Quick Coconut Bread Slice

Okay, this took me literally 2 minuites! How often is it that you find a recipe that takes 2 minuites to throw together? Zilch. None. Okay.. very rare. But seriously, there is 4 ingredients in this bread/cake.
And I can eat it. (Whoo!).

Enough with the celebration, and time for the eating.
I just typed in 'coconut bread' into Google, and up came recipes calling for 2 eggs. But I only had one egg. Yea.. Awkward.

So I scrolled down this time (I'm not ususally one for scrolling down the Google pages.. because let's be honest.. you only look at the Top 5 results shown) and came across this little beauty. I really shouldn't be praising this bread just yet, because it's actually still in the oven.

It takes 40 minuites to cook, which kind of makes up for that 2 minuites rush of prepping the thing.

Talking about 4 ingredients, theres actually a book/show of two Australian women who have devised the most amazing recipes out of just 4 ingredients. The website is amazing, and all the ingredients are in the pantry or in the fridge. Frickin' bonus!

I just took it out, and tried it, and it tasted really raw inside, so I just threw it back into the oven to cook a bit more inside...aaand that didn't really cook inside. So I just gobbled it up before anyone could notice.

Coconut Bread Slice
- 1 cup of dessicated coconu
- 1 cup SR flour
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 3/4 cup milk

Method
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celcius
Combine all the dry ingredients together, and mix. When all combined, add in the milk and stir. The mixture should be a very thick coconutty mixture. Throw the mixture into a greased loaf pan and cook for 40 mins until a knife comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Molasses Bread

Did you know that Honey is the only food in the world that will never spoil? Yep. Honey was found in tombs in ancient Egypt and was consumed by archeologists. Bizarre.

Did you know that the oldest peice of chewing gum is 9000 years old? Gross, but cool.

Did you know there are more then 10,000 different varieties of tomatoes? Wow. I only thought there was two, the simple red tomato, and the occasional green tomato that I had a glance at as someone was buying it at the grocery market.

Did you know that combining whole wheat flour combined with molasses and yoghurt produces the thickest batter ever? And it pulls muscles in your arm while trying to combine the little shit together? True fact.

Did you know that the Brisbane Floods are so bad that they reached up to 4.7 metres this morning? Horrific.

Thick, eh? Yeah, this is the reason I can barely type any more.. the pulled muscle.

P.s In France people eat approximatley 500,000,000 snails per year. PER YEAR. I think I'm going to hurl.

Whole Wheat Molasses Bread

Adapted from Joy the Baker
makes one 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf

- 1 2/3 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup molasses


Method
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf pan. Non-stick baking spray works well too.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt and baking
soda.
In a small bowl whisk together buttermilk or yogurt and molasses.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold to combine. The batter will be slightly thick, but not dry. Spoon batter into prepared pan and place in the oven. Bake loaf for 45 minutes to an hour. Depending on how evenly your oven bakes, you might want to rotate the loaf in the middle of baking. Be careful though. Don’t manhandle it too hard or it might deflate.

When a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes in the loaf pan. Run a butter knife along the sides of the pan and carefully invert onto a wire rack.

Loaf will keep, well wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Serve with cream cheese, jam, salted butter or nutella.

P.ps.  Lemons contain more sugar then strawberries.

Butter Roasted Vanilla Sugared Almonds

I haven't slept properly in like 3 nights in a row. It's getting to me. Badly.

A tiny thing will totally set me off. Like Friends, it was scheduled to run at 10.30am. I sat there for two whole minutes waiting for Joey's face to appear.

No such luck. Okay two minuites does not sound like a long time, but trust me, when you are so cranky and irratible it's like... urgghh I don't even know how to explain.

 Friends was not scheduled to run today. The TV guide was wrong.

Don't you hate that? I am in such a fit right now. Honestly, if you could see me right now, you would see how much harm I'm doing to this poor innocent laptop by punching the keyes as I type.

Oh well, tough tits. i'm tired, bored, irratible and way way way to overtired to even bother to have a nap.

But on the other hand, by nibbling on these morsels every few minuites kinda gives you a sugar rush and little bit more energy then sleeping in for a couple of more hours. And remember, your energy is way different from my energy. Chronic Fatigue.. duh!

If you magically happen to be in the same boat as me right about now. Don't fight the angryness inside you, make these now and do a favour to those around you prone to your lash outs of rage of not getting a goodnights sleep.

                                                   

Oh and... the monthly visit of Aunt Flo does not help either. Sugar, vanilla and almonds with a hint of butter.. goodbye back, stomach and neck pain. Hello surge of energy.

Butter Roasted Vanilla Almonds

- 1 cup of raw almonds

- 3 Tb Icing Sugar

- 2 Tb Butter

- 1 tsp vanilla essence, or 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste.

Method

Place the almonda in a large saucepan and cook ovver moderate heat. Stir constantly until the nuts become browner and it is clear that they have been roasted. Also.. bite into some to check it out. Throw in the icing sugar and keep stirring until sugar is melted. Add the vanilla and butter and keep stirring. The end result should be roasted almonds with a caramel-ly sugary finish and a vanilla hit. The butter is not entirely necessary, it just gives the nuts a little shine and glossyness.

Blueberry Granita

The original recipe calls for blackberry, hence the name blackberry granita on Joy the Baker's blog.

But you know me, being rebellious like that, changing the berry type.

"Apparantly" the granita tastes like a slushy with a hint of berry, according to my sister. Well.. seeing as the whole flavour was blueberry I wouldn't be to surprised if there was a berry flavour. :/

I'm totally hooked on the series "True Blood".. so good! I usually hate all that vampire stuff, like twilight. I seriously do not get the craze that all the fans have. But True Blood on the other hand, now that is a totally different story. It's kinda like Desperate Housewives mixed with vampires.

 Totes. Hooked.

I am in love with that colour! Tha deep purply pinky puree tastes even nice then it looks. Seriously. Your in for a real treat. The crunchy ice berry crystals are SO designed for summer. Instead of ice-cream at shops, wh ydon't they sell more granita? I want a granita shop to open in every city around the world.

More icey crystals and less creamy stuff.

I love ice-cream, but c'mon, even the sight of this is enough to make you drool on a hot summers day.

Pretty much a few ingredients, a splash of lemon and a dash of sugar creates a cool fruity summery pleaser. And the bonus is, you probably have all the ingredients already in the kitchen!
 
Except that vodka that you finished on New Years Eve, you should probably buy some more of that...
 
 
Blueberry Granita
                     Adapted from Joy the Baker
 
3 cups water
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 heaping cups frozen blueberries (un-thawed)
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vodka (optional)
whipped cream (sweetened as much as you like)

Method
In a medium saucepan heat water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Add frozen blueberries and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat. Stir to break blackberries up a bit as they cook.
Once blueberries are broken and cooked, place half of the blackberry and liquid mixture in a blender. Pulse and blend until a berries are broken down into a puree. Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot containing the other half of liquid and berries, and strain the puree into the pan. The end result is berry pieces, whole berries, blueberry liquid and the juice from the puree.
Add lime and vodka (if using). The vodka helps the mixture not freeze so solid, but is not entirely necessary.
Place mixture into a 9×13-inch pan and place in freezer. Set timer for 1 hour. After 1 hour, scrape any ice crystals that have formed towards the center of the pan. Set timer for another hour and again scrape the ice crystals towards the center of the pan.
Continue until all of the liquid has formed ice crystals.

**You can use any type of berry you want! Don't even stop there, go even further, experiment with seasonal fruits and tantalise the taste buds.