A friend and I went to Little and Friday in Takapuna on the weekend for brunch and the food was to die for. I had a chocolate cake that was amazing, so amazing that I bought the recipe book and I am going to try and make it myself along with every recipe in it.
Aeromexico, Eva Air (Taiwan) and the LATAM group (South Americas biggest airline group operating in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia) have just gone shark free on all their routes and they join Emirates, Korean Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Qantas and Air New Zealand with a full blanket ban. Killing a shark for just its fins is cruel, so next time you fly make sure its with one of these airlines. Then you won’t have to worry about whether there are shark fins travelling with you.
Non-Fail Cupcake Recipe:
Ingredients:
125g Softened Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Flour
2 Eggs
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Cup Milk
Vanilla Essence
Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy then add the eggs one at a time beating well after each egg. Sift flour and baking powder together and fold into the creamed mixture. Stir in milk. Spoon the mixture into paper cases and bake at 190 degrees celsius for 15 minutes.
Ice with butter cream Icing:
150g Softened Butter
2 Cups Icing Sugar
2 Tablespoons of Hot Water
Vanilla Essence
Melt the butter and add the icing sugar while beating the butter till light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat till stiff and pipe onto the cupcakes.
Want to know what is happening in the Cove each day?
Follow the link to this blog ‘The Voice For The Blue’ that has regular updates and pictures on whats happening in the Cove :
Operation Blue Skies is a petition that with enough signatures can hopefully stop the transportation of cetacean creatures to and between marine parks like Seaworld. Please follow the link and sign it……
Plaster of Paris Hand Ring Holder
So easy to make all you need is a rubber glove size small, plaster of paris, a bucket, water, spray paint and varnish.
Make up the plaster of paris, this bit you will need two people for, while someone holds the glove open pour in the plaster of paris to whatever height you want your ring holder at. I hung mine on the washing line with few heavy duty pegs and left it there for a couple of hours. After a couple of hours I took it down and spray painted it black and then varnished it.
and this is the end result…..
Oreo Cheesecake
I watched ‘The Cove’ and read Ric O’barry’s book ‘Behind the Dolphin Smile’ and I couldn’t believe what was happening in Taiji every year so I decided to go there for the September 1st protest to photograph it and see for myself what was happening first hand. I was shocked and I have spent a lot time since reading as much as I can about it, putting my images into book form, following The Coves facebook page and the Save Japan Dolphins website and planning my trip for next year. But Taiji is not the only place this happens in Japan and I found out about Iwate Japan:
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/09/19/porpoise-iwate-japan-hunt-bigger-than-cove-taiji-japan
The easiest vertical garden to make:
All you need is 4-5 terracotta pots ranging in size, a piece of doweling, potting mix and some plants. Fill the pots with soil, stack them on top of one another and put the piece of doweling in the middle to keep it all together and finally plant the plants around the outside of each pot.
You hear dolphin and whale trainers say they love these animals so much that its all they have wanted to do since they were 5 years old and first visited Seaworld, which at 5 is cute but at 35 it is just sad because they still haven’t realized how cruel it is to keep these animals in such conditions. The tanks these whales are kept in, no matter how big will never be the ocean which is where they belong. I just watched ‘Blackfish’ and thought it was incredible and a must-watch.
I don’t know if there is a ‘Welcome to Taiji’ sign but if there is I missed it because I was distracted by all the dolphins and whales everywhere : monuments, signs, cobble stones and even the ferry were whale shaped. This is my day in Taiji…….
Have a look at ‘The Coves’ Facebook page for updates, news and anything dolphin and whale related:
Awesome little recycled vintage blanket brooches
My latest creation is teacup candles……so easy to make, all you need is a teacup, 1 cup of wax, scent, coloring (optional), medium saucepan, glass bowl, thermometer, a wick and a spoon.
1. Fill the saucepan with about 2 inches of water and then place the bowl in the saucepan to create a double boiler.
2. Then put the wax in the bowl and turn the oven on to boiling point. Place the thermometer in the wax.
3. Wait till the wax reaches 80 degrees then add your scent and colour.
4. Then take it off the heat and wait for it to cool to 60 degrees. While waiting attach your wick with a little wax to the bootom of your teacup. When its reached 60 degrees your can poor it into the teacup. (Handy hint: I get an ice cream stick and punch a hole in it and thread the wick through it and rest it on the edges of the teacup to keep the wick upright while pouring the wax in).
5. Let it rest for a couple of hours and there you have your very own teacup candle.
17 days is all that stands between me and my trip to Japan and hello is the only word I know in Japanese, I mean if you were going to learn only one word wouldn’t “help” make more sense and the closest I have come to try to learn more Japanese is reading my slanguage book.
You’re Welcome is Douitashimashite in Japanese but in slanguage its: Don’t touch my moustache (try saying that five times fast)
I think I had better go learn some actual Japanese…….
Lemon, Lime and Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients:
250g Butter Softened
1 1/2 Cups of Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
2 Cups of Flour
2 1/2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
3/4 Milk
1/3 Cup of Poppy Seeds
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Vanilla
Grated Zest of 2 limes and 2 lemons
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease a 22cm cake tin. Cream butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy then beat in eggs one at a time. Sift together flour and baking powder and gently fold into creamed mixture alternately with milk. Mix in poppy seeds, vanilla and zest. Spoon mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes. Let it cool for 30 minutes and then dust with icing sugar and serve with a drop of cream.
New little ceramic necklaces now in the shop……
I love recycling and sustainability so when I read about Coco Colas new drink called Coca Cola Life I may have got a bit too excited. This new coke is sweetened with sugar and stevia, a natural herb which has no calories, but 300 times the sweetness of sugar. What I really like is that it comes in a bottle that is made from 30% plant material and is fully recyclable. Unfortunately this product is only available in Argentina at the moment but fingers crossed this product will find its way to New Zealand.
I found these amazing 1950’s Womens Weeklys in a Op Shop and as a hoarder and collector I bought the whole lot. I waited for the next rainy day and spent it reading them from cover to cover in front of my heater with a hot chocolate. I love anything old/vintage/retro or art deco and I enjoyed the vintage ads for the latest household products but what captured my interest were these little childrens stories about a family of Robins that were in the back of each one. I thought they were so cute I scanned them and thought id share them.
This is my latest attempt at recycling and they look pretty awesome finished and hanging in the garden.
All you need are some cleaned out cans, a nail, a hammer, spray paint, some wire and a candle.
thechocolatbox 