Posts Tagged ‘NZ Blogger’

Give Thanks and Praises

Things I am thankful for:

  1. Family, they may be crazy but they help me feel like my own craziness comes from a happy place
  2. Memories of Paris and Venice (and so many other amazing places) that get me through the good days and the bad
  3. Flatmates who cook the most delicious meals when I am too tired to pick up the phone and order takeaways
  4. A good night’s sleep and the lack of an alarm clock
  5. Tea deliveries. ‘Nuff said
  6. America’s next top model. Haters gonna hate, I’m going to watch this show until its death because I can
  7. Animals. I may not have any of my own right now, but my cat charming skills get a good workout in this neighbourhood
  8. A job that pays the rent and also helps with unexpected costs that could be more stressful then they are
  9. Friends who are there all day, every day and the constant surprise I feel at getting to hang out with such amazing people
  10. Christmas. Christmas. Tinsel. Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving xxxx

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Marshmallow Chocolate Mud Cookies

So today I found out I would never be able to have a cookbook because I just can’t name recipes. I can’t. I don’t know how people come up with creative yet still descriptive titles. Mine are all either too abstract that they could be anything or just downright boring. For the sake of clarity I stuck with the boring because these cookies are so delicious that they don’t need much creativity to sell. DSC_2325

I am not a cookie person, but if I am going to eat cookies I prefer them homemade (who doesn’t) and these cookies are the only recipe I come back to over and over again when I want something delicious to tackle my ever-present craving for chocolate but not waste a whole day in the process. I almost always make these with my two little brothers which demonstrates how easy and fun they are to make (and even more fun to eat).

Team work

Team work

Let me give you a quick sales pitch (although you could just glance at the photos and I am quite confident you will be sold). These cookies hit all the right spots for me, chewy and moist on the inside, crispy on the outside, rich chocolate taste as well as extra little bites of chocolate pieces and topped with some gooey caramelised marshmallows…because if you are going to indulge you may as well have it all (I haven’t mastered moderation at this point in life).

ingredients

  • 1 – 1 and a half cups of chocolate chips (I love a mixture of dark chocolate and white chocolate but hey, go crazy)
  • 1/2 cup more of chocolate set aside (this can be in any form as you’re going to melt it anyway/eat it)
  • 1/2 cup of softened butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp of vanilla (I really love vanilla essence so just add 1 tsp if you aren’t such a big fan)
  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 bag of mini marshmallows (don’t worry, there will be plenty for snacking on)

method.

  1. Microwave your half cup of chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl until smooth. I check the chocolate every 30seconds and give it a good stir before continuing because too many times have I been fooled when microwaving chocolate and there is nothing more disappointing than ruining perfectly good chocolate. Whilst microwaving set your oven to bake at 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl and ignore all the dishes that will need to be done after this is over.
  3. Cream the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Make this easier on yourself with a electric mixer unless you enjoy the challenge of doing this by hand. Once this is creamy add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg is added. Lastly beat in the vanilla and the melted chocolate.
  4. Gradually add the flour mixture into the chocolate, folding in gently but thoroughly so the air doesn’t escape. Add in the chocolate pieces (after taste testing a few to make sure they are worthy of your mixture).
  5. This is where it gets messy. Roughly roll teaspoonful balls of dough onto paper lined trays (chocolate is going to get all over your hands, but don’t worry the mixture tastes almost as good at this point as it does in approx 15 minutes). DSC_2267
  6. You can add your marshmallows now or in around 5 minutes depending on how well done you want the marshmallows to be. I add mine after a little bit of cooking just so that they don’t get too brown. Put roughly 3 mini marshmallows on top of each cookie or 4 if there is space and you haven’t already eaten too many.
  7. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for around 15 minutes or until they look evenly cooked/set. They will be pretty soft so once out of the oven leave to cool before transferring to a wire rack. Enjoy your hard work with a well earned cookie and glass of cold milk.

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Let me know if you give these a go (preferably in advance so I can come over and eat some) and if you have any amazing cookie recipes please throw them my way so I can expand my very narrow cookie repertoire. Link me up in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook :)

 

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Flick doesn’t understand why we bake things which she cannot eat and is thoroughly disappointed because these smelt so good.

