Something I Made...

Photo A Day|Day 25
Dolly

This is a dolly that I made some time ago. Look at Lily, she was sooo tiny then! And can you see how contented she was with her little dolly friend? Anyways, this little dolly has found a new home and I promised Lily that I would make her another one......

3 other dollies came and went. Didn't think they would be SO popular!

(Look! She's got the same mohawk!)

Hush little baby go to sleep... mummy will make you another dolly someday.

(I did not buy a sewing machine to just make 4 dollies.... or did I??)

Reflections: The year that went by...

Cunningham Pier, Geelong Waterfront.

Year 2011 was a BIG year for us. It was eventful, challenging, emotional and life changing.

In February, we moved homes. It was one of the most arduous and challenging tasks yet. Packing up our lives in boxes, moving and then unpacking. 3 kids in tow...

In April and May, we celebrated ALL 3 kids' birthdays all within a week of each other. 3 birthday bashes, 3 birthday cakes. Just the thought of April creeping up is enough to make me shake in my boots!

June: we started renovating our kitchen and dining area. We ripped up the old and tired slate tiles, sold our existing kitchen on eBay, laid down new floors and got myself a brand spanking new kitchen. Yeah, baby!

My father in law was diagnosed with liver cancer in September. It was a tough battle, no doubt a short one. He passed away in November. It was an emotional roller coaster ride for the entire family. We missed him so dearly!

December was such a busy month. The boys started swimming lessons again, there were kinder breakups, school transitions, orientations, concerts and parties. Christmas and New Year whizzed by in a few blinks. It was quiet...but peaceful.

In just under 2 weeks, my biggest baby will be going to school. What a milestone! And my 2nd baby will be at kinder twice a week. Lily, it's you and me babe, we are going to do BIG things together!

2012 awaits us... bigger and bolder dreams, greater challenges. Bring it on!

Reunion Dinner 2012

This year, Gary and I are honoured to host the family Chinese New Year reunion dinner - a Chinese tradition, where family members gather round to eat and usher in the new year.

We started dinner with lo hei – which is a celebration where everyone gathers around a special salad called yu sang. Everyone uses their chopsticks to help toss the salad, lifting up the ingredients as high as possible, as a symbol of great prosperity in the new year.

Then came the feast, a home made banquet that was really sensational! It was a joint effort, between my mother in law and myself, my dear sister in law Ching Mei and brother Kelvin. We had abalone soup, braised sliced abalone and sea snails (hmmm... an Asian delicacy??), braised shitake mushrooms with oysters and fat choy, curry chicken, sang choy bao, roast duck, roast belly pork with a crispy crackling and pan fried prawns. It was delicious! We ended the night on a sugar high: a lychee dessert plate - Lychee and white nectarine salad on a frangipane tart, home made lychee ice cream, lychee jelly and lychee macarons.

We ate and ate - until our bellies hurt and our hearts deliriously happy.

Here's wishing my dear family and friends, my (Chinese) readers near and afar a Happy Chinese New Year! May the year of the Dragon bring in to you all good fortune, good health and prosperity. Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

Sweet As...

Day 19|Sweet

Pistachio Cream Macaron

I haven't got a picture for today but I thought I'd point you back to one of my favourite post. It's one of the rare occasions that they actually turned out not bad!

So click click HERE to read the whole post.

With the Chinese New Year lurking around the corner, I have my egg whites separated and I'm thinking... NO pineapple tarts this year, but how about some pineapple macarons?

Citrus and Candy has some serious sweet eye candy, as well as some heart throb dessert happening, so why not hop on over that way and tell her I sent you?

Cookbook Junkie

Day 18|Confessions of a cookbook junkie...

There are things that I can't live without and cookbooks are one of them. I have such a soft spot for recipe books and can never EVER resist buying a book that I like. And whether I've outgrown them, or exhausted their lines, they still sit comfortably on my shelf, holding pages full of sweet and delicious memories.

Do you know that you can publish your own recipe books nowadays, at the comfort of your own home? And it's dead easy...

Check out Photobook Worldwide's Readybooks, they are free to download, and it has all the templates and designs ready. Just insert your favourite recipes and pictures!

Will you buy my cookbook if I have one?

34 degrees...

