were big spenders so we got 2 sides too which weren't part of the (cheap) deal. Beans and mushrooms. They were ok.

I decided that dinner wasn't calorific enough so I got a cheesecake to share with Damon. I said share but really it was MINE. All mine. Twas good.

Birthday Dinner - Chicken Soup & Noodles

Didn't realise I forgot to post about my birthday dinner on the actual day. Mel suggested we go out for dinner but I just felt like some comfort food so I told the gang to come over and I'll cook my own dinner. Hehehe.

Ginger, Free range organic chicken drums, mushrooms and eggs are the must-have ingredients:

Frying up the ginger in sesame seed oil so they give off the most fragrant smell:

Browning the drums:

Then fill the pot up to the brim with water and throw the mushrooms in. Bring to boil and then simmer for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages:

Boil the eggs:

Get slave to peel the eggshells:

Voila... dinner is served.

Oh so good. It's not just my own inflated opinion of my cooking by the way. All the food were gobbled up by the hungry mob and I was left to do the dishes as well! How rude.

Bought myself this AH dress that I've been eyeing up in Melbourne.

Got a VIP gift bag because I am a VIP, daaaaarlings.

They've just changed their paperbags and color schemes and the design is tres adorable!

Inside the VIP bag, there was a full size MAC mascara and gift sizes of some other bits and bobs. There was also a AH heart shaped bag charm and one of their past season silk scarf.


I also asked the Sales Assistant prettily to give me a suit bag for my dress and she complied. Yay I have a suit bag for every past colour schemes they've had. Wohooo.

So Cool!

I guarantee that by the end of watching the clip, you'll think the guy is a lot more attractive than when you first started. No? Just me? Ok then.