Blogtoberfest day 6

I'm always conscious that my kids spend a bit of time staring at the box on the school hols. Luckily I am happy for them to spend all day in front of this box:


This allows me time to practice crochet and create silly nonsense like this! Piggy for fun, quilted checker/chess boards for school fair.



Kids didn't get to the peggies yesterday, they were too busy with the chicks. Plenty of time still left in the hols for crafty pursuits. They are loving baking at the moment, but the damn oven in the new house is CRAP so results vary.

xx

Good Golly, it's Cauli!

I am often sceptical when a spouse of a celebrity releases a book. I base this on nothing other than my own Tall Poppy affliction, which is hard to explain. From the sheltered world of me, whereby more often than not a week goes by and I have not seen neither tv news nor newspaper, why would I have expected to have heard of these spouses?! It was therefore with great tongue-in-cheek-edness that I approached this book, by none other than Jessica Seinfeld.


Jessica Seinfeld and Jerry have three kids, and she swears by presenting dip and vege sticks when the kids are hungry, and by increasing vegie consumption by the clever use of purees.

We have added spinach to chocolate brownies, avocado to chocolate icing, chickpeas to choc-chip biscuits, and cauliflower to scrambled eggs and to macaroni cheese.


As such, the BB family, of whom I have always been the sole ingestor of cauliflower, manages to eat a half to a whole head of cauli a week. Undetected. Yep! Clever clogs here stirs it through mashed potato, carbonara sauce, chicken pie, and even the icing of a carrot cake!!! Thanks to Mrs Seinfeld, I am becoming a little too adventurous. It tastes utterly crap as carrot cake icing, even with cream cheese and icing sugar mixed through. Some things just weren't meant to be....

Purple cauli image from here.

The lovely snowy vege is a master in fighting off infection. It is low in fat, high in dietary fibre, folate, water and vitamin C, possessing a very high nutritional density. As a member of the brassica family, cauliflower shares with broccoli and cabbage several beneficial phytochemicals including sulforaphane, an anti-cancer compound released when cauliflower is chopped or chewed (or hopefully pureed). In addition, the compound indole-3-carbinal, which appears to work as an anti-oestrogen, appears to slow or prevent the growth of tumors of the breast and prostate. Cauliflower also contains other ingredients besides sulfurophane, substances which may improve the liver's ability to detoxify carcinogenic substances. A high intake of cauliflower has been found to reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

Romanesco cauli image from here.

It's good stuff people. Eat more of it! Recipes here, here, and especially here for something a little different to cauliflower-cheese.

Brilliant cauli sheep image from here.

In other news, I have STILL lost my camera, and the new mobile refuses to email pics to my computer, so the current craft will have to wait. Apologies!

xx

Counting down to the move

Master 7 tells me (loudly and early) this morning: "Six sleeps until the new house!"

What a slap in the reality-sphere for me! Despite having packed a heap of boxes, there is still so much to do. I am trying not to panic. I'm getting too old for this moving malarchy...

Me aged 4 with my Irish setter 'Toby' and my dear Grandad, in the garden of my childhood home. Circa 1978.

Somewhere amongst the boxes I managed to retrieve my knitting box, so that in moments of stress I can cast on or crochet just for the pleasure of it, not making anything. Amazing how relaxing it is, and healthier than mindless eating!

On the back of an old Coles receipt, a recipe for cheese scones written by my Nan - I love these bits of ephemera from the past.

The sewing machine is still not packed, I think it and the knitting box will now be packed absolutely last, as they are sanity-savers as we all know.

Random image of Miss 3 doing the dishes - she loves helping with chores -

This weekend in Canberra is a wonderful example of the joys of the Capital. Floriade opened yesterday, and continues until Sunday 11 October. The Handmade Markets were yesterday. Despite not having the camera (no idea where it is) I loved seeing Michelle, Jen, 'Nina', Redmag, and so many others, including the talented mother/daughters team of Eliza Clare. Lots of images at their sites and at the Handmade Homepage.

Off the swimming now for the little people then on with the day. Hope you have time for a hot cuppa and a moment in the sun.

xx

Dinner in 30 minutes - Real Fast Food

What to you is fast food? I think that every person should have several tricks with a cooked chicken and also with mince meat. There are several cookbooks out there dealing with these 2 staples, however I also want to add to the mix some other staples that can quickly result in a healthy dinner. Spaghetti (any pasta really, I just love spaghetti), tinned tuna, eggs, and tinned tomatoes.


Tonight I felt like something of a 'no-brainer' dinner. Tuna pasta automatically sprang to mind. Tinned tuna, tinned tomatoes, pasta. Easy. As we are down-sizing before the move, I was stunned to see that there was NO tuna in the pantry. In 18 years, I have NEVER been without tuna.



