Dresses & Snacks

baked porridge

I saw my beloved Bill Granger make baked porridge on an episode of Bill's Tasty Weekends and it looked totally divine, so I gave it a go, with a few tweaks of course. The resulting porridge is far creamier and pudding-y than the stove top variety.



You will need...
140g oats
60g walnuts, you can chop them roughly or I just broke them up with my hands as I chucked them in
60g sultanas or other dried fruit (figs, dates, etc)
3 tablespoons raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
650ml milk plus a little extra
5(ish) tablespoons natural yoghurt
a handful, (roughly 1/2 cup) frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 150°C. Spread the oats, nuts and fruit in a shallow baking dish. Add vanilla, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of the sugar and mix together.

Add milk and yoghurt and stir to combine.

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven to add blueberries, gently pushing them into the oats slightly. Top up with a little extra milk if the oats are looking dry and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Return to the over for 10-15 minutes.

Serve topped with a little extra yoghurt, or a little extra milk or honey..or whatever takes your fancy!

I used walnuts, blueberries and sultanas because that's what I had on hand (also they're yummy) but you could easily use different nuts, some stewed apples or even some rhubarb.

This recipe made enough porridge for about 5 Amy-sized breakfasts and it reheats in the microwave very well.

family-funded food coma

Luckily for me, my Dad still likes me enough to take me out for lunch so when he was in town last week we caught up for some sammiches and other treats.

Our first stop was Lygon Food Store for sammiches. Lygon Food Store doesn't do fancy shmancy Earl Canteen-type sammiches, but they are just as lovely. They use beautiful bread and very fresh fillings in simple, but perfect, combinations. Along with a Capi soda, it makes for a very good mid-week lunch.

Toasted sourdough baguette with smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato and swiss cheese. Very scrumptious!

I was realtively full and possible a little bit food coma-y after sammiches, but we weren't quite done with lunch. Next we wandered around the corner to Brunetti's for coffee (including beans to take home for Dad) and cake for me.

Lemon brûlée tart.

The lemon curd was spot on, very tart and smooth. The pastry was also great, buttery and crumbly. The "brûlée" component was a little lacking though. Instead of crackly, toffee top the tart had more of a jelly-like glaze, like the glaze you would find on a fruit tart. That of course did not stop me from devouring the entire thing. By this point I was definitely on the express train to snooze town.


We made one last stop at Baker D Chirico for some (more) sourdough. Isn't their shop interior beautiful? I'm taken by it every time I visit. It's so simple, and extremely practical (in terms of the softened acoustics it creates as well as the shelving behind the counter) but has such a big impact on the space.

After our mini food tour of Carlton, it was time for Dad to head to the airport and me to head home for a food coma nap. I'm pretty sure I was fast asleep before Dad got to the terminal.

Thanks for the treats Dad!

Dove Nutri Oil Serum review

Product Talk by Nuffnang


I have, in one way or another, been torturing my hair since around age 15 when I purchased my first hair straightener (proud moment). Since then it has suffered regular assaults of  dying, blow drying, back combing, excessive hair spray, curling and so on. I know most of that is pretty crappy for my hair but I also know I'm unlikely to return to my natural hair colour or stop wearing beehives anytime soon.

Due to this unrelenting abuse on my locks, I'm more than a little familiar with restorative hair treatments, DIY through to fancy shmancy salon ones, so I was interested to see how the new Dove Nutri Oil Serum would stack up. I used the oil in three different ways, to varying degrees of success.

As per the packet instructions, I first used the serum on towel dried hair after shampooing and conditioning. I didn't blow dry my hair afterwards, but did lightly straighten it the next morning. My hair certainly did feel softer and smoother in areas and was less fluffy, but it wasn't a miracle product compared to other leave-in conditioners.

The second application was on freshly washed but dry hair. The impact on dry hair was a little more dramatic than on wet hair. My hair was significantly softer and didn't seem to knot as easily, it was also super shiny like a show pony. The niceness lasted into the next day, which was a bit of a bonus.

Just for shits and giggles, I also used the serum as a leave in mask. I put lots (and lots..) on my little head before bedtime and washed and conditioned my hair the next morning. This had absolute no impact on my hair whatsoever.

The biggest advantage of the serum, and it really is a big one, is it in no way made my hair heavy or greasy. I still don't really understand how that works, but it's pretty great. It also smells like fancy hair stuff, so I'm kinda into that too.

The downside is that I can't see any lasting impact on my hair. The serum sure feels nice when it's in there, but having used it consistently for the last week I can't seen any marked improvement in the condition of my hair overall.

So, if I were to summarise the serum in one sentence..I will indeed keep using it, but I'm unsure if I will purchase any additional product.

snapshots - embarrassing my dog and drinking lots of coffee

Nothing too exciting to report from the land of Amy and Karl, but here are some snapshots of what we've been up to lately.

This more or less sums up my existence at present: yellow trace and Sharpies.

Work day treat! A very yummy pain au chocolat from Brioche by Philip


Pretty good rainbow spied from my balcony.

Cooler days means big baby Karl gets shivery! This in turn means it's time for me to embarrass him in sweaters.

