Chocolate and peppermint cupcakes

Yesterday was RSPCA Cupcake Day. It is day when people get baking to make cupcakes to raise funds for RSPCA. This combines 2 of my loves; cupcakes & puppies! I am really upset that I didn’t even know it was yesterday until I saw it on Facebook. I still got into the spirit of things & made a batch. I made chocolate cupcakes with pepermint icing.




I was inspired by my own puppy. She is a chocolate brindle coloured Staffy who has an aqua coloured collar.




She is my best mate. She is my shadow. She is perfect.

I made the chocolate cupcakes using my chocolate cake recipe. To make perfect sized cupcakes, use an ice cream scoop to get them all the exact same size or a 50ml measuring scoop.



I cooked these on 160 degrees Celsius for around 20 minutes. Let the cupcakes ist until they have cooled before icing. If you need them quickly, you can put them in the fridge to speed this process up.

For the icing, I used a basic butter cream icing.
for 12 cupcakes;
2 cups of icing sugar
125g of butter/margarine
2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of peppermint essence
5 drops of green food colouring

Beat all of the ingredients with an electric beater until light & fluffy.
Use a piping bag to cover the cupcakes with the icing.



These cupcakes were delicious!

Here are some of my other fave cake recipes

   
5 minute sponge                             Mixed Berry cake



Chocolate & lemonade cake


Linking up with diary of a SAHM for #ibot

School camp. Ahhh, the memories! My top tips for Mum’s

Today is the 7th camp that I have sent one of my girls on. It is one of the most exciting times for kids but it can also be a little overwhelming for parents. Today, I did good! I did not cry, I didn’t have a panic attack & as far as I know, not one thing was left at home! YAY!! High five for us! The very first camp that I sent Kiara on, I was a basket case. I mean, a SERIOUS basket case. I really wish I hadn’t been because looking back, there was no need to get crazy, stressed or anxious because it was ok. Over the years, it has gotten a lot easier. Now, It is an exciting time to  see one of my kids go away for a week because I know they are going to have the best time ever!


I don’t think that there was anything that Georgie girl could have possibly forgotten because this is how much she packed for 1 week!



A girl has to have options, right? There is a lot because of the fact that day time temperatures are 27 degrees Celsius & night times drop down to around 5. Kiara went on a school camp once when it got down to –3 degrees on the night that they camped outside for survival! I think I was lucky she didn’t come home with hypothermia! Georgia girl is staying in luxury this time so I think there may even be central heating. Kiara stayed at the same venue a couple of months ago so she was able to fill Georgia in on all the finer points.


Kiara’s top tips for Georgia;

* It is a health retreat type place so when you see the sugar packets, put them in your socks for a midnight feast! (What the????)

* When you go canoeing, you can’t tip the canoe. (apparently Kiara already tried that but they have things attached so they don’t tip)

* Do not let Mum put you name on your knickers cause kids hate it when a teacher finds their knickers dropped on the floor in the bathroom & hold them up at night time activities. NEVER own up to a pair of lost knickers, Mum can always buy more! (note, I have NEVER put names on knickers!)


These are my top tips for Mum’s;

* Your child is about to have a week of the best childhood memories, don’t think they will be missing you because they won’t! (sorry, but it is true!)

*When you drop your child off for school camp, don’t hang around talking to all the other Mum’s in the middle of all the action. The teachers have a lot to do so please don’t make their job any harder. If you want to have a chat, take it to the side. I no longer even wait around at all. I make sure that the bags are where the teachers want them, give a kiss & a cuddle to the child who is going on camp then I leave without too much fuss. The most stressful part of camp for the teachers, is leaving the school. I know this because I have been told this before by a teacher who thanked me for not hanging around.

*Turn up on time or even turn up early for camp drop off. When kids turn up at the last minute or Mum comes in honking her horn because the bus is leaving, those kids are going to start camp stressed. Make the morning departure as easy & stress free as possible.

* Don’t forget to set the alarm the night before school camp. This should help to stop the previous problem.

*If you need to give the teachers any medicines or instructions, don’t do it on the morning of camp. Do it the day before or even the week before. Trust me, your child's teacher will thank you for it. There would have been 5 Mothers who ran up to the teacher as she got out of her car today. The last thing you want to do is upset a teacher before they take your child away for a week!

*NAME EVERYTHING (except knickers & jocks, of course!). Remember that most of this kids live in the same area & shop at the same shops so without fail, there will be someone with the same clothes, shoes or bag. Yes, even name the suitcase.

