Christmas Tree's and cooking...

So as promised, here is a photo of our 'alternative' Christmas Tree :) i love it, it's minimalist and looks exactly the way i imagined. I'll have to take a photo with the lights on and post that at some stage too.

The sticks or twigs are made from dried Chinese Willow trees, i brought them already painted cream, from a giftwares shop and then sprayed them with a little gold pain to add some sparkle. I also brought some gold twig lights to finish it off. The metal bucket comes from a hardware store,  and is filled with sand and then proceeded to push the sticks into the sand. The decorations are ones i've had for a few years, we had so many more leftover this year but that's ok.

Now, onto the cooking i mentioned in the title. I had a bit of time before i needed to start dinner so i thought i'd make some little cakes or muffins for the boys lunch boxes. It's so hard trying to think of different things to add! These are delicious, i had to sample a couple with a cup of tea, quality assurance and all.... I modified this recipe a little, i'll write it out as is and add my modifications/additions in brackets.

Vanilla & Raspberry Cakes
Makes 36

1 1/2 cups S/R flour (i used 1C wholemeal S/R, 1/2 cup white S/R), sifted
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup reduced fat vanilla yoghurt (i used 1C low fat organic plain yoghurt & added a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste)
80g light margarine, melted and cooled (i just used butter, it's all i had)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup frozen raspberries, lightly crushed
I also added - 1/3 cup pineapple pieces & 1/4 cup desicated coconut. 

Preheat oven to 190/170 fan forced. Grease 36 holes of three 12 hole, 1 1/2 tablespoon-capacity mini muffin pans (i used cupcake papers instead and it made 13).
Combine flour & sugar together in a bowl. Add yoghurt, margarine & egg to flour and mix until just combined. Fold through raspberries, pineapple & coconut. Spoon mixture into prepared pan holes.
Bake for 16-18mins or until golden and cakes spring back when lightly touched. (I cooked mine for about 20-25mins in the end as they were bigger but just keep an eye on them). Transfer to a wire rack to cool... if you can wait that long!

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM!

I've started my placement at the hospital too, 3 weeks, full time, early shifts and late shifts - oh it's going to shatter me! Till' next time...

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
Charles Dickens