weekend wonder

Ah, who doesn't love a good weekend? I'm particularly enamored of them when they start on a Friday night - makes them seem all the more significant. Tonight's a mother's night out at a local pub which is gearing up to be too much fun. It's black friday, so I reckon the attire's going to be pretty heavy on the noir which suits my fashion mood today. I'm just tossing up whether I go totally goth with black fingernails, demi-goth with dark purple or try classic with red nails... Thoughts? I will be drinking champagne, and really, every colour goes with champers {and rouge lips}.

Tomorrow night we have friends to dinner. I've promised beef carpaccio as an appetiser, so I'll need to get googling - and hunt down a butcher with a fresh piece of beef. Mains-wise I'll be on the barbeque again - but I haven't decided on the meat. Perhaps veal cutlets with gremolata? And for dessert, I'll think I'll be running with pear tarte tartin again - or a lemon tart... Wow, so indecisive!

Enjoy your weekend xx

a piece of green

Taking eco-friendly steps is always my preferred option. When I do a load of washing it's always a cold load - and there's nothing I like better than pegging it out to dry in the sunshine and soft breezes. When I find aphids on my roses I'll blast them off with a hose, then feed the plants with more manure to make them healthier and better able to fight off disease. If I need to use a toxic spray to combat a pest, I'll remove the plant and try something hardier in its place {that's what I did with the two standard azalias at the foot of my stairs - they were constantly stricken with red spider mite - ugly little critters}.

If I have a choice, I'll choose organic over chemically-grown products - I prefer to reward farmers who are doing their best for our environment. And turning off a light when I leave the room just seems like common sense. Generally I also find warm water and a cloth cleans most things, if not, I'll add some essential oils and white vinegar and find it cuts through most gunk. Sure, scrubbing at my grout with a brush is more labour-intensive than spraying on bleach and spraying it off with the shower head. But I don't get bowled over by fumes, and I quite like the incidental exercise and arm toning I get {I am going to have the most buff right arm any day now... I find it hard to be ambidextrous}. 

I reckon that if it worked for my grandma - why shouldn't it work for me?

in the bag

Do you know what could get me through dreary winter days? This Valentino purse. I'm not a statement bag gal, but for this, I could be convinced to change my mind...

love is

Look at these. Gorgeous non. They're Oscar de la Renta and the pink of perfection. I'd love to wear them with a little black dress (Herve Leger if I'm really dreaming) bright red lips.

what you love

Hey, you know how yesterday I said I was going to jump on my exercise bike for 20 minutes? Didn't manage it. Six minutes in I was hating it {actually, one minute in I was hating it, but I forced myself on for another 5 minutes}. I'm always writing about doing what you love, and now I have to acknowledge that I loathe the exercise bike. My hubby loves it though, so at least it gets use with him. 

But I love, love, love going for a walk - and sometimes even breaking into a run {just sometimes, not very often...}. Walking's an underrated form of exercise. If you mix it up and walk up and down hills, find some stairs, swing your arms and vary the pace, it's a great workout. It gets your heart pumping and your lungs working and tones your legs and butt. If you maintain good posture and pull in your core it can help tone your tum as well. A daily walk's got to do more for your physical and mental wellbeing than forcing yourself to do something you don't enjoy.

It's easy to get caught up in doing what you think you "should" do. Generally, I know that if I "should" do something I won't. I'll rebel, and loathe it, and not manage to complete it. Whereas if I find that 15 to 30 minutes for a walk {I timed my "15 minute" walk last night and realised it takes me 30 minutes - woo hoo} then I feel amazing and that spreads into every little corner of my life.

Oh, and today's my first netball coaching session for my daughter's team. I've got my plan all ready to go - wish me luck!

time quest

Oh, it's a busy time again. You know how just when things calm down a little and you think you've got things under control, something will rear its ugly head... That's my week.

