penny pinching for paris

I must return to Paris - within the next three years. It's essential - so here's what I'm going to do:

Bust a move on my budget: I'm going to keep track of all my spending for the next two weeks, and ask hubby to do the same. Then we'll sit down together go through all the essentials {mortgage, utility bills, up-coming birthdays/holidays, events} and then work out where we can painlessly shave a little off each. I'd like to keep the phone bill down by using email as much as humanly possible. If I can interview subjects for my features by email or skype - rather than conducting costly mobile phone interviews, I'll save a bundle. 

Home-made with love: Every Sunday night I whip up a batch of chorizo and potato frittata's for my gal's school lunch. Single-serve frittatas made in a muffin tin are just the right size for a nine-year-old's appetite - I usually give her three per day, for the first few days of the week. From now on I'm also going to whip up a batch of muffins - oat and honey would be her faves - to round out the lunchbox - rather than filling her up with bought crackers. Of course, the rest of the space is already filled with carrot sticks and fruit - so I can't make that any cheaper or more nutritious. Luckily my hubby's also into eating fresh, so we're snacking on seasonal fruit - rather than his old fave of expensive muesli bars.

Frugal food: We rarely eat out, but sometimes I really can't even bear to think about what to cook - let alone do the actual cooking. Luckily the weekly menu planning is helping enormously with that. My next plan is to clean out some space in the freezer so I can freeze a couple of meals, ready to defrost in the afternoon and serve up for dinner that night. If we do eat out, we'll make it a good one - using Entertainment Book 'buy one main meal, get one free' vouchers and choosing a meal that'd be costly, or time-consuming to make at home.

Eco-economy: I'm already a fanatic about turning out lights when they're not in use, and all appliances not in use are turned off and un-plugged - but there's got to be more I can do. I'll get busy with the broom again, rather than using the vacuum and only use the drier in an absolute emergency - there are only three of us in the house - we really don't have that much laundry! And I'm going to pretend I don't have a car. Apart from the weekly grocery shop and the trips to netball, I'll be on foot - or on my bike - all I need is a fancy parisian basket to fill with baguettes.

kiss me kate

Oh Mrs Spade, you do fill me with joy. Look at these shoes - an interesting heel, a lowline, sexy curvaceous side, and bows - BOWS! I love the way the shoe curves around the heel too. A gal can never have too many pairs of black satin shoes...

persistence pays

Hey, guess what was delivered to my door this morning? A new crockpot inset for my slowcooker. A sad, yet firm email to customer service payed off and even though I was 12 months out of warranty, they agreed with me and sent me a free bowl free of charge. See, that's what customer service is all about. Yay Breville! Now, I'm onto Testra about the $200 they owe me!!

wacky wednesday

Okay, seriously, what is going on with time? It's zooming on by. I can't believe it's nearly lunchtime on a wednesday already! I guess that's because of my 4am start to drive to Sydney to pick up my in-laws from the airport yesterday. I now feel like I've got the jetlag - but without any of the joys of travel {apart from seeing their smiles and hearing their tales!} Oh, I have the travel bug something fierce at the moment. Driving down a street lined with plane trees made me crave Paris with an urgency usually reserved for champagne-o'clock on a Friday afternoon...

So here's what I'm going to do - secretly {well, not totally, as I've just put it on my blog...} I'm going to plan for our next OS trip. I'll be working my butt off {not totally, I'll still need some padding when I'm sitting in front of my computer} and saving with serious intent. Frugal Friday will now become Fiercely Frugal Friday - that's how hard I'll be saving! I'll set a date in my head to have paid off the backyard renovation and then I'll save enough to enjoy a good six to eight weeks OS. It won't be for a couple of years - but by then I'll be totally fluent in French, will have an itinerary planned and will be raring to go. 

Next step: find two more sources of income. I'm giving myself a week to work on this, so by next Wednesday I'll have pitches ready, contacts sourced and a kick-butt attitude. Woo hoo.

win win win

There's no point in cleaning out your clutter, if it's left in boxes and bags waiting for the right time to drop it off at a donation location. For the past few weeks I've had six boxes of magazines, a couple of bags of toys, and a bag of CDs that I meant to sell, all cluttering up my study. So today, when my hubby came home for lunch, we lugged all the boxes and bags down and filled the boot of my car. I then leapt straight in my car and drove to the salvos where a passing good samaritan helped me unload - making it only four trips each, rather than what would have been more like a dozen for me.

