you ol' tart

As promised, here's my recipe for tarte au citron - or lemon tart. Worth it, seriously. This is a slice on day two, so not quite as photogenic as day one - but still just as delicious. I could live on this stuff.

Sweet pastry (make your own - go on, just once, it makes this tart)

340g (2 and a half cups) of plan flour

small pinch of salt

150g (5 and a half ounces) of unsalted butter

90g 9 (3/4 cup) icing (confectioner's) sugar

2 eggs, beaten

Sift the flour and salt onto a work surface and make a well in the centre. Put the butter into the well and work, using a pecking action with your fingertips and thumb, until it is very soft. Add the sugar to the butter and mix together, add the eggs to the butter and mix together.

GRADUALLY incorporate the flour, flicking it onto the mixture and then chopping through it until you have a rough dough. Bring together with your hands and knead a few times to make a smooth dough. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the pastry into a circle on a lightly floured surface and use to line a tart tin. Trim the edge and pinch up the edge to make an even border raised slightly above the rim of the tin. Slide onto a baking tray and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

FILLING

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

285 grams (1 and a 1/4 cups) of caster (superfine) sugar

185ml thick (heavy/double) cream

250ml (1 cup) lemon juice

finely grated zest of 3 lemons (grate zest before juicing - I beg of you)

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celcius.

Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks and sugar. Add the cream, whisking all the time and then the lemon juice and zest.

Line the pastry shell with a piece of greaseproof paper and baking beads (or rice, or dried beans, or, if you're like me and have none of those, chuck in a few egg rings!) Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes, remove the paper and beads and bake for a further 3 to 5 minutes - or until the pastry is just cooked but still very pale. Remove from oven and reduce the temperature to 150 degrees celcius.

Carefully pour the filling into the pastry case. Return to the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the filling has set. Leave to cool completely before serving.

I dusted this with icing sugar to serve and it was magnificent. Otherwise I'd serve it with some natural yoghurt infused with vanilla beans and maybe some poached raspberries.

Follow your bliss and try this. So. Damned. GOOD!

thinking floral

Whew, Thursday, where in the hell did you come from? It's been quite the few weeks hasn't it? I've started off the morning with a lovely visit from a dear friend - one where we determined to schedule in more time together. It's so easy for weeks to pass without more than the odd "hi" and "bye" as you dash past each other.

This weekend gorgeous friends of mine are up from Sydney so I'm determined to see them in style. There's a fabulous new bar that's opened in Newcastle in one of its most beautiful buildings. The Airforce Club was the place to visit when I was at uni. They'd form a stage on top of a couple of pool tables and the place would be packed to capacity and beyond with people moshing, pogoing and slam dancing on the 'dance floor'. Now it's been restored by the same brains behind my favourite gorgeous restaurant Bacchus and is apparently utterly beautiful.

Now, you know I love my cocktails, and you know I love beautiful things so I'm pretty sure that there can't be anything better than the two combined. I'll let you know how I get on.

In the meantime I'm going to remove the droopy pale pink roses in the vase on my desk. I got nearly a week out of them, so I've got to be happy with that. I'm going to save a few of the petals and place them in a ruby red bowl - happy colours!

le love

Over le here for more.

what's cooking wednesday?

Can I tell you how much I really, really, really feel like cooking beef wellington after last night's MasterChef - a lot. But, unfortunately, I shan't. Here's what I shall:

tonight: gremolata and panko crumbed pork cutlets with mashed pumpkin and broccolini

Thursday: Nigella's spaghetti carbonara

Friday: Chicken curry in the slow cooker with rice, wilted spinach and naan

Saturday: Off to watch a roller derby bout so an early dinner of steak and salad is called for

Sunday: Roast chicken and vegies

Monday: lamb cutlets, braised lentils du puy, roasted sweet potato and braised cabbage

Tuesday: spanish chicken, rice and salad

I have netball training with my gals today. I'm pretty sure they're going to be on a high from Saturday's win - and so they should be. We'll do lots of fun stuff at training today - that'll still boost their skills. It's my gal's first day of real training now her cast's removed - fingers crossed it all goes well. We'll take it easy, but her physio says it's healed really well so she should be fine.

