Its August next week.

Ive been a bad bad blogger, but real life got in the way *funny how that happens.

Monkey Boy and I bought a block of land, and have chosen the house we plan to build on it. Settlement is the 4th August *scary*

I have no less than 5 FO to show you – but with all the craziness of being back home, Ive accidently gained 5 or so kg and every FO photo looks ick *im vain and I know it*

Ive had two promotions and three payrises at work its all systems go busy busy busy and no end in sight *le sigh*

Im starting Uni in a few weeks, finally getting that peice of paper *snore*

I bake too much, eat too much of my baked goods and am swearing off the baking – picking up my knitting and losing these added inches *urgh*

So when I woke early this public holiday I decided to take advanage of an empty kitchen, and am super glad for the time alone mixing up a storm!! What feels like too short a while later these pretty pink cupcakes emerged…

I love to bake, and luckily other members of the extended family love to eat so no complaints to waking to a house filled with baked goods and heavenly aromas…

I found the recipe for these vanilla cupcakes over here, a new blog  to me, but one Im ever thankful to have stumbled across, I found some great buttercream icing advice and many wonderful baked goods that I can’t wait to try myself.

Hummingbird Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch salt
40g soft unsalted butter
120ml whole milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla frosting
250g sifted icing sugar
80g unsalted butter
few drops vanilla extract
rose food colouring

Method
- Preheat oven to 170C/. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
- Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a large bowl and beat on a slow speed with an electric hand mixer until well combined and a sandy consistency.
- Whisk the egg, milk and vanilla extract together in a jug and add half to the dry mixture. Beat slowly to combine and then more quickly to beat out any lumps.
- Add the remaining liquid mixture and beat slowly to combine. Do not overmix.
- Transfer the mixture into the cake cases until 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven until they spring back to the touch. A skewer inserted should come out clean

- Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack before frosting.

- For the frosting, beat the butter and sugar together until well combined. I found the longer I mixed the better the icing, it really fluffed up until it was just perfect
- Spoon or pipe onto the cupcakes.

Im really proud of my how my piped icing has improved, and with my birthday coming up will probably pop another batch out later this week to take to the office.

I simply can’t wait to have my own kitchen again, to be able to explore and develop in the kitchen – while living with the in-laws has helped immensely in our efforts to buy a house (more on that later when things are set in stone) I am really noticing how difficult it is to adapt to living another families life.

Knitted goodness soon I promise and hopefully some good news on the housing front *fingers crossed*

Tonight I *shook* things up a little and turned my slap dash omelette into a zesty fritatta, so quick so simple and by trippling my usual omelette ingredients I have pre cooked dinner for the next two nights, which means more time to finish off my current WIP

Spinach, Tomato and Egg White Fritatta

 Ingredients *serves 3*

 8 egg whites from large eggs
40grm fresh spinach shredded
1/2 large onion sliced
3 cloves of garlic crushed
25grm of light shredded cheese
5 cherry tomato’s quartered

Directions

Prepare and mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
Lightly oil pan and heat over low heat, add mix to pan.
Cover and cook over low heat until mixture is firm.
Garnish with your favourite herbs

Nutritional Values

103 calories, 27% of the calories are from fat, 55% from protein, 18% from carbs

…see told you it was easy *wink*

She d/l lots of fun and addictive apps including stitch minder and clearly w/p

She needs to get back to knitting now

As her iphone is almost flat

The content of this draft was complaining of weight gain and how moving back home with the parents had drastically altered our diet and this was having horrible effects. Now almost two months later I have yet to post that particular post and am yet to change my diet. Well I did change, I adopted a vegetarian lifestyle but other than that the waist band on my jeans is still getting tighter each passing week and its just…well urgh.

The reason I tell you this now…well Monkey Boy celebrated his 23rd birthday, and his request a cake that looks like a monkey…..

A non blogging friend had baked this cake for her sons 2nd birthday last year, hah I thought easy as well cake

So then further conversations with Monkey Boy were had and he requested *monkeys are brown so chocolate flavoured please* and so I googled and I kid you not, best chocolate cake and this is what I found.

This was a VERY tasty cake (trust me I ate 2!!) but alas the density of this particular cake was just not going to work. 2 cakes later (yes I ate both in the space of a weekend and yes just me all me) I came to the realisation that it just wasnt going to work. So no I didnt just want to use the Martha cake…that would be too easy so I found this cake, a recipe that would make a huge quantity of cake all be it sugary and buttery and not to tasty at all.

And so Monkey Boy had his birthday, and had his cake…and I ate most of this one too *sigh*

And then came easter, and in the space of 2 days I devoured 4500 calories of chocolate and with the help of close friends a few too many bottles of wine and a celebration for Monkey Boy turning 23 we also put away a bag of doritos, a box of cheesels and a bag of rice crisps *shudder*

My gosh I feel like I could explode and I bet I look that way too! Even MB has requested we start eating a little better and start a somewhat detox diet.

All that aside, I raise my glass, and a slice of *heart attack* – (how MB described his cake), to my wonderful MB and hope this year brings you lots of wonderful things!

The three attempts, the thousands upon thousands of calories of cake and frosting were worth it.