Instead, and in a rush, here is the mid-week roast option that warms my kitchen tonight. With due deference to Hoppo Bumpo's Stand Back and Throw meals, here's my version:

Get one decent BBQ chicken. Not always easy. Gone are the days of the charcoal chicken shop of my childhood, however we have sourced a reasonable local chook haunt.

Peel any vegetable that you can find. Potato, pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato, parsnip, swede, turnip, celeriac, beetroot, whatever's in the cupboard or fridge. Chop into the size or shape that suits your family. (picture John Cleese talking to brat child in Fawlty Towers: 'What shape does he usually have? Mickey Mouse shape? Poke in the eye shape?') Speed them up in the microwave if you like. Toss them in oil (Olive here, dripping or Hi-Fri as a kid!) and cook until the desired colour is reached. If you microwave them and add hot vege to hot oil they will absorb less oil and cook faster.

Steam any other vegies that think they have got away. Zucchini, broccoli, beans, cauliflower, brussells sprouts, silverbeet, etc. Make a decent cheese sauce if this is your thing for the cauli and broc.

Carve the chook, and serve with roast vegies and lashings of gravy.


When the chook has been carved, and all meat removed for tomorrow's sandwiches, toss the carcass into a pot, cover with water, add a carrot and some celery, a bay leaf and some peppercorns, and simmer for as long as it takes to eat dinner, do the dishes, watch The Amazing Race, eat dessert, remember about the stock, and turn it off. Skim the surface if necessary and freeze in portions as stock or strain and use as a base for a soup or risotto for tomorrow.

3+ meals in one, and all yum. All done in 30-40 minutes. All for less than a grand total of $12.


What are your favourites?

xx

Demecull

Light on pics, heavy on words. Rant warning !!

Odd heading isn't it? It was the word verification for a comment I made on a blog this morning. It made me laugh a little as I had only just finished saying that when we move house I will need to be strict with myself, and have a little cull.

No sooner had I said that to Mr BB then I typed "demecull". Demi-cull! What a great term for packing! Anything I don't use regularly, love to death or need for practical reasons will be going to the great op-shop lottery. Knowing me I will buy a lot of stuff back - this has been known to happen...

There is an episode of the tv version of Winnie the Pooh where rabbit tidies, and as he only has one of a pair of bookends, he takes the single to the tip. Later he sees it at Piglet's and wants it as a pair for the one he just threw out. As we the viewers know, it's the same single one.

Yes, I have done this with Tupperware, fabric, teacups, linen, all manner of things. I see something such as a book, and grab it, only to flick through the pages and see my handwriting in the margin, or my kids' names on the inside cover...

We have moved more than some, less often than many more, with 5 moves in 7 years. It gets very tiring, and one becomes rather good at down-sizing. I know I have donated more than I have bought from Salvos, however as I look around my house, I realise that the next move (in the next couple of months) will require further down-sizing.

Always in the back of my head is the sad story featured on Oprah of a woman who couldn't stop buying things. Her house was FULL of bags of things. Furniture was obscured by STUFF, and it was controlling her life. I keep this picture as a reminder that her 'stuff' was collected and spread out in a warehouse. This pic shows about a third of her excess.


Friends wonder why I have so much STUFF. It's not just that I have it, but I seem to have it ALL out and ON DISPLAY! My cupboards are not utilised well, and my shelves are heaving under the strain. I have decided that this is just me and part of who I am. I have always had clutter, and have never known how others manage to live so tidily. I've also decided that this endearing trait is because I have so many interests and hobbies.

So is it only interesting people who live within clutter? Are all messy people interesting? Of course not. However I think that all the interesting people I know, love, admire, and treasure have fabric stashes, heaving bookshelves, and boxes and cupboards full of UFOs.

My dream is to have a grown-up's bedroom devoid of clutter, just dedicated to restfulness and sleeping. This I am reminded of daily as I climb out of bed and squish between the boxes and crates that double as bedside tables.

As I attempt to accept this trait within myself, why then do I get frustrated that Master 7 lives within a nest of his creations also? Why do I expect order and reason from the rooms of my off-spring when I find it so hard to achieve myself?!

So I return to the Demi-cull, the (half-arsed?) method of decluttering that I formulated in a random moment of procrastination this morning.

I will pick a shelf, a drawer, a cupboard, a shelf, and decide on the spot what isn't coming to the new house. Only things that bring joy shall be retained, unless they have an inherent usefulness I cannot ignore (there would be so much more room in the laundry without that big machine but I think it should come...) It is likely that all things will make it to the new house, however in the absence of a garage, I will be forced to make some big decisions. The trick is, that once sorted, the stuff has to GO. That's sometimes hard too. I have been known to drive around with items in the boot of my car for weeks, only to be brought back into the house at a later date.