It was a foggy morning, which points to a beautiful day ahead. I've got loads of washing to do - but I'll try to limit it to just the one. Then there's another article to complete as well as trying to something about the state of the kitchen floor {locking the door and moving seems like a viable option... or I could sweep and mop}.

Enjoy your Wednesday. What are your plans for this glorious mid-week day?

smile into the sunshine

Have you been outside today? I've been so busy being busy that I've not stopped to notice the way the empty branches of my golden elm frame the beautiful blue sky. But today I realised that I'd best give the Lilly Pillies near the pool a good drink and as I was standing there, hose in hand, I started to feel the sun tickling my cheeks and gazed up and noticed the most exquisite shade of blue right above me.

I'm pretty sure that it's considered a sin to not notice nature's beauty. Get out and find something gorgeous. Go on!

thinking happy thoughts

I know I've said this a lot lately, but I'll be light on posting and commenting today. So I've left you with this shot of pretty daisy faces - let's hope it inspires all of us onto better things x

i can see a rainbow

I'm besotted with this Kirsty Mitchell pic I found over at Gala Darling so thought I'd best pinch it and share it with you. I need a dash of rainbow hues at the moment. I've completed the first article that's due this afternoon - but I'll need to get myself started on the second one {sigh}.

Before picking up the gal from school I'm off to the Apple store to buy a replacement keyboard for my drowned one - I miss my delete key far too much. Then it's home, do a final read of the article before sending and then straight onto the next one {I know, how Jodi Picoult of me}

things that make you go oooooooooh

Today there were two pairs of shoes on net-a-porter that made me go oooooooooh, so thought it best to share them both with you. These top shelf numbers are from Emilio Pucci and I think they're seventy shades of fabulous. The pair below are poking some memory deep in the recesses of my brain - but not enough for me to know what they're referring to. I do believe my mum may have had a handbag in the 70s with a similar pattern, so these Thakoon shoes are infusing me with a nostalgic grin.

School's back today - hurrah. Lots of work on, so light posting and commentating over the next two days. Have a lovely monday x

muppetational

The other day on twitter {and facebook} a friend of mine said that while he concurs with celebrational and inspirational, muppetational just isn't a word.

I vehemently disagree and present you with this frock in all its muppetational glory. {Even the cranky old dudes in the stalls would have to agree with me on this one...}

swifts on a sunday

I'm home! For a tick. We slept over at the in-laws' last night after a very lovely celebration for my father-in-law's birthday. Then we ducked into Dan Murphy's for a champagne and quaffing wine stock up then to the Nursery to check out lemon and lime trees - and have a quick iced coffee {but the cafe was so popular it turned into a leisurely iced coffee...}. Now we're home to grab a quick baguette {ham for me and hubby, avocado, lime and pepper for the gal} and then I'm taking a few of the girls in my netball team to check out the NSW Swifts in action. After yesterday's win they'll be thrilled to watch it.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend - I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone soon x

petite violette

Finally, here's the planter that we bought in Singleton a few weekends ago complete with my scented violets. It fills a dead space on the wall beautifully and makes me happy every time I look at it.

So, weekend rundown so far. Last night's tarte au citron was delish. Shall post a recipe this week and please, make the effort to make the sweet pastry - it was so, so, worth it. Because the lemon filling was so tart it needed the extra sweetness of the icing sugar enriched crust. Twas gobbled down.

This morning's netball was fantastic. I've got such a lovely team again this year. I adored my team last year and really miss the girls who are in the other team, but this year's team have bonded instantly and I now have a complete team, with a few shooters, a few mid fielders and a couple of tall, enthusiastic defence players. We actually won our first game - by a dramatic margin 33 to 5 - which has boosted the girls' confidence. After last year's run of disheartening losses {we were graded too high - this year hopefully it's just right} a win comes as a pleasant surprise.

