Home Made Pizza

This week and next week I am attending a whole bucket load of seminars through a local initiative called WorkSafe Month. During WorkSafe Month there is about 2 weeks worth of free training courses, seminars and forums which are open to anyone to attend and the topics range from Stress Management  to Understanding the Workplace Heath and Safety Legislation to Is Your Workplace Stroke Safe to Improving Physical Activity and Nutrition in the Workplace. There are so many great sessions on this year I think I am attending like at least 2 each day, but when they are free (and held during work hours at a beautiful venue by the water) they really are a fantastic resource....plus I think the one I'm going to tomorrow includes breakfast....now if only they would let me go in my pyjamas! 

Alot of the talk at the seminars I have been to so far focuses on eating healthy and looking after our bodies and you know most of the time Mr B and I are very good at that....we have the occasional ice cream 'black out' where the whole tub disappears in one night, but otherwise we are pretty good! We go out for tea occasionally, but we generally stay away from take away or 'fast' foods and to that end once every month or so we treat ourselves with home made nachos or hot dogs or, my personal favourite, home made pizzas!

Now these pizzas aren't your average bit of pita bread spread with tomato paste, topped with goodies and chucked in the oven (although that does make for a mighty fine home made pizza too!), these pizzas are a whopping big mountain of pizza goodness...and definitely require a knife and fork...or a bib....possibly both!
 
For the dough you will need

125ml water
3/4 tbspn oil
1/2 tspn salt
1.5 cups plain flour
1 tspn yeast

Now the night before we plan on having pizzas, I just chuck all of the above in the bread maker, in the order it's listed and hit the dough button....when the bread maker beeps at me roughly 90mins later, I put the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge overnight. 

The next night, roll your dough out into a circle and place on a pizza stone, if you have one, or a greased baking tray will work too. 

Top with your favourite toppings and bake for about 25-30 mins at 160C. 

Just as an example, on this one we used
1 small tin of pineapple pieces
1 capsicum diced
1 tomato diced
100g of shaved ham
100g of bbq chicken meat
100g of diced mushrooms
Honey BBQ Sauce
And lots of shredded pizza cheese!

This photo does not do it justice....it was huge....but oh so good!!!

Enjoy! 

Mrs B xx 

Sunday night musings.....

Well another weekend has come and gone before we even knew it had arrived!

It all kicked off on Friday night, poor Mr B was exhausted and asleep on the couch by 5pm so being the good little house wife I am, I left him a steak and some chips out on the bench ready to be cooked and took myself out to dinner with the ladies from work.

We went to a restaurant called The Drunken Admiral down on the waterfront. It's a fantastic little seafood place and the atmosphere and menu there just go hand in hand with a great night out. The meals did not disappoint with everyone oohing and aahing over everyone else's mains. I had pan fried blue-eye rubbed with Indian spices and served with coconut rice and mint yoghurt - totally as good as it sounds! Just when we thought we could not be anymore satisfied......they brought out the dessert menu. A few of us decided to share the 'Undecided Dessert Plate' which was supposed to be a dessert tasting plate to serve 2 people and every night they change what is on it. Ours came out with some lemon curd (that tasted like the perfect lemon meringue pie filling), a twist on a summer pudding (which was a lovely fruit jelly topped with a vanilla bean custard), some chocolate mousse topped with shaved chocolate and a bowl of macadamia ice cream....excuse me while I slip blissfully into dessert heaven!! (Thanks Netty for the photo!!)

  

Saturday was a bit cold and miserable so Mr B and I organised a lunch / shopping date with his Mum and sister. First thing's first though, we had to feed our lil babies...........

At the moment we have 13 sheep staying in our back paddock and 5 of them are ready to have lamb's any day now! It is quite funny to see all their little personalities come out and the way they follow us around (like sheep!!) when we go for a walk up there.  

Lunch was lovely too - I didn't have the camera with me, but I had the biggest pineapple fritters I have ever seen.....it also didn't hurt that the pineapple was soaked in rum and vanilla before it was battered either! 

After lunch we were people 'with no purpose,' as Mr B's Mum put it, but somehow we managed to cover a fair bit of ground (and shop up a storm while we were at it!). By the time Mr B and I got home it was dark and time for dinner and a warm bed! 

As for today, well this morning I woke up and thought it was Monday, then I thought it was Thursday, then I thought maybe Friday....eventually I figured out it was Sunday so I got up and got Mr B and I some brekkie in bed - only way to spend a Sunday morning, lying in bed with a coffee and some hot buttery english muffins!

