Cooking up a storm!

Hi there :)  I've been continuing my cooking journey with Chelsea Winter's cookbook Eat and I'm still getting awesome results using her recipes.  Usually I only cook a couple of recipes from a cookbook but this one really appeals to me and I'm enjoying trying out some new spices too!

You can see my previous blog post HERE where I shared Lightning Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, Lemon Squeezy Slice and Rich Beef Goulash... all delicious!

The next recipe I tried was Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Curry.  I love Thai Green Curry and I've tried out a LOT of recipes but they all fell short of the mark.  This time I made my own spice paste following Chelsea's recipe and oh my goodness it was GOOD!  The smells coming from the kitchen were incredible.

On the same day I made the curry, I also tried out the Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake... YUM!!  You really only do need a small slice because it's pretty rich... in fact next time I think I'll make it in my square springform tin so that I can cut it up into small squares.  We had some to celebrate Mikayla's birthday... and then we had some for pudding the next day... and then I took some to school on the third day and I think it tasted even better by then.  I have no idea what it tasted like by Day 4 because it was all gone!

The next recipe on my list was Bali Beef Rendang.  I've never been to Bali but this recipe made me want to travel there!  It was super easy to cook... smelt delicious and the taste was incredible!  According to Chelsea, the spices preserve the meat so that it lasts for ages.  I put the left overs in the freezer and they taste pretty darn good reheated from frozen too!  I had mine with Shanghai cabbage and snow peas cooked in a hot pan and then splashed with a little balsamic vinegar... Yum Yum!!

After doing all these meals and desserts/treats I thought I'd make something to take to school for lunch.  After a quick look through Eat I came up with the perfect thing... Crummy Chicken.  This recipe is ridiculously simple and much like how I've done crumbed chicken in the past but somehow it just tasted different this time... and it was perfect with some salad for lunches!  I shared some of the chicken with my workmates and one of them said it was 'like KFC only better'!

So there's another four recipes from Chelsea's book Eat.  I can honestly recommend this book to anyone interested in cooking and eating delicious food!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend xx

Cook... Eat... Yum!

Hi there... you might have picked up from the title that today's post is about cooking... food and eating!  And you'd be right!!  On Sunday night, Krystal and I went to Chelsea Winter's book launch for Eat... and we had a really good time.  After pondering about buying the book for a couple of days (some things take time) I finally found a signed copy at Whitcoulls.

Photo from Penguin Books

I went through the recipe book and picked out a couple of things that I knew instantly I wanted to cook... and I haven't been disappointed at all!

On Tuesday I headed to Vetro to buy some spices for my ever-growing collection.  I love how fresh they are and actually very good prices too.  A quick trip to the supermarket to buy a couple of ingredients and it was time to cook. 

Tuesday

For my first recipe I picked Lightning Chicken which is called 'Lightning' because it's pretty quick to cook... it might be quick but it's absolutely delicious.  I served mine with three B's... basmati rice, beans and bok choy... oh my!

The creamy thyme sauce was absolutely delicious and the rice soaked up all the extra sauce.  I steamed the bok choy in my wok with a little balsamic vinegar and garlic... super tasty.

Wednesday

Next up I decided to go for another chicken dish... Chicken Tikka Masala.  We were all heading off to Awakeri for a swim at the hot pools so I got the chicken spicy marinade made before we left and let it do it's work while we were off having some fun.

Miss Chloe LOVED swimming at the hot pools and she looks totally gorgeous in her little swimmers and the swim suit Nana bought her.

So... back to the cooking... we got home from the pools and the chicken was ready to be cooked.  I also made the sauce from scratch and oh my those spices smelt INCREDIBLE!  I did some rice in the rice cooker and before we knew it dinner was on the table... YUM!

Krystal and Mikayla both gave it the thumbs up and since the recipe makes enough for six people I was able to freeze three dinners for another night.

Thursday

Yesterday I decided to try one of Chelsea's sweet treats... Lemon Squeezy Slice.  I will definitely be making this for a morning tea shout next term!  Super easy... no cooking... and it tastes absolutely divine!  The recipe says it makes 15 slices but honestly I think I got double that... it's hard to tell because every time I turn around another piece is missing!

At mid-day I had an osteopath appointment so I took a couple of pieces in for Victoria as a treat.  She was starting boot camp last night so she said she was going to save it for later... then I got a phone call from her in the afternoon saying... oops I've eaten it all!!

Just a little enabler alert here... I bought a new chopping board while I was in town yesterday and it's awesome!  It's called a 'Chop2Pot' and basically it lays flat while you are chopping onions, capsicum, mushrooms etc and then it folds the sides in so that nothing falls off when you put it in the pot.  I tried it yesterday and I really loved it!

So what was for dinner last night?  Rich Beef Goulash!  I cooked it in a casserole pot... low and slow... and it was divine!  It's full of paprika which is one of my favourite spices and it reminded me of a Hungarian dish 'Mr Harry' used to cook when I was little.

