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?

National Scrapbooking Day Challenges

There were plenty and I didn't get them all done. But I've got them jotted down for future reference! These were for SBO's challenges. The birthday one was for a layering challenge. The Rotokura one was for a paint challenge.

Not sure I really am happy with either but at least they are now recorded. I need layering practice I think.

Woohoo Wednesday

Your post today is to shout Hooray
About the good stuff in your day
Janine's meme is the theme
Here's my list, you'll see what I mean...

My biggie woohoo is I have won a kit from SBO in a challenge draw! I am totally stoked about this! Now go and order lots of stuff from Andrea.... hee hee hee!

I am anxiously waiting for the sweet sound of the courier. It's a bit of a bummer that the neighbour is a courier driver and every time he comes home I think there is something for me... *hums: The Wells Fargo wagon is a comin' down the street so please let it be for me!!!*

My second big woohoo is that the most excellent Tamar from Tarisota Collections is sending my Mum an Addiction collection for Mother's Day because I mentioned her in an entry on her Mother's Day giveaway post.

3rd: DH is still on vacation so it's nice to have him around. :)
4th: Shell is sending me a RAK. :) I am a lucky chicky!
5th: My tooth is still not hurting. It has to last until the 30th when I will be emptying out my wallet at the dentist to have a root canal. I had to go to the emergency dentist on ANZAC Day to get it looked at and he put in a temporary dressing so we could have a vacation. So far it's holding up. x-fingers.

And just so you know that DH truly is a better photographer than me here are some of his so called "feeble offerings".
Waitonga Falls
Tawhai Falls
Blue Duck

He won't toot his own trumpet so I'm doing it for him.
*ahem*

Holiday Antics

Enjoy the show! I've captioned the photos so you know where and what they are. Naturally, DH's 286 photos are far superior to mine, but they don't have people in them. :-)

Even though the weather turned to custard the week we were away *aside: this always happens to us* we managed to do quite a bit. DS managed to complete two 2 hour walks so we were very proud of him. Towards the end of the week though he was saying, "No more walks Daddy okay? No more walks." So on Friday we stayed back at the bach and I caught up with an old school friend who lives in the area.

I managed to lose another kilo - yay for me! Only 3 more to go before I reach my goal.

We stayed in Turangi in a bach from the Holiday Houses website. It was a good little bach, very simple but served the purpose. Most days we spent out and about in Tongariro National Park. DH had several places he wanted to photograph - most of them involving water and streams. The Mangetepopo tragedy was rather high in my mind but fortunately most of the places he went were not in the risky category.

We visited the Tree Trunk Gorge, Pillars of Hercules, Waikato Falls, Taranaki Falls, Mangawhero Falls, Waitonga falls (where Gollum eats the fish from the Forbidden Pool in LOTR) as well as Lake Rotopounamo and Lake Rotokura. I really wanted to have a swim in the hot pools at Tokaanu but we didn't get time.

DH did a lot more on the Friday and one morning when I stayed back with children at the bach. However, he did lose his lens cap in the Rangipo Desert which caused me to taunt him with this:

In the Rangipo Desert
Covered in sand
Lies a languishing lens cap
Dropped by Rod's hand

Alas for the lens cap
For now it is lost
Rod'll have to replace it
At significant cost.

I might add that this is not the first lens cap/piece of photographic equipment that he has lost or forgotten to pick up or dropped off the side of a precipice.

Menu Plan Monday

So much to do after a holiday but here is this weeks menu plan. Holiday pics and replying to emails will get done soon!

Monday (vego night) - Spinach crepes with blue cheese (and mushrooms for me), roast capsicums, Tempe Goreng Tepung (fried tempeh in batter).

A bit of a labour intensive dinner but if I can get the chance I will make the crepes earlier in the day. I'm trying tempeh for the second time. I wasn't sure what to do with it the first time and it wasn't that nice. This time I'm using a recipe from someone in the know - a New Zealand Malaysian food blogger Arfi Binstead who has some gorgeous recipes on her blog accompanied by lovely photos. Tempeh is supposed to be good for bones.