And wow, do I feel good. My study floor is now freshly vacuumed, and it feels like I have twice the space. I know that the Salvos will have no trouble selling the recent mags {plenty of House and Garden mags} and the CDs will make some indie retro teen very happy indeed {who needs CDs when you've got them on iTunes and your iPod. So it's a three-way win situation - and you've gotta be happy with that.

I'm still slowly working my way through the decluttering. I've now got to go through five years worth of my daughter's school books - the school sends them all home at the end of the year - and work out what to keep, and what to {sob} pitch. Next weekend's the Council Clean-up, so I'm determined to have all my clutter totally cleansed by then, surrounding myself only with beautiful or really useful stuff. Bliss.

frugal friday {on a monday...}

Whew, I'm over the bugs and banes of last week, and thanks to three double shots of caffeine before 10am am ready to blog for my life. I spent all of Friday in bed, hence my lack of post, however, I was still thinking frugal. Here's how.

I used the first of my frozen wine iceblocks in a minestrone soup - and it worked superbly. Homemade soup must be one of the most satisfying and frugal meals around. I threw in some basic veg {onion, garlic, celery, carrots}, diced up around 200g of speck {bacon on steroids, mmmmm}, threw in a handful of lentils du puy, a tin of tomatoes and some chicken stock and simmered for a couple of hours with nothing but a few bay leaves and sprigs of thyme adding flavour. Nearing the end of cooking I tossed in a cup of risoni and simmered for 10 minutes before serving. This fed four of us that night, and me for lunch on Saturday and Sunday - cost per serve - around $1. Nutritional value - enormous!

Making your own ingredients is the best way to jazz up a meal for little cost. I have a few different oil bottles so now have regular olive oil, garlic oil and lemon oil on the go. The garlic oil is simply a couple of cloves sliced up and infused in the olive oil, while the lemon is just a few slices of lemon rind {no erky white bits - just the vibrant yellow skin} in olive oil. It costs next to nothing, but adds a bit of an edge when drizzled over any food.

Letting nothing go to waste is the best mode of frugality. Leftover stale bread can be grated and frozen in small portions in a ziplock bag - or, if you're short of time,  just throw the pieces in the freezer and grate when you need them - frozen bread is a lot easier to grate by hand than fresh bread. If you have any leftover herbs, why not finely dice them up with some leftover breadcrumbs and a little garlic and lemon zest and freeze to have the tastiest crumbing mixture for pork cutlets or salmon cakes ever. 

This week my aim is zero food waste. If it's in my fridge it's going to be eaten - even if I have to think outside the square. So before making up my menu for this week, I'm going to see what's in the fridge, freezer and pantry - I reckon I'll have the basis for a couple of meals hanging around in there - saving me a motza at the supermarket.

happy mother's day

This was the delicious mother's day breakfast that was presented to me this morning {I had to crop myself out - seriously, first-thing-in-the-morning photos, not attractive - particularly after a few days of feeling distinctly poorly!}

My hubby was inspired by the thick batons of 'eggy bread' they made on MasterChef this week, and oh-my-lord, they were delish. One-inch-thick, a couple of inches long, perfectly soaked in an egg, sugar, milk and lemon zest batter and caramelised to crispy perfection on the outside, soft and melding on the inside. Yumarama.

I was also spoiled with many pressies - including a fabbo pizza cooking stone and mega spatula for pizzas on the bbq, a little blowtorch for the perfect creme brulee, Chanel nailpolish, two beautiful french cheese knives, and other foodie-related goodies. All wrapped up with home-made cards from my gal. Sweet.

We're headed out for afternoon tea now. A baguette with butter and smoked ham barely dented my appetite at the moment {three days of chicken soup will fuel a voracious hunger!} then I think it's quattro formaggio and pancetta and egg pizza for dinner. With a glass or two of wine...

it's shoe time

This week's shoe is brought to you by Maison Martin Margiela. They have a pale blue lining and stitching which is the perfect foil for that shocking shade of patent. I also like that bit of quirk, turn this way, they're a cute little bootie, about face, they're sweet sandals. Just what I needed today.

After sending my daughter off to school I crawled back into bed, wrapping the bedding up around my very sore throat. It worked. After waking at 11.30 my throat feels like it's in the recovery position. Handy. I feel like I've been consistently ill with silly little niggles for weeks now - probably because I have. 