I served mine with potato mash and Shanghai cabbage which I cooked in a little butter and then splashed the pan with balsamic vinegar... so good!  It was only Mikayla and myself for dinner last night so I've got five of these little babies (minus the Shanghai cabbage) in the freezer!

As for tonight, we're celebrating Mikayla's birthday before she goes back home tomorrow... the holiday at Nana's house has gone by so fast!  I did ask if Mikayla wanted to go out for dinner, have takeaways or eat at home and the answer was... eat at home!  So tonight we're going to try the slow cooker Thai chicken curry out of the recipe book.

I have to say that I'm currently loving cooking again... feeling inspired in the kitchen... it's a good thing xx

Happy Easter everyone :)

Hi there :)

Officially, Easter is over for another year.  We've had a house full of people this Easter and it's been great... but now I've got the house to myself... and Toby and Nivea of course... and it's quiet and peaceful which is also great!

We had an abrupt end to the school term on Thursday when Cyclone Cook decided to make an appearance.

Cyclone Cook over Lake Taupo

 Instead of doing everything we planned on Thursday we were ringing the parents of our children to ask them to come and get them because the Ministry of Education decided to close all the Rotorua schools early.  We could see the rain coming... the skies were getting darker and we knew the wind was on it's way.

I knew that Toby and Nivea would probably be freaking out at home so I was really pleased to get back to them at lunchtime before the worst of it hit.  There were lots of road closures happening too, so I was super pleased that Michael was able to get home from work early as well.

Road Closures near Matamata

Michael's daughter (Roxanne) was due to come up for Easter and we didn't know if she and Alesha would be able to get through the roads from Wellington but they arrived bright and early on Good Friday.

My Mum officially retired and had her last day of work on Thursday so she came over for Easter as well and Krystal came and joined in on the festivities too!

On Sunday morning Mum, Krystal and I all got busy in the kitchen and cooked a big breakfast for everyone... super delicious!  We had hash browns, breakfast sausages, streaky bacon, mushrooms in a creamy sauce and French toast... oh my!  Ten minutes after this photo was taken there was barely anything left!

So, on with the crafting... a few weeks ago a bubble bag arrived in my mailbox filled with all sorts of treasures... they're the best kind of parcels a crafter could wish for!  Inside this particular parcel was a new die for making 3D cards - Lawn Fawn - Scalloped Box Card Pop-Up.

Michael thought I was crazy making Easter cards so early... but I'm glad I did because school got crazy busy in the last few weeks of the term and I got no crafting done at all!  Today I'm officially on school holidays YIPPEE!

So back to the cards... I made one for my youngest sisters children (she has three girls).  Since they're all girls I went with pink colours:

My other sister also has three children (two boys and a girl) so I used a bit of blue for their card:

I fully intended taking some 'staged' photos of my cards... I even bought myself a gorgeous Easter bunny to help set the scene... and then I kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off some more.  The next thing I knew it was Easter weekend and one of my sisters called in to collect the cards and eggs before heading off to see the other sister and I had to make do with a horrible rainy day for my photos.  I'm feeling a little bit grateful that I managed to take photos at all to be honest.

I've got lots of crafting to show you... including a new crafting space... but since I'm on school break I'll have more time for blogging so I'll share all that soon.

Here's a gorgeous wee girl talking to her Dad about Easter... we've watched this several times over Easter and I'm still loving it!

I hope you have all had a safe and happy Easter xx

December Daily: Dec 29

On Tuesday morning I was playing a game on my computer... nothing too taxing... and then Dougal arrived!  My game was a 'match 3' style and Dougal kept telling me where some matches were which on first glance you might think was helpful... but when you've only got ONE MINUTE to clear the level you've got to be super concentrated!  He kept saying that HE could do it faster and HE could make more matches than me... and his butting in was costing me to loose the level which just added fuel to the fire.

More than anything, I think Dougal just liked all the sparkly lights and tokens especially when it went into 'score frenzy' and EVERYTHING sparkled and shone!  We did manage to compromise in the end... he was super quiet during my turn and then he was allowed to have a turn!

Mike got the fence all finished on Tuesday.  He's done a really great job and it looks completely professional.  Actually it's amazing how much nicer it looks driving up to the house without the fence blocking the patio anymore.

Krystal came over in the evening to meet someone (I'll tell you about that in a minute) and we had meringue nests for dessert.  The nests were left over from Christmas so we whipped up some cream, sliced some strawberries and added some passionfruit juice... sooo delicious!

Tuesday was special for our little family because Toby became a big brother!  We have adopted a new fur baby!  Miss Nivea (like the face cream) has come to join our family.  She's two years old and a pound puppy.  She had an unfortunate start to life and at some point she's had a litter of puppies but she's got a kind nature and she's very affectionate.

As you can image Mr Toby wasn't 100% happy about Nivea joining the family after being an 'only child', but it's actually been quite easy overall.  They've had a couple of spats... mostly over food... and they've worked out all their little issues without too many hassles at all!