Day 17|Water

It has been hot these past couple of days. The swimming pool has been a real treat. Boy am I glad that the theme for today's photo challenge is "Water". Because we did play with a lot of water today.

(I think I shall skip Day 16|Morning... I am obviously not a morning person. Mornings {on a school holiday} are for sleeping in...)

If you are wondering what all this is about, Chantelle over at Fat Mum Slim is hosting a Photo A Day Challenge for January. And I thought it would be fun to join in. If you are doing this challenge too, feel free to leave your link here. I would love to hop over to have a peep at your photos... :)

Happiness is...

Day 15|Crepes with homemade strawberry ice-cream, strawberry coulis, fresh strawberries and cream.

I was at the shops the other day, wanting to buy some fresh strawberries to make ice-cream. Yes, home made ice cream! The ice-cream maker was my other evil post-boxing day sales splurge. Anyways, I digress. Strawberries are in season right now and they are so cheap at the shops. I couldn't help myself to a box of strawberries for $6! There was at least.... 6 kilos in there.

So, what did I do with the box of strawberries? There was plenty for ice cream. I made strawberry jam, strawberry sauce, strawberry and white chocolate muffins (that I forgot about, left in the oven for an hour at 200 deg...it was burnt to a crisp!), the kids ate bowls after bowls of strawberries (they had strawberry poo...yuck!). And there's still some left in the fridge. We are all strawberry-ed out!

I declared love at first sight with these crepes, one of Poh's recipes from her book Poh's Kitchen.


I love the texture of the gorgeous folds of thin silky crepe, even more luscious paired with the ice cream and strawberry coulis. Heavenly! I've declared that I love them more than regular pancakes now. The batter is quite thin, not too floury and you only need one small dollop at a time. Makes it all OK to have more than one crepe in the one serving! And the vanilla hit...mmmm. It goes so well with the strawberries.

Crepe batter (makes about 8 crepes)

Ingredients

40g plain flour
2 large free range eggs
190ml whole milk
pinch of salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
butter, softened to grease the pan

1. Pop a non-stick pan on low heat to begin warming.

2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk until silky smooth.

3. Ladle about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan, greased with a little butter, roll it around to cover the surface of the pan. When the edge crisp up and turn a little golden, it is perfect to flip it over to cook on the other side, just for a few seconds.

4. You should end up with crepes that are about 1mm thick and a little translucent.

Let Lachie show you how it is best eaten!

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream
(Adapted from Cuisinart website)

Ingredients

3 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 cup sugar, divided
1-1/4 cups whole milk
2-3/4 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours. Strain the berries, reserving juices. Mash or purée half the berries.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and remaining granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, reserved strawberry juice, mashed strawberries, and vanilla.

3. Turn the machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the reserved sliced strawberries and let mix in completely.

4. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.


Strawberry Jam
Adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients

• 3kg strawberries, hulled, halved
• 3kg white sugar
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Method

1. Wash and sterilise jars and lids. Place strawberries in a saucepan and stir through sugar. Leave for 1-2 hours while sugar softens the fruit.

2. Add juice then cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fruit is soft.

3. Remove 1/3 of fruit. Set aside. Cook remaining mixture until fruit is mostly dissolved and jam coats the back of a spoon. Divide reserved fruit between the jars then fill with jam. Allow to cool,then seal with lids.

I Am Reading...

Here's my photo for yesterday...
Day 14|What I'm reading

Paullina Simons' Road to Paradise

I am also reading...

How to talk so kids will listen & listen so KIDS will TALK by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

It's one of the books that I have by my bed side, that I will flip through every now and again to remind myself... It's a good book, I do recommend it to any parent. Here's a summary page that I've book-marked (this book mark was a present for me, made by Lachlan at kinder for Mother's Day last year *loved it*):

Helping Children Deal with Their Feelings

Children Need to Have Their Feelings Accepted and Respected.

1. You can listen quietly and attentively.

2. You can acknowledge their feelings with a word.

"Oh... Mmm... I see..."

3. You can give the feeling a name.

"That sounds frustrating!"

4. You can give the child his wishes in fantasy.

"I wish I could make that car you are looking for reappear for you right now, with my magic wand!"

All feelings can be accepted.

Certain actions must be limited.

"I can see how angry you are at your brother. Tell him what you want with words, not fists."

