Cute As A Button

Happy Dragon Year Everyone

Fortune cookies are one of those cheesey American things you see on tv, along with mushu pork (whatever the heck that is) and chinese food in paper boxes. So I've always steered clear of them, thinking they are probably shrivelled up stale crackers with lame bits of sayings inside. Anyway we were given some when we went to Langham Hotel for lunch so i cracked one open.

The cookie was actually yum!!! It tasted like a ice cream waffle cone which I lurrrrrve. As for the saying....

Very true indeed *nod head*. It's easy to get caught up thinking of the have-nots. Let's all start counting the haves and forget about the have-nots and the frown will naturally turn upside down. Haha enough cheese yet?

Happy New Year 2012, Peeps!

I know, I know I've been very slack. Anyhoo hope you all had a good one. I had an excellent one surrounded by loved ones reminiscing about the good old days while watching childhood home videos. You know you are getting old when you have "good old days" to talk about.

Sidetrack: My answer to the ever popular question of what would you rescue if your house is on fire? This precious cassette tape which the five of us taped when we were kids and sent to the then 16-year-old Mel who was studying in Melbourne. Hmm maybe I should put it in a fire-proof box?

We also had a wedding in the family recently which added to the hecticness of the holidays. The bride looked gorgeous and the groom looked like he struck the lottery. I will be doing a blog on it when I can be bothered. In the meantime, I have been given the go-ahead to post a photo of Mel and since it's as rare as hen's teeth, I will be posting it on every social medium that I am able to. Enjoy!

Oh and by the way, I broke my resolution on January the 1st. Fail!

Chocolate Brownies with Raspberries

When it comes to baking, I have this system. I would print off recipes on scraps of paper of things that I stumble across on the net and when I finally feel like it, I would make it. If I don't like it, the recipe gets binned. If I love it, the recipe gets copied into my pretty recipe book permanently.

The collection of scraps of paper I have lying around has grown ridiculously over the last few months. I have now got a thick wad of folded A4 papers in my bag that I lug all over the place. Just because you never know when the mood might strike - be it food shopping for ingredients at the supermarket or hanging out at a mate's place and the need to bake strikes!

Anyhooo I've decided I need to get rid of all these papers so recently I've made:

* Chocolate Chips Cookies with bacon ... so good! Photos to come.

* Avocado Cake ... not so good, it tasted like avocado. Duh! Recipe binned. Yay one down!

Last night, I made these so-called Best Chocolate Brownies ever! They aren't bad but I don't know if I would have been so bold as to call them the best ever. Oh well. I'm actually not that much of a pure chocolate dessert person. Chocolates themselves, sure. Something fruity covered with chocolate sauce, I am so there. But pure chocolate chocolate dessert? Meh.

So anyway, these aren't going into the recipe book. But still good. I've also recently discovered a combination that is a match made in heaven! Decadent moist and slightly warm dessert with a dollop of tangy greek yoghurt. S.O   G.O.O.D and healthier than ice cream! Next up, lemon squares!

How you doing??

Definition of A Grown-Up

For those of you who don't know, Dad is a lawyer. When we were younger, we used to love going to his office to muck around. From walking past the busy grocery shop downstairs with the strong exotic smell of fresh coffee being ground up to venturing up the scary dark staircase that led to Dad's office, everything seemed like such an adventure.

Dad's office was the epitome of grown-upness (it's a word!) with the stacks of papers and Dad's special way of filing (triangle of yellow paper clipped to the corner so that the agreements don't crease) and Dad's funny wig and robes (No he does not have a dress up fetish.. it's for court appearances, ok?!). Come Christmas time, there were always stacks of diaries and desk planners for the new year gifted to him from the likes of American Express and what not. He would always give them to us for use and we would feel very grown-up and self-important because of it.

Well looksie here... Hello, world. I am officially a grown-up. Voila, gift from one of our suppliers.

All Over This!

I am SO there!!! Except for the last one cos' that's just nasty.

Chopper Ride December 2011

I was lucky enough to go on a 40 minute helicopter ride with our American visitors at work last week. It was an awesome day in Auckland so the timing was perfect. The trip out to the helipad was a bit stressful due to the heavy Friday traffic but we were only 5 minutes late which was a miracle. Totally enjoyed it and like I always said, nothing beats Auckland on a gorgeous sunny day. I LOVE SUMMER!!