So far our hardest job is keeping Nivea off the bed!  She loves to sneak up on the bed during the night and bury herself under the covers... and she's worked out very quickly that Daddy is a soft touch!  

For the creative pieces on this page I based them all around our fur babies.  The 'LOVE' with the footprint was cut on the Silhouette and then I added the die cut date.

For the second pocket I cut a cute little dog house on the Silhouette and then die cut the word 'joy' using my Tim Holtz holiday words.

Thanks for stopping by xx

December Daily: Dec 28

Michael has ALWAYS got at least one project on the go!  If he's not actually doing a project then he's thinking about a project so why should December be any different??

On Monday I woke up to find Michael in the dining room ready to apply Danish Oil to our new dining table.  On Christmas Day I'd wiped it down with a damp cloth and it had 'bloomed'... turns out the previous owners had put some sort of wax on the table to make it look nice but now the wax was coming off every time we wiped the table.

Michael Googled all about it on his phone and found a tutorial that said to use a cloth and hot iron to 'pull' the wax from the table and it worked brilliantly.  Now that he's applied the Danish Oil the table looks and feels so much nicer.

Then he was onto his next project!  Krystal is moving back here soon and she wants to put a caravan at our place to live in.  Mike decided that he was going to make the most of our patio area so he decided to move the fence and gate from the driveway side of the house to around onto the deck side... that way Krystal's caravan can go onto our patio area.

Mike had removed one section of fence when Toby went outside for a look and the expression on his face was priceless!!!  He came running around the corner... saw the fence... stopped immediately... and then looked at me as if to say "I didn't do it... I think we've been burgled!" 

Meanwhile, Mike kept working on the fence for the rest of the day.  He had to try and figure out a way to re-install the gate around the corner which meant drilling a couple of holes into my concrete... which meant using a concrete drill piece... BUT... the drill itself couldn't quite handle it and the next thing you know there was smoke pouring out of it followed by a few flames!  This of course meant a trip to Bunnings to buy a new drill... Mike wasn't too upset by that prospect.

By the time it got dark Mike had installed the gate into it's new home and worked out how the fence was going to go as well.  Then he decided that he'd make Moroccan lamb burgers for dinner!

Mike's been watching too many cooking shows because he often talks about 'letting the flavours infuse'... or 'using different flavour profiles'... and it's all said for dramatic effect of course!  He has actually been really enjoying cooking lately and I hardly ever get to be in the kitchen myself!

I really like my creative pieces on this page... some days they just come together really well.  For the date pocket I cut my date using a Tim Holtz die and then I got busy on my Silhouette and cut a pot plant pot and plant.  I did a bit of inking... added a mini banner from my stash and a cork star finished it off.

Since Mike was working on the gate I decided to replicate that in my second pocket.  The packaging the cork stars came in had a 'wood grain' background on the card so I used that to cut a gate from with my Silhouette.  It needed something so I added the black beams to match in with our real fence a bit and then I went through my flower stash and found a few pieces that looked good.

So that's what we did on Monday... thanks for visiting xx

December Daily: Dec 25

Christmas Day this year was completely different to our usual family get-togethers.  This year it was just us, the boys and Krystal.  We had such a relaxing day... we ate... we talked... we played games... we watched a movie... and we laughed together.

Michael and I got woken up by the boys opening their Santa stockings... totally missed the photo op because they ripped into their presents before I was ready with the camera!  Toby got a couple of his favourite treats... chicken and bacon biscuits, and duck tenders... meanwhile Dougal was in 7th heaven with some new glitter!

Michael went around to Krystal's and when they arrived we had present opening.  Toby did really well this year... he got me some of my favourite Ferrero Rocher chocolates and he got Daddy a ceramic R2D2 cookie jar full of cookies!

Michael bought me a lovely rustic wooden box that opens up to reveal a standing mirror (you can see it at the front of the table) and I got him the coffee plunger he was coveting... he loves it and is using it daily!

After presents, Krystal and I got busy in the kitchen.  We made the blueberry and lemon curd trifle that Mike requested... and we also put the leg of lamb which we smothered in cranberry jelly and fresh rosemary into the oven.  Then we got onto making our first course... Canadian lobsters, prawns and panko crumbed scallops... soooo delicious!

After the first course we cleared the table and had a few games of Rummikub.  It's been our favourite family game since the girls were at primary school.  While we played we had some cheese and crackers... it is Christmas after all!

While we watched a movie together we got all the vegetables into the oven to roast.  By the time the movie finished the smells coming from the kitchen were incredible!  Krystal and I made a quick gravy and then lunch was served.  Totally delicious although I didn't get a photo!

After the roast Michael took himself off for a little nap and Krystal and I watched a girly movie... and then we thought we might just have some brandy snaps... so we whipped some cream and got them ready.  Dougal got busy helping himself... he tried to say he didn't but the silly boy had cream on his nose... it's a dead giveaway!

Since Michael was asleep we scoffed them ourselves... besides, Michael isn't a huge fan of brandy snaps.  When he woke up he was ready for the requested trifle and it went down a treat!  So delicious and I'll definitely make it again.

