3rd Wedding Anniversary

Its that time of the (new) year again, where we celebrate our wedding anniversary. This is our 3rd wedding anniversary and while initially I had a romantic night out planned with Grumpy at a nice restaurant and even organised for Dopey to babysit Little Bambi on a Saturday night, things did not exactly go as planned. First up, the restaurant I wanted was completely booked out (its the long weekend with Australia Day), and second, Dopey just sold his car and what that means is that he will have to take the train to our place and... suddenly, everything just got a bit more complicated.

Anyways, on Tuesday, Grumpy had the day off and we decided for an impromptu drive to the Yarra Valley for lunch, along with Little Bambi. We picked our usual restaurant Innocent Bystander at Healesville. The last time we were here, was during our babymoon, and Little Bambi was still inside my belly!

Little Bambi chewing on a baguette

Grumpy feeding baby with a pint of beer, yikes!

It was such a relaxing day that even Little Bambi was happy and calm, keeping us company while we ate our lunch. Grumpy said it was really fun and a great way to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

7 Months

Little Bambi is now 7 months old. I am feeling very emotional at the moment, only because this marks the final month of my maternity leave. I go back to work when Little Bambi is 8 months old. I feel quite sad and I am sure many other mothers out there that have gone back to work would have gone through the same feeling as I am now. However, I am determined to make it work, as in, working full time and being a caring and loving mother to my little girl.

This photo always puts a smile on my face

At 7 months, she has attempted crawling. She can lift herself up and is very strong. She definitely is very mobile at the moment. I have resorted to buying a playpen for her, just to make sure she stays within reach.

She has also had her first taste of chicken. I am cooking for her based on Annabel Karmel's recipes and so far, Little Bambi is loving it!

Bakewell Tarts

Growing up as a kid, my dad used to live in Lumut, Perak (Malaysia) because that is where the Royal Malaysian Navy base is. One of his friends's wife is a lovely British lady and she used to make Bakewell tarts for us. I still remember she would make about two dozen of these tarts and pack them into the big Milo tins for us. It was so delicious!

Recently, I asked her for the recipe. She is probably 70 years old now, does not own a computer or have email, so she took a photocopy of the original recipe and she put it in the post for me. The recipe is so old that it is in ounces and pounds. When I got it in my letterbox, I was so excited!

I made it today, and it turned out exactly like how I remembered it, which is YUMMY! This is a simple recipe and that is what makes it so amazing. Simplicity at its best!

I am going to share it with you here. I halved the ingredients from the original recipe (I tend to half a lot of recipes only because it is impossible for Grumpy and I to eat so much), and of course, I converted it from ounces and pounds to grams.

Bakewell Tarts

(makes a dozen)

Filling

55g caster sugar

55g butter or margarine

55g plain flour

1 egg

1 level teaspoon baking powder

Jam (I use a good quality strawberry jam)

Pastry

200g plain flour

100g butter

1/4 cup water

pinch of salt

1. To make filling, beat sugar and butter till creamy. Add the egg. Fold in flour and baking powder. Set aside

2. To make pastry, sift the flour. Add the butter and salt. Rub together with the fingertips till flour and butter are mixed. Add water a little at a time, taking care not to allow the mixture to get too wet.

3. Grease cake tins. Roll out the pastry using cake cutters. Place in cake tins.

4. Put a teaspoon of jam in each tin, then add a teaspoon of filling mix.

5. Cook on lower shelf in oven at 180deg Celcius, for 20 minutes.

6. When pastry turns brownish, put up to a higher shelf for 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!