Triple 6

Today is the 6th October. Nothing unusual about that. Except, for my family, this is a very unusual date. I have four brothers and no sisters. Three out of my four brothers have partners. The phenomena of this day is that all of my sisters-in-law share their birthday on this day. Yep, every single one of them was born on the 6th October.

Apparently the odds of that are something like 1 in 48 million....



(Jenna wasn't born on the 6th October - she just has to blow out the candles.)

Ten little fingers, ten little toes

There is a new addition to the family. Marisa, my brand new niece arrived 10.40 last night. Mum and baby doing well, and she is just gorgeous. Auntie Nina very excited.



I love you already Marisa!

Out with the old

My blog posts are definitely getting few and far between these days. Work is all consuming and just too demanding at the moment. Tomorrow morning I am off to Melbourne for a week after just having got back from Sydney, and Melbourne the week before that. Hopefully it will all be over soon and I can get back to doing stuff I really want to do, like baking. However, if this blog is still alive by the end of the year I will be very surprised. Let's wait and see...

Tomorrow also sees the beginning of my bathroom renovations, so this post is to show you the 'before' shots of my bathroom before it gets demolished tomorrow. I arranged for the work to start when I won't be home so that a) I don't have to worry about where to have a shower, and b) so I don't have to come home from work and see the mess created.

I am very excited about what the bathroom will look like when completed, but I am afraid that it will not be finished for weeks. I don't even want to think about it. Anyway, for now I will focus on the fact that I don't have to look at the ugliest green tiles I think I have ever seen, ever again. See for yourself.

Ramona was a waitress

I never used to be a fan of the Ausie band "Something for Kate" but now, years later, I can't seem to get enough of the lead singer Paul Dempsey's voice. He has gone out on his own and released a solo album. Here's one of the songs from the album:

Out of the mouths of babes

Nonno: What are you doing here Jenna?

(5 yo) Jenna: Mum kicked me out of the house!

Aunty Nina: NO SHE DIDN'T !

Lemon cupcakes with lemon curd

I made some lemon cupcakes last night. Somehow I forgot to put the milk in, so today they are a bit dry, but boy are they tasty! Lemon is such a great flavour.

I got the recipe from an old Donna Hay magazine whilst searching for a Chocolate Cheesecake recipe (which I still haven't found...). You will need:

125gm butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 tspns finely grated lemon rind
3 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups plain flour
1 and 1/2 tspns baking powder
1/4 cup of milk

For the lemon curd you will need:
45gm butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 egg

Now the recipe is actually for "lemon meringue cupcakes", so if you want to do that step you will also need:
2 egg whites
1/3 cup caster sugar


Preheat the oven to 180c.

I made the lemon curd first because it needs to cool. Melt the butter over low heat. Add the sugar, lemon juice, and egg, and stir until smooth. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly for about 5-7 mins or until thickened. Refrigerate.

Beat the butter, sugar, lemon rind, eggs, flour, baking powder and milk with an electric mixer until smooth.

Spoon into muffin pan lined with patty cases, and bake for 20 mins (test with a skewer). Cool.

To make the meringe, beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the meringue is thick and glossy.

Cut 2cm diameter holes in the centre of the cooled cakes and fill with the lemon curd.

Pipe a swirl of meringue over the lemon curd and place the cakes under a preheated hot grill for 1 minute or until golden. Makes 12.


I actually topped the cupcakes with a lemon cream cheese topping. I just mixed some cream cheese, icing sugar and 2 tspns lemon juice together til smooth.



Enjoy!

Chocolate, Icecream and Espresso

My new laundry would have to be the tastiest sounding laundry around. The floor tiles are Chocolate, the wall tiles are Icecream and the bench top is Espresso. Yum!

Yes the laundry is almost finished, just a couple more small things to go. Here are the photos. I love it!