So that was our Christmas.  We did catch up with Roxanne and Mikayla via phone and they were both having a lovely day.  Maybe one year we'll have all our girls at home for Christmas!

For the creative pieces I kept it pretty simple.  I die cut the '25' using a Tim Holtz die and the holly was cut from another Tim Holtz die.  The tag in the lower pocket was too pretty not to use so I attached it to the white embossed card with a jewel brad... super simple.

And there you have it... Christmas Day 2015 done and dusted!

December Daily: Dec 23

My peace and quiet is currently being shattered by the sound of the circular saw and the hammer... yes Michael is up to another project again!  This afternoon he 'acquired' several old pallets and he's now busy making me herb planter boxes.  They do look pretty good and I know they're going to be useful!

On Wednesday Dougal was trying very hard to be in my good books... either that or he was buttering me up for his big ask!  From the moment he woke up he went on and on about going to see the 'twinkly lights'.  He'd seen the map for the lights on Daddy's phone and he wanted to go and see them.

Somehow he managed to talk Daddy into going to Bunnings and Mitre 10... I imagine it was quite easy actually... and when they came home Dougal proudly presented me with a beautiful peace lily.  I've got it in my tall pot plant stand in the art studio and it's perfect.

Michael has been on a mission to do lots of little jobs lately and one that he decided to do was get rid of all my old pots.  He thought that since I hadn't used them for so long that I mustn't want them and before I knew it they were listed on Trade Me.  In the end he got $40 for the pots which was actually pretty good and still a bargain for the buyers!

For dinner Michael decided he wanted to cook.  He's been working on cooking the perfect steak and he's pretty much got it worked out now.  He did steaks, onions, mash and then he made a mushroom sauce... so divine!

After dinner we took the boys and went around to pick up Krystal and look at the lights.  Dougal sat up on Krystal's knee so that he could see out the window easier and the lights really were beautiful.  It really was 'merry and bright' and some people have made an awesome effort to decorate their homes for the holidays.

For today's creative pieces I headed back into my stash again.  I used another Christmas bird along with a cork star and the date star for the top piece.

For the bottom piece I stamped a Bo Bunny stamp I've had for a long time.  This Santa is really lovely and almost always stamps perfectly.  All I added was a wax seal... remember using those???

I hope you're all enjoying the festive season and managing to spend some time relaxing with family and friends.  Stay safe and enjoy xx

December Daily: Dec 21

By Monday morning Mike's eye was really driving him crazy so we went down to the doctors as soon as they opened.  It turns out that the wee speck was sitting right over the cornea and the doctor wasn't prepared to try and remove it so he made an appointment for Mike at the eye clinic later in the day.

Meanwhile, Dougal thought that Daddy was getting far too much attention and sympathy!  Dougal much prefers it when he's the center of attention!  So what's a small puppy to do??? He 'invented' his own sore eye!  He moaned... he cried for 'eye medicine'... he wanted to go to the eye clinic too.  Then I noticed that it was quiet... a little TOO quiet... and where was Dougal???  Helping himself to some of Daddy's Optrex eye wash! 

In the end it turned out that what Dougal really wanted was some cuddles and attention.  I made a big fuss of him... gave him a few cuddles and read him a story and he was quite happy to carry on playing for the rest of the afternoon.

Late afternoon, Michael and I headed down to the eye clinic and the specialist was able to remove the 'foreign object' from Michael's eye.  He had a bit of antiseptic cream to apply but she said she'd managed to remove it without damaging his eye... what a relief!

In between all the dramas at home I actually managed to make some 'Reindeer Noses' treats and present labels for the kids.  I've wanted to make the 'noses' packets for a few years now and just always seemed to run out of time so I was thrilled to actually get them done.  I even managed to get them sent to my sister and they arrived the very next day... fantastic!

For the creative pieces on this page I kept it really simple.  The top piece was made with a cardstock embellishment from my stash along with the date star.  The bottom pocket contains a stamped and heat embossed Christmas tree which I cut out and then I added some cork stars to finish it off.

It's so close to Christmas now... I can feel the excitement in the air... and the boys are SUPER excited that Santa is coming tonight!

December Daily: Dec 20

Sunday ended up being quite an eventful day!  We spent some time in the morning doing stuff around the house and then I decided to make a quick 'pizza bread' for lunch.  I swear that my boys can all hear when I open the pantry or the fridge and they all come running to see what I'm up to!

I'd barely got the lunch started before Michael was looking over my shoulder, Toby was at my feet and Dougal was sitting on the stove watching!  They must run around with empty bellies the whole time... either that or they all have worms LOL

In the afternoon Mike and Toby got busy in the backyard scraping the top of the driveway.  The only problem was that Toby really wasn't helpful at all... in fact he starting attacking the shovel each time Mike tried to use it.  At one point Toby actually nipped Mike's foot!!!  There must be something about that shovel because he's fine with the spade.

