MADEIRA CAKE AND WHY I HAVEN'T POSTED IN A WHILE

Sunday 30 June 2013

So, in case you hadn't heard, it's a little wet in Sydney right now. It feels like every time I see the sun rear its golden head and put my wellies on to walk down the street/river we live on to get a coffee or some groceries, the heavens open up again and I'm drenched from head to toe. When it's cold and dreary outside, my inner (wannabe) domestic goddess shines through. And I get my bake on. This weekend I made one of my all time favourites. It's a super simple inexpensive Madeira cake. And it'll rock your socks.*


* Because it's not a Pinteresty healthy organicy excuse for cake.

What you need:

3 cups self-raising flour
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
300g softened butter
1 cup milk
1 vanilla bean / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Please note I have halved the recipe because I decided to make the cake in my Donna Hay loaf tin and it is really small. If you want to make a full size loaf tin or a normal cake tin, use the measurements above - all the method will be exactly the same. 





Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180ÂșC. Grease and line your cake tin/loaf tin and set aside. 



 I was lucky enough to receive KitchenAid mixer as a wedding present and have been using it like a mad woman. You can either use your stand mixer or hand mixer. If you have a KitchenAid, use the flat beater attachment. This means you wont put too much air through the mixture.



2. Place softened butter in the bowl. Add sugar and beat until combined. 




3. Add flour and beat until you get a shortbread like consistency.


4. Add eggs and milk and beat briskly for about 5 minutes. 


5. Split the vanilla bean and beat into the mixture. You can use extract, but I am partial to vanilla beans. I don't know what it is, but its like adding a layer of warmth to a cake using the actual bean seeds. Exactly what winter calls for! 



6. Pour batter into cake tin and bake for 35-40 mins. In saying this I don't remember the last time I times a cake baking. I tried to keep an eye on this one to post the time, but I really just bake until the cake is ready/the way I would like it. I'm a seasoned cake baker/really lazy and not good with timing.


7. Take that bad boy out of the oven, allow to cool, cut up and enjoy the hell out of it! I made a damn good cup of tea to go with mine, I suggest you do the same.


Okay, now onto why I haven't posted in a while. Did I mention I am a tad lazy? I am not one of those people who must finish what they start. The amount of half done D.I.Y/craft projects lying around our house is ridiculous. But I made a promise to myself when I started this blog and paid $80 for the layout that I would use it. Not just to get my moneys worth, but because I truly enjoy it. Pressing that 'post' button makes me feel like I have accomplished something for the day. And that is incredibly satisfying to me. My report cards often said, "Elizabeth is incredibly ambitious, but lacks motivation and drive". This used to upset me so much. Until I realised it was true and that it wasn't a big deal. I just need to put my big boy pants on the get my ass moving. I can and I will! And if I don't, I give ya'll permission to send me a crappy report card. 


NEW CHAPTERS + GOING HOME

Saturday 13 April 2013

When it rains it pours! 2013 is proving to be a year of change. From a non-blogger to a blogger. From a Miss to a Mrs. And now from an apartment renter to a house renter. Yes, the garden should be scared. We have been looking for a place for the better part of a year now. Our lease was up on our eastern suburbs unit and, though spacious and quirky, the challenges or renting an older place began to get too much. Mould in the walls, cracks in the ceiling, no internal laundry. I do really love the style of Art Deco apartments, but if the building isn't well maintained you don't have a chance in hell. My niece lovingly referred to the back stairs as the "witch stairs" because they were creaky and full of cobwebs. 

Well, Z, we are trading the witch stairs for a little semi-detached cottage that, while not brand new, is completely renovated. The one place that they have let nature roam free a bit is the back yard, which is like a little Frenchy come English overgrown garden with ivy tracing up the fence, and sprinklings of flowers here and there. I may even plant some of my own! Who knows what the future of this little house will bring. That garden is screaming out for fairy lights though. Everywhere. It's going to be Christmas every night of the year in our house! We move in on the 20th of April, so I will post some pictures of our new abode when everything has been unpacked.

An on the topic of homes, this weekend I am in the homiest home I know. Mum's place. While the house she is on now is not the house I grew up in as a teenager, she has painted, gardened and furnished this place into "chez" heaven. Here are a few snaps I took of the garden, her pride and joy!









One half of the dynamic bakery duo, Muffin. Born in 1999, we adopted Muffin and Biscuit as a way for me to get over my crippling fear of dogs. Before we got them, I was known to climb on cars to get away from dogs. One of the saddest days of my life was the day we had to put Biscuit down. I had been living in Sydney for a few years, and had come home for the first time in 18 months. The night I arrived home she got sick. The next morning, after one awful night, as a family, we made the decision to let her go. That was a few years ago now, Muffin will be 14 in December. Dogs are something else, aren't they? Like furry little four legged humans that can't talk and love to poop in your shoes. What more could you want in a friend?


