Packing

(this image is from an old anthropologie catalogue)

I have spent today packing for a mini holiday we are taking tomorrow.

• new sandshoes - check
• new holiday pants from here - check
• sheets, towels, blankets, doonas, pillows - check
• holiday reading - check
• fishing rods - check
• picnic basket - check
• hot tips and road maps of the area - check
• holiday food - check

I know now, why I am such a home body. I really dislike packing to go away.

Luckily I know, it will be worth it when we get there.

I also washed, folded, sorted, washed more, folded more and sorted more (more about this next week, as this job did not get finished) I cleaned a bit, I sewed a bit, and I cooked some things for the weekend. I did some internet shopping and some last minute grocery shopping. I cleaned silver (don't ask!) and hung some pictures on the wall. I also had a long lovely chat on the phone with a dear friend.

Homemade bacon and egg burgers for dinner.

Happily exhausted, I'm off to bed. Have a lovely weekend, I'll be back next week with tales of our adventures.

Mint tea anyone?

(these are the exact tea glasses that I bought and are sitting in my cupboard, however I am far too tired to be snapping pictures of them tonight)

Inspired by tales of Marrakech on Lobster and Swan's beautiful blog. I bought this book today.

My mum will be very happy, as her copy has been living on my bookshelves for the last year and a half! More than just a good cookbook (I have cooked many things from it), the photography is amazing. At once, am transported back in time, twisting through the dusty, narrow streets of the medina, very hot and very happy. This book really captures the soul of the country.

I was in Morocco a few lifetimes ago. I remember, a relaxing afternoon in Essaouira. My friends and I had just spent 4 hours drinking mint tea in a rug shop and now sat, slightly defeated, in a small, shaded square, eating sweet pastries and drinking cafe lattes. Some Europeans on another table, started strumming guitars and singing. For a long time we sat in the fading afternoon light, we watched the busy daily lives of the locals as we listened to the music. Mr Moo and I were just friends then, but I knew, then, in that moment, that I would bring him here. To this beautiful and spellbinding country.

And one day I will. Because if you don't have dreams, you have nothing.

Moroccan Travel Warning: if you spend 1 month drinking cafe latte's, it may turn you off them for life.

Grow your own

(this image is from the book.)

If I ever do move to Tasmania, remind me that I will need this book.

There is absolutely no point in buying it now, as my small suburban backyard does not currently have a glut of pears, walnuts, raspberries or cherries. And it never will, but, oh, but how I wish it would.

I made the 'fruity up and down pancake' with apples for dessert last night, it was so good I think I'll make it again for Sunday breakfast this weekend.

With the omission of the ice-cream, of course!

Under eight fun

I had a great day being a mummy helper at school yesterday, for the under 8’s activities day. Part of Under 8's week.

Jumping castles, biscuit decorating, kite making, face painting, loud disco music, fire engines and fire hoses, balloons, parachute games, making magnets, painting, clowns, mobilo, music, and coffee for all the mummy helpers and volunteers.

I had lots of fun with my little group, Spunky Monkey and his friends L and J. They all showed good co-operating skills when deciding what to do next. I also really enjoyed seeing Spunky Monkey with his peers and in his school environment.

Spunky Monkey’s favourite part of the whole day, was eating the decorated biscuits. A mountain of icing, mini marshmallows, smarties, a worm lolly mouth and sprinkles!

I looove this painting above. It has been on my inspiration board for a year or more. If anyone knows who painted it, please let me know. I really wish I had bought it! Love it!

I have done some blog maintenance, so you can now add a comment at the bottom of each post.

Also, welcome to my new 'Followers'

Little girls clothes 2: Clothkits

(this image was taken from the Lark website)

Miss Moo Moo and I love this!

And it seems a tad more practical for our lifestyle. I just wish it was already a dress, I'm a bit over sewing at the moment. But we do love it.

I have been a huge fan of both Clothkits and Jane Foster for a while now. It is very exciting that some of their products can now be found at Lark, as coming from the UK, exchange rates and hefty postage can be a problem for the little Aussie shopper.

And this is on the wish list for me.

Little girls clothes 1: Olive's friend Pop

This morning I was having my cup of tea at the computer, when Miss Moo Moo came into the room. I was looking at the beautiful clothes of Olive's Friend Pop on the Lark website. This was not the first time I have just stared and stared at these beautiful clothes. And then, this, from Miss Moo Moo ........



"I love this, this, this and this and this".
"But these clothes aren't pink" I say.
"That's OK, I still love them." she says.

Of course, good taste has prevailed.

It looks as if we are past the days of 'if it's not pink, I'm not wearing it'. Yay!




So beautiful, but where would she wear something this. There is a lot of beach and bush walks around here of late.

Hmmm, we need an occasion!

(Some images were taken from the Lark website and others from the Olive's friend Pop website)

Assembling

It seems as if I am doing more assembling then cooking around here lately. Here's a few couple of easy recipes I thought I should share.