Mike wanted pizza for dinner... even though we'd had pizza bread for lunch.  He's quite a creature of habit really, so on  Sunday night I made him a meatlovers pizza with bacon, salami and frankfurters and then added a few mushrooms... really delicious!

After dinner we settled down to watch some TV but Michael's eye was starting to really bother him.  He had a little speck of something in it and after much rubbing (which I told him not to do!) we went to the supermarket and bought some Optrex eye wash.

Unfortunately, the eye wash didn't work and his eye was really annoying him so we did a quite trip down to A&E.  There were heaps of people there and it looked like it was going to take several hours to get seen so Mike decided that we'd just go home and he'd go to the doctors in the morning.

For my creative pieces today I used a few more stamps that I've found while going through containers in my art studio.  The top piece is part of a Tim Holtz stamp and one of my favourite Christmas images.  I teamed it up with a poinsettia and the date star.

For the other pocket I did some heat embossing in the both silver and white and then layered it with some patterned paper... very easy but quite effective.

So that was our Sunday :)

December Daily: Dec 15

On Tuesday we were all quite fascinated at school with the workmen putting up scaffolding around the big hall next door.  At one stage we counted nearly 25 men all walking around on the roof and the scaffolding and not a safety harness in sight!

On Tuesday night it was time to start making 80 cupcakes for the kids Christmas party.  Krystal finished work at 7pm and she came around to give me a hand.  Dougal was very keen to 'help' with the baking and he read the recipe out to us over and over making sure we put all the ingredients in and that we mixed every batch properly.

There were times when he got so close to the mixer that he was practically IN the bowl!  Later that night he was complaining that he had a little bit of sugar, butter and egg stuck to his fur!!  Of course there's no good telling him that he needs to sit back further because it goes in one ear and out the other!

We baked all the cupcakes in batches of 12 and we were keeping a running total to make sure we had enough.  Dougal was very 'helpful' with the counting but his numbers kept changing.  We'd bake a batch of 12 cupcakes but the numbers would only go up by 11!  I think he may have been scoffing the odd cupcake and not telling us... as a matter of fact he DID look a little full by the time we pulled the last cupcakes out of the oven at 11.30pm!  Thank goodness I had Krystal's help!

Toby also kept us company while we did the baking.  He's been really loving the lights on the tree this year and quite often will lie down by the tree at night just watching them.

For my creative pieces I did a little recycling... the Merry Christmas vanilla spice circle is actually from the front of my vanilla oil fragrance packaging.  I cut it out with a 2" circle punch, distressed the edges and added some ink.  I also added a lovely jewel brad snowflake from my stash along with the date star.

The creative piece at the bottom of the page is from a Christmas bingo card photo that I used to make ATC's (artist trading cards) a few years ago.  I've been finding all sorts of things in my stash of goodies that have been just right to add to my December Daily album.

Thanks for visiting again xx

December Daily: Dec 12

We spent most of Saturday at home.  Michael got busy putting new brake pads on one of the cars and Dougal kept an eye on him... from a safe distance so that he didn't get dirty!  He wanted to know what Mike was doing each step of the way and since they were right outside my art studio I got to hear the running commentary.  Sometimes Mike really does have a LOT of patience!

When Mum came over on Friday night she brought some homemade Florentine biscuits for us.  She'd never made them before and they turned out pretty nice.  Mum and I shared one on Friday night because they're quite rich.  In the morning Michael asked me who had made the 'delicious treats' in the fridge... and my answer was... How many did you eat???  Quick as a flash Michael said... More than one but less than all of them!  Turns out that he'd 'generously' left three for me.

And while we're on the subject of delicious treats... I bought a bucket of the new salted caramel flavour of Christmas Cookies.  Those cookie buckets have been a part of our festivities since the girls were little.  I thought I'd hidden the bucket quite well until Mike and I heard a commotion going on in the family room.  We caught Dougal AND Toby trying to get into the cookies... thankfully Toby has no thumbs and Dougal's teeth aren't strong enough so they couldn't get into them... what a shame!!

On Saturday night we were supposed to be going out for Mike's work function but a small case of food poisoning (not ours) foiled the plans... such a pain!  Since we'd planned on eating out I decided to do something special at home and I had my first attempt at making mussels in Thai broth... it wasn't too bad but the broth needs a few tweaks so that it's like the one at Brew.  Mike really enjoyed it though and it felt quite special sitting down to the mussels with crusty bread and a bottle of sparkling grape juice.  It's the simple pleasures of sharing a meal that makes life worthwhile. 

For my creative pieces I stamped a Tim Holtz Christmas ticket and combined it with a poinsettia and crystal brad along with the star date.  For the bottom piece I used the 'negative' space of a deer cut on the Cameo.  I especially like the embossed white card showing through... looks very cool!

So that was Saturday... thanks for stopping by again xx

December Daily: Dec 5

Saturday turned out to be quite a busy day around here.  The boys and I got up early and were in the art studio just after 6am.  I’m so pleased that I keep my camera close by because I managed to get a really nice photo of Toby sitting just outside the French doors.

