I Think I'm Going Bananas (at the price they are? No way!)

This beautiful black boy is the late Shadow (Oscar's predecessor). Isn't he gorgeous? He was a real gentleman of a cat, very proper he was...

I've had a couple of people ask for a photo of Cooper. Unfortunately, I don't have any up to date ones just yet but I will ask Ms Toni to email me some (because she is bound to have heaps already) and I will post them later.

A few weeks ago I was raving on about these yummy cupcakes Jane made and I now have the recipe. I will put it at the end of this post so you can all try these delicious, luscious cupcakes. Jane served them up with cream and icecream. Yummmmm.

Called in to see the Flossy One today. I tried to get hold of her yesterday and finally caught up with her in the middle of shopping. Gabbie Google was flying up to Rockhampton later that evening for the final netball carnival, so Ms Floss was out getting bits and pieces for her. She had also picked Brooke up from year seven camp in the morning - one coming and one going! Anyway, I dropped into Baker's Delight on the way and picked up some unhealthy food for lunch. So we ate, drank cups of tea and gossiped for a couple of hours, then Ms Flossy had to go out and I choofed off back home to prepare a casserole for dinner, otherwise it would have been toast and Vegemite for me.

I have done a really silly thing and it's a bit of a worry, too. I had to put petrol in my car, get the weekly Lotto ticket and buy a couple of things from the supermarket. I had about $60-70 in my wallet which covered all that and left me with about $10 in change, but I wanted to get a bottle of wine as I am going to a friend's place for lunch tomorrow. I picked out some wine and handed over what I thought was my cash card, only to realise it was my Medicare card - and when I looked, my cash card was not where it usually was. Panic! I hunted through my wallet, my purse, everywhere and came to the horrifying conclusion that I had left it in the ATM.

On Thursday I had been to the ATM, drawn out what I needed and was so busy checking to make sure I had the right amount, I walked away and left my card in the machine. Fortunately, it wasn't a "foreign" ATM so I will call in to the bank on Monday and see if they have got it, or if not, get a new one. However, it has left me a tad short of cash for the weekend. It has also started me wondering if this is the beginning of senile decay?! I just can't believe I did that, now I will be totally paranoid every time I use an ATM.

For those of you overseas who are wondering about the price of bananas alluded to in the title of this post - we had a cyclone in March which wiped out the banana plantations and now, instead of being $1 a kg they are anything up to $12 per kg. Talk about a luxury... no more banana cakes, banana muffins, banana sandwiches, etc. They are eaten and savoured as a scarce and expensive treat now...ironic since Queensland is the banana growing state and we are known as banana benders, amongst other things!

Here is Jane's recipe as promised.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Topping:

250 g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 egg
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tspn Bicarb. Soda
1 tspn salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup warm water
1/2 tspn vanilla essence
1 tspn white vinegar

Preheat oven to 180 C. Butter muffin tins or if preferred, line muffin tins with paper cases.

For the topping. Beat together cream cheese, egg and sugar in electric mixer until smooth and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Stir in chocolate chips and set aside.

For the cupcakes. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarb soda and salt into a bowl. In another bowl whisk together the warm water, vanilla essence, oil and vinegar. Make a well in the dry ingredients and poor in the wet mixture. Mix thoroughly for about 2 minutes.

Fill the muffin pans about 2/3 full with the cupcake mix first. Put a heaped dessert spoon of the cream cheese mixture on each one then bake for about 25-30 minutes or until they spring back when pressed lightly. Remove from oven and leave a couple of minutes before removing from muffin tin and cooling on a rack.

From Better Homes and Gardens, June 1996.

Hope you enjoy these.