Woohoot Wednesday

Yeah yeah yeah - I know it's Thursday but I was a bit busy yesterday with cleaning my house so the folks coming for Bible study didn't think I was a sloth. Just as well they didn't look in the kid's rooms huh?

1. My Big woo hoot is that DH's photo got honours on Monday night at his photography club, and the judge is a director at the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries at the Uni of Auckland. The ultimate accolade was that she said she would be happy for any of the honours images to be in her gallery. So DH felt quite special about that.

This was his image. It's out at Anawhata.

















(c) Rod Dugmore 2008

2. Have made 3 of the eco-bags. Yay!
3. Got a great pattern to make some trousers for DS and it has adult sizes too, so I can make DH some as well. Plus some material I'd been eyeing up which was down to $5.00/ metre from $14.99/metre. Woohoo!
4. My sister is baby sitting an ice cream maker so we have some plans for Saturday to put it into use. Heh heh.

Think I'm getting a lurg. My voice is croaky and getting deeper (almost like Aunty Helen's) and I'm getting that tight chest feeling too.
Right, DD has been suspiciously quiet for a while now. Better check her out.

No 15 minutes of fame for me this time

Oh well, didn't get to be a guest designer with Paper Pesto. Never mind!

With 30 odd entries it must have been difficult to choose. :-) I think my style is possibly too simple for design calls, and not unique enough. But that is okay. I scrapbook for me, my family, my stories and for the creative fun. Not fishing for sympathy or compliments here, just stating what I think.

Paper Pesto do some awesome kits and it would have been fun to play with them in a "designer" capacity. But I'm trying to persuade the whanau that I need a sub to the kits for my birthday..... I'm hoping that will work! LOL!

Moving right along!

These were my entries.

I actually did some scrapbook stuff

Finally got around to doing the 2007 family portrait. The Heidi Grace Vineyard went very well with my photo I think.













The lovely kit from SBO that I won turned up and much to my delight it contained a mini-album suitable for the little book I wanted to make for DS about our train trip to the museum. Thank you very much Andrea! DH took the photos.

Although the photo doesn't really show it, DS was delighted to find that drawer of mantids. Did you know that is the plural of mantis? No? Well I didn't either until I read the label on those drawers...
Last page.

Having a quickie

My online friend Amy is having a five-minute shower challenge which I've joined. You would think that water in New Zealand was not a resource we have to be concerned about when it seems like most of winter is a constant rain shower - at least here in Auckland anyway.

But anyone visiting the dams up in the Waitakere ranges can see that they are not full to the brim. Anyone living in the Waikato this past summer, or the South Island can say that water is something that is not a resource we can afford to squander.

According to The Big CleanUp Newsletter (my enbolding):

Last year, our daily water use in Auckland region was 303 litres gross per capita. Since 2003 we have increased the amount of water we use by 6 litres per person/perday. Individuals typically use between 130-230 litres per person per day. We only use 3% of this water for drinking or cooking even though it is treated to a drinkable standard. Other water use includes flushing our toilets, washing clothes, dishes and watering the garden.

I know that our water consumption has increased from last year - it's on our water bill. I think it's because we've got another child, and I wash my cloth nappies. It may go down a bit once DD is out of naps. In the meantime, I'm trying to cut down some of our water use by doing this challenge.

Other ways to save water can be found at New Zealand Water and Wastes Association or sustainability.govt.nz. One way could be to install a tank to catch rain water. Some local councils (e.g. Waitakere City Council) will give you a rebate on your water bill if you do this. Another way is to not over fill pots or kettles; only use as much water as you need. Use the microwave to steam your veges instead of the stove - not only do you use less water, but there is less nutrient loss in this form of cooking.

I will point out that Amy is in the other hemisphere so while the challenge is a "summer" challenge I am doing it in the winter. I just thought I would point that out. Because you know it's kind of cold here right now. So I'm not having nice hot, long showers anymore because of this challenge. Just so you know okay?

