Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it. And it's not like I've been busy being enormously productive or anything. It's just that I was struck down by Long Weekend-itis.
And this long weekend has been an ultra long one; with Easter and an extra day to make up for ANZAC Day being on Easter Monday. If I was still teaching in a classroom I'd be pissed, as it's slap-bang in the middle of the school holidays (Easter is usually one of the nice little breaks during term time). But I'm not, and it's been great. Because of the 5 day weekend, I thought I'd take some leave either side, so I ended up with 12 days off and only had to take 5 days leave.
Most of Canberra has taken off down to the coast. I thought about it, but decided it would be nice to just hang at home. And it has been. Easter was fairly low key, as usual (last year we did a little family thing). We had one of Oli's friends sleep over on the Friday, hung out at home on the Saturday and I hid lots and lots of eggs around the house for Sunday. Some of which are still hidden! :)
We had the family (Anthony's) around for drinks in the afternoon, which was nice (it always is), and Oliver was very generous with his eggs.
Then yesterday, we went and saw Thor, which I really enjoyed. One of my favourite 'comic book' movies so far.
So it's been nice. And I think I know why. For once, when I had some time off, I didn't make a huge list of things I had to do. Because every time I do that, I come out of the time having only done 1/3 to 1/2 of it, and I get stressed and upset that I didn't do it.
This time, I had a vague idea of a couple of things that I wanted to do, but went into my time off thinking: relax, spend time with Oli, and maybe do a couple of things. So far, so good! I've done a bit of relaxing (reading, watching a couple of movies), I've spent time with Oli (walks, movies, board games, lego), and I've even managed to clean out my wardrobe and do some gardening. And I've still got 5 days until I go back to work! Yay!
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Friday, April 2, 2010
Hot Cross Buns Recipe
**Sorry about the font size. I've tried resizing a few times, not sure what's going on!
I got the recipe from Thursday's Canberra Times. They have a liftout 'Food' section, and it had a big article on hot cross buns. Apparently this recipe came from the Flute Bakery in Fyshwick.
Mine were OK, but I think I got the yeast wrong (not enough) and they didn't quite rise enough. I would have also preferred that they were a bit 'fluffier', but it could have been that I used plain flour instead of baker's flour, or that I did too much mixing.
But they tasted great. And there was LOTS of fruit in them which I love. I hate those wollies ones that have three sultanas and that's it.
Straight out of the oven with a little bit of butter. YUM!
Flute Hot Cross Buns - Mel's Version
800g baker's flour - I used 6.5 cups (I've got a little book called "The Essential Kitchen Companion" that gives me cup/gram conversions)
100g caster sugar - I used a heaped 1/3 cup
16g salt (3 teaspoons)
16g dried yeast (I read this wrong - it was midnight) and only put one sachet
240ml water (almost a cup)
200ml egg - I used 3 large eggs
4g mixed spice (1 tsp)
300g softened butter
6ml orange oil or fine zest of an orange (I used zest)
200g sultanas
200g currants
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, spice, water and egg well. Add butter in stages until well incorporated. Add fruit and mix well. Cover dough and leave in bowl 30 mins until it starts to rise. Divide into 70g pieces (small balls). Leave to prove until they are the size you want (mine didn't rise much).
Brush with warm milk (mixed with a little sugar) and put on a cross (below) if you like. Bake 175C for about 18-20 minutes. I brushed the milk on them again when they came out and sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon and sugar over them.
The Cross:
I mixed up a paste of flour, water, a little butter and a little sugar (my paste was a little runny). I put it in a snaplock bag and cut the corner off, then put crosses on some. On the others I just cut a cross with a sharp knife.
Here they are:
I got the recipe from Thursday's Canberra Times. They have a liftout 'Food' section, and it had a big article on hot cross buns. Apparently this recipe came from the Flute Bakery in Fyshwick.
Mine were OK, but I think I got the yeast wrong (not enough) and they didn't quite rise enough. I would have also preferred that they were a bit 'fluffier', but it could have been that I used plain flour instead of baker's flour, or that I did too much mixing.
But they tasted great. And there was LOTS of fruit in them which I love. I hate those wollies ones that have three sultanas and that's it.
Straight out of the oven with a little bit of butter. YUM!
Flute Hot Cross Buns - Mel's Version
800g baker's flour - I used 6.5 cups (I've got a little book called "The Essential Kitchen Companion" that gives me cup/gram conversions)
100g caster sugar - I used a heaped 1/3 cup
16g salt (3 teaspoons)
16g dried yeast (I read this wrong - it was midnight) and only put one sachet
240ml water (almost a cup)
200ml egg - I used 3 large eggs
4g mixed spice (1 tsp)
300g softened butter
6ml orange oil or fine zest of an orange (I used zest)
200g sultanas
200g currants
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, spice, water and egg well. Add butter in stages until well incorporated. Add fruit and mix well. Cover dough and leave in bowl 30 mins until it starts to rise. Divide into 70g pieces (small balls). Leave to prove until they are the size you want (mine didn't rise much).
