Charlie turns 1

Hard to believe but on 8th November my baby Charlie turned 1! Which means Oscar is now 2 and a half. Which makes me ... well never mind!

Charlie has brought us so much happiness over the past 12 months. All those wonderful firsts - smiles, laughs, rolling over, sitting, standing and just in the last week, those amazing first steps. He's such a different little personality from his brother too, much more independant and a real daddy's boy.

Hubs and I are both only-children so we had no idea what to expect with 2 little ones. While we are certainly busier now and a for a while got a lot less sleep, having 2 kids is awesome. Can't wait to see what the next year brings for both my little men.


Here are a few photos of the birthday boy and his cakes (yep, cakes plural)!

A basic chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing and decorated with white chocolate buttons. I made this for his actual birthday.

First ever taste of cake. Yum! Just watch the sugar coma setting in ...

Finger licking good!

The kite cake from p11 of the Women's Weekly Kids' Birthday Cakes cookbook. A basic buttercake with buttercream icing tinted in red, leaf green, violet and lemon yellow. A little rough around the edges but with 2 birthday cakes a year from now on, there's plenty of chance to practice!

At his birthday party in the park.
'whaddya mean no more cake till next year?!'

I'm still here! ... and gluten free chocolate chip cookies

Wow, so it's been a whole 5 months since my last post. I have to say 2011 has completely gotten away from me and now it's nearly Christmas! After a few years of regular baking and blogging I guess I just needed a break. I know my waistline and bank account did too! But with TWD soon coming to an end it's definitely time I checked back into the bloggy world.

We've had a few health hiccups this year and a forray into food intolerances. The boys and I have all seen an allergist and had skin prick tests done. The boys were all clear (which is good and not so good since I am convinced that Oscar has a few food sensitivies that maybe will never show up on a test) and I am only allergic to dust, pollen and cats.

Regardless I am baking with a few more alternative ingredients and trying out some gluten-free and lactose-free products. I made these chocolate chip cookies a few weeks ago and they were absolutely to die for! Hubby had no idea they were gluten free until I told him and honestly they disappeared so fast I had to grab a photo of the lowly last one. Enjoy!


Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from a recipe on Nellbe's Gluten Free Kitchen Table

115g melted butter, cooled
1 egg
1 ts vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat over to 180 degrees C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Whisk together melted butter with egg and vanilla extract until combined. Combine gluten free flour, sugar and choc bits in a large mixing bowl. Add butter mixture and mix well. Press mixture, 1 tbsp at a time, into balls. Place on tray and allow room for spreading. Press each cookie down slightly and cook 12-15 mins until golden. Cool on trays for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

These were fabulous warm out of the oven. Once cooled they settled into crispy-around-the-edges-but-still-chewy-in-the-middle deliciousness.

Next post - Charlie turns 1!