All the stuff I like

chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

2011-12-19T20:58:00.003+11:00

Oh yum. These delicious bikkies are thanks to stalking pinterest.

I followed the trail to brownies for dinner, who had adapted it from Martha's original version here. To be honest - Martha's photos aren't nearly as inviting and I probably would have walked right by if I'd seen them first.

So, here's my Aussie version of the recipe, which worked out really well and made more like 30 than 24 bikkies:

chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.

whip together:
125g softened salt reduced butter
1 heaped tbs fresh grated ginger

add:
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (the darker the better)

then:
1/2 cup treacle

mix together:
1tsp bicarb soda
1 1/2 tsp hot water
and add it to the wet ingredients

sift together:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
(you could also add the 1/4 tsp ground cloves if you have them)
1 tbs cocoa

add the dry ingredients to the wet.

then mix through:
1 cup dark chocolate chips

tip the wet dough onto a large rectangle of plastic wrap. wrap it up and shape into a 1 inch thick rectangle. put it in the fridge to firm up for at least 3-4 hours (or overnight).

cut into 1 inch squares. roll a little into balls - this doesn't have to be too perfect though as the dough melts and flattens into a circle in the oven.

roll balls in:
1/3 raw sugar
1 tsp cocoa

bake with plenty of space between each for about 12 minutes. they'll be really soft when you first take them out of the oven, so leave them on the tray to cool until moving them into your mouth. Just kidding. sort of.

it's still his birthday year

2011-06-06T17:37:00.003+10:00

OK, so it was back in February and now it's June. June 6th to be exact and my niece's 2nd birthday today - Happy Birthday gorgeous girl! So, in celebration of her birthday and only 4 months and 2 days after my little man's birthday - here's his cake!

It's a train!

The design is from the Women's Weekly kids birthday cake book. The new one. I think the vintage reprint came out afterwards. I have it now. I made it with a chocolate cake that our nephews can eat (allergy boys). It's egg and dairy free.

a bit of sunshine

2011-06-05T20:35:00.003+10:00

I wish I could find the time and the guts to use a platform like this blog to create and store memories of my time with my little angels, like some other bloggers out there - I'm particularly thinking of Rebekah from a bit of sunshine, when skies are grey.

Also, I wouldn't mind living in Seattle for a while. Let's be honest.

chloe's christening quilt

2011-06-03T19:50:00.005+10:00

I can't believe I thought I could do it. And I also can't believe I actually did it. I realised on Monday night that I wasn't going to be able to get a gift for little Chloe's christening that I would like to give her.

As in, I couldn't really think of anything and the second daughter always misses out on things because there are always loads of hand-me-downs from big sister. So Monday night I thought to myself - I'll make her a quilt. And I went to the stash, pulled out a bunch of pinks and bright sky blues, shuffled them around and thought, yep, there's enough there. Then I googled to see what dimensions I needed to make a cot size quilt (100 x 120cm or 40 x 48inches approx). After that, I got a piece of paper and drew up the design (coins? I think it's called) and worked out my piece sizes.

Much to my husbands annoyance (he was trying to watch Q&A), I finished sewing up the top that night. YAY!

Today, Friday, I finished off the last of the binding.

In between, I went to both Quiltsmith AND Calico and Ivy to get wadding, bias binding (no time for DIY) and a new thimble.

I'm very pleased with myself (can you tell?). I made sure it was clear this was Chloe's very own special quilt especially for her, by quilting her name into it. I've only ever hand quilted, so this time I made sure it was simple enough to finish on time.

leftover lamb roast fritters

2011-04-26T19:59:00.004+10:00

Wow - you know what? These were particularly tasty. I was very pleasantly surprised. We had a big leg of lamb for lunch East Sunday and I didn't want all the leftover meat to go to waste, so I did a few searches for leftover lamb and adapted the recipe I found here.

leftover lamb roast fritters

1 to 2 cups diced leftover lamb
1 egg
1 cup SR flour
140ml milk - approx
salt & pepper to taste
1 to 2 tsp herbs (I used 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil and 1/2 tsp ground cumin)
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 carrot grated
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 shallots chopped
butter and oil for cooking

Pan fry the shallots and garlic and put with the lamb, vegetables, salt & pepper, herbs.
Combine flour, egg and milk.
Beat with a whisk until thick and lump free.
Add more milk until batter resembles lightly whipped cream consistancy.
Fold in diced lamb mix.
Heat a fry pan to medium heat add a knob of butter and equal quantity of oil.
When hot add a ladle full of batter at a time cooking until bubbles form on top turn over and cook for 30 seconds more remove to papered plate and cook the rest adding butter and oil as necessary. Keep warm in the oven if required.

My tips - left over roast veges added to this mix would be great. You could also grate a zucchini in, but you'd have to remember to squeeze it dry before adding it to the mix.

I served it with leftover *real* gravy from the roast the other day - definitely a winner! The mash was good too! If you don't have real gravy, fake grave would probably taste OK too. But not as good.

pa's day today

2011-04-25T20:18:00.003+10:00

ANZAC Day. Here's to my Pa. He's not out with all the oldies on ANZAC Day anymore, but he loves watching the march on the telly.

This gorgeous portrait of pa was taken a couple of weeks ago by my sister lauren.

don't choke on chokkie

2011-04-23T21:53:00.000+10:00

Happy Easter!

Don't choke on chokkie like my little man did yesterday.... I obviously don't feed him enough chocolate because he inhaled it in his excitement...

random pics since forever

2011-04-22T19:22:00.004+10:00

Here are some photos from the last couple of years. A bit of a mix, featuring our first, but it was fun to scroll through iphoto and see these things that I enjoyed over the last couple of years.

legs

heinz

museum

way too close

crusty chicken casserole

2010-03-07T18:33:00.002+11:00

Dinner tonight - no need for a photo because it's not very attractive anyway....
my version:

CRUSTY CHICKEN CASSEROLE
preheat oven to 180.

1 bbq chook - in chunky pieces
put in large bowl

1 leek chopped
1 stalk of celery chopped
1 small red onion chopped
1/4 cup water
bring to boil in saucepan, cover and simmer til soft - 10-15 minutes

1 cup small button mushrooms (whole, half or quarter)
1 small red capsicum - chopped into squares
3 pieces bacon - chopped
fry until coloured.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 carton light sour cream

mix it all together and put into casserole dish.

Crusty batter:
1 cup SRF
2 eggs lightly beaten

1 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup milk

mix together and pour over top of casserole.

bake for 40 minutes, sprinkle more grated cheese and bake another 5 minutes.

ricotta scones

2010-03-07T18:29:00.002+11:00

No photo - but can guarantee they're delicious.

preheat oven to 190.

2 cups SRF
1/4 cup caster sugar
60 grams cold chopped butter

rub butter through til crumbly

1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
add enough fresh ricotta to make 3/4 cup (so approx 1/4 cup)
mix together

make a well in the flour, cut the wet mixture through with a knife. Turn the sticky dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Roll out to 2cm thickness - cut with a round. Place onto a lamington tray and bake for about 13 - 15 minutes until golden. Serve warm with butter or jam and cream.

i'm back ?

2009-07-15T12:48:00.000+10:00

If someone has found my gift for the gab, can you please return her?

Spiced bikkies recipe

2007-12-23T17:24:00.000+11:00

This recipe will probably be available soon on the taste.com.au website. But I'll put it here now because it's GOOD! It's from the Dec/Jan issue of Delicious magazine.

Spiced Bikkies (AKA edible decorations)

2 1/4cups plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp mixed ground baking spices (I used a combination of mostly ginger, then nutmeg and cinnamon)
1tsp pepper
pinch of salt
120g unsalted butter
120g dark muscovado or molasses sugar or dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3tbs honey

1cup flour (or more) extra for cutting.

It's probably easiest to process this in a food processor.
Combine flour, baking powder, spices, S&P.
Add butter and sugar and mix until smooth.
Combine the eggs and honey separately. With the processor going, add the egg mixture slowly - just enough to bind the mix and not necessarily all of it. Divide the mixture into 2 or 3 balls and wrap them in plastic then refridgerate. Chill them for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160 celcius. Line your trays with baking paper.

On a floured surface roll out one of the dough balls. Sprinkle extra flour over the surface as required to stop it from sticking. Roll it out to about 5mm thick and use your prettiest cookie cutters to make shapes. Keep re-rolling the dough as needed to cut more shapes. I had to keep using more extra flour to stop it from sticking. If there's a small amount left at the end, nobody will think badly of you if you eat it raw. Personally, I made a disc and cooked it because my will power is amazing. Also, I got my fix from the beaters and bowl...

If you want to make hanging decorations, use a plastic drinking straw to cut a small hole in the top of your shape. When they bake, the bikkies expand and some of the holes may close over. Also, make sure you leave a bit of space in between in biscuit on the tray.

Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. They'll have risen and should be a little browned around the edge. Take them off the tray to cool. They'll be a bit soft at first. Eat one before it goes hard. Then eat another one after it's cooled down a bit. Eat the ones that were a bit wonky or the hole filled over on. Noone will know.

You can also ice these with royal icing and pretty sparkles. I didn't. It makes about 40 - but this depends on the size of your cutter shape!

ho ho jingle jangle

2007-12-21T16:10:00.000+11:00

Thanks for your comments and thoughts about my hair-dorama's. I decided to delete those 2 posts, because I really don't want negative posts here, and I really really didn't want to see myself each time I looked at my blog! (I don't post very often, so I forget what I've done...)

I am finished with swapping this year! YAY! This is what I sent to Silvia for the Christmas Kaleido-swap. Silvia has 4 cats and is a huge cat fan!

Yesterday I received the mini christmas card swap from Anne. Anne made me a sweet little stationery set. The swing tags are great! So are the envelopes!! I have never been so successful making my own, but Anne has the technique down pat. Can you tell from this photo?

My lovely friend Annette surprised me the other day with these 2 little embroidered ornaments. Aren't they fantastic! I love the colours and the beading.

I've been spending the last couple of days cooking and getting ready for Christmas. Here's this years rocky road - I put silver balls on top to make it look more festive. This is wrapped and ready to take to my sister's tonight. I posted the recipe last year.

I've also made my normal Christmas cake too. Not photos this time - they look remarkably similar to last year!

I've tried a new recipe today. It's spiced biscuits or gingerbread, I suppose. The recipe is from this months (i.e. Dec 07/Jan 08) Delicious magazine. I may be inspired to share the recipe soon - but not today.

I can vouch that they're very tasty indeed.

doing something crafty

2007-12-10T17:47:00.000+11:00

WOW - first day of holidays for me and the house is a pigsty with buttons all over the loungeroom floor; the glue gun is out in the kitchen; the dining room table is covered in paper, stamps, xacto knife, and WIP's waiting for the sewing machine to make an entrance and crochet cotton and hooks dumped at every comfy seat around the house.

Sheesh - I have to tidy it all up tonight because we have a cleaner coming through the house tomorrow! It does, of course, take longer to tidy the house than to clean it. Well, once I've been having fun it does. I DO believe it's worth it - hubby isn't convinced. (Hubby doesn't have a very high rating care factor either).

I've been busy making sets of 4 crocheted coasters in christmas colours. They'll be on their way to new homes tomorrow. (This has been my work in progress over the last week - not just today BTW. I've made 3 sets so far.)

Today I have been making cute little vintage button and buckle brooches. I can't decide which one/s to keep for myself. hmmm. They are also for gifts. The colours didn't come out too good in the photo. Maybe because of the dull stormy weather that's happening here in Sydney.

