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

The Early Bird Gets the Worm!

I was awake bright and early on Saturday morning.

Not because I had to be.  I didn't have any pressing business to attend to, or anywhere I had to be.  Liam left early for work, but I was free to laze around and have a mega sleep-in.  But I didn't. 

I didn't, because I couldn't breathe. 
It's hard to breathe when you have this fatty lying across your body, compressing your lungs!

But with a face like that, it's hard to stay mad!

I decided to start my day with a long soak in the hot tub.  I've been coming down with a fluey sort of cold, and the steaming hot water did wonders for my aching muscles!

We were having friends over on Saturday night, so I headed to the shops to pick up some supplies.  While I was there, I decided it was time to get some fresh flowers to replace the drooping bunches that I bought last week.  I managed to find these native buds for a mere $4! What a bargain. 

I also picked up some gorgeous yellow lilies for the top of my step cabinet, but I forgot to take a photo.  They look fabulous though!  I've got a beautiful healthy looking stem which I picked out of last week's bunch sitting on the coffee table too.  As I mentioned in my previous post, the natural lighting in the house is fabulous and that with the addition of fresh flowers scattered throughout the house it almost feels like you're outside enjoying the sunshine, from the comfort of my own living room!

Saturday night's activities involved copious amounts of alcohol, some oldschool Atari battles, and dancing around the back deck trying to learn the choreography from internet tutorials to Oppa Gangnam Style.  If you haven't seen it yet (perhaps you've had your head buried in the sand?) you should YouTube it quick smart!

We ordered some Vietnamese take away from the restaurant around the corner, but beer, cider, red bull & vodka, and perfecting our Gangnam Style took precedence.  Rocket didn't mind though, because it meant there were plenty of leftovers for his dinner the next day!

No where it my pet care manuals does it give me serving suggestions for noodles, so I made sure to cut them up into small pieces so he wouldn't choke on them.  With the speed that he wolfed down his dinner, I can safely say that Rocket did not object to the way I served his dinner, and it appears he is partial to some egg wonton noodles, and combination beef pho!

The humans of the house however, had a spicy green chicken curry for sustenance.

My lovely mother text me early on Sunday to tell me that she had spent her morning in the kitchen whipping up a curry and spaghetti bolognaise for the week.  She also kindly informed me that I could swing by at any point that day, and collect my serve of each.  I do not object!

And before we know it, and all too quickly, yet another weekend is gone!  Four and a half days until the next one... bring it ON!

I shall end this post with some words of wisdom, and the motto from my weekend.

Do it.

Weekend Fry Up

One thing that I absolutely adore about our new house is all the natural light.  The sunlight streams through the windows, casting warm rays over the living, dining and kitchen.  It makes mornings such a joy, and it is almost refreshing to get out of bed to. 

We're still busy sorting things out, and getting things in order, and on Saturday morning we had plenty of things to do before heading out for dinner with my family visiting from overseas. 

We had a rather big night on Friday at the Hawthorn vs Collingwood game, so I decided to put my lovely new big kitchen to use for the perfect thing to get us going over the weekend. 

If that's not the breakfast of champions, then I don't know what is!

Light sourdough toast with crispy bacon rashers, crunchy hashbrowns, meaty beef chipolatas, creamy scrambled eggs, fried onions and sauteed mushrooms & spinach.  YUM!

On Sunday morning, we had another busy day ahead of us with friends coming over for lunch.  Again we had lots to do and a lot of cleaning on our hands (new furniture and appliances = a lot of packaging/boxes and mess!) before they arrived so sustenance was required.

A golden brown omelette, filled with spinach, bacon, sausage, fried onion and a sprinkling of parmesan! 

You'll be pleased to know that it did the trick. The house was pristine by the time everyone arrived! :)

 

Father's Day Feasting!

My father is a man of few words.  He can be ever critical, and is as stubborn as they come.  If you don't agree with him, you just must be wrong, and there's nothing you can say or do about it to change his mind.  In summary, he is an absolute pain in the butt.  But I wouldn't have him any other way!

He is the most generous person.  He has always done whatever he can to help, and given me every opportunity in life.  There are so many occasions where he has made sacrifices without a second thought, to instead give me what I wanted/needed.  When I went to unversity, he make the decision to pay all my HECS fees up-front because he wanted to give me the best start in life, rather than coming out with a debt over my head. I owe everything I have in life, including my fabulous new home, to my parents (I know it's Father's Day, but as they say, behind every good man is a good woman!)

