ready or not

Oh so not. I haven't really given a great deal of thought to Christmas this year, aside from our fast four hour shop a month ago. But see, the thing is, I just looked at the date and realised that I'm somewhat unprepared for the big day. There's still shopping to do - for a teenage niece and nephew - the toughest pressies. There's a secret santa gift needed for a difficult-to-buy-for brother-in-law (wow, that's a lot of hyphens, even for me) and I may need to buy my husband the odd pressie or two.

I've also got to finalise my daughter's birthday invites and send them out. Plan her party - oh, and actually set a date for it that's not tentative. This is undoubtedly my most disorganised year - particularly with her party. I guess it's because I was hoping for the pool party, then had to do the quick switcheroo when I realised that the backyard wasn't likely to be ready in time. 

So today, I'm all action stations Christmas and birthday. I'll buy those last few pressies, get the invites sorted - and maybe do a little work as well. It can be done, and will, so we can all have a very, very merry Christmas.

oh my

Until today, I never really quite understood the appeal of Penelope Cruz. Probably because of the whole Tom Cruise thing. But today... goodness me...

festive loaf

For dinner last night I made a Christmassy meat loaf. It was very delish so I thought I'd best share:

Chicken and pistachio meatloaf

750g chicken mince

3 slices of bacon, diced

1/3 cup pistachios, roughly chopped

1 green onion, finely sliced

1 slice wholegrain bread, grated

1 egg

1/2 lime juice and zest

salt and pepper

chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

8 slices prosciutto

Mix all ingredients except prosciutto in a bowl - with your hands, go on. Then line a loaf tin with the prosciutto and then pile the chicken mix on top. Cover top with slices of prosciutto and place in a dish, and pour in enough water so it comes half-way up sides of the loaf tin. Cover top of meatloaf with foil and bake at 160 degrees for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake a further 15 minutes till golden.

Remove from oven, allow to rest, then remove from tin and slice. I served this with a sorrel, hazelnut and sliced green apple salad and it was very yummy indeed.

wise guys

My gal had one of her best gals over for a sleepover last night, so we took them out to check out the Christmas lights. First of all we went to Estabar, a coffee and gelato cafe opposite Newcastle Beach where we all indulged. Matt had espresso and chocolate gelato, Hollie had lemon sorbet and a chocolate cherry number, Annabella decided on chocolate and hazelnut, while I savoured a blood orange sorbet. Yummy!

After this we popped a Christmas CD in the player and drove around to look at lights. We finished off at the house above which is stunning in its elegant simplicity. All the curtains of the house are open, with gorgeous little vignettes apparent everywhere you look. These wise men were in the front yard, next to the sleigh that was set up for the children to sit in and have their photo taken.

The couple often come out to wish the children a Merry Christmas and you can just see the joy bouncing off them as they spy the beaming faces of the littlies. That's what Christmas is all about.

pantry raid

Spring cleaning is a task that really satisfies and one aspect I find immeasurably pleasurable is cleaning out the pantry. Going through the shelves one-by-one, taking out all the items and checking use-by dates before wiping over and setting aside, is an almost meditative task. However, what I really don't understand is how I can clean out the pantry at least annually and yet there's always one wildly out of date item. Nothing from the 70s mind you, but a few years out of date...

I also love wiping down the shelves, including the upper and lower sides, with a mix of warm water and essential oils (lime oil today) then allowing them to dry and repacking in a much more orderly fashion.

Today was the first time I haven't had to clean out the pantry as part of a blitz on pantry moths. I've had years of fighting these little blighters, but now I place items such as flour, rice, popping corn etc straight in the freezer once I buy them. The flour comes out after a fortnight, when I know any eggs have been killed off, but I tend to keep the rice and popping corn in the freezer as the grains still remain separate and ready to cook and they take up a little space in my near-empty freezer (I need some food in there to keep the vodka and limoncello company!)