My gal had her plaster removed yesterday and the arm was x-rayed afterwards and seemed to show it healing nicely. She'll go to physio on monday and he thinks she might be able to play next week - but we'll see. I don't want her to go on too quickly.

Tonight's my father-in-law's 75th birthday celebrations. I have Julia Child's beef bourguinon in the oven and it's really worth the labour-intensive first hour's preparations - seriously.

I've just got to duck out and do a little watering when it gets cooler and wait for my husband to come home from his first golf competition - bless his socks. Then we're off to Maitland for the big family catch-up.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm taking most of the girls in my team to check out The NSW Swifts in action - should be fun. Then I'll be doing the world's most enthusiastic happy dance on monday when dropping my daughter off at school - I may have to restrain myself from snogging either her teacher or the school gates, or not...

Okay, working now. Article due monday that I need to finish off. Enjoy your weekend x

dark desires

I'm not normally a chocolate person, but it's come over all autumnal here today and this Spanish Hot Chocolate with Churros is the featured recipe at taste.com.au and it's taunting me every time I open my iGoogle. Mmmmmmm. I also have the sweetest smelling hands at the moment as I've just finished kneading the sweet pastry for my tarte au citron. Now, I don't have a loose-bottomed flan dish so surely I can just butter a flan dish and hope it'll come out later on? If not I can always spoon it into martini glasses and top it with cream...

c'mon get happy

I've been blessed to meet some really interesting people thanks to my line of work. Whenever I write an article I always need to speak to at least two experts to add weight to my argument and while I have to vary the people used, because I've been doing this for so long, and because I write for a few different publications, I can speak to some people more than once.

Some people give great interview. They're obviously enthusiastic about what they do and immerse themselves in the latest research on the topic. When they are interviewed they're keen to infuse others with their enthusiasm. These people make my life so much easier.

One of these people is Dr Happy - Dr Tim Sharp from the Happiness Institute. He's an amazing person. He loves what he does, loves it, and if you can walk away from a chat with him without feeling enthusiastic, optimistic and full of joy - well, obviously you're dead {sorry, caught a snippet of Weekend at Bernie's last night - tee hee}.

Over the years I realised that I've been following the advice of these amazing people. It's made me feel pretty chuffed that I am, really, quite a happy person. I have my down days, but as even Dr Happy would say, we need these to balance out the good. We have to recognise happiness - sometimes by contrasting it with sadness. Perhaps that's why I'm such a sook. I'll tear up at anything, commercials, photographs, blog posts - it's probably my way of balancing out the happiness. An even, uneventful life with no peaks or troughs would be dead-dull. But a life where there are giggles and guffaws and lots of smiling at strangers is a life well-lived.

What are you going to do today to make yourself happy? Me? I'm taking my gal to have her plaster removed which will make her ecstatic {and me too!} I'm making a tart au citron for pudding for tonight's dinner with friends and I'm cooking up Julia Child's Beef Bourguinon for tomorrow night's dinner {so it's got an extra day for the flavour to infuse - although it's so delicious maybe all our tastebuds will die and go to heaven..}

Enjoy your day!

crispy goodness

So, last night's dinner was meant to be steak and salad, but as our gal was at a sleepover at her grandparents with her cousins we had to take advantage of this and get out. So we leafed through our Entertainment Book and discovered that we'd yet to use our 'buy one main meal get one free' at our favourite Newcastle restaurant Bistro Tartine.

For once both our tummys spoke with the same mind. Husband and I both ordered the pork belly with a 'charcuterie' sauce {which translates as meat sauce - damned delicious was what it was} and then we were both sent into raptures by the chocolate fondant for pudding. Real chocolate fondant that oozed out when the spoon broke through - oooooh yeah.

