Tu chal, mein aaya

Shout out to Nadia for getting me this happy mug for my recent birthday and to Sophie Hurst for the lovely design!

Selfie of a bald man with a salt-and-pepper beard holding up a large white mug. On the mug is an illustration of a brightly coloured Pakistani rickshaw, drawn on a yellow background. Below the illustration is the text “tu chal, mein aaya…”.

Delightfully dessert-ey

I’ve had a delightfully dessert-ey few days.

First I made a (gluten and lactose free) three-tier carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Plus a basic fruit trifle. Both turned out really well :)

Photo of a dining table (with a flowery table cloth) around which people are standing. On the table is a large cake with rustic cream cheese frosting and the numbers 5 and 0 stuck on top of it. Also on the table is a trifle bowl containing fruit trifle that’s topped off with vanilla custard.

Then yesterday I made two pies: one apple and one sweet potato.

I made the gluten free sweet pastry for these from scratch too.

Close up photo of an apple pie cooling on a rack. Behind the apple pie, and slightly out of focus, is a sweet potato pie.

The apple pie even featured an unintentional alien face :)

Close up photo of an apple pie that has three slits cut into it so steam can vent during baking. The slits are arranged in a way that looks like two angled eyes and a vertical mouth.

And since I had some leftover pastry, I made a few mini apples pies for good measure!

Photo of four mini open apple pies cooling on a rack on a kitchen counter.

Those turned out pretty well too.

Close up photo of a mini open apple pie with crispy, caramelised apples and a nicely browned crust. This pie is lying on a cooling rack, along with a couple of adjacent mini pies.

So yay for some successful weekend baking!

Happy birthday Nadia!

Happy birthday Nadia!

#StarOnAStick #PotatoQualityPhoto

Photo of a woman standing in a public park at night. The gardens behind her are decorated with lanterns strung on poles to illuminate walking paths. The smiling woman has long hair and is wearing a black puffer jacket.

We celebrated Nadia’s birthday with an evening at The Wilds, an outdoor festival of art, light, and performance that had food trucks, bars, and an ice skating rink.

We got a little wet – which we expected, given the weather forecast – but we had an otherwise lovely time.

Photo of a large, artistically swooshy, and brightly coloured wireframe sculpture bathed in strategically placed lights on a dark, overcast evening. People have gathered around the artwork, and some of them are taking photos. In the background is a metropolitan cityscape with tall buildings that have their lights turned on.

Of course we couldn’t bring a cake to an outdoor event, so instead we brought all the macaroon flavours for everyone to share :)

Overhead photo of a box containing fifteen brightly coloured macaroons of different colours.

For the record, those flavours were: French vanilla, Nutella, salted caramel, double Belgium chochlat, crushed pistache, original bubble gum, lemon meringue, crème brulée, authentic tiramisu, strawberry & cream, raspberry & white chocolate, and blueberry cheesecake. I got these from Antipasti Deli & Cafe in Yarraville.

Carrot cake!

So the carrot cake I made yesterday turned out pretty great. (Carrot cake is always better the second day, isn’t it?)

Photo of a moist, two-layer, half-eaten carrot cake with raisins and cream cheese frosting.

Yesterday, of course, we lit it on fire and celebrated :)

Photo of a man leaning on a countertop with his elbows. On the counter is a home made cream-cheese-frosted cake with several lit candles on it.

And I made the most of the sunny day in Melbourne with the daffodils and jonquils that Nadia grew for me for my birthday! <3

Photo of a man on a paved section next to a residential garden. The man is crouched behind four large planting pots with yellow and white flowers growing in them.

Happy birthday to me!

Hello. I am 44 years old today. Importantly, Nadia got us Oodies for my birthday!

Selfie of a man and a woman each wearing an oodie, which is an oversized blanked hoodie.

Sadly I haven’t gotten around to wearing mine for too long because this has been a lovely, sunny week in Melbourne.

Selfie of a man and a woman on a sunny day. The man is bald, with a salt and pepper beard, and is wearing glasses. The woman has long hair and has put her head on the man's should from behind him. They both have big goofy grins on their faces.