Oh well, I'm making up a big pot of minestrone today - with bucketloads of garlic, made on chicken stock - surely that will totally revive me!

when i'm feeling bleu

I'd quite like to hide away from the world cocooned in these dreamy colours. I think I need my very own copy of Marie Antoinette - just to bring a little beauty into every corner of my life...

that's better

I've been feeling a bit blah today. No real reason. I've had a niggly sore throat for a few weeks, off and on, and other annoying, yet trifling, niggles that are just irksome. But these flamingos cheered me up! How can a person be glum when flamingos exist?

My autumn cleaning's also coming along nicely. I've blitzed all the annoying bits and pieces that have cluttered up my home for ages and now I'm ready to do the actual clean. Surely I'll feel healthier when that's complete.

fabulously frugal

For tonight's dinner I'm jazzing up the leftover risotto from last night's meal. I've oiled a mini muffin tin and scooped in a little of the saffron risotto - just enough to cover the bottom. Then, I've popped a teeny square of mozarella in the centre, covered it all up to fill the muffin tin and I'm baking them in a hot oven for around 15 minutes. I'm hoping they're brown and crispy on the top, but moist inside.

I'm serving them with chicken kebabs, sliced rounds of sweet potato 'chips' {baking on a tray, drizzled with garlic-infused olive oil}, broccolini {boiled for 10 mins in salted water, then tossed in salted, peppered olive oil to serve} and a green salad.  

I love leftovers...

tutu cute

Oh Karl... These limited edition shoes have a removable tutu - a novelty I'm finding darned endearing. And isn't crisp black on white such a classic? So Chanel...

I, of course, would have to have the black heels - but I'm finding the cuteness of the flats damned enchanting. 

oh coco

There is a rumour {yes, you're right, I'm spreading it...} that Coco avant Chanel opens June 25 in Australia. Oh, please, please, please let it be true...

And, um, hello, the prettiness of these pics? From French Elle, naturellement...

finishing touches

Surprising little bits and pieces are what completes a home. I'd love to pop a dovecote in the box-hedge bordered garden. On one side we have the bird bath with its little stone birdy, in the centre is a gorgeous blossom tree {we didn't plant it and I'm still trying to identify it!} so I think a pretty painted dovecote could look just gorgeous before we start the vegie and herb gardens.

I'm trying to keep stock of what I use the most of when I'm cooking and am now positive I need thyme, garlic, french shallots, Italian parsley, rosemary, basil, many types of lettuce, some spinach, teeny tomatoes, tarragon, a bay tree, lemon or lime {ooooh, I'd love both!} as just the bare essentials. I'm really keen to plant things I'll use on a near-to-daily basis. If we can espalier the lemon and limes against the fence then I'll have even more room for other bits and pieces. 

It's a grey, drizzly day here today. I'm attempting some work and am soon to resume scrubbing the pot that cooked the osso buco - which was, delish! Then at 1pm I'm hitting a restaurant with a friend for lunch. We've got a 'buy one get one free' voucher so although it seems an extravagance, really, it's verging on a bargain. Now... what to wear...

birthday boy

It's my hubby's birthday today so we started off with a breakfast omelette {his new fave} and he's having the day off to 

1. Improve his golf game on the Wii

2. Go for a run and time himself with his new sports watch.

Tonight, for dinner, he's requested Osso buco Milanese, so I'm off to the butcher soon to buy some veal shanks, canaroli rice and saffron for the risotto. 

Birthday's are bliss.

Osso Buco Milanese *

serves 6

6 3cm-thick centre-cut milk-fed veal shin

plain flour, seasoned to taste

60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil

20gm butter

2 sticks of celery, finely diced

1 onion, finely chopped

250ml (1 cup) dry white wine

500ml (2 cups) beef stock

3 fresh bay leaves

3 sprigs of thyme

2 pieces of lemon rind

gremolata

1 cup firmly packed flat-leaf parsley

Rind of 1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic

Milanese risotto

50gm butter

100gm beef marrow

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups canaroli rice

1 pinch saffron

1 litre (four cups) chicken stock

40gm grana Padano, finely grated

1. Dust the veal shin with flour, removing excess. Heat half the olive oil in a large casserole, and cook veal in batches over medium heat until browned. Remove from pan. Add remaining olive oil and butter to same pan. When butter has melted, add celery and onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add wine, stock, bay leaves, thyme and lemon rind. Bring to boil and simmer for five minutes. Return osso buco to pan. Cover and cook at 180 degrees celcius for 90 minutes, or until tender.

2. For gremolata, place all ingredients on a chopping board and finely chop. Place in a bowl and season to taste, then cover and refrigerate until required.