I've only done the left hand side of my walk-in-pantry today. The right-hand-side, with its cake-making ingredients, spices and crackers, will be tackled tomorrow. Baby steps.

it's just not christmas

I'm a huge fan of signifiers. I need a sign to know something exists, and for me, the Christmas sign is not a tree, or a Santa photo, it's driving around checking out the streets with Christmas lights. I love those families that sling lights and decorations over their homes for our viewing pleasure. 

We had our first drive last night, and tonight we're doing the drive and walk. We'll trek over to a neighbouring suburb, park our car at the top of our favourite cul de sac and wander down ooohing and aaahhhing over the santas, the reindeers, the wise men...

Yep, it's finally beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

best scents

Today, after cleaning off my desk, I soaked a cotton ball in lavender oil and placed it on the window sill in the sunshine. The scent is still wafting my way even though the sun's said goodnight.

action stations

Tell you what, it makes sense just to get in and get things done. Half an hour ago my desk was a disaster, and now? It's clear, it smells of lavender (yummy) and all the paper is in the recyling! Often it's just far to easy to think everything's too hard, but biting off a task in a small chunk (ie my desk rather than my entire study!) means I can achieve something and feel proud of it.

Yes, I will have to put on my blinkers and ignore the rest of my study - but I can do that now the desk is looking so good. Later on today I'll work on the bookshelf to my right, and maybe after that, the chair behind me that's covered in, well, stuff. But right now I'll breathe in the lavender, layer my hands with Cath Kidston Rose & Carnation handcream and work with a smile on my face.

paper chase

When it comes to keeping clutter down the one thing standing in front of my way, and blocking me from a more minimalist existence, is paper. My desk has three piles with paid bills (I just need to transfer all the info, including payment receipt numbers, into a word file), backyard 'stuff' (no idea what it is, just that my husband will need it) and work "stuff" (press releases, the odd printout...)

Today, my aim is to cut through all this paper. I'm grabbing a huge box and loading it all in to take to the recyling bin. By 11am (it's now 8.53am) my desk will be a zen, calm, working zone. Ready, set... GO!

give me the boot

The last pair of boots I had were bought in around 1985 and I used to wear them regularly to the Friday midnight screening of Rocky Horror - in my full Magenta regalia. I haven't bought another pair because my calves and boots generally do not mix well.

But, should I decide to buy a boot, these little Lacroix sweeties would just about do it. Can't you picture them with a full skirt? The bow detailing at the back just makes me die. Imagine pairing them with a full black skirt that had a little hot pink netting peeping underneath.

Goodness.

starting over

I had my very last day in the office yesterday and as of today am 100 per cent freelance. It's a blissful fresh start, and one I'm very, very excited about. Firstly, I won't have to wake at the ungodly hour of 5.45am to catch a train. A stinky train that's always too cold, no matter what the season, and is often filled with unsavory and potentially scary people. Secondly, I won't have to break up my week with a two day stint away from home. That'll be nice, and hopefully I'll be more organised and will have lovely meals to prepare every night, and bountiful fresh harvest in my fridge to whip up delish salads or soups for lunch. 

But.

I'll miss staying with my dear friends one night a week. That was one of the high points of my week. We laughed, we conversed, we shared the odd bottle of wine... I'll miss that.

I'll also miss the gals at work. In every other job there's always been some type of festering thorn in my side, a reason I'm happy to escape, but on this job, I met true friends. Really amazing and interesting people who've enriched my life. Lunchtimes were always the perfect chance to catch up and chat - and I feel so blessed that I met such wonderful people. The laughter we shared will keep resonating, even though I'm no longer there to shout out over the cubicles.

Creative people always tend to be a little out there - sometimes they're out there in a different direction to you - but every now and again, you find this incredible common ground that forges a bond so deep, you know that a few hundred kilometres isn't going to break it.

I'm looking forward to M & N coming up for the weekend, I'll be opening my home to them the way they opened theirs to me. And the girls at work will all be invited up one weekend for the world's biggest girly sleepover. Change is never a bad thing, just an opportunity to do something in a different way.

attention please

There are some things I prefer to remain in blissful ignorance about. If I can't see it, it doesn't exist - you know, that kind of thing. Which is why I'm very, very peeved with my dentist. See, when I went along a few months ago to have enamel bonding on two of my teeth that were not-so-cosmetically-appealing thanks to a stint of antibiotics as a wee babe, my dentist said "You know, we could fix that chipped front tooth of yours with this". Pardon? What chipped front tooth? 

