Christmassy Stuff

some christmas cooking for teachers..

kids-made decorations..

Our pony, not wanting to miss out...

Our tree at night, with a racoon doing back-flips over a branch..

Kindergarten Christmas  break-up..

Christmas cake with jewels on the top..

Mince pies for the cafe, where i work..

My pavlova with our blueberries..

merry christmas, if anyone is out there. kind of a  Pink Floydy greeting..might be comfortably numb after all the festiveness..

Hand-made, Heart-felt

A homemade present from a best friend..love it

Christmas Presents for TEACHERS

The presents for our wonderful school and kindergarten teachers will be hand-made, this Christmas. I'm not a scrooge but i hate the constant feeling of buying at this time of year. The feeling of making or baking is sooo much nicer. I've made so far, some rocky road, old fashioned shortbread and some potted succulents in tins decorated with William Morris design gift-wrap..If only, i didn't leave everything until the last minute..i am the most disorganised, forgetful mad woman going round..and i know i will miss something or someone. I suppose a list would help, and i should check it twice !! Who's naughty, who's nice !! and who is just in-between..

Xmas Market at Jinks Winery

Luca and i decided to have a stall, so we made our Muesli on the Saturday, to sell on Sunday. We did okay, too. We haven't made ourselves a fortune but a little bit to help with all the extra stuff you buy at Christmas.

Markets..

love to get to a few markets, before Christmas, but i am running out of time this year. Have not been to any. I was hoping to get to St Andrews, Rokeby and Jindivick markets but now that will be in January's plan. Although i might sneak in a market that is close to home on Sunday. i might even make a batch of muesli to sell there...

Baking..

I was busy baking yesterday for a friend who is getting married. She wanted me to make some home-style cakes for her wedding. I made an Italian Apple cake, Salted caramel and chocolate Tart, Flourless Orange Cake, and a Chocolate Mud Cake. Hope she likes them..

What's growing

Garlic, i planted in April, just starting to go yellow, will lift them soon..

Check out the weeds..

New potatoes i dug up. Boiled and served with butter and thyme. The broadbeans were added to a risotto with bacon.

After some rain and sunshine, things are growing quite nicely. I hope to spend this summer cooking from our garden. I still need to plant a couple of things, but have to get rid of  those wicked weeds first. Well, they are not too bad, sometimes i put them in a 20 litre bucket and cover with water and let them steep. That liquid I then put back on garden as a bit of a tonic. Just to give plants a little pick me up..

Twitter

Twitter

Hunter and Collecter..

Something RED

NO MORE SILVERBEET

I promise this will be last post on Silverbeet. So bored , am over it. But i will share this meal with you. Have to say though, even youngest said "not again".
Fritatta or Spanish Tortilla
Ok, so frypan that can be put in oven.
Some oil , butter, garlic and sliced or diced spuds, saute in pan.
Add some bacon or ham, if you want it meaty tasty. I put in some tinned tuna..
Then some chopped silverbeet, low heat now .
Mix up some eggs with heaps of cheese. I used feta, tasty and parmesan, and some cracked pepper. Add some cream, not too much.
Pour over the bits in pan, give a bit of stir, then leave on low heat to get cooking.
After 10 or so mins, put in mod oven(180), to finish cooking. This could take 15 mins. Check by seeing if mixture is set and brown on top.

In no particular order.

Although the family enjoyed it , our dog Whisky got the leftovers and thought it was divine !!

Some weekend pics

Weekend

A really good weekend we had. The two of us went to a music festival on the other side of town. Nice to feel a bit young again,  although we may have looked like try-hards. No, really there was all ages there, younger and older than us. Heard some great music and ate some good food and enjoyed some Coopers beer. ..

Home Sweet Home

WE are having a kinda long weekend. It's not official but it's what happened. Our kids had Friday off from school for a curriculam day,  Monday, we took off, now here we are on Cup Day. We have spent the whole of the weekend doing jobs around the place. Repairing old doors, cleaning cars , planting vegies and shrubs, making Jamie Oliver's Quick 30 min Sausage Rolls, and just enjoying time together. Some beer and wine enjoyed also...

Waiting..

Waiting for these little babies to ripen. Blueberries, full of all the good things, vitamins, minerals , anti-oxidants. Apparently they are anti- aging, so i planted them when i was 40, hoping they will come in handy one day !!

Well, it's kind of  finished. All i did was trim the ends off  the  pallots and stacked them on top of each other. Some upstyling, like they do in the magazines, and i have a pretty area, just outside our back door..i might stain it later.