Actually, my normal "clean-only" shower is about 3 minutes. If I'm washing my hair it takes about 6 minutes so I need to work out how to cut that down. Turning off the water to do the lathering is not attractive, not to mention how much water it wastes because my shower takes a while to come back to the right temperature.

And it's winter you know.

Which makes it pointy-nipple cold if I turn off the water.

I think leave-in conditioner might be the answer.

Menu Plan Monday

Ugh - last week I didn't get to post my menu plan and it all got mucked around anyway. The fortnightly shopping experiment is turning out to be a bit tricky because I find myself running out of things unexpectedly (e.g. balsamic vinegar) and I dislike waiting 2 weeks to get them again.

But I'm not giving up. I think these kinks can be ironed out with time.

Monday - hamburgers plus the normal fixings & oven baked wedges
Tuesday - Lemon and rosemary chicken (a Julie Buiso recipe), fettucine, kale from the garden.
Wednesday - Lentil soup and vegetable gougere
Thursday - Hannah's Lamb Shanks, mashed tatoes, steamed broccoli
Friday - Merguez* sausage, couscous, spinach
Saturday - Roast chicken plus the usual accompaniments
Sunday - my "can't-be-bothered-meal" of whole grain pancakes (from Kristen), bacon and some sort of vege

* I have found an awesome butcher who makes sausages in house and they are delicious. Proper sausages not these weird meat-flavoured bread ones, or those other that say it's 75% meat... but you don't know what sort of dodgy "meat" product is included. The butcher is the Westmere Butcher (131 West End Rd, Westmere, ph 376-5954) in Auckland. I can recommend their pork and fennel, and Toulouse sausages. Going to try their Merguez this week.

I'm having dreadful cravings for winter desserts - rice pudding, chocolate self-saucing puddings, pies, apple and rhubarb crumble... you know the sort. Nigella has a raspberry chocolate pudding cake I'm going to try this week. I'm also going to poach some pears in wine some time too.

I'm trying to resist the cravings because I have a mere 3 kgs to go and I'll be into my goal weight range! My motivation is on the wane though so any advice on how to keep that going would be welcome.

Making Marshmallows: the illustrated version

My marshmallow post generated quite a few interested comments so I'm making an illustrated version to submit to the blog carnival Make it From Scratch.

Here is the recipe again.

Marshmallows

2 Tablespoons gelatine *

1/2 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla or peppermint essence

coconut or icing sugar (powdered sugar if you're Stateside)

1. Combine gelatine and first measure of water. Leave to swell for 10 minutes.

2. Place sugar and second measure of water in a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

3. Dissolve gelatine over hot water.

4. Pour gelatine into sugar mixture and bring to the boil. Boil steadily for 15 minutes. Allow to cool until lukewarm.

5. Move children out of the way so you can get at the cake mixer (optional).

6. Beat well until very thick and white.

7. Add vanilla or peppermint essence.

8. Hand beater to anxiously waiting child to lick and get all over face, clothes, floor and any other surface (optional).

9. Pour into a large wet tin. Chill until set.

10. Hand scraper to remaining anxious child to lick clean, get all over face etc etc.

11. Turn out of tin. (I find I have to cut it into squares first, and lever them out with my fingers). Cut into squares and roll in coconut or icing sugar. Keep chilled.

*Note about gelatine: The most common form of gelatine in New Zealand is the granulated form that comes in a box. I know other countries mostly have a sachet form, so the amount you need will be 2x15ml=30ml (the size of the Tablespoon measure used here in New Zealand). I haven't tried this recipe with sheet gelatine or the various vegetarian gelatines. I think agar would be too firm but I stand corrected on this one. My vegetarian friend struggles to find good vegetarian gelatine here, but she got some sent to her from the UK once to make marshmallows and they were delightful.

Reading: who, what, where, when, how

CW did an interesting meme and I am copying her.

She says:

Spotted this some time ago on John Dupuis’s blog - an interesting post about reading material categorised by when and where it’s read. (John’s inspiration came from this blog.)

The breakfast table read: The newspaper. I usually get the world section first because DH grabs the main section before me. I also get the Viva first. On Saturday, he gets the Canvas first.