Oh. My. Goodness. Kajsa sent me this bundle of goodies in a little ornament swap I was doing. It was supposed to be only an ornament! But heck - take a look at the fantastic ornament!!! I LOVE Kajsa's things, and this really blew me away.

I'm hoping to finish off lots of projects over the next 2 weeks, which should mean actually posting on this blog - something I've been pretty bad at this year.

Oh yeah, and I really want a bundle of colours of this. I can feel a blanket coming on next winter....

tough love and swaps

2007-11-26T13:32:00.000+11:00

Wow - swaps are happening all over the place and the number of people joining in seems to be increasing. I love my swaps - that's for sure. It's quite a commitment for me usually (just in terms of postage, not to mention finding the perfect stuff according to my partners likes and dislikes) as there aren't that many Aussie swappers. I actually prefer receiving a parcel from somewhere else in the world. The coolest things arrive that you'd never find here.

It's also quite a commitment for anyone partnered up with me too - they'll also be landed with a potentially expensive parcel to send. Sometimes you just don't realise how heavy something is until you get to the counter at the post office and the damage is done.... (goodbye $45 on the last box I sent - $35 is pretty standard these days). I find that all up, I'm looking at spending around $50 to $70.

What I'm leading up to, is that there's been a bit of discussion about swap etiquette and ethics, that I have found really interesting and important. Ellia (green bean baby) wrote a post about the dark side of swapping, and Mary Ann (follow your bliss) has also let go and vented her frustrations on her latest swap issues.

They both describe some pretty terrible swap scenarios - some of which I can relate to, some which seem almost funny. I gave up swaps on swapbot a long time ago because of the frequency with which I didn't receive from partners (and got verbally abused when I posted a poor rating to one such swapper after waiting more than a month after the swap date and never got anything - there was nothing on the way - give me a break).

I now join in swaps organised in Flickr and sometimes swaps organised directly through blogs.

I only join swaps organised by people I trust - through their blogs, their flickr and previous swap experiences.

I prefer direct swaps - that way at least you can create a dialogue and relationship with the person you're swapping with. Also, if you don't hear from them it's probably easier to re-match you with another person.

I don't like being partnered with people who don't have a thorough flickr profile or many photos available to view. I get a bit cautious when I can't see much of a swap history (everyone starts somewhere, but if they claim to have participated in many swaps, where are the photos?)

I agree that if you are agreeing to participate in a swap, you are basically signing a contract to deliver certain things. Here's my understanding of 'the rules'.

Read and follow the guidelines carefully and consider this before signing up.

Make contact with your partner as quickly as possible. Exchange addresses and read their blog/view their flickr etc and find out as much as you can about them to get a good idea about what they would like to receive. Sometimes I find this tricky as they have different interests and likes, but that's also what makes it a challenge!

Keep in touch with your partner, so they know you are interested and let them know if your situation changes or you'll be late etc.

Take photos of the parcel you are sending before you package it all up. Should anything happen to it, you'll at least have a record for your own history (or swap CV as MaryAnn has called it).

(sent to Jo last year)

Wrap the items like presents so it's more fun for your partner to open everything bit by bit.

(on it's way to Silvia right NOW!)

Include a little note to your partner (sometimes I forget this - oops).

Email your partner when the parcel is on it's way. It's really fun to come home each day knowing something may have arrived!

Email your partner as soon as the box they sent has arrived! Even if you're not able to take photos straight away (I always seem to open boxes in the evening and don't have time to take photos until the weekend).

Take photos of everything you received and post them onto Flickr and your blog - the sooner the better. Again, time is so important in this situation and also a killer for me sometimes.

(received from Sara last year)

Also post to the swap forum etc as required by the swap organiser to acknowledge you have sent/received/posted photos, etc.

That's it! So simple - and yet so difficult to achieve sometimes. It's true - things happen, but if it's likely you're going to be too stretched to follow through - don't join in! There's always other swaps going when things aren't so busy. I wish I could have joined more swaps this year, but I wanted to do a good job, so I limited myself to the ones I knew I could do.

I don't think I've ranted much before on here. The girls have obviously got me worked up! Anyway, this is just what I think. It would be nice to know if anyone agrees or disagrees, or can throw anything new into the pot! I've almost finished swapping for 2007 and am looking forward to more in 2008.

serious swap goodness

2007-11-21T11:38:00.000+11:00

I've been so very lucky recently with the swaps I've participated in. I have been very slack, however, at posting the wonderful stuff here on my blog. If you look at my flickr photos at all - you'll see everything there. I've been finding it so difficult to get my act together posting here as well.

So - my apologies to my wonderful swap partners who've been incredibly thoughtful and generous.

Starting from the most distant swap I haven't posted...

The September Kaleidoswap theme was "back to school" and I was partnered with the organiser Isabelle. I received the most amazing box full of great things - sweets, notebooks, pens, perfumes, games. I absolutely love everything. Isabelle really took notice of all the things I like and dislike and everything was great. I think she has a real talent for choosing gifts for her partners!

I had posted the wrapped parcel of the things I sent her, so here it all is now before I wrapped it. I also tried to make sure I put things together that Isabelle would really enjoy.

Here's a close up of the sterling silver and czech glass beaded earrings I made for her. They seem to go perfectly with one of her favourite necklaces! Perfect!

The next swap I received recently was in the Sweetpea "Something Old/Something New" swap. I was matched up with Julie (aka sewitsforyou). Julie has a shop in Etsy which you must check out too.

The teatowel Julie embroidered for me is so perfect - to the extent that the teapot is eating a DONUT! Wow - I didn't realise my 'Homer'ness' was so evident on the internet...And the buttons are just beautiful! And the embroidery patterns are so cool - in fact I'll be starting a tshirt project today if I get the time.

Here is what I sent to Julie. I must admit that time was an issue for me and I didn't get the time to make something for Julie to post with this. However, I did find the cutest Japanese print fabric, and over did the chocolates to (hopefully) make up for it a bit.

The final swap I am posting today is the "Vintage Christmas Stocking Swap" organised by the wonderful Jo and MaryAnn. Unlike the swaps above, this isn't a direct swap. I was sent a parcel from Beth, who has a really beautiful blog and shop on Etsy.

I was completely in love with the beautiful handcrafted gifts I received from Beth. The style of vintage Beth made for me was (again) just perfect! The Christmas Angel is adorable - and my grandmother was very impressed with her. Here's a photo of all the good stuff.

The stocking is just beautiful.

Here's a peep inside. The fabric lining the stocking is very cool. I wish it was easier to see it/show it!

And finally, the beautiful corsage. I can't wait to wear it! I've decided to wear it to all the Christmas parties and Christmas drinks I go to as well as on Christmas Day.

I have sent my Christmas stocking and goodies off to Cheryl nearly 2 weeks ago. So far it doesn't seem to have arrived. Of course I hate the waiting part - I hope it gets there soon and all OK! Once I've got her confirmation it's there, I'll post photos I took.

Happy Season Swapping everyone!

lemon slice'n it up

2007-10-14T08:05:00.000+10:00

I've made this recipe twice in one week now. Mmm. It's good. Nice lemony tang. First time I overcooked it a little (the time I give should be right now), but keep an eye on it as it browns quickly. I also added loads of shredded coconut to the topping on the first batch which was really nice too.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a 18cm x 28cm lamington pan. Lining it means you can lift the whole thing out to slice it after it's cooked.

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
150g melted butter
Combine these together and press the mixture into the pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

400g sweetened condensed milk (low fat version works great)
1 egg
1 medium to large lemon - rind and juice
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Mix together sweetened condensed milk and egg, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until combined. Return to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes (watch it) or until the topping is set.

Allow to cool in pan. Refrigerate. Cut into squares and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Jamie and Fran's chocolate biscotti

2007-10-13T18:50:00.000+10:00

This recipe comes from a book I bought in a second hand book store in Berkeley CA many years ago. It's called Cooking with Friends, as in the TV show friends (published 1995). Here it is on Amazon.

There's loads of yummy looking recipes, but mostly I love the fancy photos of the cast and quotes from the tv show. This recipe is described as follows:

When the women from Mad About You walk into Central Perk, they mistake Phoebe for Ursula and think she's working a second job. They tell Phoebe they want two lattes and some biscotti. Phoebe says "good choice" and sits down. Eventually Jamie and Fran find a waiter and get some of the biscotti with macadamia nuts.

2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbs (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup macadamia nuts (I used pistachio)

Preheat oven to 350 (180 celcius). Grease and flour a large baking sheet and set aside.

Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together. set aside. cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients until well combined. The dough will be stiff and fairly dry. Stir through the nuts.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Divide into 2 and roll each half into a log that measures about 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. Transfer the logs to the prepared baking sheet, leaving room for them to expand.

Bake until firm to touch. About 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Where an oven mitt to hold the logs in place. Use a serrated knife to cut them on the diagonal into 3/4inch thick pieces.
lay them on their side on the baking sheet and return to the oven for abut 5 - 10 minutes or until crisp.

Cool on racks and store in airtight containers for weeks. If they last that long.

Makes about 28 biscotti.

Other favourite quotes from the book...
Ross: I just thought we'd go out to dinner. And then I'd bring her back to my place and I'd introduce her to my monkey.
Chandler: And he's not speaking metaphorically.

Rachel: I'm not just waitressing. I... I... also write the specials on the specials board and... and I take the dead flowers out of the vase... and sometimes Auturo lets me put the chocolate blobbies on the cookies.

Monica: Hey, great skirt. Birthday present?
Rachel: yeah.
Monica: from who?
Rachel: From you. I exchanged the blouse you got me.

kaleido-swap

2007-09-20T19:08:00.000+10:00

I joined the flickr kaleido-swap this month and the theme is "Back to School".

Kaleido-swap is cool in that you buy your swap partner something in each of 5 categories - beauty, drinks, food, animal and surprise. Everyone has to includes details of their likes and dislikes. Good huh?

Anyhoo, I thought this theme sounded cool - but then I realised how difficult it was going to be to get 'school' related items in each of those categories...[sigh]. So, I did my best with it. I've posted a photo of the wrapped bundle on flickr. Soon the innards will be on display...once it arrives safely in Paris!

chocolate meringues with bailey's cream

2007-09-20T18:44:00.000+10:00

Bill Granger, Aussie Chef. Worth keeping? YES!

As always, when trying this recipe I recommend using the freshest ingredients you can get hold of, and the best quality chocolate. I used Green & Black's 72% cocoa baking chocolate. This recipe makes 8 and the meringues can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.

All your utensils must be really clean and free of grease or this won't work!

4 eggwhites
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
100g good quality dark chocolate, grated
(careful of your fingers, they don't taste as good)
pinch salt

Preheat your oven to 120C.
Line a large baking sheet with grease proof paper.
Use an electric beater to whisk eggwhites and salt in a bowl until soft peaks form.
Add the sugar 1 large spoonful at a time and continue to whisk until stiff and glossy.
Gently fold through the grated chocolate.
Spoon onto baking sheet into 8 portions.
Bake for 1hr 15mins until dry and crisp.
Turn off oven and leave the door ajar for the meringues to cool.

(Pre-baked meringues. I didn't get a photo of the finished product!)

Bailey's cream
Simple stuff! 300ml of the thickest, dollopy cream around (like King Island double cream) and carefully stir through about 30 - 50mls of baileys.

Serve a meringue with a big dollop of cream and a couple of strawberries, or other berries on top. It's sure to be a hit! (Well it was for me anyway).

