What a Weekend!

We had a rather eventful weekend, which resulted in two ambulances careening up our driveway at 5:30 in the morning to wheel away a rather sorry feeling patient. 

We had a few friends over on Saturday who decided to bunk in for the night, after dinner and perhaps a few too many drinks.  A few hours after we had all tucked ourselves into bed, my friend's fiance required a bathroom stop, but unfortunately in his half-asleep and possibly slightly still intoxicated state, forgot where he was and turned left instead of right at the bedroom door and proceeded to try and walk straight down the stair case.  Unfortunately, attempting to walk down steps instead of actually stepping down them meant he ended up tumbling down the entire flight, hitting the bannister with such force that he somehow dislodged and dented it, and continued tumbling down until he landed face first into the tiled floor at the bottom.

I was woken up by the sound of my friend screaming in panic whilst her fiance was bleeding heavily from a massive gash in his neck.  The sheer force of the fall meant that he split right through all layers, to the point where the jaw bone and other innards were visible. 

Almost luckily, I had crawled into bed that night (or morning) minus any clothing, as I'd stored my pyjamas in the spare room upstairs were my friends were sleeping.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as if I had been fully clothed I would most likely to have been the first one out the door to see what the commotion was about.  Instead, I roused Liam from his slumber (no mean feat!) and let him investigate. 

Whilst he did this, I ran to the wardrobe to find some clothing while Liam was on the phone to emergency services.  I could hear him describing the amount of blood all over the floors, and as I frantically fumbled around to find some pants, it dawned on me that the worst possible thing I could do for everyone would be to go out and try to "help".  Let me put it this way - not long ago my mother ended up passing out and hitting her head on the side of the wall, face planting into the tiles giving herself a nice big black eye, all as a result of the sight of a little blood oozing from a small cut on her hand.  We are NOTORIOUSLY bad at handling the sight of blood in my family, and the carnage at the bottom of my steps would almost certainly mean that there would be two people lying on the ground to take care of rather than one!

Thank God for Liam and his calm demeanour!  He has seen enough blood in his lifetime that the sight that greeted him left him completely unphased.  He was so great with it, as he calmly assessed the situation and tried to calm down my friends while they waited for the ambulance.  Unfortunately all I could do was listen to it from the bedroom, but he handled it all with such ease and managed to stay level-headed.  I was so proud of the way he looked after everyone, and kept everyone calm until the paramedics arrived!

Thankfully there was no permanent damage done.  Numerous tests were done, and although surgery was required to mend the gigantic gash it should all heal up nicely save for some scarring.  But as Liam says, chicks dig scars! :)

Anyway... now for the more mundane parts of my weekend! Friday night.

This -

Plus this -

Equals this!

Liam cooked up this yummy paella for dinner.  I have leftovers for lunch today, and I am so looking forward to it! I usually take care of all the cooking in our house because I love it, but I think from now on I'm going to make him cook for me once a week!

I didn't completely reounce my duties in the kitchen, however!

I baked a big batch of these scrummy choc-chip cookies to fill my cookie jar with!  It was such an easy and tasty recipe that I decided to do a few batches and handed them out to my new neighbours and family.  More to come on the cookies later!

Liam was absolutely ecstatic with a Hawthorn win this weekend, which means a Sydney vs Hawthorn Grand Final next week!  We're holding a BBQ, and Liam has already started decorating the house in preparation...

I'm really looking forward to having some of our closest friends come over to watch what should be a riveting game next week! I only hope to rain will hold off... PLEASE Melbourne!

What are your plans for the big day next weekend? xx

Wordless Wednesday : Our Local

One of the things we will miss most when we move to the other side of town.

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Family Feasting!

This weekend we are going away with family for a mini-getaway down to the country side.  Ever since we were children, our 4 families used to take the opportunity to go away on a big group holiday so that the adults could catch up and enjoy each others company and the kids could play together and wreak havoc!

With my Aunty visting from overseas, we thought it would be the perfect chance to all get together for a weekend of fun again.  Circumstances have changed, families have moved overseas, children have grown up and gone interstate, and various partners have been added to the mix.  Still, sixteen of us (plus my little elderly pup) will be heading down to inland Lorne for the weekend, and I cannot wait!

There is sure to be lots of fun, laughter, and copious amounts of food - these are the prerequisites every time we get together!

If there is one thing that my family is all about, it is definitely food!

We love nothing more than to sit around the table with those that we love and indulge in a fabulous meal, cooked with love.  My childhood reminiscence is highlighted with memories of my grandmother's extravagant meals... the whole family crowding around a long dining table, overflowing and groaning under the weight of the delicious dishes which she had spent days in the kitchen preparing.  Literally days!  My grandfather would often spend his Wednesday mornings at the markets buying the ingredients that were neede, and my grandma would spend the next few days preparing for Friday night dinner.