The to-go read: This is the sort of thing you'd read in a waiting room. I tend to go for the mags like Next, or some other sort of read with a bit of substance. Or, I'll just wait and people watch instead. When I stop for coffee beans at Atomic I sometimes read the Organics NZ magazine.

The bathroom read: I no longer have this luxury! With little people barging in to see what I'm doing, offering me toilet paper and playing with the toilet brush, this is not a good time to read for me. No - we don't have a lock on the door at present because the kids might lock themselves in.

The read-aloud: Uh... kids books mainly. Occasionally I'll read stuff from my fiction book to DH if I think he'd be interested. Sometimes I read him stuff from the Songs of Solomon - you know the stuff... "my beloved is a graceful hind" etc etc. He reads me the bits about eyes like the "pools of Heshbon" and the booby bits. Heh heh.

The main read: It has to be fiction I must say. I do read non-fiction though. My non-fiction choices tend to be things about food, crafts and arty stuff, the occasional travel book. But fiction is my main choice because I read to relax and escape. My taste has changed a bit since I was a teenager and I tend to go through phases where I read more of one genre than another. I used to read a lot of fantasy but mostly I don't these days. I do still read crime and mystery which is a genre I consistently have read since I was young. Many of my choices will include historical fiction, romance, and saga type stories.

I also like to read food magazines.

The work read: I echo CW's comment here that it is a common mis-conception that librarian's have time to read while at work. My professional reading is sadly lacking at this point. I read the NZ Libraries journal because that comes to my letter box as I'm a member of the library association who produce it. The rest of my reading is library blogs, and even then I'm pretty slack at looking at them right now. I know if I was employed it would be a different story.

When I was at work, there was a benefit of being able to read the new journals before they got put out on the shelf. I would flick through the journals in my subject liaison area because you get a feel for the subject doing this. Also you can sometimes find stuff that your "people" are interested in or have published. At MFPOW we also subscribed to a number of main stream periodicals like NZ House & Garden and Listener, plus some other arty/design journals that I liked to read at lunchtime. I also liked to read the Organics NZ magazine and some of the other horticultural journals.

The travel read: I tend to take popular novels that don't require any deep thinking with me. Things that I don't mind if I lose or if it gets dirty. I can't read in the car or on a plane so any reading gets done at night.

The comfort read: I don't often read when I'm sick. If it's major sickie I never feel like reading. I did listen to a talking book when I had the chicken pox though. If it's something minor like a cold... well, I no longer have the luxury of staying in bed for that - too much to do with 2 kids.
However, if it's PMT time then the good old soppy romance comes out with the chocolate and I can lose myself in that for a while.
If I'm feeling down, then I tend to read easy, happy ending stuff.

Reading I avoid: (my category) I think it's the stage I'm at but I find it very hard to read about bad things happening to kids so I avoid reading both fiction and non-fiction that has that as it's focus.

Flaunt it Friday: neighbours

themommykelly's theme for this week's Flaunt it Friday is Neighbour Nightmares.

Heres the post about mine.

This man was subsequently charged with the murder of an elderly woman once he came out of the coma he went into as a result of his attempted suicide.

Fortunately the son and uncle have moved on and an elderly couple appear to be in the flat now. Presumably they are "normal".

Whatever normal is.

Bag Winners

My handsome assistant (who took his job VERY seriously) pulled out 4 eco-bag winners last night.
Jenny
Rachel
Candes
Angela

Congratulations girls! :-)

Angela and Candes - please email me your postal address. (I believe I have yours still Jenny, and I know I have Rachel's).

Neda, Vicky, Mel, Lara and Bronny... you girls are next on my list to make bags for.

Recipes by request!

Neda wanted to know the marshmallow recipe I used the other day as I mentioned it on Twitter, so here it is.

It's from the Edmonds Cookery Book, pg 195. I don't think I would have attempted it if I didn't have my bench cake mixer. A hand held electric beater would probably be a really boring way to make these!

DS (and DH) love marshmallows. I'm so-so with the bought ones, but these homemade ones are seriously good and I am having trouble resisting their siren call from the 'fridge. I like the ones with toasted coconut best. I think chopped nuts would work quite well too.