Tuesday - Chicken noodle soup
Wednesday - Malaysian Beef Crockpot, rice, stir fried veges
Thursday - Pasta of some kind
Friday (DH's request) - Lamb rogan josh, our favourite tomato/potato curry, rice. Might even bring myself to make some roti since I have some atta flour. The flour is in short supply here in New Zealand so I'm reluctant to use it up!
Saturday - pizza and some left over soup (recipe below) from the freezer
Sunday - inspired by Nigella I'm going Keema, rice and then sticky toffee pancakes.

Last night I made Yellow Split Pea and Frankfurter Soup from Nigella's Feast book. It is a yummy option for these autumnal evenings. You can substitute vegetarian frankfurters if you wish.

Yellow Split Pea and Frankfurter Soup
from Feast / by Nigella Lawson pg. 114 Serves 6-8 (freeze the extra if that is more than you need)

1 onion
1 carrot
1 clove garlic
1 stick celery
2-3 T oil
1/2 t ground mace
2 1/4 cups yellow split peas (I used a mix of red lentils and moong dahl because that is what I had)
5-6 cups chicken or vege stock
2 bay leaves
approx. 8 frankfurters

Peel the onion, carrot and garlic and cut the onion and carrot into rough chunks. Put them all, along with the roughly cut up celery stick into the food processor and blitz it until they are finely chopped.
Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and put on med heat. When warm, add the chopped veges from the processor and saute until soft but not coloured.

Add the ground mace*. It really does make a difference to the taste so if you don't have any, try adding some nutmeg. Stir well and add split peas. Stir until they are coated and mixed with the other ingredients. Pour over the stock and add bay leaves, then bring to the boil. Cover and turn down the heat. Cook for about an hour or until everything is tender and sludgy, adding more stock as needed. Taste for seasoning.

You can add the sausage when you want. I cut it into chunks and toss it in towards the end of the cooking. Nigella heats hers in the microwave and puts it into the individual soup plates before serving the soup in them. Both my kids really like this soup.

*Mace is the outer covering of a nutmeg and is stronger in taste than the nutmeg. Replacing mace with nutmeg is possible but doesn't entirely replicate the taste. I buy it from Mahadeos in Mt Eden, Auckland.

I also made this (it's jolly good):

Chilli-cinnamon Chocolate Pudding
from Feast / by Nigella Lawson pg. 229 Serves 6

This is a "self-saucing" pudding. Great with ice cream.

1 cup flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
pinch salt
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 chilli powder
1 cup caster (super fine) sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 t pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup oil (e.g. canola or rice bran, not olive oil)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup dark rum (Leave this out if you want. It makes a nice addition, but it's not vital).

Preheat oven to 180 deg. C (350 deg. F) and butter an approximately 8 cup capacity round baking dish.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pinch of salt, cinnamon, chilli, sugar and half the cocoa. Beat the milk, vanilla and oil together in a jug and pour over the dry ingredients. Mix into a smooth batter. Spoon into the greased dish.
Combine the remaining 1/4 cup cocoa with the brown sugar and sprinkle over the batter in the dish. Pour 3/4 cup boiling water over the batter/sugar and then tip in the rum.

Cook for 30 mins by which time the cake will have risen to the top and the sauce will be lurking underneath in it's unctuous chocolate chilli glory.

baaaaaaaaack

from holiday!
Weather was crap not so nice.
Did some walks though.
Took some pics.
Saw a native frog! Wow! Dh saw some blue ducks. (me so jelly!)

more later... heaps to catch up on.

Mel did this on her blog, and here is my verdict.

You Are a Colon

You are very orderly and fact driven. You aren't concerned much with theories or dreams... only what's true or untrue. You are brilliant and incredibly learned. Anything you know is well researched. You like to make lists and sort through things step by step. You aren't subject to whim or emotions. Your friends see you as a constant source of knowledge and advice. (But they are a little sick of you being right all of the time!) You excel in: Leadership positions You get along best with: The Semi-Colon

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

I'm not sure I like being a colon. It's rather too intestinal for my liking. Actually for some of the questions I could have chosen another answer, so maybe I'm just a semi-colon.

