Tuesday, March 1, 2011
What To Do
Travel - I have a passion for but with a lack of admin experience etc, getting a job in an office is nearly impossible. Craft - something im good at, but can you make a job with that? Food - Who isnt passionate about it!
So Im left sitting looking for jobs I dont want because my inbox is full of rejection email after rejection email. Sigh.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Raya X
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Happiest Day Of My Life
I cant believe its over!It is amazing to have a husband! I absolutely love it!
The day went off without a hitch but that is all thanks to our friends.
Weddings are such a stressful time - I'm glad I never have to do it again, but in saying that I have been blessed in such abundance with my friends. We had their support and love the whole way and without it I am quite confident that we would have caved under the pressure.
I prayed for years for a Husband that loved me above all else and treated me as such but I also prayed for friends I could love and trust. As I prayed, I saw bits a pieces of my prayers being graciously given in the 4 boys that supported me through the hardest times of my life. They were my rock for many many years and they still are.
As I got older I started praying harder and one day I met a man that I fell in love with on sight, to whom I am now married. Along with him came some amazing women. They took me in almost instantly and one of them is now my most cherished friend.
Its not until now, that I look back and see Gods fingerprints on my wholly unworthy life and that after many years of praying He poured out His precious gifts so graciously.
I found that over the course of our Engagement I had to lean on these friends much more than I would ever like to admit and than, Im sure, they ever expected. But they still stood strong. They held me up when I cried, they listened to the same thing over and over until at some stage whatever I was repeating made sense in my mind and they endured my completely different personality.
In saying all this I need to say THANK YOU to everyone involved. Our wedding would not and could not have happened had our friends not put up their hands to help us out.
We are truly blessed to have you all.
Raya X
Friday, October 29, 2010
8.30am Panic!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sometimes I think about things

Saturday, October 2, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wow! What a long long gap!
Ive been so busy lately! Wedding plans have tended to side-swipe me on a daily basis and this hideous exhaustion thats going on in my body is getting a bit out of hand. Im finding that Im constantly exhausted and by about 3pm Im at vomiting and crying stage. Sigh. It has been so great the last few weeks as I have been getting through the day well and can last till about 11pm but the last few days have been pretty bad again.
So sitting on the bed relaxing and watching birthing shows on Foxtel (cause Im weird) I decided to peruse my old blog and here I am. Boring you with my rambling. Infact Im boring myself. So I might go and sleep.
Hopefully see you kids again soon,
Raya X
Thursday, April 22, 2010
White Chocolate Profteroles (Choux Buns)
These were so easy to make with kids and so delicious to eat.
- 80ml (1/3 cup) water
- 40g butter, at room temperature, cubed
- 50g (1/3 cup) plain flour, sifted
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
Place water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until butter melts and mixture just comes to the boil.
Add all the flour to the butter mixture at once and use a wooden spoon to beat until well combined. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball and begins to come away from the side of the saucepan. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl, then add it to the flour mixture, beating well with a wooden spoon. Gradually add a little of the reserved egg and beat until the mixture just falls from the spoon but still holds its shape.
Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush a baking tray with oil to lightly grease. Spoon 25-30 teaspoonsful of the mixture onto tray, about 3cm apart. Alternatively, use a pastry bag fitted with a 1.5cm-diameter plain piping nozzle to pipe the profiteroles onto the baking tray. Brush the tops with a little of the remaining egg. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the profiteroles are puffed and golden.
Remove from oven and turn the oven off. Using a skewer or a small knife, pierce the base (or top) of each profiterole to release the steam. Return the profiteroles to the oven and leave them for 15 minutes to dry out. Remove the profiteroles from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Raya X
Sugar Paste Creations
This is what I have made so far
I know they're nothing outstanding, but I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt.
Raya X
Friday, April 16, 2010
Dreams
There is nothing better than spending a day at home with music blaring, baking up a storm in the kitchen then having people come over and the look in their eyes when they see a beautiful pile of cookies or a giant cake that screams "EAT ME!" and that moment when they realize that its theirs for the taking. Amazing.
Although I love to bake, I've never ventured into the designing side much. I sit at the computer for hours and look at pictures of peoples amazing cakes, cupcakes and cookies and I think "Gee, I would love to be able to do that." I would love to be able to create wedding cakes and know that for someones special day, they were cutting into something that I spent hours designing, pouring my heart into and for them to then know that they had the best possible cake for their big day. That would be a feeling I could live with.
Well anyway, here are a few designs I found this morning that one day, I'd love to be able to accomplish.