Marshmallows

2 Tablespoons gelatine *

1/2 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla or peppermint essence

coconut or icing sugar (powdered sugar if you're Stateside)

Combine gelatine and first measure of water. Leave to swell for 10 minutes.

Place sugar and second measure of water in a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

Dissolve gelatine over hot water. Pour gelatine into sugar mixture and bring to the boil. Boil steadily for 15 minutes. Allow to cool until lukewarm.

Beat well until very thick and white. Add vanilla or peppermint essence. Pour into a large wet tin. Chill until set.

Turn out of tin. Cut into squares and roll in coconut or icing sugar. Keep chilled.

*Note about gelatine: The most common form of gelatine in New Zealand is the granulated form that comes in a box. I know other countries mostly have a sachet form, so the amount you need will be 2x15ml=30ml (the size of the Tablespoon measure used here in New Zealand). I haven't tried this recipe with sheet gelatine or the various vegetarian gelatines. I think agar would be too firm but I stand corrected on this one. My vegetarian friend struggles to find good vegetarian gelatine here, but she got some sent to her from the UK once to make marshmallows and they were delightful.

Toad in the Hole with Dark Ale Roasted Onions

from Dish, Issue 18, pg.76

Ruth- your assumption is correct that this dish is essentially a Yorkshire Pudding batter with sausages added!

Batter

1 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

250ml milk

50ml cream

3 eggs

Filling

1 Tablespoon olive oil

knob of butter

8 pure pork sausages

4 portobello mushrooms, thickly sliced

8 small vine tomatoes

Onions

800g red onions, peeled

1x 330ml bottle dark ale, such as Monteith's Winter Ale

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, crushed

large knob of butter

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

4 x 20cm saute pans or 35cmx25 cm roasting dish

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Onions: Cut the onions through to the root into 8 wedges and place in a baking dish lined with tin foil. Stir the ale, sugar, mustard, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar andgarlic together and pour over the onions. Season and dot with butter. Cover tightly and roast for 1 hour shaking the tin occasionally.

Increase the heat to 200 degrees C.

Uncover the onions and roast for a further 20-30 minutes until the beer has reduced to a syrupy consistency. These can be made ahead and reheated before serving.

Pre-heat or increase the oven temperature to 220 degrees C.

Batter: Put the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Whisk the milk, cream and eggs together. Gradually pour into the flour, whisking to make a smooth batter. Set aside until ready to use.

Filling: Heat the oil in a saute pan and fry the sausages until cooked. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Drain off most of the oil, add a knob of butter and saute the mushrooms until cooked. Season.

Put a teaspoon of olive oil in each pan and place in the oven to heat until the oil is shimmering. It is important the oil is searing hot so that the batter can rise quickly. Divide the sausages and mushrooms between the pans (i.e. lots for me, none for DH), and pour the batter around. It should sizzle when it hits the pan. Place the tomatoes on top and cook for about 15 mins or until puffed and golden and the centre is firm.

Slide each toad onto a plate and serve with the roasted onions and a green salad. Serves 4.

As I don't own these saute pans they are cooked in in the magazine, I'm going to take Lara's suggestion and use my Texas muffin tins. Hoping to do the butchery shopping tomorrow so if I get mini pork sausages, I think this will work fine.

*ponders* What can I going to do with 5 bottles of dark ale left over from this dish? I don't drink beer. Any suggestions?

Menu Plan Monday

Got my last copy of Dish (the sub runs out and I'm not renewing to save some $) so I'm making some dishes from this issue and others for the next 2 weeks.

Monday- Beef goulash with parsley dumplings, carrots, cabbage
Tuesday - Toad in the hole with ale roasted onions, salad
Wednesday - Pasta with pumpkin, pine nuts and rocket sauce
Thursday - Mac & Cheese, some sort of green vege
Friday - Chicken and Olive tagine, couscous, Iman Bayildi
Saturday - French onion soup, cheese tartlets
Sunday - Lamb cutlets with white beans and gremolata, rice, sauteed spinach

Tim Swim

Tim Swim
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

This was an almost entry for the Paper Pesto guest designer search. I made 3 layouts and DH had the deciding vote. I still hummed and haahed over his choice but in the end decided just to go for it.