April Reading Round Up

Didn't seem to read as much this month, but some of the things I read were rather detailed and "meaty".

Reading Round Up

It must be something I ate by Jeffrey Steingarten
A series of articles about food and cooking. I learned some things from this book - did you know that breast milk has a natural glutamate in it? And cows milk does not. Which explains (a bit) why DS wasn't so keen on going from one to the other. Mum's milk tasted better ;-) Anyway, interesting articles written by someone who goes to rather amusingly obsessive lengths to test some of his ideas. Like, trying out 10 different coffee machines. He kept blowing the breaker switch on the house doing that one.

Doctored Evidence | Blood from a stone | Uniform Justice all by Donna Leon
Yay! I discovered a new crime series that I enjoy. Love it when that happens. Guido is the detective and it is set in Venice. Well written and kept me involved to the end. Plus all the descriptions of Italian food makes me salivate.

Animal, vegetable, miracle: a year of food life by Barbara Kingsolver
After waiting months for this one from the library (think I was about 150 on the list originally) I finally got to read this. It was worth the wait. I think I will be blogging a bit later about this one in greater detail but in the meantime - definitely pick it up, I do recommend it. Her message is one I have been trying to do, albeit on a smaller scale. I had considered scaling back my garden because I really struggle to keep it going these days with so many other projects and pressure on my time. But having read this book I went out and planted more stuff. Buy local!

Catching the current by Jenny Pattrick
Author of the Denniston Rose and sequel Heart of coal, this story is about Con the Brake and his life prior to the two Denniston books. The endings segue together with the other stories. Great read. I love reading about early New Zealand. A love story but with a bit more.

The Teahouse fire by Ellis Avery
This is one of those books that stay in your head for a while. Aurelia goes with her Jesuit priest uncle to Japan at a time of great change for that country. Western thought and influence are beginning to affect the life and culture of Japan. She runs away and grows up with a Japanese family who are famous for teaching the tea ceremony. Her fortune ebbs and flows with the trends and pressures that come on the family as they live through this time of change. Engrossing!

Layouts
7

Interview with a 4.5 year old

Having interviewed DS at 3.5 years and made a LO of it, I decided to do it again just for fun and to use it for journaling later.

How old are you?
Too old.
I think you are 4 and a half!

What is your favourite colour?
Black & green.
What is your favourite food?
Pizza, sketti and sausages.
What is your favourite bit about yourself?
Let me see.. I know... jumping!

What are you going to be when you grow up?
A Mantis.

What do you like to play?
Byron, Alfie and George (Thomas the tank Engine and friends)
Mobilo
Harold
Being a mantis
What does a mantis do?
They walk around really quiet.

What do you like best about Mummy?
To play with me.
What do you like best about Daddy?
To play with me and set up my trains.
What do you like best about Lydia?
To play with me.
Okay - think I get the picture here.

Who is your best friend?
Conor
Any other friends?
Ella and Clayton.

Who do you love?
Mummy.
What about Daddy?
Yes.
Who else?
Gran & Grandad. Uummmmm... Stuff to play with... aaaaaaaaaah.... Aunty... Aunty Nellie... Nan & Pop... Lydia.

3 Friday Night Challenges from Scrapbook Outlet

SBO had a challenge last Friday.

1) Use a song lyric or title: Was tempted to use All the nice girls love a sailor but it didn't quite work... so stuck with Sunday morning by Daniel Boone.

2) Scrap lift a layout from the gallery - I used this one from Bronny. Top photo is me asleep by the fire with my bottle of choccy milk. Bottom photo is Missy Moo, leg propped on the table with her bottle of water.

Apparently the only way Mum got me on to the bottle was with chocolate milk. No wonder I have chocolate addictions.

3) Use fabric on your layout. Missy Moo has learnt where the frozen blueberries live. So she opens the freezer and brings them to me to have a treat :-) I dyed some calico and tore it into strips.

Real Nappy Week

First of all - let me translate. Nappy=Diaper.

This week is Real Nappy Week in New Zealand so I'm bloggin' about one of my favourite green habits... using cloth nappies/diapers.