If you saw my blog post on Saturday you will know that I spent a bit of time organising my word dies and that system is working out great for me!

Michael bought a new phone for the art studio as well.  He got all the wiring done and the phone is crystal clear!  Dougal thought the new phone was pretty cool too… although I’m hoping I won’t have a horrendous phone bill from him calling Santa!

While we were out doing our jobs in town we called into the new Countdown supermarket and Mike got all starry-eyed about the seafood bar.  It didn’t take him long to request a seafood chowder for dinner either!

When we got home Mike spent a bit of time in the garden and then he climbed up on the brick wall again and decided to wash it down. There was water, dirt and weeds flying everywhere and he was quite happy making a mess. 

 

Meanwhile, I was inside making the requested seafood chowder followed by my caramel croissant bread and butter pudding… yes that was another request!

Michael finally finished washing down the wall just after 7pm but the dinner was well worth waiting for!

So that was our Saturday!

Project Life: Week 38

This is another week with almost no photos taken during the week so it’s more of a ‘what we did this weekend’ kind of thing.  It was a great weekend though because it was Mike’s birthday.

Here’s an overview of Week 38 – September 14th – 20th

I’ve made pizza dough for years and I actually like kneading the dough… what I don’t like quite so much is getting the dough started… it’s always sticky and messy and it gets under my fingernails… but not anymore!  I’ve discovered that the Kitchen Aide dough mixer attachment is fantastic!  It makes quick work of turning a few simple ingredients into a super smooth dough in just a matter of minutes.

Mike really wanted some pizzas for his birthday so I got onto making the dough early.  It’s a really great recipe that you can make up to 24 hours ahead of time and it has a ‘sour dough bread’ flavour… very light and crispy!

Here’s a closer look at the left side of the album:

Toby really wanted to get Daddy something different for his birthday and he’s been ‘discussing’ ideas with me so when I found the MAN CAVE sign I knew it would be perfect and Toby really loved it although he did find wrapping to be quite difficult… it’s due to him not having thumbs of course!

Mike was busy on Saturday morning and he got the French doors on the art studio all primed.  They look really fantastic now and hopefully over the summer we’ll get some top coat onto them.

Mike is a bit of a self confessed ‘princess’.  He’s often seen flicking his ‘beautiful golden hair’ around and declaring that he’s gorgeous.  He also goes on about the colour pink and how it’s his favourite of ALL the colours! It’s certainly keeps us all amused that’s for sure! 

Mike is also good at pushing the limits!… in a fun way of course :)  A few months ago Mike kept using the word ‘moist’ in very inappropriate ways. He said it as often as he could and in every situation he could… and he got himself banned from saying it!  It’s become a bit of a joke now… especially with Krystal and Chris.  They often post ‘moist’ jokes onto Mike’s timeline! 

So for his birthday Krystal and I bought a combination of ‘moist’ and ‘princess’ gifts for him.  Krystal made up labels for each item and ‘Princess Michael’ had a wonderful time opening them all up!

We also had to have a ‘Princess Party’ with all Mike’s favourite party food!  Here’s a closer look at the right side of the album:

We had sausage rolls, little pink cocktail sausages with sauce, chips, nibbles and of course fairy cakes!  Krystal and Chris came and we all sat around wearing party hats. 

Most of the afternoon was spent playing Rummikub although Chris has declined to play with us again because he says we’re all ‘too competitive’!  Is there such a thing as being too competitive at board games???

We had salami,camembert and mozzarella pizzas for dinner along with a few drinks and it was a lovely day.  Mike also received a cool card from Mum:

The inside reads: ain’t for sissies!

On Sunday Mike made us a ‘wardrobe’ in the garage for all our bike gear.  It actually works really well and definitely keeps everything clean and dry.  Toby was very impressed that Daddy put up his ‘Man Cave’ sign straight away as well.

We finished the weekend off with a blackberry sponge for dessert.  We were supposed to have half for dessert on Sunday and half for dessert on Monday but when I got up on Monday morning it was all GONE!  It seems that Mike’s sweet tooth kicked in and he couldn’t possibly resist it.  Oh well… I suppose it is his birthday LOL

So that was our life in Week 38.  Thanks for stopping by xx

Project Life: Week 37

Today I headed into work and when I got there I found there’d been a major muck up and they really didn’t need me today so I’m working on Wednesday instead. I’ve picked up a .5 teaching position at a special needs school which means I work 2 1/2 days per week. 

It’s a gorgeous day here in Rotorua and so far I’ve got a couple of loads of washing on the line… started weeding the front garden and organised some more stuff for my art studio.  Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up the momentum for the whole day and get lots done!

Here’s a look at our Week 37 – September 7th – 13th

Mike mentioned that he quite liked peanut brownies which I don’t usually make so I searched out a recipe and got baking.  Funnily enough, Mike and Danny turned up from work early… just as the cookies came out of the oven!

