oh what a weekend

not much to say. i had a great weekend. I went to the Blackheath Choral Festival. one of my singing groups - Door In The Wall (go youtube us!) managed to be the poster children for the weekend, we were on the front page of the local news paper, and in the SMH Spectrum (that's our state wide weekend paper for those who are not local). We have had some good rehearsals over the past few weeks, but things were pretty much hit and miss. we got out on stage and we were amazing. it felt sooooo good, and apparently sounded fantastic. i'm so proud of us, and of being part of DITW. we rocked the festival. honestly, and not big headedly, there were probably only about 3 or 4 other choirs out of 20-odd that were of the same standard.
so apart from the singing... on friday we drove up the mountains, with good conversation and beer (i was not driving) and then we had dinner and drinks and lots of laughs till about midnight. there was a rumour that i was going to be in a relationship with Candy (not present over the weekend) and Sally was playing with my hair (it's like stroking a puppy, some people just can't help themselves) and gareth told sally to be careful coz i was gonna break her heart coz i was after candy - HAHAHA seriously. Sally and i may have been mildly flirting, but that was it, we were just boosting each others ego's, and doing it knowingly. overall it was just an awesome weekend spent with friends, with lots of good food, good laughs and LOTS of good wine!

milo cupcakes FTMFW

FTMFW is one of my new catch phrases. it stands for "for the MF win" i'm sure you can work out the rest.

anyhoo, more cupcakes. these are a re-attempt, the last ones i wasn't measuring so thye ended up just wrong. this time i only have small patty cases, so they will be just not quite the right shape, a little flat.. coz i only have big pans. the two don't make for pretty shaped things...

if you don't know what milo is, then there is nothing i can do to help you. it's a (maybe) chocolate malt drink making powder that you mix with milk. it's part of every australians childhood, and adulthood too. hot in winter, cold in summer, it's great.

Milo Cupcakes
250g butter
1.5 cup sugar
3 eggs
2.5 cups SR flour
1 cup milo.
2 cups milk.

beat the butter, add the sugar and beat. add eggs 1 by 1 and beat. add flour, milo, milk, flour, milk, flour, beating the whole time. put in patty cases, not much more than half full. cook for 15, rotate every which way. cook for another 15, test. bob's your uncle.

now this is a thick mix. and my batch are still in the oven and i have people coming about now. like right now

that is all..

horny bird cupcakes.

the horny bird also known as red bull and grey goose.

i made cupcakes today. i think to make a really good cupcake you have to have the esence of something. as you can't get esence of red bull these are just good cupcakes of no specific distinguishable flavour. i'm sad about that coz i wanted to make really good cupcakes..

250g butter
1 cup suger
3 eggs
1t vanilla essence
2 cups of flat RB
3 cups SR flour.

whip the butter, add the sugar. beat. add eggs and vanilla. beat. flour, beat, red bul, beat, flour, beat, red bull, beat, flour. 1/2 fill patty cases, cook for 15 mins, then rotate and cook for another 18, all at 180C.

1 cup icing sugar
30-40 mls grey goose (about 2T)

mix, and put on top.

they are a great cake, gorgeous texture etc, but not really strong on the red bull flavour, and the sugar of the icing overtakes the vodka flavour.

Sorry Crystal, i tried...

i like my mums house

but sometimes i forget. i like the ladder that goes into the workroom in the roof. i like coming down into the cool house after being in the work room. i like the sun room in winter, and the brick lounge room in summer. i like the fact that mum loves her creature comforts so the heat is always on when it's even the slightest bit cold. i love that the cheap vodka lives in the laundry - it really is good for cleaning, and when you run out of the good vodka you just go downstairs and grab the cheap stuff. i love that there is always food, and when i decided on friday that i wanted to cook pilaf the ingredients all just existed in the cupboard and fridge. i love the little art deco hall tables, and i love the dog who sleeps only in doorways so you have to step over her. i love the cat with a tag on her collar that says obstreperous - stroppy. it suits her well. i love that both computers are always on, so you can just sit and play a bit, then up and go again, not go through the whole boot and shutdown process. i love the pool, though i rarely swim in it and i love the deck for eating lunch at any time of year. mum drives me nuts sometimes but i love her too. i couldn't live here, last time i tried it lasted 3 months then i moved in to a converted garage as an improvement...