Roasted tomato salsa

(makes about 1 1/2 cups)

• 5 large tomatoes (chopped in to wedges)
• 1/2 red onion (finely diced)
• 3 tables. herbs (basil, parsley, oregano - roughly chopped)
• 2 tables. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tables. extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

• olive oil for roasting.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. On a large tray, lay out the tomatoes in a single layer, drizzle with oil. Roast for about 45 minutes. Chop finely and mix with the other ingredients.

Easy peasy. I whipped this up last night when our chicken schnitzel dinner, seemed way to boring.



Italian sausage stew

serves 6

• 12 Italian sausages (prick with a fork)
• 1 large red onion (sliced)
• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• 2 large or 3 small red capsicum (sliced)
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes (sliced)
• 1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
• 1 tables. tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

to serve
• soft polenta
• a handful of parsley (finely chopped)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put all of the ingredients, except the sausages, in a large shallow baking dish and mix well. Lay the sausages over the top and bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Turn the sausages once, halfway through cooking. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with soft polenta.

What did I tell you - so simple. I have made this a couple times over the last few weeks. Mainly because the first time I cooked it, I mixed together the best bits of 3 recipes, I think this is just right now. For my taste anyway. About the sausages, you may need more or less depending on the size of your sausages. I use Italian sausages with fennel seeds, but the kids find them too spicy so last time I just used good quality beef sausages and it still was super yummy.

Flowers for all

I have had a very crappy day and a bit of a crappy week. But since this blog is all about finding the joy, I am sending myself some virtual flowers to cheer me up.

I send these too, to my mum and my cousin, who have also had a bad week.

"Flowers are love's truest language"

May the next week be a better one for all of us.

This beautiful photo from Cup of Jo is, in fact, making me feel happier already. Beauty can do that.

Eva Mei and Me

I have forgotten to tell you about my crafty, craft night friend, Karyn and her new shop.



Karyn has been going from strength to strength. She seems to have found her niche, and is really loving what she is doing. Congratulations Karyn, I am so happy for you. Check out her "Made It" shop and her children's clothes made from vintage and salvaged fabrics. Her mum works in the op shop, so she is a fantastic source of good quality fabric.



I'm in love with the chenille pants for Miss Moo Moo (top photo), They might be just the thing for a little holiday we are having soon.


(All of these lovely photos are from Karyn's blog and shop)

Knitting scarves

(I love this scarf, what a gorgeous colour. The photo was found on this blog)

We had craft night again last night. And even though I dragged along my sewing machine and a project, I was too shattered to do anything but drink tea, gossip and eat Fiona's devine rhubarb and cinnamon cake. So good!

Most of the other crafty girls started knitting scarves. It was a lovely atmoshphere around the table with the clack clack of knitting needles.

Always a nice night.

Tasmania dreaming

We have often talked about moving to Tasmania. When life seems to be getting all to much, we think it could be just what we need. Maybe one day?

A simple life. A character filled home with a roaring fireplace. Seasons. A few chooks, ducks and maybe a house cow. Blossom trees. Local cheeses. Mr Moo wants quails. Wild beaches. Golden autumn leaves. Fresh berries. Nature walks. Have I said seasons? Lots of good organic food. A thriving vegetable patch. Mr Moo would paint and take photographs. I would cook and write. The children would draw and explore!

After reading Michelle's latest blog entry I am tempted to pack up right now.

Lantern parades, puppet shows by candlelight and cupcakes. What more do you want in life...

I mean, really.

Take a look at Michelle's lovely blog and the beautiful part of the world where she lives. I only discovered it last week and I am so very inspired.

(All of these beautiful photographs are from the Hugo and Elsa blog. Thank-you Michelle for allowing me to share them)

Sunday

It didn't actually rain on Sunday, but the weather wasn't great, so we adjusted our plans. We decided to go up to grandma's beach house, as it was close to this music in the park.



My mum came and joined us for lunch on the deck.



Then, we took our lemon tart down to park.



Miss Moo Moo hung out with us on the picnic rug.



While Spunky Monkey got down and dirty in the playground with all the other kids.



There was tree climbing.



And there was dancing.



In the late afternoon, we walked home to the beach house.



And then ............ this morning, still in holiday mode
(well, it is a beach house!) This breakfast.

Yum! Thank-you Mr Moo.

Today, back to work, back to school, back to housework.

Blissful autumn

Frosty mornings are starting our days at the moment, but the days themselves are purely magical. Rugged up in dressing gowns we sat outside in the sun to eat boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast. After doing a bit of craft we were back outside for morning tea, basking in the sun, simply hanging out. Tricks were performed, gardening tips were given, theatrical shows were put on, ideas were tossed about. Not by me, I just sat there drinking tea, eating cookies and soaking it all in. It was nice to have nothing on the agenda for a change.



With spirits high, at 10 to 12, I decided to make pasta for lunch, instead of the usual sandwiches. I set the table with bright table linens and opened a bottle of wine. This was the super quick and easy pasta I made, served with a green salad from out garden. Delicious!

