Tag: lifestyle

Categories
Recipes

Zesty Orange Shortbread

I love making shortbread and lately have been giving my newly created biscuits as gifts. Rather than make the traditional shortbread, I wanted to do something different.

Why not add freshly squeezed orange juice and zest to the shortbread?

I visisted Todarello’s Katoomba Village Fruit Market to stock up on Valencia oranges to make my zesty orange shortbread. Todarello’s have a great array of fresh produce to choose from and it is my one stop place to get quality ingredients.

Yummy Valencia oranges at Todarello’s Katoomba

I used the recipe from the McKenzies Rice Flour box, but with an added twist of orange juice and orange zest.

The Valencia oranges are so juicy and sweet

INGREDIENTS

  • 225g plain flour, sifted
  • 115g McKenzie’s Rice Flour
  • 115g caster sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 225g butter, at room temperature
  • Juice of 2 fresh Valencia oranges
  • Zest of 2 Valencia oranges
Very orangy shortbread dough ready to roll out and create duck shortbread

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 356 F.

Step 1: Combine flour, rice flour, sugar, salt, add melted butter, add the juice of 2 Valencia oranges as well as the zest of 2 oranges (TIP: grate the zest first and then juice the oranges). Mix ingredients into a dough.

Step 2: Roll the dough onto a floured surface, make sure you have flour ready for the rolling pin, as well to help with the cookie cutters. Carefully roll to desired thickness and using a cookie cutter, shape into whatever shape takes your fancy. I used many different shapes, stars, a duck, a dog, and also the number 7.

Step 3: Place onto a tray lined with baking paper, prick with a fork, or add any decoration that you wish before the cookies go into the oven. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool before moving from the tray (If you move too quickly after coming out of the oven the biscuit can fall to bits – it needs more time to cool and harden).

Dog shaped Zesty Orange Shortbread ready to go in the oven
The baking paper where the dog shaped zesty orange shortbread was
Super cute zesty orange shortbread about to go into the oven
The baking paper where all the ducks were

Don’t the little shortbread ducks look cute

The zesty orange shortbread dough with a number 7 cookie cutter

Zesty Orange Shortbread 7’s for a little person’s 7th Birthday!

Number 7 shortbread waiting to go into the oven

All cooked and ready to eat!

Number 7 Zesty Orange Shortbread cooked and ready to eat
Cute duck Zesty Orange Shortbread all cooked

The shortbread tasted delicious and the zest added a nice texture and added to the flavour too.

The star-shaped Zesty Orange Shortbread

POST FEAST REVIEW

Shortbread is yummy but zesty orange shortbread really is wonderful. The added tang of the Valencia oranges really gave it something special.

Zesty Orange Shortbread with some orange zest for decoration – I need one now with my cup of tea

WOULD I MAKE THIS AGAIN?

Adding fresh Valencia orange juice and zest to shortbread was a great idea, it was very tasty. I would definitely make this again. For the next batch, I want to make it even more orangy and also add dark chocolate to create a jaffa shortbread.

The star shaped Zesty Orange Shortbread looking very yummy. I want one right now!

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Categories
Family

Transform your space easily with Photowall

I always thought adding wallpaper to your walls was super hard.

That you had to have special skills or qualifications to add it to your walls.

I had no idea that it was so easy to add wallpaper to a room and in turn that it is really simple to easily transform your space.

Wallpaper nowadays comes in so many different patterns, images as well and of course traditional flower and geometric shapes too. You can even upload your own image to create a unique one of a kind wallpaper. Some of the wallpaper is better described as wall murals or artwork as it is more like images stuck to the wall, but as wallpaper.

Where do you get this amazing wallpaper from?

Photowall is where I purchased my wallpaper and they have so many amazing designs to choose from. I got lost in the possibilities and the wonder of what each would look like in my house. I am now tempted to put wallpaper in all my rooms now!

If you need inspiration, Photowall has plenty to give you. Just check out all the different collections, suggestions on what is popular and other ideas from the Photowall website.

Does Photowall just sell wallpaper?

Photowall also has prints and canvases as well. You can purchase the prints on their own or get them with a frame as well, or add your own image to a print or canvas.

If you are looking for a gift  Photowall has prints that you can get framed and also wallpaper to instantly transform your space super quick.

Smoothing out the joins with the seam roller – We found this tool really handy and it works so much better than your hands

Except for our own level, the picture shows all items that you get in the Wallpaper Kit

Make sure you get the Wallpaper Kit

Make sure that you add the wallpaper kit when you purchase your wallpaper. It really helped us. However, the one item that we used that was ours was our own level (which is shown in yellow in the above image). The wallpaper kit comes with a level but ours was better for the job.



The kit comes with the following items:

A brush for applying glue, a seam roller for making the seams invisible, a paper hanging brush for smoothing the strips, a knife and cutting guide for trimming excess wallpaper, plus a spirit level, a pencil and a tape measure. It is only $26 but well worth every cent, it is a must-have to make the whole process easier.

Pergament Map – This stunning vintage world map is now on my girl’s bedroom wall. It has really changed the space for the better.

What did I order?

The map makes the room look so much more grown up now
We had to make sure that we could easily see Australia on the map

Dandelion Field – Blue – Wallpaper

This wallpaper was for my office. I measured just one part of the wall to add interest in the room. Before it had the Dandelion Field Blue wallpaper it was just painted white. One end of my office has a blue wall, the other end has a blackboard and the rest is painted white. I thought due to the blue in the room and it being my favourite colour the Dandelion Field Blue wallpaper was a good choice. I did look at some very bright and colourful wallpaper but decided on a muted tone for my office. It has really changed the room and space and added more warmth and texture to a previously white and bright area. As a creative person it has also given me a different backdrop for photos and creating more content. 