Toby might not be allowed chocolate cookies but he DOES like to have one of his biscuits in front of the fire.  The only real down side to having a fire is the mess… there’s dust and ash all over the place and Toby likes to munch on pieces of firewood so there’s little bits of sharp sticks everywhere!!

Here’s a closer look at the left side of my album:

Mike’s been making fabulous progress in the art studio… he’s even been doing a ‘make over’ on my big table.  It’s a little bit too wide and the edges are quite sharp so Mike cut some off the width and then did an angle cut on all four sides. 

On the cooking front we’ve been trying some new recipes and Mike quite likes ‘that green stuff from the garden’ chopped up in his dinner.  The ‘green stuff’ is actually Italian parsley and it does taste pretty good!

We discovered last week that we had some Fly Buys points that were going to expire so I had a look at the various rewards you could get and found a beginners cheese making kit was right within our points range.  I ordered it and it was super speedy to arrive!

I decided to give mozzarella cheese a go… I read all the instructions… watched the little video and did exactly what they said to do and it turned out perfectly!  Mike was actually pretty impressed too :)

Since we had our fresh mozzarella as well as the cheeses we bought the previous weekend we decided to get a smoked chicken and make ourselves a cheese platter for dinner… SOOO good!

The next night we had smoked chicken pizzas with fresh mozzarella cheese for dinner… YUM!!

Here’s a closer look at the right side of the page:

Mike cleaned up the window frames with his scraper tool and then once the primer was dry on my table he gave it a coat of paint.  It’s all looking pretty amazing and it won’t be long now until I can move my stuff in.

On Saturday we went over to Mum’s place with the chainsaw to cut down a tree for her.  Mike really likes getting into ‘demolition mode’!  It definitely didn’t take long for the tree to come down… in fact it was almost done before I even had a chance to get the camera out!  Mum’s neighbours saw what was happening and came to ask if Mike could take the top off another tree that was blocking their sunlight.  Mike was only too happy to help… he was up the tree with the pruners and a saw and before you knew it the top of the tree was lopped off.

On Sunday I spent a bit of time helping Krystal out with one of her teaching assignments.  She wanted some ‘alternative’ fairy stories for an assignment and not only did I know of quite a few titles but I actually owned a few of them.  So nice to be able to help her out.

So that was our week… plenty to do and lots of jobs ticked off our list. 

Thanks for visiting xx

Project Life: Week 36

I’m definitely feeling very productive this weekend.  I’ve actually managed to finish FOUR WEEKS worth of photos to print off for my album and now I’m blogging again!  Thank goodness I’ve still been taking photos and organising them into my dated folders over the past couple of months.

Here’s an overview of Week 36:

Mike and decided that we might try a few new options for putting in our ‘lunch boxes’ and some savoury muffins fitted the bill.  Actually they were pretty delicious and we scoffed them a little too quickly!

During August the District Council cut down all the eucalyptus trees from the park as they were causing problems… especially when it was windy.  There were a couple of other trees that were just over our back fence and they’d been blocking off the sunlight and dropping leaves in our backyard.  We’d rung the council before about having them trimmed with no success so when they were doing the eucalyptus trees we gave them another call and they said that they would ‘look into it’.  We didn’t expect a lot and didn’t hear back from them so figured that nothing was going to happen.  On Monday I was at home and Toby and I both heard a huge noise… it turned out to be huge machinery that almost pulled the tree out by the roots.  We have lost a little bit of privacy in the backyard but we’ve also gained a LOT of sunlight!

Here’s a close up of the left side of my album:

Sometimes it’s nice to just capture some of the every day chores we do and on this morning I got a photo of all the dishes done… including my pink gloves!  One day we’ll get ourselves a dishwasher but for now we do the dishes by hand.

We spent almost every evening of this week working in the art studio painting.  It was definitely a team effort and brushes and rollers going constantly.  It looked dramatically different when the old red/brown walls were covered with primer.  It gave the first glimpse of what the finished room was going to be like.

I spent ages choosing my paint colours and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted.  I love how it all turned out and am very happy with my final choices!

Here’s the rest of the photos from this week:

On Saturday my friend Carey rang me to see if I wanted to do a photo shoot with her on Sunday morning.  We decided to go up to the Tree Trust at 6am to capture the sunrise but unfortunately it was a cloudy gloomy morning.  We actually  had a good time trying out different settings and playing with the lighting.  I’ve got a few photos that I’m pretty happy with.

Sunday morning was also Father’s Day!  Toby was super clever and he made up a ‘treasure hunt’ for Daddy!  Since I was going out early to take photos Mike had to participate in the treasure hunt early so that the surprise wasn’t spoilt! 

Mike loves Star Wars so Toby typed all his clues with little pictures of Yoda beside them… he’s a clever puppy!  All of the clues led to a new little present… all Star Wars and Darth Vader related.

The ‘basket’ would be the basket of new toilet paper rolls.

And inside the wood basket was the new circular saw that Mike had been looking forward to buying!  We was pretty happy with what Toby had put together for him.