Batman and I move next weekend. I promise photos will come soon. But in the meantime, wish me luck in sorting out the ridiculous amount of "stuff" we have accumulated in the last 3 years. I don't know how it's possible for someone to forget they bought a fancy toaster. Three times. Ebay, here I come.

What I want to wear

Saturday 30 March 2013

With Autumn officially here (by the book, not the weather obviously) I have been thinking about mid season staples. For me it's all about comfort, style and a sense of effortlessness that make an Autumn casual outfit great. I am a one pair of jeans at a time girl. And old faithful bit the dust in the dryer a few weeks ago. I have fallen in love with some J Brand jeans but they are more than I want to spend, so I'm saving my pennies and shopping around. Along with jeans, there are a few things I really want, though my sister would say I already have a million of. Yet she still seems to raid my wardrobe every chance she gets. 






But seriously, those Isabel Marant boots!? Urgh, I die!! Oh and did I mention I am not a summer person? Nope, not at all. I love Autumn and Winter. I love nestling up in front of the heater with hot chocolate and watching movies. I love coats, boots and scarves. And I love my husband's winter fashion. Honestly, no man can rock Cons, jeans, a jacket and beanie like he can! 

What we're wearing

Saturday 23 March 2013


The Batman and I are by no means fashionistas, but I though it might be fun from time to time to do a little "What We're Wearing" bit. If the pieces are current I will provide a link if you get super jealous and just HAVE to buy it. But mostly we wear things until they die (you just wait for my post on Batman's footwear!). 



Photos were taken on Scotts Head Road near Scotts Head, NSW.

LET'S GO

Thursday 21 March 2013

Okay so the people who are reading this blog as of today (March 21, 2013) will be people that know basically everything I am about to write. Whenever I found a new blog I love I trawl all the way back to the very first posts. I love reading the little "About Me" posts that everyone seems to do in the beginning. Ignoring every warning my mother ever said about social networking, this blog will see me laying it all on the table. Well, maybe not ALL of it. But you get the picture. 

So where to start? I am Elizabeth. Please call me Liz. I hate the sound of Liz and the way it looks on paper, but it's me. It's what people started calling me in high school, its what my friends call me, and what all my kids call me (I'll get to that). So I am Liz. My pen name is CHEAPMILKSHAKES, a name that comes all the way from my teenage glory days when I sifted through scene girl buzznets and came across a very random video. I don't love it as much as I used to, nor does it seem as remotely clever as it did when my teenage angsty fingers tapped it away on my keyboard. Groan. How embarrassing. But it has kind of stuck.

Seven days ago I married the Batman. The Batman chooses to remain the masked avenger due to his hideously embarrassing birth name (couldn’t be further from the truth) but also due to the fact that here in little old Sydneytown he appears on mainstream media and has contracts and what not to honour. I met my superhero either in late 2006. I was just 18 and he was a ruggedly aged 20. God, we were so young!! It's a bit of a love at first sight story, in fact, here is a little something I whipped up for our wedding programs that pretty much covers it all.



Fortunately for all y'all our first kiss was captured on camera! It was a more magical moment than the photo let's on, I swear. See the hair elastic tied twice around my ring finger? He asked me to wear it all night long so that we could pretend that he was mine and I was his for just one night. I kind of love him!



A few more recent photos of us.










We live a lovely little life in Sydney, have two little bunnies, and play video games. Giddyup.

16.3.13


blog
.noun
1. A Website containing the writer's or group of writer's own experiences, observations, opinions etc., ad often having images and links to other websites.

hypocrisy
.noun
1. A pretence of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.
2.A pretence of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.

+++++++

Yep. That’s me. The girl who proudly proclaimed at dinner one night with friends, that I would never write a blog. My 9th grade English teacher’s voice is also ringing in my head right now. Do not start an essay or body of writing with a quote, definition or excerpt. I’m on a roll.

This blog does serve a purpose. Though seemingly vacuous and self centred, this blog is something that, for me, is about communication. Whether it be to my mama, who lives six hours away from me by car (hi mama!) or to a stranger who lives a block away from me and doesn't even know it (hi stranger!). This blog will serve as a platform for sharing everything from my opinions on issues that interest me (note that I totally admit to it being self centered!) to how many parks I trawled through in a bid to keep a boisterous toddler from drawing all over the walls in permanent marker. Be prepared for mundane shots of what my husband and I ate for dinner, mindless ramblings about any topic that pops into my head, endless gloating about how impossibly awesome my urban and blood families are and everything in between.

I am Elizabeth/Liz/CHEAPMILKSHAKES and I am married to the Batman. Welcome to SIXTEEN THREE THIRTEEN.



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