Raya X
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Mmmmm Green Soup
Its truely not visually appetising but it is tasty and it will aid in your health.
Green Soup
1 brown onion (diced)
1 leek (sliced)
1 brocolli head
Spinach - English or baby, whatever takes your fancy (chopped)
frozen Peas
chicken or beef stock
Heat a deep frying pan to medium and saute onions and leek until transluscent. Add chopped Broccoli and allow to soften.
Add about 2 cups of the stock in and bring to boil until broccoli is cooked, then add chopped spinach. When spinach is wilted add some more stock (enough to boil the peas.) Bring to a gentle boil and add the bag of frozen peas.
Once peas are cooked through, blend mixture together - with a stick blender!!! When I made this batch, i used my boss' glass blender, then as i was rinsing the jug, it shattered on me. So be careful! Plus its hot! But if you dont blend it soon after the peas are cooked they loose their bright colour and you end up with a big bowl of dark green poo-looking soup.
Also, if you think you may have too much liquid, remove some of it and set aside. If after the soup is blended it needs more liquid, slowly add the removed stock until desired consistency.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with croutons or crunchy bread.
Also, you can really add any green vegetable - even lettuce to sweeten it up, just saute after the onions.
Raya X
Hot Cross Buns for Easter
Ingredients
- 4 cups plain flour
- 2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups currants
- 40g butter
- 300ml milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Flour paste
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 4 to 5 tablespoons water
Glaze
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
Method
Combine flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice, salt and currants in a large bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add milk. Heat for 1 minute, or until lukewarm. Add warm milk mixture and eggs to currant mixture. Use a flat-bladed knife to mix until dough almost comes together. Use clean hands to finish mixing to form a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth. Place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until dough doubles in size.
Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Punch dough down to its original size. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 12 even portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Place balls onto lined tray, about 1cm apart. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes, or until buns double in size. Preheat oven to 190°C.
Make flour paste: Mix flour and water together in a small bowl until smooth, adding a little more water if paste is too thick. Spoon into a small snap-lock bag. Snip off 1 corner of bag. Pipe flour paste over tops of buns to form crosses. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until buns are cooked through.
Make glaze: Place water and sugar into a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Brush warm glaze over warm hot cross buns. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe from www.taste.com.au
Raya X
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Weird News Article
Anyway, as the children were sleeping I decided to look at the news website and came across this article which made me giggle;
"I think a lot of the criticism has to do with the combination of sex and cheese, but ... the breast is there to make food," said Lori Mason, Angerer's wife, who is mother to the couple's 10 week old daughter Arabella.
New York health chiefs said that even though department codes do not explicitly forbid the practice, they advised Angerer to refrain from sharing his wife's milk with the world.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Pizza Scrolls
So I was asked to make some Pizza Scrolls for my friends engagement party after I made them for our New Years festivities and as I was making them I thought "Hey, why not post the recipe onto my blog..." and so I am...
It is a pretty simple recipe that started out as a kids recipe in a book that I altered (which I do with nearly all recipes) and then I realized that they were delicious and that most adults are really children and we all love something simple, bite size and delicious!
Puff Pastry sheets
Tomato paste (go for the stuff with garlic etc so it adds a bit more flavour)
Salami - Chopped into 1cm pieces
Ham - Chopped into 1cm pieces
Pizza Cheese
Parmesan - Shaved (buy a block of parmesan and shave it yourself for the best flavor)
Salt and Pepper (of course)
Egg and milk (for the egg wash)
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Lay the defrosted Puff Pastry sheet out on a bench, slop a good spoonful of tomato paste on it and spread to the edges. Don't go overboard on the tomato paste or any other ingredient as its going to be rolled up at the end and you want to be able to taste every flavor and not be bombarded with an overload of cheese etc.
Ok, so now sprinkle the ham, salami and a handful of cheese over the pastry.
Again, DON'T overdo the cheese. If it looks too sparse, thats fine - you're going to get about 4 layers of it once its cooked so don't stress.
Sprinkle a pinch of Parmesan over everything, along with some salt and pepper.
Wet one of your fingers with water and run along one of the edges of the pastry (this will be the edge that gets folded last and sticks the roll together) then start rolling the pastry from the opposite end towards the wet end.
Once rolled up, cut with a sharp knife into 1-1.5cm rolls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Mix egg and milk together and brush over the rolls with a pastry brush.