Bocce at The Local for a lady friend's birthday.


More work day treats! This time a delicious filter coffee and a brownie so rich it was like eating chocolate mud from Patricia. Patricia's filter coffee is so mellow and creamy they've converted me to black coffee.


Baby Karl in a significantly more embarrassing sweater.


More Patricia coffee magic. This time a cold drip brew with a giant ice cube.


More and more and more coffee! This time in my beautiful, giant, blue cup with a digital print-look floral pattern inside. This baby fits the entire contents of my cafetera making it the perfect study companion.


This one is for Mum so she knows I'm not just drinking coffee and eating cake. Citrus fruit is so yummy at the moment, so I'm eating lots and lots of oranges and mandarins.

Time to get back to my yellow trace and sharpies.

muffin magic

I pinched this "never fail" muffin recipe from a friend (and her ingenious idea of the peanut butter) and added half the pantry in flavourings. To my delight, the muffins indeed did not fail. In fact, they succeeded in the most delicious way possible. The muffins turned out beautifully golden on top, moist inside and scattered with little treats of crunchy peanuts and flecks of dark chocolate. Sublime!



You will need...
1 1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk (I used soy, whatever you've got on hand)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (don't use olive oil, it would be too heavy)
1 egg
3 tablespoons LSA or other nutmeal
2 ripe bananas, mashed
75g dark chocolate, chopped how you please
3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C

Throw everything except the chocolate, peanut butter and banana into a mixing bowl and mix until combined.

Zap the peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds, this will ensure it mixes evenly through the batter.

Add the peanut butter and bananas to the batter and fold through. Sprinkle in the chocolate and fold through.

Line a muffin tin with patty cases (this mix will make approximately 18 muffins). This isn't strictly necessary, but I far prefer this to greasing the tray and it's nicer if you're sharing them with others.

Fill patty cases around 3/4 full with muffin batter and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and springy to touch. Cool for a few minutes in the trays then transfer to a wire rack.

I'm thoroughly enjoying baking as stress relief technique so hopefully I can continue to find time to indulge in some kitchen time and bring you more yummy recipes.

apple cinnamon porridge

I absolutely adore porridge. When I was little, I would enjoy it frequently during winter out of my Bunnykins bowl with brown sugar on top. While my Bunnykins bowl is not currently in my possession and I don't use as much sugar any more, porridge is still a wonderful winter breakfast.

I can't quite be bothered cataloguing all the reasons why oats are good for you, suffice to say they're pretty great. However, I think a lot of people think they're terribly boring. They may be a little dull to start with, but it takes minimal effort and minimal ingredients to jazz them up into a delightful breakfast.

You will need (per person)...
1/3 cup oats (not the instant ones)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk (any milk is fine, soy, almond, dairy, whatever you prefer)
pinch of cinnamon
splash of vanilla essence (1/2 teaspoon..ish)
1/2-1 apple, peeled and grated. A tart apple is best, I used a Jazz apple but you could also use a Pink Lady.
natural yoghurt & raw sugar to serve

Ideally, you should soak your oats in the water, cinnamon and vanilla in a saucepan overnight. This will give you very creamy oats, gentle infused with cinnamon and vanilla. However, if you don't remember to do this the night before you'll still end up with yummy porridge.

Add milk and stir through oats. Place the saucepan on a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally. Some people go nuts and stir the oats the whole time, I find this results in very gluggy porridge which isn't so enjoyable. I stir my oats maybe 3 or 4 times in total.

When the oats are starting to come together, but still a little milky, add in your apple. I have a whole apple grated into mine, but you may prefer to start with less and see how you like it. Stir apple through oats.

And that's it, your porridge is ready. I like to serve mine sparingly dusted with raw sugar and with a small blob of natural yoghurt on top.

snapshots

Well, well, well! What a hectic start to the year it's been. I cannot believe I've only just stopped to catch to realise we're half way through April, my goodness!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, school and its associated stresses have once again consumed me entirely. Time is my most precious commodity followed closely by energy, and I have very little of either to spare unfortunately.

As much as I'd like to think I will be able to schedule more regular blogging in, the reality is RMIT will own me until some time in November. All I can do in the mean time is hope to snatch some time here and there to put together some posts.

As it's been so long since I posted, I thought I'd post some snapshots of the last month or so so you can see what I've been up to outside of school.



So much time has been spent sourcing fabrics and other finishes. Must say, I'm a sucker for a a bit of velvet.




A rare and brief, but desperately needed,  ladydate with one of my lovely womens from work at Dumplings Plus. Among other things we enjoyed the fabulously  pink lychee concoctions and silken tofu with century egg.

Easter pug date in Canberra. This is baby Vyvyan.

Being an idiot in the NGA sculpture gardens again.


Unnecessarily decadent snack of stilton cheese on a wholemeal bagel. Parental fridges are the best fridges.

A Haigh's hot cross bun truffle. Oh my goodness, so delicious!



A very wet and wintry day in Melbourne waiting for a train. I may be the only person I know who is looking forward to cooler weather..


Hot air balloons coming very close to my apartment. Karl had a good ol' bark at them.


