Today (and indeed, every day this week) I've been baking Candy Cane Swirls, a tasty meringue-based recipe which has impressed pretty much everyone who's tried it.

TFC, I hope you can find some non-alcohol-based peppermint essence

Candy Cane Swirls

Ingredients - for 40 swirls
2 Egg Whites
1/2 Cup Caster Sugar (TFC - Seriously, Caster, not Brown - just FYI)
1/4 tsp Peppermint Essence
Red food colouring
10 mini Candy Canes, Crushed

The Candy Canes I used with a measuring tape so you can guess about the amount.  Also, how fine I smash it up.

Method
Preheat oven to 100/120C (fan forced/not)
Line large trays with baking paper
Beat eggs to soft peaks, add caster sugar and beat (using electric beater) for another 8-10 minutes add the peppermint essence.  It'll look like this:

Meringue mix

Now prepare your piping bag:
fit with the 6-point flute
take a bamboo skewer dipped in the red food colouring - and draw it from one of the flute-points up the side of the piping bag.  repeat for each flutepoint.
fill the bag with meringue mix.
pipe 3cm swirls on to the trays

Fresh-piped swirls

Sprinkle with the candy canes

Sprinkled with candy canes

Bake for 40 minutes.  DO NOT remove from the oven until completely cooled. (They'll crack)  cool with the door ajar.

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Are they serious? People need a workshop manual for that?  notice that it says "16 years onwards, all models, shapes, sizes and colours."

SEX workshop manual

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...to upload photos of the tuna mornae.  But work has blocked the compose page for vox! rotten sods.

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And right now I just don't care

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Tomorrow we've got people coming for tea -  I'm thinking Tuna Mornae for dinner... I'll post photos.

briefly - white sauce with diced onion, add some milk, add grated cheese, melt, add a 425g tin of tuna (drained) stir in, add frozen peas, stir till good, thinning with milk, thicken with cheese, serve over rice (pref with Corn, Peas and Capsicum)

so very tasty

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Hi!

I'm not completely slack (well, maybe I am - but not intentionally!)

Life's been busy, there've been dogs, work and life in general to contend with, and I just haven't spent a lot of time on vox...

On the home front:
Big news - Don hit 40 last week!  None of our friends were in the area on the day, so we've got a couple coming over on friday night and a couple arriving on friday night and staying for the weekend.
There are flights booked to Tassie!  I fly out 2 Jan and get back on 17 Jan (starting work on 18 Jan... meh) and Don flies out 31 Jan, returning 12 Feb.  His sister has had a baby (child number 8), and would like Don to be there to be godfather - ironically, Don doesn't believe in God, and has never been a father.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing my friends and family there again.
The Dogs, Alva is still small, and Smokey is still gorgeous.  They've developed some not-so-lovely habits though - I've had some clothes and shoes ruined, and Don's had a pair of thongs destroyed.  The footwear is the larger dog - we've caught him in the act.  The clothing we believe is Alva - the holes aren't big enough in diameter for smokey to have chewed them.

Also, right now I have a (I presume) drunkard over the road shouting "fuck off" and "come here" and I'm not sure whether it's into his phone, or to someone he's with - he sounds very agitated.  I toyed with calling the police, but he was getting fainter, so there's not a lot of point.

Work:
I'm loving my job, I really am.  The other school technician has left for a District Office job, so his has become available... I'd take it too, except that they've sent him on secondment, which means that if he's sick of his job, or he ever completes his contract and they don't renew it... I'm out.  And while I'm sure Tannum would fix me up re secondment, I rather doubt that Gladstone SHS would put me on secondment, because then they have the same issues that Tannum is going to have filling the vacancy.

The people are great (in general) and I particularly enjoy my time with the Gladstone Technician.  The worst thing is trying to get a staff of 90 people to do something properly.  "Hmmm, if I flick this switch, I can turn off all the computers at once!" Yes, and you'll destroy all the hard drives in half the time hooray for warranty!

The enw house is going really well, it really suits us nicely!

See you soon!

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"We are born as we are, but we choose our own path.  Every man is born as many men, but dies as only one."

I just love stuff like this: we control our destiny to some degree, and the path we take is the one that we have chosen.

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I was going to blog tonight, I planned out some time to do it, but actually, all I want to do at the moment is go to bed.  So I'm thinking I shall.

Alva's booked for a serious trim on Friday, and Don turned 40 a few days ago

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I was unpacking my books today, when I came across a very special document.

A lot of my friends now didn't know me then (in fact, none of the Voxerhood did), some of them couldn't make it, but these are the vows that Don and I wrote for our wedding:

Like the roots of the great trees of the forest
I am intertwined with you
Like the river flows on a path set by its bed
I shape you, and you shape me
Like the light and the darkness
Our differences give birth to tremendous beauty
Like the notes of a song
When we are together, we are more than both of us apart
Like the muscle and bone of my body
You are my support
Like the light of the sun on a summer's day
I bask in the warmth of your presence
Like the beautiful paintings on the walls of the world
I have found beauty in you

Your heart speaks to my heart
Your soul speaks to mine
In love, I am yours

I have to say, I'm very proud of this piece of writing, as much for being able to say it now like I said it 3 years ago as for the intrinsic beauty of the words.

Anyway, love to you all!  

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