On this more recent occasion, some of my family met up at my Aunt's house for a family catch up and to say goodbye to my cousin before she moved to Canberra.  Of course where my family is concerned, at any catch up you can be sure there is a feast to be had!

Homemade tangy tomato salsa, a colourful roast vegetable & couscous salad, sweet corn on the cob, crispy potatoes, meaty mushrooms, and a beautiful (there's that Masterchef catch word again!) rare roast beef. 

Can anyone say YUM?!  This meal was perfection.  But it didn't end there...

Of course there's dessert!  A lovely fresh fruit platted for the more health conscious.  And for the rest of us (and nobody could resist a piece!) a gorgeous baked ricotta cheesecake.  My cousin made this, and served it up with double cream.  It was SO good - really fluffy and light tasting.  Not so light on the hips though, I'm sure!

I love catching up with my family.  Not only for the food, although it is one very big bonus!  But spending an evening surrounded by the people that you care about, and consuming mass amounts of tasty morsels!  What could be better?

I can't wait for this weekend! :)

Wordless Wednesday : Super Saturday!

 

Maybe I'm getting old, but this hearty meal by an open fire, a mango cider in my hand and the footy on the TV (not to mention a fantastic win!) equalled a pretty perfect night to me... what a Super Saturday!

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Back to Blogging!

You may (or you may not!) have noticed my slight absence from the blogging scene.  In addition to being hectic busy lately, I have also experienced what can only be described as blogger's block.  Each time I thought about wanting to write a post, my brain would draw a complete blank!

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post! My mind over the past couple of weeks has been consumed mostly with house business, which I did not want to talk about since there was nothing really to tell, but also did not want to speak negatively of in case I jinxed myself!

Either way, whatever my superstitions were, it appears they did not pay off.  Unfortunately the vendors have been rather stubborn in what they are asking for the property, and given the current market conditions and property prices in general, I am unwilling to budge and give those extra dollars they are holding out for.  The real estate agent is hopeful given a bit more time that we can all come to an agreement, but I think I am all negotiated out when it comes to this!

No matter.  We've seen another lovely place over the weekend, and whilst it doesn't have the wow or pizazz that the other property pulled me in with, it does come with more space and much more of a homely feel to it.  We're going to try to arrange a second inspection this week, and then the deliberations will begin on whether to put in an offer.

Anyway, in my brief absence...

I've cooked some tasty food.

I've ordered some unhealthy food.

I've procured some lovely new boots.

And I've spent hours poring over copious amounts of paperwork!

I hope you've all been keeping safe.  Time to catch up with all of your blogs now!

Another Weekend Gone By

Monday again... (whoops, so I started writing this on Monday but didn't quite get it finished!)

I feel like every week I seem to be repeating myself.  Colleagues will ask me how my weekend was, and every week my answer is the same "good, but not long enough!" ugh!

Friday night we headed out with a few friends to see the Butterfly Effect live.

What a fantastic gig! Unfortunately, the Effected tour is their final as a group as the singer is leaving to pursue other things. Mega sadface!

We were lucky enough to meet the group after the gig... top blokes!

I didn't have anything for them to sign, as they took the tickets from us at the door! Instead I rummaged around in my handbag and found the box from my Essendon radio.  Although not the usual fan merchandise that they're used to, they willingly obliged and signed the little cardboard box for me.  Glenn did flip the box over and realise, so we had a nice chat about his supercoach team!

Whilst I did that, Liam papped away and managed to capture a few blurry shots for me. 

We were one of the last people to meet them (I think you actually needed a VIP ticket to do that, but we managed to talk our way through security!) and had the chance to have a chat with Clint about his last shows with the band, and scored a hug as we said goodbye.

After the gig we headed to a bar near by...

...and consumed these shots as well as copious amounts of other various beverages.

These delightful little drinks were part of the reason I was feeling a little worse for wear on Saturday morning, and needed a hearty dose of this to remedy that!

As much as I would have liked to have spent the day lazing around the house feeling sorry for myself, this was not an option.  Instead I was awake bright and early with a day full of house inspections to attend.

We have come across the most GORGEOUS little property, and have both promptly fallen in love.  It's not perfect, and it is missing a few aspects which we had initially thought were important, but this place is absolutely stunning and we both agree that we can work around it.  Unfortunately, however, the property is in the higher ranges of the budget we had set, so we're just trying to work out whether we can sustain this long-term, reviewing all of our options, and trying our very best not to rush in with our hearts instead of our heads. 

Aaaaaanyway! Moving along now... we had dinner with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousins on Saturday night.  Liam prepared a yummy pub-style parma meal for us!

He had decided to attempt to make my favourite sweet potato fries in addition to his normal chips, but unfortunately didn't account for the difference in cooking time so ended up massively overcooking the sweet potato... which resulted in crispy potato chips with crumbly bits of crunchy sweet potato through it! Not how he had envisaged, but still very tasty!