The meringue recipe was sourced from April 2007 Delicious. magazine.

rosemary-pesto lamb rack

2007-07-10T18:13:00.000+10:00

Last night's dinner. No photo's here, but there are on the epicurious site. I followed the recipe exactly and it worked perfectly. I even enjoyed the pesto more than I thought I would.

rosemary-pesto lamb rack

Let me in!

2007-07-09T14:09:00.000+10:00

Let me tell you what happened. It was raining. It was after breakfast. OBI refuses to go to the toilet in the rain. So he wanted to come back inside NOW. Haguki went to the toilet. He's a good boy. He's just shaking off the rain and waiting for the door to open and let him in.

Donna Hay's choc-malt brownies

2007-07-09T13:31:00.000+10:00

This recipe is from issue 11 - Spring 2005. I make it whenever I can find an excuse. I'm pretty good at finding excuses to make things cakey and chocolate. Don't think about the ingredients too much, just make it and eat it - ok?

250g dark chocolate, chopped
310g butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
5 eggs
1 1/4 cups plain flour (all purpose)
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup malt powder
extra malt for dusting
(note: Donna also adds 1 cup choc chips - but I think that's going too far..)

Preheat the oven to 150C. Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and combined.
Place sugar, chocolate mixture and eggs in a bowl and stir to combine.
Sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa and malt and stir into the mixture. (Add the choc chips here if you want them)
Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 20 x 30cm (8 x 12in) baking tin. Bake for 50 minutes or until set. Cool the brownies in the tin. Cut into squares and dust with extra malt at the time of serving. (It dissolves into the brownies if you store them that way).

This recipe gets a rating of 5/5.

Quotes to remember

2007-07-06T20:39:00.000+10:00

I'm BACK! Turkey is a great country to visit - I highly recommend it. Paul and I had an amazing trip for 4 weeks - everything was great. I'm hoping to post my travel journal and photos over the next month or so.

These quotes bring back funny memories for me. If anyone is reading I have no doubt you won't find it as funny as me, unless you were there too.

1. "AHH THE SERENITY"
Yelled by Matt over the outboard motor in the boat on the clear, star filled evening on the way to the Smugglers Inn.

2. "I smell human body"
Said by a Mexican guy on an overcrowded, overheated, under air conditioned mini bus from Olympus to the highway.

3. "Aye, thus ud be argghhhh ship!"
Yelled by Brad at 2am (waking the 4 sleeping Poms) over the outboard motor in the boat returning to our gullet (boat/yacht) from Smugglers Inn.

4. "I blame your arse"
Adam blamed poor Rebecca's arse, which was suffering from the effects of Turkey belly for missing a day tour.

5. Rebecca: "Is my hair getting in your face?"
Me: "No, but your arse is getting on my hands"
Yelled conversation between Rebecca and myself whilst screaming around the bay on a BANANA.

If I can remember any more I'll add them in later. Sorry your arse is such a feature in this post Rebecca. Photos to come soon. Promise.

the speed of life

2007-05-16T20:55:00.000+10:00

This is going to be a crap post, because I haven't put any thought into it, or done anything lovely and crafty recently. I've been working hard and trying to find time to plan for our rapidly approaching trip to Turkey. Anyone want to go on the postcard list?

I've been keeping in touch with Flickr, so I'll post some recent favourites. It'll be like looking into the magic mirror on Romper Room. Did Miss Kim see you today?

1. L and Wawa, 2. Pincushion thrift, 3. rodney 012, 4. Green cup, 5. Fethiye, Turkey., 6. chickie, 7. Simon the sock monster, 8. Presley's homework book, 9. ATC, 10. Tea Towel Swap, 11. bear collage, 12. summer bunny collage, 13. dragonfly spring collage, 14. needlefelted gang, 15. My creation, 16. Favorites 4-30, 17. crazy with the pincushions, 18. Embroidery, 19. thinking in color, 20. Running around...

making pesto

2007-04-28T15:39:00.000+10:00

My Japanese host family (father and daughter - mum is back home taking care of the bakeries) is coming over for dinner on Tuesday evening. My host sister Ayumi is vegetarian, so I'm making an Italian vegetarian dinner party. I've taken the recipes from this months Delicious. magazine, which has it's annual Italian special.

First up, homemade pesto, to make into a delicious looking pesto lasagne.

Pesto Sauce

200g of basil leaves

200g toasted pinenuts

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

200ml fruity extra virgin olive oil, and a big pinch of sea salt or like I've used, lake salt.

Pop it all into a blender and mix together until lovely and creamy. Like the photo below.

Ready to serve as is over pasta or in a salad.

I'll be adding 100g grated pecorino (or parmasan) and 250g fresh ricotta and layering it between fresh lasagne sheets to make into the pesto lasagne. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes in a moderate oven until browned. I'll post a photo when it's done.

It's ANZAC Day here

2007-04-25T21:02:00.000+10:00

I've tried to give my Pa a call, but it's nice that he didn't answer the phone, because he's probably down at the club with his mates and Gram enjoying their company and telling old war stories.
ANZAC for the non Aussie/Kiwi's out there is Australia New Zealand Army Corp. It is a public holiday to remember our fathers who went to war and died for our country. It began with WW1 and the 25th April was the day they first landed. History buffs can read more on this anzac site.
It has been raining pretty constantly here today, so the dawn service looked funny on TV - just a huge sea of umbrella tops.
We made anzac biscuits. As I do every year.

My chief baker is our exchange student Hashi.

They don't look cooked in this picture, but they were. And they were yum!

Of course, we enjoyed them with some delicious organic chai.

Here's the recipe I use. There's lots out there, but these are lovely and chewy.
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup coconut
2/3 cup brown sugar (white is OK)

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Dissolve 1tsp bicarb soda into 2tbsp of hot water.

Melt 125g (4oz) butter, stir through 2tbsp golden syrup (like molasses), then stir through the bicarb mixture.

Mix the butter mixture through the dry ingredients (it might look a little crumbly, but that's OK). Place teaspoonfuls on a greased tray. Bake in moderate slow oven (325F or 160C) for about 10 minutes. They're soft when you first take them out, but they harden up when they cool down. Eat whilst warm with a lovely hot cup of your favourite drink. And think of all the old blokes who were once young boys sent off to a war they had no idea would be so horrific.

S.P.R.I.N.G. pink and green swap

2007-04-21T14:19:00.000+10:00

Yay! My parcel arrived from Peta yesterday. Here are the cool little things she put together so thoughtfully for me.

Check out Peta's pretty pink blog. (I think she likes pink).

you're my cuppa tea party

2007-04-21T14:14:00.000+10:00

Picture of my party for one. For the virtual tea party organised by Flickr girls Maryann and Jo.

where my shoes come from

2007-04-11T18:19:00.000+10:00

Due to overwhelming public demand (2 comments - good enough for me) I am going to disclose the shops where I bought my SHUUUZ. In no particular order...

These are by a brand called Alino. I bought these in Perth from a shop in an arcade. My mum would have loved every pair of shoes in this shop. I just did a google search for them but couldn't find anything.

This pair is from another shop in a Perth arcade. This shop was called Shoeinc. They had the most funky gorgeous shoes. My sister would have loved every pair. I can't find them through searching either! They had this shoe with a tan background too. I was very tempted, but thought they'd get dirty too quickly.

This last pair is from Unique Shoes in Melbourne. I always buy shoes from here on my trips to Melbourne. They have shops all over - Balaclava, Chapel St Windsor, etc.

Peta in Perth is my current swap partner - maybe you could help with details on the Perth shoe shops?

shoes and swaps

2007-04-07T19:36:00.000+10:00

new shoes. again. but I needed them. all three pairs of black shoes. They're replacing very very old black shoes (3 pairs) that are broken and split on the bottom so every time it rains my feet get wet. really. and when hubby saw the old shoes ready for trashing, he couldn't see the problem with them. but he wouldn't because he still has pieces of rags he wears to bed and calls tshirts, and he can't bear to throw away holey, threadbare socks when I buy him new ones to replace them. His sock drawer is full when he tells me he doesn't have any socks to wear! Well, throw them out! Anywhoo, I digress.

shoes.

left: easy walking, can be dressed up or down. goes with just about everything.
middle: too cute to leave in the shop. flat and pretty with skirts.
right: smart and shiny and ready for work. or other occasions when pretty black shoes are required.

Next on the list would be swaps. I've sent off a couple of swaps lately, which have now arrived safely in their new homes...
First is the you're my cup of tea party and swap, sent to Mindy (also known as onewishworld). She took such a great photo of the stuff I sent her I'm going to borrow it! Hope you don't mind Mindy.

I was also part of the spring seasonal swap. My partner for this was Dawn (wolfmom2ac)- who was also one of the swap administrators (talk about pressure!) All the stuff safely arrived..

I love these little chicks! Just like the ones who star in Sloane Tanen's books.

Today I've just bundled up the next swap to be posted out. It's a Sweet Goodness spring swap with pink and green theme. Sending 6 items starting with the letters in S.P.R.I.N.G. Something had to be thrifted and something had to be handmade by me. So many challenges. I loved it! I can't show the contents yet, but here's everything wrapped. My partner is Peta in Perth, so I added something breakable (and therefore a little heavy). I REALLY hope it gets there in one piece because it's SO CUTE.

BTW Peta - Pretty in Pink is one of my favourite movies of all time. I was on the Amazon waiting list for years waiting for it to be released on DVD and have had the soundtrack on CD since FOREVER. Have you got it? DUCKY - oh what a cutie.

Last but by no means least, Jill from TX sent me a tea towel as part of the swap-bot tea towel swap I joined last yeah. It's so cute - I'm grateful she persisted and sent something through - for the second time! The first attempt didn't reach me! It looks very cute in my kitchen. Thanks again Jill!

embroidery blog for EVERYONE

2007-03-27T18:37:00.000+10:00

I am lucky/silly enough to have become involved in a very cool new blog with some very talented crafty women. It's quite humbling to be a part of this new venture, which has really made me feel like a real contributer to the online craft community.

Flickr Embroidery Blog is only about a week old - but if you're interested in embroidery, I think this site will be a great resource for inspiration, ideas and mentoring of creative embroidery. There's a lot of stuff out there. This blog will help sift through what's good in embroidery - resources, useful links, tutorials, etc.

My job is to post on Wednesdays. Sounds so easy, but my day job is creeping into any/all my spare time at the moment. Resulting in a really huge cold sore on my bottom lip which looks very much like a raisin stuck on my face. Very attractive. I'm a walking billboard of stress and exhaustion. I'm going to have to get up REALLY early to do my duty this week! [yawn - it's making me tired already]. But I want to do it, so I'm looking forward to it!

Here's some Flickr favourites from the last few days. You might catch some of this over at the new blog tomorrow...

the bag matches the shoes

2007-03-18T09:32:00.000+11:00

The actual photo of the bag is thankfully not representative of how excellent the bag is. I'm not a very experienced sewer, but I'm very pleased with the final result!

I was inspired by 2 different bags in a couple of Japanese craft books I have. So I kind of just put it together as I went.

I'm surprised how similar it looks like Amanda's (Soulemama) new bag.

where have you been?

2007-03-14T20:31:00.000+11:00

wow - exactly one month since my last confession. I've been doing crafty stuff too! I guess I only have time to do one or the other... I can't craft AND blog.

I made a really cool bag which go with my new shoes....

I wore them to a wedding. I love camper shoes.

I've also been keeping up to date with what's going down in flickr. Here's some of my recent fav's - there's been heaps though.

