Bruce Feirstein has a lot to answer for. Since the release of his 1982 book Real Men Don't Eat Quiche, women all over the world have been forced to disguise their offerings as 'egg and bacon pie' for fear their husbands would eschew it. Enough. I say. Real men do eat quiche. In fact, if they're hungry enough they'll even tuck into second helpings. Kale, Bacon and Quinoa Crustless Egg ...
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how to make a storm kit
I'm no girl scout, but I'm pretty sure that with a little forethought, Dorothy could have avoided a lot of unnecessary witch-melting (not to mention the inconvenience of walking all the way to Oz in heels).Storm season is coming to Queensland and given my flying monkey aversion, I've put together a storm kit - a box of things that we might need should we lose power for an extended period. Storm ...
Organic Pest Control
My very first guest post is up at Veggie Mama - pop over and check out my tips for keeping bugs at bay, organically. Keeping bugs from your garden the natural way. ...
Mageirocophobia – cooking consternation
I learned a new word this week - mageirocophobia. Mageirocophobia is the fear of cooking or having to cook. I've had my share of scary kitchen episodes in my time - three terrifying moments spring immediately to mind - the first time I cooked for my in-laws, preparing my entry for the Royal Queensland Show, and baking a pseudo-wedding cake for an anniversary party/surprise vow-renewal. And now ...
Beef and Zucchini Tagine
My best friend and her boyfriend gave me a Scanpan tagine for Christmas. Those of you who know Kels and Brian will realise that this means Brian bought me a tagine for Christmas. It also means that Brian wrapped it and Brian remembered to give it to me. He's a keeper! I love this tagine as much as the Big Sister loves pink. Even after three hours on the stove! It's a little bit of luxury ...
Zucchini Corn Bread
I've mentioned that good mates of ours are zucchini farmers. I knew last Thursday was going to ROCK when Sonia arrived before 7am bearing gifts - a box of zucchinis, five enormous onions and a red lipstick*. I've mentioned before about Sonia spending the majority of her waking hours picking zucchinis. I have so much respect for families who make their livings from farming fruit and veggies. ...
Sunshine Succotash
When we were kids, Mum organised a maths tutor to come to Sharpie Street to speak with my brothers. When Anthony got wind of this, he climbed to the top of a jacaranda tree and refused to come down. The poor tutor stood at the base of the tree and attempted to reason with Ant. Wouldn't he need maths when he was older? How would he support himself? Legend has it that Ant told the tutor ...
Zucchini and Chocolate Chip Patty Cakes
Lately the Big Sister has decided that she doesn't like zucchini. A very dear friend of mine spends the majority of her waking minutes picking these little green treasures, so this simply will not do. The parenting bibles suggest that I just keep serving it to her until she changes her mind - but I haven't got that much time. Frankly, every time I hear her declare "I don't like zucchini" at ...
Flu Haiku and a flying dog
I've been hit with the flu this week. I haven't felt this sick since I can remember. Wednesday morning saw me heading off to the Doctor, eyes streaming in the sunshine and wobbling on unsteady legs. And then she prescribed me the miracle that is Tamiflu. I am so in love with this drug (and my subsequent rapid recovery) that I have penned a haiku in its honour. Winter, cold season Feel ...
R U OK? Day
Grief is a very difficult thing to understand. For those on the outside, it can be difficult to know what to do, what to say, how to act. I was lucky to be surrounded by so many caring people when my brother died. In the lead up to RU OK? Day, I wanted to share what a massive difference a phone call can make........ After David's funeral, my lovely friend Chantal phoned me every Friday ...
Cabbage Moth Love
Spring is here. Our vegie patch is finally getting a wiggle on and the cabbage moths have arrived. I've been cursing them and The Big Sister has been marvelling at them. It's a very good lesson in perspective - one woman's cabbage moth is a little girl's butterfly. So, I decided to dive into some cabbage moth inspired craft. The Big Sister loves life cycles at the moment, so we spent ...
Daddies behaving badly!
Ever wondered what really happens when Daddy's home alone with the kids? I've always had my suspicions. But at the end of the day, if they're fed and happy and D's not getting all Jude Law with the Nanny (oh wait, we don't have a Nanny); I'm all for it. Last night while we were sitting on the couch, something on the net made me laugh. D asked, so I showed him this. D ...
How to smoke salmon at home
Years ago, a fantastic chef taught us how to smoke salmon. We get repeated requests to do this for friends and family - and everytime we make it, we get rave reviews. You'll need a smoker, but trust me, it's worth beg, borrowing or stealing one to make this recipe. Smoked Salmon with salade folle (crazy salad) Serves Six Ingredients 1kg fresh salmon fillet 4tbs sugar 2 tbs ...