After I got back from the Tree Trust we got changed and headed off on the bike to a little cheese shop in Putaruru.  They don’t just do cheese tasting there… they do ‘cheese educating’.  The lady in charge of the taste testing actually talked to us about how the cheeses were made, the types of processes and milks they use and also ideas for enjoying them more.  We actually learnt a LOT from her and confidently bought several of our favourites.

Then we were off to Tirau for lunch.  We had a wonderful brunch and sat outside in the sunshine enjoying our delicious food.  Since we were in Tirau we HAD to visit the Christmas Heirloom shop as well and we bought a few new decorations for our Christmas tree. 

Mike really enjoyed his Father’s Day and he was pretty pleased with our efforts to spoil him… so that was our Week 36. 

I hope you’re all enjoying the weekend xx

Project Life: Week 34

Late yesterday afternoon, Mike and I got really busy painting the primer onto the walls and ceiling of the art studio… and I’m desperate to show you… which means I really do have to catch up with my Project Life album so here’s Week 34 – August 17th to 23rd.

This winter we’ve had so much rain… and we’ve also had lots of really cloudy days so we’ve been doing our washing once a week and taking it to the laundrette to get it dry.  I’m super looking forward to just being able to hang things on the line again!

As you probably already know, Toby is quite partial to ‘treats’… which usually come in the form of things he probably really shouldn’t be eating but Mike has been buying big bags of brisket bones and Toby loves them!  Mike wraps each one up in glad wrap and then pops it in the freezer and now I’ve discovered that he warms them up a bit in the microwave before giving them to Toby… my boy is so spoilt!!

There’s been more baking going on as well.  While watching TV one night Mike mentioned that he felt like something sweet so I decided to bake a batch of peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.  I experimented a bit with the shape of them and Mike posted them onto Facebook.  One of my friends mentioned that the ‘rustic’ cookies looked a bit like a dog turd… so now I’ve gone back to shaping them again!

In other baking news… Krystal found a recipe on the internet for gingernut cookies and gave it a go… the results were delicious!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

Dad has a few friends who get together on a regular basis for Friday lunches.  They call their little group ‘The Last of the Summer Wine’ so when I saw a card with lots of ‘more mature’ men sitting on the park benches I knew it would be perfect for Dad’s birthday… plus I actually got it posted on time!  Dad really loved the card too so that was a huge bonus.

This week it was the floor of the art studio to get all the attention.  Over a period of a couple of days Mike got to use lots of ‘man tools’ to prep the floor.  First up he ‘sanded’ the floor with an industrial grinder which was attached to a large vacuum… perfect for catching the bulk of the dust!

Then he managed to score some paint that was perfect for painting onto the concrete.  It was a two-part paint which means it’s going to be really strong.  The paint had been sitting around for a long time so Mike grabbed a big paint stirrer that attached to his electric drill and it worked the paint together without Mike having to do all the work… actually it did it so well that I’m looking forward to having a go with it myself!

Next up Mike used a brush to do all the edges and tricky bit of the floor and then he was able to do the rest with the roller.  The floor got a sand down in between and it’s now had two coats put on it and it’s fully cured.  The colour is a very neutral grey and it’s going to be super easy to wash down and clean.

While we’re on the subject of paint… I’ve finally found some ‘vintage paint’ to use on my desk.  I also bought some ‘vintage wax’ to put on top of the paint to protect it.  I’m looking forward to starting work on my desk but first I have to find somewhere to actually do the work!

Here’s a close up of the rest of the week:

On Saturday we went around to visit Krystal and drop some stuff off to her and she was busy in her garden.  She’s been really getting into growing seeds lately and she’s got them growing in all sorts of containers.  She’s even drilled holes in the bottom of a couple of buckets to use for growing garlic and vegetables.  She’s quite industrious and has strawberries growing as well.

After we’d visited Krystal, Mike dropped me off to Third Place to have lunch with Chris, Carey and their mum’s.  It was Chris’ birthday so it was lovely to meet up for a late lunch together.  I’ll easily be able to remember both Chris and Dad’s birthday’s now!

Getting back to painting the art studio floor… poor Toby really wanted to be involved and he definitely didn’t want to be shut in the house on a lovely day… but he just wouldn’t listen to instructions so in the end we parked one of the cars outside the art studio and put Toby on the backseat.  Problem solved!

He was most put out when we placed the chairs in front of the doorway to create a barrier because he just wanted to go IN… he was even more put out the next day when Mike was inside the art studio and we kept telling Toby NO!

On Sunday we headed out for our first bike ride since we got back from Dad’s at Labour Weekend!  It had been about 2 1/2 months of bad weather and busy weekends so it was wonderful to head out together for a day.  We headed over to Tauranga because Mike had a few hours of work to do at the Mount and I took my book to read. 

After Mike had finished work we went to Columbus Cafe at Gate Pa and had brunch.  I ordered French toast with bacon and banana and Mike ordered himself a Big Breakfast and he was pretty stoked with it!  We had a great trip home on the bike and it was a lovely end to our week.

All in all it was a busy and productive week :)