Australia Day!

Today is Australia Day. I'll be hanging with my sister, enjoying a BBQ and some Pavlova she has made. Might even take a dip in the pool, and listen to a bit of the Hottest 100. I am happy to be an Australian :)

Addit: Here is a pic of my sister with her first ever Pavlova, it was delicious!

Cupcakes for Charity 2011 - January

January

The floods in QLD, NSW and VIC, have affected many Australians. But I have to say, I was really very worried about all the animals these floods would effect, pets, farm animals and wildlife alike.
Like many others, I wanted to do something for these helpless animals, so my first fund-raiser for the year I chose to donate to the QLD RSPCA, who lost an entire animal shelter during the floods.

I raised $110 all for the QLD RSPCA!!

In my rush to get this done, I totally forgot to take pictures of the cupcakes until it was too late! Oh dear, not again, *smacks forehead*
I'd like you to imagine almond flake cupcakes, with spoonful of home made apricot jam in the centre, frosted with cream cheese frosting, and topped with a coconut apricot roll! Delicious!

Almond and Apricot Surprise Cupcakes - Adapted from Woman's Weekly NZ
Makes 18 or so cupcakes

Ingredients

165g butter, softened
1¾ cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
3 cups self raising flour
1¼ cup milk
1/4 cup crushed flaked almonds
½ cup apricot jam (I used this recipe for microwave apricot jam that is very quick and easy, I highly recommend it, my jam turned out perfectly)

1. Heat oven to 160°C fan bake. Line a 12-hole standard muffin tin with paper cases. Place butter, caster sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.

2. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift dry ingredients together and fold into mixture, alternating with the milk, fold in almonds. Stir just enough to combine into a creamy batter.

3. Three-quarter fill prepared cases. Hide a heaped teaspoonful of apricot jam in the centre of the mixture of each cupcake.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cupcake mixture (not in the centre where the jam is!) comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

I ♥ Keyboard Cat

When I first saw Keyboard Cat on Youtube, I was enamoured with it. The cat, the keyboard, the tune, the look of disinterest in Keyboard Cats face. Whenever I am feeling blue, this video never fails to cheer me up. (My Grandpa is in hospital again, I needed cheering up tonight)
When I saw the Keyboard Cat t-shirt on Threadless I squealed! But then was so sad to see it had sold out. So when they did a reprint last year, I had it ordered in seconds! It is now one of my favourite Tees.

Speaking of cats... Loki is keeping us on our toes, he and Týr are becoming firm friends! They chase each other up and down the stairs and play fight constantly in their waking hours, sometimes Týr gets a bit rough though. Loki loves to attack our ankles and pants when we are walking which is funny and annoying at the same time.

I finally got my new camera! With the help of Christmas money from my family, I was able to pick up a Canon DSLR 1000D for a very decent price in the post Christmas sales!! I was so excited to bring it home, and can't wait to get started using it! Holly, I'm hoping for a nice bright sunny day tomorrow so I can take some shiny pic's of the beautiful things you sent me! Woot!

Some Aussies are in a bit of strife!

(Image Source)

Australians up in QLD are in a bit of strife with severe flooding causing a lot of damage, after many days of heavy constant rain. Some towns have had flash flooding, with little warning. Sadly the death toll is at 12 at the moment, with many more missing. 40,000 homes are believed to be affected, the numbers expected to rise. Watching the news has been quite harrowing.

I worry about all the animals and wildlife who are so helpless during natural disasters...

(Image Source)

There have been a few heart warming rescue stories like this one, where a man took his tin boat out and rescued many kangaroo's. There was also this amazing photo of a green tree frog hitching a ride on the back of a brown snake (normally enemies) through the flood water.

(Image Source)

I will be doing a cupcake fund-raiser next week for the QLD RSPCA. If you would like to help out too, you could donate to either:

QLD RSPCA Flood Crisis Appeal or the QLD Premiers Disaster Relief Fund

Stay safe people of QLD, we are thinking of you.

New Family Member!

Please welcome the newest member of the Bearmangler Clan...

We brought Loki home from the RSPCA this morning. Our hearts were breaking after seeing many news reports on the amount of animals being dumped after Christmas. He is so sweet and has taken to us immediately. However Týr is not very impressed and has done a lot of creeping around and hissing, poor boy, he has been the spoilt only 'child' for 6 months, so this will be a bit of an adjustment for him!

Loki, like Týr, is named after a Viking God. The Viking God of mischief, hehe hope he doesn't live up to the name too much!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

I have good feelings for 2011, I think this year will be an interesting one. At the beginning of 2010, I made a new years resolution to bake cupcakes and sell them once a month for different animal charities of my choice. Unfortunately I failed as I only managed to do 9 of the 12 months. So, this years new years resolution was easy, try again!

I want to be more organised about it this year, I plan to do it on the 3rd Thursday of every month. I want to plan ahead and make a 12 month plan for which charity to donate to, and what flavour cupcakes I want to make, rather than decide as I go.

Here are the charities, in no particular order, I wish to raise money for this year:

1. RSPCA South Australia
2. Animal Welfare League South Australia
3. Australian Orangutan Project
4. Animals Australia
5. Adelaide Zoo
6. Nature Foundation South Australia
7. Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors QLD RSPCA
8. Australian Marine Wildlife Research & Rescue Organisation
9. WWF Australia - Adopt an Animal
10. Free the Bears Fund
11. Guide Dogs South Australia
12. Save Foundation Australia

So far the new year is going well, today I put a deposit on a new camera, just need to wait for more stock to come in!
My boyfriend and I are going to make an effort to be more healthy, and I have had a good time today finding some interesting new recipes to try on Taste.com.au, a fantastic resource for dinner and dessert ideas!
Of course I would like to craft and blog more this year, but I am not going to loose sleep if life gets in the way a bit ;)
Oh, one last new year resolution, I AM going to start preparing for Christmas much earlier this year, I loved giving handmade gifts, but I am going to give myself much more time so I don't stress too much!!

What are your new years resolutions?