Over the last few days I've finally got back into the regular walking thing, but then last night, just as I was thinking how much I love walking at dusk, enjoying the views of the ocean, two enormous rats scurried across mere centimetres in front of me. I NEARLY STEPPED ON THEM. I kept wanting to do a girly squeal, but nobody was there to hear, so really, what's the point. Instead I settled for a lot of shuddering, and decided to change my route to bypass the festering old surf house, home of a gazillion rats apparently {or just the two...}

Aside from the rat incident I love making sure I get active every day. Reading Chatterbox Sara's blog today reinforced the need for all of us to do something special for ourselves each day, whether that's pampering, exercising, meditating... they all lead to the same place. So even though I have dinner guests arriving at 6pm tonight, I'm going to jump on the exercise bike at 4.30 and pretend I'm in a Spin Class for 20 minutes. That'll do.

clutter busted

We had a bit of a purge yesterday, going through the obscene amount of magazines weighing down the shelves in the study. Now I've got a massive stack of food and pool mags to take to the salvos. The room seems so much lighter already! 

I was also able to get rid of more cardboard in the recycling bin yesterday. It's a shame that our recycling collection is only fortnightly - we could do with a fortnightly rubbish, and weekly recycling collection. Slowly chipping away at the piles of cardboard that encased our bbq.

Speaking of barbeques, oh, I'm in love with mine. On saturday night it cooked the rib-eye steaks to perfection, then I rested them on the warming rack above while I cooked the bernaise sauce on the burner on the side. And oh, home-made bernaise? Delish. Served with a green salad with walnuts and the yummable glazed, simmered radishes it was simply blissful. Of course I forgot to take photos - but you'll have to trust me. The steaks were striped with caramel on the outside, pink and succulent inside and the sauce a lovely golden hue, speckled with green from the tarragon. 

Last night I tried again and cooked up some pork ribs - and yes, again, perfection. I'll be bbqing every night now till the dead of winter when the slowcooker can come out again.

Oh, and yesterday morning we had a family breakfast to say farewell to my in-laws before they jet off the UK. We were to bring breads, so I bought a brioche from the deli and sliced it up, a couple of baguettes, a loaf of sliced and I made Nigella's super-easy pain au chocolate. Oh my.

Take a sheet of butter puff pastry and cut it in four quarters. Place a couple of squares of chocolate a few centimetres from one corner and slowly roll it down. Seal it lightly with your fingers and pull the ends around into a crescent shape. Coat it with egg wash and pop it in a really hot oven for around 10 minutes. Serve immediately and prepare to drown in adoration. {Oh, and don't tell everyone how easy they are to make - just revel in your domestic goddess status - particularly if you've had way too much wine and champagne the evening before...}

pizza grande

We come from a rather sheltered upbringing in Oz, where our pizzas are usually the size of a regular dinner plate - and made to share. Imagine this six-year-old's delight at spying a slice of pizza bigger than her head. We allowed her to try one for the novelty, and amazingly, she polished it off and asked for seconds... and then demolished that too.

Eyes bigger than stomach? Not in this gal's case.

iconic status

I've long been infatuated with religious iconography, which is why Italy left me so enchanted. From roadside alters to the unexpected homage, simple beauty was always on display and allowed me a moment to reflect.

sunday sighs

We were reminiscing today about our trip to Italy, and so I just had to revisit the magical town of Venice. It had long captured my imagination and it's forever stolen my heart.

high steaks

We have friends coming to dinner tonight, the first time we'll be using the backyard for entertaining. Woo hoo. I knew all week what I'd cook for dessert (pear tarte tartin) but couldn't think of a main. Now I have. I'm buying fabulous steaks and making my own bernaise sauce. I'll serve it with a well dressed green salad (with walnut dressing) and I'll be cooking up some pretty pink radishes again (glazed with a slick of butter and sugar - oooooooh).

The kids are getting a mini burger bar and eating on a picnic rug in my grassed courtyard (gotta take advantage of that grass!)