that is all

uh-mericans

i work on a uni campus. a uni with lots of internationals. you know the ones that you can pick from across the courtyard? americans. i have been trying to work out why it is easy to tell amongst a group of 100 people which ones the maericans are. is it the fact that they wear track pants where most other's wear jeans? or the fact that they wear shorts and sweater - it's winter people put some long pants on - or is it the hair? i mean, we all have hair, we all use the same brands of shampoo and the same water, go to the same hairdressers, shop in the same places... is it the sweaters that say UCLA? no - those are fashion items available anywhere or for any tourist.
i really can't quite put my finger on it, but i can tell when there are americans in a group, long b4 i hear hem speak. hearing the talk is just confirmation...
do you have a theory?

that is all.

curses...

i struggle with links, but click above to go to a really short, cute, you tube.

i am about to nerd myself in a big way. in fact it's worse than nerd it's sad pathetic, i feel so ashamed coz i used to (still do?) look down on this kind of behaviour.

i am a fan of Crystal Chappell (said like chappelle corby). she is an american daytime tv actress. she's good looking, and funny, and generous to her fans. there are photo's all over the interwebz taken by fans when she has been on a break from filming in peapack NJ, she has done hour long podcast interviews. she spent two and a half hours in a live chat with hundreds of rabid fans. she answers questions. she interacts with us on twitter. now i'm gonna go further with this. i might almost go as far as to say i am obsessed. i like to watch a little bit of CC every day, or listen to a podcast or interview. i was off sick on friday and slept till 11. i slept till 11 on saturday. on sunday i woke @ 8am to go online for a live chat with CC!!! OMG, she spoke (kinda) to me. we all queued up to ask questions, i made it into the queue, and she answered my question!! i know that's not really speaking to me, but it was still exciting for me... - are you seeing the sad pathetic yet? i have had a twitter account for a while, now i actually use it coz CC twitters. getting a twitter from CC would make my day - it's called being chappelled, or Crystal-eyezed. i wanna be crystal-eyezed!
now the show she is on is Guiding Light (GL), which is the worlds longest running soap opera, going from radio to tv to make a total of 72 years. this september the last ever episode will be aired as CBS (#FUCBS) have cancelled it. The character she plays, and has done for 10 years is Olivia, the town vixen, having slept with most of the men and their fathers/sons. Olivia has had a heart transplant within the last year, and found herself being annoyed by the widow of the owner of the heart. these two have become partners in every sense, except for the fact that they have never kissed. well kinda never - you'd have to watch, or really want me to tell you, to understand. But they have declared their love, been affectionate towards one another and have told others they are together, so it's not like a xena thing where it's just subtext and no-one will ever know what the writers were intending. This is a real honest to god lesbian relationship on tv that has been and is being handled with the utmost respect and care by all involved, it would just be GOD DAMN ABOUT TIME AND FREAKIN' AWESOME if they would kiss, properly.
i am so insane currently about this story line, and Crystal that i am part of 3 facebook groups about it.

so that is how i am spending nearly every minute i have spare at the moment. if i'm not at work, or at one of three choirs, or helping my mother finish her TAFE major work, then i am in front of a computer screen, watching you tube, or at BPD (big purple dreams) or on twitter. it is taking over my life, and it's a little bit nuttz, but i am loving having something so honest and realistic to obsess over.

Thank you CC for your continuous generosity, and i know you know how it ends, but i hope it leaves the rest of us smiling.

that is all

sumac causes blindness

according to Xena - who, of course, is the great untold influence in all ancient history, oil that's got sumac in it will make you blind if you get it in ur eyes...

so i made cupcakes with it instead. they are good cupcakes, but could have taken almost double the amount of sumac. it's just a hint at the back if you know what you are tasting. a kind of lemony peppery taste. works really well in a cupcake. i'm going to make icing that is just a little lemony and sprinkle the smallest touch of ground sumac on top. mmm. i'll make them again, and add more.

Sumac cupcakes.

225g butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups SR flour
2 cups milk
vanilla essence
1 T ground sumac (at a minimum - i will ad at least 1.5 next time)

mix it all in a true cupcake fashion, put it in the oven for 15 mins, rotate every which way and then cook for about 15-20 mins more.

enjoy!

that is all