We love to eat!!! Some recent food experiences...

 Toad in the Hole

Pho Pasteur

A cafe in Melbourne (not sure of the name)

Bar Italia



Jonty completed the Mad Mex 1kg burrrito challenge...easily.



Dave cooking Kylie Kwong corn fritters on Mothers Day. (not many guys can rock the pink apron)

Orange Granita.

What a hot and sweaty afternoon it was yesterday here in Sydney! Not the kind of afternoon you feel like standing over a hot stove in.

 But maybe, just maybe you would, in order to make this...

Orange Granita. YUM!

 It is very simple (even an 8 year old can do it). Put 300ml OJ, zest of 1 orange, 50g caster sugar, 150ml water and 30ml of lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer till sugar is dissolved. Let it cool. Pour it into a tray, whack it in the freezer and when it is just frozen, scrape up the yummy crystals with a fork and put into cups and EAT!!! It is so deliciously cool and refreshing.

And here is Ben who thought he would try a bit of cooking too.

Note to self - Ben can reach up on the bench now. Beware!

Viking Dinner party

We belong to a Foodie Group, (which evolved out of our Bible Study group) that meets every couple of months to cook and eat together. We have a theme, and in the past have done French, Indian, Australian, Spanish, Italian etc..
This month was Scandinavian Viking! I decided to have a go at making gravlax, a cured salmon dish.

Apparently the Vikings would just bury theirs in the sand for a few months and eat it when it was nice and fermented. I decided to go with the hygenic glad-wrap/fridge metheod. It was delicious!!! I used this recipe.

Someone brought a bottle of Mead. I thought it tasted awful, like bay leaves, but some people really liked it.

Here is my plate before I pillaged it. From left, walnut flat bread, roast boar, roast meat, vegetable stew, red cabbage, and the gravlax on bread. I am not sure whether the Vikings would have served it with creme fresh, caviar and capers though...

Oh how I've missed you...

I have been trying to stay away from op-shops in recent months, as I tackle some of the 'stuff' in our house. This morning I spent almost an hour in one, and came away with only three things, (two pillowcases, and this gorgeous girl).

Pretty darn good I thought!!!

Look at the colour of those eggs. Can I say how clever our chooks are at laying big, beautiful, yellow yolks, and eating all our scraps? Someone remarked recently that they are the fattest chooks they have ever seen.

Can I say how clever our kids are at never finishing their dinner...

My very first zip ever!! I have been putting off making anything with a zipper for years now, which kind of limits what you can make. Well this week at Monday Craft I was a very brave girl and decided to have a go and.... it really was not that hard.

Apple picking.

We went apple picking here on the weekend.

It was muddy and rainy and cold, but we had a great time stomping and munching our way through the orchards.

We picked 22kg of Granny Smith and Sundowner apples to take home, as well as the ones we ate while picking. Fresh apples are so unbelievably juicy and heavy. YUMMO!!

We have made muffins, cakes (the one above is particularly yummy with it's sunken cinnamon covered apple slices), tart tartine (inspired by Masterchef) and of course baby food for our little man who will soon be starting solids.

Hats and grumpy babies.

This was me the other night while Dave was in Adelaide, trying to cook dinner with a grumpy baby in the sling. I always wear an apron over the top so he doesn't get splashed, (and so my Babyhawk doesn't get dirty!!)

He looks really impressed, hey.

Today I made a few baby hats using the things I bought at the oppy the other day. I used 2 of the striped t-shirts and this dress.

The dress is big enough for at least 2 hats, and maybe a pair of comfy baby pants too.

These are so simple to make. A bit of applique would be cute and jazz them up at bit don't you think?