1. It's spring time at my place!, 2. blue_flower_skirt1, 3. Wilbur Likes Leaves, 4. Kup,Kup & Chloé, 5. Sukie, 6. Inspiring houses on flickr, 7. The diver - zippered pouch, 8. 13 birds detail, 9. table linens - day 8, 10. Scout the Shmerpi (#22) - Cuddle Arms, 11. Untitled, 12. cup of the day : feb. 21st., 13. hot chocolate, 14. Owly tea for me, 15. mini.hug#25, 16. It's Winter Time, 17. tea, 18. rewind-button, 19. Tea set, 20. "my cup of tea".

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
I'm also participating in 2 swaps. A seasonal swap and a 'you're my cup of tea' swap. They're both being organised through flickr and I'm really looking forward to both of them!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2007-02-14T17:56:00.000+11:00

AND Happy Birthday DAD! - who's not going out for dinner tonight to celebrate, because as he says - it's always a bum fight on Valentine's Day. Dad says that all the time, but now that I see it in writing - what the hell does it mean??

Back on the 4th Feb, I said I was going to post out a litte thank you surprise to an unexpected person, right? Well, I ended up getting to the post office finally TODAY. just 10 days later than expected. I think I'm going to send out a couple more of those - spread some good swap karma around and all.

Swap parcel extravaganza!!!

2007-02-13T20:36:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I got home from work to find...
1. a large parcel from Kristen stuffed behind our stone house number

Can you see all the amazing things I received? It's awesome! I love it all - and even used the bag today. It got many compliments...

and

2. a fat parcel in the letterbox full of goodies from the oh-so-charming valentine ATC swap organised by the AMAZING and GENEROUS Mary Ann

Look at all the fantastic ATC's the were chosen for me! I got lucky - not to mention all the other things that were included in the post. I had no idea they were going to go to so much trouble. It was so wonderful to receive both these parcels.

Do I feel special? Yes, I do!

Raspberry cheesecake brownies

2007-02-13T20:03:00.000+11:00

Ooh lala!

before...

after....

The recipe is from my favourite magazine - delicious. The original recipe is right here.

I screwed it up of course - and put all the sugar in the brownie instead of saving the right amount for the cheesecake. I put less sugar in the cheesecake instead. In fact, it tasted good with less sugar, so next time I make it I'll use less sugar all round.

This is what I'll try:
# 200g best quality dark chocolate (I used black and green's organic 70% cocoa cooking chocolate)
# 200g unsalted butter
# 300g sugar (200g for brownie base, 100g for cheesecake)
# 5 eggs
# 110g plain flour, sifted
# 400g cream cheese
# 1 tsp vanilla extract
# 120g raspberries (I used frozen because fresh ones are too expensive here)

I'm going to try setting the oven at 160C. Grease and line a 20 x 30cm lamington pan.
# Place the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
# Cream the butter and 200g of the caster sugar until pale, then add 3 of the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the melted chocolate, then fold in the flour. Spread three-quarters of the mixture into the lined pan.
# In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, remaining sugar and eggs and the vanilla extract until smooth, then spread over the chocolate base.
# Dollop the remaining chocolate mixture over the cream cheese layer and use a fork to swirl the chocolate. Poke the raspberries into the top and bake in the oven for about an hour or until it doesn't wobble when you jiggle it.
# Set aside to cool, then cut into squares and serve.

It was still good with too much sugar, but I'm sure it'll be heaps better next time...mmm.

dinner scrum yum

2007-02-07T19:19:00.000+11:00

This is tonight's dinner - using what was left over from the same thing Monday. It's really gooood...

Usually Taste has recipes from Delicious. magazine, but this one isn't there yet. Probably because it's from this months magazine.

The couscous is made with a chicken stock cube to add flavour and has chopped basil folded through.

The salad is shredded smoked chicken, and thinly sliced; marinated artichokes, roasted capsicum and marinated semi-dried tomatoes (which I bought at the local deli).

The salad dressing is 1/3 cup of whole egg mayonnaise mixed with a teaspoon of smokey paprika (pimenton) and 2 tbsp of water mixed together.

They suggest serving in whole lettuce cups, which looks gorgeous in their photos and probably worth it for a dinner party starter. Also serve with a thin wedge of lemon.

ENJOY!

I made another bag

2007-02-04T13:00:00.000+11:00

This is for Pieta for her 30th Birthday. She'll get it tomorrow...It was her birthday last Friday, but I warned her it was going to be late.

This little bundle of goodies is going out in the post tomorrow to someone not expecting anything. It's a little thank you pressie with some cute stuff from my stash. Hopefully she'll enjoy using them in her sewing projects.. I really love the little yellow vintage buttons. I can never get enough buttons or ribbon. I don't seem to do anything with them but horde them. Is anyone else like that? I just like looking at them.

I love rice pudding

2007-02-02T18:21:00.000+11:00

...and all versions of it that I have tried so far....mmmm. Just had a tub (150g) of sticky black rice pudding with coconut cream. Please don't ask me about how my new diet is going.

Friggin unbelievable NEWS. GREAT news! I received a parcel from Sara. We exchanged some emails last year about it - it was postmarked 27th October 2006 and I got it on 31st January 2007. Ripped open and re-sealed with 'inspected' tape - yet again. With a brochure inside telling me that Australian customs had searched my parcel because they thought there was something suss inside, but didn't take anything because THERE WASN'T ANYTHING SUSS. Crafty people are victimised! Of course she's not stashing ice or coke inside the lovely craft magazine, or injecting something noxious into the m&m's that were a sweet addition and total surprise.

The parcel was worth the wait! Sara sent me such a lovely bundle of stuff, it's really made me feel bad for my general grumbling late last year, when I was feeling sorry for myself...

This pic shows inside the cute craft book AlternaCrafts. You can get it at Amazon here.

Here's the entire loot. I had to wait for a few days for time and light to take this photo - please note the mints were not eaten and the m&m packet is still sealed and full at time of photo (I can't necessarily say that's still the case). Again, don't mention the diet, please. I love the little crochet booklet, and this is my second copy of readymade magazine. Nice.

Turning to crafty inspiration, I just logged into google reader tonight after not looking all week - there's over 100 posts to read - lordy doody. I looked at a couple though. I can recommend checking out the instructions for gorgeous trim boxes here and look at all of Geninne's wonderful hand carved stamps here.

Op shopping in Newcastle

2007-01-28T10:03:00.000+11:00

Yesterday morning I took along gram and [dragged] mum op shopping with me. First stop - was the best. We almost could've stopped there. It was my old haunt - Belmont St Vinnies. One of the few op shops still around that hasn't heard of inflation, or making some decent money from selling someone elses junk. Lucky for me! The top photo is my new smock (50c). I have another similar one I wear when washing the boys. I might wear it a lot more now. I think it's tres cute.

The single sheet set is a little disappointing. Got it at stop 2. The top pillow case is fine, but the next pillow case and sheet are awfully discoloured and stained. eiugh. I've been napisanning them overnight to see if they improve.

I'm thinking of turning this napking into a needle holder (or 2). (25c)

The quality of linen on this New Zealand tablecloth is just so beautiful. I have a teatowel (from Gram) also from NZ that is similar quality. Not stiff like our linen (and I'm not talking starch). It's a different kind of weave. ($3)

This wallet is my best find. Initially I was going to be charged 50c, but she forgot to run it and the napkin above through the till, so she gave them both to me for 50c. We saw heaps of these wallets throughout the day, ranging from $10 to $16 I think. The diary is sweet, it's blank, so I can't work out what year it was from. It was 50c too.

I liked this idea someone had - turning a linen tea towel into an apron. YAY! Someone else who cut up a tea towel to make something else. (I'm referring to my plan to make a tea towel quilted tablecloth this year). I should post photos of all my tea towels. I have over 20 now.

swap, new furniture and inspirations

2007-01-22T20:54:00.000+11:00

A weekend trip to Ikea for my sister, of course ended up costing me over $100 on stuff I didn't know I needed until a shuffled through the maze of rooms with 100,000 other Sydney-siders. What's new, huh? Besides, because it takes 3 hours minimum to get through the shop AND it always costs so much, you never end up going too often. The crowds frustrate and anger me no end. I have no patience for crowds. Ask Paul. So I got a few 'essentials' including 2 new little tables for convenient 'eating in front of the telly' time. Also convenient crafting and blogging table too, may I add!

I've finished putting together the parcel for Kristen for Ellia's Sweet Pea Valentine Swap

oooh. Wonder what's in there...I was so over the moon about how perfectly everything fitted into this recycled box I had been saving. Wonderful!

I have been so busy reading so many great blogs. Recent inspirations include (but not limited to):

This fantastic crocheted scarf at Bella Dia. When it gets colder....

Jess Hutch is now screen printing her sketches onto large pieces of fabric. Soo lovely.

Fooooood. Jennifer at Mama urchin has made the most delicious looking pizza from SCRATCH. I so want a pizza stone for our oven. I truly believe it would motivate me to make my own pizza. true.

Being the basic sewer that I am, I have not yet attempted zippers, or anything zipper related - like cute little pouches. This may change now with a little help from Claire at needle book, who has recently plunged into the zipper pouch world herself, and provided links to useful tutorials she found.

Sally (nice name) at Shim and sons is sharing with us the most beautiful pin boards - no. sewing. required.

food and craft

2007-01-21T10:53:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I visited Babycakes by Renee in Summer Hill. Ooooh - yummo! I've been wanting to visit there after first trying her signature strawberry mud cakes (above) at a work morning tea. And also after reading there review by Helen at Grab your forksome time ago, here.

I went with 2 friends, and we ordered 2 dozen ($19) with me taking the leftovers home for family. (There weren't that many left over - oh my groaning stomach.) Don't judge me because I love cake.

peppermint

marbled

jaffa

white chocolate mud

banana

Yep - see it and weep peoples. These are the 5 cakes I ate yesterday morning, washing them down with an iced chocolate (with just a little bit of cream on top). In no particular order.....I loved the peppermint and white chocolate mud cakes best. Jaffa and marbled were also good. Banana was fine - nothing to complain about, but I don't think banana cake is ever as good as banana bread. Hmm, banana bread...

I also had the terrible task of choosing which cakes to order for Jax's farewell morning tea this week at work on Wednesday. 70 cakes, excellent, but what flavours! My friends started to get shitty with me for taking too long to decide (hi girls!) so under the pressure of it all I can't remember what I ordered! I know I got 5 flavours - strawberry, white chocolate, caramel, lemon poppy seed - I hope the last one I chose was choc/peppermint. Oh well.

In other breaking news, I finished and sent off my valentine atc's for the oh-so charming valentine swap being organised by Mary Ann. These are the first 2 I made. They have a little message written on the back of the tags.

I came up with a completely different idea for the next 2. I used the heart envelope design by Martha Stewart, found here.

Inside are 3 little pictures of things I love. One envelope has foot rubs, red toenails and pretty shoes. The other has coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon and hot chocolate in the evening. There are some photos of these over at my Flickr.

I'm having heaps of fun reading through hundreds of blogs and posts now I have my feed thingy set up. It's great - but I can't keep up with it. I also still struggle to post my own stuff - partly because I don't do that much to blog, partly because it always takes so long, even to do a simple one. I really appreciate all the comments people make, but can't find a way to retrieve someone's email address so I can reply as typepad people always do. So thanks for stopping by (and reading to the end). It's very motivational!

today's inspirations

2007-01-10T19:01:00.000+11:00

I'm really loving the gorgeous and simple style of the smock tops Amanda (Soule Mama) has created from a vintage children's smock she has. I'd love to think I could work out a reasonable pattern to make some for myself.

