Finally - I’m a trend setter! I believe I was first to declare my love for Elie Saab back in January - you’re too late, he’s mine, back off.

Hello Giggles - Mr. Saab, will you take me to Prom?

According to Laura - I Heart Elie Saab - lawyered.

My Mum will probably kill me …. I have no idea, but this is too yummy not to share!

Mum is an exceptional cook. I didn’t fully appreciate this growing up, because she made many rice dishes, which I refused to eat. But, this woman can throw rotting ingredients together and make a gourmet meal! Nick always says we should find a way to get Mum to come & live with us so she can cook for us everyday. (I guess my skills are still lacking compared to you, Rocci.)

One day my Mum baked a basic chocolate cake. For some reason it didn’t meet her high expectations, so she decided to experiment with some ingredients I had on hand & morph it in to what is now called the “Roccolate Trifle”. You’re welcome, world.

Today, I made this for my Mother-in-law’s birthday (thus the 62), which seemed to go over a hit. Definitely worth a try!

ROCCOLATE TRIFLE

Ingredients:
1 Devil’s Food Cake mix (& accompanying ingredients - usually eggs, oil & water)
1 (3-4 oz) Instant Chocolate pudding (& accompanying ingredients - usually 2 c. cold milk)
2 (or more) good squirts (around the mixing bowl) of Chocolate syrup for each cake layer (since I put one giant cake layer, I squirted syrup through as I added the broken up cake in to the trifle dish)
1-2 c. Heavy Whipping cream (depending on your method of presentation - I’d say about 1.5 c. for just a top layer, and 2 c. for 2 cream layers)
Dash of Vanilla
1/2 c. Powered Sugar
1 Flake (chocolate bar) or grated milk chocolate

Directions:
Prepare Devil’s Food Cake as directed on the package, cook, and cool in the fridge completely.
Once cooled, break in to chunks in a large bowl, squirt a good amount of chocolate syrup around the bowl.
Prepare chocolate pudding & pour over the cake. Set in the fridge for about 30 minutes (or more if it needs it)
Beat cream, powdered sugar & vanilla until stiff peaks form.

For assembly:
If you’re more low maintenance, you can prepare the cake/pudding part straight in the dish it will be served in & just dollop the fresh cream on top of the chocolate cake/pudding, and sprinkle grated chocolate on top. (Which is how I roll!)

Or, if you’d like to have more of a “trifle” layered presentation, get out your trifle dish, spoon a layer of prepared cake/pudding on the bottom, then a layer of cream & set in the fridge for 20 minutes (so it doesn’t collapse the cream layer). Then add the next layer of cake/pudding & cream on top, and then finish with grated chocolate.  

Holy deliciousness, Batman!! I am no longer a Monkey Bread virgin. It feels good.

For many years, my Mother in Law has made Monkey Bread for special occasion breakfasts … for some ungodly reason, I was always suspiciously absent when it was being eaten … coincidence? I think not!

So, I got the recipe from her so I could finally try it. Yes, I am stealing a recipe to share with you all - but since a thousand recipes pop up in a google search of this dessert, I doubt I’m offering you anything different, but possibly just reminding you to go and make some of your own.

MONKEY BREAD

Ingredients:
18-20 Rhodes rolls (or any bake & serve rolls)
1 3.5 oz packet of butterscotch “cook & serve” pudding (not instant)
6 Tbs butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Spray bundt pan with cooking spray. 
“Zig-zag” 1 layer of rolls along the bottom.
Sprinkle half the butterscotch pudding over the rolls, and add another layer of rolls.
Sprinkle remaining pudding over the top layer of rolls.
Melt butter (in the microwave is easiest) and add cinnamon & brown sugar. Mix until combined.
Pour syrup over the rolls.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap & set aside on the counter for 8 hours (or over night) to let the rolls rise.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375f. 
Bake the rolls for 10 minutes, remove from oven & cover with foil, and cook for another 15-20 minutes (25-30 minutes total)
Remove from oven once cooked, and turn out on to a large serving plate (be aware of dribbly, syrupy goodness oozing out)

Best served straight from the oven, and possibly better with some Cinnamon cream.

Cinnamon Cream:
1 8 oz. carton of heavy whipping cream
1 TBS vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 TBS cinnamon

In a medium bowl, beat cream on high until soft peaks form.
Add in the other ingredients & continue to whip until stiff peaks form. 
Serve on the side of the Monkey bread! 

I have a friend - we’ll call her Mindy … because that’s her name.