Absolutely divine cocktails at The Attic. Can you believe this was "research" for a school project? Sometimes my course has its perks.


Beautiful blue sky in Fitzroy.

The midpoint of a French-themed dinner feast for one of my beloved friends. I was responsible for the moules mariniers and the gratin dauphinois.


Bear, one of the birthday boy's kittens. He is a real-life Garfield.


A brief quiet moment at Min Lokal.

And wouldn't you know it, it's homework time again.

cheapo treats - face masks

An important part of self care for me is making myself feel nice by way of face masks, manicures, etc and I know I'm not alone in that. The bleedingly obvious issue with most of that frippery is that it's darn expensive most of the time. So, through experimentation and research and what have you, I have a pretty good arsenal of at home or on the cheap alternatives which I thought I'd write some posts about. I'd also love to hear about your at home treatment favourites.

Just a little disclaimer, I'm not a skin specialist or a beauty therapist or anything fancy like that. This stuff has worked for me with positive results, but if you have sensitive skin or allergies please proceed with caution!

Before you apply any face mask make sure your hair is well out of the way and your skin is completely clean. It's best to use a face mask when you're relaxing and not talking. I find them best after a warm bath or shower when your pores are nice and open.


One of my absolute favourite face masks is honey. That's all it is, honey. You should use a nice, thickish honey as opposed to an overly-processed one because the idea is you're getting all the natural goodies into your skin. I can highly recommend Aldi's organic honey ($5.49/500g) which comes from lovely bees on Kangaroo Island (pretty fancy, huh?).

You will need about a tablespoon of honey (take it out of the jar then apply to you face, you don't want to be sticking you fingers repeatedly into the jar) and gently cover your face in a thin layer and leave to work its magic for about 15-20 minutes. With this one I recommend keeping a moist cloth on hand so if you get any little drips coming down your chin you can stop them in their tracks. The easiest way to remove the mask is with warm water and a cloth.

I love this mask because it's so gentle and soothing. I find it's a good one if your skin's a bit angry and inflamed, it really helps calm it down but without over-moisturising and giving you a greasy face.


A similarly easy but slightly messier mask is mashed banana. Just one mashed banana, slapped all over your face and left until it dries (around 15 minutes). I've seen this elsewhere mixed with natural yoghurt, but honestly I didn't notice the difference with it in there so I'd say save your yoghurt for smoothies. Rinse off with cold water and you'll have lovely soft skin.

For dry skin an overnight moisturising mask is always nice. I like using olive oil (around a teaspoon or two) with a drop or two of lavender oil which helps to sooth your skin as well. Rub this one into your skin before bed and gently cleanse your face in the morning. I wouldn't recommend using this one with precious pillowcases.

Now it's not a face mask, but my favourite toner of all time after trying a gamut of toners (from supermarket to high-end brands) is witch hazel. At around $7/240ml it isn't too pricey and a bottle will last you a very long time.


Well that's it for my at home face masks, but I still have eye treatments and other treats to tell you about in later posts. Now tell me, what are your favourite at home skin treats?

soft focus outfit-of-the-day

..because who doesn't love blurry photbooth photos of stuff I wore?






linen and cotton slouchy dress - Country Road via eBay // belt - from Givenchy dress // tights - Kmart // patent-toe ballerinas - Chanel // glasses - Temple Street markets, HK // watch - Swatch // Tiffany & Co. toggle bracelet - present from Santa // tinted lip balm - Burt's Bees

cheap & cheerful

I'm sure you've guessed my disappearance is due to school returning for the year. While I am preoccupied by diligently rendering perspective drawings and creating pages (and pages, and pages) of master schedules I do occasionally need to eat. As anyone who has studied or lived on a budget, you know the names of the game when it comes to tea time is cheap, quick and easy.


This vege-ful soup is just that. The beauty of it is the below is really just a base, you can use this recipe to use up what's in the fridge at the end of the week (some red pepper or celery, for example, wouldn't go astray) or jazz it up with some little meatballs or chorizo and even bulk it up a bit more with some beans (such as red kidney or cannellini). As it is below, it will serve about 4 people for dinner...or 1 student for close to a week.

You will need..

1 tablespoon (or so) of olive oil
1-3 cloves of garlic, crushed (quantity dependent on your preference)
1 brown onion finely chopped, or if you're tired/in a hurry just peel and grate the little bugger
1 carrot, chopped
700g jar of pasata
1 litre chicken stock
1/2 cup pasta. I used a tiny little penne but you could use broken up spaghetti, macaroni - whatever's in the cupboard really
1 zuchini, finely grated
salt and pepper
bread and cheddar for making cheese toastie (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add garlic, onion and carrot and cook, stirring, until softened and starting to brown.

Add stock and pasata and stir well. Bring to the boil, add pasta and reduce to a simmer. When pasta is nearly cooked (around 5 minutes) add in zuchini and season to taste but easy on the salt as there's already a lot in the stock.

Voila, your dinner is ready.

Serve with cheese toast or a toasted cheese sandwich for extra yummy times.

What are you favourite cheap and easy dinners?