Dear Internets,

Today was Australia day and I spent it exploring in the hot hot sun, and as the title may suggest, indulging in a 30 Rock marathon speckled by cricket (to indulge the boy). It has been a little jarring having a public holiday land on tuesday but it beat working.

Besides when people ask me how my week was, not often do I get to say "Fine thanks! I sat in a large valve!"

If you want a little bit of Australia day in your life and can't find a giant valve to sit in, you could always try to whip up a pavlova? The recipe from BBC Good Food looks insanely delicious!

Ingredients
FOR THE PAVLOVA

• 2 tsp vinegar , any type
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 4 large egg whites
• 100g light muscovado sugar
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 25g hazelnuts

FOR THE TOPPING

• 600g strawberries
• 3 tbsp cassis (blackcurrant liquer)
• 568ml carton double cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/gas 1/ fan 120C. Line a large baking sheet with non-stick parchment.

2. Blend the vinegar, vanilla and cornflour to a paste. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Gradually whisk in the sugars, adding a little paste with each addition, until a thick marshmallowy meringue is formed.
3. Spread it out to a 20cm circle on the baking sheet, swirling the knife to make peaks. Scatter over the nuts and bake for 1 hour, then turn off the oven and leave it to cool.

4. Sieve 100g/4oz strawberries into a bowl. Stir in the cassis. Whip the cream softly. Slice half the strawberries and fold into the cream. Then swirl in 3 tbsp sauce.

5. Put the pavlova on a flat plate. Spoon in the cream, scatter on the strawberries, drizzle with sauce.

 In fact, feel free to bring me over some when you are done!

  ♥♥♥

p.s. It is uncouth to boast but I must thank eternal masquerade for the vote of blogging confidence. Here comes the obligatory 7 things I like to do. Find a link to some blogs I enjoy/want to pass this onto, on the way

1. Adventures with the Mr - [yellow goat]
6. Travelling over seas - [captivate me]
3. Tasting new foods - [smitten kitchen]
4. My camera and all the moments it captures - [the coveted]
5. Books; past,future, all things imagined & real - [blog goggles]
2. Fashion; dresses shoes and bags - [zebra and meerkat]
7. Creating paintings, pies and pretty wearables - [brunch at sacks]

♥ pixelhazard