Why did I decide on cloth? Firstly, I wanted to save us some money. Cloth can be cheaper than using disposables. Secondly, I really dislike the idea of putting human waste into landfills. There is a place for human waste, and it is the sewerage treatment plant. Thirdly, I did hope that it would encourage early toilet training. That last one turned out not to work on DS! Maybe on DD it will be more successful! LOL!

I know some of my friends think I'm nuts to do cloth. But for me it has been very little bother once I have my "system" in place.

Two things are in my favour in terms of cloth usage a) I'm a SAHM and b) I usually do laundry every other day. I have a dry nappy bucket in the laundry where the naps waiting to be washed get stored. It's a sealed bucket, and I normally put a bit of white vinegar in it to help keep and odor at bay. As I do laundry at least every 2nd day, it rarely gets very full.

Washing cloth naps is simple. If I use a washable liner in them "#2 gets flicked in the loo" off the liner. Or if it is a disposable liner, the whole lot gets dumped in. I rinse if necessary. Naps get washed on a normal cycle with the household wash (though I do separate them from the tea towels). I use a fragrance free laundry powder (EcoStore is good but there are other options) and put white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser. Fabric softener should not be used when washing cloth naps as it will spoil their ability to soak up moisture.

Naps are hung on the line and the sun bleaches them for me. :-) Occasionally I will use some Nappy soaking product to help bad stains.

This is part of my stash of cloth naps. Some of those in the top picture are now in my collection.
I use a mixture of nappy types. I make my own nappies (I made the ones in the top picture). I bought some from Nap-Naps and Snazzipants. I also have some pre-folds that were given to me by a friend. Each one has it's pros and cons, and so I can't really promote one over the other. It's good to have a mix in my experience.

Check out nappy stockists in NZ.

Check out the events happening in your region.

Just to really convince my friends I am nuts, I have actually made my own wet wipes too. I ran out one week and instead of making a trip to the supermarket I used some

• Aloe Vera juice (the plain liquid stuff - I drank it while I had chicken pox & had some left over. You can get it from the health section in the supermarket. I see you can buy the gel at the chemist).
• Liquid Baby soap
• A bunch of soft washies/muslin cloths

and put it all in the plastic wipe box I had already. It worked fine!

You can find other recipes for home made wipes here, and here.

I know I'll probably get some comments about how cloth wasn't an option for you. That's okay - I'm not trying to condemn anyone here for using 'sposies. (Hey, I use them for overnight and if we're travelling -I just try and use the more environmentally friendly type).

My purpose in posting is to raise awareness of the possibilities. And they are so cute. Who wouldn't like to have cow print undies eh?

Menu Plan Monday

Having use the Healthy Food Guide's menu planner to write up my list I then proceeded to leave it at home when I went shopping! Just as well I remembered what I was planning!

Monday - roast chick legs, salad, roast vege medley
Tuesday - Star anise beef with rice, stir fry veges
Wednesday - Vego burgers using falafel mix for the patties
Thursday - Chicken satay, rice, salad
Friday - Beef and carrot stew, mashed spuds, beans
Saturday - quintessential NZ take away.. Fish 'n' Chips
Sunday - soup and pizza

We're going on holiday this week hence the takeaway. DH and I had some great FnC at the place we're going some years ago so we're hoping they haven't changed hands since then! We're renting a bach through Holiday Houses for the first time. Normally we'd stay in a cabin in a camp ground but this time we thought we'd try this option seeing we're staying for a longer period.

It seemed a good idea with the children the age they are. DH has great plans for landscape photography which will involve some day tramps - not all of which are suitable for a 4.5 yr old and a mummy carrying 10.2kg of little girl on her back. The good thing about this option is that we can eat normal meals because there is a proper kitchen. I'm going to cook and freeze some stuff this week to take so that I have a bit of a break too. Three litres of Pea and Ham soup on the stove as we speak!

NZ Dare #43

here is my entry for the NZ Dare 43. Miss L was allowed to get out of the pram and venture onto the play ground at Western Springs. She didn't like the swing much.

