Twenty One

I turned 21 on 9th October. And I felt very very loved and special all day Wednesday!

I woke up to birthday Snapchats, including this gorgeous one...

thanks kiki <3


Lauren took me out to dinner!

We went to Atico Cocina
A very nice, chilled, comfortable and open South American restaurant at Victoria Park.

Their website is here including their menu and info on function room

The restaurant was one big open room. Brightly decorated, with couches and even a swing seat in the corner and a large bar in the centre.

 

Our drinks yea! Can't remember what they were called but it was real delicious cocktails.
Sweet and a bit on the strong side
My first cocktail!

Jamaican chicken jerk.
Jerk chicken breast, creole okra, plantain chips with fennel and pineapple slaw.

This is what I had and I tell you, the chips were AMAZING.
Where can I get some more??

I just looked up what plantain was: it is actually a fruit! That looks almost exactly like a banana but does not taste like it at all. So good...
The chicken was spicy however, but it was very tender and oh so juicy.

Lauren's roast pork fillet; Filete de cerdo dulce, the signature dish.
With chorizo stuffing, chilli apple glaze, cassava puree, pico de gallo and watercress.
Again, delicious.

We then went to dessert night with the 2013/ 2014 committed student leaders of Auckland Studentlife.

White choc mudcake, caramel latte and Henry Yeah's strawberry sponge cake.

We each got given a book wrapped in ribbon... and ended up being wrapped in the ribbon ourselves

And I came home to this!! 21 things from my long-time friend, Hayley
It came in a massive box of parcel, gift wrapped and in a NAUTICAL box!!
Lotions, NAUTICAL napkins, chocolate, cupcake lip gloss, notepad, tissue pack, teddy bear and the first key on a bracelet!

Thank you so much

Our little neighbours popped by today and gave me a little gift too!
Purple party eyeshadow and body butter.

A delicate handkerchief all the way from Whangarei

However the first gift of the day was this.
Hand delivered by a man in a formal wear who waited for me at my bus stop
I've wanted this perfume for a while! I LOVE THE SMELL
Thank you... <3

What a beautiful card! Witha  rhyming poem inside too!
I was just looking at those notebooks yesterday!! And I was searching for a day planner yesterday too! Perfect.

Cake tester, sprinkles and cookie cutters <3
Thank you

So sweet and so thoughtful! Thank you

I made Abby write in it too and she was self conscious that her handwriting would spoil the book...
I think her handwriting looks like the printed font.

Along with the Moschino perfume, it came with samples. I thought it was funny; Taylor gave me 'Taylor' by Taylor Swift.

Most surprising: Secret Blessings.
I got told by Abby to go to the locker, and I found these!!
I was so excited when I saw the Lush packet and SO SURPRISED when she got me what I had been wanting since the start of the year! Lip scrub!
Cause after radiation, my mouth and lips go dry really quickly, but I tell you I've used the scrub twice already (tastes so good) and it makes your lips supple and soft.

Can't wait to scoff those macarons as well. I've only ever had the cappuccino ones and they are gooood.

Thank you Secret Blessings. You know who you are (I don't!)

At our group meeting, I was greeted by my engineering boys with sour skittles and Bueno.
How did you guys know Bueno is my favorite chocolate?!
Aww <3 so touched

My long time friend delivered this to my mailbox with a hilarious card that had all the stuff we bonded over during Year 12/ 13 ... dear me

I love... Kikki K!

My family gave me a printed photo album! So nice. I'll show you some time

My brother made me breakfast/ brunch!

 They were nice waffles, even if it did take him an hour to make and he had to wake me up to ask why the mixture was lumpy and if the egg whites were stiff enough :p hahahaha learning curve

And then I heard a "YAAAY" and the first waffle was served!

A couple of you have been asking about the whipped peanut butter.
Thank you Nina for recommending it to me!! It is light, not sticky, slightly denser texture than whipped cream and most importantly doesn't get stuck on the top of your mouth.
I got it from Countdown!

And then Google gave me a birthday greeting ;)


And to conclude,

I am getting an external flash for my Canon 600D courtesy of the parentals
If you have tips on what to purchase/ where to purchase an entry-level flash, let me know please!!