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Music to my Ears #2

So my music tastes range from standard middle of the road to down right random, but my favourite word to describe my musical orientation (as well as myself in general) is eclectic. Its a nice word, weird to say but pretty to look at and tricky to attempt to spell. And I like to think I identify with it, although I’m sure most of the time I come across as the most average/boring person.

I love music and I enjoy talking about it with others, so Music to my Ears is making a comeback, so get ready.

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Banks: Goddess

Banks is a bit of  a wonderful mystery to me, but the more I listen to her album the more it wins me over. First listen through I wasn’t sold, but I was intrigued by her captivating vocals and trance like beats. Now that I am more familiar with her style I can’t get enough. If you haven’t listened to her yet (go do it), imagine something along the lines of Aaliyah/The XX/Lorde kind of style. I’m probably describing it all wrong but that’s the best I can do. This makes the perfect lazy weekend album to have on in the background while you waste the day pretending to do housework.

Listen to: Brain (my favourite track of the album), You Should Know Where I’m Coming From, and the popular Fuck ‘Em Only We Know

Ben Howard: I Forget Where We Were

I am not sure how I managed to avoid getting in to Ben Howard’s music before the past month or so. His soft acoustics and soulful lyrics are right up my alley (okay so I have a lot of alleys, but his music is right up one of them). This album is his more recent one, released this year, and I love the quiet intensity of his moodier tracks. Its a great album, easy to listen to and a bit of a crowd pleaser. Now just please stand aside while I weep into pillow with regret for missing his August concert. At the time I barely recognised his name. Ah, regret, you old friend.

Listen to: Small Things, I Forget Where We Were, End of the Affair

Alt J: This is all yours

I saved my favourite for last and anyone who is unlucky enough to spend much time with me will know that this album has been almost exclusively played over and over until i had to force myself to ration it out (once a day maximum, no more than 4 times a week). Alt-J are one of the very few performers I would travel large distances to go and see, which is a pretty big deal considering I am normally too lazy to go to concerts in the city where I live.

This is their second album (I raved about their first album over here) and for me its the best music they have produced, but I can also see some people preferring their more mainstream (if you could ever classify alt-J as mainstream) first album. This is all yours is a unique series of tracks, that in my opinion are best played as a set. I won’t try and review them any more than to say that the album is very different. Its a bit weird, a little creepy at times (see the lyrics of Every Other Freckle, one of my favourite tracks) but incredibly interesting and evocative to listen to. I find their album creates a experience that I get absolutely drawn into, with soft melodies, haunting vocals and the odd punch of upbeat rock. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I think Alt-J are doing something very different and if I had to listen to one album for all of 2014 it would have been this.

Listen to: Nara, Hunger of the Pine (keep an eye out for a weirdly perfect Miley Cyrus ??), Warm Foothills (this makes my heart feel all warm and happy) and The Gospel of John Hurt. Just listen to the album, several times in a row. You won’t regret it (You might but I didn’t).

What has been playing for you recently?

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Friday’s Letters: take me out tonight

Dear Flatmate: So we now have a dog for two weeks and although my sinuses hate you right now, the big labrador cuddles more than make up for it.

Dear Spring: I love you and your beautiful flowers. My hay fever hates you and your disgusting pollination. Why can’t we all just get along.

Dear Edd: Thank you for being so understanding of me and my crazy moods. Sometimes I still forget how amazing it is to be married to my best friend.

Dear Broken Dishwasher: You taunt me as I clean the dishes by hand. I hope that makes you feel better about yourself.

Dear Bill Bailey: Holy cheese you were hilarious. I don’t know how you play so many instruments so incredibly well but your Reggae dubstep remix of the Downton Abbey theme tune was pretty much the best thing ever.

Dear Body: I know, I know, I have abandoned you like Nemo abandoned his dad, totally unintentionally and I’m really sorry about it. Promise to start working on this soon.

