Lets celebrate!

It was on New Years Day this year (almost one year ago) that I officially started this blog. There are some days that I think I might actually be addicted to blogging and other days that I want to stop. I have often asked myself "why am I blogging?" and have been asked this by others. The answer is the same as it was a year ago. It just feels like the right thing to be doing right now. I don't know where it will take me, but at the moment it looks like it is going to take me into the new year. Another year of new goals, more memories, new challenges and more inspriration.

Wishing you all a happy and festive New Years Eve. Whatever you are doing I hope that there will be champagne and music.

Stay safe. See you in twenty eleven.

Handmade Christmas - next year

(image from here)

Christmas is over for another year. Tomorrow we will take down the christmas tree and pack away the decorations. I want to say thank-you again to Tracy for hosting the Handmade Christmas Challenge. I had all of the best intentions in September when I willingly put up my hand for her challenge, but during the months of October and November, our little world got so very busy, leaving me with little time for crafting. But what I did manage, was to have my christmas shopping all done by the beginning of December. This is a first for me. And with the exception of books, all of the presents under the tree, were either hand made by me or handmade by someone else. This made me very happy.

However, there were many things on the christmas handmade list that did not get made. Here is the list of things I would like to have done by next christmas!



• I love these jar jumpers (sweaters) and crocheted garland from 'dottie angel'. "How to's" can be found here and here. Of course I will need to learn how to crochet first. A minor detail.





• embroider some linen napkins for our christmas table, I love these from 'mousehouse'



• make these felted christmas trees from 'purl bee'



• embroider christmas aprons, something like this from' red, red completely red.'



• embroider pillows for the children, maybe something like this, from 'cats and quilts'



• I love these from 'smiley sunday', since I've never cross stitched, I might just have to buy these!





• make some christmas decorations, something like this from 'light blue grey'. So beautiful.



• make a snowflake garland like this one from 'little glowing lights'. Oh how I wish I had a mantlepiece. Snowflake templates can be found here.



• make christmas decorations like these, from 'mom in madison'



• make a simple countdown calender to countdown the days just like this one from red, red, completely red.

• make these snow globes with the kids.

• make origami star garlands like these for the windows.

• I love these gift ideas, a photo book, something like this or this and photo pillows

• make a new countdown (advent) calender. Our is made from paper bags and after fours years is looking a little worst for wear. See a picture of our current countdown calender here.

Christmas recipes

Here is one of the new christmas cookie recipes I tried this year. They were super yummy and I definitely will be making them again, perhaps soon. There was a request for the recipe, so here it is. It is from the Woman's Weekly "Christmas" book.

Sticky Date and Orange Cookies

makes 30

• 1 cup seedless dates (roughly chopped)
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 3/4 cups plain flour
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 100 grams butter (roughly chopped)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup icing sugar (sifted)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. In a small saucepan, combine the dates, golden syrup and water and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate soda and orange rind. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then process the mixture until almost smooth. Leave to cool. Add the flour, sugar, butter and egg to the processor and and process until the ingredients come together. Refridgerate for 30 minutes. 

Roll heaped teaspoon of the mixture into balls and flatten slightly. Place about 3 cm apart on the baking trays and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on the trays. Toss in icing sugar.

Apparently you can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to four weeks. I wouldn't know, as our cookies had no chance of lasting that long.



Here is another one of our Christmas must-have recipes. Just like the rum balls, this recipe was made by my mother for Christmas, when I was a child. About eight years ago I went digging through her old recipe drawer and found the recipe I remembered so well. I have been making it for our family Christmas's ever since.

Cherry ripe slice

makes about 24 squares

• 250 grams white chocolate (chopped)
• 1 cup glace cherries ( chopped)
• 1 x 400 gram can condensed milk
• 2 cups dessicated coconut
• 200 grams dark chocolate (chopped)
• 30 grams copha

Grease a foil lined 18 x 28 cm slice tin. In the top of a double saucepan, melt the white chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the cherries, condensed milk and coconut until well combined. Spread the mixture evenly into the tin and set aside. Put the dark chocolate and copha in a small saucepan. Stir over a gentle heat until until melted and well combined. Spread evenly over the top of the cherry mixture. Chill overnight. Cut into 5 cm squares to serve.

Rain, rain, go away

Rain, rain go away,
come again another day,
the little monkey's want to play
rain, rain go away.

The big Santa present this year was a trampoline. We have not been able to put it together as our (soon to be newly landscaped - with proper drainage) backyard looks like this.







The kids, however, do not seem to mind.

