This is my kitchen now having just cooked chocolate brownie for afternoon tea:
I cheated and used a packet - if you know me pick yourself up off the floor as you know that I have NEVER done this before as I usually cook EVERYTHING from scratch. For $8 I bought this:
After five minutes of everyone having a stir, followed by half an hour in the oven (the box said 40 minutes yet mine was possibly a tad overdone even after 30 minutes) we ended up with this:
And considering the almost zero effort that was involved, it was not bad. Although I shudder to think of what might have been in it. I couldn't help myself and tried to salvage it with organic butter and free range eggs.
I spend a significant part of my life in this room:
I always coveted a chandelier in the kitchen and this house came with one in every room. My mum said it was a ridiculous thing to have in a kitchen as chandeliers are notorious dust collectors. She was right, but I still think it's beautiful.
This is the view of the backyard from the window:
You can see my veggie patch reproaching me for it's neglect. As are my cumquats which are desperate to be turned into Moira's cumquat compote:
This is my narcissistic collection of 'R's':
On our way out of Udaipur I had the car stopped so that I could run into the shop to negotiate it's purchase thinking I would never see it's like again. I shouldn't have bothered as they were for sale at Mumbai airport......for less. It was worth it though as it conjures up memories of this.......sigh:
Because I am a creature of habit, I went to Bikram Yoga this morning.....my sixth class in as many days:
It may have been five degrees in downtown Hobart yet it is always 40 degrees in the hot room. So if you feel like a tropical interlude that also works out your mind and body, why not give it a try? I go for preventative healthcare and because it is cheaper than therapy. I take my medicine here. If you live somewhere other than Hobart, find your closest Bikram Yoga studio here. Later tonight, once I've fed the masses, I think I might go back for a second dose. Well, I'm wagging tomorrow as I'm going out for lunch.
R
Your kitchen looks lovely, the chandelier is very glam! Ignore the dust I say! I lived in India as a child and it truly captured my heart. The Lake Palace is stunning isn't it. Since I have discovered your blog I keep seeing Bikram bumper stickers and am now intrigued. I am planning to attend my first class on fri, I will let you know how I go! Anyway, I am changing my blog settings to private so if you still fancy following send me an email and I will add you to the list. x
ReplyDeleteLove your kitchen, very homely but chic with the chandelier. I've never made a packet mix before. It's never really seemed worth it, as I figured all your missing out on is the measuring. If I were to, I'd probably try a Donna Hay one (although I've had a few big fails using her recipes in the past...). I was trying recently to make a rainbow cake for my 2 year olds birthday (as featured in a million blog posts) and could only find instructions online like "this is such an easy cake to make, what you need is 3 packet mixes of a white cake mix...". It was a little frustrating (but got there in the end, and it was a spectacular success, even if the other mothers possibly weren't that happy about all the food colouring being consumed. Oh well, there were no preservatives or flavourings, so that makes it reasonably healthy, doesn't it?!)
ReplyDeleteOh Heidi, I am so ashamed about the packet mix! It goes against the grain of my kitchen philosophy...try and grow as much as possible, use locally grow organic and attempt to make everything in my children's school brown paper bags. So you can see why I was seduced by the easiness! Who knows what I was thinking when I bought the box.....as you can see from my bookworm, I have no Donna Hay titles....maybe it was the pretty Tiffany blue colour that appealed to my subconscious! My children thought that it tasted nothing like the one I usually make with Lindt 70% chocolate.....bless their little discerning palates. To repent for my sins making packet brownie I am going to spend the weekend turning all of those cumquats into compote and marmalade! Rx
ReplyDeleteMay I ask where you got the circular bookshelf from? I saw one years ago in an open house and have wanted one since!
ReplyDeleteIt's a Kartell Bookworm in white and I bought it from Top 3 by Design (http://www.top3.com.au) in Sydney as they ship all the way to Hobart. You buy it as a flat long piece of plastic (I think mine is the 3m) and then you have to shape it and fix it onto the wall. We experimented with a piece of string to get the shape yet it ended up being somewhat freeform.....maybe that was just my husband's ability with his drill! Rx
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