3. For risotto, heat half the butter in a heavy based pan, add marrow and cook for five minutes or until browned and almost dissolved. Add onion and garlic and cook for five minutes or until softened but not coloured. Stir in rice and cook for another two minutes, then add saffron and 1/2 cup of stock at a time, stirring until stock is absorbed before adding more. Stir through remaining buttr and grana Padano and season to taste. Divide risotto among bowls, top with osso buco and pan juices and serve with gremolata on the side.

* recipe from Gourmet Traveller 

seasonal cleaning

Well, it's not Spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but we're getting into the spirit with Simple Mom's Spring {Autumn} Cleaning Party. My husband's getting stuck into the guest room, I worked on the pantry today and cleaned a particularly pesky corner, and from next week I'm going through room-by-room. Bliss.

kid stuff

We had the most delicious breakfast this morning - prepared by two nine-year-olds! Our daughter had a friend for a sleepover, and upon awakening, they googled for breakfast inspiration and decided upon omelettes. After taking our orders they proceeded to whip up very tasty omelettes indeed. For each person they separated yolks and whites from two eggs and whipped up the whites till fluffy. They they folded in the yolks and two tablespoons of water. Throwing in some salt and pepper I heated the pan and let some butter brown. Then, I poured in the eggs and each girl took turns bringing the filling to the middle and pouring the top bits to the side. When it was nearly set they popped on the fillings (ranging from grilled, diced bacon, ham, cheese, olives and tomatoes) and pulled one side onto the other. I helped them remove it from the pan and then we ate the best omelettes ever.

the garden at grey gardens

I've just been on The New York Times website checking out some before and after shots of Grey Gardens. I utterly adore what they've done here. Absolute bliss.

frugal friday

Here's a weekly post for you - premiering today. Ta da, it's Frugal Friday. Each week I'll be trying something new to save money - and letting you in on the secret. Today, it's cunning ways with leftovers...

Because there are only three of us in our household {the cat doesn't really count in this instance} I tend to have leftovers from most meals. Often, because my hubby works nearby, he'll come home and we'll have a hot lunch together. But I'd like to jazz things up a little, so today we're having leftover coq au vin - soup! Because I cooked the dish in the slow cooker all the meat fell into tender shreds, and it was much more liquid than if I'd cooked it in the oven, so what I'm planning on doing is adding some extra chicken stock {in fridge!} seasoning it with more salt and pepper and simmering it for 30 minutes before serving.

Another frugal tip is with leftover wine {shut up, sometimes I have some... well, cooking wine anyway...} If it's left in the bottle it oxidises and is only suitable to make salad dressing {use it in place of vinegar}. Of course, it's an option to decant it into a smaller bottle, but who has those? The best option is to freeze it in portions, well I don't know about you, but my ice cube tray is always filled with ice cubes for spontaneous vodka tonic moments - I don't have any spares for wine. But what I do have is frozen ice block makers - you know, to make ice blocks (or ice lollies) for kids. A six pack of those is just the right size for three quarters of a bottle of red, and once it's frozen, I'll slide them out and store them in a zip lock bag so I'll have 1/2 cup red wine frozen and ready to go... Just label them so your child doesn't think you've whipped up some apple and blackcurrent ice blocks!

an ode to masterchef

As you probably know, I adore cooking shows. Coming late to the meat-cooking game, after years as a vegetarian, I'm constantly picking up new ideas. Now, one of my favourite shows is a British one {surprise} Masterchef. I la la love that show. When I heard they were making an Australian version I worried - would it be a cringe-inducing version like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy or Top Gear - or would it succeed, like Biggest Loser? Well, I reckon we have a winner.

It may have only started on Monday night but I'm already in love with the three judges - and the host? Don't get me started on her. When I heard a former magazine editor was to host I quickly put on my judgement pants - I know her as former Cosmo-editor, not a foodie journo - but within moments I was charmed. Sarah Wilson is a total delight and totally makes the transformation to telly. She's utterly scrumptious to look at, seems to have a real empathy with the contestants - and manages to read her lines eloquently {I shouldn't have to comment on that - but man, so few people can work their way around a script these days!}

The traditional format's changed to reflect a more dynamic program and I can't wait to see what the contestants come up with. So far I've yet to see a great deal of genius - in the most recent UK Masterchef I was able to pick the final three in their first round. 

Of course I'm kicking myself for not following my friend Victoria's suggestion to enter, but I still don't think I'm there. I'm a slow-cooking, long-marinating gal and have yet to devise myself a menu I could manage to complete in 30 to 90 minutes... but maybe next year...