Also lots of photos on her Flickr page.

Then, when I was checking out everything going on over at Whip Up I loved this recycled bag made by Liza from a rice sack. Why don't I ever buy my rice in such large quantities that they come in cute printed hession sacks, complete with a red ZIPPER.

So much cool stuff out there. Love it.

Photo Journal - coastal walk

2007-01-07T17:36:00.000+11:00

After many years living right on the #370 bus route, today we finally caught it all the way to Coogee Beach. It was hot (I was wearing jeans) but it was quite cloudy and overcast. We had a beautiful walk, and I'm sure I annoyed Paul by stopping every few minutes to take photos. Oh well. He's used to it by now. Here's some nice ones.
A recent memorial built at Coogee for Bali bombing victims. A lot were Coogee locals.

A shrine that has developed for the spot where the Virgin Mary was appearing on a fence post at sunset for a couple of weeks 2 or 3 years ago. An article about it is here and here.
Down at the Coogee Baths, the surf was pretty dangerous and wild.
Wouldn't it be nice to live along here...You can see the air is thick with seaspray.
Snorkelling down at Gordon Bay.

Some of the many lifesavers on duty at Clovelly Beach.
Isn't it gorgeous? Next time I'm definitely taking the cozzies for a dip in the ocean pool.

The best place on earth to be laid to rest. Waverly Cemetery. Apparently Henry Lawson is buried here and Helen Keller...(I overheard a mother telling her 7 year old son)..
Approaching Bronte. Gorgeous expensive homes.
I'd call these little picnic huts funky. And that would be a good thing. An American friend of mine uses the word funky to mean something bad. Shame shame. Such a waste of a funky word. This is at Bronte Beach.
I've got a whole photo set with lots of photos from today over in my flickr account right here.

Dinner - Grilled Barramundi and Sweet Potato Salad

2007-01-05T20:38:00.000+11:00

Dinner tonight.

I've based the sweet potato recipe on one that I found here on nine msn. I was looking for something low carb. Hate to be following a trendy diet, but anything's worth a shot within reason.

My version is a bit different.

Sticky Roasted Sweet Potato Salad (sounds nicer)
Serves 2 as a meal or 3~4 as side salad


2 small sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into chunks
Spray cooking oil
Sweet chilli sauce

Preheat hot oven (200C). Spread potato on a non-stick baking tray spray with oil and drizzle with sweet chilli oil. Bake for 40 minutes or so, checking and turning to make sure they don't burn too much.

Leave the potato to cool. While it's cooking put the rest of your salad together:


1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained
2 cups (approx) baby spinach leaves
handful of salad seeds

Dressing


200ml diet fruit flavoured yoghurt (I got the nectarine flavour)
handful of fresh coriander (cilantro?) chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice

I kept the dressing separate to the salad til the end and drizzled it over the salad and fish before serving.

Fish


2 pieces white fish with skin on (I used Barramundi)
olive oil
handful of coriander and thai basil chopped
sea salt and fresh pepper

Rub the oil into the skin and then rub in the herbs. Crack the salt and pepper over the skin too.

Grill fish skin side first until crispy looking, then turn for just a few minutes to finish cooking the fish. It's done when the flesh flakes easily when poked with a fork.

This was my fish ready to turn.

Scroll back up to the top and that's what it looked like all served, moments before we pounced on it. YUMMO. We have left over salad (enough for 1 lunch tomorrow) and the fish was so big we were completely stuffed.

mail excitement

2007-01-01T10:27:00.000+11:00

When we got back home from our family Christmas, there was a parcel waiting for me! You can imagine my excitement. It was almost better than the pressies under the tree (almost).
So, here's some promised photos of the gorgeous Japanese craft books that Ayumi sent to me. She does such a wonderful job choosing them. I admit the photos are crap, but you get the drift.
Book number 1!

I've added a couple of my favourite pages from inside. Anything to do with tea - making tea, keeping tea toasty, serving tea, afternoon tea treats to eat while drinking tea, I like. OK?

These pincushions are so excellent! If I hadn't already made something for the pincushion challenge this month, I'd make something like this. I might anyway..

Book number 2!

This kind of page is just fun to look at. I get 'stuff envy'.

This is the sweetest little bag! I'd love to think I have the sewing and Japanese reading skills left to make this winner. (All my unused Japanese is leaking out of my head faster than you can skull a Christmas flaming tequila). I have no idea where that analogy came from. I never remember the normal ones.

I just want to show off my new diary inserts too.Last years, I must unfortunately say, were a friggin disaster. Someone other than Ayumi was given the task to buy them. And that person's world of cute is um, somewhat different to mine. So close, and yet so far away. Back to safe ground again this year... phew.

Oh yeah - HAPPY NEW YEAR! YAY!

Cool Christmas

2006-12-29T14:58:00.000+11:00

Although this may be very true every year for many people out there, cool weather on chrissy day here is a godsend! Last year it was disgusting. Christmas eve and new years day were over 40 degrees and stinkin' hot. We got an aircon installed late November, preparing for the scorching, and it's been in the low 20's all week. Beautiful! I'd love summer if that's what it was all about.

I got some amazing cool gifts this Christmas. I do every year, really (mostly). My family and friends know me pretty well. It's really lovely when people get something right like that. I don't know about other people, but when someone gets something wrong (and they've tried really hard to get it right), it makes me really angry. with myself. Abnormally angry. Because no matter how hard I try, I just can't like the thing that they've chosen, but haven't got right. But this year, they all got it right, so no valium required. I love it all. The cd, the books, the perfume, the voucher for my new Blender come food processor, the bag, and everything else as well!

Gram gave me this cool bag that she made. She hasn't been feeling well lately, but was still able to whip these up for everyone in time for Christmas. We don't know how she does it....This opens up really wide. It will be perfect for an overnight bag, or carrying around a WIP when I go away for a weekend, etc. Love it. More photos of Chrissy can be seen here.
v
I've also been enjoying visiting everyone's sites leading up to Christmas, and over the holidays. Seeing how much work crafty people put into creating a unique and special time for their family and friends is great. So too is seeing everyones pressies!

We came back from Newcastle last night, and I had 2 parcels waiting for me! YAY! One was an ebay purchase for dad's Christmas present - he has it now, belated. The other is the parcel from Japan. It's sooo fantastic. 2 new craft books and 2007 diary inserts from Ayumi-chan. Onya Ayumi. Everyone's comments regarding my little sooky winge were really lovely.I appreciate them all, and will defnitely keep you all posted as the other 'items in waiting' arrive. I'll also post some photos of Ayumi's books and inserts tomorrow. The light is already fading today.Not sure where that went actually. I'm still in my pj's. oops.

[sigh] poor me...

2006-12-21T18:38:00.000+11:00

At the beginning of the month, I was so looking forward to what was going to arrive in the post over the coming weeks. Lots of parcels were due (or overdue) to arrive to me. Yippee! But for so many different reasons I didn't receive most of them.

oh dear.

Things I was hoping to get by now include - 2 parcels with embroidered tea towels from the swap-bot swap from months ago...only 1 from 3 expected parcels ever arrived. I never received a bundle for the old christmas card swap also on swap-bot - only a RUDE response from the person I rated as not sending me anything, who never denied not sending anything, mind you. Another swap-bot yet to arrive is the craft book and magazine swap, which is apparently on route via ship. I thought it should have arrived by now, and finally (I think) is my new diary inserts from Japan - which I know were being chosen and bought late last night, because I got a phone call to check exactly what size I need. I'm not worried about that not arriving, so it's just a matter of being a little patient a little longer....

I was SO EXCITED to get a fantastic box from Jo in the handmade holiday swap - which I blogged about already. I'm still enjoying the cookies and admiring the decorations I've put around the house. I got the good news that Jo's parcel arrived safe and sound too, so I can finally post her pictures here as well. (at the bottom)

I was also really really happy to receive a beautiful parcel from Shirra in the pincushion swap. I received some gorgeous soap and yarn in addition to the cute pin cushion.

Neither of these were through swap-bot, so as you might have already guessed, I've gone cold on the swap-bot for a while. I had read about other people feeling this way, but I was determined to give it a go anyway. I might go back next year, but I think I'll be pretty picky. Maybe I'll try and organise my own - and be really picky about who can join...I am definitely finding doing swaps organised by lovely people through their blogs, or flickr to be more reliable so far. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has opinions on this? I love swapping - it's a new hobby - and I'm not ready to give it up! I'm also thinking about getting a PO box next year too. Then I'll feel confident that boxes or parcels aren't being nicked off our front step.

hmmm. enough mopey. This is about stuff I like. If I want to bitch, I should just create a new blog. Ha, it would probably be quite active sometimes.

So, now I get to post the photos of Jo's needlecase. She 'hearts hearts', so I made her a needlecase with as many hearts as I could muster. I was a little disappointed I couldn't find some better heart buttons. But as we know - spotlight is crap. It did turn out pretty well (I think), and I love the stripey cotton lining (onya spotlight - sometimes).

The whole stash.

scandalous!

2006-12-18T18:55:00.000+11:00

Nothing of the sort, really. BIG IDEA - that's more like it. ooh ooh ooh, what is it? well...

My next big project might be quilting a 'new' tablecloth.

Seriously. Settle down. It's a great idea that is evolving. I've got a few vintage Aussie teatowels, and a couple of vintage tablecloths (including a ripper Goldcoast one) that are in various conditions. Some are so new the original label and starch remains, others are worn with holes and stains from years of use and tomato sauce spills. So I was thinking about creating a sort of geometric crazy quilt using all the best bits of the cloths I have.

It also gives me great purpose and validity in popping in to the op shops regularly on the way home from work. Lovely.

If you have any vintage Aussie teatowels lying around and you don't know what to do with them (especially holey ones that you can't bear to throw out), maybe I could interest you in a swap of some sort...I'm particularly interested in tea towels or tablecloths featuring towns and places. The smaller the town, the better!

Bring it on!

Christmas tree

2006-12-17T17:27:00.000+11:00

I need to feel more Christmassy in my little web world. So here's a photo of our Christmas tree. We didn't get around to pulling the rest of the decos out from boxes under the house, so this is it. Squaished in a corner. Still, at least the boys haven't peed on it yet. I thought they would have by now.

Plus, I have to send a thank you out to Dani for sending me this very cool Christmas postcard. It arrived in Friday's post. I love it.

Recipe for my Rocky Road

2006-12-17T17:09:00.000+11:00

Mmmmmm. Rocky Road - only at christmas time....

My recipe is pretty easy, cause I just use whole packets of stuff.

3 blocks of the best quality milk chocolate you can get (about 600g) - melted

1 packet macadamia nuts (at least 100g - more would be better)

1 packet mini marshmallows

1 packet Malteasers (165g)

1 box of REAL turkish delight - chopped into smaller bits (I think at least 300g)

a couple of handfuls of shredded coconut

Lay a few of the fillings around your baking tray, and mix nuts, etc through the melted chocolate before spreading it all over the baking tray. Put in the fridge to set and cut into squares with a knife when set.

I don't like cherries, so I made my own version.....it's DELICIOUS!

This is it piled into my tupperware container, waiting to go to work with me tomorrow. My little end of year pressie for my workmates.

Other yummy additions would include:

slivered almonds, chopped up peppermint patties, chopped up cherry ripes (if you like cherries), raspberry lollies, sprinkles on top to make it christmassy, white and dark chocolate swirled through (ooh - I wish I'd done that), chopped up tim tams. I think you get the drift.