So that means we have to set up the bbq for its first ever cook-off. Wish me luck. Enjoy your weekend. xx

shoe who

I'm going to a Black Friday do next weekend. Imagine these snippets of sexy adorning my feet. Meow.

ode to op-shopping

Regular readers and friends know of my passion for op-shops. I think it's the ultimate way of recycling, saving and finding something different. Today I needed a break so took a bag of stuff to the salvos {I know, still, where is all this stuff coming from?!?} After dropping off my donation I headed to the book room and picked up a fabulous hard cover copy of Little Women for my daughter {which I'll read again, and sob over again, until she's ready - maybe when she's 10? What do you think?} I also find myself a Wilde Bedside companion with four of his fab novels in one!!! For $2 - bargainalicious. Then, oh, and this is priceless. VICTORIA BECKHAM'S LEARNING TO FLY. Yes, I died a little. Hardcover, brand new, $4. Some may say that's $4 too much, but I do love the OTT Posh. And, there's pictures. I haven't looked yet, but c'mon, some of them have to be of her hubby do they not?

But wait, that's not all. I got myself a brand new gunmetal grey swimsuit for $5. Crazy. My hubby also needed some new work pants and I found a snazzy pair of pinstriped Saba trousers for $5. They're flapping on the line as we speak {I ignored the strict dry clean only info - they're not a bargain if I have to pay twice that much to dry clean them, so I handwashed.}''

Happy.

lunchbox love

When I went to school I had vegemite sandwiches every single day. Tomorrow my daughter is having chorizo and potato frittata. I must say that I prefer progress...

For these lunchbox delights, I sliced chorizo and cut the chunks in quarters and sauteed them. Then I finely sliced some potatoes, and browned them. Then my gal beat 12 eggs and added a little salt and pepper and we poured them into muffin tins lined with polka-dotted muffin cases. She sprinkled the tops with grated parmesan and we baked them for 15 minutes at around 180 degrees till they were puffed, golden and set.

I reckon they're going to taste a lot better than a vege sarni...

take a seat

Here's the pavilion at the end of the pool which we positively la la love. At the moment we've got our old cane setting in there, until we find the perfect daybed, seating combo. Can you see our chandelier? It casts the perfect subtle light at night. We haven't decided yet whether to let our thick decking weather to grey, or to paint it white... Although I'm dead over painting at the moment.

We're having friends over on the weekend, so the bar fridge, cunningly hidden behind the chair on the left, will be put into service holding champagne! All we need to do now is a little more planting, doors on the pool equipment room {under the stairs! clever non?} and a final coat of paint on the pavilion itself. And enjoy it of course!!

sneaky peak 1

Okay, my backyard's not quite ready for its close up, but I had to share this with you. Here's my pool - from the pavillion's eye view. There's a planter box on the right, running the full 10 metre length of the pool and it's been planted out with Lilly Pillies for hedging. At the end of the pool is another planter box - with the pool butts directly up to {with a pool seat at that end...}. We're thinking of either a lime green New Zealand Flax or gardenias at the moment... And yes, the pool is just as refreshing as it looks.

mini morsels

Everything tastes better in miniature. Last night I made individual apple pies and mmmmm, they were good. I diced up some granny smith apples, placed them in a pan with a broken cinnamon stick, a good sprinkling of brown sugar, a splosh of brandy, a little butter and a splash of water. Then I covered it, brought it to the boil, then let it simmer for around 10 minutes.

Then I put the filling into four ramekins and cut out a round of puff pastry, with two slits cut into it to let the steam escape. I pressed this over around the edges of the ramekin and brushed the top with milk before sprinking over some white sugar. I baked them in a hot oven for around 10 minutes and served them in a bowl with an espresso cup filled with vanilla icecream beside them.

Yum.

go slow

Now it's autumn I'm entitled to bring out the slow cooker again. Hurrah! I used it for the first time on Saturday to do my leg of lamb studded with garlic and anchovies, and oh, it was good. Now, a friend of mine reckons that nearly everything that comes out of a slow cooker tastes the same, which I tend to agree with - so I thought I'd try something different this time. 

I sliced a brown onion finely and made a bed on the bottom of the slow cooker, threw in a few bay leaves on top and then, after studding the meat with the garlic and anchovies, I browned it in a pan. I place the meat in the cooker on its bed of onions and bay then deglazed the pan with a half a cup of white wine (sauv blanc actually). I ground pepper over top of the lamb, poured the wine over top and then let it slowly cook for nine hours. 