Welcome to my new follower, Joni from 'the diary of Joni and Anya'

Christmas - the food

Isn't Christmas really all about the food and the special meals that bring families together around the one table? It is to me.



On Christmas Eve Mr Moo's parents, my Mum, my Dad and Tiya Ning came for dinner.

As always, at Christmas time, I lay the table with my Nana's tablecloth, she crocheted this special cloth over 80 years ago. Twinkle lights, candlelights, christmas carols, laughter and love.

Triple cream brie, quince paste and water crackers
Roast chicken with marsala cream gravy
Honey roasted vegetables
Steamed mixed vegetables
Double chocolate and cherry brownies with thick cream

After dinner, we each grabbed an umbrella and set off in drizzling rain to see the christmas lights in our nearby streets.



Christmas morning was an early one - 5am. We did, however manage to stall the kids until 6:30 by letting them see what was in their stockings. This meant we were able to have a coffee and a bite to eat before the wild rumpus began!

It also helped that Poppy and Tiya Ning had stayed the night. This is the sweets platter that we shared with them on Christmas morning.


(finally - we can open the presents)


(Daddy doing Miss Moo Moo's hair with christmas ribbon's and bows)



Other family came over in the morning for the annual swapping of presents. So lunch didn't get to the table until about 1:30pm. I think this is fairly typical for christmas day, isn't it?

Around our table was, Mum, Dad, Nora, us and the children. Champagne and christmas toasts started off our meal.

Double wood smoked ham (from dad's old fashioned country butcher)
Roasted pork fillet with hot apple and onion chutney
Roast chicken
Finnish baked potatoes in cream
Green bean salad
Spinach, avocado and orange salad

Baked chocolate swirl cheesecake
Coffee



Good wine was drunk, but not too much. And as usual, I could not eat dinner last night.

My fridge still seems to stacked full of food, as Dad and Nora are staying here for a few days. It's just as well really, as it appears that I have fallen into a heap. I have no intention of cooking anytime soon.

I'm am just plum tuckered out! Lucky we are in holiday mode.

Thanks Mum, for all of your help in the kitchen on Christmas day and for your super yummy cheesecake.

Santa's workshop

On Christmas Eve we went to see Santa and Santa's Workshop. I love the display windows of mischievous elves busily working away. Unfortunately for Santa, my kids were not that interested in him, so there was no photo. Spunky Monkey gave Santa a high-five, but Miss Moo Moo just hid behind my dress.



This reminds me of the similar chaos in our kitchen during this last week of christmas cooking!

Merry Christmas to all

It's late, I'm tired, but blissfully so.

We have been busy, as I'm sure you have too. But lovely busy, happy and merry busy, family busy.

Laughter and joy and already too much food!

The dishes are done, the washing in on. The children and our guests are already in bed.

Santa has been. He has filled the stockings and placed his presents under the under tree. He has eaten his rum balls and drank his milk. The reindeer's have eaten their food and drunk their water. It looks like my work here is done. So I'm off to look at my twinkling christmas tree one more time. Alone and in silence. To savour the magic that I wish I could bottle.

Merry Christmas dear readers, to you and your families. I wish you a happy and safe festive season.

"Merry christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Some thank-you's

Thank-you Grandma.

Grandma has let us borrow her knitted nativity scene, as she has two. I love, love, love it!



Thank-you Nanny Marjie.

Nanny Marjie (my aunt) stopped into our house this morning to drop off our christmas presents. This year she will be spending christmas in the country. She turned up once again with a bag full of goodies. The photo above is a very small peek at what was inside.... this is not even my christmas present. I was super excited, the kids and I played with fabric scraps and trim for hours after she had left.



Thank-you Future Shelter.

I bought this t-shirt and these christmas decorations from Future Shelter. How I stopped at just two things, I do not know, I wanted it all! It arrived earlier in the week and not only was I really happy with the things that I had bought, but there was a little surprise inside - Christmas badges! I love them so much.

I am feeling very lucky and grateful during this festive season. It truly is the season to be jolly.

A Christmas Puppet Show is about to commence!

This is what I was told a few nights ago. "Come on Mum, come into the family room." There was excitement in the air. I had known nothing about a puppet show. Somehow bedtime, has been one hour later since the school holidays have started. Instead of the usual story and bed after dinner, there are performances!



We were told "Ladies and Gentleman, please be seated" So we sat on the cushions that had been neatly placed on the floor for the audience. The show began with a combination of finger and hand puppets popping up from behind the lounge. It was a variety show as such, with a snake eating a sheep and then a moose eating a snake. Rudolph sang 'jingle bells'. Some wise men and baby Jesus made an appearance. But the highlight for me for me was the closing act when this (top photo) bride and groom sang a duet of 'away in a manger'



We laughed so much, both the audience and the little performers. My heart filled with so much love that it almost burst. That has been happening a lot around here over this last week.