4 things

2006-12-13T22:17:00.000+11:00

I've been personally invited, well, when I say 'personally', I mean Claudine from knitting box said..

"If you haven't done this yet and would like to, go for it, I'd love to know more about you. Consider yourself tagged!",

so I am.

4 things...

4 jobs I've had

- babysitter

- retail assistant

- potato peeler (lab assistant)

- translator

4 movies I could watch over and over

- 16 candles

- pretty in pink

- chocolat

- pride and prejudice (the new one)

4 places I have lived (apart from where I am now

- Tamworth

- Sasebo

- Kumamoto

- San Francisco

4 tv shows I love

- medium

- deal or no deal

- amazing race

- house

4 places I've been for vacation

- great barrier reef

- london

- ko phi phi

- mudgee

4 websites I visit daily

- gmail

- flickr

- google reader

- smh

4 favourite foods

- donuts

- sashimi

- avocado

- mushrooms

4 places I'd rather be

- bed (it's late for me...)

- canada visiting Shannon

- japan visiting Ayumi

- melbourne going shopping (tomorrow)

4 people I'm tagging

gosh - I really don't know that many bloggers, so if you've not done it either - please consider yourself tagged! (and let me know so I can go and read them!)

Recipe - Chrissy Cake

2006-12-12T07:20:00.000+11:00

I remembered on Flickr I said I would share this recipe. So here it is - ENJOY!

Super Rich Chocolate Drambuie Fruit Cake

1 quantity of mixture makes 1 23cm round cake and 6 individual cakes. Or one larger cake - a deep 25cm round or deep 23cm square cake pan. Can be made 3mths ahead - store in the fridge.

375g sultanas

375g raisins, chopped

250g currents

250g pitted prunes, chopped

250g pitted dates, chopped

125g mixed peel

140g red glace cherries, quartered

340ml Drambuie

1/3 cup honey

1tbsp grated lemon rind

250g butter

300g black sugar (eg: dark muscavado cane sugar)

6 eggs

90g dark chocolate, grated

125g pecans, chopped (plus extra whole for topping cake)

2 cups plain flour

1 cup SR flour

1/4 cup cocoa

Combine fruit, 1 cup of the Drambuie, honey and rind in a very large bowl. Cover and stand overnight or several days (I usually do it for more than a week).

Grease a 6-hole (3/4 cup capacity) Texas muffin pan, and line the base and sides of a deep 23cm round or deep 19cm square cake pan with 2 layers of paper, bringing the paper 5cm above edge of pan.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until just combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating only til combined between additions.

Stir in fruit mixture, chocolate, nuts. Add sifted dry ingredients in 2 batches. Mix well.

Place level 3/4 cup of mixture into each hole of the prepared muffin pan. Spread remaining mixture into prepared cake pan. Decorate tops with extra pecans.

Bake muffins in very slow (120 celcius) oven for about 1 1/2 hours.

Bake round cake in slow (150 celcius) oven for about 3 hours.

Bake the large cake in slow oven for about 4 1/2 hours.

Brush hot cakes with remaining Drambuie, cover hot cakes tightly with foil, cool in pans.

Suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.

Happy Birthday Gram!

2006-12-12T06:48:00.000+11:00

Today is my grandmother's 85th birthday. She's fantastic. All my craftiness comes from her. Gram has taught me how to crochet, sew and embroider. She's tried just about every type of art or craft there is - and I seem to have caught that gene as well. She's got her own computer and email account - but hasn't started her own blog - yet. So anyway, Happy Birthday Gram! See you at Christmas.

My wonderful swap partner Jo's box arrived on Friday. I wasn't able to collect it until Saturday morning, while trying to help my sister move house on Saturday morning. It was such a cute box, with little labels and notes on the outside, that I had to open it IMMEDIATELY. However, it was covered in nuclear strength packing tape and the sharpest cutting implement I had was a key. Geez, did I break into a sweat trying to open the bloody thing. Hubby stepped in, constantly muttering I should wait until after we'd gotten home, he broke into a sweat as well, but we managed to get it open. Phew. I had so much fun opening all the little pressies, and everything was so sweet and cute. Thank you again Jo. You're a champion.
By the way, the photo is incomplete, because there was a delicious box of Hershey's white chocolate cookies as well, that was devoured at the end of the day's moving house. Delicioso!

Thanks to my dear geeky hubby, my blog reading experience was recently revolutionised! Huge call, you may think, but I'm completely un-technologicaly aware. He just help me set up google reader to subscribe to all my favourite blogs. Amazing! It saves me so much time going to and fro all the blogs to see if a new post has been left. This does it for you automatically. Sorry, I'm probably telling people how to suck eggs, but maybe there's others out there as ignorant as me. maybe.

http://www.google.com/reader

On the weekend I finally baked the chrissy cakes. The recipe I use was from an Australian Women's Weekly magazine a few years back. I'm not always a fruit cake fan, but the word CHOCOLATE stood out amongst the other string of lovely words they used to describe this cake: *Super Rich Chocolate Drambuie Cake*. I can't find fault with one word in that. The recipe makes one big cake (23cm)

And 6 texas muffin sized cakes. Mmmm

I seem to be big on food, and few on craft at the moment. I *have* been crafting though. Some stuff is still secret because it hasn't arrived at it's destination, or it's for Christmas. I guess I'll have lots of made things to post after the new year. Here's a couple of really soft teddy's I've made recently. There seems to be babies everywhere these days, and these are good for tiny bubs. Very soft and no buttons. They're so cute! I like how the blue one looks scared. It will probably be an appropriate expression if a baby is sucking on his ear or something.

A pressie for me....

2006-12-01T11:38:00.000+11:00

Sorry Hubby, but the box that arrived on our doorstep from the US on your birthday, was not for you from your dear brother, but for me from a lovely swapper...

Thanks Shirra for sending me such a great bundle of stuff. I love it!

This is the wrapped version of what went in the post to Jo today. She's probably not going to get it until she's back from a trip, so I won't post the insides until later...

I wish it was winter

2006-11-28T20:12:00.000+11:00

Sorry to everyone in the northern hemisphere who is thinking the exact opposite to that thought, but I was not made for the heat. It was about 35 degrees today (celcius) and our aircon at work has broken down again, so it was stuffy and hot all day.

I'm hanging out for airconditioning man to call me this week to say that our delayed reverse-cycle airconditioning unit for home is off the ship and ready to install at home. It's my chrissy present from hubby! (He knows I won't quit bugging him til he caves anyway, so he's kindly relented before the real heat sets in (and the waiting time for installation grows by weeks).

OK enough whinging. I have other more important things to post about. Firstly - we had a bbq on the weekend (kind of for hubby's birthday, and kind of to celebrate a partially renovated courtyard). I made a few things - the most spectacular being my decorated PAVLOVA - topped with double cream, mango slices, lychees and fresh raspberries. YUMMO. But I didn't get a chance to take a photo! I was finishing it off when the first guests started to arrive. I did get a photo of a new tomato salad recipe I tried. Looked pretty good and was dead easy to make:

900g vine ripened tomatoes, sliced thick

200g marinated mixed olives

60g fresh Greek feta cheese

arrange the tomatoes starting from the outside edge and work your way in. sprinkle over the olives and the marinating oil. Then crumble over the feta in the middle area.

I've also been working madly to make a special pressie for Jo, my partner in the Handmade Holiday Swap over at gingillo. Jo's already been peeking at Flickr! She's not going to see any more than this until the parcle arrives on her cute doorstep!

I'm going to end this post with a photo of one of my favourite things - op shop finds! I've gotten right back into it recently, inspired by all these crafty and thrifty bloggers I've been looking at. These are some things I've found lately! I love the 1970 Aussie bird calendar tea towel I found recently (in the middle). It's brand new with original shop tag and everything. I'm waiting for the perfect swap opportunity for it. Contact me if you want to do a direct opshopswap...

Last weekend in Victoria

2006-11-16T12:25:00.000+11:00

We had a great weekend in Victoria. Hired a car and spent Friday night in Healesville in the Yarra Valley wine region. It's really beautiful. Very different to the Hunter Valley. We stayed in a gorgeous cottage called Studio Evolving. I got loads of photos, which are all on my flickr, but I'll stick a couple here too.

The place is owned and operated by a couple, John and Marigold who also teach yoga and Alexander Technique - including learning to ride horses using Alexander Technique. So, the house had a really lovely zen feel.

They also supplied one of the best selection of foods for the cook-your-own-breakfast, that I think I have ever seen (no meat). Almost entirely organic produce, a large basket full of eggs from their own hens, delicious leaf teas, gourmet biscuits, the list goes on. And the kitchen had everything you needed to cook whatever took your fancy, if you'd been out and about and bought stacks of local produce during the day.

There horses were beautiful too. Especially young Heidi who walked straight over to us when we were out strolling in their grounds.

By the way, the beautiful flowers arranged throughout the house were from Marigold's garden.

We went down into Melbourne for the rest of the weekend. Staying with my sister Lauren. She wanted a mention here, even though we have proven she doesn't bother to read her big sister's blog! Lauren gave me a couple of CD's to listen to. I haven't stopped listening to Serge Gainsbourg yet. Especially today as I sit at home with a terrible cold that I'm pretty sure we got from the Hickey's...it was worth holding bubs though.

Finally - saved especially til last. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM.

Bill's hotcakes

2006-11-07T21:08:00.000+11:00

MmMmmmmm. I made Bill Granger's famous ricotta hotcakes for the first time on the weekend. The link goes directly to the recipe - which you must try. Of course, you must make sure you use good quality, fresh ricotta please!

I just realised I haven't uploaded the photo I took of my own 'interpretation'. Guess that'll have to wait.

Gotta love Bill.

Photos as promised.

I put loads of icing sugar on them because I didn't make the supersweet honeycomb butter to melt on the top.

It's meant to look like that

2006-11-06T17:45:00.000+11:00

Ahh, dear. I'm really very pleased with myself. I used patterns from a Japanese craft book I own and made 2 different bags. One is a reversible bag, with the handle sporting a raw edge. I used it today (and yesterday) and felt I had to explain to everyone that "it's meant to look like that". Just because I made it myself and didn't buy it from a shop. People tend to think that I just haven't quite finished it off. Not my sister though, who thinks it looks quite fab.

Just to show what a 'real' one is supposed to look like, this is the sample one in the craft book. Isn't it gorgeous. I added creative license with the addition of a pocket on the 'inside',

This is it next to the other bag I made. I couldn't get a decent photo of it unfortunately.

Likewise with the book sample, I couldn't get a decent photo of it either. I made a little variation on this by making a fabric strap rather then a crocheted strap. I'm really looking forward to making more now. They turned out better than I could have hoped for really.

I have to finish this with a photo I took last Friday in the main quad on campus (where I work). The Jacaranda is in full bloom and looks magnificent. The campus is absolutely at it's best this time of year. The rain over the weekend has really made lots of the flowers drop, so it's almost all over for another year.

Eating in the A.M.

2006-10-29T16:28:00.000+11:00

There's been lots of lovely food occasions in the last week. First was on Wednesday. Work hosted a pink morning tea to raise money for breast cancer research. Lots of people in the office took something along for morning tea and everyone who attended was asked to donate a minimum gold coin. I wanted to do something both pink and breast related and thought up these little pink boobies. They are just marshamallows with melted white chocolate (with pink tint) dunked on their tops and little pieces of musk placed on top.

I was shocked at how realistic they turned out though - OOPS! Luckily everyone thought they were funny though. They all got eaten too (mostly by the women I think). I didn't even get to try one! The morning tea raised over $500, which is a great effort.

