Getting My Read On.

One of the goals I set myself this year was to read 24 books.  Since January, I've only managed to finish six.  Before the beginning of last week, I'd only read four.  As someone who would call herself a bookworm, I've been sadly lacking on the reading front and I realised I'd been restricting myself; I was holding out to read something new, that I'd never read before, rather than diving into the familiar world of stories I'd already consumed and the books we already owned.

I also realised that most of the books we had, including those I'd brought with me from England, I'd only read once.  So I got stuck in, rediscovering the terrors of the Martians and the brutality of both human and Triffid alike.  Escaping from the science fiction, I'm currently immersed in two stories that run parallel, of a man searching for a link to his ancestry and the history of his family.

It's such a joy to be back in both familiar and unfamiliar territory; there are so many aspects of each novel that I'd forgotten or perhaps glossed over on the first read.  While I recalled the stories, I relished the details as new and thoroughly enjoyed the hours I spent engrossed in the pages.  It was like I'd forgotten just how much I loved to read and in this last week, I've remembered.

I think for the foreseeable future, between house-hunting and the other day-to-day, I'm going to be found curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea, nose firmly buried in some wonderful work of fiction!  Do you love to read?  What have you read lately that you've really enjoyed?

You know what else I love about re-reading books?  Finding things you've tucked between the pages for safekeeping, like this picture of me and the lead singer of my favourite band!  This must've been taken six or seven years ago and you know, I still have the hat, scarf and jacket that I was wearing there.  It was such a great moment, I was thrilled to find the photo again.  Ahh, memories!

Love, K.

Moments.

S makes really great steak sandwiches.

One pooped puppy.

Mango, nectarine, banana, raspberries and strawberries for breakfast.

S found one with my name on!  Woo!

Homemade pizza which was even better the next day (find the recipe for the base here)

The prettiest sunset.

Happy Sunday friends!  I hope you're having a wonderful weekend full of moments that make you smile.

Love, K.

Recipe #5 - Caramel Shortbread.

My Mum makes killer caramel shortbread.  When I went home for a few weeks last year, I was sure to nab the recipe she uses so I could have a bash at making it myself one day.  It's so crumbly and sweet and one piece is always just enough to sate any craving.  And it only uses six ingredients, bonus!

To make the shortbread base, you will need 150 grams of butter, 100 grams of sugar and 275 grams of all purpose flour.  For the caramel filling, you'll need 100 grams of butter, 100 grams of sugar, 2 tablespoons of golden syrup (or light corn syrup if you can't find it) and 1 large can of condensed milk.  For the chocolate topping, you'll need about 100 grams of milk chocolate, preferably the kind designed for cooking but chocolate drops will do in a pinch!

First, the shortbread.  I made sure to leave my butter out for a little while before starting, so that it was easy to work with, and I preheated the oven to 350 degrees F.  I creamed the butter and sugar together and gradually worked in the flour, until I had a nice crumbly mix.

I dumped the mix out onto my non-stick baking pan (yes, I finally got a flat one!) and pressed it out to create the base, making sure I got right into the corners.

I then popped it into the oven for about 20 minutes, checking it at 15.  You want to make sure that it's a little golden around the edges but still pretty pale and it'll have a bit of give when you press it lightly.  The base needs to be left to cool completely before topping it with caramel.

To make the caramel, I put the butter, sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk into a saucepan and heated it gently until all the sugar had dissolved.

Pre-melting!

Once all the sugar had dissolved and that grainy feel had vanished, I increased the heat until the mixture was boiling.  Once it had started a strong boil, I stirred it constantly for about 5 minutes before removing from the heat and allowing it to settle.

Action shot!

I tried to make caramel once before and it was an absolute disaster, so I crossed my fingers and this time it came out pretty well!  I did learn, however, that humidity is the enemy of caramel and other similar sweets and while it was resting, I did get a little bit of separation from the butter.  Not to fear, if this does happen I recommend giving it a good stir and another gentle heat to try and incorporate the oils back in.  That worked for me!

