Finally Back!

And it feels so good – I missed you all! I missed the foodie community, the commenting and checking out hundreds of wonderful delicious posts

I guess you want and deserve an explanation – let me tell you in a little series:

1. I went on holiday for  a week – my school term finished, I needed a break so I had an awesome time chilling out (literally it was snowing!) in Tasmania

2. I actually have 3 weeks’ worth of exams starting in 1 1/2 weeks time so I have to study more than cook (*sigh*)

3. My mum was dominating the kitchen after our arrival back in beautiful Sydney so I only had proper access until today – YAY!

So now you know that although I am posting now, my posting will not be too regular for a while – the things I do for school, honestly!

Post time? I think I have made you wait too long already

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So before I left, I actually won a giveaway – my first one ever and celebrating Easter
It was very exciting and hosted by one of my favourite blogs in the history of forever (many a recipe I make come from them!) – Exclusively Food!

As an appreciative gesture to the wonderful ladies at this blog, Amanda & Debbie, I decided to do a combination post from the two things I won – a gorgeous bunny cookie cutter (too cute!) and some bunny moulds (too awesome!) – Plus, after such an absence I think all of you, my friends and foodie inspirations, deserve more than one recipe!

Thank you Amanda & Debbie – here is what I made using your fabulous giveaway

Firstly, I decided to use the cute lil bunny moulds, despite Easter being a week old (Bunnies are fabulous all year round )
What was my idea? Ganache swirled bunnies – A mixture of white and dark chocolate ganache swirled inside the bunny and refrigerated till set before devouring… not one for admiring beauty am I?

This would have worked perfectly if

1. I had read the instructions properly and greased and refrigerated the moulds before use (oops!)
2. Not used white chocolate which does not set as well as dark chocolate (oops!)

If you look really hard, you will see little beautiful lines from the bunny mould – the snouts of the bunny have become a delicious white chocolate ganache treat AND perhaps.. a little.. um… unrecognisable *sheepish smile *

But that is ok – Next time (I promise there will be a next time) if I am swirling, I will not make ganache and just swirl normal chocolates together.

OR

Next time, I will use all dark chocolate ganache and put a little surprise inside before refrigerating – anything is possible with bunny moulds

Second part of the prize was my cute bunny shaped cutter. I just scream with cuteness overload looking at it – EEK!

I was planning to make roll out brownies but then decided to dig around in my old recipe cabinet, searching for the perfect Autumn cookies. And I found them. And altered them. Oh yea

Spiced Craisin Honey Biscuits. Shaped like bunnies.

It actually does not get better than this

What gives these cookies (originally simple honey cinnamon biscuits) such Autumn-y perfection? The honey subtly leaves a thrilling aftertaste while working with the spices to create an aromatic yet sweet biscuit, also providing a soft texture. The slight tartness of the craisins balance out the biscuit perfectly.

Even though I gave up chocolate for honey, you can see I was happy

The exact changes I made in this recipe were

• Using not only cinnamon, but 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and allspice too
• Adding in approximately 1 cup craisins
• Adding a drop of vanilla essence

So here are my recipes for you – yes, I know the ganache bunnies were not perfect but the taste was exquisite because let us all admit it out loud amongst each other

“Ganache is the best part of any diet… I mean cake” - Now repeat after me

At least the white chocolate makes their snout look fluffy…

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While I was away, I was also thrilled to receive five more awards – Thank you to all these fantastic bloggers!

Laura @ Sprint 2 The Table presented me with what I like to call, The Smorgasbord Award – a mishmash of lots of blogger awards into one – Thanks so much – Laura is the creator of healthy but indulgent desserts – she is a miracle worker!
To honour the tradition that Laura has created to accompany this award, the rule is to list ten things about yourself but one of them is not true – you, my readers, have to figure out the false coin of the lot

Here goes:

1. I have taken jazz dancing for seven years

2. I have a double jointed thumb

3. I love the smell of sausages frying

4. My first crush ever was Aladdin

5. I prefer rain to sunshine

6. I want to be an interior designer when I grow up

7. I love writing history essays

8. I hate the Terminator movies

9. Rock music beats hip hop for sure!

10. I favour ice cream over any other dessert, including chocolate

Can you guess which one is untrue???

Secondly, Lisa @ Sweet 2 Eat Baking awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award – too sweet (pun intended of course ) – Lisa has some of the most beautiful food photographs ever – every cake, every cookie I wish I could grab off the screen!
You can find the rules at her awesome website or here – since I have just told you 9 true facts, I think I have completed the requirements – Much appreciated

I was most thrilled to receive the Versatile Blogger Award also from a very talented baker friend of mine, Jennie @ The Messy Baker – she is bright, bubbly and nothing she bakes or cooks turns out messy, believe me – Same as above, you can find the rules at her awesome website or here!

Anne @ Anne Sture Tucker awarded me The Liebster Award – It is much appreciated my friend – Recently discovered, Anne has such an awesome style – her cooking makes me so hungry I cannot even tell you!
The set of rules can be found on Anne’s fantastic blog or here – thank you again

Lastly (but not least-ly), food lover Jen @ Love Food Cook Food was sweet enough to award me the Fabulous Blogger Award! Thank you so much
If you have no visited Jen’s site, I do not even understand why you come to the computer – she has such an enormous cooking AND baking ability

I would now like to pass these five awards onto these fabulous bloggers -Warning: I went a little pass-on crazy and did not count how many people I was adding to the list – to all on this list you can choose how many to pass on to

• Girl In A Food Frenzy
• Sam @ Sweet Samsations
• Cassandra @ A Perfect Pantry
• All That I Am Eating
• Emily @ Life On Food
• Jenn & Seth @ Home Skillet Cooking
• Lin @ Lin’s Food
• Sze Hui @ ohfishiee
• Cecilia @ The Kitchen’s Garden
• Denise @ BeBetsy
• The Cosy Creative
• Jen @ Juanita’s Cocina
• Violets And Cardoman
• Miriam @ Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters (try saying that fast 5 times)
• Eileen @ The Joy Of Caking

Congrats guys, you are all incredible

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Before I let you go (I know, I have written yet another insanely long post but seriously, I cannot seem to stop typing ), I need your help to settle a domestic dispute.

I always associate rolling pins with fights

You remember JJ? She only recently popped up in March
Her and I both agree – omelettes are eaten with tomato sauce. It is normal to have sauce at breakfast. Sauce enhances the flavour.

Complete

Now you may be a little hazy about them but you will meet them again this year later on – PDS and TT – These two actually cannot understand eating sauce for breakfast. It is unheard of. It takes away from the flavour of the omelette.

Opposites

Now we had a [mock] truly serious argument over this issue. I think the only way to solve it is to ask you, the most food oriented people I know with all the knowledge of food this world has to offer, to give your judgement. So just vote in this poll. Is sauce with omelettes therefore breakfast normal or not? (We’ll show them JJ!)

Thank you for your help with stopping World War III (or at least a sauce fight )
This poll will close after one week!

All’s well that ends well? We’ll see…

See you all again as soon as I can