ELLI LUCA

A sneak peek at a pug magnet design that will be available soon. (Sorry for mobile phone picture)

INGREDIENTS Base: 2 Packets of creme filled sandwich cookies (recommended: Oreo or Newman-O's) 2 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped I used a 70% dark chocolate 3 tablespoons good quality butter a used a NZ salted one. (original recipe said use unsalted I prefer the salt) Filling: 3 cups mini marshmallows 1/2 cup whole milk 2 teaspoons of peppermint essence 1 1/2 cups heavy cream Few spots or drops green food coloring, optional 1 loose-bottomed 10-inch fluted tart pan, 2 inches deep METHOD Set aside 1 cookie for later use. Process the remaining cookies and chocolate in a food processor until they form a crumb mixture. Add the butter and process until the mixture starts to clump together. Press the mixture into a high-sided fluted tart pan, making a smooth base and sides with your hands or the back of a spoon. Put it into the refrigerator to chill and harden. Melt the marshmallows in a saucepan over low gentle he

    Here is a gift idea to make for a family who have just had a baby. My best friend had a baby last week (her second) She really didn't need to be inundated with unnecessary gifts. I wanted to do something thoughtful for her & her family. So I made up a box with some food.   I included: Some apples from the local farmers market (not pictured) A pasta bake Home made baked beans in a tomato and oregano sauce. Some flour less orange cake (the one I made Friday) A couple of tins of tuna Home made tomato Sauce My own spice blend of taco seasoning Some great Australian made muesli Home made white peach and vanilla bean jam Home made tomato sauce A bag of rice The last thing new parents feel like doing is cooking, but are in need of eating healthy food made with love. Didn't take long, as I just made double batches of what I was making for us for the weekend. She sent me a text last night and was very grateful. I was glad I could help

INGREDIENTS 2 oranges 250 g brown sugar, plus extra for dusting 6 eggs 250 g almond meal 1 tsp baking powder icing sugar for dusting / I used unrefined white sugar Butter (for greasing the pan) METHOD Wash the oranges and cook in boiling water for 2 hours. Drain and allow the oranges to cool before pureeing. This can be done ahead of time. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Butter a 20 cm springform cake tin and dust it with a little sugar. Place the eggs and 250 g of sugar in a mixing bowl and beat well.  Stir in the orange puree followed by the almond meal and baking powder. Pour into the tin and dust the top with more sugar.  Bake for 1–1½ hours, until the top is golden brown.  Dust with sugar to serve.

INGREDIENTS SOUP 100 gm butter, coarsely chopped 2 kg onions, thinly sliced 1 litre (4 cups)beef stock 4 thyme sprigs Fresh Rosemary to taste Tablespoon of Worcester sauce Tablespoon of red or white wine 1 large clove of garlic 3 parsley stalks 1 fresh bay leaf Makes 6 cups. CHEESY BREAD 8 1cm-thick slices of baguette cut on diagonal, lightly toasted 250 gm coarsely grated Gruyère / I used tasty cheese  METHOD Melt butter in a large, wide heavy-based saucepan over medium heat, add onions and garlic, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until onions are soft.  Remove lid and cook for 1 hour or until soft and starting to caramelise. Add stock, ½ a cup at a time, and simmer for 5 minutes or until stock has almost evaporated. Repeat three times more until 2 cups of stock has been added. add all other soup ingredients, add to onions with remaining stock and season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black p

Milo Cake with Dulce De Leche filling and Milo Butter cream Icing Cake: 125g butter, room temperature 50g (about 1/4 cup) caster sugar 195g (about 1 1/4 cups) plain flour 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 150g (about 1 1/4 cups) Milo powder 3 eggs 120ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and line a 20cm round spring form tin. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Sift flour, baking powder and Milo together and then gradually add to the rest of the mixture with the mixer on low speed. With the mixer still on low, add buttermilk until just combined. Pour into cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Remove and cool in tin for 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely When cake is cooled completely slice in half and spread Dulce De Leche Filling on one side (to taste) and reassemble. Then frost with the butter c

My online shop will be undergoing maintenance for a few days, I am sorry about the inconvenience. Hope to be back up and running and have some new stock in later this week.  Thanks for your patience.  Elle 

Timber with magnet on back. Approximately 1 1/4" tall x 1 1/2" wide. Cut from 1/8" Baltic Birch plywood 40% of each sale goes to Saffron on the Hill Inc to help Rescue Pugs. PLEASE  NOTE: Overseas customers Postage overseas will be : $3.00 for 1 -3 I will refund difference if you pay now. Alternatley e-mail me and I will send you a paypal invoice. email me

Our piece by Pink Pug Designs & Elle's Kitchen Made to raise money for Saffron on the Hill Inc & PUG RESCUE & ADOPTION VICTORIA INC. Auction happens here: www.facebook.com/collaborate4acause Starts 26th July 2012 8pm Australian Eastern Standard Time Ends 28th July 2012 8pm Australian Eastern Standard Time C4AC2013 ITEM 102 Collaboration between Elle's Kitchen & Pink Pug Designs with all money raised being donated to Saffron on the Hill Inc & PUG RESCUE & ADOPTION VICTORIA INC. You are bidding on 1 x Jumbo Fawn Pug Softie (Measures 62xcm long x 50cm wide arm span) 1 x Pug Baby Mobile (Ring approx 32cm wide. Each pug measures approx. 20cm including legs) 1 x Black Pocket Pug Squeeker (Measures 27cm long including legs) 6 x Handmade pug Soaps: Soap is free from Parabens and any other Synthetic Preservatives. . Suitable for all skin types and excellent for very sensitive skin & those with skin conditions such as eczema, psori

Hi everybody, Been busy painting today, the wooden pug magnets I make will be back in stock on Thursday. http://www.elliluca.com/ Timber with magnet on back. $6 each and 40% of all sales go to Saffron on the Hill Inc to help rescue pugs NEW COLOURS ADDED: Pink & Tiffany Blue Approximately 1 1/4" tall x 1 1/2" wide, cut from 1/8" Baltic Birch plywood PLEASE NOTE: Overseas customers Postage overseas will be : $3.00 for for 1 -3 Message the pay your PayPal info and I will send you an invoice. (don't use the checkout as postage quotes too high)

Here is my Collaborate for a Cause entry I have been working on with Erica from Pink Pug Designs . We are raising money for PUG RESCUE & ADOPTION VICTORIA INC. and Saffron on the Hill Inc l Inc. Bidding begins 26th July 8pm to 28th July 8pm.