*If you have a daughter who can not do her own hair (yes, I have one) make sure to do her hair in plaits or braids so that her hairstyle will last at least 2 days. Georgia has layered hair so 2 braids are better than one. It means that she has one less thing to worry about before she heads off for a day of activities.





*My last & biggest tip, don’t stress! Make sure your child is super excited because seriously, camp is fun, it is going to be fun! It doesn’t matter if they get wet, get dirty, or even get smelly……it is awesome! Your child is going to do new & exciting things, try new foods that will either love or hate, make new & lifelong friends, fill their mind with amazing memories & they are going to have fun.



(this is the face of excitement at 5:30am)


Do you want to know something? I will admit that both of my children have been sent out into the hallway during the middle of the night on school camps for talking. My children? Yes, my children love to talk! Would you have ever guessed? But do you know that they both still laugh & giggle about being sent into the hallway because that is part of the fun of school camp! Kiara was on a camp at Moreton Island last year & the teachers yelled at the girls in her tent all night because they were talking but do you know what, the teachers still laugh about it! I think that maybe I may have even been sent out into the hallway for talking when I went on school camp. Ok, I did.

Do you remember your school camps? I sure do!

Linking up with Nee Say for Monday’s Minutia

Weekend snapshots

I thought when I woke up on Saturday that our weekend was going to be a quiet weekend at home. You know the kind, the one where you go nowhere, do nothing? Well, boy was I wrong!
It started off with taking the pooch for a walk.









Then I had an even better idea! We headed off to go 4wding on the beach!





There is no better view than looking out the car window to see the ocean only a couple of meters away!





Even the teenager was happy to be with us!





I do believe that Georgia was the happiest of all!





Even Mr P joined in on the fun!





We stopped to help out some local surfers who had gotten their 4wd bogged. Lucky Mr P always remembers to pack the shovel & the snatch strap (tow rope) because these guys were really stuck!





Kiara spotted a Kangaroo in the bush.





I love to check out all the beach flowers.





Mr P spotted 2 dolphins playing just a couple of meters off the shore line.








So our weekend turned out to be pretty exciting after all!

Please be safe. This was our biggest wake up call ever!

This was not the post I had planned for today. I was actually in the middle of preparing a post on a cake that I had made when it happened. It was so scary, so frightening & I never want to have to go through that again. My beautiful teenage daughter received a horrible electric shock after her iPod charger (it was not an authorised Apple charger but one that was sold as a bundle with her iPod) fell apart in her hand when she plugged it in. The plastic casing came apart & her hand was on a live current of electricity. Her hand was stuck on the charger for around 3 seconds. Apparently electricity grabs you like that. When she was able to let go she managed to pull the charger out of the plug at the same time. She is pretty quick thinking like that. It threw her back into a chair & I heard every last bit of breath leave her body.  That is when the pain across her back & her chest started.

I packed her in the car & rushed her to the Emergency Medical Centre just down the road. I don’t know why I didn’t call an ambulance. I don’t know if it was because Mr P was not home & I was worried it would take too long. I don’t know if it was because I have not done a first aid course & was completely clueless. I don’t know if it was panic. I don’t know what it was, maybe it was all of the above, but I just wanted someone to help her & the medical centre is less than 5 minutes drive away. While we were walking out the door I managed to phone Mr P to let him know what had happened. He was in another state so I just needed him to know. Accidents & emergencies only ever happen when he is away. By this time she was able to let me know that she had burnt her thumb where the electricity had entered her hand. She was really upset. We got her checked out by the Doctor & she was told to rest as she had a high heart rate from the shock. Her hand was still feeling as though it was burning.

Kiara is ok today. She is still shaken up but she is ok. I however am a nervous wreck. I have been like a woman possessed. I have been checking every charging device, everything that plugs into the electricity for any faults. I really never want to hear that noise again when every breath last breath leaves your child. I did not see it happen but my word, I heard it. I saw the pain & the hurt in her eyes as she was telling me what happened. It broke my heart into a million pieces to know just how lucky she was to be able to tell me & that things were not worse than they were. I am sure that we have all had that little buzz from a little electric shock but this was more. This was a full electrocution in my eyes.