It ended up with a whole, new taste. Not slow cooker taste, nor slowly cooked in the french oven taste - a bit of a combo of both. Very tender and tasty. We only ate half the lamb, so I had enough to make lamb and bacon pie for dinner {and caused my child to leap up and down in delight!}. Now, if I were an intelligent person I would have saved the onions and broth from the lamb in the slow cooker as stock for the pie. 

I'm not an intelligent person.

Tonight, I'm having my in-laws for dinner so I'm making beef bourginon in the slow cooker. I've had big chunks of steak marinating overnight in red wine, garlic and bouquet garni and now I'm off to fry up some bacon and throw it in the slow cooker with the meat, marinade, carrots, french shallots and sliced onions. With an hour to go I'll saute some button mushrooms and throw them in. I'll serve it with vegies and a baguette, and for pudding I'll make individual apple pies in ramekins - served with cream. Mmmmmmm. {But I'll cheat and only put pastry on the top layer so it's nice and crispy}

now and zen

I think I need to revisit a book I read a few years ago, Buddhism for Mothers, by Sarah Napthali. I'm not a religious person, and I'm not a buddhist, I am, however, a tad on the spiritual side. I like to take little snippets from organised religions and make them my own, and I think that the buddhist art of zen could be what I quite fancy at the moment. 

I particularly like the whole notion of living in the moment - something I so rarely do. Slowing down, breathing and totally focussing on one aspect of life is desirable, but something I rarely achieve. That's probably why I adore pegging out the washing. The act of taking a freshly washed garment from the basket, shaking it, turning it so I've got the seams straight, then shaking it again, before pegging and smoothing it is all remarkably meditative. I can't do anything else when I'm pegging, I just breathe, take in the blue sky, the feel of the lush green grass underfoot and relax. 

I'd like to work out other ways to make other household tasks so satisfying - particularly putting away the folded washing - I'm still dead crap at that. Unpacking the dishwasher also rarely gives me cause for joy - but I love packing it... I like the art of cleaning, and I enjoy the end result, there's just a weird bit in the middle that prevents my domestic goddess from bursting out.

Oh well, baby steps. Off to peg out my towels, ahhhhhh.

monday musings

It's Monday, it's grey and drizzly-looking, and it's autumn. I'm also still in my jammies at 10.30am {breaching one of my main working-from-home rules}. However, I've got a story due today that I hadn't written at 9am, but finished my first draft by 10.30 - hurrah. I also have to dash to my daughter's school at 11am for an hour's work at the tuck shop. So I'm saving my showering and real clothes till 10.45 {I know, speedy}...

Autumn's funny in coastal NSW. One of our deciduous trees has lost nearly all its leaves, while another's still coated in them. We don't get the pretty colour-changes here, and have to head south for autumnal colours. But I'm feeling autumnal in my cooking. I roasted a 7 hour lamb on saturday so the leftovers are going in a pie tonight. Mmmmm. I have my in-laws coming to dinner tomorrow night, one of the last times we'll see them before they head to the UK to stay with my sister-in-law and family for eight weeks. Jealous much? Of course I am!

Our weekend was relatively relaxed. We pottered around doing a few odd jobs, nothing huge, just pleasantly satisfying. Then on Sunday I attended a Coaching Clinic to get some skills for coaching my daughter's netball team. It started at 9am and finished at 3pm and I was blown away by what I learned. An enthusiastic coach from Netball NSW drove up from Sydney and spent the day passionately infusing us with knowledge that'll help us become better coaches and inspire girls who are talented, polite and respectful {one of her top tips was treat the umpires with respect, and teach your team to do so - very, very important!}. Only 10 of us attended - and there are 4000 girls who play at Newcastle on a Saturday - so that's a lot more coaches than just 10! I also picked up a few attacking and defensive moves I'm going to use in tonight's game - my opposition had better watch out!

People who so generously share their knowledge are just golden - what's the point in having a skill if you're not prepared to share it with others?