Winning

Recently, some people have made comments about my competitive nature in ways that made it sound like it was something I was aware of. Actually, this came as quite a surprise because I'd never considered myself a competitive person.

However, my entire reason for deciding I was not competitive was based on the idea that I don't like sports. But once these comments started, I realised that I might have this concept the wrong way around. I enjoy many physical activities but have have found that most don't like me. I am in no way aerodynamic and in the words of Hannah Gadsby "independent flesh is the enemy of speed". Because I am apparently competitive, if I can't win it, I'm not interested.

Upon further reflection, yes, you might be right. In fact I've actually "won" things that aren't, never have been, and never will be, competitions. My particular favourite is yoga. I love yoga because I'm super flexible. I can therefore win because I can bend further than you, get closer to my toes than you, look more like a pretzel than you, and generally be more awesome than you. I come away with a happy, glowing feeling that I suspect has less to do with reaching a zen state than your usual yogi.

For my birthday, some friends & I went to the coast. Our plan was to drink wine, watch DVDs and do some sedate bushwalking. The most satisfying part of this for me was when we walked along the rocky side of a bay, the perfect opportunity for winning. Since I was a kid, the goal of the competition has always been to travel across the rocks as fast as you can, as close to the sea as you can without either drowning or breaking a bone while everyone else walks along the path. Needless to say, I won. I still maintain that it doesn't matter if the other contestants actually know they're competing or not.

A side effect of this lovely weekend was that I ended up with a bag of uneaten cashews & cranberries after it turned out that our hikes were so sedate we didn't really need "supplies" beyond m&ms and an apple. So here is a fabulous way to get rid of your unwanted trail mix... Winning :)

A note on these brownies, they are the only ones on here so far that don't have chocolate in them. I found that I wasn't too thrilled with them on the day they were made but after leaving them in a box overnight, they turned awesome.

Cashew & Cranberry Brownies

140g butter
1 cup sugar
80g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
70g flour (2/3 cup I think but that's a guess)
1/3 cup of dried cranberries
1/3 cup raw cashews

20 cm square cake pan lined with baking paper                                        Oven @ 160°c

Melt the butter, sugar and cocoa together and allow to cool.
Stir in the vanilla, then eggs one at a time, and then the flour. Mix until smooth but don't overdo it.
Spread cake mix in the baking pan and sprinkle with the cranberries and cashews, pressing them in lightly.
Bake for 30 minutes or until centre is slightly soft. Allow to cool in the pan.

Pretending it's not "that time of year"

It's not that I want to look like some kind of Dickensian character or anything, I've just been super busy and not ready to do all the Christmasy stuff I usually do. Plus, I do get kind of shat off by carol overload before December even starts. To get in the spirit I bought some bonbon bangers today so I'm getting there.

Anyway, when I do finally get into Christmas mode, the plan is to post a bunch of seasonally-appropriate recipes on here (I'm thinking mini puddings, shortbread, almond splinters and Italian almond biscuits this year... yum!). Until then, I thought this'd be a good segue into the season, both Christmasy and brownie! My flatmate also thinks they would be awesome with 1/2 cup of white chocolate bits but it's raining right now and I'm not wearing any shoes.

These brownies are more cakey than my usual recipes and originally come from Taste, though with a tiny bit of tweaking.

Chocolate Cranberry Brownies
175g butter, chopped
200g dark chocolate
4 eggs
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa


Oven @ 170c                                                     20cm square cake pan lined with baking paper

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir to combine and allow to cool slightly.

Mix in eggs, brown sugar and cranberries and then the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Stir until just combined. Spread into prepared cake pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out slightly sticky. 

Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool before turning out.