Another thing about my father is that he is a simple man.  He does not like fuss, he does not need extravagance, and he shies away from the fancy and over-the-top.  For this reason, our Father's Day celebration this year, as with every year before, were very simple.

Sunday morning I invited my parents to our house for a Father's Day fry-up! Scrambled eggs on lightly toasted sourdough rye, beef chipolatas, streaky bacon, fresh baby spinach, sauteed mushrooms (and I just this moment realised that my hash browns are still happily sitting untouched in my freezer!) washed down with Earl Grey tea.

It was such fantastic weather for the first official day of Spring, and after the meal my dad happily pottered around our back yard taking photos. 

Later that evening, my parents and both sets of grandparents came around to check out the new house (which we are absolutely rapt with, by the way!) and we set off to the local Vietnamese restaurant (walking distance!) for dinner. 

There are actually two Vietnamese restaurants right next door to each other, just around the corner from our house, so we have plenty of choice!  The restaurant was hectic when we arrived with the line out the door, so I was very glad I'd thought to make a booking! Unfortunately there was a mix-up with the ordering, and we ended up having a riculous wait on the food. 

When the food finally arrived though, there were no complaints! The serving sizes were very generous, and everything was very tasty.

For the price, I'm delighted that we'll have such a cheap and easy take away option for the nights that I can't be bothered cooking!  The options are plentiful though, as we have quite a few places within walking distance of our new house!

How did you celebrate your dad? :)

Wordless Wednesday : Rainbow Returns

We love a good rainbow on this blog!

I was actioning some more baking last night, and noticed these little guys chilling out in my flour.

I'd say it's a sign of good things to come.

My baking efforts were a success, if you were wondering - they had the blessing of the rainbow!

Cheese, bacon and chive muffins. YUM.

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

Baked Jam Donut Muffin Recipe

I had a couple of requests on my last post for a recipe, so I thought I would share the original link and also my tweaked version of the recipe.

One thing that I liked about this recipe is how unforgiving it seems to be.  Although the urge to bake was strong, it was not strong enough that I was motivated to make a trip to the supermarket so I had to make do with the ingredients I had on hand.  I read through the comments on the recipe, and decided that I could easily make a few substitutes with what was in the pantry.

Also, not having a proper oven I was limited on space so I decided to halve the recipe.  By halving, I mean I roughly estimated and threw odd amounts of each ingredient into a bowl!  Despite all this, 20 minutes later I was very happy with the result that came out of the oven. 

JAM DONUT MUFFINS

[this makes about 6 little muffins]

• 1 cup of self-raising flour
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil + extra for glazing
• 150 ml of milk
• 2 tablespoons of unsweetened apple puree
• pinch of baking powder (this + apple puree was in place of the egg)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• strawberry jam (for filling - the quantity is totally up to you!)

• caster sugar
• ground cinnamon

The beauty of this recipe is how very simple it is!

I pre-heated the oven to 180°C as the recipe suggested, and got to work.  As I was using non-stick silicone muffin patties, I lined these up on the tray before getting started on the batter.  I sifted the flour into a large bowl, added the brown sugar and a pinch of baking powder. 

I measured out 150 ml of milk (after reading through the reviews and comments on the recipe, I decided to increase the quantity asked for) and combined the apple puree and vanilla extract with this.  At this stage, I would have also added my coconut oil, but as mentioned I accidentally forgot this step!

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry, and stir gently until combined.  Pop one tablespoon of batter into your muffin tray, add as much strawberry jam as you like, and cover with another lot of batter!  I recommend gently folding the batter around the jam with a spoon, to ensure that it is properly encased and won't ooze out too much when baking.  Then into the oven with the lot!

These took only about 10 minutes to bake to golden brown perfection! Once done, you can brush lightly with the remaining coconut oil and then sprinkle with your caster sugar/cinnamon mix.  I liked the little extra sweetness and crunch that this added to the muffin, but Liam decided that they were good enough without needing it!  And there you have it! Lovely golden jammy donuts.

Will you try this recipe? Please let me know if you do! xx

Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker's Man!

This week I experienced the overwhelming urge to action some baked goods. But with our oven out-of-action, I wasn't sure how I was going to remedy this.  As I pondered my baking basket full of ingredients, I decided it could not wait any longer and I was going to have to made do!

As you know, we're soon to be moving into our new house and have been busy stocking up on furniture and updating our household goods.  As luck would have it, last weekend we stumbled across a great deal on a mini toaster oven and I decided what better way to put it to the test than blueberry muffins!

What a way to christen the new toaster!

