Girls weekend the Pictures

Oh how i love a weekend away with my knit girls and yes we really did knit on our weekend away

First stop Tangled Yarns to visit the beautiful Kel and stock up on supplies, i <3>

This is my Ouch face, while getting my new tattoo on my back, silly Lisa wore a dress to the tattooist, lucky for me "corpse" had a great sense of humour and was happy to tattoo me in my granny knickers or out of them so he said ....

Chantel looking a little lost and dejected as we await breakfast and 11am on saturday

Jayd being as gorgeous as ever

Vonnie - try wiping the smile off her face - 3 days no kids = bliss

Vonnie happily displaying her choc filled eggs

B munching on a delicious Caramel Slice

My mouth watering Chocolate and Raisin Brownie

The girls admiring the treats at Joclyn's Pastiserie

Sunday Baking

At the request of the beautiful Kel K

Mrs Mac's Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 and 3/4 cups of Self raising flour

1/4 cup of Plain flour

2/3 cup of brown sugar ( firmly packed )

2 - 3 over ripe bananas ( if they are huge cavendish ones use 2, if they are lady finger, which are my fave use 3 or 4 )

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs lightly beaten

50gms butter melted and cooled

1tsp Vanilla Essence

50gms of crushed walnuts

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180C - Grease and line a loaf tin

Sift flours into a large bowl and stir in sugar

combine banana, milk , eggs, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl

Add banana mix to the dry ingredients and toss in the walnuts

stir until just combined ( the mixture should be just moist and have lumps in it)

Bake in oven for 45 - 50 min ( at 30 min mark, remove from oven cover with foil and return to oven foe remaining 15 - 20 min, this allows the top to brown but not get burnt !!!)

now get it out cut off the end slice, smear it with butter or honey and ENJOY !

*please note i forgot to stir in my walnuts so i sprinkled them on the top !!

A selections of Finished Objects

My new blog

I have created a new blog to exhibit my photopraphy work so that i am able to maitain this as my daily life/knitting blog. If your interested in my photography work please come and visit me at The Black Cats Name is Lola and become a follower !!

A FO and a WIP

A Slouchy Hat for Me for my bad hair days, made from 12ply Inner Stitch Organic Merino

A Sweater for Lillian as a reward for learning how to write her name independantly

Annie Turns 18 !

DH's cousin Rhiann turned 18 this week so you know what that means - yep - PARTY and in the usual family style, it's not a party til everyone hula-hoops - with very special thanks to Dani who is the Hula Master for showing us all her moves and letting us all have a go :)

Dani the Hula Master showing us her stuff!!

Auntie Caz

Me

Rhiann - The Birthday Girl

Daz

Rae (SIL)

and even the husbeast had a shot at hula !

Lisa's Most Desired

#1

A Majacraft Millie Spinning Wheel

( obviously no-one is going to fork out the money required to purchase a new wheel, but some donations would be appreciated and i PROMISE i will sell the Ashford Traveller if i have a Millie)

#2

Ewe Give Me the Knits Gift Voucher or Custom Dye-Up

#3

A Tangled Yarns Gift Voucher

#4

A Spun Out Fibre Store Gift Voucher or some Maude and Me Fibre

#5

Spin Control

#6

Giving Up the Last Days of Sylvia Plath

#7

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

#8

A Custom Made "LoveStamp" necklace or bracelet

with an inspirational quote and my kids names

#9

or anything delish from L'Occitane

Hint Hint family!!!!!!! it is my birthday soon, order now to avoid the rush !!

Ok i hope that helps with inspiration

just another day

Weekend Away

Knitting By Lisa - Photo by CourtneyBiscuits by Amanda
Floral Arrangement by Mabs - Brownies by Amanda

Tea Cups by Ellie

Vintage Book by Burnetts Books, Uralla, NSW

New Specs

Check it out !!

serious Lisa

Party fun time Lisa

Lillian

Just beacuse so is so beautiful and is begining to enjoy playing "photo's with Mummy

the year that was

Ella

My gorgeous neice, so beautiful, so photogenic and so damn fun !! Aunty Shelley ( SIL ) and Aunty Lisa took her to the park on christmas day to take some photo's of her in her new outfits !!!