Signed,
Elisa

A little bit about banana chocolate chip muffins with cinnamon crumble tops

A couple of months ago jt mentioned how much he likes bananas; banana cake, banana muffins, banana bread... and ever since then it's been niggling me that I should do a banana bake item.

The thing is, the bananas have to be overripe- very brown and soft for easy mashing and sweetness of flavor.

And I forget to set aside any bananas!

 But this time I made a conscious reminder for me and everybody else in the house. 

It took about 3 days for these bananas to go from edible yellow to this color.

This recipe jumped out at me because it contains golden syrup. How special!

As I browsed other recipes, I decided to add chocolate chips and a cinnamon crumble topping for extra texture.

Banana chocolate chip muffins with cinnamon crumble tops

150g butter
2 Tbsp golden syrup
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 very ripe, brown bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I didn't measure how much I used, maybe even up to a cup)

For the cinnamon crumble topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
20g butter

1. Melt the butter and golden syrup

2. Add vanilla essence, mashed bananas and eggs. Stir well

3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and brown sugar with a whisk

4. Make a well in the centre and pour in butter mixture

5. Mix gently until just combined. Do not overmix

6. Spoon a tablespoon full of batter into each lined muffin tin

7. Drop a few chocolate chips and fill to the top flat with more batter

8. Put in the oven at 220C bake for no more than 5 minutes, while you make the crumble topping

9. To make the crumble topping, place ingredients in a bowl and cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs

10. Sprinkle on top of muffins and continue to bake for a further 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Makes 12

I actually had a bit of trouble making the crumble topping (impatient) and I didn't know how to 'cut in the butter'. But mama rescued it hehee...

Note:
It is important that you do not overmix muffin mixtures. Otherwise they go hard and over-dense when they're cooked. Lumpy is fine.

I ate two straight out of the oven.

I gave jt five. During action group planning, Jeanny and Abigail had one each (she fed a piece to her fiancee, it was so cute and funny; she sanitised her hands afterwards) and JimBob was so nice, he gave us the couches to have action group! So I gave him one too and he said my bf is a lucky man. And then I was thirdwheeling the other EJ couple ("Where's-Joshua Wednesday"), and mile is always hungry so they shared a muffin and said it was yummy!!

I hope you all enjoyed it!

And to conclude,

highlight of my day: watching the Athletes in Action basketball team from USA play against our very own UoA team! An event hosted by Studentlife!

I was really excited.

We have weekly events every thursday 1pm in SLT 2 with speakers each week talking about how God has changed their lives. You should come!


Signed,
Elisa

A little bit about cheesecake brownies

Who loves brownies? Who loves cheesecake? This one's for you!

I have a Studentlife conference reunion tomorrow and a group of girls are baking a lil some'in ;)

Although I can't join them, I thought I'd make some brownies to bring along...

I used Cadbury baking chocolate, but I think it would be nicer with eating chocolate; Whittaker's dark ghana, for example.

Okay, confession: I incorrectly read the recipe I was following- I thought I was supposed to melt chocolate and butter together, but it was actually just the chocolate to be melted, so I had to quickly reinvent the own recipe, altering the method and quantity... It turned out great in the end!

The cheesecake mixture: cream cheese, egg, caster sugar and vanilla.

Pour in brownie mix then cheesecake mix. Dollop remaining brownie mix over top

And marble with a toothpick

 

Half an hour later, you have cheesecake brownies!!

Cheesecake Brownies

Brownies:

200g block of dark chocolate

200g unsalted butter

1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs

1 cup plain flour

Cheesecake mixture:

250g cream cheese

¼ cup caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

1.       Over a low heat, melt butter and chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon.

2.       Remove from heat and cool. Meanwhile, make the cheesecake mixture: Beat all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

3.       In a separate bowl, beat caster sugar and eggs until combined.

4.       Fold in flour and pour in the melted chocolate mixture. Stir until smooth.

5.       In a lined tin, pour in brownie mixture, reserving about half a cup.

6.       Pour in cheesecake mixture over top.

7.       With the half cup of brownie mix, dollop over the top and make marble pattern using a toothpick.

8.       Bake at 180C for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

9.       Cool in tin then cut into squares.

Om nom noms <3

And to conclude,

LOOK AT MY NEW MIRROR!!
It flips around and it's so great to put on my desk when I need to do my makeup, I can just flip it when I'm studying so I don't distract myself!

Signed,
Elisa