This one is about DS and how his favourite colour is green because he pretends to be a praying mantis. All. the. time. If the green shirt is in the wash then it's a struggle to find something with green on it so he'll wear it without a fuss. I've explained about different coloured mantis (manti?) but it's not working.

We have great conversations about them -what they eat, drink, and how they smell. We censored the bit in the life cycle book about boy ones being eaten while mating though. He was most offended when Grandad squashed one with his shoe. "I saw his guts Mum!"

Dinner time conversation

Picture the family eating dinner calmly together. Mum and Dad talking about something inconsequential.
DS bursts into heart rending sobs.
All turn to look at him in surprise.

Me: What's the matter sweetheart?
DH: What's up mate?
DS between sobs: I love you Mummy! Don't die! I don't want you to die! I love you!

Me taken aback to say the least: Um... I wasn't planning on dying just yet darling.

Later I tried to find out where that came from. I'm still not sure but I think I'm going to have to watch what I say in terms of my death.

Death is something my family aren't afraid to talk about - in fact we have a very pragmatic approach to it and sometimes even joke about it - but I think DS might be starting to understand what it actually means.

No added colour

No added colour
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

My little cropping group got together finally and I managed to create one single LO in the evening. I'm still not entirely happy with it but am not sure what to do to to make it better.

I have all these ideas but putting them into reality is another matter. My mojo is blocked or something. How to spark my creativity? Part of the problem is time and being able to feel free to sit down and do things. Last week was hopeless because I didn't feel I should disappear into my scrapping lair while the ILs were here.

DH has been playing with his toys he got for his birthday.

He is a fan of the Strobist website and has got some flashes etc to play with. He's been 10 years at his place of work and they gave him some money as a gift which he used to get some other gear too. Here is his effort.

Licorice Allsorts (Copyright 2008 Rod Dugmore)

BTW - Wordpress hates me right now. It tells me I'm posting comments too quickly. Even though it can be a day between each comment! So my lovely WP users - I'm reading but don't be surprised if my comments are sparse.

Favourite Things

Favourite Things
Originally uploaded by pdugmore2001.

themommykelly is back with Flaunt it Friday and so here is my take on her theme: A few of your favourite things.

This would be a great meme for those of you doing a BOM! *hint hint*

From top left-right:
* My Great-grandmother's hat resting on my candle-wicked quilt that my mum made me for my wedding. My g-gma was a bit of a fashion follower and my g-gpa complained everything she got had to be top quality! LOL! The hat doesn't fit me but I wish it did. My quilt is awesome.
* My bookshelf. I need more of these.
* My cake mixer. I use it every week, probably more than once. It's red which is one of my favourite colours and one of the reasons we forked out the money for an expensive brand.

Bottom row left - right:
* Neem granules - my favourite "green" gardening pest management. Great for controlling sucking/chewing pests organically.
* My gecko - I collect these and this is my favourite. One day I will have a china cabinet to display him.
* Coffee from Atomic and chocolate (Lindt in this case).

What are a few of your favourite things?

hinderance or inspiration?

hinderance or inspiration?

One reason why getting to my scrapping desk is tricky.

Two of my friends (who also scrapbook) are blogging now as well... check out Rachel and her mum Kaye. :)

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - roast chook, veges etc
Tuesday - Nasi goreng
Wednesday - Lamb chops, spuds & greens
Thursday - Chicken tortilla things
Friday - Beef skewers and fragrant rice (yeah yeah I know, but I like 'em)
Sat/Sun - flexiplan meals i.e. I haven't decided.

Last week's plan went well, the party went well and a good time had by all. I made a lot of stuff prior to the day so that meant I didn't have too much to do on the day. The birthday cake wasn't such a success though because I didn't entirely follow the instructions.

Making DH's birthday cake seems to always cause me grief! Kids cakes and every day baking cakes don't seem to be an issue. I don't know why but it seems of all the cakes I've made him in our 9 years of married life, so far only one has been a cake I've been entirely happy with! I always seem to do something wrong. One year I left out the sugar. How stupid was that?!