When we managed to drag ourselves out of bed, we went to visit some friends of ours who have recently had a little bub. I have been trying to restrain myself, but couldn't hold out anymore, there was a cute, newborn little baby with my name all over it for hugs! He was a gorgeous little boy and slept peacefully the whole time we were there (cluck cluck!!)

A quick trip to the supermarket later and the only thing left to do for the day was dive into the kitchen. I whipped up these Date and Banana Muffins using the recipe for my Date Loaf and I just added 2 chopped bananas into the date mixture before I microwaved it. These are really delicious and I can't wait to try one with some butter and a cup of tea!

Sheppard's Pie for dinner....ssshhhh don't tell the sheep!!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend 

Mr and Mrs B xx

What a week.....

Well this week has been an interesting one....

There have been big things going on at work and I have been baking for at least 2-3 hours a night to clear my head at the end of some very long days....

But let's not dwell on that....let me show you what has been good this week....

OH brought me some gorgeous flowers :)


Mum and Dad cooked us this very tasty baked brie in a white wine sauce and served with fresh crusty bread :)


And my book arrived!!! For my one year blogging anniversary I decided to buy myself a book....and not just any old book, but my book! I used www.blog2print.com to turn my blog into a hardcover book and it finally arrived yesterday morning and as soon as the post lady was out of ear shot there was lots of singing and dancing and squealing! It's so much cooler then I could have imagined and a great record of not only the last 12 months of my life but all my recipes etc....did I mention it's really really cool? I just like the idea that even though I have the only copy, it's a printed version of my blog, my recipes and my life that I can sit on the book shelf and pass onto my kids one day :) It's definitely something I'm going to do every year as a little treat for myself :)


It's now Sunday afternoon and I am exhausted. On Friday night I went out to dinner with some ladies from work to a restaurant called Me-Wah that does fantastic chinese food....I was so impressed I'm taking OH and his Mother back tonight!

Then yesterday OH and I went for a ride on the bikes, it's been a few weeks since I have taken my bike out so I was abit concerned I would have forgotten everything but we decided it was about time I hit the road for real so I rode all by myself up and around the roads in our area with cars and everything! It was the first time I had ridden on a proper road and it was very exciting and more dancing, squealing and general excitement ensued when we got home! Then we went to visit OH's grandfather, had an awesome ham salad roll for lunch and went to watch some of OH's friends play footy. It was bloody cold but I was rugged up to the eye balls and for the first time in a long time, I even had a can of beam....I mean we were at the footy so it was only fair! Then OH and I went and got some pizza (I was really lashing out today huh!) and went home to curl up and watch a movie.

This morning we had a leisurely sleep in and brekkie in bed and that was pretty much where the relaxating ended! Tomorrow is the actual RSPCA Cupcake Day so I had to make some food for a fundraiser morning tea at work...sounds easy hey? Well for this I did some mini cupcakes, some lemon tarts, some mini quiches and some home made chocolates....simple....but I also had to make 120 cupcakes for the craft group at work. I work in an organisation that does community care for the elderly and disabled and we also have a day centre where there are music groups and craft groups and all sorts of activities for people to come and enjoy. Tomorrow there is a craft group and because it's Cupcake Day they are going to decorate cupcakes for their activity. So I am providing the cupcakes, the frosting and the decorations and they are donating the proceeds from the group to the RSPCA which is fantastic :) It meant a hell of alot of baking today and right now I feel slightly unwell, exhausted and like I never want to bake ever again, but it's so worth it :)

Anyway, I better be off, have to straighten my hair / get the cupcake batter out of it, before we go out for dinner! I'll post photos of the morning tea and the craft group decorating their cupcakes tomorrow!!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend :)

Em x

Howdy :)

It's Monday morning here and it is freezing cold!

Last night my hair straightener wouldn't even work, turns out if it is below 8C then they can go on strike and to be honest I don't blame them!

So what did we do over the weekend?

We slept in....lots

We ate fresh bread straight out of the bread maker at 8am and went back to sleep, woke up at 10am and had a second brekkie....

I had a relaxing lunch and went bridesmaid dress shopping with one of my gorgeous friends........

We made a mixed batch of chocolate mint, chocolate and vanilla, chocolate fudge, coconut rough and double chocolate cupcakes for a lady I work with....


We went bowling and I finally won a game :) ....although the deal was winner buys lunch so I'm not sure I won anything at all bar bragging rights!!

OH got himself a new toy.....