We're still pretending to be on this healthy eating bandwagon, so I tried to make them as healthy as possible using a very basic recipe.  A bit of flour, small amount of brown sugar, milk, egg, vanilla extract, a little oil (I substituted coconut oil in place of canola oil) and a handful of blueberries. 

With such a simple recipe and not so perfect cooking conditions, I wasn't expecting too much - but these ended up coming out of the (toaster) oven light, moist and very moreish!

So you'd think with that out of the way, my baking urge would be satisfied right?  Not so.  Now I knew I could bake perfectly acceptable muffins in the toaster oven I just wanted to bake more semi-healthy treats! I had an urge for jammy sugary cinnamony donuts, so I turned to Google (ah, my ever faithful friend) and came across a dead-easy recipe that I could bake. 

I tweaked the recipe a bit, and with the simplest of ingredients I had a bowl full of batter ready to go!

Some flour, a bit of sugar, milk, vanilla extract, unsweetened apple puree in place of an egg, strawberry jam and a little sugar + cinnamon for dusting was all it took! The recipe called for oil again, but it wasn't until I was filling the muffin cases did I realise that my melted coconut oil was still sitting on the edge of the sink...

Despite this oversight, I was thrilled at the little golden bundles that I pulled out of the oven just a short time later! Still moist, with a cakey-donutty casing flavoured by sweet strawberry jam in the middle.

Considering that both these muffin variations took about 20 minutes including prep-time and baking to whip up, I was very happy! Guilt-free jam donuts and blueberry muffins!

Liam was also very happy, as it meant he got little bags full of assorted muffins to munch on all week!  These were the perfect snacks to take to work, as they satisfied the sweet cravings without completely ruining the diet.  I didn't feel quite so guilty as I ate them since I knew all the ingredients that had gone into making them!

I can't wait to get into the new house so I can get my bake on with a proper oven!

Any recipes you can recommend I try next? xx

Wordless Wednesday : IKEA Shopping

We've been busy the last few weekends...

An IKEA shopping trip requires the right kind of sustenance!

Yes, I'm posting about food again! :)

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here and here!

Our Local

Just in case you were wondering (Ling!), we did pay a visit to our local this weekend.

It was just as fabulous as ever!

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!

Another Monday morning...

...and I'm sitting here munching on my morning tea snack of steamed carrots & broccoli and homemade garlic mountain bread chips, while lamenting at how quickly the weekend has flown by.

Friday night was the big Essendon vs Hawthorn match at Etihad, which is the game of the year for us!  Liam is a massive Hawks fan, and I am an avid Bomber and we attend most games for both team every weekend, so this clash was some major rivalry for us.

There was a lone seagull who appeared to have been trapped in the stadium when they closed the roof, and the poor little thing appeared to be hiding in the painted white part of the ground, to camouflage itself!

Unfortunately, as an Essendon supporter the little seagull was probably the most entertaining thing to watch as the game itself  was a dismal disaapointment from start to finish.

Luckily it wasn't all bad this weekend.  I got to see this little guy -

And we caught up with Liam's dad and best mate over a yummy lunch and a few games of pool.

Can you believe this delicious steak only cost $13?! Plus an extra $3 for the sauce, but still so worth it!

I overheard an interesting conversation on the tram late at night, about a bubble tea diet.  A young gentleman explained to his friend that he was off to get a bubble tea fix.  Apparently, it was the best way to go since bubble tea is very low in fat, but the fact that there is something to chew on satisfies his craving for solid food. GENIUS! Except what he forgot to mention is that a cup of bubble tea equates to around 400 calories per serve.

But that's just a minor detail!

I'm totally on board with this bubble tea diet! :)

While at the shops, I also picked up these cute ninja earphones! Unfortunately, the rubber on the earpieces were shoddy so I took them back and exchanged them for adorable little matryoshkas instead!

Did a bit of a tidy up in my bedroom, and realised I have quite a collection of scarves!

Just ignore that horrible Hawthorn scarf nestled in there.  It's Liam's and it is horrid and full of germs and other bad things! Terrible terrible colours.  But yes, I realised pretty quickly that I was starting to run out of room for storage of scarves! It's not just one layer either...

The wall of scarves is approximately 4 or so scarves thick, and the hanger has seven loops lengthwise and about 4 across. Now I understand why Liam always has a look of horror on his face whenever I wander into the accessories section to look at scarves! Oh well. At least I know I'll always be warm!

And now I've taken so long to finish this post that it's time for lunch! I've got a delicious chicken and salad roll which my lovely man prepare for me last night... YUM!

Half a day down... another four and a half to go until the weekend!!!

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! :)