Place in oven and bake until golden brown (about 20 mins)
With Parmesan cheese always get a block instead of grated, and preferably buy a european parmesan as they make it right. Parmesan is not supposed to smell like vomit like it does in Australia. It is actually a super creamy cheese with a bite, but not one that leaves your mouth tasting like you've just woken up lying next to an empty bottle of tequila and the only memories of the previous night are the sand inside your pants and the above mentioned taste in your mouth.
Raya X
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Adventures to Luna Park
The only letters I want are Love letters.
Good news people! Its Wednesday evening which means you have come through the first half of the week relatively unscathed (I hope) and now you are on the home stretch to the weekend. Hooray!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Pondering Photography
I am venturing into photography and my favorite photos are the ones that show you exactly whats going through someones mind or whats going on around them, in the one shot.I stumbled across this one and I really enjoy it. It is a woman who has her children hanging off her, relying on her for comfort, food and very obviously - rest.
Then you move to the womans face, and written on it are so many things. "What will I feed my children tonight?" "Where will we sleep tonight?" "How will I protect them for another day?" "How will I heal my heart while I protect theirs?"
Life seems so tough some days and we have to struggle on, rely on the strength God gives and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Raya X
Friday, February 19, 2010
My Twilight Rant
I am a fan of the books and movies but I have spoken to a lot of Christians who are under the impression that its very demonic and leads away from God - which I do agree with.
I'd say I am torn between the two opinions because while I do see that it completly leads away from God and is adding temptation and lust into darker things I also see the love story behind it. So lets talk about both.
Column A is the Christian attitude. We as Christians are designed to glorify God and share the gospel to all. His grace surpasses everything we could ever imagine we deserve.
By His grace, He sent His son to us, to die a hideous death that was unjust and undeserved, all so we could spend eternity with God and not have to go through the torment of never being able to live up to the demands of the law.
We are saved by grace alone and there is NOTHING we could EVER do to earn this. It is a gift and we must treat it as such and not get caught up trying to feel like somehow we deserve it.
So for this amazing grace we are given the positioning to share this gift, in-fact this is what were 'charged' with. Naturally, if something wanted to stop the progression of such a gift it would make the opposite an appealing temptation. The opposite is not a loving and kind option, it is not living your life to glorify the creator of the universe and it does not end in you spending your eternity in a place with no suffering or pain. The opposite of good is evil. God is good, and he wants you to live your life with Him in Heaven. The enemy is evil and he wants you to believe that there is no "eternity" and no repercussions for your sins. He wants you to have "fun" and take the attention away from God.
Twilight, I think, delves into this temptation. In what way, in any place, does it reference God or His morals other than not having sex before marriage - which is still misconstrued because the entire reason they cant have sex is because he would kill her.
Column B - the love story.
Every female desires a man who is strong and loving. Someone who will sweep her off her feet, shower her with love and kindness but be the protective male that God designed him to be.
We want to know we're the only person in their eyes and they would fight for you no matter what happened or who it hurt. We want them to lay their lives down for us as Christ did.
The reality for some people is that this never happens. Sometimes we get the guy who sweeps us off our feet in the beginning but will eventually stop. Sometimes we get a guy who is loving and gentle and everything we ever wanted but they lack the protection side of things and we never feel safe with them. And then some of us even get a man who refuses to fight for us, who says all the right things to make you believe he is fighting for you but in the end, he never has...and never will.
Whatever the man you have or want, this story creates this image of a man who waited 100 years to find her - the woman he has been waiting for. We see this the moment he looks at her and he realises his world is turned upside-down because she is everything he ever wanted...everything he ever NEEDED. Its love at first sight.
He comes at night to watch over her and protect her while she is asleep. He is with her constantly and never fails to shower her with love. He is always willing to give his life for her and proves it on many occasions. He is the strong male in the relationship and he will bear anything to be that. He is the leader and he completely and utterly adores her.
What woman doesn't want that kind of man!
We read these stories and are taken in by the infatuation and the romance but then we stop reading and we realise that this isnt real life. We dont get to be that woman. We have to go back to our jobs and lives and return to being the mum, flatmate, worker and girlfriend/wife and after reading this story we feel dissatisfied with ourselves, our lives and our partners. No one is perfect and even though you search for this perfect person to make your life 'Complete' or 'Whole.' We're given ideas as to how you can make your life 'complete' through tv, ads and of course, books. But theyre not guidelines or DIY kits - they're stories. They will never be real and if you continue to search for the things you find in these sources you will NEVER feel complete or happy.
Its female porn.
What we do get if we step back and look at Column A and Column B, is a chance at looking to God for this relationship. He is the one who was waiting thousands of years for us to get here. He sent His son here to endure what He did so that we could eventually be with Him. He would and did lay down his life for us. He gave up everything for us. He is the strong, protective, loving, gentle and kind man our hearts were designed to fall in love with and search for.
