Photo blog: red velvet cupcakes + herb garden

Momo chilling out after a haircut and bath.

Today has been a decent day. I went to yum cha with my mum, had a good chat with her about moving out, my career prospects and traveling. I've told her I'm pretty keen to go traveling for six months and just be a bit more independent. I just need some change and do some really pretentious activities like "work on myself". Places I've been thinking about going to include San Fransisco, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, but nothing is definite. I'm not sure if I should go alone or go with people.

I will be house sitting in December, which I am very excited about. My old tutor from uni is going away for the Christmas holidays so I'll be looking after his house. I'm actually just really excited about looking after his cat. He's such a cutie! He's the same breed as the I Has Cheeseburger cat. This will be a good opportunity to taste test the whole "living alone" thing, albeit a bit more comfortably than most "living alone" situations.

My herbs, photosynthesising. They've been doing really well! I made salad with mint and basil from the garden the other day. It was very exciting. The coriander is still quite "young" so I'm waiting for them to bloom a bit more before I start using it.

 I made a batch of red velvet cupcakes today. They turned out all right, although can I just say icing cupcakes takes some serious skill! I would have liked them to be a little redder. I'm thinking next time I make this, I might actually use beetroot juice instead of milk, or do half milk half beetroot juice. I read on wikipedia red velvet cake was sometimes made using beetroot juice, which enhanced its red colour. My vegan friend says vegan chocolate cake sometimes has beetroot juice, which makes it very moist.

I used the recipe from taste.com.au because it didn't require a mixer. I also halved the frosting mixture and used apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar because I didn't have any vinegar at home.

Rustic icing on cupcakes! I think it might be because I didn't beat the cream cheese frosting enough. On a different note, I'm looking forward to the public holiday on Tuesday! I don't have anything planned yet, but just the thought of sleeping in makes me happy.

What plans do you have this week?