The Bacio Cake......

A few weeks ago I was discussing the bacio cake with Juniper and Guusje.  So today armed with all the right ingredients I've set myself the task of baking, taking photos and later tasting. 

Here are the ingredients needed for this very delicious cake ...

400grams of hazelnuts
350grams of sugar
14 cream crackers
4 tablespoons of drinking chocolate
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or essence
1 tablespoon of melted margarine/butter
6 egg whites
300grams of good quality chocolate for melting to cover the cake .



 Method. 



cake ready to be enjoyed


Preheat the oven 375, line the cake tine ( 20cm round), begin by crushing the crackers and nuts , then add the drinking chocolate, cocoa powder and baking powder .  In a separate bowl mix the egg whites and add the sugar and vanilla extract/ essence. Then mix the cracker and nut mixture together with the egg mixture.  Once this is done pour into the prepared tin and bake for  30-45 mins (varies on the oven).  Once this is done leave to cool on a wire rack, in the mean time you can melt the good chocolate.  Once the cake has cooled enough turn upside down on the cake plate, the reason for this is to have a flat surface when you pour the melted chocolate.  I hope you enjoy.  I know that we are as already

and here is my collection of cookie cutters and cake tins ....... oh my!! the cookie cutters sure could use some more relatives ;)

As some of you might already know my husband and I are renovating this 1930's townhouse in order to make it our new home. If you go back to some of February posts you will see how this house looked when we bought it. Here are a couple of shots of the changes. I just wish I could wave a wand or twist my nose and finish the project before I fall out of love with the house ;))..... but hey I'm no Harry Potter or Bewitched !!

So here's some photos of the birthday girl on her birthday.

3rd September........soon this little girl will turn 1 and I am busy preparing for a small celebration .... also in the meantime we shall be meeting with some friends and new friends too.. Will post some photos soon :) have a great weekend .

Week's update ........ from swimming to museum visits to making new friends to a welcoming surprise gift to knocking down walls and finally cheers to rebuilding them !!


I wish you all a wonderful weekend :)

Rhubarb Muffins ......


125g sugar
15ml sunflower oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100ml milk (or buttermilk if you have)
100g rhubarb finely chopped
175g plain flour
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp of baking powder
pinch of salt
some sugar for top (it can be moscavado/brown/ normal white)

preheat the oven to 200, place paper muffins in tray or not ( i put the mixture directly into the muffin tray)
Place sugar, oil, egg canilla extract and milk in a large bowl, beat until well mixed, add the rhubard and mix. Sift the dry ingredients but do not over stir.
Fill 3/4 of the muffin cakes and sprinkle with a little of the sugar, then bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes. Enjoy :))

Sunday...



Upper Barrakka Gardens and the crafts market 'Patches'





Rhubarb is a very common vegetable however for us Maltese or let's say for me it's not. This is botanically classified as a vegetable; however, in the United States a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction in taxes paid. Interesting.

So I've tried rhubarb muffins and they turned out delicious x

Little princess's latest menu .......



Spaghetti with meat and red sauce ......

olive oil
onion
carrots
lean mince beef
tomato puree
2 ripe tomatoes
spaghetti
...warm the oil, add the onion and saute for 3 min, add the grated carrots cook for further 2 mins, then add the mince beef once this browns add the tomato puree, tomatoes. In another pan boil water for the pasta, then cut spaghetti with your hands in small sticks and boil. ( for the first time I mashed the mince very well, maybe next time I try lumps).

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Couscous & veg

75g couscous
175ml stock
chopped carrots and chopped courgette

pour boiling water over couscous and leave for 6 min, steam the veggies and then mix together with the couscous.

tooth fairy came to visit :)

While house renovations, dust and dirt are strongly underway we still manage to get some play time :) Life cannot be good without a little bit of fun and play right?

Here I am sitting at my desk, drinking my tea and looking for design ideas for this particular area of the house. This is the entrance, the ceiling is high and vaulted. At the moment it has this horrible paint finish in yellow which I do not like. I want to expose the stone but since it has stone cornices too I would also like to create a contrast between the two. So any one of you out there has some interesting propositions or maybe some good sites where I can get more inspired with using colour together with the stones??

SO!! The house was built in 1934, that is after the first world war and before the second world war. At the time the houses had high ceilings, stone staircases and iron banisters plus lovely colourful patterned tiles. Here I am going to take you through the rooms to show you the different tile patterns!! (photos were taken with my mobile so sorry if the quality is not too good)

the floor in the kitchen...

the dinning and living .....

the hall way / staircase

the garage

the entrance

So much to blog about......so little time. This past couple of weeks I have been slightly busier than usual, however I must share with you my dear friends some photos of what we have been up to. We finally have the keys to our new (well it is really an old house) home. Our adventures include restoring this old town house we bought in order to make it our new home. I will be posting photos of the before and after of the rooms and the house. I love looking at photos of people's homes so I thought that I should share mine. With the new (old) house comes a lovely bit of garden, this my friends is the highlight of my children, they dig , they plant, they play and they have fun. Oh and we also had visits to our dear grandmother.

A visit to Ghar Dalam.........

I love the swing..........




''Let's go on the swing, to swing swing swing and swing,
until the school bell rings,
then off we go to see my siblings''

....................................................Leah, May 2010

Look what I made .....





I'm so proud of myself. Here are my first two handmade crochet handbags for girls (even though one of my models is a boy ;). The blue one is for my daughter and the other one I am going to give it as a present. I'm sure that the girl will use it and hold lots of treasures inside it!! Have a good Wednesday :)

What's with the washing machine?? little missy likes to watch the machine and she gets pretty excited too!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Mother's day without your mother isn't good and I have to admit that I don't like mother's day. 'I must be selfish' why shouldnt' I ? I have three beautiful children and I am blessed to be a mother, but still I can never be 100% happy on mother's day. My mother died on May 20th 1998, just a month before my wedding and the last time we took my mother out was on mother's day of that year. She was diagnosed with cancer a year before and fought for a year with unbearable pain, always thinking that it will be over. I will never forget her beautiful smile and the love she had for us.

This morning I was reading a blog and by chance went into another blog. This other blog had a beautiful post about mother's day. I read it twice and kept looking at the photos and then I decided to copy her. So here you are mum, 'HAPPY MOTHER's DAY' where ever you are.



My mother, my brother and myself. This is how I mostly remember my childhood days. My father worked abroad and when he was home he worked long hours. So my mother took us every where, we never missed a thing and we usually were the last ones to leave too!!



On the Ferry, crossing from Malta to Gozo. My dad, my brother , myself and mum.



My mum in her teenage years



Dressing up for a carnival party.



When she was a little girl. Love those curls mum!!





I Love You Mom!
Mom's smiles can brighten any moment,
Mom's hugs put joy in all our days,
Mom's love will stay with us forever
and touch our lives in precious ways...
The values you've taught,
the care you've given,
and the wonderful love you've shown,
have enriched my life
in more ways than I can count.
I Love you Mom!

What will happen to the clothes if they are left in the basket and not folded immediately ?

Well the little fairy who lives with us will crawl , grab the bag and she will very neatly fold them :).......just like magic!! not to mention that she will also leave a blob or two of her dribbling!!