The most important days of my life
Have you seen the promo for the new Channel Ten show "Don't tell the bride?" The premise is that grooms are given $25,000 and carte blanche to plan their wedding - all without any input from the bride. It got Bearhands and I talking the other night - would I have agreed to such a proposition back then? Absolutely not! But in hindsight it would have been fine. We would still have 'got the job ...
The Second Best Novice Pickle Maker in the State
You may have seen that Australia picked up gold and silver medals at the Olympics last night. While the action in London is dominating the news coverage, a very big event has happened in our household - I won second prize at The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland with my mustard pickles! (cue thunderous applause!) Yep, you would have thought I'd won the ...
My DIY Pore Strip Adventure (Pin in haste, repent at leisure)
Some Mondays are better than others. I hadn't even made it out of bed this morning when I knew which kind of Monday this would be. While I cuddled both girls in bed, The Big Sister out of the blue asked "Mummy, why are penises stripey?" and I knew immediately that this was one-of-those-Mondays. The house needs, well, work. Lots and lots of house work and I have absolutely no inclination to do ...
Buggy Good Party – the girl’s insect birthday
D and I don't find out the gender of our babies during pregnancy. We're surprise people. But during my pregnancy with the Big Sister I was terrified that she would be a girl. The reason is simple - I don't do princesses. I don't like painting my nails and my make-up skills are rudimentary at best. I pictured myself sitting at dancing lessons with all the other dancing mummies and it filled ...
Passionfruit Butter and a Thermochef Pav
Today's post is bought to you by Amoxil Paediatric Drops... well not really, but I am very relieved to report that the Little Sister is finally on the mend! In a testament to what a good night's sleep can do, I whipped up some Passionfruit Butter yesterday afternoon in my new Thermochef. Yes siree, for the past few weeks I have been the proud owner of a Nature Thermochef. I'm loving ...
Two small roadblocks on the road to romance
Today is our fifth wedding anniversary. This past year in particular I've had even more reason to be grateful that when Bearhands said 'for better and for worse' he meant it. We'd had high hopes for our anniversary this year - you see we've never actually managed to celebrate it - just Bearhands and I. We spent our first anniversary in hospital with the 3 day old Big Sister - looking blankly at ...
Australian Women’s Weekly Train Cake
On this day a year ago at 11.58pm, we welcomed the Little Sister. She weighed 4.24kilos and surprised me with her beautiful red hair. A week later we celebrated the Big Sister's third birthday at the farm. I wanted the day to be all about her - so she would know that there was enough affection and attention to go around. How did I decide to prove my love? The Australian Women's Weekly ...
Beef Wellington
We farewelled my brother-in-law on the weekend. He's headed overseas for a little while, so I volunteered to cook him a departure feed. When I learned he'd had a hankering for Beef Wellington I was apprehensive, I've never made one before. Plus, pastry and I don't always see eye-to-eye. Regardless, I figured as long as the red wine was flowing, my audience was likely to be appreciative. I've ...
Borlotti Bean and Chorizo Soup
Yesterday dawned a drizzly, cold, miserable day - the kind of weather than inspires me to wear misshapen tracksuit pants, drink copious quantities of tea and contemplate dinner at 9am. Soup. It had to be soup. But with what? I definitely wasn't going outside - as if the weather wasn't bad enough, the tracksuit pants clearly precluded a trip to town. It was to be another MacGyver* feed. I ...
The Tastiest Brussels Sprouts. Ever.
I love Brussels Sprouts. I even attempted to grow them in my first year on the farm. But Brussels Sprouts are not suited to the warm winters of the Sunshine Coast and even after I tricked them into setting with an ice water slurry, the results were mediocre. So now I settle on buying them. I get it. Not everyone is a fan. In fact, the humble brussels sprout is a much maligned little ...
Crispy Skin Duck with Cherry Sauce
My little brother Ant and his lovely girlfriend came to stay on Monday night. They're on their way to start a new exciting life a long way from us, so I wanted to send them off in style. Ant loves duck. So I thought I'd give it a burl. I had never roasted a duck before so I approached the task with mild trepidation. Turns out, it just isn't that hard! I consulted the interweb and adapted a ...
Thai Satay Slow Cooker Pork
I may have previously mentioned how much I love my slow cooker. During Winter soups, stews and shanks are on high rotation in our house. But I think I've become stuck in a crock-pot rut. I keep revisiting the same flavours over and over. Yesterday I decided to try something new. My inspiration was the large rolled pork roast lurking in the bottom of the deep freeze. I gazed deep into the ...
Lady Flo’s Pumpkin Scones
Something exciting happened to me this weekend - I met Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen! We were staying at the lovely Bethany Cottages in Kingaroy, and were invited to the house for Lady Flo's famous pumpkin scones. The scones were every bit as tasty as I'd hoped, but meeting Lady Flo was by far the highlight of our trip! Although she's now in her nineties, Lady Flo still has all the hallmarks of ...