Now lets take out the trash and get our diet back in control *wink wink*

nuff Said…

Ishbel, an Ysolda Teage design. Its also fair to say that I love all of Ysolda’s patterns.

The Love Factor: the yarn, the colour, the pattern – quick and simple yet somewhat challenging for a novice lace knitter. I love how the pattern works in sections, totally motivating to finish one or two sections each night, and three days later its done and blocking.

The Urgh Factor: Its a little smaller than I thought, but thats my fault.

Mods: I used smaller needles, only 3.5m, the 4mm was just a bit too loose and I couldnt find a set of 3.75mm – I know I have some somewhere.

The Stats:

Pattern: Ishbel – Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace Purple Surprise .5 skein
Needles: 3.5mm sullivans circs
Time Taken: 3 days

All in all I do love this project, and the pattern. Ive already had requests for from family members so there will be more…and I would even knit another for myself in the larger size.

That being said I have another finished knit, and I am so so so pleased with the final result.

My garter yoke cardigan as published in Knit 1 Fall/Winter 2008. This was such a quick knit, and I almost finished it on the trip down south. She has been sitting finished for over a week, just waiting for buttons and I wanted to give her a proper chance to dry.

The Love Factor: Everything. I love the colour, I love the yarn, I loved the actual knitting of it, I love the simplicity and I love the overall effect. Oh and I love the purple buttons

The Urgh Factor: It could be just a smidgeon smaller it is still quite loose, and the gaping of the buttons is something Im not sure how to fix.

Mods: Knit with smaller needles at a tighter gauge for a snugger fit. More decreases and less increases at the waist for a snugger fit, and knit extra length in the body. Only knit 7/8 length sleeves due to laziness and practicality

The Stats:

Pattern – Garter Yoke Cardigan - Ravelry Link
Yarn – Jaeger Extra Fine Merino in Peacock
Size – 34 in
Amount - 8.5 skeins
Needles - 4 mm Denise Interchangables
Time Taken – Just over two weeks ov actual knitting

Then someone else wanted to join in the photo fun…

Gruff, belongs to the MIL…but has taken a particular fancy to me. I think its all the scrap yarn I leave lying around…

But I could not understand the allure, not really. Sock yarn is expensive, why on earth would one spend $35 on a single skein when socks are such a quick project and for such a basic item.

Then one day someone, I forget who destashed a single skein of Jitterbug, in a colour that pulled at my heart strings, vincents apron. So I jumped aboard the sock train, and since havent looked back.

The pattern was simple, the instructions clear and the yarn delicious. As the sock grew, so did my enthusiasm and I started to understand the wonderful aspects of sock knitting, literally thousands of patterns, thousands of yarn and while $35 may be an expensive pair of socks, compared with the sometimes $150 + outlay for a sweater it is a relatively cheap project, one that is easily transportable and gives somewhat instant gratification.

The Love Factor: For my first pair of socks, these were remarkably easy. I love the yarn, I love the warmth I love that Ive knitted a pair of socks. Even monkey boy loves them and has been asing for a pair of his own ever since.

The Urgh Factor: The sizing is a little off. The cuffs are loose and the socks are a little saggy, they fit monkey boys feet and legs better than mine, (but maybe he has been pinching them from the wash and stretching them out with his giant feet!)

The Stats:

Pattern – Hedgerow Socks - Ravelry Link
Yarn – Jitterbug Sock Yarn in Vincents Apron
Amount – 1 skeins 320 yards
Needles – 2.25 mm spotlight cheapy dpns
Time Taken – Just over two weeks.

And before these ones where even finished four more pretty skeins had made their way into my stash, I try to only purchase from de-stash this to me is just the perfect solution, I get to try different yarns without the commitment of hunting down suppliers (Australia is a big wide wasteland!!) and fellow ravelers can enhance their own stash.

I trundled into the kitchen to see my favourite tea cup with my favourite tea and just the right amount of sugar waiting for me, I looked over at mum standing by the kitchen bench and without the need for words she came over and jiggled the kettle just right…its a finicky kettle much loved and used and it seems only mum can figure it out at such an early morning hour. These few moments together in the kitchen remind me just how wonderful mothers can be no matter how frustrating it feels to be parented some times.

So while driving through the fog at an ungodly huor into work this morning I was thinking of all things Autumn, and having fought the battle with the traffic and making it through unscathed and ahead of schedule I stopped at the local asian farmers market.   Butternut pumpkins cheap at double the price, a refound love for pumpkin soup and an urge to bake pumpkin scones for my early rising mum I thought  today I would share with you my favourite pumpkin soup recipe.

Pumpkin, Leek and Garlic Soup

Ingrediants
2kg butternut pumpkin, seeded and diced
1 leek sliced thinly
3 cloves of garlic
2ltr of good quality vegetable stock
cumin to taste

Method
Roast pumpkin leek and garlic in a large over tray until slightly blackened. Longer roasting time = sweeter soup

Once roasted place pumpkin stock and cumin in a large heavy based pot to boil.

Allow soup to cool before pureeing.

Simple, Easy, Quick as that…and a warm hearty delicious dinner loved by all.