Aussie, Aussie, Aussie ...

My Australia Day began luxuriously ... with a sleep in.

What a glorious start to the day.

Then it was into the kitchen.

Eliza's new year resolution is to make every recipe in the Junior Masterchef cookbook - a promise she is taking very seriously.

Today she tackled an Aussie classic - bacon and egg pie.

She made the pastry from scratch and carefully cracked the eggs so the yolks didn't break. The recipe is one from Stephanie Alexander, so she's learning from the best.

And the result was scrumptious.

Lunch was quickly followed by afternoon tea.

Eliza was at it again. Fancy some chocolate fudge cake with chocolate icing and hundreds and thousands?

What can I say ... It's fabulous having a 10 year old who loves to cook.

In the afternoon I finally put my Christmas decorations away, had a snooze and fixed some leftovers for dinner.

Happy Australia Day.

Sew simple

I love the simplicity of cross stitch.
And I thought I'd try something new with a small, manageable project.

I took a tea towel and using some canvas webbing (there's probably a proper name for this material, but I can't remember what the lady in the embroidery shop called it ... but it means you can cross stitch on just about any fabric).
Anyway, I digress.
I followed an easy pattern and cross stitched some red cherries.

They look rather festive don't you think?

I've placed the cherries randomly on the tea towel, varying the pattern each time.
And I couldn't resist this ant ...
Maybe I'll cross stitch a slice of cherry pie nearby.

The idea is when you've finished the cross stitch, wet the webbing to soften it and then pull out the canvas threads - leaving the tea towel with the cherries and the ant in tact.
Well , that's the theory.
I'll let you know how I go.

Home Grown

Our little garden in the inner city is working overtime this summer. We've just picked a basket of white nectarines off our tree which produced exactly zero last year.

I love white nectarines .... and these are a juicy and sweet and fleshy and luscious.

I love the way the juice runs down your arm and drips off your elbow. I've learnt from experience to eat them straight from the tree in the garden, or over the sink.

Last year summer was blisteringly hot and dry. So far, we've had a cool summer and lots of rain so the fruit is about a 4-6 weeks behind.

And there's lots more to come.

We've got a tree full of apricots not yet ripe, the olive trees are laden, our tomatoes are green but looking good, the lime and orange trees have set their fruit and we've got an abundance of apples and crab apples.

I need to check out what to so with crab apples (and what they actually taste like).

We planted the tree a couple of years ago - mostly for the spring blossom, but this year the tree is heavy with fruit so I need to think about what to do with it. I've heard of crab apple jelly ... so I'll see what recipes I can find in my collection or on good old google. What do you serve crab apple jelly with?

So as summer stretches before us, we're looking forward eating our fruit ... and preserving and bottling and making jellies and jams and curds.

I love a list

I love a list.
I've got them everywhere.
I make lists every day.
I make them about everything.
Work lists, job lists for home, shopping lists, gift lists ...
It helps me feel organised in my busy, busy day.
Sometimes I even get things done on my list.
What that happens, it's a happy day indeed.
I love ticking things off my list.
It makes me feel better if I tick things off AND cross things out on my list.

When we were on the houseboat and James and I had the time and energy to have a conversation, we started making lists - people we want to catch up with, things to do on the house, family plans ....
It was nice to have the time to look ahead.
It was lovely to have time to talk.


Then I read that Tinnie Girl had put her own list together and it got me thinking about a list of things for me ... just for me ...
So I dived right in and created a list for me.

In no particular order:

• I want to do more baking and bottling
• Reconnect with my friends
• Organise a weekend away
• Worry less
• Get back into walking
• Lose those pesky kilos I put on last year
• Feel less rushed
• Plan a holiday
• Buy a better camera
• Take some sewing classes
• Make stuff
• Finish my awesome granny stripe rug
• Get my back, neck and shoulder attended to
• Feel less rushed
• Leave the office at a reasonable hour
• Do my tax
• Be a good mother
• Be a good wife
• Be a good sister
• Be a good daughter
• Be a good daughter in law
• Be a good sister in law
• Have fun
• Feel grateful about life
• Plan a dinnerparty with friends
• Find a cleaner
• Breathe
• See more of our neighbours Pina and Alfredo
• Cook that saddle of venison in the freezer
• Listen more
• Judge less
• Do some guerilla knitting and install it in my local park
• Create my own calendar for 2012
• Book a massage, book several
• Take a chance
• Organise the studio
• Do more sewing
• Finish projects
• Start new ones
• Take a moment
• Feel less rushed

How's that for starters ...?