My darling FIL has been toiling all day today fixing up our windows. He discovered my kitchen windows were rotting in several places so he's been scraping, gouging, treating, bogging, sanding and painting to get them fixed. He's up on a ladder - the kitchen is up on the second level - and it gives me the heebee jeebies to see him perched up there with concrete below doing all this work.

Mum and MIL have spent the day hitting the shops and both of them have had it! LOL! But it was all successful anyway.

sketch challenge

This one is for the Paper Pesto sketch challenge. Actually it could go into the NZ Dare 42 too, but I'm not sure if I can enter 2 competitions with one layout!

The sketch was so nice to work with :)

The journalling reads:
When I was in Standard 3 and 4 we had an inter-school concert where all the choirs joined together. For this one we had to dress up as the theme was songs from around the world. I wore a fake kimono. Then in 1985 I got to try on a genuine kimono which belonged to a Japanese friend.

These photos bring back good memories for me. I might write more on the back of the layout.

The concert was exhilarating because I love to sing, and especially in a choir. I still can remember most of the songs we sang at this particular concert. My friend Michelle (from this LO) is the other girl in the photo.

The other photo was taken when we lived in Germany for a year. My Dad was doing a 12 month sabbatical at the Max Planck Institute in a small town called Bad Nauheim. Those were the days when the university let you do this! This time was a struggle for me. I was at that awkward age when puberty mucks around with your emotions and your body, and I was far, far away from anybody I considered "best friend". But this day I did feel special. I was the right size to wear this adult kimono and it felt so luxurious. I grew about 3 cm that year and the height combined with all the other "stuff" happening meant most of my wardrobe was too small, too tight, too babyish etc etc. My mum had dreadful trouble trying to get clothes for me and I ended up with a lot of hand me downs. Luckily kimono are very forgiving!

NZ Dare 42

The theme for this dare is scrap a childhood memory, so thus I have duly done.

Gotta love those orange tinted photos. I did scan this one and change it a bit, but it is hard when the original isn't good to start with. Never mind!

This LO is about my best friend from primary school. We were inseparable from about Standard 1-4 (7yrs to 10yrs). Funnily enough I can't remember the kinds of games we played. Makes you realise how quickly you forget this sort of stuff.

The chipboard letters have been done with crackle paint but they don't show up so good in the photo.

Freecycling

Do you know about this? I discovered it some time ago and have been enamored of the idea since. Just the other day I discovered that there is a local group of Freecyclers so I signed up.

Freecycle Network is a not for profit movement designed to keep stuff out of landfills. It's about reusing things that still have good use. It is totally free to join.

I have a number of baby oriented items that I need to move on now that the children are older. They aren't worth listing on Trade Me (my ambivalent feelings about that site aside) and yet somebody could use them. Most of the folks I know no longer need the items in question so I can't pass them on to a friend like I normally would.

So last week I put on an old LL Bean backpack we were given. It was worn, faded and hardly flash, but I had lots of interest in it. I also offered a baby recliner/rocker thing that we'd had for 4 years. Again - heaps of interest. It gave me a good feeling to choose someone to give these items to, and know that they would be used rather than go into landfill. Haven't managed to pas on my pile of maternity sewing patterns yet :-)

Why not see if there is a freecycling group in your area?

The types of things being offered are varied. So far I've seen fejoas, desks, laptops, fridges, freezers, plastic containers, wooden blinds, Kodak Camera dock and net curtains.
You can also ask for things. So far the wanted items have been varied too! Clothes, fridges, freezers, modems, fejoas for wine making, old copper hot water cylinder...

Give it a go!

March Reading Round Up

Reading

Edward Trencom's Nose / by Giles Milton
Story about a family of Trencom's who have a mysterious past and the ability to use their nose to identify cheese. Sort of like a wine nose but with cheese. Edward Trencom is the latest in line with this ability, but his normal life gets put in jeopardy by the appearance of a strange Greek bearing dire warnings. A slightly off beat story but quite fun. Made me want to eat cheese.

The Piano Tuner/ Daniel Mason
A piano tuner who specialises in a particular type of piano is requested to go to Burma to tune a piano belonging to one of the diplomats there. Having never experienced such exotica before he finds it all rather strange and exciting. Things turn to custard of course, and he has to deal with it all. Strangely exhilarating.