In 2 weeks I think I will try my luck at the local weekend Trash n Treasure market. Perhaps I can fund part of the move, or failing all else, get the money for bread and milk! I do know that without trying I can fill the boot and car just from excess in the garage, let alone what's in the house!

I have tried to embrace things like Fly Lady, but they just do not work for me. There are always too many little bits of crap that creep into my life, demanding accommodation. I think an intervention a la the now defunct "Your Life on the Lawn" tv show. Any suggestions on where the hell the Demi-Cull should begin??!!

xx

Tourist in your home town

Back in April, we went to Melbourne as a family for a week,to celebrate the birthday of Mr BB. I had a morning to myself in "town" quite early one day, before most shops were open, and I wandered past some of my favourite places just to say 'hi'.

Back in the olden days, "the nineteens" (i.e. 1980s, 1990s; as Master 7 says), I went to school in the inner city. A bus, train and a tram, then a walk, and we were there. This opened up the city to us as we all travelled some distance to get there, and we spent a good deal of time in the city after and before school.

We knew lots of short-cuts and lane-ways, places to go, hideaway spots, parks, fountains, cafes, and shops. The Sportsgirl Centre was being built, as too was Southbank, McDonald's was underground, and we'd meet the guys from the boys' school Under The Clocks.


courtesy Flickr
I love reminiscing as I walk around the streets. The Hill of Content Bookshop where I bought "Joseph and His Technicolour Coat" illustrated by Quentin Blake in the mid-eighties. Pellegrini's where a glass of Fruit Cup is available at any time to go with magnificent minestrone. Where an old boyfriend got Mark Seymour's autograph for me before an underage "Hunna's" concert at the (gulp, how embarassing...) Metro...


Ancient Times' House where I discovered my love of all things Ancient and Egyptian. A mummified cat sticks in my mind. Little Lonsdale Street where Dad took me to my first Archeological dig in 1983, a dig I went on to study at uni ten years later!


Job Warehouse which has NEVER been open when I have gone past! Now For Lease - tragic end of an era. Those moths have been in the windows for DECADES.


The Manchester Unity Building - a gem of Art Deco (sorry Steve, Moderne) architecture.


The Nicholas Building where I love riding in the old-style, hand-operated lifts. Of course one must visit Button Mania...



At the end of the day though, hopping on a tram is the best reminiscence of them all. Catch a tram to This Park , which has old ones that we used to ride to school as play structures for kids. They've been a drawcard for years. Despite numerous vandal attacks however, they are restored and ready for you any time you fancy a picnic. My two thought they were brilliant!

You can't get much for five dollars these days...

Or so the ladies in the Rotary Op-Shop in Rosebud mused. It was a cold morning, rain was trying to become horizontal, and Mother-In-Law and I braved the conditions to make a dent on the 7 and counting op-shops in the Rosebud area.

I went straight to the haberdashery section. Totally disorganised, zips with knitting needles, buttons scattered everywhere, and patterns and magazines piled in a corner. It was an Aladdin's cave. Judging by the dust and moth carcasses it had been some time since the area was excavated.

Under a pile of magazines was a lovely tin. It reminded me of some Willow brand tin canisters I had passed by in Mont Albert the day before. Labelled $5, I thought it battered and a little rusty, but certainly a lovely tin.


I picked it up - well, I tried to. H E A V Y T I N. Hmm, getting better I thought! Upon opening it, I discovered the mother load of thread, wooden cotton reels, delicious colours so rich that I possibly drooled on it! It needs airing, being rather musty, but is beautiful in the endless possibilities.


All for $5. Happy.

Add a 50c Golden Hands bonus, and I was content with the haul. So much thread, so little time...


Thank you so much for the comments and thoughts about Mr BB. He really gave us a scare, but is certainly improving daily.

Take care,

J

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long.....

It really has been a long time since I blogged. Unintentionally. After a few weeks, my bloglines stand at 533 and I may have to clear them and start again. Easter has come and gone. School holidays came and went. Sewing made a regular appearance on my to-do list. I had a lovely evening whipping up presents for littlies.

A top for Pops from Sew Hip - she looks super-cute in lemon and turned 2 this week.

Jonty turned 2 and got a pair of pants that over time will become shorts (the beauty of the draw-string waist).

Russian dollies for Miss 2 and Pops to cuddle and play with.

A skirt for K who just turned 3. K loves pink, her mum prefers black, skulls, etc. Here thanks to Spotlight they can both be happy!

We had a week in Melbourne during which I had some time to myself in the beautiful city, saw friends and family, celebrated Mr BB's 40th birthday, and made it back up the Hume to Canberra.