P.S. I should probably drink more water too : )

River Rats

We're just back from a wonderful holiday in a houseboat on the mighty Murray River.

I'm not really a boat person, but the thought of an enforced rest, on the water, in a well equipped houseboat was too good to resist.

And it was all that we imagined.

The house boat had every mod con ... including a spa on the top deck.

We moored in a picturesque spot and easily slipped into the gentle pace of life on the river.

Cooking, reading, chatting, swimming ... with an afternoon snooze most days.

I even had time for some embroidery.

And the weather was amazing ... while elsewhere in Australia was suffering with floods and torrential rain, we were blessed with blue skies and hot sunny days.

We holidayed with James' brother, his wife and their two boys - who are very much into boats.

They waterskiied every day and Eliza got into the swing of things very quickly.

And the Murray itself was beautiful.

I never tired of looking at the view and the changing moods of the river.

A relaxing and memorable holiday. We loved it.

But .... it's back to reality now with work tomorrow and the piles of holiday washing!

Christmas - PHEW!

Christmas

Phew!

We made it

And it was a happy day for everyone.

I've posted a collage of Christmas at our house. We kept it simple this year, with no tree because of Ruby who has a tendency to chew, chew, chew ...

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and spent it with people you love.

xxx

Frantic and frenzied ...

Dear readers, Life has been crazy busy for weeks!

My blog has been in hibernation for a month. My work has been go, go, go at a very stressful time of year. I'm crawling (just) to the end of the year. I finish up tomorrow for 2 wonderful weeks.


Apparently it's Christmas (this Saturday ,I'm told) and apparently we're having 22 people to lunch and dinner on Christmas Day. So I need to get a few things organised .... and then ..... and then .... it's 9 blissful days doing nothing on a houseboat.


Hope you all have a happy, safe and peaceful Christmas with people you LOVE.
Here's to a year of fabulousness in 2011. I just know it's going to be great.

And here's to the glory of an Aussie summer.
Let's hope we get some sunshine.
xxx

Sew long

It's been sooo long since I've done anything remotely crafty so I made the most of a few hours on the weekend to crack onto a new project (I mean, why finish off projects when there are so many new ones to begin!!)
I raided my fabric stash and added some new fat quarters to make a summer picnic blanket.
I love the pinks, greens and yellows. Such pretty summer colours Don't you love the green and white spot?

I got the pattern from the queen of craft Pip Lincoln at Meet Me At Mikes.
I love her philosophy that when you craft it doesn't have to be perfect.
I'm quite a fan of the 'wonk' ... and the end result is delightfully wonkily imperfect.
Will post some pics of the finished picnic blanket soon. Can't wait for our first summer picnic or a dreamy afternoon sleep when you need a little light cover.

Dinner for One

I'm batching this weekend.
And loving it.
My time is my own while James and Eliza are on a father/daughter camp with a whole lot of dads and daughters from Eliza's school.

Usually when I'm on my own I do something very simple for dinner - toasted cheese sandwich or grab a takeaway.
But tonight I thought I'd savour the serenity and whip up a little something for just for me.

I started with 6 freshly shucked oysters ...



Earlier in the afternoon, I slow roasted a tray of tomatoes for about 4 hours at 100 degrees Celsius.
These are gorgeous.
Just cut in half, drizzle with olive oil, scatter some fresh herbs, a grind of pepper and some flakes of salt and into the oven.
They're so tender and sweet.

So what to serve with these little beauties?
I know ...
some quail.
Wrap the quail in prosciutto with fresh sage, a bay leaf, a bruised clove of garlic and some lemon peel in the cavity,
roast the quail for about 12- 5 minutes, turning after about 7 mins.

I rummaged in the pantry for some special pasta.

So there you have it.

Prosciutto wrapped quail with slow roasted tomatoes on hand rolled pasta .

Sorry there's no picture of all the elements on the plate. I finished the lot before I realised I didn't have a photo.

Trust me, it was totally delicious.

Getting Creative In Print!

What a thrill to pop into Spotlight today - for a couple of reasons:

1. I'm enjoying a day off and don't have to be anywhere for anyone but me!
2. I never get time to really have a good old fossick around and Spotlight is one of those places where you don't want to be in a hurry
3. I was keen to see a copy of the new look mag - Get Creative
because
4. I'm in it !!!!

I wrote a column about why I craft, and as I flicked through the magazine I convinced myself it probably hadn't made it to print.