Ohhhhhh, the chipped front tooth that now leaps out at me every single time I brush my teeth, and yet had hitherto never seen before in my life. That one. 

a sense of urgency

Do you have anything you're utterly compelled to do no matter what? I have an almost obsessive compulsive need to fondle attractive fabric - in stores, on people... I don't even have to like the garment, or the cloth, but if I think it's going to have some special tactile qualities it's between my fingers before I can say "hands off buster". Yes, it's ironic that I won't allow my child to touch anything in a store, but at least I can pretend I'm interested in the outfit if a pesky salesperson casts objecting glances in my direction.

I'm also compelled to deglaze pans. I'd just finished frying off onions, red capsicum, chorizo, garlic and chicken breast chunks in my cast iron pot for the fritatta I'm making for the picnic (easy, yet tasty option) when I couldn't bear to leave all that golden deliciousness stuck to the bottom. Of course, I had no white wine or chicken stock handy, so I had to throw in a swish of red cooking wine. A few seconds later all that gooey goodness was encased in a ruby glow, which I threw over top of my fillings, before popping the egg (with a splash of milk, salt and pepper) mixture over top. A grating of some super vintage cheddar and it's in the oven at 180 degrees for around 20 minutes or until set and golden.

To serve, I'll chop it into squares and serve it with a very garlic-ridden aioli and a green salad. I also have a crunchy baguette to tear up to round out the plate. Then we'll be serenaded with carols by the children at school while we toast in the festive season with friends and some sparkles. How good is Christmas? 

picnic fare

There's a christmas picnic at my daughter's school tomorrow night, and I can't for the life of me work out what to prepare. See, this is the fourth year we'll have attended, so I've made most of my favourites. Plus, friends are already bringing things I'd quite like. I do have teeny little gingerbread babies for the kids - but for adults I'm stumped.

Maybe cold things on a stick? Marinated chicken breast, a grape tomatoes and wedges of yummy fresh mozzarella? With a chunky fresh pesto dipping sauce? Do you think? Or prawn cocktails served in a cos lettuce leaf? Or a big bread salad with fresh tomatoes and slices of a spicy salami? Buttermilk fried chicken bits? Plus a green salad? 

For sweets it's got to be summer berry trifles - that's easy peasy. Ooooooh, or Eton Mess with strawberries, raspberries, meringue and cream. We will be drinking champagne - and then I'll be detoxing for a week. My poor liver, kidneys and other organs I didn't even know existed must be screaming in pain after the last week I've had. I think I'm renaming December the Festy Season...

so long

No, it's not a farewell post, more a post about me saying "thank goodness I didn't write a blog documenting the progress of my back yard - because, boy, this is taking some time..." The guys are out the back finally laying pavers, that we had delivered, oh, a few weeks ago. But once that's done, that's going to be pretty much it till mid-January. So we'll have a pool that's tiled, walls that are painted, paving done... but no landscaping, no pool interior - and most importantly, no pool fencing. But we're going to order the fencing today, with the hope it'll be installed in the first few weeks of January, then we'll have the pool cabana built, then they'll surface the interior of the pool and fill the darned thing.

Of course that meant our daughter's pool party is off till next year. Her birthday's at the end of this month, so I had to think quick and come up with a funky alternative. So now we're having a Rock Star party. I'm printing up Backstage Passes, laminating them and clipping them on lanyards for invites. We'll have rockstar makeovers (lots of coloured hair spray, glitter and dark nail polish), karaoke and dancing competitions. I haven't decided on the cake yet. Maybe a microphone, or a CD. It's gotta be funky and fun. And as for food... M&Ms with all the green ones taken out? It's got to be like a band's rider - except with pink lemonade instead of Jack Daniels!

quelle heure?

