112 points goes to our friends and neighbours...

What is with the BBC Eurovision guy???
Every year England are rubbish and every year he has a big whinge about how nobody is voting for them because all the Scandinavians vote for each other etc etc blah blah blah!
I always wish I could mute him, but keep the "Good evening to you Helsinki, this is Nicosia calling!"
He's neither funny nor clever, he just sounds like a big sookie-la-la sore loser!!
Seriously, I think we should petition SBS to find some other coverage to broadcast.
(it isn't just me is it???)

Any-hoo, as I guess you might have gathered from the above, I did manage to catch some Eurovision action tonight (between Grey's, and with Rove taping), and a little last night to (oooh, Denmark, the shame! why?)
While I do enjoy the spectacle of the performances, the reading of my votes is my favourite part =)

As well as the Eurovision, I managed to get a couple of other things crossed off my list too.....

My freezer is now empty of anything unidentifiable or prehistoric (we just moved over everything that was in it at his mum's place) and has been filled with a couple of serves of potato and leek soup, a dozen little sausage rolls, and several dozen mini-quiche.

The quiche came from a recipe in the Essential Fingerfood Cookbook, and turned out perfectly!
I know I've said it already, but I just think these books are great!
This one moves through a number of different sorts of fingerfood - canapes and anti-pasto through asian to mediterranean and 'tex-mex'.
The recipes are all (well, as far as I can see) easy to follow, and there are great pics too.
What I especially liked, too, was that many of the recipes have info about what you can do ahead of time or freeze - which is handy if you are planning for a party or if, like us, you would like to have a try at making (and tasting!) home made curry puffs but couldn't get through 73 of them (or however many the recipe would make).

Speaking of new cookbooks and making stuff from them, I baked a batch of 'Marrakech Moments' cupcakes from Cupcakes Galore.
This book was a little different from most of the other cupcake books I have (and yes, there are a few of them) in that the focus was all on the recipes, and less so on the decoration and photography of the finished products. I have found that often the recipes are a fairly standard set from one book to the next, with the intrigue being in the decorations.
Cupcakes Galore takes the flavours to a whole new level, including cupcakes based on cocktails (Mint Julep, Pina Colada, Margarita, Cuba Libre (ooh yes - rum and coke in a cake)), desserts (Peach Melba, Crepe Suzette, Creme Brulee) and teas (Earl Grey, green) to name a few.

I'm sure you're wondering what exotic experience the Marrakesh Moment lends the palate - good old choc-orange =)
(so even if the flavours aren't out of the ordinary, their names are! ;))
Again, I was really pleased with how the recipe came out - you divide half of a chocolate batter between your papers, then put a spoon full of cream cheese favoured with orange juice in each and then cover with the rest of the batter.

I will say, though, that whilst this recipe was a quick easy mix it all together recipe, lots of the recipes in this book are pretty fussy - with beating of eggwhites, folding through etc.

There's a couple of the finished products, hanging out with my newly cast-on second squirrelly mitten (yay) on my newly tidied up trestle table!
Hurrah =)

And, of course, at the same time as I baked I could Scrub too =)

There was also the opportunity to get a few rounds done on each of the footy granny-along square blankets whilst watching a couple of pretty close games =)

Oooh, and there was washing too - those are fresh clean Spongebobs and Patricks pillow fighting their way across our bed =)

Aah a weekend well done, I think.
So, now I just have to wait til the next =p

besos =)