Once your caramel has rested for a little while and stopped bubbling, you can pour it right onto that lovely shortbread base.

I left this to cool on the counter and then popped it into the fridge to ensure it set properly.  Once it was cold, I got my chocolate topping ready!

Once all your chocolate is melted, just pour it on top of the caramel and leave to cool before putting it back in the fridge and letting it set until the chocolate is solid.

In order to get this tasty treat out of the tin, all I did was turn it over onto a chopping board and give it a few hard thumps on the bottom.  If you're not using a non-stick pan, do make sure it's well-greased and/or well-lined to avoid sticking!

Look at all those slices!  I learned from my Mum that it's better to cut on the shortbread side, you're less likely to get a ton of cracks in your chocolate topping and it can be tricky to flip it back over, too!

Ahh, the perfectly delicious combination of shortbread, caramel and chocolate!  All in the right proportions, too!  This really is a decadent little treat, it melts in your mouth and will forever remind me of being at home in England.  To store it, I popped my slices between layers of kitchen roll in an old biscuit tin from Christmas and I've got it in the fridge, since it's so hot and sticky here at the moment.

I'm so proud that it came out just right, especially since my last caramel attempt was so terribly unsuccessful!  It tastes just like my Mum's (well, it's almost as good - it's never quite as good as your Mum's, is it!) and I've got a feeling it'll be a firm favourite in our house from now on!

Have you baked or cooked a family favourite for the first time?  How did it go?  I hope you're having a grand week so far and that the weather is being kind to you!

Love, K.

Atlantic City.

As you can see, we picked just the right time to take our trip!  It rained a ton while we were in AC but that's not to say we didn't also have a ton of fun!

This was the view from our hotel room window -

It really was so lovely, seeing all the little boats docked in the marina.  When it wasn't raining, we made the most of it by heading down to the boardwalk and soaking in the little bit of sunshine we had.

I know that seagulls are considered a bit of a pest on the beach, especially if you have food, but I couldn't resist getting a couple of pictures of these little guys pottering about in the sand.

Of course, no trip to AC would be complete without a little bit of gambling (thank goodness for free slot play) and on our second day, S hit a (little) jackpot and won some birthday money!

It really was a fun time had by all and even though everyone else was getting very merry on the complimentary drinks, I didn't feel left out - I spent my evenings drinking virgin pina coladas topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries.  Delicious!

It was a relaxing yet tiring couple of days, since we were up late and doing lots of walking (which isn't so good for me and my bad back!).  I know that S enjoyed himself and I'm glad he had such a good birthday, if only getting older was always as much fun as that!

We were glad to get back home to our puppy when the trip was over and Pearl was pretty chuffed that we came home too and that we hadn't abandoned her!  Now we're going to have an easy weekend with lots of warm weather and watching the World Cup come to a close - who do you think will win the big game on Sunday?

Love, K.

B-Day Vay-Cay.

A peek at S' birthday card.

It's S' birthday tomorrow and as a treat, we're going to Atlantic City for a couple of days with some friends of ours!  Huzzah!  It's a well-needed rest for S, who has been working like crazy so we can save up for Bean and to move and it'll be a really nice change of scenery for a few days too.  We've been looking forward to it for weeks!

Unfortunately, we have to leave Pearl here since we couldn't get a hotel room that allowed pets (big sad face).  This is the first time that we've been apart since we got her and while I know she's going to be taken care of really well, I'm still going to miss her tons even though we're only away for two nights.  That's two mornings without my wake-up cuddles!  What will I do!

It's the perfect time of year to visit AC too, since the boardwalk will be bustling and the fair on the pier will be up and running.  S swears he's going to win me a cuddly toy this year, but we'll see!  I'm looking forward to eating candy floss and funnel cake, taking a walk by the sea and spending some quality time with S.  It's going to be a good week!

What are you up to this week?  I hope it's something fun no matter what!

Love, K.