Holiday Post 2 - Australia Zoo

And my favorite display of all............. HUMANS in CAPTIVITY

Holiday Post 1 - Underwater World

Ok so there is not a terrible lot to write except that we had a fabulous time on our recent holiday to the Sunshine Coast. Our first Day trip out was to Under Water World at Mooloolabah. I'll let the photos tell the story

And Just for "scale" sake, and to prove what GIANT fish these really are............

Christmas Cooking: The Million Dollar Cookies

OK so the story goes like this ( the vauge version coz i don;t remember names, dates, and times) ......

A few years ago ( see vauge ) a lady was shopping with her daughter in Neiman Marcus, they decided to take a break from their shopping and have coffee and a famous Neiman Marcus Cookie, while waiting at the counter talking about how good the cookies are, the mother wondered outloud " Do you sell the recipe to these?" the cashier at the counter said " well actually we do", the mother, interested enquires " how much is it?" the cashier replies " two-fifty", impressed with the reasonableness of the recipe price the mother hands over her Neiman Marcus Account card and charges her coffee, daughter's beverage, 2 cookies and the recipe to her account, they enjoy their snack and go on their way.

Several weeks later the lady recieves her Neiman Marcus Account and it states that she owes $261.00, she scans the items... Coffee $3.00, Millkshake $3.00, 2x Neiman Marcus Cookies $5.00, Cookie Recipe $250.00. She stops, surley this is a mistake, a mis-entry, a keystroke error, she calls the Neiman Marcus Account department and they confirm to her horror, " No, Mame, that is correct the Cookie recipe is $250.00", the woman explains that the cashier had said "two-fifty", and that she had understood this to mean two dollars fifty, who in their right mind would pay $250.00 for a damn recipe!!!!! She argued the point for 30 mins before finally giving in and accepting that she had purchased the most overpriced recipie in the history of cooking and hung up the phone.

Later that evening while cooking dinner for her family she had a thought, a stroke of genius, she did not want any other person tricked into purchasing the " two-fifty" recipe so she started an chain e-mail, she passed it on to her friends, who passed it onto their friends and so the story goes......

So this wonderful recipe ended up in my lap and of course in the interest of fairness and the season of giving ( and being hounded by everyone who has tried my awesome cookies) i feel it's only fair i share the recipe here too.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Butter

680gms of Chocolate Chips

4 Cups of Plain Flour

2 Cups of Brown Sugar

2 Cups of White/Caster Sugar

2 Teaspoons of Bicarbonate of Soad

1 Teaspoon of Salt

500gms of grated chocolate ( eating chocolate NOT cooking chocolate)

5cups of blended Oatmeal ( this means oatmeal that has been blended intodust in you blender or food processor) ( i use oatbran coz it is already pulverised into dust !)

2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder

4 Large Eggs

2 Teaspoons of vanilla essence

3cups of chopped nuts ( your choice, i LOVE walnuts, macadamias or peanuts)

Method:

With Electric beaters Cream Butter, Brown Sugar and White/Caster Suger in a LARGE* bowl.

Add Eggs and Vanilla Essence.

Mix in Flour, Oatmeal, salt, Baking Powder and Bicarbonate of Soda.

Add Chocolate Chips, Grated Chocolate and Nuts.

Stir with wooden spoon or your hands until combined.

Roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on a baking tray.

Bake in oven at 180 Degrees Celsius for 10 - 15min or until cooked.

Remove from Oven and stand on tray for 5 mins before transfering to a cooling rack.

WARNING THIS RECIPE MAKES 112 COOKIES APPROX 3INCHES WIDE, THAT IS ALOT OF COOKIES !!!! I only eva make a half batch and they last my family all week AND i take them to work to share at morning tea !!

* when i say large i mean huge, i don;t own a bowl that will fit the whole recipe in

I would love it if other people out there in the universe reading my blog would participate in this festive cooking and recipe sharing adventure with me!!

If you would like to feel free to link back to my blog and leave me a comment on where i can find your awesome recipe !!