Sponsored by Nuffnang

I normally use a dslr when taking photos at a restaurant or when I go out to events but sometimes the camera is just a little too heavy and won’t fit into my handbag. It can be a bit awkward to hold when juggling a drink and a plate of food and so when Nuffnang offered to let me trial the new Panasonic Lumix TZ10 I jumped at the chance!

Weighing in at 218g the Panasonic Lumix TZ10 is definitely a lot lighter compared to my dslr (900g not incl lens) though it is a bit more bulkier than other point and shoots because of the GPS chip used for the location tagging function. While I like the idea of being able to use the geotagging in sorting out my photos unfortunately the software seems to be mac unfriendly.

The 3inch lcd screen is massive and bright even when viewing pics in direct sunlight. The HD video function is pretty sweet, the focusing and the sound is sharp with none of the hassle of manual focusing with a dslr. The 25mm wide-angle 12x optical zoom f/3.3-4.9 LEICA DC VARIO–ELMAR lens let’s me squish in more humans into photos without having to take a step back.


I had fun playing with the different functions like the ‘transform’ which magically makes things skinnier heh heh it’s a thin Mashimaro!


‘Pin hole’ takes me back to school days


The Panasonic Lumix TZ10 also incorporates a manual mode so aperture and shutter speeds can be adjusted. The macro mode is decent if there’s enough light mmm biscuits.


Haha loved the ‘photo frame’ designs.


‘Film grain’ to give ordinary pics a classic look

At a RRP $650, this 12.1 Megapixels camera is a fun addition to my camera collection and thanks to the people at Panasonic we are giving away a Panasonic Lumix TZ10! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and answer this question:

Where in the world would you take the Panasonic Lumix TZ10 and what photo would you take?

Sorry peeps but entry is only open to Australian residents over 14. You can only enter once so make your entry count! The winner will be judged on most creative and practical comment entered. Please leave a valid email address! Competition closes 11:59 pm AEDST on Friday 3 September 2010. For full terms and conditions here

Every time I bake a cake Noods will always ask “does it have apples?” At first I thought he meant he wasn’t going to eat it if there were apples in it so I stayed away from all things apple. Recently he started buying the store bought apple pies and I realised he WANTED an apple pie haha err my bad!


Looks pretty right? The apple filling is freaking awesome but unfortch I was a bit lazy doing the pastry and used store bought shortcrust which was a big no no and a mistake I promise I will never do again! With the apple filling I sortof followed this recipe but used brown sugar. And added maple syrup. And vanilla extract. And a bit of flour to thicken the mixture. Uh. So if you have a favourite pie shortcrust recipe use it and don’t be lazy like me!


Ingredients for apple filling:
8 large Granny Smith apples (I used Pink Lady cos Noods hates Granny Smith)
Juice of 1 lemon
45g unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp flour


Preheat oven to 180C. Peel, core and dice the apples


Place the apples, and the rest of the ingredients in a large saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until apples have softened. Set aside to cool.


Press pastry into tart case. Place apple filling in base. The flour should have thickened the juices so it should be ok to pour into the base if it’s still too runny omit the excess juices.


Yes my pastry strips are wonky. I had no idea how to do a lattice until after I shoved it in the oven and asked mr google but apparently you make a cross with 2 strips and then add another strip and weave over and under and repeat with other strips. Bake for 45mins


When the pie has cooled dust with icing sugar. Serve with a dollop of cream. Or ice cream. OR BOTH 😀

This is Noods. His real name is Andrew but well, the power of high school nicknames is quite mighty. And no it’s not because he runs around nekkid heh. It’s his b’day today and this is what happened when he asked for an omellete for breakfast:


For the record I was gonna do 2 sunnyside up eggs for eyes, garlic mushroom eyebrows and a bacon rasher smile but that idea got trashed the moment he said cheesey omellete haha oh wells happy birthday love! EDIT: lols dun worry dudes I made more bacon than that! Pfft you guys don’t know me too well if you think I only made 2 teensy tiny rashers of bacon! haha there was a whole side plate of bacon not to worry!

The first time I tried the famed Momofuku Milk Bar ‘Crack Pie’ was waaay back in March at Jacq’s 21st made by Ellie. It was everything I had heard- rich, sweet, gooey and would have cost US$44 per pie at the New York eatery. Now, I bake full time at The Biscuit Tree and most of the time the last thing I want to do when I get home is bake. I don’t like super long recipes that use millions of bowls cos I hate washing up. And I didn’t want to make the crust because I am lazy and used my own shortbread so if you want to follow the original recipe click here. The recipe makes 2 pies which is awesome because once you try it you’ll never look back cos it is freaking addictive hence the name ‘crack pie’. (Drugs are bad mmkay?)


Line up your ingredients:
297g sugar
198g light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
21g milk powder
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 egg yolks

For the crust:
600g biscuits (cos I wasn’t making the base from scratch)
2 Tbsp melted butter


So whiz the 600g biscuits in a blender until all crumbly and add the 2 Tbsp of melted butter. Give it a stir and the mixture should be just about able to re-form into dough. If not add more butter but be careful of adding too much or the tart shell will leak and be greasy. I used Traditional Scottish shortbread cos I like a buttery crust over a digestive cookie type of crust but hey whatever floats your boat


Divide the biscuit mixture into 2 pie/tart tins. I used one round tart pan and one rectangular tart pan. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Don’t leave any holes!


Pre-heat oven to 175C. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. I was annoyed that the smallest packed of milk powder I could buy at Woolies was one freaking kilo. I now have 980 grams of milk powder left oh gawd. And no I don’t like yoghurt. Or drinking milk straight.


Whisk in the melted butter. It’s alot easier nuking the butter in a measuring cup instead of measuring out the one cup of butter and then nuking. It may seem obvious but wow my brain doesn’t work when I bake at night! Also yes that is a crapload of butter. IT’S WHAT MAKES IT SO TASTY.


Then whisk in the cream and vanilla


Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air. Yes that’s alot of eggs. I have so much egg white now i have nfi what I’m gonna do with em (no way am I doing macarons)


Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells. I wanted some of the filling by itself so filled some ramekins too heh Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 165C and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown for about 10 minutes. Bake longer if you want a firmer filling.


Remove the pies and cool on a rack. Dust with a lil icing sugar and tadah! The pie is meant to be eaten chilled but honestly I preferred to eat it while it’s still warm. With a spoon. Standing at the sink.


Yeah my plating sucks balls but I really wanted some ice cream to go with my warm gooey tart oh baby enjoy the crack pie dudes! And remember drugs are bad!