Orange and Almond Syrup Cake – with Candied Oranges

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What do you do when you live on a former citrus orchard and your orange tree goes, um, bananas?  Invite friends around for lunch so you have an excuse to bake – this cake is amazing.  If this recipe has a few too many steps for you, cull the candied oranges. But if you can be bothered… it turns this cake into something extra special.  It would be easy to turn this into a gluten free recipe by replacing the flour with more almond meal, or using a gluten free flour substitute.

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Angela

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Meet one of my oldest and dearest friends, Angela. The poor love was at the tail end of a rough cold, so a makeover was just the thing to make her feel human again, especially ahead of a cozy dinner  with friends! Here’s before and after photos and a list of products used.  (more…)

ANZAC Biscuit Slice

Anzac biscuit recipeThis is a favourite in our house, it’s the basic Edmonds Cookbook (aka The Kiwi Cooking Bible) ANZAC biscuit, doubled, and made into a slice! No pedantic rolling of balls of mixture into biscuits, which saves a truckload of time.

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Maybelline Eye Studio Colour Tattoo – Worth the hype!

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Maybelline Eye Studio Colour Tattoos (is it just me, or is that a mouthful?)

Finally the much talked about Maybelline Eye Studio Colour Tattoos hit New Zealand shores. Yippee.  These are cream eyeshadows, are widely available and serve as a super affordable alternative to Mac Paint Pots more expensive options. I gave one of these to my buddy Kitrina for her birthday. She wasn’t into makeup that much until that point… She now says ‘I created a monster’. Opps.

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Moroccan Inspired Prawns with Couscous

imageI whipped this super-quick, easy and gorgeous meal up one busy week night, after realising I’d forgotten to get meat out to defrost in time for dinner (what’s new…). This dish was so good the girls at work got food envy when watching me eat the leftovers for lunch, so I handed over the recipe.   They loved it too. (more…)