And took me for a riding lesson on the bike, despite my protesting at the cold...

And to top it all off we finally put OH's anniversary present up - it was a wall decal that says 'Forever Love' with lots of swirly things around it.....it wasn't easy, but we did it!! Photos to come once we get all the air bubbles out!!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend :)

Em xx

Let's Talk About The Weekend :)

How was your weekend?

My weekend was filled with some highly un-exciting things like spring cleaning (something I have never done before and will never do again!) and grocery shopping and washing :(

But it was also filled with some fantastic things like...


The new Rekorderlig winter cider with cinnamon and vanilla - the only cider I actually like and did I mention you can drink it hot or cold - perfect for a cold winter's night :)

Parfait! Everybody likes parfait!! Especially when it's as easy as beating 2 blocks of cream cheese with a tub of yoghurt, some icing sugar and then swirling through some fresh raspberries when it's all done!


And last but not least - on Friday night I made my first zucchini slice - now this may not seem like a big deal, but my Mum is the Queen of savoury slices, she throws in whatever is in the fridge wether it be dips, cheeses, vegies, absolutely anything and they always turn out delicious - so I was a touch nervous but luckily it came out and it looked good, it smelt good and most importantly it was packed full of flavour :) We even had baby pumpkins out of our vegie patch with it and whilst they may have been small, they were tasty!



Zucchini Slice
4 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
80g baby spinach
2 zucchini grated
1 cup grated cheese
3 tbspns melted butter + 1 extra
200g rindless bacon diced
1 onion diced

Pre-heat oven to 170C.

Combine the eggs, flour, zucchini, 3 tbspns of melted butter and grated cheese in a bowl.

In a fry pan over medium heat, melt 1 tbspn of the butter. Add onion and bacon and cook for 7-10 mins or until done. Add spinach and cook for a further 2 mins or until wilted.

Add onion mix to the batter and stir to combine.

Pour into a greased pyrex dish and place in the oven for 30-40 mins or until golden.

Serve with salad and vegies :)

I actually had the leftover slice cold for tea last night and I would go as far as to say it was nicer cold or even just warmed through. Also a good one for lunch boxes!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend :)

Em x

Patty Cakes, Lollipops and....Quesadillas?

That pretty much sums up my weekend really...although I will add that on Friday night I had the best vegetarian pizza of my entire life...roast pumpkin, pepper dews, garlic fetta, honey roasted mushrooms all on a pesto base...oh it was good, it was so good.....

But moving on!

I actually had no intention of making patty cakes this weekend, I made OH an orange cake for his lunches so he didn't need anything but I had about 300mls of thickened cream in the fridge I needed to use and when I did a quick search for ways to make it go away, I found this awesome recipe for cupcakes that also gave me the chance to test out my new patty cake pan!!

For these lil babies all you need is:
2 eggs
300ml cream
3/4 caster sugar
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 cup self raising

Combine the eggs and cream in a bowl and beat well.
Add the sugar and vanilla and beat combined.
Add the self raising flour and beat for 2-3 mins or until mixture is nice and smooth.
Pour the mixture into 12 lined cupcake / muffin trays / patty cake trays and bake at 180C for 15-20 mins or until they bounce back when touched. I added some chocolate fudge nutella frosting too :)

This recipe produced such light and fluffy cakes and they are just so adorable!!


And awhile ago I brought a Simpsons lollipop mould for OH because he is Simpsons crazy and I finally got around to making some cherry and some strawberry lollipops for him :)
Lollipops are actually easier to make then I realised! And now that I have my wizz bang candy thermometer they are even easier!!
In a saucepan over low heat, combine 1 cup of white sugar, 2 tbspns liquid glucose and 1/4 cup of water. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved.
Add a few drops of food colouring and a few drops of an oil based flavouring and increase the heat to medium high. Slowly bring the mixture up to 300F on your candy thermometer.

It helps if you have a lollipop mould prepared with the sticks in it at this stage and coated with a light mist of oil (not olive oil though as the flavour will end up in your lollipop)

Once the mixture reaches 300F pour into your moulds carefully and allow 10-15 mins to set.

The first time I made these I didn't spray the moulds and they broke :( The second time I sprayed the moulds too much and it made the surface of the lollipop bubbly :( The third time I sprayed them lightly and they came out just perfectly :) :)


And after all that cooking, we needed some dinner...these Ham Quesadillas were perfect, they were fast, simple and tasty!!