A history of insects / by Yvonne Roberts
Set at the end of Britain's "occupation" of India, an enclave of British public servants have to rub along together despite their differences. In their midst, a little girl having to deal with a very controlling, odd mother witnesses something she doesn't really understand but which could have consequences beyond her imagination. To hide her journal from prying eyes she begins another entitled "A history of insects". This story was enthralling and I thoroughly enjoyed it even though parts of it were uncomfortable to read.

The virgin's knot / by Holly Payne
Okay, DH 's rude comments aside, this book was also quite enthralling. It's about a crippled weaver in Turkey, love, duty and spirituality and the conflicts that arise between them. Sad ending though.

Simply Heaven/ Serena Mackesy
Aussie sheila meets British toff and they fall in love while on holiday. Conflict arises when they go back to his home and family, and she discovers what she is in for. Archaic rules, b*tchy MILs and g-mas, a crumbling castles and mysterious scandals in the past makes for some interesting times! Highly amusing, suspenseful and a great read. Found myself sneaking away to read this when I should have been doing work.

Quattrocento/ by James McKean
A conservator in New York discovers a long forgotten portrait in the bowels of the museum storage and restores it, falls in love with the woman, and via some very confusing physics manages to travel back in time to 15 century Tuscany. I found this one a bit hard to follow in parts - somehow didn't always "hang" together. Maybe it's because I didn't get the Understanding Physics & Maths gene. Dunno. Good story. Might have enjoyed it more if there was more about the relationships in it rather than the mechanics of time travel. Lots of interesting factual stuff about painting though.

Frankie & Stankie/by Barbara Trapido
Two girls growing up in 1950s South Africa where it's a time of dreadful change. The story follows Dinah's journey through childhood and adolescence as she deals with her family's values and those of her country. Absorbing book.

Layouts for March
0!!!!!

Menu Plan Monday on Tuesday

Monday - had lamb shanks with rice and sauteed spinach. Excellent recipe below!
Tuesday - venison sausages (nice low fat ones) and some other veges... haven't decided what
Wednesday - soba noodle salad recipe here
Thursday - grilled chick with lime and ginger from a Vietnamese book DH got out of the library, stir fry veg, rice
Friday - DH's Moroccan birthday tea
Sat - not sure, maybe bbq, maybe casserole
Sun - roast chook

ILs are coming on Friday so have to modify my menus a bit since they aren't very adventurous eaters. As it is, Moroccan is going to be stretching it for them, but DH has requested it and it's his birthday. They are staying for a week (!) Don't get me wrong, I get on well with them but I will probably need some space during that time to escape and do my own thing. Hoping my friend G hurries up and lets me know if she can do a crop next week.

SBO and Paper Pesto have some beautiful kits out for May and this month respectively. I am suffering from paper covetousness.

Lamb Shank & Prune Tagine
from Cooking Moroccan/ text & recipes Tess Mallos , Millers Pt, NSW, Australia: Murdoch Books Pty Ltd, pg 78

You will need 4 frenched lamb shanks. If unavailable, use whole lamb shanks and ask the butcher to saw them in half for you. Place a heavy based saucepan over high heat add 1 T oil and 30g butter, then add lamb shanks. Brown shanks on all sides and remove to plate. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 chopped onion, cook gently for 5 mins until soft. Add 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) water, 1/4 t grounds saffron threads, 1/2 t ground ginger, 2 cinnamon sticks and 4 coriander (cilantro) sprigs tied in a bunch. Season, to taste. Stir well and return lamb to pan. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Remove zest of 1/2 lemon in wide strips and add to the pan, cook for further 30 mins. Add 300g pitted prunes and 2 T honey, cover and simmer for a further 30 mins or until lamb is tender. Remove and discard coriander sprigs. Serve hot, sprinkled with 1 T roasted seasame seeds.

Penny's modifications: Soften the onion in the microwave, and bung everything into a big casserole pot. (I used my big clay pot which is similar in philosophy to a tagine). Stick in the oven for 2-3 hours until cooked.