We have to stop looking for a checklist of things to make us feel 'whole' and start looking to God because until we do, we will always be looking for something that isn't there, except in Him.
So thats the end of my rant.
Let me know what you think and if you think differently.
Raya X
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
I Love Chocolate
So I went to Castle Towers this afternoon to stop my very best friends Mr Baskin and Mrs Robbins' store to get myself a nice waffle cone with 2 scoops of delicious mango flavoured ice cream only to find that it had a sign on the door that said it was closed till 5 due to an emergency. It made me very sad to think that there was an emergency with someone but my tummy also cried because it wasn't filled with yummy ice cream and waffle.
I contemplated waiting till 5 (thats how bad I was craving it) but decided not to so went home.
On my way home I started thinking about Chocolate and the best chocolate I know of is Haighs. Its amazing! If you haven't had some, you must! In my opinion the Chocolate coated Macadamias are the best but following closely behind are the Choc-Berries.
Thinking about Haighs brought me to thinking about the best truffles Ive ever had and they were in this small chocolate shop in Bad Homburg run by a man named Daniel. I made a bit of a tradition of going most mornings and ordering a hot chocolate (I wasn't quite into coffee yet...) and a few chocolate truffles and once a week I'd buy a bag to take home to eat while I was working on the weekend.
The chocolate store in Bad Homburg. On the front under the windows is a ledge that the owner Daniel puts some mats on and turns them into some lovely seats to sit on with your chocolates and coffee.Raya X
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Roast Chicken With Chorizo Stuffing
As most of you know, I LOVE Chorizo! It is the best sausage in the world and goes with everything! Its amazing in omelette's for breakfast, in lunch and its even better in dinners. Which is why the other day I felt like cooking a roast chicken (because honestly, who doesn't love a good home-cooked roast) but I also felt like some Chorizo. So I was pondering how to combine the two loves and then I thought of a Roast Chicken with Chorizo Stuffing! So I then jumped online to get an idea of how people have made this before and got some ideas for myself...
Ingredients:
1 large chicken (cavity cleaned and preferably organic or free range)
2-3 Spicy Chorizo (you can have a less spicy version but I love a little chilli kick) - found in the deli or fridge section of the supermarket
1 red onion - finely diced
Breadcrumbs - about a handful
1 lemon - juiced
2 pieces of roast capsicum (from deli) - diced
1 egg yolk
Parsley - chopped
Shallots - chopped
Salt and Pepper
Preheat oven to 200/180 if fan-forced. Get chicken ready and set aside. Hopefully its cavity should be cleaned out but just get a paper towel and dab the inside of the cavity to remove excess blood and juice.
Chop the Chorizo up into small but rough pieces and place in a bowl. Add the egg yolk, diced onion, breadcrumbs, capsicum, parsley, shallots and salt and pepper to taste and mix together with hands. Make sure its all mixed well.
Grab the chicken and gently stuff with the mixture, packing it tightly but being very careful not to tear any of the chickens skin or you will end up with a dry chicken.
If you have any skewers then fold over the skin of the chicken around the bum and close with skewers. If not, then with some cooking twine gently fold the skin over to close and pull the two legs together and tie the legs together over the boniest part of the leg which is toward the end. This should keep the cavity closed enough to keep the flavor and juices in.
Place the chicken in a greased baking dish and cover in lemon juice (this makes the skin crunchy) along with salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil too.
Place in the oven for anywhere between 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Test the chicken by piercing the thigh and if the juices come out clear, the chicken is cooked.
With any roast I cook veggies too. Sweet potato, potato, carrots and parsnip were my veggies of choice for this roast and it was perfect. Chop them and place them in the oven at the same time as the chicken with some olive oil to stop them from sticking to the base of the pan.
A good redwine gravy would go perfectly with this too but as I am still to perfect my gravy I wont post one up hahaha.
I hope you enjoy!
Raya X
Monday, February 8, 2010
Moustache Madness


Friday, February 5, 2010
Photography Finds
We spent a few hours wandering the streets and both having sweet teeth, we eventually found our way to a delicious lolly shop and spent quite a while in there.
One of the places we stopped in on was Vinnies and I stumbled across a few cameras that took my fancy. Unfortunately I have no idea how they work, so if you know or have any information about them then please feel free to post it. There was film in the German camera and in the Servfocus video camera so I hope something cool shows up in them.
So if you know anything, let me know!
Raya X