To make these delicious treats you will need
150g ham diced
60g of semi dried tomatoes (try and dry as much oil from them as possible)
100g of light cottage cheese
1/2 cup spring onions diced
2 tbspns sour cream
1/2 cup grated cheese
4 tortillas

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Heat your sandwich press.
Place 1 tortilla on the press. Spoon 1/4 of the mixture over one half of the tortilla. Fold the other half over and close the press. Cook for 2-3 mins or until golden.
Repeat with remaining mixture and tortillas :)



I hope your weekend was full of patty cakes and lollipops and even quesadillas too!!

Em x

Potato, Chorizo, Red Coats and Road Trips!

So Friday night I was lucky enough to go to dinner with the girls where we shared an awesome chicken, cranberry, bacon and brie pizza and I had a fabulous mushroom risotto and then we went late night shopping at Kmart where I picked up some bargain underwear :) All in all a great Friday night!

Then yesterday OH and I took a road trip up to Burnie which is 3.5 hours drive away to look at a bike for me! It was a little 250 Virago and it was just perfect, when I sat on it, it just felt right, everything was comfortable and easy to reach so hopefully it is going to be a great learner bike for me :) My uncle is doing some negotiating and all things going to plan, it will be here waiting for me when we get back from Melbourne next Saturday! To be honest I'm terrified about riding on the road, but you never know if you don't give these things a go! Whilst we were up north we also went to the Imaginarium (like a science works) where they had a display on all things spy related which was pretty cool, to Penguin where we saw the small, medium and large Penguin statues scattered through the town, to Anvers Chocolate Factory which was very impressive, just a shame the factory wasn't operating because it's all glass windows so you can see everything being made, and for a scenic drive through the Great Lakes which was just beautiful and we even saw wild deer - when we got home we were exhausted but it was a great day :)

Today I went shopping, OH brought me a gorgeous winter coat a few weeks ago, but since then I have worn it like every single day so today I went in search of another one in an effort to preserve the first one, I was thinking red, I was thinking thick, I was thinking warm...but in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined this - OH says I remind him of Paddington Bear in it, but I just love the look of it and it's so cosy!


And then tonight we had a big bowl of potatoes, spring onion and chorizo topped with cheese and sour cream...oh it was soooooo good!! Just boil the some halved spuds while you cook the spring onion and chorizo in the fry pan. Add the boiled spuds to the fry pan and cook for a few mins or until they start to get that golden look about them and serve :)


Hope you all had a fantastic weekend :)

Em x

The Weekend That Was.........

So what did I do this weekend?

I went for a walk in the sunshine on Saturday morning...

I gave money to a homeless man....

I browsed through some new stores and brought Pilsbury Dough Boy Lip Balm in Cinnamon Roll flavour...

I ate some of the most gorgeous fresh dates I have ever tasted...

I had a delicious bowl of apple and yoghurt for lunch...

Then I weeded the vegie patch :(

That was Saturday....but yesterday I did some groceries...

Went to the movies with OH to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in 3D (it was pretty good!)...

Then I went home to imerse myself in my kitchen :)

First things first, OH required a beverage so I used these ingredients to make him a Caramel and Whiskey Thickshake


I melted some cream (about 2 tbspns), brown sugar (about 3 tbspns) and whiskey (a good dash) together in the microwave to make a whiskey caramel sauce, then I combined that with about a litre of milk and a good scoop of vanilla ice cream in the blender. I couldn't get any photos of the finished product because OH demolished it before I had the chance! The sauce would also be spectacular just poured over vanilla ice cream or you could use it to make rice pudding or hell, eat it on it's own, it was that good!

So now that OH was content, I got on with my baking.

I made a Tuna, Vegie and Rice Bake for one of the ladies at work who has injured her elbow and can't cook much right now.


I also made her my Mum's Zucchini and Carrot Pancakes.


These are delicious and so easy.

In a bowl combine 1 grated zucchini, 1 grated carrot, 1 cup of grated cheese, 1 diced onion (cooked), 3 beaten eggs, 3/4 cup of water, 1 crumbled stock cube, 2 cups of plain flour and 1 cup of milk. Season with salt and pepper. Let the mix rest in the fridge for an hour or so. Using a buttered fry pan over medium heat or a pancake maker if you have one, cook the mix 1/4 cup at a time. These are delicious hot or cold, my Mum and Dad make them all the time and this is one of my favourite dishes from when I was younger :)

Then I made myself some Roasted Tomato and Lentil Soup for lunch at work this week


This is also our favourite winter dishes, it's so easy and so tasty!