I have expectations for my food. Pork belly needs crispy crackling and soft, deliciously unctuous flesh below. Mmmmm. If it doesn't have that, it falls into the disappointing category. Same with creme brulee - if I can't crack the top with the back of my spoon before diving below for a creamy bite of vanilla-bean flecked custard then what's the point? I've seen many a cook fail on MasterChef with a chocolate fondant - always too dry, sometimes too gooey - which is why it astounds me that I made perfect fondants on my only attempt.

That said, I can't go past pork belly on a menu - unless duck confit is there - then I'll see which pulls me more strongly. Alternately, I will never order chicken on a menu. I know! I am cooking more with chicken these days, but for me, it's always the less interesting option. I'll go for pork, duck, lamb, steak or seafood over chicken. And if there's something I haven't tried I'll give that a crack.

What are your benchmarks or expectations for food and are there some items on a menu that you can't possibly pass up?

oh my

I like this very much indeed...

hot legs

Now, these Wolford Hot Dots are a mighty pretty pair of hose are they not? I'm also singularly besotted with the shoe they're paired with. So, ignoring the fact that you'd need a set va-voom pins to set these off - how divine are they? Actually, as Melissa says, they'd make everyone's pins look perfect. I think they've set me purring.

a good drying day

It's an achingly beautiful autumnal day today - sunshine, a soft breeze and a hit of warmth breaking through the crisp, cool morning air. It's the perfect day for sheet washing. White cotton sheets drying over a verdant green lawn is one of the prettiest sights you can hope to see. I'm going to pop a few drops of lavendar oil in the machine as it's on the rinse cycle to ensure a night of sweet dreams...

opening our options

On our first overseas trip, nearly 12-years-ago, the internet was in its infancy. When we planned our UK and Parisian visits we relied on guidebooks, info from the British Tourist Authrority and Bill Bryson {who introduced us to Durham, such an exquisite town, and for that I'm forever in his debt}.

Last time we went, in 2006, my husband used the internet to book us an amazing chateau in the south west of France that we shared with friends, beautiful apartments in Paris and Venice and an exquisite farmhouse on a vineyard in Tuscany. We checked out guidebooks, but only as confirmation. Travelogues about holidays or a new life in France or Italy were relied upon to help us find something amazing - but it was generally on-line that most of our research took place.

This time I'm finding more sources for our trip next year. I follow Matt Preston on Twitter and last night he called for people's fave dining experiences in Paris and my two must-visit eateries featured. Le Train Bleu is pictured above, and seriously, who would care about the food in surroundings such as these? Perfection. Our Michelin-starred choice was also praised by Matt's followers. Le Tour Argent is an institution in Paris - with a view over Notre Dame and it's famous for its duck. Thanks gourmet twitterati - I'll be making a booking as soon as we've set our dates.

what's cooking?

Back to menu planning today - I'm crazy not to. Five minutes planning today saves a good hour or more of anguish later in the week.

Tonight: chicken and potato provencale {pictured}

Wednesday: steak and salad

Thursday: shepherds pie, mushy peas and sweet potato chips

Friday: Friends for dinner. They're bringing the last of the duck confit they brought back from france and I'm supplying potatoes roasted in duck fat, almonds and green beans, green salad, baguettes and a lemon tart for afters. Champagne will be consumed.

Saturday: Family gathering to celebrate father-in-law's 75th birthday. We're all taking a hot dish to share so I'm making beef bourguinon that I'll cook on Friday and taking buttered potatoes and baguettes. Might make a batch of Nigella's brownies to take along as well.

Sunday: Roast chicken and vegies

Monday: chorizo pasta bake - and a big celebration that school is back!

wedding daze

Hey Beth, you know that wedding dress shopping you're doing with your sis? How utterly delicious would this frock look? I know! The belt even matches her wedding ring... Don't you love a lovely fabric? I love the way this flows so meltingly. Divine.

You know what's not divine? When your husband spills a glass of water on your keyboard rendering the return and delete keys useless. You know how often I use those two babies? A lot. Sure, there are options, but I'm thinking unless it dries out I'm going to be needing a new keyboard...