Brush with warm milk (mixed with a little sugar) and put on a cross (below) if you like. Bake 175C for about 18-20 minutes. I brushed the milk on them again when they came out and sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon and sugar over them.
The Cross:
I mixed up a paste of flour, water, a little butter and a little sugar (my paste was a little runny). I put it in a snaplock bag and cut the corner off, then put crosses on some. On the others I just cut a cross with a sharp knife.
Here they are:
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Easter? Nah...
Can you believe Easter is here already?
Not that I'm all that big on Easter. I've never been all that interested (except when I was a kid and chocolate was EVERYTHING!)
In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that I bowed to popular opinion and refused to risk having my kids ostracised at school for not believing in Santa/Easter Bunny, I would not celebrate either 'holiday'.
As it is, both are fairly low-key/non-traditional around here.
I go for a minimalist approach at Easter; occasionally hiding eggs, but that's about it.
Our Christmas tree is a grass tree dragged in off the deck (which strangely enough died this year, not long after Christmas), and we try to place more of an emphasis on people, not stuff. This does not always work, as one of my favourite things is giving people gifts, and I love to see the look on my kid's faces when I spoil them (but hey, I don't think Christmas is the only time I do that!)
I've never really got Easter. I know the story of resurrection etc, but I'm not really sure where chocolate and big white bunnies comes into it. As an atheist, I always feel a little uncomfortable celebrating Christmas; as it seems a little hypocritical. But Easter doesn't even seem to be celebrated as a religious holiday - more of a commercialised/obesity promoting day...
So, unlike Sam's birthday, and Mother's Day (coming up), Easter doesn't pull too many heartstrings for me. I'm sad of course (that never goes away), and enjoyed using him as an accomplice in the hiding eggs game, but it's not one of those 'holidays' that I anticipate for weeks ahead.
Having said that, tomorrow I am going to (try to) make some yummy home-made hot cross buns, and I think that will be the thing that gets me.
Why?
1, because Samuel loved hot cross buns, and
2, because Samuel was becoming a great cook. And I think this is something we would have done together.
We'll see how it goes.
Also tomorrow we're going to meet up with some family/friends, and have a egg hunt and fish dinner. (No, I don't normally stick to fish on Good Friday as a rule, we're just doing it because it's a good excuse to have a get together with people we love).
Samuel would have enjoyed that too. Despite being a teenager, he always enjoyed time with the family. We all miss him.
Not that I'm all that big on Easter. I've never been all that interested (except when I was a kid and chocolate was EVERYTHING!)
In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that I bowed to popular opinion and refused to risk having my kids ostracised at school for not believing in Santa/Easter Bunny, I would not celebrate either 'holiday'.
As it is, both are fairly low-key/non-traditional around here.
I go for a minimalist approach at Easter; occasionally hiding eggs, but that's about it.
Our Christmas tree is a grass tree dragged in off the deck (which strangely enough died this year, not long after Christmas), and we try to place more of an emphasis on people, not stuff. This does not always work, as one of my favourite things is giving people gifts, and I love to see the look on my kid's faces when I spoil them (but hey, I don't think Christmas is the only time I do that!)
I've never really got Easter. I know the story of resurrection etc, but I'm not really sure where chocolate and big white bunnies comes into it. As an atheist, I always feel a little uncomfortable celebrating Christmas; as it seems a little hypocritical. But Easter doesn't even seem to be celebrated as a religious holiday - more of a commercialised/obesity promoting day...
So, unlike Sam's birthday, and Mother's Day (coming up), Easter doesn't pull too many heartstrings for me. I'm sad of course (that never goes away), and enjoyed using him as an accomplice in the hiding eggs game, but it's not one of those 'holidays' that I anticipate for weeks ahead.
Having said that, tomorrow I am going to (try to) make some yummy home-made hot cross buns, and I think that will be the thing that gets me.
Why?
1, because Samuel loved hot cross buns, and
2, because Samuel was becoming a great cook. And I think this is something we would have done together.
We'll see how it goes.
Also tomorrow we're going to meet up with some family/friends, and have a egg hunt and fish dinner. (No, I don't normally stick to fish on Good Friday as a rule, we're just doing it because it's a good excuse to have a get together with people we love).
Samuel would have enjoyed that too. Despite being a teenager, he always enjoyed time with the family. We all miss him.
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