To start with you will need roughly 1kg of tomatoes, halved lengthways. Place the tomatoes on a lined baking tray cut side up and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 200C (fan forced) for about 40-50 mins or until they are starting to look roasted. When the tomatoes are done, chuck them in the blender with 2 tspns crushed garlic and blend until smooth. Meanwhile place a cup of dried red lentils in a saucepan or microwave safe bowl and pour in about 3 cups of water. Cook for 10-15 mins until water is absorbed and lentils have pretty much turned to mush. Pour the tomato mixture into the lentil mixture and stir well to combine. This gave me 5 good size bowls for lunch, or normally if OH and I have it for dinner we add a cooked onion as well and it all disappears in a night! One thing I will say about this soup though is that if you do have the willpower to leave it overnight the flavours really develop so try and make it the day before serving :)

And once all that was done, I finally got started on our dinner! Pizza Pull Apart Bread



We did not intend to eat all of this last night....but we did, it was just too good...soft pillows of herbed dough filled with tomato paste, ham, tomatoes, capsicum, cheese and pineapple...oh it was good...it was so good....

This recipe was slightly more complicated then the others though so I better write it out in steps!

You need:
2 cups of self raising flour
30g butter
3/4 cup of milk
Fillings of your choice.

In a bowl use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and add the milk. Stir with a flat bladed knife until the mixture resembles a soft dough. You may need to add more milk.

Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and if you are making a savoury dough you can knead in 2 tspns crushed wet italian herbs.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle. Now here you can go for your life. You can spread it with vegemite and sprinkle with cheese then roll it up or you could do what I did and spread it with tomato paste then layer fresh cut tomatoes, ham, cheese, pineapple and capsicum in a strip down the middle. I did this so that all I had to do was bring the two lengthways edges together, fold up the ends, and I had a nice little parcel where my layers would show up nicely. Before you put it in the oven (@ 200C fan forced for 35 mins or until golden) cut deep slits every 3-4 cms but be careful not to cut all the way through, this makes it look pretty and makes it easier to pull apart!

Did I mention it was freakin' awesome?? Think dessert, think apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, think lunch boxes with chutney and cheese or vegemite and cheese...get creative people!!

So what did you do this weekend??

Em x

It's All Happening!!

OH went to work at 6am this morning and it is freezing here so I cranked the electric blanket and jumped back into bed for a snooze. It's now 8am and I'm sitting in my warm snuggly bed with a bowl of toasted honey muesli and a hot cup of tea thinking I could quite easily stay here all day! And believe me I would but it's been awhile since OH has worked a full weekend and to be honest I'm quite looking forward to it. I have heaps of stuff planned for this weekend, this morning I'm going out for a coffee with Mum and Dad and my Uncle and Aunty who are visiting from interstate that we haven't seen for at least 5 years and I'm really looking forward to that. And then I'm going to have lunch with OH and we have a Liveat date (Liveat is fantabulous, like Subway but a million times better) and then *drum roll* I'm getting a new tattoo, I can't wait. This one is more of an addition on an old one, but it's going to incorporate my parent's initials and two of my favourite things - cupcakes and shoes!! I'll come back later and post photos and tell you how it all went!'

In other news, due to some boys are morons and you should spend your life living for you moments this week, my best friend Allie and I have decided to finally bite the bullet and go for our motorcycle learner's license. We are all booked in for an intro to riding course on Monday afternoon (and my Mum's even coming with us!) and once we do that we can go to a Pre Learner's Weekend where you do like a ride around and stuff and then you just have to do a written test and ta da! Allie and Emily on the road again!! We are both mega excited (and terrified!) and I think Mum is mega terrified (with a hint of excitement!) but it is something both Allie and I have always wanted to do so fingers crossed it all goes ok and we manage to stay upright!

Anyway, I have to drag my warm butt out of bed and shave my legs so the tattoo lady thinks I have soft, silky smooth legs all the time (why the hell do I care??) - I'll be back this arvo!

Ok so I'm back now! Catching up with my Aunty and Uncle was fantastic, sat in the sun with a nice cup of tea and had a great catch up, it was just like they never left :)

OH was too busy for lunch, but that's fine, he was cranky anyway.

So after a satisfying lunch of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate I have officially found my new favourite tattoo artist and possibly the woman of my dreams (if I was that way inclined)....Candice spent a good 2.5hours on my tattoo, we used 14 different colours and I was totally enthralled the whole way through, I love watching the whole thing come together and she did an amazing job, I couldn't have asked for anything better! What do you think?