Mr BB then fell ill with meningitis and spent some days in hospital. Scary time. What do you do when a Dr says to you: "He'll either be better in 24 hours or he'll be dead" ????? I did very little. I kept it together around the kids. I catastrophised when they were at school. I envisaged the kids and I living in a caravan in rural Victoria. Without an annex. I swore that Life Insurance was something we should spend on. I prayed. I cried. I knitted feverishly.

I visited The Man I Have Loved for 15 years who was residing in isolation. After donning a mask, gloves and a yellow gown I sat with him. He oscillated between sleep and hallucinations. Morphine for pain. I sat there in the "dress-ups" that were supposedly to prevent me becoming infected. It seemed pointless really. The night before I had sat with him for hours in emergency. Holding his hand, kissing his forehead, pretty much rolling in any germs to be had.

Thankfully, he's now home, and very much on the improve. Time will bring good health and strength. The knitting has continued and I have immersed myself in my sock. I began this sock years ago. It has been unpicked, re-worked, thrown aside, and fiddled with. I spent an age working out how to knit in the round. Then I paused a few months to work out how to turn the heel. Then again it lay waiting for me to work out how to pick up stitches and do the foot. I was so worried about Mr BB that I didn't even pause to worry about how to graft a toe. If craft is therapy, then it has really been a wonderful way to get through the week.



One down, one to go! I wore it last night though and loved the feel of my first hand-knitted sock. Maybe I can do the second one in a shorter time frame.

Pics and words following later in the week of happy op-shoppiness of the past month.

Take care,

J.

Yes I DO still sew!

In the case of Buttons versus the Blog, we submit the following evidence that the Janome is still fighting fit and producing merrily.

Of course there have been more tiered skirts. They are a staple, and I love them. Question is, would you buy one? What's the going rate for wonky craft?! I'm no professional but I do need to feed the habit... At a market stall not a shop where you expect a bit more like perfection, what price tag would sing to you? I'm interested in feedback from you. I have a number in my head - is it too low? Too high? Just an aside.



There have been bags using up scraps and thrifted zippers, from my head as well as on line tutorials. These are destined as gifts not commercial gain, as they are not my 'original' designs. (What IS original anyway???!)




Also a present for a great friend who ADORES President Obama. I used a free downloadable image of a cross-stitch pattern and printed it onto silk. Using interfacing and trim to 'frame' the image, it now graces a t-shirt for her!

Finally a wonky-looking (as it's full already!) bag for Master 7's computer-gamey thing. Necesary not beautiful. I was not going to buy one for $20 - I knew there was polar fleece and velcro around here somewhere that could be used!

In closing, in the pile of things to sew are: a dress for Miss 2 for the upcoming 40th of a certain BB family member; PJ pants for me; mending; a memory quilty thingy idea for a pressie; and innumerable other options for bunting; tiered skirts; and pants for Master 7. Elasticated pants (necessary for the Asperger in him) are hard to find past size 6.

As long as the family don't want the dining table back soon I will be fine to continue sewing daily. Cheap therapy!

And for gratuitous cute value, here is Miss 2 colouring in her Easter page for the local competition. No parental help here, an entry from a two-year-old is in fact done by... a two-year-old! Note that the toasted cheese sandwich finger prints are her own original touch.

j

SEVEN

Seven. Lucky for some. Master Six has now reached that magical number.

I feel humbled by the amount he has grown, what he has achieved, how he blooms every day. He is my perfect little man and he is growing up so fast.

Mr BB took the big day off work so we could marvel that seven years ago we were at the Freemason's watching Nee Naw tap dancing to pass the time in delivery suite. A great way to celebrate the achievements and to mark being parents, together, for 7 years.

Master 7 took lamingtons to school to share with his classmates. Grandparents came to Canberra for the party. He coped with the fuss admirably. We are so proud of him.

Happy Birthday Darling.

xx

Pineapple Sorbet

Lego version of the Big Pineapple, as seen at Brickvention 09 in Melb earlier this month.

Mr BB is well-renowned for his ice-creams and sorbets amongst our family and friends. At the market on the weekend he bought 2 super-ripe pineapples for a song. If you were at Fyshwick you may have seen a super-excited family? We know how good his sorbet is!!

I also thought that for the benefit these ladies, I'd share the recipe and process.

Use as much pineapple as you can blend up to 2.5 cups of fruit pulp.


Be patient, it will blend without the addition of extra liquid. Give it a poke with a utensil to move it about.


In the meantime, mix sugar, water and lime juice to make a sugar syrup. Stir it over the stove on a low heat until the sugar has melted. This needs to be chilled in the fridge.


Mix the two together and freeze as per insructions of your ice-cream machine. Simple, no?



Add it to Mr BB's premium vanilla ice cream for a "Splice" you can't get enough of! YUM. It's worth having a hot day for this. Trust me. You're welcome to come over and sample it, but it will be all gone in a day or so!!

j