A Competition: Win a trip to Sunny L.A with ASOS

Monday, July 29, 2013

Hello my fellow Aussies, I’ve come across something wonderful. And since I will busy over the next couple of days I thought this might interest you while I'm absent.

Thanks to ASOS (my most favourite online store), my readers now have an amazing chance to win a trip for you and your best friend to sunny L.A!

You could be off to Runaway to the ultimate trip... Velocity Frequent Flyer will fly you and your lucky +1 to sunny L.A where you'll find a brand new ASOS travel wardrobe awaiting each of you on arrival! And I am the mascot for finding escape and happiness in travel, so I encourage all my readers to enter.

To enter just fill in your details
here, and you could be the winner of a brand new ASOS wardrobe and a winter escape to the City of Angels.

Happy Entering and Good Luck!

A Recipe for Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing

Friday, July 26, 2013
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog
Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Recipe Food Blog

A Recipe: Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing (A Variation on David Lebovitz's Fudgy Brownies

I found a picture of these on M&M's Facebook page and since then I've been itching to make them. Not fussed with looking for the recipe, I just used an older and reliable recipe for Brownies and decided that the icing would be a Cream Cheese version. And of course you must add the Crispy Mint M&M's.
These are so fun and easy to make, it took me about an hour (yet you need to think about cooling the brownies first so overnight refrigeration is recommended).

I used David Lebovitz's Fudgy Brownie Recipe and added my own Cream Cheese Icing:

Total Time: 60mins (cooling period not included)
Serves Approx: 16

Ingredients (Brownies):
6 tablespoons Butter (approx. 85g)
8 ounces Bittersweet Cooking Chocolate (approx. 250g)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons

Ingredients (Icing and Decorations):
3 ounces light cream cheese (approx. 85g)
1 cup pure icing sugar
Green food colouring
One Bag Crispy Mint M&M's (160g bag)

Directions:
1. Preheat Oven to 350*F (or 175*C)
2. Lightly butter a sheet of baking paper and line the paper into a 8x8inch baking pan (try to line the sides of pan as well). Set Aside.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cooking chocolate, stirring as you go. When chocolate is melted, remove from heat. Add in the sugar and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the flour and stir in vigorously by hand for a full minute. The batter should become smoother and glossier, and start to pull away from the side of the saucepan.
4. Pour the batter gently into the baking pan, spreading it evenly. Bake for 30 minutes. Do not overbake - for brownies it's better to undercook than to overcook. Remove from Oven and let to cool completely (I advise overnight refrigeration to make the brownies firm enough to cut neatly).
5. Prepare the Icing. Combine cream cheese and icing sugar into a bowl. Beat with an electrical beater until mixture is light and fluffy. (To mix by hand, sift the sugar first before adding to the cream cheese to smooth out lumps.) Add 2-3 drops of Food colouring to get a Green Mint Colour; continue mixing until the colour is mixed through nicely. The Icing can be stored overnight in the fridge if need be.
6. Once the Brownies are completely cooled, cut into small squares or rectangles. Gently add icing and spread evenly over the top of brownies, using a knife. Now for the fun part, using clean hands, decorate the Brownies with M&M's! The chocolates stick to the icing well. Patterns are encouraged :)

Happy Baking :)

My Memorable Stay at Cambridge Hotel Sydney!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Cambridge Hotel Surry Hills Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Surry Hills Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Cherrypick Frozen Yoghurt
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Deluxe City Room View Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Pool Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Pool Review
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Room Service
Cambridge Hotel Sydney View
Cambridge Hotel Sydney Lucy and The Runaways

A Review: Cambridge Hotel Sydney (Deluxe Balcony Room) thanks to Cambridge Hotel 
Cambridge Hotel: Located at 212 Riley Street, Surry Hills NSW Australia

Thanking Cambridge Hotel immensely, I was so lucky to spend two nights over the week at this modern hotel at the heart of Sydney. I dragged my friend Betty to spend the first night with me (its her birthday in July and we both invented 'Birthday Months' for each other which means she gets spoiled for the entire 30 days).
We moved into our Deluxe Balcony Room, decked out with a huge Samsung TV, European bed, Wi-fi, Ipod Dock, Appelles beauty products and oversized mirrors.
We then craved Froyo so we asked reception where the best Froyo is. All the staff were so lovely to give us suggestions and directions. Honestly, what me and Betty really care about is food and the availability of it, haha.  We got our Froyo at 10.30PM (a mere 2 minute walk away from our hotel #winning) and sat out on the balcony to admire the stunning city view. And what a view. The photos says it all -- Cambridge Hotel is situated right in the middle of Sydney's highlights (Oxford street, the CBD and Surry Hills), and me and Betty were mesmerised.
 We then spent the rest of the night chatting, drinking wine and watching Video Hits on FOX TV (we stumbled onto some old school 90's videos, like Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl') and did some girly dancing. Such a fun night, the type you can only have with a close girlfriend.
Come 3am, and I was starting to get hungry. I realised we were dancing in our room for 5 hours straight. So Betty, after reading that Cambridge Hotel had 24 hour reception, called downstairs. A friendly man picked up and was not fazed by a 3am call - giving us the directions to the nearest pie shop. We walked out onto the quiet yet bright streets on the hunt for a fresh meat pie from Pie Face.
The next day, Betty had to go back home and Hughie came down the next night. We also stayed in, going to the hotel surroundings, checking out the beautiful pool and spa on level 2. I was fascinated that the pool was surrounded by more rooms with a stunning glass ceiling making it quite grande.
Second night in with Hughie, we settled for Room Service. We ordered a delicious club sandwich - chicken, bacon, cheese, salad and sliced egg stuffed between slices of bread yum. We held hands as we played our Nintendo 3DS and drank beer and watched cheesy movies on the FOX TV Movies channel.
Again I sat outside on that peaceful balcony soaking up the beautiful view, wondering what other people in Paris, New York or Auckland were doing at that very moment. I certainly was aware I was staying in a very modern and luxurious hotel with Hughie laying in bed dozing in those soft sheets; with a good book to read in my hand and a fulfilling meal in my stomach. I rarely get a peaceful moment like this where I am grateful for the present and get to collect my nagging thoughts and store them away... just to stop and stare at the prettiest stars in the world.

Thanks Cambridge Hotel for such a lovely and memorable stay!


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