I think I'm in love!!

Em x

Sunday Baking and The Catch Up.....

So what do you do when your stuck at home all day and you can't go for a nice lil Sunday drive?

You make yourself a whole fleet of lil cars : )


And some lil creatures that you can pretend you saw whilst on your Sunday drive in your new vehicle!



I got these awesome cake pans for Christmas from my parents so took the opportunity to try them out today and my god was I impressed! Can't wait till I have lil ones to make these for and with....

Ok so the catch up...what has been happening, yes I know I have been avoiding the subject. Well I should start by saying that the new job did not start off as planned, but things are now starting to look up in that department and hopefully I can start doing the job I was hired for which would be nice. Secondly the house is coming along well, have spent the last half of today trying to get the retainig wall finished out the back (and trying to work off the million calories in frosting that I consumed this morning)...also this morning, just on a side note, we had fresh honey like right out of the honeycomb this morning on freshly baked bread and the only words I have are oh my gooey honey goodness!! Now what else is going on....today was the first time I have actually done some proper baking since like before Christmas...not good, not good at all!

What else....OH and I went for a road trip the other weekend and on the way home we stopped at a road house which we thought would serve your average selection of greasy food....we were proven wrong when OH got this massive marinated steak burger and mine was the same but with a massive vegie pattie!! Best burger and chips I have had for a very long time.


And given that we had spent the weekend in a room with views like this


Whilst enjoying meals on our balcony like this


We had a pretty good mini-break!!

But for my final piece of news...some of you might remember I have been talking about planning a wedding and trial cupcakes and blah blah blah....well the wedding should have been on the 8th of Jan so about a fortnight ago...but for a few reasons it didn't go ahead. We decided a few days before Christmas to postpone it and take twelve months to work on things. I will be the first to admit that the 8th of Jan was an awful awful day and I don't know if things are going to work out or not, but I know that we were not ready to take that step so only time will tell I suppose. And I still have my baking and my shoes...even if my love life is up in the air!

Anyway, thats it, my last month or so in a nut shell...things will return to normal around here from now on, I have had my appropriate sulking period and now am willing to proclaim myself as officially BACK!!

Em xx

In the absence of plans....

....the universe will always find something for you to do! Today I had no plans except for doing the groceries and passing out on the couch with an endless supply of tea and a good book...however, early this morning we got a txt msg from OH's niece saying she was bored, so I offered to go pick her and her younger sister up so they could spend the day at our place.

We started by making Harry Potter cupcakes.....


Then we had a fashion parade where OH and the groomsmen tried on their suits for the wedding and the girls scored them as they walked down the 'runway'....personally I think they scrubbed up really well!


Then we kicked the boys outside and we set ourselves up on the living room floor to make some jewellery.


The girls made themselves a bracelet and pair of earrings each and together we put together this charm bracelet which I thought was really cute!



We have just taken the girls home and I am exhausted, but it was a great day, I had heaps of fun, and in reality, heaps better then spending the day laying around doing nothing. We made a date for next Sunday as the girls want to get their own lil bead kits happening so they can make their own jewellery, I'm kinda chuffed that they wanna be like me...and just a tad clucky...but we don't need to tell OH that just yet!

Anyway, I am off for to lay on the couch with a book (just coz I didn't get to do it all day doesn't mean I shouldn't get to do it at all - at least now I've earn't it!!)

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!!

Em x

How come it's Sunday already??

Where the hell did this weekend go? I swear OH and I sit down and we go well next weekend we have this, and the next weekend we have this so I think we are free sometime around February next year? It sucks! But I was actually really excited about this weekends activites. On Friday night we went to the Halloween Masquerade Ball


I think I mentioned before it is kind of a night of burlesque and pole dancing acts but this time it all had a Halloween theme, it was fantastic, girls on poles doing the Thriller dance, zombies doing burlesque acts, it was just brilliant, the crowd were really getting into it and OH even managed to get a lap dance from one of the head line acts....don't worry it was part of the act and I gave him a good clip up the ears afterwards! The night really made me want to go and do the Burlesque course offered by the same place I did my pole dancing classes though. I might look into signing up the for next one this week.

Then yesterday we went on a Bandana Run with the Veterans Motorcycle Club for Canteen, there were heaps of bikes and even though it was a very overcast day it was still quite warm. Plus there is really nothing like the feeling of riding right in the middle of a pack of bikes, I can't wait to get my license!