I couldn't see it .... but then a few more pages over
And there were my words staring back at me ....

I smiled to myself ...

Then I spent at least an another hour choosing a few fat quarters for a summer project I've got in mind.
I came home (snuck past the sleeping puppy) and made a cuppa and settled back with the magazine.
It looks great. Lots of crafty ideas that seem pretty easy - which is absolutely my style.
If I can get my act together you'll see some of the projects on my blog over coming weeks.

Now ... where were we?

We've been busy.
Chopping, cooking, eating and drinking
and seeing the horses race past, occasionally.
And cleaning the house and entertaining
with more chopping and cooking and eating and drinking.
Then going to work and coming home and getting ready for the next day at the races
with more chopping and cooking and eating and drinking.

Phew!

The Spring Racing Carnival is officially over.
Time to put the hats, headbands and hatinators away.
And time to have a decent meal.

All this finger food is exhausting!!

Trick or treat?

Eliza and her friend Laura are at a Halloween Party tonight.
They decided against going spooky
preferring to dress up as geeks instead.

Taking their inspiration from Beauty and The Geek with a little bit of Glee thrown in ...
They did raided the Laura's brother's wardrobe for their 'costumes.'

The Geeks called themseves Rob and Bob and look pretty pleased to be going to a party.

More beauty than geek don't you think?

A day at the Derby

Well, we can't say we weren't warned!

A months rainfall in a day - that was the prediction from the weather bureau.

And while the day started off with overcast skies, the rain started falling around midday, right on cue, and kept on falling and falling and falling and falling.

We spent the day at the Derby (I think it's the most elegant day of the Spring Racing Carnival) . We made the most of the dry weather in the morning, actually getting to see a horse or two.

Then the rain came ... and we retreated to the marquee and I donned my gumboots.

If I'd been more entrepreneurial I would have brought a few more pairs with me and sold them off for a small fortune.

The huge downpour all afternoon meant I didn't even put a bet on, so I saved a few dollars in that department.

I left the track mid afternoon and got a train home.

A hot shower and then into some comfy clothes with soup for dinner and a movie on the couch.

What a day.

Soupa dooper

It was definitely soup weather on Saturday.
We came home absolutely soaking from netball.
I was secretly hoping it would be called off and we could all have a sleep in .... but no, we trudged out to the courts (Ruby and all) and watched Eliza play in the rain.

Ruby played in the puddles.

After a hot shower I made a hot lunch.
Freshly baked bread using rosemary from the garden the some of the stuffed olives James bought at the market.

And oh the smell of the bread as it baked in the oven ....

Then a pot of pumpkin and potato soup ...

topped with a drizzle of olive oil and some cracked pepper...

Sensational, even if I say so myself!

A hat trick

We're in the middle of organising a Melbourne Cup party next Tuesday, at home. Living in Melbourne means we enjoy a public holiday. (Isn't that so Australian where a public holiday is declared for a horse race!)
Anyway, it's a wonderful day to dress up, drink bubbles, eat lovely chicken sandwiches .... and wear a hat.

While I'm still planning what to wear (eeeeekkkk!) , Eliza has got her outfit sorted..... but what to wear on her head?
So, we scooted into Lincraft on the weekend and made a couple of purchases - a headband and some ribbony bits and pieces.
The plan was to put it together with a hot glue gun at home...

But then a lovely young lady approached me as I clutched my ingredients and asked if I knew about the free hat making service in store.
Well um no .... actually.
A few minutes later and the bit and pieces turned into a lovely headpiece for Eliza.

It's simple and lovely and PINK of course.

The trusty hot glue gun did the trick and ta da .....

She loves it.

Words only

My photo program is not working at the moment
Grrrrrrrr
Not sure if the Internet fairy will wave her wand tonight ....
But I hope it's back to normal tomorrow.
So watch this space.
I've pictures of a headpiece I whipped up for the races ...
And pictures of the olive and rosemary bread I whipped up for dinner
to go with the broccoli and potato soup I also whipped up ...
Tomorrow we've got guests for lunch and I'm poaching a whole salmon.
Pictures to follow ...
So please Picasa fairy do your thing.
I've got so much to share

Blooming beautiful

We hit 27 degrees today and it was all blue sky and sunshine in Melbourne.

The crabapple in our garden is in blossom.



And the colours are gorgeous.

I love the pink and white combination and the way the sun shines on the leaves.

Daylight saving means it's still light when I get home. Yay.

Time to enjoy the garden with a glass of wine.