Dear Body: Further to the above, if I try harder could you also try harder? My job involves talking non stop all day so when you decide to make me sound like Chewbacca with a pillow over his head, life becomes just a little more challenging.

Dear Lorde: You put on an amazing concert last weekend and I still get chills just thinking about it.

Dear Neighbour: Thanks for offering to keep our dog guest a secret from the landlord. You are way cooler than I was expecting.

Dear Sleep: I need more of you in my life right now.

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Say Hi to Raja/Ranger

Say Hi to Raja/Ranger

 

 

 

Taking Stock | November

I found this through Laura and kind of loved the idea. So lets not commit to anything too over-eagerly, but my thought process is that if I like doing this then I might attempt it monthly. But don’t expect it, just be pleasantly surprised if I follow through. Deal?

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So just in case you were wondering what goes on inside my head (its a pretty weird and yet boring place):

  • Making : my chocolate cupcakes with the intent of sharing (but mainly just for eating)
  • Cooking : vegetarian dishes for my new flatmates and realising that trying new things is fun and not scary.
  • Drinking : red wine, and too much of it. I would blame stress but honestly I just really like red wine and i’m not even a little bit sorry.
  • Reading: Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham, and loving it
  • Wanting: to buy all the kittens and fill my house with cat cuddles
  • Looking: for my brow zings. Everyday without it makes me that much more resentful that I inherited my parent’s lack of “knowing where all my sh*t is”
  • Deciding: what I will try and kindly manipulate my family into buying me for Christmas
  • Wishing: my health would improve without me having to put in any effort. Lazy, I know.
  • Enjoying: having full two whole day long weekends. I have always worked Sundays so this is a relatively new concept.
  • Waiting: for our gardener to email me. ITS BEEN AGES SINCE I ASKED YOU FOR THE BILL.
  • Liking: getting new responsibilities at work (I am always up for a challenge…until it gets to challenging and then I just freak out)
  • Wondering: how my flowers have stayed alive so long when my other ones died in 3 days. How does that work? (I’m not a gardener, not even a flower enthusiast, just pleasantly confused)
  • Loving: the new Alt-J album. Like, a lot. Like on repeat over and over. Too much.
  • Pondering: over what direction I want my blog to take, if any direction at all
  • Considering: signing up for A Beautiful Mess’ stationary subscription (Happy Mail), because its not that expensive and I know it will be totally amazing 
  • Watching: outlander on Lightbox, as well as rewatching The Office US because as much as I adore the UK one, Jim and Pam have my heart.
  • Hoping: that I can continue to try and make positive changes in my life and the way I live it.
  • Marvelling: at my sister and gorgeous baby niece. 
  • Needing: to meditate daily, send any useful links my way!
  • Smelling: the spring flowers in our garden, they give me hay fever but I don’t even mind that much
  • Wearing: printed leggings. So comfortable, like a bowl of my favourite pasta (which is why I have to wear them in the first place)
  • Following: too many people to keep up to date
  • Noticing: a number of incredible people around me who inspire, support and are just generally amazing
  • Knowing: that I need to change my attitude about a few things (easier said then done)
  • Thinking: about what my priorities are for the next 5 years
  • Admiring: my husbands photograhpy
  • Sorting: out the new flat 
  • Buying: the new edition of Frankie magazine
  • Getting: bills that I really wish I could just ignore
  • Bookmarking: these gorgeous desktop backgrounds from DesignLoveFest
  • Disliking: the fact that it has already been 4 months since our Europe trip. I miss a different city each day
  • Giggling: because my new flatmates are hilariously inappropriate
  • Feeling: optimistic for what’s ahead
  • Snacking: on this delicious and easy to make cornflake/mars bar slice from one of my favourite food blogs
  • Coveting: all the things but mainly this
  • Wishing: for more time in the day
  • Helping: not as many people as normal. Which feels weird but is helping me be in a healthier place
  • Hearing: birds in the morning, they are super noisy by the new bedroom! But I don’t mind too much

Thanks to Pip who has the blank list right here, all ready for you to go and take stock of your current life state!