My Aunt and Uncle are moving house this week, and have offered us their couch and this gorgeous step cabinet that we have loved ever since seeing it! On Sunday we went over to pick it up and help them pack a few things.

Adeline had other ideas though! Instead of helping pack, she demanded I come into her room and help her build a Playdoh village for the two Playdoh families which we created.  I do as I'm told!

We made green grass, a red sky, and a blue playground for them to play on.

You can't see them, but there are two families living in their little chimneyed houses.  There's the Blue family living in the house on the left, and their neighbours the Greens in the smaller house next door.  However the Greens have a (green) friend called Greece, who also lives with them!

Just between you and me, Baby Blue looks a little too green for my liking...

I think Mummy Blue and Daddy Green are having a little fun on the side!

Wordless Wednesday : Mumbook!

"Scones for Mother's Day breakfast"

"Flowers from Cat on Mother's Day"

"Mother's Day dinner by my son - garlic prawns"

The above photos and captions were taken from my Mum's Facebook page (yes, she is an addict!)

I hope she knows how loved she is. Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there! xx

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

It's A Red-Letter Day!

I scurried out to my car to retrieve some clothing... as I was rummaging through the mess in my boot, a large work ute pulled up outside my house.  I shoved the jumble of clothes and shoes back into the car, and panicking slightly (as this meant I would not have time to change) I casually turned around and waved as Liam wandered up my driveway and enveloped me into a hug. 

And that is, you might say, where it all began!

On our anniversary last week, things were a little different.  Although I still hadn't changed when he arrived, and although he still enveloped me in a huge hug when he got home, we are a long way from where we were on our very first date.

After picking me up, we drove to Knox City near my house, and wandered around for a while before settling on Hog's Breath Cafe.  This year, we decided to return to the scene of the crime!

It's been a year since we'd been here last, so I had no idea what to expect from the food - not to mention the fact that Hog's Breath isn't exactly a gourmet establishment to start with!  We decided to start the meal the same way as our first ever date with...

... Boss Hog Mushies! [$9.50]

At first glance, there is a major difference between the plate that has been set in front of us and the dish as it was in my memory.  The portion size has gone down, and the price gone up! This is to be expected in this day and age, however disappointingly the amount in the bowl appears to have decreased by almost half. 

Fortunately, that's where the disappointment ends with these mushrooms.  I pop one in my mouth, and bite through a peppery crunchy coating to taste that wonderful mushroomy juice which is almost scalding on my tongue! Yet I can't resist and continue to eat them piping hot, with a little smear of the tartare sauce provided. 

As we're deciding what to order, Liam pulls these out of his pocket, and places them on the table :

As our anniversary falls in between both of our birthdays, we agreed on no gifts... however I couldn't resist a couple of small items!

Right before our first date, Liam had decided it would be a good time to try and mow some of the lawn, electrocuting himself in the process! He sent me a text of his bleeding finger, and to be honest I thought it was his way of cancelling on me at the time! He reassured me that he was still keen to see me, and I told him I would have bandaids to make it all better. 

Flash-back!  Here are his superhero band-aids!

I tried to find the same superhero band-aids but to no avail, so instead had to settle on Transformers or Cars.  I couldn't decide, so I bought both! We're both still children at heart.

He has a love affair with Stitch, so I bought him this phone cover, where the ears pop in and out! Yep, there's an iPhone hiding under that little blue Alien!

Okay, now back to the food!  We decided to try a Mixed Grill Tower for 2 - that way we'd be able to sample a little of everything that Hog's Breath has to offer! The tower includes steak, lamb, ribs and bacon, with a serve of Hog Tail fries, and your choice of sauces and either salad, vegies or mash. 

Vegetarians... look away now!

It really is a tower! Like... the high tea of meat?



That is a mountain of meat! Carnivore's delight, and a nightmare for vegetarians!  We opted for steamed vegetables as part of our tower, but I didn't take any photos... you all know what vegetables look like!

I have to say, unfortunately I was left underwhelmed by our meal in general.  The meat, while I could find no real fault with it, was lacking in flavour.  We had ordered it to be rare, and by the time it was brought out to us was cold.  The lamb cutlets had been perched on top of the plate, and were the coldest of all, so by the time we got to eating had congealed and were not that pleasant to eat. 

The Hog Tail fries were probably the best part of the meal, however these were slightly cold as well, and tasted like they'd been sitting around for a while. 

Again, there was nothing wrong with the vegetables per se, however if a restaurant can't steam brocolli without stuffing up then we have major issues!

It had been a year since we'd eaten at Hog's Breath last, and going by the quality of our most recent experience, it will be another year until we dine here again.

Ageing Like A Fine Wine...

Happy Birthday, to my darling man!   

