Macaroning with The Vamps!

         I love baking, and when i'm in the mood to try something new without the hassle of breaking eggs and sieving flour, I enjoy whipping up cookies and cakes of the 'from a box' variety! Today was one of those days and I decided to venture into the uncharted territory of Macarons! Armed with my trusty spatula and The Vamps playlist*, I decided to make the Adriano Zumbo Salted Caramel Macarons (they ended up being just caramel macarons because I didn't have any sea salt!!).

       Despite being a 'from a box', they was surprisingly difficult to make and I managed to screw them up- they ended up looking like mini dog poos :( ! However, they were EXTREMELY tasty (the fact that they are almost gone in two hours is proof!) and I just discovered that Zumbo has a bunch a videos that guide you during the process(for example, what should the consistency of the batter be like)**.

    At the end of the day,  they were fun to make but I think I prefer the store bought variety over these  any day!!

The finished product!

* My favourite The Vamps song here

** The Adriano Zumbo recipe videos here

Jurrasic Park

                      My dad and I went for a drive today and ended up stopping at Grants Picnic Grounds for coffee. Located near Kallista ( a small tourist village in the Dandenong Ranges), the Grants Picnic Grounds has a small cafe, a bunch of picnic benches, a bird feeding area and a number of nature walks to choose from. Although its only a half an hour drive from where I live, I felt as though I was transported back in time. The first thing I thought as we got out of the car was 'Damn, this place looks like Jurrassic Park!'. This is what I love most about living in Melbourne, you only have to travel half an hour in any direction to see a different type of ecosystem(?!?!).

                     I love random journeys like this one, because you never know where you'll go or what you'll see....

 

Till next time.......