Hope November is full of good things, and not too much early Christmas music (unless you love that in which case I wish you all the Christmas music in the world) x

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3 months pass by

I’m really awkward when it comes to trying to update people on my life since returning to New Zealand. So much has happened, but time has flown by so quickly, so instead of rambling on I have compiled a brief list to sum up the last three months. I have also used instagram to provide a brief photographic overview of my life (spoiler alert – there’s a lot of coffee and pancakes).

So what have I been up to:

  • Eating enough cheese to feel sick (not something new, just reassuring you all that my love of cheese is still going strong
  • Having amazing #brunchclubs with Laura and Maddy, my two blogging inspirations and generally amazing friends
  • Settling in to a new wonderful flat with space and character and all those great things that make a house a home
  • Learning to love having flatmates again which mainly involves much wine drinking and the occasional sock on the door knob
  • Getting into Girls in a big way (the TV show, no dramatic orientation changes at this stage)
  • Pining over another overseas trip. Japan, I have you and all of your cat cafes in my sights.
  • Working too hard, doing too much overtime and then grumbling about it
  • Failing to join the gym but with all the right intentions
  • Enjoying the first little glimpses of summer with some iced tea and beers in our back yard
  • Feeling guilty over how hard I have found it to get back into blogging
  • Going for a couple of amazing trips to Wellington, one work related and one to launch Wellington’s very own #brunchclub
  • Baking things, but not as much as I would like to
  • Being awestruck and head over heels at my new little niece who is the most adorable piece of baby flesh I ever did set my eyes on.
  • Becoming ridiculously proud of my baby sister who makes motherhood look so darn easy, and has never looked more beautiful than when she is snapchatting her and the baby after very few hours of sleep. I don’t know how you do it but I know one day I will hate you just a little bit for setting the bar so high
  • Trying to make the neighbour’s cat love me the most and failing but still getting plenty of cat cuddles
  • Learning to appreciate the little things more, slowly.
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The “dream about you everyday”mint hot chocolate from Al’s Deli

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Using cafe’s as a way to get free (not really free) cat cuddles. 

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Experimenting with different Vegetarian meals

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Decorating the entire office to look like Alice and Wonderland and kind of knocking our own socks off

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Eating so much amazing food in Wellington. This is Chow *drool*

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Long Blacks look pretty and are better for me. So I’m trying to replace my love of lattes.

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Moving house and finding my favourite sun spot to read in

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Organising my first baby shower and not even screwing anything up!

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So I thought I wasn’t a fan of pancakes. Okra may have changed my whole perspective (which explains why I have eaten pancakes almost every weekend).

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Tried Best Ugly Bagels for the first time and thankfully they lived up to the hype in a delicious way! Peanut Butter and Jam for life.

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No words could describe how incredible it is to have a little niece.

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Entertaining which is mostly just an excuse to eat more cheese

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Had a great #brunchclub at Tuihana, more on this to come!

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Found an app that lets me replace faces with animal heads (called Animal Face, go figure) and have been going through all my travel photos to make them more appealing. So great.

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Enjoying the Kiwi Spring that has just started making itself known

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Befriending all the cats in the Neighbourhood, even the ones that look like little alien sheep.

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Reading this book and getting a little obsessed

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And lastly, embracing Halloween at work.

Looking forward to:

  • Lorde concert which is on tonight and which I should be getting ready for instead of blogging
  • Going to see Bill Bailey this week which will be amazing
  • The exciting future of #brunchclub
  • Watching my niece and my sister grow together
  • Spending more time with family now that the sun decides to come out more often
  • Continuing to make the new place feel like home
  • Joining a gym so that I can get fit and healthy
  • Doing some part time study, all though I might put that off until next year
  • Planning a budget that lets us save for a trip to the South Island and then later on for Japan
  • CHRISTMAS.

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Moist Chocolate Cupcakes (that time I fell in love with a recipe)

You know when you meet someone again after a really long time, and you should remember their name but you don’t. You feel uncomfortably awkward because they act like they know you (and they seem to have remembered everything about you including your hatred of asparagus and your second-cousin’s ex-wife’s love of water-polo) and yet you remember nothing and have no idea how to interact with them.

