Monday Bake-Off

Monday again and that can only mean one thing: time for the Monday bake-off....this is when I try to be a virtuous Mum and bake treats for the girls (and Mr.D) for morning and afternoon teas; and late night snacks. I thought I'd get ahead of myself and make a chocolate cake yesterday but by the time 8pm rolled around the whole dang thing had been devoured and I was back to square one! Greedy munchkins!

So today I donned my fave vintage apron once again and hup-two'd into the Kitchen Kitsch kitchen.  First on the menu was a good old favourite, Coconut and Raspberry Slice. After a slight flour mishap I got back down to baking business.

Here's the recipe.....

Coconut and Raspberry Slice

Base                                      
60g softened butter               
60g caster sugar                    
2 egg yolks                            
pinch of salt                           
1 tsp vanilla                           
150g SR flour

Topping
1/2 cup raspberry jam (I mixed things up a bit and used blueberry but any fruity jam will suffice)
1 cup of shredded coconut
3/4 cup of caster sugar
2 egg whites

Now, it's as easy as turning the oven on to 200 degrees Celsius and line a sandwich pan with baking paper.
Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition.
Stir in a pinch of salt and the vanilla, dump in the flour and mix to a smooth batter.
Place into the pan. Top with the jam of choice.
For the topping beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, beat in the sugar, and stir in the coconut. Pour this mixture on top of the jam.
Pop in the oven and bake until the base is cakey and the top is golden and looks like (is, actually)crunchy meringue. Allow to cool before slicing into ....slices...hence the name! Yummm!

Did I mention I also baked chocolate chip bikkies? I'll do anything to get out of cleaning the bathrooms!

Here goes:

Choc Chip Bikkies

125g softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups SR flour
3/4 cup of Cadbury Milk Choc Chips (which just happened to be half price at Woolies today!)

Cream butter and sugars, stir in egg and vanilla. Sift the flour and fold through the mixture along with the choc chips. Roll into balls, flatten with a fork, and whack into a 160 degree oven for about 10 or 15 minutes.
Try to not eat balls of this cookie dough.....I dare you!

Et voila!!!

You're right, these look hideous but it's what's inside that counts.....right girls?? Heck though, the tablecloth's pretty!

xxMs.K

Ooooooops

This what happens to your vintage apron collection when you try to machine wash them all together......

So carefully soaked in Martha Gardener's Wool Mix.....then spun into a frenzy.....took nearly 15 minutes to free the poor ladies.

Let it be known that no vintage aprons were harmed during this spin cycle mishap.

xxMs.K

R.I.P. Little Friend

A little show of respect please people for we have had a tiny death in the Kitchen Kitsch house today. This morning Miss H's Siamese Fighting Fish, Berry, decided to exit-stage-right onto her bedroom floor. But wait....that's not the end of it....as I am now a slave to Michelle Bridges, I was at the gym doing my 2 hour (count 'em) workout when all of this went down so on my sweaty return Miss H showed me a carefully folded tissue that contained Master Berry. When she asked if I wanted to see him I decided even though I'm not keen on dead things I should be a good mum and pay my last respects to her beloved fish. I wish we had captured this on film because as she unfolded the tissue the little darling did a flip!

Yes....2 hours after doing a kamikaze our friend was still somehow alive. After Miss H, Miss M and I finally stopped screaming we raced him back to his little tank and put him in as a last ditch effort to fully revive him. More screaming as he flip flopped around the tank and his gills started opening and closing. For half an hour we spoke reassuring words to him to try and encourage him to breath while Mr D googled frantically to see if it is at all possible for a Fighting Fish to do a Lazarus.  Apparently if they find themselves on dry land their gills stop working and they start to breath out of their mouths.....who knew??

Sadly though the little Fighter gave up after about an hour and floated up to fishy heaven....Miss H made him a teeny coffin out of cardboard from a beer carton (well he was a male!) and buried him in the back garden complete with iceblock stick headstone and pink geranium floral tribute. Be at peace little man.......

RIP Berry  ??/??/?? - 18/02/2012

xxMs.K

PS The Sunliner was fab but way too much work required for a novice like me....shame....the search continues....

Is This It?

I'm very excited to say that I've finally found a vintage caravan that is for sale in an area not too far from home. So this afternoon I'm off to have a squizz at this little bubble.....

No it's not made out of Lego! Bad pic I know but you get the idea. Fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed for this one......1952 Sunliner ripe for renovation. Please Mrs. Universe....I promise to never be cranky ever again.....

On another note today is the first day of my Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation program. I've already boosted my gym sessions to 6 per week, as suggested, so now the eating program begins. Jeez I'm going to miss those chocolate coated jelly babies I discovered while on holidays recently. Wish me double luck!

xxMs.K

Colour Choices

Thanks for your comments on my fab finds; just a question I'd like to pose to my in-the-know friends.....what colour should I paint the chairs? Every time I think about it bright yellow pops into my head. Now up until not-so-long ago I was a loather of yellow; it stems from (what I thought was) a hideous dress my dear Mum made for me to wear on my first day of "kindy". Now looking back it was a cute little dress and I wish I had the opportunity to wear it again.....but what does a 4 year old know? In fact I spotted a gorgeous Leona Edmiston dress the other day which reminded me of my little yellow dress, just a grown-up version, but at $295 I was not about to make up for what I missed out on in my childhood.

So here are the choices......Yellow? Red? Turquoise? Green?.....or back to white?

      


 






A very stylish friend suggested yellow for the pot planter; she thought it would look fab with the red and pink geraniums and I agree wholeheartedly. Am thinking my yellow fetish may not last too long so painting 2 chairs in it may be OTT. Suggestions ploiyse poiyple......

xxMs.K

I Didn't Mean To!

I swear!!! This afternoon I very innocently drove to a nearby suburb to pick up an ebay win for a friend and as I hopped out of the car I nearly tripped over these.......just waiting for me by the side of the road. It's true!!!

I have always been quietly envious of people who proclaim they "found it by the roadside" and actually I always doubted their authenticity but now I am a total convert and hope people are now quietly envious of me....ha!! Only trouble is I'm quickly running out of room to hide these treasures, Mr.D just wouldn't understand.

xxMs.K

Done it Again!

I love the way that when you least expect it, something finds you out of the blue. On my return from the usual early Saturday morning market adventure I drove past yet another mountain laid out for the curbside collection and this vintage beauty caught my eye.....you betcha!

It's a toss up as to whether I leave this plant stand a la naturel or give it a good scrubbing and repaint it a nice cheerful colour...or white. Either way I'm picturing it with some lovely geraniums in terracotta pots (a little bit Mediterranean of me). Sitting beside it is a pretty hydrangea I snapped up at the markets today. Sweet! BTW it's day 3 of alcohol free Feb and going strong. Cheers (not me)!

xxMs.K