Merry, merry times.

Wordless Wednesday - caught peeking!

Go here to see more Wordless Wednesday.

Stollen for breakfast

Oh yes indeed, Stollen for breakfast, yum!

Welcome to my newest followers, Trishy, Hediye, Kym from 'a day in the life of us' and Kristy from '4 kids, 20 suitcases and a beagle' .

I hope you are having something yummy for breakfast too.

This weekend

This weekend:

• one Mamma's Market
• one Christmas party
• one summer storm
• three Christmas cakes baked
• six jars of tomato relish made
• six bottles of Jamie Oliver's tomato ketchup made
• two simple pasta dinners
• four loads of washing folded
• one cold and rainy day
• one Woody Allen movie
• one Carols by Candlelight
• ten glow stick bangles
• one fireworks display

and a partridge in a pear tree.

How are your Christmas preparations coming along?

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for my ability to cook and also so for my great love of cooking.

During the week, I was chatting to a friend who told me that she can't cook. Of course she can get by, she has a small family to feed. But while I spent my formidable, teenage years, learning the basics in home economic class, her teenage years were spent globetrotting around the world with other goals in mind. Homemaking, as it was taught in my country high school, was far from her mind. Until this conversation, I think I took this life skill for granted, doesn't everybody know how to cook?

Far from the school kitchens, my Mother and my Nana were, and still are, my greatest influences in how and why I cook.

Apparently, my Mum couldn't cook either, when she was first married, but with the help of the Women's Weekly Cookbooks, she soon learned. I grew up during the dinner party era. Dinner parties were hosted and exciting, new recipes were tried. As for me, I am a recipe addict and rarely cook anything twice. My Nana would call herself a good plain cook. And that's what she was. Perhaps she tried new dishes in her early cooking life, but when I knew her, as a grandmother, she had only a small and simple repertoire of recipes. We wouldn't have had it any other way. She taught me how food and cooking nurtures a family.

And in my husband's words, "food is love", Yes indeed, it is.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

Birthday craft

After the adventures of the last few days, I had completely forgotten to show you the gift I had made for my cousin's birthday.



Inspired, once again by Amanda, I made this simple fabric and embroidery wall hanging. Seven flowers for the members of Karen's special family and fabric and thread chosen to match her home.



I also forgot to mention, my children's excitement at our unexpected farm stay. I think that they had thought that Christmas had come early.

They were so happy playing with their cousins. They were in the cubie, down at the chicken coop, in the sandpit, playing dress-ups, playing playdough, sharing countdown calender chocolates, chasing the chickens, on the swings, on the see-saw, up at the shed, down at the tennis court, collecting eggs, wandering around the paddock, eating tomatoes from the vine, patting the quails, bouncing on the trampoline, playing with new toys and eating ice-cream with chocolate topping.

They didn't want to come home.

Happy little accidents

(Princess cake at Ikea - this image is from here.)

It was my cousin's birthday on Wednesday, as she lives 2 and a half hours away, we had planned to meet at Ikea, which is kind of half way. We would have lunch, a bit of a shop and generally have a nice day together.

But things don't always go according to plan, do they?

Day One

I rang her at 8.00am to wish her Happy Birthday and tell her that we were leaving. She said she had to take her two older kids to the Gold Coast and that she would meet us at Ikea at 10:30am. That was fine by me, as I had wanted to stop at a few other places on the way, anyway.

However, we got stuck in very bad traffic and it ended up taking us two and a half hours instead of one and a half hours, to get to Ikea. I pulled off of the highway just before the Ikea exit. I wanted to stop in at an old haunt, to stock up on my favourite Swedish berry jam. From here I rang my cousin and said I will be at Ikea in 5 minutes. She then told me, that she hadn't even got to the Gold Coast yet and had decided to turn back instead - she too, had been stuck in traffic. OK, not the best start to the day, but we would get there eventually.... or so I thought.

I drove 100 metres down the road, the clutch on the car started to stick, the gears wouldn't change, a high pitch screeching noise filled the car and then there was, smoke!

RACQ came, my cousin came, a tow truck came, at the mechanics a man almost reversed into my recently towed, parked car. Once the car was safely inside the mechanics workshop, me, my cousin, her two older children (who were supposed to be at summer camp), my kids and her baby girl headed off to Ikea. It was almost 1 pm.