At the deli on Friday, picking up the ingredients to make a caramelised onion, proscuitto and goat cheese tart, I got to chatting with the girls behind the counter about food. I told them how I was making my tart (on a puff pastry base, spread with a little tapenade, then baked till golden) and one of them told me how she'd made a seven hour leg of lamb the day before. I'm so in.

So shortly, I'm studding a leg of lamb 12 times with teeny little cuts, just wide enough to fit in a slice of anchovy and a slice of garlic. Then I'll rub it with olive oil and salt and pepper, before browning all sides in a frypan. Next I'll pop it in my le crueset french oven, pour in a cup of white wine and a cup of chicken stock, cover it tightly and slowly cook it for sept heures at 100 degrees.

I think I'll serve it with a white bean salad - and something green.

ain't no sunshine

Oh the irony in this sunburned country. It's raining here again - just as it has been, off and on, for weeks, months, etc. Of course it's delayed the completion of our backyard, but we probably wouldn't be able to swim in the pool anyway because who wants to swim when it's raining! The frustrating thing is that my stepmother emailed me yesterday to say that all their rainwater tanks were empty and they were going to have to use town water for the first time in two years. I think my mum's tanks down the other end of Australia are also verging on empty. Whereas here, good grief, we could fill about 55 000 swimming pools with the rain we've had over our house in the past year or so. 

You'd at least think it would be good for the gardens but even the plants are over it. When there's a break in the rain on the weekend I'll have to fling some manure at the base of the plants to make up for all the nutrients that must be getting washed away in the downpours. At least all the songs I know about rain are now clouding up my head, rather than Some Girls by Racey which seemed to take up residence for the past few days.

Oh rain, go away. Go play with someone who needs you.

carrie on

Watching Sex and The City last night, as one does, I squealed in glee and told my husband "Oh, this is my favourite part ever" when the scene came on with Aiden, cooking in Carrie's kitchen, singing to Copacabana. Of course, long-term readers will know of my adoration for Aiden and my strange obsession with the song Copacabana - and I also have a soft spot for a bloke who'll whip up a meal. So there I am, smiling stupidly away at Aiden, and all his good points (he came up with the cutest pet names for Carrie - Poptart being my all-time fave) when I realised that it's also the episode where Carrie's Mac dies.

Now, as a writer, my computer is my life. I have the odd bit of info, such as deadlines, printed out, but usually I try to save trees and just have it alllllll stored on my computer. So when everyone told Carrie she should be backing up her work, a little voice inside my head said - 'hey, so should you'. And then I ignored it.

Until this morning.

I hit my start key on my Mac and. Nothing. No lovely little Mac waking up noise, just silence and a black screen. I tried a few more times, becoming increasingly hysterical, checked the power was on, then decided to wash my hair. Everything's better with clean hair. 

Out of the shower, I try again. Nothing. So then I unplug and replug the cords and - bliss - it started up.

You know what I'm doing today now don't you? Backing up till I can't back up no more. I've got, oh, about seven works in progress on the hard drive - due from now till the end of January. They've got research, interview transcriptions and even real words on them. Yes, backing up is today's must-do task.

seasons greetings

Christmas just begs for red does it not? Which is why these shoes caught my eye. They're patent, they're strappy and I do like the platform at the front which allows for even greater heel height. Now, I'd just need an emerald green satin frock to become Santa's sauciest helper...

scene stealers

Some frocks deserve top billing in a film. Marilyn Monroe's white halterneck was one, Holly Golightly's 'prison' sheath and hat another. A hero frock can almost make sitting through an appalling movie appealing. For example, the gorgeous green gown Keira Knightly is adorned with in Atonement. A shocker of a film, but, oh, what a frock.

I apply the same theory to eye candy. I'm normally pretty happy to give any film starring Johnny Depp a shot, knowing that his performance will be outstanding, and, um, yum, he's delicious. 

I assume it's got something to do with my dogged optimism - I'm always determined to find something positive in even the most negative experiences. There's always something to be learned in every event.