Last Sunday we were invited to Kiwi Wolf’s hubby’s surprise birthday get together.  Myhubby volunteered me to make the cupcakes – lucky for him I like making cupcakes and he knew it anyway.

I decided to make two flavours – lemon lime (based on the Coconut Lime Cupcake recipe but minus the coconut essence) with a zesty lemon butter cream, and a Black Forest cupcake with fresh cream flavoured with cherry liquer. They were both delicious and I was sad that I could only fit in one of each :[

Lemon lime cupcakes with lemon butter cream frosting

Black forest cupcakes with cherry liquer flavoured cream

The hubby decided to make chocolate chip cookies. He managed to find the other recipe that we love. This one has coffee in it, and is a light cookie with a salty sweet scrumptiousness. I prefer it over the last chocolate chip recipe I posted. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to taking any photos before they were all eaten.

I’m not sure exactly where we got this recipe from or what we had altered, but it’s gooood.

We did a bit of surfing and decided to try a recipe that seemed to be popular on many websites. I can’t remember which one we tried but I remember it called for a stick of butter and one egg as the only liquid fat. It was way too dry and we had to hunt down a fix for it. The cookies didn’t turn out so bad in the end, but I’ll use a different recipe next time.

Lemon spritz cookies

Make a lemon meringue pie

MMmm! I used the Edmonds recipe. I won’t publish their recipe in case of copyright issues, but a quick Google will help you out :) Serve with ice cream and fruit.

Lemon meringue pie for desert

Make preserved lemons

Preserved lemons are great. They have a unique flavour that many Middle Eastern recipes ask for. They’re pretty easy to do too.

Preserving lemons

I make mine by washing the lemons, chopping off the green stem, making a deep criss-cross in each, packing them with uniodised salt, and covering with boiling water. I’d recommend adding about an extra half cup of salt into the jar before filling.

Leave them for several weeks, turning the jar a few times over the first few days.

What to do with preserved lemons?

I love making chicken targine with preserved lemons. I’ll post my own easy recipe soon.

They’re also great in couscous. You can also make a yummy couscous to accompany a main fish or lamb dish. Prepare instant couscous with chopped preserved lemon rind and taco seasoning mix, and stir in chopped parsley at the end. I usually make a caper butter for my salmon. After taking the fish out of the pan, add about a tablespoon of butter and a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar and let it bubble down a little. Add chopped capers and pour onto  your fish.

Salmon with caper butter and lemon couscous

Couscous can be a great vegetarian main. Try a spiced roast vegetable couscous by adding prepared instant couscous to roast vegies (such as asparagus, pumpkin, carrot, kumara, garlic, swede, yam, parsnip) and flavour with some ground cumin, coriander, chopped parsley and preserved lemon. Season to taste. Also, if you don’t have preserved lemon, just chuck in some lemon wedges while roasting the vegetables so you get some lemon infusion happening.

Make cocktails

This is a no brainer! Cocktails always taste better with fresh lemons rather than bottled juice. And they look prettier when there are lemon wedges muddled in the glass. See my list of cocktails for ideas. I’m going to have to wait until after the baby to have proper cocktails again – can’t wait!

My Lychee Likey cocktail

But what is good for a pregnant woman in winter is some warm chocolate chip cookies.

I dug out this recipe that is based on one I found on the Interwebs a while ago, and tweaked it to my liking.

Method

Preheat oven to 180° Celcius.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy then stir in the egg.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix with a wooden spoon.

Use a sift or sieve to get rid of lumps in the flour

When it comes together as a dry dough mixture, add the chocolate.

Add chopped chocolate to dough mixture

Use your hands to knead the mixture so it forms a ball of cookie dough.

Use hands to form dough ball

Drop slightly-flattened balls of the cookie dough onto a tray. I do two batches one after the other for even cooking.

Arrange 12 cookies per sheet

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown on the edges.

Cool a little and voila! Teeth-rotting tummy-fattening wickedness.

Brown on the edges and chewy in the middle

Thursday 22 January 2009

After some drinks at the Southern Cross, we go get some dinner. This cute little pooch was waiting for his owner who was getting takeaways at the time. It reminds of me of Harold, the dog in Taupo.

Aww

Friday 23 January 2009

We head off to the Macs Brewery for some Friday drinks. It’s quite gusty today and this picture seems fitting.

Wind swept tree on the waterfront

Saturday 24 January 2009

A package arrives at the door – it’s a box of cookies from Mrs Higgins! I had sent them a comment about the silly 10 cents that the man wanted to charge us last week for an extra paper bag. The director was nice enough to send out cookies as an apology – yay-ah!

Mmm cookies...

Sunday 25 January 2009

I’m not feeling too great today and completely forget to take a picture. Fail.

Looks like I’ll have three more weeks of Project 365 than I anticipated as I will have to start again…

Monday 26 January 2009

Happy Chinese New Year! If I was still living with my parents my mum would be giving me New Year money today.

Prayers for Chinese New Year

Tuesday 27 January 2009

It feels like winter today – cold and miserable.

Good day to be indoors

Wednesday 28 January 2009

Kirks is having a sale so Ms Constantine and I go for a nosey. Maybe the Bassetts-like packaging is the reason I decide to get the hubby this product. Voodoo White Rocky Road looks better than it tastes unfortunately.

Never judge chocolate by its cover

Thursday 8 January 2009

The coat stand is moved nearer to my desk and I notice the “hula-hanger” that we played with on the last day of work in 2008. I managed to get my body right through that hanger! Then I put it back on the stand and forgot about it until today.

Hula hanger

Friday 9 January 2009

The hubby is making a batch of home brew. It is making blippy noises right now as the yeast is releasing carbon dioxide and producing alcohol :)

Homebrew bottles

Saturday 10 January 2009

Ms Constantine and I go op-shopping at Savemart.

Nothing for me this time

Sunday 11 January 2009

There is a bit of left-over roast chicken, cucumber and capsicum in the fridge. We also have rice vermicelli and lots of mint in the garden. Vietnamese rice rolls for dinner it is!

Fresh and healthy

Monday 12 January 2009

I admit I forgot all about taking a photo for today until later in the night.

Moth on the outside

Tuesday 13 January 2009

We go to Mrs Higgins to get some cookies with the Entertainment Book voucher I have. Usually we get four each, and get four free, in separate bags. The man today is blunt about having to pay for another bag if we are using the voucher. They apparently cost him 10 cents each – and apparently the huge markup per cookie doesn’t cover that.

I had to take a bite out of each one first :D

Wednesday 14 January 2009

We go for cocktails at Chow for the first time this year.  Dinner is at the Thai Chef Restaurant, and the hubby and I walk home to justify all the gluttony.

This little piece of graffiti is on one of the side streets in Mt Victoria that we always walk down. The creature is awesome with his pot-belly and gaping mouth.

And what??