Penne with fresh herbs, olives and tomatoes

Serves 4

• 400 grams penne pasta
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup mixed herbs - basil, parsley, oregano (chopped)
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives (pitted and sliced)
• 250 grams cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 1/4 teas. crushed red chilli flakes
• salt and pepper

Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain and then toss with half the olive oil, herbs and olives. Season to taste. Heat the remaining oil in a fry pan and cook the tomatoes, garlic and chilli over a high heat until heated through. Stir through the pasta and serve immediately.

Cooling down and warming up

What a beautiful lazy day we have had at home today, with autumn weather you want to bottle. Devine! But now, as I sit and write I have had to slip into my cardigan and slippers. I hope this is just the evening settling in and not rain coming, as we have picnic plans tomorrow and I don't want them canceled again.

Mr Moo has taken the kids for a walk to the park. I stayed home to 'cook dinner', but instead came into to the study with a cup of tea for a 5 minute to look around and to post our yummy lunchtime pasta recipe.

Don't worry, dinner will be served on time, but if I hadn't come in here now, I might not of discovered these gorgeous mugs from here - perfect for autumn afternoons like this one.





A warm malted milk anyone?

(All images were taken from the beautiful Belle and Boo blog)

The Fix-It Fairy

This afternoon, Miss Moo Moo came into the kitchen, she sat on the floor and held her foot in the air so I could see underneath it. Last week she had an inch long splinter under her foot I couldn't get out.

"Look, Mum"

"Hey, your splinter is gone"

"Yep, Fairies" (very matter-of-fact)

With that, she ran off back to her bedroom.

Dress-ups

The last couple of days I have been: collecting things, dropping things off, getting things fixed, having things altered, returning things that were wrong and driving all around to discover, a shop having what I wanted yesterday, but not today. And driving all around to discover, no they don't have it anymore and if they do get it in again, they don't know when. Very frustrating!

Luckily, while on one of my wild goose chases, I had to go past the op shop. I found this fantastic children's book from the 1960's.





Forget all of this boring grown up stuff, I think we should all be having more "costume parties" (the name of the book) it seems so much more fun.

She's made

I finally got around to making this little doll yesterday. She has been an instant hit and not left Miss Moo Moo's side since. Now all she needs is a name and some clothes!

Little angels on earth

(Spunky Monkey and me - 1 week old)

Our conversation at dinner tonight.

Me: "These were the fritters that my nana used to cook for me when I a was a little girl. Has grandma cooked these for you before? Lots of grandma's cook corned beef and corned beef fritters."
Miss Moo Moo: "I call them grannies. That's a nickname. I saw a granny before I was born".
Me: "Did you just say that you saw a granny before you were born?"
Miss Moo Moo: "Yes, when I was coming out of your tummy."

Miss Moo Moo is about the same age now as Spunky Monkey was when he told me the following story during one of his crazy bedtime chats:

Spunky Monkey (2 years ago): " I was in your belly and I went pop and was pulled out of your belly. I want to be in your belly again and I can pull the string. And it was all twisty, twisty and wrap around and they have to put their hands in mummy's belly and pull me out!"

Spunky Monkey was born by C-section because he was breached. The doctor did not know that the cord was wrapped around his neck until his birth, they apparently had quite a bit of trouble untangling him.



What do they say? The miracle of childbirth - indeed!

Corned beef fritters

Tonight I cooked good old fashioned corned beef fritters for dinner. Not really a healthy, well balanced meal for today's modern family, but sometimes nostalgia must come to the table. After a quick call to my mum for a secret ingredient, they did, actually taste just like my Nan's.

Here is how I made them.

Corned beef fritters

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup self-raising flour
• a generous pinch of salt
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 small onion (finely diced & gently cooked until soft)
• 1 cup cooked corned beef (diced)

• oil for shallow frying

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Add the egg, milk and worchestershire sauce to the flour and beat well. Leave to stand for one hour, if possible. (this when I cook the onion) Stir in the cooled onion and corned beef. Heat oil until smoking. Spoon the mixture into the pan and fry until a rich brown colour on both sides. Drain on paper towel. Serve immediately with tomato ketchup.

 Please note:

1) Don't try to use less oil, it just doesn't work, these fritters must be shallow fried.
2) These fritters are one of the few things that I simply must have heinz tomato ketchup with. You should too.

Cookbook love

(these beautiful flowers opened in a burst of colour this morning, my mother's day gift from my mum! Thank-you mum for always, always being there)

I kept Spunky Monkey home from school today. I had a very, very tired and unreasonable little boy on my hands. We took the day very slow and easy. The kids played happily together for a while, giving me a chance to indulge in a rare treat. A large pile of cookbooks, (all due back to the library soon) double fudge chocolate cookies and a nice hot cup of tea.



Wondrous dreaming of ............. places to visit, exciting menu's to cook and dinner parties to host. And on what occasion could I cook that chocolate cake?



Later in the day we went over to Nanny's house and did pretty much the same thing. Lovely!

Happy Birthday Sonia

Happy 36th birthday to my beautiful cousin Sonia (who lives too far away). I hope you had an extra special day.

She's the one on the right - cool huh!