And we have to finish up with a recipe!
On Thursday night we had some sizzle steaks with cauliflower on the side. I have had this recipe for cauliflower since I first began collecting recipes and have never made it, I am so glad I gave it a try though!


Cauliflower with Sour Cream and Bacon
500g cauliflower
2 tbspns sour cream extra light
1/2 cup spring onions diced
2 tbspns bacon chips (you could use real bacon, but we use the Masterfoods Bacon Chips which I prefer to real bacon)
1/2 cup grated extra light tasty cheese

Cut up your cauliflower and boil it on the stove until soft. Add bacon chips. Simmer for 2-3 mins.
Drain the caulfilower then stir through the rest of the ingredients and put back on the stove top. Keep stirring it so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Once cheese has melted and ingredients are combined, dish up!

Really easy and tasty way to have cauliflower, especially if you have kids (or partners) that need their vegies spiced up a bit!

Oh and we had our Halloween party last night, it was fantastic, the trick or treat bags were a hit, my friend and I decorated the shed and it looked spectacular with cobwebs and lanterns and candles plus a giant spider hanging from the roof, I have a feeling the Halloween party will become a tradition now!

Anyway I better go, we are off to tea with OH's Mum and I am dying for a cup of tea before we go!

Back tomorrow!!

Em x

Hits from the last few days!

Well I am still snowed under with the flu but I find if I get up and get moving I feel a bit better so I am just laying in bed having a cup of tea and some yoghurt before I go to polefit. Hopefully I'll sweat most of it out there! And i learnt my lesson last week, I will be doing yoga first thing this arvo to work out those knots and then hopefully I won't pull up so sore.

Anyway on Thursday morning I got up early and went for a walk because it was a Public Holiday here. Then I made this porridge with caramelised bananas. Not exactly healthy but oh so yummy. The porridge was creamy and soaked up the caramel sauce, the bananas were soft and delicious, it was such a nice brekkie!


Then we made this Paprika chicken on corn mash....you may be wondering why the corn is not mashed....I tried the masher, the baymix, the food processor and all I did was make alot of washing up, so we just had the corn as is. But my god was it good, totally overshadowed the chicken, and it was just cooked in some stock with garlic and thyme, definetly a new favourite!


And then yesterday I found this at Kmart, isn't he adorable! And he goes so perfectly with my Halloween kick at the moment that I just had to bring him home.


And while I was at Kmart I may have brought some black pin stripe capris....now it was only last summer that I felt confident enough to wear shorts...can I move on to capris? I know technically capris are longer and I am being a bit backwards here but I always thought stuff that stopped like just below my knees made me look stumpy...but at the moment I am also in a big vintage mood, I want vintage clothing and dresses and I am hoping these capris, with a nice black woolly jumper, a nice cinch belt and some heels will do the trick so I can wear them to the roller derby tonight...did I mention I was going to the roller derby tonight, so exciting, I can't wait!!

I am also on the track for raspberry essense..does anyone know where to get some because I can't find it in Tassie and I really think its the missing ingredient in the wedding cupcakes.

*sigh* well I really must get out of bed and go to polefit!

Happy Saturday everyone :) Ohhh and I'm attempting little pumpkin pies and pumpkin whoopie pies tomorrow as Halloween Baking Challenge #2...pumpkin overload!!

Em x

Catch Up Time!

Where have I been the last few days!? I was doing so well, an entry every day and then I just disappeared! Well it's ok, coz I'm back now.

It all started on Thurs night when I made Ham and Cheese Pancakes


They are really easy and so yummy, but best eaten straight out of the fry pan so these cheese is still melty. I made mine in the pancake maker though because I find it easier then the fry pan, you don't get those hot spots that stick and you don't have to worry about flipping them! They were great and they had like carrot, zucchini, fetta, normal cheese and ham in them, so many flavours and you got your vegies as well. Although next time I think I might reduce the actual pancake base but leave the vegie, ham and cheese quantities the same just so you get more filling and less pancake in every ite if that makes sense!?

Yesterday we went out for a family lunch with OH's family to a cafe at Richmond which is about 30 mins drive from home. The place was called Ashmores and it is a quaint little corner cafe and they serve these huge homely meals like quiches and pot pies, devonshire teas and old fashioned spiders, there was so much to choose from and everything sounded delicious. I settled on a toasted vegetable panini which had tomato, cheese, pesto, capsicum, spinach and mushies in it and it came with a beautiful side salad or fries. I got the fries but OH ate them all so that was ok! I was so glad I settled on that though because it was fantastic and I have been craving a toasted panini for awhile now! That kept me full until about 9pm last night when we had some soup and a piece of fresh buttered bread out of our new bread maker. You may have read a few months ago we borrowed my parents bread maker to see if we would like one? Well OH's Mum ended up giving us hers and last night was our first test run which resulted in this lil loaf of wholemeal bread


And last night I also made Mars Bar Slice for OH's lunches, it is so very easy to make and really who can go past a good mars bar slice!!