So.
I entered.
If I get picked it will be all your fault okay? You are the ones who said I should.

So there.

And if I don't... ah well. Not too worried about it really.
Won't have to use that paper bag.

Flaunt it Friday: Summer delights

Well this one is a kind of nostalgic post since we're going into winter here... but mommykelly's theme for this week is what is your summer favourite.

• Beach - not that I get to go there much. DH isn't a sit-on-the-beach person.
• Holidays - these always seemed so much longer when I was a kid. What happened!?
• The scent of hot grass, asphalt, freshly washed and air dried sheets
• T-shirts and airy summer clothes
• Bare feet - I suffer from cold feet, but not in summer. I hardly ever wear shoes unless I have to go out.
• Cicadas singing
• Sunday afternoon naps with the window open and breeze coming through
• Long summer evenings - bbqs, working in the garden
• Summer fruit and vegetables!! Yay!

What is your favourite? Join the meme here.

Just to keep me humble

I was given a son.

Scene: Mummy is giving herself a pedicure/manicure in the bedroom. Son arrives.

Son: What you doing Mummy?
Me: Tidying up my nails.
Son: Why?
Me: Because Mummy likes to look nice.
Son: Why?
Me: *thinks: good question* Because if I don't push this skin back it will split.
Son: Monsters have skin like that.
Me: Thanks buddy... I needed that.

Some lists

I had better do my own versions of these lists! I am enjoying reading yours - keep them coming :-)

Splendid Things

• Sunset on the beach
• A little hand sneaking into mine
• Hearing somebody is getting married after being single for a long time (yay for PS!)
  
• Love
• Mt Ruapehu when the clouds disappear from it and it's got snow all over it
• Lydia's giggle

Things that make one's heart beat faster

• Discovering the bank account is in overdraft
• Opening the door to find JW's on the door step
• Hearing DH's car come into the driveway
• Getting a box of scrapping goodies
• Waiting for a pregnancy test to display 2 lines, or ... not (I'm talking about PAST experience here *pokes out tongue*)
• Smelling DH's aftershave when he's been away for a while

Things that should be large

• My coffee in the morning
• Chocolate bars
• Boxes of scrapping goodies
• Love
• My coffee in the evening
• Holidays
• Pillows

Awkward things

• Visiting a rest home and seeing a senile elderly lady calling out for help
• Wanting to know if my kit will come soon but not wanting to hassle anybody about it because of the circumstances
• Trying to shave legs in the shower especially when pregnant
• Asking someone to babysit
• Talking to someone and noticing they have something odd about their features but trying not to look at it

One reason I love being a librarian

is stories like this one.

Thank heavens for the book people who show the way

I particularly like:

"I've been thinking about you," she said. She reached underneath her desk as if she was hiding a time bomb, but instead pulled out three books rubber-banded together with a note that had my name on top.

"This," she began in a whisper, palming the first cover as if she was touching the hood of James Bond's car, "is an adventure you will never forget until the day you die."

Her choices were a wonder. She had read me perfectly.

I love being able to do this. It is one of the most gratifying parts of librarianship. Being able to guide people to undiscovered lands and point out the possibilities.

I don't just mean with fiction either. My favourite aspect of librarianship is working with seekers of information, something prosaically entitled "reference librarianship". Helping people to find treasure troves of information hidden within the sandy mass of the bibliographic beach.

That's why I love being a librarian.

Now if only I could find some position that would allow me to do it again.

Blogaversary (a month late)!

For some reason I wrote on my kitchen calendar that today (May 19) was my blogaversary . In fact, it was last month. On the 19th.

But I never did post about it then. Oh dear. So deciding it was better a month later than never, I now announce another Eco-bag Giveaway because this blog is TWO! I wonder if the terrible twos will become evident. Hmmmm.