This weekend my partner in crime turned the ripe ol' age of 27.  Whilst it means we're approaching the big 3-0 and are advancing way too fast in age for my liking, it was also a relief as it put to an end the "older woman" jokes he has been using since my birthday last month. 

On Saturday night, we headed out for dinner with friends and then to watch a fantastic Hawks victory over the Saints.  We booked a table at our regular pre-game haunt, and indulged in a few bevvies before heading over to the MCG.

I chose the caesar salad with Indian-spiced chicken.  

Liam decided on his usual favourite (what a surprise!) chicken parma.  You know the blogging-world is taking over your life when your boyfriend's meal is placed in front of him and he immediately cries out "oh no - the steam trap, the steam trap!" (a term which I picked up from one of my favourite food blogs) and hurriedly picks his parma up off the chips and onto a separate plate!

After the game, we headed out for a few drinks and I discovered that the amount of photos I take for this blog seems to be in direct correlation with the number of alcoholic beverages I consume.  Research has shown that the higher the drink consumption, the more likely I am to forget about taking a few snaps here and there.  However! Once past a certain number of beverages, happy snaps will often rise up to an all time high.  Although none will be suitable for the public eye.

On Sunday, we headed to Liam's parents place for lunch.  We were feeling rather worse for wear, as you can tell from the above picture where Liam is all decked out in tracky dacks and hasn't bothered to fix his hair at all!  So charming.  Also, note Mark in the background helping Liam blow out the candles on the cake!

Liam's mum cooked us a fabulous Indian feast, and this gorgeous cupcake-cake! 

How cute is it?! Hudson 'Hawka' Knights stands proudly amongst the Hawthorn-themed cupcakes with little goal post candles at each end! There were two types of cupcakes to choose from - chocolate and apricot jam with buttercream frosting.  YUM

As you can see, Liam was too impatient for me to even take a photo before grabbing his birthday cupcake! I can't blame him too much. They were so tasty!

We brought Rocket along with us, to play with the two dogs that Liam's parents have.  

After hours of chasing each other around the garden, they finally tired themselves out and we were able to have a moment of quiet

When we got back to my parent's place for dinner, we discovered that my cousin had been busy baking that day and had put together this little treat! 

Again, Liam couldn't resist long enough for me to take a photo, so there is a huge chunk taken out of the cookie! He's especially looking forward to the big birthday cookie, which he as dubbed as a 'Liam-sized cookie' and has declared to me that all food for him should come in this size.

Next weekend, I'm taking him away for the weekend to celebrate!  The two of us, and our crazy ginger-dog are going to head up to the Gouldburn Valley for a weekend of exploring and relaxation! 

I promise, regardless of how many beverages are consumed over the course of the weekend, that I will take plenty of snapshots to share! :)
 

Let the Birthday Weekend Commence!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

Mine was fantastic.  I got spoilt rotten, and Liam put together a memorable weekend of surprises!
I will update you about all that in another post soon.

On Friday night, we headed to my Aunt's house for dinner.  She does an a-MAZ-ing risotto, one of my favourites, which was on the menu for the evening! Not before snacking on dips, crackers and smoked salmon though. YUM.  Surprisingly, I actually didn't get any photos of the snacks or dinner! I know, I'm amazed too.

I did, however, get a few snaps of my gorgeous little dining companions! 

In her own words, upon seeing the photo - "Oh aww, I look so cheeky!"

After which she promptly turned around and, with a voice full of attitude, yelled out "LIAM! Don't put your hands in my photo again. You stop ruining my photos, now!" If there is one thing that can be said for that girl, she is a sassy little miss, and will give some poor bloke a run for his money and a permanent headache in the future!

Her little brother is quite the opposite though - a real chilled out little fella! 

Here he is, happily snacking on a cracker! The only time I even heard a peep from him was to let me know he'd finished his cracker and would please like another one!

He did look a little perplexed each time I reached for the smoked salmon, wondering why he was not receiving any, however he would happily go back to his plain cracker.  

Here he is whinging because each mouthful is not coming fast enough!

He sure loves his food, and ate his share of risotto like a little champion.  

Straight after which he totally devoured a baby pudding for dessert! What a little guts :) <3

After dinner (having eaten far too much!) I was lying in the living room, playing with toys and having a conversation with my little cousin when my presence was requested in the dining room.  

Adeline grabbed my hand, and dragged me in to a darkened room, lit up only by the glow of candles sitting on top of a yummy looking mango cheesecake! Yum. What a sweet surprise!

As I was trying to take this picture, a little girl was also vying for my attention... "Cat... Cat... Cat!" 

I quickly took the photo and turned my attention to her.  "Here! Take a photo of my cake too!" 

Happy to oblige. 

During dinner, I was interrupted with requests to take photos. Poser! I'll leave you with one more...

"Oh, look at me! I look so wild!" 

Isn't she scary? :)