It was lovely, we ate lunch, followed by princess cake and daim cake and a well earned coffee. I put my kids into the play area and off we went for a shop. Then the mechanic rang. It wasn't good. The cost was going to be astronomical and we wouldn't be going home tonight.

Time to ring Mr Moo.

With our Ikea shopping done, we all piled back into Karen's car and headed to her farm. While driving we watched as the sky turn black and the winds pick up, minutes after arriving home, a storm hit and the power went out. It did not come on again until the next morning.

We were able to hook up a hose to one of the tanks (no pump) and get some water. Out came the barbecue from the back shed to boil water for the childrens baths. We stuck the hose through the bathroom window to fill the bath and then I brought in the water. I think I lugged about eight pots of boiling water though the house. There were seven children to wash and 3 adults. The same boiling water heated the baby's milk and cooked soft boiled eggs for the kids dinner. It was a crazy, fun night. At 8:30pm, the big kids, the little kids and one sick husband were all in bed. My cousin and I sat down and ate a chicken and salad sandwich by candle light. We also tried her latest batch of homemade feta and enjoyed a glass of wine. I don't think I can ever remember a glass of wine tasting so good.

(Daim cake from Ikea - this image is also from here)

Day Two

We woke to a paddock blanketed in fog. This lead to a hot day and another furious storm. We kept our power this time, but my ears are still ringing from the biggest bang of thunder I have ever heard. We just hung out waiting for the call that my car would be ready. I got the call after 4pm.

We collected the car a 5:30pm. More storms were brewing, I knew that it would be at least two hours before we would be home. Down the road from the mechanic was a KFC. The kids had their first and last KFC. I hadn't eaten this for at least 15 years and I now remember why, but it was just there and we were racing against the clock. The drive home was harrowing. I rarely drive at night, so driving through pouring rain and peak hour inner city traffic at night was not my idea of fun. I was nervous that we would be faced with more storms, thankfully, it was just rain and a lot of lightening.

I pulled into our driveway at 8 o'clock, relieved to be home. In our absence, Mr Moo had put twinkle lights in the trees in our front yard. It was a nice greeting. The kids were both fast asleep and were transferred straight into bed. They were hot, sweaty and still wearing the same clothes they had left the house in yesterday morning. As for me, I had a long hot shower, flopped into our soft couch and with a tub of Maggie Beers ice-cream and a period drama on the TV.

I was happy to have spent some lovely time with my cousin, but also happy to be home.

Sorry for the epic length of this post and sorry that I have no photo's. I did take one (very bad) photo of our kids happily playing together, then my camera battery went flat.

Of course it did!

Rum balls

We made more rum balls this afternoon. You can never have too many rum balls at Christmas time. I thought I would share my recipe with you. I know that there are some gourmet rum ball recipes out there, but this is the one I grew up with and the one I have made every Christmas since leaving home.

Rums Balls

• 8 weet-bix (crushed)

• 1 tin condensed milk

• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
• 1 cup raisins (roughly chopped)
• 2 tablespoons rum

• extra dessicated coconut for coating

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for at 2 hours. Roll into teaspoon size balls and coat in coconut.

The picture above is of Spunky Monkey's first Christmas. You can see how we start our Christmas morning, with a sweets platter and strong black coffee. In the photo there are rum balls, cherry ripe slice, panetonne and chocolate truffles.

Oh yes, I do love Christmas!

Are you ready for the holidays?

This has been a very long week for me.

I have cooked, wrapped presents, cleaned, scrubbed, made lists, reorganised, cleaned some more and did some shopping. I also soaked, washed, hung, folded and put away five loads of washing. All the while, feeling lousy and blah. Apparently there is something going around. Going to bed at 7:30pm did not help and getting woken up at 4:30am certainly did not help.

I am feeling slightly better now, now that I actually got through the week. Our only school holiday plans are, to take it easy. I am looking forward to baking, craft, play dates and afternoon rests.

I guess we are already in holiday mode.

This morning, Mr Moo and I went out for breakfast, eggs benedict - yum! We hung out at Mum's place for a bit and then, this afternoon, went to a Christmas party. The kids spent practically the whole day in the pool, despite the pouring rain. Day turned into night as we ate and ate. I ate far to many sweet German treats and drank way to much coffee.

It's started, the Christmas indulgence has begun.

Our kids were the only kids at the Christmas party today. With the exception of the time they spent in the pool, about four and a half hours were spent with this box of lego pieces that are over 40 years old. Perfect.

Also....

I'd like to welcome Kym, my newest follower.