Dressember: day 3.

/ Lisa

Today was pretty hot and muggy, so I decided to go with my super summery dress (with leggings).

I got it from a shop called Caroline Eve. Not sure if they are throughout NZ, I’ve only ever been to them while in Hawke’s Bay, but they have some decent stuff.

It’s so pretty and bright. It doesn’t give you that “ugh, I’m wearing too many clothes” feel either. Perfect for going for a walk to the mall, along Takapuna beach and eating an ice cream. In which the messy child in me dripped ice cream on my dress, but I hope you can’t notice that.

THIS IS WHY I CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.

Oh, and yay for empire line! Sort of.

Dressember: Day 2.

/ Lisa

Yay, dress number two!

This is my shirt dress from City Chic. I love it. It’s so comfortable and can be casual or dressed up. Usually there is a belt that goes with it, but all day it kept popping open. I think it is a fault with the belt, because I have two exactly the same (one came with another City Chic dress) and the other one doesn’t give me any grief at all. Way to go.

Once again, I wore it with leggings. I’m not going to lie, sometimes I wear them as pants around the house, but never outside unless I have something long enough to cover my arse. Leggings are essential for me, as I’m one of those woman whose thighs touch and chafing is seriously uncomfortable. Speaking the truth, even if it is TMI.

And I *might* have been slightly intoxicated in this picture. Can you tell?

Dressember: Day 1.

/ Lisa

So I’ve decided to participate in Dressember – a month of nothing but dresses. No pants! I’m not really sure how I’m going to manage it. I don’t even know how many dresses/tunics I have. Do skirts count? I do tend to wear skirts often. Especially to work.

As it is December 1, I chose a very pretty dress to kick things off. It is my purple tunic from Autograph in Australia. It’s comfortable and doesn’t get too hot, but the little brass domes on the chest keep coming off. Apparently they’re meant to do this, but it still annoys me and I want to stick them back on. The domes are the main reason I bought the dress! *sigh*

I paired it with my linen jacket also from Autograph, pocket watch necklace and a pair of leggings. I’m legitimately allowed to wear leggings during Dressember, because leggings are not pants! Win!

No idea what to wear tomorrow. Usually on Friday’s I wear jeans, so it shall be different. I shall ponder all night long. Gah. A month of this may be pretty hard for me because I am quite the pants person. I may need to go shopping and find a few more dresses. Yip. I think that is definitely what I need to do.

Over and out.

 

No-bake chocolate cakes.

/ Lisa / 2 Comments

These aren’t really cupcakes, but a very simple way to do a rice bubbles slice which I used to have all the time as a kid.

Ingredients

5 x 60g Mars bars
50g butter
3 1/2 cups (120g) Rice Bubbles
200g milk eating chocolate, melted

Instructions

Line a 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper cases.

Chop four of the Mars bars coarsely; cut remaining bar into slices.

Place chopped Mars bars in medium saucepan with butter; stir over low heat until smooth. Stir in Rice Bubbles.

Press mixture into cases, spread with chocolate; top with sliced Mars bar. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set.

I, however, did not put the chopped Mars bar on top, as Man Piece decided to help himself and ate one while I was not home.

Black Forest Cupcakes

/ Lisa / 1 Comment

I haven’t been able to bake in awhile. It has been rather hectic with job interviews, then getting a job, back and forth between Hastings and Wellington and then finally moving to Auckland and not moving into my own place straight away.

So last weekend, I took the opportunity to do a whole heap of baking to share with various people (including my new work colleagues), because 1) Man Piece was away and 2) I finally had a kitchen to call my own again.

I had also purchased a brand new cupcake stand the weekend before and was dying to put some actual cupcakes on it.

So flicking through the wonderful book that is the Australian Women’s Weekly: cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies I found the black forest cupcakes. They sounded delicious and something I hadn’t tried before.

Ingredients

cherry chocolate mud cake

425g can pitted cherries in syrup
165g butter, chopped coarsely
100g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
1 1/3 cups (295g) sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) cherry brandy
1 cup (150g) plain flour
2 tablespoons self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170°C/150°C fan-forced. Line 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.

2. Drain cherries; reserve syrup. Process 1/2 cup (110g) cherries with 1/2 cup (125ml) of the syrup until smooth. Halve remaining cherries; reserve for decorating cakes. (The recipe says to discard remaining syrup, but I did not have cherry brandy and didn’t want to go and buy any either, so used the equivalent of syrup instead of brandy)

3. Combine butter, chocolate, sugar, brandy and cherry puree in small saucepan; stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Transfer mixture to medium bowl; cool 15 minutes.

4. Whisk in sifted flours and cocoa, then egg. Divide mixture among cases; smooth surface. (The mixture is very wet, I ended up using a small measuring jug to pour the mixture into the cases.)

5. Bake about 45 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

6. Decorate cakes. (In the original recipe, you would top the cakes with the cherry halves and combine 2/3 cup thickened cream with 2 teaspoons cherry brandy, then with a vegetable peeler make chocolate curls to sprinkle over the cakes. I just made some basic butter creme icing and added the halved cherries and spread over the cakes.)

Don’t they just look divine? They tasted pretty good too.