Have you seen our range of gift packs? Only $5.95 + P&H  ORANGE: FULL SIZE TUBE + ZIP UP POUCH Add a splash of summer with our soft touch Citrus Slice coin purse! Fabric purse with a zip top fastening Measures: 24 x 9cm at the widest points   WATERMELON: FULL SIZE TUBE + ZIP UP POUCH Add a splash of summer with our soft touch Watermelon Slice coin purse! Fabric purse with a zip top fastening Measures: 24 x 9cm at the widest points Also available, Cola Pots & Domo Purse  

INGREDIENTS • 125 grams butter • 3/4 cup brown sugar • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence • 1 egg • 1 ¾ cup self raising flour • 3/4 cup Milo + extra for topping if desired Chocolate chips if so desired (to taste) , I used 1/2 a large chocolate button on each cookie. METHOD Preheat oven at 180 degrees C. Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla essence in large bowl until light and creamy. Beat in egg. Combine dry ingredients. Fold dry ingredients into egg mixture. Take teaspoons of mixture and roll into balls. (dip into extra milo if using and place in chocolate drops/ chips)  They spread quite a lot so be sure to leave a quite a bit of room between dough.Place on greased oven tray and flatten. Bake in oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

I have a friend who I affectionately call "Milo Queen", I am visiting her tomorrow so I decided to make her some Milo cookies. Will post the recipe tonight. Here's a sneak preview.

Wanted to use some soup mix from the supermarket: This mix contains green split peas, yellow split peas, barley, lentils. INGREDIENTS 1 tin of chopped tomatoes 1 cup of soup mix (soaked overnight, rinsed and drained) 1 garlic clove 1 onion 1 teaspoon butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 teaspoon cumin powder 1 teaspoon coriander powder 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika 2 cups of vegetable stock 2 cups of water OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS: Garnish: Fresh coriander if so desired and Greek yoghurt too (added just before serving) I also grated on fresh ginger and seasons with a ton of freshly cracked black pepper.   METHOD Boil the soup mix for 1 - 1/2 hours, drain and rinse add to the slow cooker. Fry off some garlic, onion in a little butter and olive oil until clear Add paprika, cumin and coriander cook for about a minute. Put all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low   Adjust seasoning to taste--almost any combination of your favorite seasonings will work well in this soup.

Donut french toast: previously blogged recipe here Donut French Toast, served with ice cream Ingredients * 2 eggs * 1/2 cup full fat milk * 4 teaspoons vanilla extract * 4 slices from a small white loaf or 2 slices from a large white loaf, each large slice cut in half * 1-ounce butter, plus a drop flavourless oil, for frying * 1/4 cup sugar Directions Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla in a wide shallow bowl. Soak the bread halves in the eggy mixture for 5 minutes a side. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan/skillet, fry the egg-soaked bread until golden and scorched in parts on both sides. Put the sugar onto a plate and then dredge the cooked bread until coated like a sugared doughnut. (- Nigella Lawson Recipe)

People always ask me if I do cakes, the answer is no it takes a special kind of talent to do so. So here is somebody in Victoria that does them well. My friend Bron (who is a stay at home Mum) has started a cake and cupcake business. I'm blown away by her creativity. She made this cake for Avon's 50th anniversary party in Australia. A little spiel about her: "Beautifully designed one of a kind cu pcake and cake toppers. You dream it, I create it. Please take a look at my Facebook page. Cupcakes and dreams by Bronwyn . Best of all I pride myself on being affordable for anyone. Every child deserves the cake of there dreams" Her page is HERE

Now taking pre orders for delivery week of 15th July 2013 CHICKEN JERKY TREATS / MADE BY ELLE'S KITCHEN INGREDIENTS: 30gsm 100% chicken breast meat. Go to : http://www.elliluca.com/p/elles-kitchen-store.html and click Pet treats to place your order  Shipping is $1.50 per bag, if you buy more than one and qualify I will combine shipping, Elle's Kitchen Jerky is made with 100% chicken breast, hand-cut into strips, roasted and dehydrated to perfection. Completely natural, our jerky has no by-products, chemicals, preservatives, grains or other fillers. Unlike much of the so-called jerky on the market, each piece of Elle's Kitchen Jerky is a different shape. That’s because it is a piece of chicken breast, and not a processed mixture. I provide a zip-lock bag to store jerky treats once opened. Average shelf life is about 1 week at room temperature in the sealed container. Refrigerated shelf life is approximately 4-6 weeks in an air-tight container. Since Elle'

Timber with magnet on back. Approximately 1 1/4" tall x 1 1/2" wide. Cut from 1/8" Baltic Birch plywood PLEASE  NOTE: Overseas customers Postage overseas will be : $3.00 for for 1 -3 I will refund difference if you pay now. Alternately email me and I will send you a paypal invoice. (2 of each colour if anybody is interested.) More stock will be added in the coming weeks. Cheers Elli 

Another happy pugstomer!

New balms and gift packs, available now.