The little cakes in the big white box were THE BEST. I discovered they were bought from a local cake shop called Babycakes. Her website isn't the best yet, but she can be forgiven as her talent is obviously baking. They were little strawberry mud cakes. Yummo!

Quite a good spread, don't you think? You can see the boobies on the table. Looking dodgy. The huge tray of bikkies at the front are special pink ribbon day Tim Tams with a pink centre.

My other yummy food morning was this morning. We had some frinds over for brunch. I made crepes last night and roasted up capsicum, eggplant and tomatoes. I also baked a beautiful ricotta cheese (a recipe I learned recently) and then last night I also baked a really yummy blood orange marmalade and yoghurt cake (from the September issue of delicious. The cover this month is a chocolate crepe cake. OMIGOD. I'm dying to have an excuse to try that one.

The weather was lovely - although a little bit cool. The weather is generally all over the shop at the moment. I had to include this photo because the boys look so cute under the table.

Lovely food. Choco-banana crepes are my favourite!

Sleepy Boys

2006-10-20T20:20:00.000+10:00

The little fellas are just so cute. I had to take a photo of them last night zonkered on the lounge with dad while we were watching Survivor Cook Islands (Australia is a little behind the US).

Very sleepy OBI-Kun in his favourite squeezy spot in front of the telly.

And my sweet little Haguki.

3 firsts

2006-10-17T21:18:00.000+10:00

What a fabulous week we've just had. We travelled to the Whitsunday's (Great Barrier Reef) for the first time last week. Hubby's work hosted a 'conference' up there with partners and families invited along all expenses paid. Nice work! Thanks MF! We stayed on Daydream Island. Full of kids - so not that much daydreaming peace going around, but incredibly beautiful and relaxing.

One day was spent on a catamaran travelling around the islands, with a stop at Whitehaven Beach, which they said was voted in the top 10 beaches around the world. We ended the day at Lover's Cove on Daydream watching the sunset with some of the other couples, sipping champagne.... arrrhhhh lovely.

(see the coral we're sitting on?)
Being such a tropical spot, with beautiful beaches for sunbaking and lots of swimming pools, etc. I wasn't sure if everyone else on the trip was going to want to lie around in the sun all day, so I took some sewing to do just in case....turns out I only had a short time to really do anything. I embroidered my first tshirt (first number two) and used a freebie pattern of a kitty (first number 3). I wore the tshirt straight away of course. Hubby thought it was cute (and I funny - what's new) . I was really pleased with it.

This is a photo of the ribbons I posted off last week before the holiday. I hope the recipients like them. I received my 2 packages yesterday and today, but I haven't got a photo of them. Lots of new bits or ribbon to add to my ever growing collection. Surprise, surprise - hubby thinks I'm funny doing swaps for things like ribbon and getting little packages from all over the world (USA and Norway this time).

Jugs

2006-10-09T10:41:00.000+10:00

I have a slight addiction for jugs. These 2 are little creamer jugs. The first one is a turi-design from Norway. It's is simply gorgeous! I bought it from a lassie at the Annandale Pub markets a couple of months back. She had 2 for sale. I really wanted both, but showed constraint and just bought 1.

The other little jug was only 50c at a local garage sale. So cute! You can even see my reflection in it taking the photo.

Who has the time?

2006-10-08T15:41:00.000+10:00

I must admit, I'm finding it tough to keep up with everything I want to do. Although I'm posting pretty regularly (for me) I can't see how long this is going to last....work is fairly quiet at the moment, which is nice for a change, but it means I've got more time (energy) to do this stuff. My other dilema is what to do in the time I have - read all the fantastic blogs I've been finding, search all the groups and contacts on flickr I've discovered, make stuff!, post stuff that I've made - mostly so I can keep in the loop of all the talent and join in with all the cool swaps and other challenges etc. I'm tired thinking about it.

Speaking of swaps - this is the little bundle I wrapped up for the old christmas card swap on swap-bot. I'm looking forward to seeing where I receive old chrissy cards from....my bundle included stickers, tags and cards. Some cards were REALLY old, but not quite vintage - what would you call the 80's? I also included an 'aussie' card I had left over too.

Moving on to finished projects. Ta da! I've got 2! The first is the hanging mobile made for the little nephew yet to arrive. He should be here in no time (a few weeks).

My other finished project is just for something to do, I guess. I found this really lovely frame at Ikea last weekend and thought it would be perfect for a little embroidery project. I can fill my time making these while I work out how embroidering onto tshirts and other stretchy fabrics works. I'm slightly confused by all the posts and info people put onto craftster and our shops, spotlight or lincraft don't have half the stuff that they talk about, so I can't see what the difference is...Anyway, back to the topic of something that I've finished. I really think it turned out pretty good. Hubby thinks so too. He's seen me sitting around making it all week, but when I put it in the frame, he was all "wow, that's really good!" (total surprise). Hmm.

If anyone is reading this and would like to comment, that would be really nice of you. (as long as it's not going to scar me for life).

WIP

2006-09-30T10:26:00.000+10:00

I couldn't walk past these beautiful sweetpeas the other day. They have the slightest hint of pink and they smell divine! Standing next to them is my beautiful lady that grandma made a few years ago. She painted her and hand sewed the beaded skirt, which you can't see properly, but it's gorgeous. She later discovered she had cateracts in her eyes (which has now been corrected) - yet she still managed to make such beautiful work.

This is my WIP. I now have 5 vehicles (a car is separate) embroidered and ready for making into little stuffed thingos. The thingos will be transformed into a hanging mobile. This will be a gift for my soon to arrive, very first ever nephew!

Here's a close up of the police car...

All of which was started because mummy drives an ambulance (and daddy used to drive a truck). The drawings I did freehand but was inspired by drawings I saw here on the web at Richard Neuman Prints. I'm sure I'll post the finished object sometime soon...

Heaps of stuff

2006-09-27T21:09:00.000+10:00

I had trouble getting into blogger yesterday, when I had more energy and actually was in the mood for posting stuff. Tonight I'm a bit tired...but I'm here anyway. I'm still working on getting our money back from the disasterous concert in newcastle, but the online booking company seem quite OK so far.

I recently found some photos and information about PINCUSHIONS. Very high tech stuff, I assure you. I've read through some tutorials and made my first pincushion the other day to submit to the Pincushion Challenge. It's a recycled theme, and hopefully by submitting a photo of my attempt, I can qualify to join the pincushion swap happening next month! YAY! More swaps. Here's my pincushion. Isn't it cute?

Last week or so I sent off all the tea towels I embroidered for the tea towel swap on swap-bot. I tried to wrap them nicely

but then I had to squish them into the envelopes anyway...This first photo is of the last one that I finished. It was for a person who said she liked coffee/tea/food type images. I hope she likes this.

The banner was inspired by Floresita who has embroidered many beautiful banners. The next one I finished first in Berry. I received an email today to say that it had arrived, which is great.

Seems like it was a hit, so I'm very relieved - she did say she's like flowers (and was easy to please). The last one was made to go into a vintage/old style home. I started in the cottage in Berry and felt that although it's not traditionally 'old', it still had a vintage feel to it. Hope she likes it!

It's actually my favourite, so it was hard to give away...

Last photo for today is me proudly showing off my tea bags that I received in the tea bag swap. Unfortunately Australian Quarantine got to 2 of the parcels and confiscated ALL the teabags from one of the parcels...Oh well. I'm glad I got some at all in the end.

Thanks to everyone who sent me tea!

Weekend in Newcastle

2006-09-25T08:37:00.000+10:00

What a tiring weekend. 3 cars went up - I was followed by Karin and Tom from Austria as they were starting their holiday around Australia. The 3rd car had Fiona, Pieta and Michelle. Our mission? To have a grand night out to see Pony Up (Montreal, Canada) and Starky (Australian) play. Did it happen? NO! It bloody well didn't! Why? The manager of the Northern Star Hotel on Beaumont St Hamilton (fat, slobby, unprofessional, brown hair in an outgrown faux hawk, pin dick (I'm basing this on his intelligence)) is a complete cockhead. We were a group of 9 people, the youngest being 23. 4 of our group were from Austria. The security guards took it upon their discretion to refuse Thomas' entry as they didn't recognise his Austrian drivers license as being Authentic. They actually told us he needed a NSW drivers licence or proof of age card to be permitted entry. WHAT!!!!!! It was his BIRTHDAY to top things off. No amount of reason or logic sufficed with this idiot. He was too busy stuffing his face with food and speaking to us with his mouth full to listen to us. I would like to argue that if Pony Up had been carded, they too would not have been granted entry to their own gig. They look pretty young, and I would be very surprised if they carried their passports with them. I guess the security guards at the Northern Star in Hamilton are pretty up to date with each countries passports (in terms of their authenticity) as opposed to drivers licenses. How silly of us!

So anyway, I guess I'm saying, if you're thinking of seeing some quality music performed live in Newcastle - in particular the Northern Star Hotel in Beaumont St Hamilton, make sure you're all white, born and bred Australians with a NSW drivers licence. Preferably residing in the Newcastle region - as outsiders are pretty much not welcome and you cannot guaranteee that they will deem your ID 'real or fake'.

Apart from that - and being refused a table at the Northern Star Italian Restaurant a few doors down because we were a group of 9 and their maximum is 8 - a larger group like ours is an OHS risk apparently, we managed to recover our miserable introduction to Newcastle and bought some wine (we weren't asked for ID) and headed back to Valentine to chill out for the rest of the night. HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOMAS!

I'd just like to point out that we were not drunk or intoxicated in any way. We'd driven up from Sydney around lunch time, did some sightseeing and headed to the beach before going to Hamilton to enjoy our night out.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a nice day up in Nelson Bay/Tea Gardens. It was sooo hot (flet at least 35) and we didn't have much time to hang around, but we got a glimpse of some dolphins from the ferry and had a pretty lazy day. I'm exhausted from all the driving though. Hoping to recover today.

No photos. Paul has the camera and he is in Kyiv, Ukraine. Back tomorrow. Looking forward to hearing about the trip and seeing some photos (if he remembered to take any...)

My talented sister

2006-09-20T19:57:00.000+10:00

My sister Lauren has just launched her new online portfolio. She's a music photographer based in Melbourne. She's bloody good at what she does and she's recently bought herself a kickarse camera, so things have really taken off. Her portfolio shows off some of her photography, so make sure you take some time to look around.
http://www.laurenbamford.com

Here's a sneak peek:

Happy hook holder

2006-09-16T13:30:00.000+10:00

A while back while browsing around, I came across this photo from a Japanese craft book showing a untensil holder made from linen.

It was just the sort of thing I was wanting to make to keep all my crochet hooks organised and in one place. Up til now, they were just loose in the bottom of about 3 different bags or with whatever I was making with them at the time. I never knew what I actually had. I'd go to spotlight and get all excited about seeing hooks there and buy the ones I thought I didn't have. Well, now that I'm so well organised I can see how many bloody size 3 hooks I bought. Most still in the packet. I don't think I've ever even used one of them! Typical. Anyway, they can be given away to people who want to learn how to crochet, etc.

So, here is the hook pouch/holder whatever you want to call it, that I made. I didn't have a sewing machine when I made it, so it's all hand sewn. I could've made something a bit more like the one in the picture with a machine, but I like the roughness of this anyway.

I've since bought the book (ala the photos above). I don't have any other photos from it to post today, but I will another time. It's got some beautiful ideas in it. Here's a photo of the cover if you're interested. I can't remember where I saw it online unfortunately.