Now, Mindy is a kindred spirit when it comes to a love of home design. However, she’s completely different to me, taste wise. Mindy is of the contemporary/minimalist style variety. We spend many hours discussing home ideas and what we would do if we could design our dream house. Mindy’s side of this conversation often involves words like, “black”, “white” and “grey”. (Admittedly, she does like colour … she’s just a little scared of it!)

During a fit of “home pinning” on pinterest, I ran across numerous pictures of these “contemporary/minimalist” styled homes. I decided “I’m going to design Mindy’s fake house.” And, I’d like to think it would look something like this: (Though, I could be totally wrong …. ? Or taking her style to an extreme - but, I don’t care, because this was fun.)

It’s true - a facebook game that’s finally more than “picking corn” … seriously. Remember the childhood board game classic? This is better - it has Zombies. It’s intelligently designed & has some awesome graphics.  

Every time I take my turn, I can’t help but scream out “ATTACK!!!!!” and pump my fist in the air!! 

Go & check out Risk on facebook - it’s a really fun & extremely addicting game. Go on - go now!

www.facebook.com/riskfactions

I know I talk a lot about “when I was a kid”, or “growing up”. I realised it’s because when you’re a kid, everything is possible. You can be whatever you want to be … or so they tell you. The trouble is, most of us will never actually be what we really want to be. It’s sad, but true.

If we thought we could be a doctor, a ballerina, a cop or an Olympic athlete, someone was there to say “go for it”. Well, unfortunately, talent and a natural ability at these things also plays a crucial role that “grown ups” don’t warn you about. Sometimes, just “wanting it so bad” doesn’t mean it’s going to happen - look at Hillary Clinton.

And, for that matter, just because someone is better at something than you, doesn’t mean they want it more. There are people out there with some pretty big, unattainable dreams. I’m one of them.

I was a dancer in to my late teens. It was my “thing”. I took many styles of dance classes & I like to think I was pretty damn good too. I even won a few awards.

I sang every week at church, and often at special events with my sisters. I was raised in a house that was constantly filled with the likes of “Annie” or “Calamity Jane” songs. (And let’s not forget all those classic Disney movies!) My sisters and I would belt out “Tomorrow” like there wasn’t one..

As a girl, I wanted nothing more than to be in musical theatre …. like no one’s had that dream before!! But, it’s true. I thought it was a goal that hard work & dedication would award me. I loved the theatre. As a child that was regularly taunted or bullied, playing a role & letting out your angst through song & dance was a pretty awesome idea.

I knew I could dance, and I could have danced even better with a little more polished training - that wasn’t a problem. I could also carry a semi-decent tune, if I could ever find a way to project … I could figure out a way to fulfill my dream.

I watched so many musicals & pretended to play those coveted roles. I tell you these things because I had this dream before the likes of Glee came along. We didn’t have “Glee Club” in Australia - no such thing. I would have checked it out though. Well, as years went on, I stopped dancing. I never trained my voice, and I never had the guts or drive to pursue a career in musical theatre knowing I’d be laughed out of any audition. That doesn’t stop someone from dreaming, though.

Now Smash has arrived. It has perpetuated my yearn for this career even more - and crushed my dream even harder. It proves I was never going to be good enough, no matter the training - not when there are Katharine McPhee’s out there. Or Lea Michele’s for that matter! I’m not sure people would think this about me - I come across harsh most the of time - but when I listen to good music or watch a great movie, I get all weird and emotional. Sometimes, even a little misty-eyed (don’t repeat that). And not like, “Oh, so sad, he died, boo-hoo” normal girl emotional … but, real emotional, like, “I understand! I’m right there with you!! I just want to sing, too! Why won’t they let us dance?!”

I remember watching Funny Girl for the first time & getting chills when Barbra sang. I don’t care what Rachel Berry says - she doesn’t own “loving Barbra”. I love her too. I’ve horrified my sons on a number of occasions as I burst in to theatrical song … like I’m actually good! All they do is drop & play dead when they see it coming. (I don’t blame them)

You see, I’ve finally made peace with the fact that I’m no Barbra, or Doris Day (let’s be honest, she’s the forgotten star), but my shower thinks I’m pretty damn good. And for someone with no discernible talent & her heart on her sleeve, that’s pretty much the only place I’m ever going to be allowed to finish “Papa, can you hear me?” without being booed. And, that’s good enough for me.

It’s won’t stop me from pretending I’m on a stage, though. 

P.S. I heart Smash.