...

My Vegetable Garden

There is SO much stuff happening in my vege garden right now. Vines are growing everywhere! Monster zucchini plants, cucumbers rolling about, tomatoes, eggplants, chillies, capsicum, sage, rosemary, basil, chives, lemon grass, hairy melon, rocket, lettuce, pumpkin and maize. It's haphazard, it's chaotic, it's gone crazy after a few rainy spells.

When my dad came for a visit a couple of months ago, he built 5 vegetable plots from planks of wood. Impatiently, I threw all my vegetable seedlings into the 2 plots (while he was still building the other 3!), chucked in some more seeds for good measure, heaped in lots and lots of manure, compost and all the good stuff. Now I need to commando crawl through the vines, to go looking for a spiky cucumber, or a glossy zucchini. I go into some sort of a sun salutation pose to pick chillies and tomatoes.

We've eaten lots of zucchini, made lots of chilli jam, picked and eaten lots of cucumbers, given some away and we still have heaps left in the garden. The corn is yet to bear fruits, as is the eggplant and pumpkin. There are lots of tomatoes ripening on the vine. The zucchinis just grow into monstrous proportions after a rainy day or two. It's mad!

There is a great deal of satisfaction to see a trug of beautifully fresh vegetables, grown organically at home. It's chemical and pesticide free! It is grown with love. The end result is rewarding and it just adds to the sense of well being, knowing that we are a part of the cycle of life and the production of food.

In My Bag...

Photo A Day|Day 13
Here's what's in my (other) bag...

To be honest, I have not been carrying this bag at all this week. My phone and my wallet does not belong in there. It goes into the swimming bag, it wobbles along with the nectarines and the eggs in the "green" grocery bag, or it just sits atop of the shoe cabinet in the foyer. This is the going out going out bag.

The kids have been swimming ALL week, 5 days in a row. L1 has swimming lessons, a holiday program. L2 and L3 goes along for a little swim. It's great! The past week has seen all three of them being a lot more confident in the water. L1 learnt a few arm strokes, he could swim underwater for about 6 meters. He does somersaults! L2 dunks his head underwater, blows out bubbles for a good 6 seconds. He is also a lot more coordinated now in the water. L3... simply just loves to splash, paddle and play.

Boy am I glad the weekend is here, and the swimming program has ended. It's all good fun, but packing and unpacking the swimming bag is a bit of a chore! And the head is a bit dizzy and sore... eyes darting from L1 to L2 to L3 to L2 to L3 etc etc. And oh yeah, getting them ALL out of the pool and in the shower is good fun... NOT.

I'm ready for a little bit of a sleep in.

Happy weekend everyone!
XOX

Close Up

Photo A Day Challenge|Day 12

Then came the boy with the long eye lashes...

Guess who they belong to?
.
.
.
.

.
.

My pretty boy Lucas is 3 and a half. He's got such long eyelashes, I often say isn't it such a waste on a boy? But of course I do not mean it that way! It compliments his big puss in boots eyes. Don't you just want to put a glob of Elizabeth Arden Double Density Max Volume on those curls? Haha! (I can just hear a 13 year old Lucas saying....NOT FUNNY MOM!)

Lucas is our 2nd born, our "middle child", if there's ever such a thing. He has always been a challenge, the family clown. He could go from cry to laugh in 3 seconds, and back again. He holds the record for the longest tantrum thrown. He is ridiculously noisy, aggressive and deliberately provocative. He picks fights, he spits and he taunts his OLDER brother until he explodes in tears. He teases his sister, takes her dollies, trip her over. AND there is always NOISE where he is. His terrible TWO has turned into terrible THREE, and now I wonder if it is ever going to go away (Will he become fantastic FOUR?), or what he might turn out to be when he became an adult.

BUT he is also the most funny, the most witty and the most entertaining. He goes about doing his own thing without a single care in the world! And he melts hearts when he batts those long eye lashes, and he throw one of those gorgeous smiles your way! He can chat you up, he calls on you the LOUDEST, he says GOOD MOOORNING to everyone, when everyone was having a sleep in on Sundays.

Grandma says he is also the cleverest.

Que sera, sera. What will be, will be.

Sanctuary

Photo A Day Challenge
Day 11|Where I Sleep...