Verjuice Oyster Shooters
We got together with some friends this weekend to celebrate a mate's birthday. We split the courses between the couples and the lovely Soni and I were allocated starters. The birthday boy is fond of oysters, so I thought we'd try something a bit different - a Maggie Beer recipe for Verjuice Oyster Shooters. Not only does Maggie sell the stuff, she's just penned a new cook book dedicated to ...
Make your own Ice Bucket
In my last post I blogged about some oyster shooters that I made for a party on the weekend. The Birthday Boy is a lovely bloke and I wanted to make something a bit different for the party. I've seen a photo of a homemade ice bucket on Pinterest, and I thought I'd have a crack at recreating it as a centrepiece. First I sought the advice of the very clever ladies at Suncoast ...
Cracking the perfect boiled egg – Egg Timer App
I'm a little bit addicted to my iPhone. I'm always downloading new apps - some which deliver, many that do not. Eggs were on the menu this morning, so I thought I'd test drive the Egg Timer App from Get Cracking. This little gem was designed by the Egg Farmers of Canada (those Canucks think of everything, don't they). You should have it on your phone now! Miss Three requested a dippy ...
Frogs, Tadpoles and a Life Cycle Collage
This year, a well meaning but misguided froggy couple left a few hundred deposits in our blow-up pool. Miss Three and I had great fun rescuing them and watching them grow. Raising tadpoles is a great opportunity for kids to watch eggs hatch to tadpoles and ultimately tadpoles metamorphise into frogs. Cue some Life Cycle Craft...... Miss Three made this lovely collage with things she ...
Photo Scavenger Hunt
Last night Be a Fun Mum posted a status update. It said: At the end of a long busy day, sometimes I say to my husband, "Sorry the house is in a mess, but I loved the children". It really struck a chord with me, so this morning I left the breakfast dishes on the bench and decided to do something to mark World Environment Day with Miss Three and the Little Sister. I recently bought ...
Maleny Show
We went to the 75th Maleny Show on Saturday, it was cause for great excitement in our household. Miss Three babbled excitedly all the way up the hill and it reminded me of how exciting things can be as a kid. I remember how difficult it was to get to sleep on the eve of a birthday party (anyones!) or a trip to the Exhibition. Our trip to the Show was exciting for me too - I'd entered some of ...
Last Day of Autumn
The last day of Autumn arrived in all it's wet and windy glory this morning. I loaded the girls in the car, along with my somewhat-over-ambitious entries and headed to the Maleny Showgrounds. It was amazing to see all the lovely things being carefully dropped off by their exhibitors. In the way home, I spied some beautiful trees and stopped to collect some leaves for Miss 3 and I to make ...
Wheel of Brisbane
This week we travelled to the Southbank Parklands in Brisbane to have lunch with some friends. For those of you unfamiliar with Brisbane, Southbank is constructed on the Expo 88 site. It's now a sprawling area of parks, bars, restaurants and even a beach. A lot of the park was damaged during last year's floods, but it's now back to its beautiful best. It's also the home of the Wheel of ...
Maureeni – a cocktail inspired by my Mum
Today marks the finish of the Blog Off week for Gourmet Garden. I've had great fun incorporating their pastes into my cooking and checking out all the other terrific blogs that have been taking part. After all that cooking and blogging I think we deserve a drink! D designed this cocktail for my Mum's surprise 60th a few years back - it certainly got the party going then and it continues ...
Chilli Chocolate Cake
I think chilli and chocolate is a winning combination, so in the spirit of Blog Off/ Cook Off week I thought I'd have a crack at a chilli chocolate cake.I've adapted a recipe that a member had contributed to a forum on Jamie Oliver's website - you can see the original here. Chili Chocolate CakeIngredients:Cake:250g Butter300g Caster sugar100g Plain flour100g Self-raising flour4 Eggs300g good ...
The French Picnic Baguette – Pan Bagnat
We headed to the Races at Corbould Park for a Mother's Day picnic on Sunday. We had a beaut day, it wasn't too busy and the weather was perfect. There was even a kid's club and a jumping castle to keep Miss 3 amused. To make something a bit special for my Mum and my lovely Mother-In-Law, I decided to tackle a Pan Bagnat - a french recipe for a picnic loaf. Pan ...
Gyoza
Last week D and I have declared Japanese Friday.We spent Friday night drinking Asahi, Sapporo and sake and enjoying a delicious sushi platter from Sakana at Mooloolaba. As a starter I thought I'd have a crack at making some gyoza. I trawled Pinterest for a recipe and came across one from Meal Planning 101 - not only does the recipe look easy, it's beautifully ...