Xavier

Still so very sad you couldn't stay. You were due today. A life cut short. Not with us for long enough.

Lara: you, S and the kids have not been far from my thoughts today. Even in the midst of the unrelenting grief you manage to honour your angel so beautifully and eloquently. I am in awe of what you have created and your willingness to share your journey with me. xox

Double Chocolate Muffins

Photo courtesy of: taste.com.au

What to do when String Bean has a friend over this afternoon and the cupboard is bare? (Well all the ready to go stuff has run out, but my baking supplies are always available.)

Double Chocolate Muffins
Makes 36 mini muffins

2 cups SR flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbs cocoa
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg, beaten
90g butter
250g chocolate chips

* Mix flour and butter to resemble breadcrumbs.
* Add sugar and cocoa
* Throw in rest of ingredients and roughly mix - it doesn't need to be perfect with muffins.

* Cook on 180 for about 20min or until brown.


Will update later with the kids opinions on these.

















The kids loved these muffins. Easy and not full of numbers so happy here.

Squealy scoffed 3 of these!

The Boys

hmmm I could hear Evanescence so decided to check out what the boys were up to. Watching a fan made Youtube of Cars with Wake Me Up as the background music.

How cute are these two little boys? SUPER CUTE!!!

Sydney

Melbourne Cup day saw String Bean, Mal and I flying to Sydney for a whirlwind trip to see the Pead and shop either side. hehehe managed to score cheapy flights with Virgin. Loved flying Virgin, nice and new.

The staff were also really friendly and went out of their way to be nice to String Bean.

Was so hot in the city: 37 degrees. Lots of lovely dresses, ridiculously high heels and feathery head gear. Melbourne Cup is taken very seriously in the big city. Walked past the massive TAB marquee at Martin Place which was packed. Didn't bet, too busy shopping.

Was a relaxed and easy day. So much better than driving and trying to park the car in the city.

Fire Dancing

as Tim calls it. I could get my camera to capture this properly the other night.

Photos by Jess.

Doing tricks!

A Fire Twirling Dinner Date

We were invited to Mal's last night for a BBQ with the gang.

Many Mimosa's followed by the best BBQ ever (Tim cooked Jamaican Jerk Chicken) and beer with lime (Tim's home brew: Cerveza Lobos).

Tim and La Cerveza Lobos.

Photo courtesy of food.theatlantic.com

SuzyBoo's Mimosa Recipe (my fave cocktail atm)

* Good quality sweet champagne - Asti or Ricca Donna are both great
* Sweet juice - orange and mango is particularly nice

Serve half and half in a martini glass. You could chuck a strawberry, mint or orange slice on top if you could be bothered but not really necessary.

Once we were all nicely inebriated Tim, in his infinite wisdom, pulled out his fire twirling stick. We all had a good go. Tim is fabulous and has been practicing a lot, doing some great tricks. Husband Deluxe loved it, but he managed to get burnt on his upper arm! Go figure. Didn't hurt but he smelt like burnt hair and kero lol.

Am planning on posting Tim's Jerk Chicken Recipe as well.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

Image courtsey of: i.ehow.com

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

• 1 tablespoon Ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon Dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground sage
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Garlic powder or fresh
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce
• 3/4 cup White Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Orange juice
• 1 Lime juice
• 1 Chilli
• 3 Green onions -- finely chopped
• 1 cup Onion -- finely chopped
• 1 whole boned chicken - Tim got this at the chicken shop at the Belco Markets.

1. Chuck it all in a 'bucket' and marinade for 12 hours (haha this is Tim's recipe).
2. BBQ till crispy.
3. Slice it up and serve.

This was seriously good! For more info on Jerk Chicken see here.