How to Make an Elephant Cake

A few weeks ago I was looking online for inspiration for making an elephant cake and found there really aren’t that many available.  Sure, there is a plethora of nursery-styled ‘Jumbo the Elephant’ type cakes, but I wanted something more authentic.  The occasion was my father’s 80th birthday and the celebration was to be a […]

How to Make a Bus Cake with a Stiletto Shoe

When Arabella chose, ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert‘ as the theme for her 21st birthday party I knew I’d need to make an appropriate cake and thought about what best symbolised the movie/musical. The realisation came upon me that central to the movie is the bus named ‘Priscilla’ with its giant sparkling stiletto perched precariously […]

A 21st Birthday Party

Here at Hotly Spiced Headquarters we are all moving just a little bit slowly as we recover from Miss Arabella’s 21st birthday party. This year, a low-budget Australian film that was shot in just three weeks, then became an international success and then a long-running musical on Broadway, also celebrates its 21st birthday.  Thinking that […]

Iced VoVo Biscuits

If there’s ever a biscuit that brings out nostalgic feelings in an Aussie, it’s the Iced VoVo.  Yes, the other one on the nostalgia list is the Tim Tam but for today, we’re talking about Iced VoVos. Back in my school days, there were a lot of lunch boxes that contained Iced VoVos and if […]

Mini Chicken and Leek Pies

You will be pleased to know I did manage a front row seat at the recent concert where the little guy sang Danny Boy. How I managed it was miraculous. I arrived 40-minutes early and there were a few other anxious mothers waiting outside the doors.  One of them, (the doctor who raced in the […]

Sausage Rolls with Homemade Sauce

Short post. No time to scratch. But I’ll just take a few minutes to fill you in on why I’m running around like a blue-arsed fly. The day started early.  Alfie needed to be at school an hour earlier than normal due to being bussed off to an all-day choir rehearsal for a concert he’s […]

A Springtime Wedding

A very good friend of ours married a few weeks ago.  We were thrilled to be invited to share in his very special day. While I’ve known the groom, Shinji, since I was 16, I’d only met his fiance once and that was at his daughter’s wedding where, because of the volume of people, we didn’t […]

Leaving the Teens Behind

Over the weekend we celebrated Arabella’s birthday.  A birthday where she left her teens behind.  It struck her that she’s getting old.  ‘I’m so old, mum; I don’t want to be this old, I liked being a teenager’.  I didn’t like her being a teenager and am quite happy we’re moving on. ‘If you’re feeling […]

Mushroom and Asparagus Toast Cups

After I made citrus peel that was such a gourmet trend back in the 70’s I thought I would post another recipe from that era.  And it’s one I mentioned in that same blog post where proficient home cooks wouldn’t just serve something from a jar, or even serve a pickled onion and cube of […]

Candied Popcorn

This post is sponsored by Queen. I’m quite sure that the very first time I ate popcorn, it was the multi-coloured candied variety.  I just assumed that was what popcorn was and had no idea most commonly it was eaten in its natural colour, seasoned with butter and salt. Country fairgrounds with their ferris wheels, […]