Habits & Goals

No resolutions this year but there are some goals-
Goals – not necessarily all this year!
1…… Finish at least a couple of UFO’s
2……Take a Learn to Draw Class
3……Get all my TAST stitches done
4……Let go of the fear and let the creative side take over
and some Bad Habits that need to be broken-
There is one bad habit I have conquered last year.  Since I was a small girl I have always chewed my fingernails.  I know, yuk, yuk yuk!  Gross!  As a child I was very shy and very self conscious about my very thick glasses.  Of course it didn’t help that I was teased mercilessly by the other kids at school. This made me very nervy and I just chewed and chewed. Fifty odd (very odd) years later on our Western trip last year, I found that my fingernails grew because I wasn’t chewing!!  You are always dirty when you’re camping out in the bush, so even I couldn’t bring myself to chew.  So….. haven’t chewed since.  HURRAY!
1……Stop starting new projects before finishing old
2……Stop hoarding and buying art stuff that goes into the cupboard to just dream about
3……Stop getting on this bloody computer so often and make some limits.
Well, there you have it, I have exposed publicly.

My friend, Marleen, gave me this journal for Christmas.  Inside it has a type of recycled paper and some of the pages in the back are graph paper.  This should be really handy for doing some designing.  I love it!
So, I am designating this book to creative ideas.  Thank you, Marleen.

One of my loopy sister in laws (sorry Cath, but you know you are :  -)) has a beautiful Australian chocolate mist cat called Levi.  In amongst all her old clothing was this very 80’s, very ugly denim skirt.  I suggested we cut it up and make a little snuggle rug for Levi.  Something he can scratch the billyo out of if he likes!  It is backed with the black velvety ‘stuff’ you see here in the windows of the front.  Cathy loved it hope Levi does too!

Here is Cathy aboard her partner’s boat back in November.  Love ya Cath!

A really random photo, but this is the plum pudding I made for Christmas and it was my best ever!!
Forgot to take an after cooking photo but it was quite spectacular!
Also made a new dessert which everyone agrees will become a family tradition.
It is from the pre Christmas edition of “Delicious” magazine. Cold Rice Pudding with Hot Cherry Sauce.  Out of this wooooorld.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!!!

Cooking for Christmas

One thing I love about Christmas is doing some Christmas cooking.  For years I made a Christmas cake, but the last couple of years I have let that slip.  It seemed I was the only one in the family that truly loved Christmas cake, thus, I was the only one eating it and showing it on the hips.
 I am very tempted after seeing this recipe over on Down-to-Earth to do this particular cake next year.  Maybe if I cooked it early in the season, I could share with visitors during the month of Nov/Dec., then I wouldn't feel the need to eat it all myself!  Or, I could freeze some I guess.

I now do a Christmas pudding to share with family on Christmas Day.  We serve it with premium custard with added whipped cream and ice cream.  This year our daughter is making rocky road ice cream with cadbury flake, bounty, marshmallow and turkish delight.  Can you tell we are foodies??



















The start of the Christmas pudding.  I don't drink or like Brandy, but the smell mixed with the spices in this mix was absolutely deeeevine.  It is now cooked and ready to be re-boiled for a couple of hours on Christmas morning so it will be nice and hot and yummy for lunch.
  Lunch will be entree of fresh king prawns and oysters, followed by delicious leg ham from the bone, chicken and roast pork served with various salads and devilled eggs, followed by the aforementioned dessert. All swallowed down with a couple of bottles of 'bubbly'.   We will all then collapse in a heap and 'sleep it off'.  Oh Joy.
















CHERRY & GINGER SLICE:  I am nutz nutz nutz, about ginger, particularly ginger pieces covered in dark chocolate, ah, but I digress.  This is a very yummy slice with two of my favourite ingredients, chrystallized ginger and glace cherries.  I always add more of these two ingredients than the recipe states.
I am going to share this recipe with you, so if you are a ginger lover like me, beware, it is very more - ish.

4 0z butter or margarine
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 cup Self Raising Flour
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup Rice Bubbles (I did not have any rice bubbles for this batch, so used Cheerios crunched up a bit - even better)
1/4 cup finely chopped chrystallized ginger
1/4 cup glace cherries

Put all ingredients into bowl except syrup and butter.  Melt syrup and butter and pour over dry ingredients.  Combine.  EASY.....  Press into slab tin and bake in moderate oven for 20 minutes.
Ice with lemon Icing.  (I use 1 cup of sifted Icing Sugar (confectioners sugar), 1 teasp butter (Melted a bit in microwave) and enough lemon juice to make a spreading consistency.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY.  

Around the House

 

Don't know what this rose is but the scent is divine.  As this one is nearly finished flowering, there are two more buds on the same stem waiting to bloom.  Time to stop..... smell the roses.
 
There is not much a girl can do when the house is all topsy turvey, but since my kitchen is almost put together again, I can cook.  These are a favourite of ours and we call them Goodie Goodie Jam Drops.  
 
If you have an abundance of fresh mint as we do, why not make your own mint sauce?  We had roast lamb last night and it was made all the more delicious with this mint sauce.

Put 2 tablespoons of sugar in the bottom of a saucepan and pour over this 2 tablespoons of boiling water.  Bring back to the boil on the stove, and boil for a minute.  (Not too long or you will have toffee!!)

Take off the stove and add 2 tablespoons of mint sliced up finely (or not) and 2 tablespoons of vinegar.  I used red wine vinegar.  Belissimo. 

Here is our gorgeous grand baby, Lilian, 'helping' us in the garden on the weekend.  She sat for about 40 minutes digging in the dirt.  She just loves being outside and if my DH even looks like stepping outside without her she carries on a treat.

Cookery on a Rainy Day

 

Coconut Fancies
Can anyone tell me how to successfully type around pictures in blogger?  It is driving me nuts!!   I eventually do it with a lot of fiddling about.

We have had the most beautiful steady rain.  What better pursuit on a rainy weekend than some home cookery.  The coconut fancies are from this book by Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen.  Flo was married to a former Premier of Queensland, Joh and she was once a Senator.  Don't know about her politics, but her recipes are simple, good old fashioned food.

 We had a whole stack of cherry tomatoes which we were never going to eat, so we made some tomato relish from Flo's book as well.
It is delicious with cold meat on sandwiches and with cheese.

  Some of the cherry tomatoes never went really red, so we think they may have been a different type.  Thus, the relish isn't red but a sort of orange colour.  Makes no difference to the taste.  Yum.


  

Tomato Relish

Yummy Dessert

We had this yummy dessert after dinner tonight.

I just sliced up a punnet of strawberries and a few apples, added a tablespoon of sugar and finely grated orange rind.

The topping is plain flour, butter, rolled oats, brown sugar and flaked almonds.  (The recipe called for chopped macadamia nuts, but alas I had none of these).  I have made it with the macadamia nuts and it is scrumptious. Eaten warm with ice cream and cream.  mmmmmm.

Orange Cake gone wrong?

Look at this poor old orange cake. When I poured the mix into the tin it did look a little curdled! But what the heck, I shoved it in the oven and hoped for the best.

It was to be for a special friends 65th birthday gathering!! What to do?
Well, I decided to cover up all its imperfections with orange icing and hope for the best.
Guess what? It tasted delicious.
Never go by looks alone.....