Ok so maybe I am the only one.

Well thats what I feel like now. Coming back after a several month long hiatus of blogging where I was in a bit of a transitional period of life, busy with work, family and friends (but not busy enough that I can really use that as an excuse for abandoning myfoxycorner as well as myfoxytravels; two blogs=twice the guilt).

I am trying to pretend like I remember how to do this, when in reality I don’t think I ever really got the hang of blogging in the first place. So instead of just awkwardly dancing around the fact that I have been missing for a while, I will just be upfront with how hard it is to try and re-introduce myself to this little corner of the world.

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I could give you a rundown of all the exciting for me, mundane for you, updates in my life. Or I could fall back on an easy yet delicious cupcake recipe and save all that for when I can be bothered.

This cupcake recipe is one I have wanted to blog about for ages and for some reason never have. The reason why eludes me; these cupcakes are my soul-recipe. They are fool-proof (or rather Lizzy-proof). The evidence in this lies in many failed attempts at following a half remembered recipes, forgetting to set timers and then forgetting about the oven contents, and a couple of accidental grillings (how hard is it to make sure you set the oven to bake?, you ask).

Throughout all of these mistakes, these cupcakes have been like my parents. Supportive, forgiving, persistent, reliable and (end of parent comparison) just down right delicious. They are speedy and don’t use anything fancy that isn’t normally lying around my well-stocked cupboard (when it is well-stocked and not just full of pasta and chickpeas). They are the recipe I fall back on for anything and everything, including the ever common scenario I find myself in where I have to (want to) make something delicious and impressive for the next day but it’s already 9pm at night.

These chocolate cupcakes have everything I could want in a chocolate cupcakes. They are moist but still fluffy, rich but I can still eat several at a time, chocolatey but not overly sweet. Satisfying and reliable, like an old episode of the Simpsons.

So without further ado, here it is, the 1 recipe I would take with me to a desert island (or a more appropriate dessert island).

The easiest but most delicious chocolate cupcakes (adapted from hersheys.com “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake):

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  • 2 cups of Sugar (I like using mostly white with a little bit of brown sugar thrown in for some giggles)
  • 1 3/4 cup standard flour
  • 3/4 cups cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water (I add a tsp of instant coffee but this is optional)

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and prep your muffin tins with some appropriately beautiful cupcake liners
  2. Add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl except the boiling water (and coffee). Sift in some stuff if you want but there is no need to get flour all over the sifter and then hate yourself afterwards.
  3. Beat by hand until the batter is completely combined, smooth and lump free.
  4. Add the coffee to the boiling water and then the coffee/boiling water to the mixing bowl. Whisk until this is just blended in. I’ll be honest here and warn you that its going to look like a chocolate soup (which does not look as delicious as it sounds). This is normal and great so just carry on, you’re doing an awesome job.
  5. Evenly pour the mixture into your liners, 3/4 full maximum to avoid spillage and angry regretful tears. Bake for around 20 minutes but around 15 minutes I start testing with a skewer. Once it comes out clean, take them out.
  6. Try to not eat them long enough for them to cool and then ice with what ever takes your fancy. My favourite icing for these at the moment is a baileys and cream cheese concoction, but a simple vanilla buttercream is also a perfect accompaniment. As is peanut butter. Or a dash of icing sugar, so that time that could be used for eating isn’t wasted on icing.

So there they are, deliciously simple and forgiving, these cupcakes are always a star at the workplace as well as with friends, family and even enemies. These were the first cupcakes I ever made and were so easy that I thought I must be amazing at all cupcakes. This misconception was cleared up when I tried to follow a different cupcake recipe (poorly) and realized I was not the natural cupcake superstar I had envisaged. But damn, these chocolate cupcakes do a good job of helping me pretend I am.

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With Baileys and Cream cheese icing (plus some Malteasers). I think this is when I realized I had fallen in love with a cupcake.

Give them a go and let me know how much you love them. Just remember to turn the oven to bake (or don’t, they will still taste amazing).  And hey, I’m very happy to be back. Sorry I can’t remember your name.

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