You simply melt 3 chopped mars bars with 60g butter...combine that with 2 cups of rice bubbles and spread into a lined slice tin. Then melt 200g of chocolate with 30g of butter and spread that over the top and chuck it in the fridge to set. Could it be any easier!?


It is a beautiful day here and I have just got back from a trip to town with Mum and Dad. Mum and I found this clothing sale where nearly everything was $4.95....I ended up with two work shirts and two long line vesty cardigan thingys for around $16...how cool is that! I love a good bargain...

I am stalling now, I have three lots of selection criteria to do and so far this weekend I have washed my car, been grocery shopping, visited friends, clothing shopping in town, dusted the house...and now I am blabbering to you in an effort to avoid it...I hate doing criteria. Hmph. And OH is out in the shed with a group of his mates having a bbq and drinking and watching Bathurst in the sun, which just makes me even more cranky about being stuck inside! Ok ok I'm going...

This week I think we are making a Smokey Beef Casserole, going to Mum and Dad's, having brocolli out of our very own vegie patch and making fish burgers!?

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Em x

The weekend that was....

It is a sunny Monday morning here and whilst it was a hectic weekend, it was a good one.

On Friday night I continued the birthday celebrations (it is important to stretch them out for as long as possible) by having dinner at Customs House, which is a local pub down on Hobart's waterfront, with a group of friends. The atmosphere was great with big fires keeping the restaurnt warm and the meals were really well priced, not to mention they were massive! It was a great night catching up with friends, some I haven't seen for ages and seeing as it was such a diverse group of people that didn't really know each other, they all got along really well! I had the Apricot Butter Chicken and it came out with rice and pappadums and was delicious! We even finished the night off with a few shots and you know I had one with one of my oldest friends from school and one with OH and I was pretty happy, but not over the top you know? Did I mention it was a great night?! Yesterday I had a play around with photoshop and I really like the way this photo turned out, could be one for the wall!


And seeing as neither of us woke up feeling worse for wear the next morning, OH and I decided to load the ute up and go fishing up the coast for the day. We stopped at a bakery at Triabunna on the way up and they had the biggest chocolate eclairs I have ever seen, so of course OH got on to try and when I had a bite I could barely fit my mouth around it! But it was so very good....Anyway, we spent a few hours fishing off a pier in Swansea with no luck, but we didn't mind because it was a beautiful spot. Later in the afternoon we headed back down the coast and stopped at Orford to try our luck there and wouldn't you know it...


It was a little whiting and we did our happy dance around the jetty, took some photos and then threw him back....but unfortunately I think he warned all the other fish because he was our only catch of the day. But seeing as we had finally caught a fish and had had a really nice day together I promised to cook OH the biggest steak I could find for dinner with home made pepper sauce - as seen in my new AWW cookbook!

We picked up all the ingredients on the way home and I set about cooking the steaks and making the sauce. I was a bit nervous because it was basically cream and white wine with some celery, onion, peppercorns and thyme. I have never cooked with wine or thyme before but the end result was delicious. The thyme really balanced out the wine and it reduced down to a nice thick creamy sauce. I had a big plate of boiled vegies for tea and spooned some over that, but OH had his with some porterhouse and home made potato chips (I wanted to try the new food processor too!)


We decided to have a quiet day on Sunday, which in my mind screams BAKING! I also wanted to try my new cookie cutters and mixer so I set about making some gingerbread. Several months ago, Mum, Dad, OH and I found a business called Biskart (www.biskart.com.au) who make and sell cookie cutters. But not like your every day circles and squares....they do everything! And for my birthday I was lucky enough to get a selection of some of my favourites.




I really like the bats...and yes OH pointed out I decorated the skull upside down...we have since fixed that! Oh and I love the shoe too! And the excavator! OH is most pleased because now he won't get heart shaped biscuits in his lunches...well not all the time anyway!

I spent the rest of yesterday lying in my bean bag, drinking tea, eating gingerbread and reading Eat Pray Love...it's a fantastic book and very inspirational.

Hope you all had a great weekend !

Em x