Each roll is numbered so that you know what part to put on at what time… super easy and helpful
Adding more glue to the sides and making sure it is all sitting right.
Dandelion Field Blue wallpaper all completed and looking fantastic
Getting ready to frame the Reading Circle Poster –
The monster from Where the Wild Things Are reading to the characters in the book.
  • Reading Circle – Poster

    This poster made me laugh. It is the monster from the book, “Where the Wild Things Are” and the monster is reading “Where the Wild Things Are” to the kids in the story. I loved this book as a kid and it still has a special place in my heart and when I saw this poster, I had to had have it. I made sure to get the poster and a black frame to allow me to hang it right away in my office.

  • Antique Seed Packets II – Poster

    This poster is from an old company called the “Alexander Drug and Seed Co”, it is the cover of their Summer and Fall Catalogue 1899. I loved it due to the fact that I have a person called Alexander and that it is lovely vintage art. The company was from Augusta Georgia sold seeds by mail subscription.

  • Antique Seed Packets VII – Poster

    This poster is from a company called the “Alexander Drug and Seed Co”, it is the company’s summer offer for 1898. It was for their Early Trucker Cabbage, Buncombe Cabbage and Mammoth Purple Globe Turnip”. I love the artwork and again as we have an Alexander I thought it was interesting. The company sells seeds by mail order and they are from Augusta Georgia.

What did I think of Photowall?

I was super impressed by the shopping experience on their website, the customer service and the quality of their products. Not to mention the quick delivery of all my goodies to my front door. I didn’t even have to leave the house, it got magically delivered to me and that is amazing as I am hours away from the capital city. If they can deliver to me they can deliver to anyone! I would recommend giving Photowall a go, I am sure you will love their products as much as I do. After you wallpaper one of your rooms you will catch the decorating bug and be planning what to do in other areas of your house.

Make sure if you have ordered prints with frames, the prints are not in the frame but sitting on top of them. If you rip the packaging open you might damage your print so be extra careful.

NOTE: This post is a collaboration with Photowall, they allowed me to pick my products and try them out to share with my readers. I loved it so much that I think you will be amazed at how easy it is to redo any room in your house.

A BIG thank you to Photowall for sending me the products to test out and to showcase on my website and also for the discount for my readers for December.

Originally published November 30 2022

Categories
Recipes

Orangey Orange Syrup

I had such lovely Valencia oranges from Todarello’s Katoomba Village Fruit Market and thought why not try making orange syrup? How about making it even more orangey, so that each bite just screams summer oranges, even the smell instantly makes you know that it is orange.

Looking online for recipes for orange syrup, all the recipes tell you to use the juice and not pulp. Why not use the pulp? Why not use the super fresh orange puree to ensure your orange syrup is like eating a fresh orange?

Wouldn’t this be AMAZING to have a syrup that just screams tangy fresh tasty juicy oranges?

So how did I make this extremely yummy orange syrup?

This orange syrup can be used for cocktails, refreshing drinks (plain water and sparkling), syrup over ice cream, and also sauce to bind cakes together for a creative cake creation.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Valencia Oranges = 1 cup of orange puree
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 and a half cups of sugar
  • Orange skin (Use the skin of the 2 Valencia oranges so that it infuses the orange flavour).
All the oranges before they went into the blender

METHOD

This recipe takes around 20 minutes to make. Not long to then enjoy your orange syrup.

Step 1: Cut up the 2 Valencia oranges, remove the skin and just leave the flesh of the orange. Put all the orange flesh into a blender and make sure it is thoroughly pureed. Pour out into a measuring cup, you should have 1 cup.

Step 2: Put the orange puree, water, and sugar into a saucepan. Melt the sugar and wait till the mixture thickens up a little. Depending on the amount of sugar added depends on how thick the syrup gets, if you wish to have a thicker syrup you can add more sugar. (I put my syrup in the fridge and it thickened up a bit more after a few days.)

Step 3: Add the orange rind to the mixture so that the orange flavour gets stronger. I cut up all the orange skin and added it all.

Step 4: Once cooked to your desired consistency strain the mixture and once cool put it in a jar/jug and then in the fridge. The syrup will keep in the fridge for around a month.

I added orange juice and orange to ice cubes – It made my orange syrup gin drink taste amazing!

POST FEAST REVIEW

I had no idea that fruit syrup was really easy to make. The syrup had a nice caramel taste when it was added to vanilla ice cream. I added orange zest for taste and decoration, the zest added bursts of flavour.

Having the syrup in the fridge for a few days allowed it to thicken up a little more. It was a better consistency after about 3 days in the fridge.

There is an amazing amount of uses for orange syrup, drinks, cakes, ice cream, and desserts.

Now that I know how easy it is to make, I will make different types of syrup for desserts. How about raspberry, blueberry or mandarin syrup? I am now thinking about another ingredient could be syrup.

So refreshing with fresh orange syrup
You can add a little or a lot depending on your taste

WOULD I MAKE THIS AGAIN?

Yes, I would make this again, however, I would make some changes when making it next. I would add more orange and up the sugar a bit. Creating a thicker syrup that is more like an orange concentrate from fresh oranges. Adding the zest to the syrup would be a great addition as well, this way there is a different texture for taste and it will look amazing too.

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Originally published Monday, January 16, 2023