What surprised me the most was that the safety switch didn’t trip. Yes, we have a safety switch installed, but what I later learnt was that because the electricity was still flowing & had not been “sent back to the safety switch” from a faulty appliance to set it off. I notified the shop that I brought the charger from & they are going to investigate it further. It is going to be tested & if need be, recalled. My biggest fear is that I would not want this to happen to someone with a heart condition. I am so grateful that Kiara is a very fit & healthy teenager who was able to survive such an electrocution. She will not be plugging in anything ever again though! I am going to go and buy a few of the proper Apple chargers though & will not be buying a non genuine charger ever again. I don’t care if it is sold as a bundle or not. If it is not genuine, it is not on.
What I ask of you all is to please, please, please inspect all of your chargers for all electrical devices. This one did not seem to have any problems but with how easy the casing fell off, it was scary.

I was given the link to a website by one of the blog followers after a discussion on Facebook last night for a list of all recalled items & I have to say that I was very surprised to see just how many things have been recalled. If you would like to check, here is the link
recalls.gov.au
This is an Australian site but I am sure that if you are in another country that you would be able to find something similar with a quick Google search.

I will now be doing a first aid course & I also want both f my girls to do one.

Please just remember, electricity can kill

Wordless Wednesday. My fave Ekka memories

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

Easy Pincushion tutorial

From the beginner to the expert, all sewers need one very important thing, a pincushion.



My last pincushion had become too small so I needed a larger one asap! This one is really easy to make. I made the pattern by tracing around a butter plate. You could use anything round to make a pattern. Just think about the size you need. You may only need to make a little one but I needed a decent sized one.
Cut 2 pieces of fabric (front & back) using your circle pattern. Pin the 2 pieces together (right sides of the fabric touching, wrong sides outwards). Sew around the edge, leaving a 1 inch opening.



Turn it right way out by pulling the fabric through the opening.



Stuff it with wadding or pillow stuffing. Make sure it is nice & plump but do not over fill.



Hand sew the opening closed with small stitches.



Use a large darning needle & embroidery thread to make 4 sections.



Sew on a large button to cover the middle of the cushion.



Then go ahead & pin it!



Linking up with Diary of a SAHM for #ibot

Making life easier with my iPad

I have had my iPad for a couple of weeks now. I know I am a little behind the times but I have made it into the world of iGadgets. I have to say that I am hooked! I now get it! I get how people are iPad people. Yes, I am now an iPad person! I have found a few things things that have made my new iWorld life even easier.

First is the bluetooth keyboard. This has been the best investment that I have made. It means that I can use my iPad just like a normal laptop. It is part of the cover so it all folds down to an easy take with you package.

It cost around $80 from a phone cover shop.

Second is the camera connection kit (thanks for the heads up Styling you!)

I can import all of my pics straight from the DSLR. This has saved time in a big way! You can either plug in your SD card into the adaptor or use the second adaptor in the kit to connect your camera in directly using your cameras USB cable.

           This was $35 from the Apple store

The third thing that I have brought is the super cute faux croc iPad sleeve that I brought from Smiggle. How awesome is it! It is great for when I don't need to take the bluetooth keyboard with me. It also matches my handbag! Bonus!

It was $24.95 from Smiggle

What are your fave iPad accessories?

Is there one that I haven’t got yet that I really need to?

Weekend snapshots

We had a pretty awesome weekend!  All weekends are awesome when the whole family are together. Mr P had Friday off work so he could watch Kiara compete at the District Track & Field finals. She was amazing! She came second in the finals for discus & is now off to the Regional Track & Field finals. I am the biggest fan of Team Kiara! We celebrated with our trip to the Ekka. But our awesome weekend hadn't even started! This is the weekend that was.


This was the most delicious sweet chilli prawn & pepper calamari pizza. Nothing beats a home made pizza!



And wouldn’t you know it, there was left over prawns & calamari for lunch!



A few games of driveway basketball.




I brought some fuchsia plants & put them in hanging pots in front of the dining room window.



Molly dog begged me to take her picture for the blog, so of course I did!



When I saw this divine aqua rosette trim at the local markets, I knew I just had to have it!



We went to the local fair. The kids had so much fun but I secretly Mr P had the most fun of all!



We are a very competitive family so when they have the chance to race each other, they go at it!



This kid is a speed demon! I don’t know if she will be learning to drive in my 4WD!



This one was the one who kept targeting everyone. When she gets her licence, I am ducking for cover!



And then there was the monster truck. Now, I think I could see both of my girls doing this in the future!