NZ's most favourite Chocolate cake...

Ann from Eight Acres of Eden recently posted about this famous and favourite chocolate cake recipe so I decided to give it a go last night.
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The recipe can be found by registering with the Destitute Gourmet which is a great recipe site. Once in, on the Home page, Click on Cupcakes in the left hand margin, then open Newsletter Spring '09 and it's listed under 'Dana's chocolate cupcakes'.
It makes a really nice moist cupcake and I can't wait to try a full sized cake. Thank you, Ann!
(PS: The recipe just says Flour, but I used SR Flour because I had no Plain flour and I used baking powder and they worked perfectly.)

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I made these for Brianna's b/friend Madalene's 17th Birthday today! They will share them with friends at school at recess time. Happy Birthday, Madds!
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Cheers - Joolz
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Added to say :- This mix made 25 cup cakes of which Brianna took 18 to school, Brianna and I ate one each and 3 went to work yesterday. That leaves 2 left and one does have my name on it - I will enjoy it later today! It is a lot less fattening if you give them away... J

Cool weather and Meat Loaf...

I took this pic a few weeks ago, early in the morning. We had rain coming through but the sun was out making this tree look really ghostly...
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So last night, I made Marie's meat loaf. I used 500gms of lean beef mince and I squeezed the meat out of 5 plain pork sausages to get the right mix of meat.
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I glazed it throughout the cooking process...
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... and voila! A very nicely glazed, tasty meat loaf. Next time I would make double the glaze and put half in a saucepan and cook if off so there was more sauce to have with it.
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I forgot to take the picture until I was already into my meal - whoops! A nice tasty meal with left overs for lunch today (I like the meatloaf drizzled with balsamic vinegar... actually I like anything drizzled with balsamic vinegar)!
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Off to work again today (ho hum),
Cheers - Joolz

Red sky in the morning...

... is a shepherd's warning - so the saying goes. Looks like it's going to be a grey sky, cold, still day. Our autumn is fading into winter. I have my heating set to come on at 4pm so the house is warm when Bri and I get home then.
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I am trying this Meat Loaf recipe from Marie at 'A Year from Oak Cottage' Recipe site. Marie is a wonderful cook and I have tried many of her yummy things. Meatloaf recipe is here.

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I will let you know how it goes. The cold weather means belly warming meals so I am always on the look out for something hearty.
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Enjoy your day, whatever you may be doing
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Cheers - Joolz

70th Birthday...

Brianna and her friends dressed up for a 'P' Party 18th Birthday. They went at Prisoners!
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Here we have Pikachu and a Punk!
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On Sunday, we celebrated my m-i-l's 70th birthday.
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We had marinated mushrooms and prawn kebabs on the barbecue...
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and these most magnificent steaks (thank you, Stephano!) and yummy salads and twice baked pototoes and homemade bread rolls ... and some lovely wines.
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All her grand-kids were there...
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I made a Cappucino cake with Marscapone cheese coffee frosting for the birthday girl ...
Marg had a wonderful day!
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Needless to say, I was rather pooped by Sunday night and Monday was a very long day!
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Cheers - Joolz

Cleaning...

On Friday, I cleaned. I had 3 extra teenagers coming to stay Saturday night (why did I bother to clean, you ask?) then we had a 70th Birthday lunch for my M-I-L on Sunday.
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I have lots of tiled floors. I hate mopping...
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Sparkling kitchen...
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Our new king size bed, new bed head and side tables. It is deliciously comfortable!
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Joolz

Bad garden, good garden ...

This was my poor neglected patio pots a few weeks ago...
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Unloved and unwatered...
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So I bought a few 'pots of colour' ...
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and tidied them up a bit...
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Pansies and violas - I should have lots more colour in a few weeks time.
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For Mother's Day, my sisters and I gave my mum a new thick wool underlay from MiniJumbuck for her bed. She said yesterday that it was too good - she normally is awake at 5am and can't go back to sleep but she slept until 7.15am! Nothing wrong with that!
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Check out the MiniJumbuck story here and watch the MJ story video about their manufacturing - it's quite interesting.
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For those of my overseas readers, a jumbuck is a sheep and is mentioned in the song 'Waltzing Matilda' by A.B. Banjo Patterson. It is also the name of a utility produced and sold in Australia by Proton - just to confuse you! :)
Cheers - Joolz

Happy Mother's Day ...

I hosted an afternoon tea for my 81 year old mother with 2 of my 4 sisters. I got busy in the kitchen yesterday and made Melting Moments...
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Red Velvet cup cakes with cream cheese frosting ...
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... and Anzac biscuits.
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My niece Bianca made cheese tarts and vanilla slice and Janine made hedgehog and I also did a plate of crackers with cheese & chive dip and cucumber.
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Rather a nice little spread, wouldn't you say?
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The cupcakes were really, really goooood! I just love the frosting!
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It was a lovely afternoon, pity my 2 other sisters couldn't make it but Marilyn is away on a trip up to Broken Hill and Leanne was home with her daughter, Jane, who hasn't been well.
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Happy Mother's Day to all mothers around the world - I hope you had a lovely day like me!
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Cheers - Joolz