*wooosh to blow out candles*

The only catch is - I haven't made the bags yet! Heh heh :-) I think I'll commit to making 4 bags, and if I feel in the groove I shall make more.

This month, I've enjoyed reading The Pillow Book of Sei Shonogon. It's a Japanese classic written by a lady in waiting somewhere between 1001-1010. She liked to write lists.

So in order to enter the giveaway I would like you to write a list (short or long) on one of these topics.

You can do this in a comment or on your blog.

If you do post it on your blog, please let me know in a comment.

• Splendid Things
• Things that make one's heart beat faster
• Things that should be large
• Awkward things

I hope that isn't too hard! I think they could be interesting prompts for a scrapbooking LO.

Note: I will post to overseas in this giveaway.
note 2: As the bags are not yet made, I cannot say when they will be posted. So I'm not promising quick service here ;-) Like the ad says, it might not happen immediately but it will happen.

Edited to add: I'll close off the competition on Sunday 25th at midnight NZ time.

Menu Plan Monday

So far so good with the fortnightly shopping!

Monday - sausages with lentils, mashed potato, carrots
Tuesday - pumpkin risotto, rocket & lettuce (from my garden) salad, roast capsicums. Apple-custard tea cake for dessert (which I made last week and froze so I hope it's ok).
Wednesday - sweet and spicy chicken thighs in the crockpot, rice, steamed carrots
Thursday - fishcakes, silverbeet (from my garden), something else yet to be decided
Friday - roast chick and the usual roast dinner things
Saturday - Corn and bacon chowder, home made bread
Sunday - home made meat pie plus some veges

My baking this week will include these Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate chip Cookies which Orgjunkie.com promoted on her site last week. I'm a sucker for "oaty" things. And chocolate things. And oaty chocolate things together.

Kristen asked for the corned beef recipe so here it is! The only way to do corned beef! (IMO anyway).

Corned Beef or Pickled Pork
serves 6-7
from The New Zealand Crockpot Cookbook by Joan Bishop pg. 85

1.5kg corned beef, brisket, silverside or pickled pork
6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 T wine vinegar
1 T raw sugar (I use brown sugar.)
hot water

Pre-heat the crockpot for 20 mins
2. Place meat in the pot with the cloves, bay leaves, vinegar, raw sugar and hot water to just cover meat.
3. Cover and cook on low/auto for 8-10 hours
4. Remove and slice. Serve with carrots, cabbage and potatoes.

DH likes it with just plain mustard but I'm rather fond of Mustard Sauce (from that NZ institution, the Edmonds Cookery Book, pg 165)

1 egg
2 T sugar
1 T flour
2 t dry mustard
1 cup water or liquid the corned beef was cooked in
1/4 cup malt vinegar
salt and pepper

Beat egg and sugar together. Put into a saucepan. Add flour and mustard. Stir in water and vinegar gradually. Cook over low heat until mixure thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Add more sugar if necessary. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Cornwall Park

Cornwall Park
.

This one is for the Paper Pesto May Sketch competition. I finally used that Chatterbox paper that has been sitting in my stash for I don't know how long!

Paper Pesto are looking for guest designers for the next few months.
I think Rachel should enter....

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Pizza and left over soup (since we didn't eat this on Sat)
Tuesday - sage & onion chicken and sausage bake, potatos, steamed broccoli
Wednesday - leftovers plus some veges
Thursday - Slater* soup
Friday - Herb and Ricotta Gnocchi with tomato sauce. Apple and fejoa crumble for dessert
Saturday - Lasagne, salad or green beans
Sunday - Corned beef (crockpot) plus the usual fixin's to go with it.

This week I'm experimenting with doing my grocery shopping fortnightly (i.e. every 2 weeks) rather than weekly. So I have actually planned next week's menu too but it shall not be revealed until next Monday.

Obsessive perhaps?

I am hoping that shopping fortnightly will cut our grocery bill a bit. We shall see. I will have to top up things like milk and fresh veges/fruit. Hopefully I will be able to get to the Farmer's Market next Saturday in order to get the latter.

*From Nigel Slater. You didn't really think I'd eat wood lice did you?