Red Hat landed

2006-09-13T19:39:00.000+10:00

Yay! I got a parcel in the letterbox today. I love getting mail and parcels are the best! I got my beanie from the beanie swap. It's so beautiful. A lovely thick yarn in various shades of red and grey. It's really warm, so there's no way I can wear it again this year. I'm looking forward to trying it out next winter. Let's hope it gets cold enough.

Here it is:

I've also got all my teabags packaged up and ready to post out for my next swap. They're going to the US, Germany and the Czech Republic. Great stuff. I need to get the tea towels wrapped, but I'll do that on the weekend.

Tea towels are a go

2006-09-12T19:06:00.000+10:00

I'm on track with the swap thingo. My 3 tea towels are all stitched up. They're laying about in different parts of the house at the moment. My 3 swappees are located in the US and UK...so it will be interesting to see how much it costs for postage. Shouldn't be too bad. I'm looking forward to wrapping them all pretty and sending them off.

The beanie went last week. According to that swap, not everyone has sent their beanie yet and the send by date was September 10. Been and gone baby....what's the deal with that, I wonder? Here's the bundle I sent..

Oh, OK I might as well post the picture of what was inside as well. It's very unlikely that the recipient will see this before they receive the parcel anyway. I guess it should be there in the next few days. It was sent to a swappee in NY state.

Not the greatest wrapping, but I was quite rushed. It's OK. I sent 2 beanies though, cause I couldn't decide which one would be better. The sizes are quite different too, so again, I wasn't sure which one would be a better fit for my person. Anyway, it christened me into swapping. I must admit that I am hanging out to receive my first parcel...hurry up beanie!

Inevitable

2006-09-09T09:59:00.000+10:00

Um. Maybe I should put a language warning on that last posts link....I't my favourite quote from Team America, which happens to be one of my favourite movies. So bloody funny. I didn't realise you tube had such a great range of clips from the movie. If you haven't seen it and you like South Park . You HAVE to. I piss myself every time.

Here's another favourite bit from the movie: Haans Blix

This definitely has a language warning!

Flat Fairies

2006-09-09T09:19:00.000+10:00

So I've got these 4 flat fairies that I embroidered years and years ago. I started them in the US when I was living there with Paul, so I guess that makes it 96? Anyway, I never really knew what I was going to do with them, and now I still don't know what I want to do with them. I'd really appreciate some creative ideas from all the creative crafters out there....

This one is the first one I made and also a favourite. I was really able to add everything in to her as there were no others to compare her to. I was experimenting with new stitches to see how they looked, etc.

This one is my next favourite. I love French knot stitch. The way you can tone shades and create such a rich dense colour. Just like my favourite paint is guache...thick even colour. It took a lot of time, but I was inspired by some landscape garden type embroidery that I'd seen somewhere. The whole picture was french knots and showed a view of an english country garden. So much work! My flat fairy is nothing in comparison.

This one I tried to come up with a new hair style. It's OK. Nothing could beat the hair of my first fairy though. Maybe I should have succumbed to the inevitable and done all their hair the same. It's how I always draw my flat fairies after all...

This is the last flat fairy I made. Again, I began searching for some new way of creating her hair (you can see the similarity to flat fairy number 1) and decided I needed to try more of the beading look. She's a bit skinny. Or there's not enough
body in her skirt or maybe it's just there's not enough variety of colour in her dress. Anyway. She's the least favourite. Poor thing. It's not her fault she's not as cool as the other girls...

So, that's them! I was thinking of putting them as blocks into a quilt. Or using them as panels on little cushions that might feature on a bed. Or little pillow/cushions with a hook and filled with lavendar or something to hang on a wall in the bedroom to smell nice. This idea at Wee Wonderfuls was another thought. Making them into little weird flat stuffed fairies. There's something cute about that idea, no?

Softie Scotty Dog

2006-09-02T18:15:00.000+10:00

I recently found this pattern on All Sorts blog. It is so easy and so cute. I made these two little guys - the white once has been given to Pa today as part of his Father's Day present.

(Can you see I added an authentic poopie hole?)

Pa loves little Haguki best (who's asleep at my feet as I type), but he's not allowed to have a pet in the villa where he and Gram live, so I thought he'd like this one.

Jenny's Allsorts blog is so bloody excellent! I would love to be so creative and web-skilled to develop such an interesting blog. I don't know how people find the time to keep them up though. I'm struggling to add a post every couple of weeks!

Back from Berry!

2006-08-28T17:44:00.000+10:00

We just had the most relaxing and lovely long weekend in Berry. We stayed in Mullengrove Cottage on top of Berry Mountain. re-Built and managed by Kevin and Sue-Ellen, the cottage is gorgeous. Nestled in a secluded spot on their organic farm, with no TV and an open fire, you couldn't help but enjoy the surroundings. I'll pop in some photos to give you a glimpse.

We made scones in the 'early kooka' as well. Delicious!

Sally the swapper

2006-08-28T15:34:00.000+10:00

Hip and with it girl that I am, I have just signed up for my first two swaps. Yep, I'm jumping in to the deep end here and decided to go full swing! Through swap-bot of course, my first 2 challenges are: 1. embroidered tea towel swap. (cool) and 2. beanie swap (easy). I have to embroider 3 tea towels. I've finished one already this weekend. It's lovely. According to me. I hope the recipient will like it too. I'd put a photo up, but that might spoil the surprise for someone. Only 9 people signed up so far. What are people doing out there? This is obviously the one to be in! How cool is it going to be to receive 3 embroidered tea towels from somewhere?

Ma' boys

2006-07-29T13:24:00.000+10:00

OBI-kun and Haguki are my main lil' fellas. They're cutie petuties. Everyone loves them because they're irresistable.

Sukiyaki

2006-07-01T12:01:00.000+10:00

Possibly one of my all time favourite Japanese meals! It's definitely a winter time favourite. I love hosting Sukiyaki parties at my place. So far this winter there has only been 1 and it was a vegetarian version. I was wondering if the flavours would be as rich without the beef, but it was still fantastic!

Check out this link from about.com to read a bit more about Sukiyaki. Here is a photo I've borrowed from:
http://be.asahi.com/20050115/W23/0006.html

Here is my recipe for the Warishita (Broth)

1 cup dashi;

1/2 cup soy sauce;

1/2 cup mirin;

4 tbsp sugar

I usually have an extra cup of dashi on standby for refilling the pot if it dries out a little during the cooking process.

Ingredients

500g very thin (wafer thin) sliced beef (marbled with fat is best);
shiitake mushrooms - whole or cut in half if they're big;

enoki mushrooms - small heads are better;

firm tofu - sliced into rectangle portions;

shallots - cut into 5cm lengths;

1/2 chinese cabbage (hakusai) - chopped into 3 cm thickness;

udon noodles (up to 3 packets - everyone loves them);

1 fresh egg for each person eating, beaten in a small bowl (optional);

boiled rice to accompany meal.

Mix together the broth and bring it to a simmer in a pot in the centre of the table. Add ingredients to the pot (enough to fill the pot one layer) and let them cook (while you chat and drink some wine or sake) before removing, dipping into your beaten raw egg and eating. After a while the raw egg mixture tends to disappear and you have a dipping sauce mixed from the borth and the egg together. Keep adding more ingredients as you go so there is always something cooked for people to take and eat. The meat cooks really fast, so put that in just as you're ready to eat it. The extra udon noodles are great to add at the very end. It's usually everyone's favourite bit and the noodles soak up the remaining broth for everyone to polish off. The longer they're left in there, the better they become. YUMMO!

Crochet Reversible Rug

2006-06-17T11:01:00.000+10:00

I have finally finished my reversible rug! It was basically completed last winter, except for all the fiddly ends, which I found the patience to tuck in over the last few days. It looks great (if I do say so myself). I'm really pleased with it and love the tones of the red and orange.

It's a very heavy rug, with about 1.2kg of wool in it. It was not supposed to be so heavy, but I'm a tight crocheter and probably should have used a size 5 or 6 hook, rather than the recommended size 4.

As you can see from the photos, the rug look red on one side and orange on the other - thus 'reversible'. My gram made one in black and white, which shows off the effect much more clearly, but I like the subtley of the colours I used.

This is a close up of the red side.

Crochet cuffs

2006-06-13T22:03:00.000+10:00

These were my craze for summer.

Cotton crocheted cuffs with vintage buttons. I lerv them. I'm into winter woolies again now - beanies mostly, but about to start on a cool afghan rug. No photos of beanies just yet. Hubby has been OS with camera and just returned with it today (possibly busted) - we'll see....

Cupcakes

2006-06-10T09:20:00.000+10:00

I'm starting to make a name for myself in my social circle as the cupcake girl. I have been the giant chocolate cake girl for a while, and also the chocolate malt brownie girl. Now I'm into cupcakes. It's quite an established repertiore really. Friends have quite a selection to choose from when asking me to bake something for a party...I've already chosen what I'm going to make next..black bottom cupcakes. They combine 3 or my favourite things. Chocolate cake, cupcake and cheesecake. Perfect! I found a recipe online yesterday. I just don't know when I'll get a chance to make them. I'll be at M&D's this weekend. Maybe I can cook them there....

Here's a photo of some cupcakes I made for K's babyshower.

Cupcake Recipe (Butter Cake)

125g butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup castor sugar (fine sugar)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup milk

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. stir in half the sifted flour and milk, then fold the rest through. 180 degrees pre-heated oven. Increase to 190 if you want your cakes to be 'peaked'. Bake for 15 minutes or so. I usually make 12 muffin size cakes from this.

Icing: I use 60g cream cheese, 30g butter and a cup of icing sugar. Mix together and add a couple of drops of food colouring if you like.

Leadlighting Project

2006-06-08T18:28:00.000+10:00

If I'm going to do anything with this blog, I'd like to be able to show off some of my crafty projects. A few months ago now I did another leadlight course at the community college. The last one I did was over 2 years ago, so I'd forgotten most of what I'd learnt. Here are the 2 new windows I made. They still need puttying, cleaning and polishing. I will do it soon! Then my FIL can put them up for us!

This one is for above our front door:

This one matches our bedroom and is for the fanlight in the spare bedroom:

Self portrait Tuesday (on Saturday)

2006-01-28T17:28:00.000+11:00

Here is my first attempt at self portrait tuesday - my personal history. This is me circa 1978. Looking trez cool and posing in one of my tap concert costumes. I remember the sequins scratched my stomach and I thought the outfit looked stupid and unflattering. I was told to pose and smile for the photo - so I did. :)

Nobbys

2006-01-28T15:50:00.000+11:00

Nobbys Beach in Newcastle over Christmas time, 2005. We happened to come by as there were over 20 people out kite surfing. It looked amazing.

Our canyoning/abseiling adventure

2006-01-26T20:40:00.000+11:00

I was very brave last weekend and pushed the boundaries to join some friends on a canyoning and abseiling day with a company in the blue mountains - BMA. I'm afraid of heights, but had always wanted to aseil. The idea of canyoning was frightening, but sounded way cool and so far removed from my typical weekend I had to give it a go.

The week leading up to the weekend was miserable and very wet. I was worried the trip SHOULD be cancelled but wouldn't be and I was going to slip and break my neck or something. The pinnacle of the days adventure was a 30 metre abseil through a waterfall!!! Couldn't get photos of this due to light and the little disposable waterproof camera, but we did get a couple of good photos.

the start of something small

2006-01-23T21:33:00.000+11:00

here goes nothing - at least as far as an interesting blog goes!