Saturday 26 December 2009

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 !!!




Saturday 19 December 2009

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............















Wednesday 2 December 2009

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 !!