Boxing Day Dinner - creamy scallops

 

With a house full, I had ordered extra seafood for boxing day dinner. And it went something like this:
Fresh scallops
Fresh green prawns
Leek
Coriander
Garlic
Creme Fraiche'
Snow peas
Angel Hair pasta

Just toss it in the pan in the usual order and add parmesan cheese to serve x
Yummmmmy
All the kids ate it to, from age 6 - 15.

What did you cook for boxing day dinner ?


 

Christmas Day and Night

 

Hope you all had a Merry and Safe Christmas ?

 

 

Mine was full of family, children and laughter. The big and little kids enjoying the magic of Christmas morning. Full of wonder and possibility. My mother sister and I shared a bottle of Moet - yumm. We visited some of my husbands family in the morning (he is one of eight) and that was, well, better left unsaid. Suffice to say, it was not welcoming, giving and Christmassy! (well I had to say something).  So, back to our house, where all our guests were chipping in to make the day fabulous. Full of food, of which I forgot to take photos of !! I must say that I bought one of Avon's  inflatable iced servers, and it's the bomb ! Loved it. All the seafood and salads sat in it on a serving table.

The menu was:

Roasts turkey, lamb and pork, with cold ham

Roasted potatoes, sweet potatoe, purple carrots, and pumpkin

Prawns, bugs and oysters

Rocket, pair, almond and parmessan salad

Roast beetroot,sheep feta and spinach salad

Green salad, tomato,advocado,spanish onion,cucmber

Potato salad with chorizo

And all the trimmings - cranberry, apple, seafood, dressings and sauces

Some nice wines and other heart warming resfreshments

Then Christmas pudding

Trifle

and other treats

All served with lots of love.

Kids then ran and jumped in our summer Kmart above ground pool that everyone loves and played in the cubby house.

Parents crashed on the couch and beds for an afternoon of rest.

 

So Christmas was lovely. To me it is about making it that little bit more special than other days of the year. When you make a bit more effort and a bit more allowance for those that need you to. You are more forgiving and understanding and you are celebrating how grateful you are to be in the world. With the people that surround you.

What is Christmas for to you ?

 

 

 

 

Rise of the Guardians - movie review

 

I went to see Rise of the Guardians with all the family (husband included) and I must admit I am a softy for kids movies. This one was particularly pertinent to our family at the moment because my kids have started to question the whole "Santa" thing. Other children at school have been telling my children that Santa does not exist, that "your parents put the presents out" and "when you get older, you will understand". They also go to a school that teaches religion, so there are a few teachers that are also very vocal about the non-existence of not only Santa but all the other guardians as well.

So, I took a deep breath and told the boys that, we have never given any details as to who and what Santa is, we have never lied to them (as suggested by the other children). We just have a special magical tradition in our houses that include the wonder of the possibilities of Santa, the tooth fairy and so on.
Human beings need hope, whatever that is to each of us individually. Hope is what makes us human.
Hope
Wonder
Joy
Dreams
And the courage to get through our darkest days for the chance of a better tomorrow. Without hope, there is only fear and emptiness.
If you are religious you are taught to believe in the Wonder of Jesus. Encouraged to Dream of the time you will join him. It is in this you get through each day to be the best you can in the Hope that you will please him.
If you are a person that follows other divinities you also believe in Dreams and hope, the Wonder of the universe and the Joy it can bring now and in the after-life.
If you just believe in yourself and the guidance of something bigger than you, then you too will have Hope, Wonder, Joy and Dreams in your world, too.
With all these things you will also then have Courage. The courage to get up and try to make each day better than the last, or to just make it through the next one.
So to all  those naysayers that want to remove this wonder in our children's worlds, I say to you. You might want to think this out a little more, you might want to think about what your children will replace this lack of Wonder and Hope with. Because one thing that is for certain (and you wont even know it) they will fill that gap. Don't let it be filled with fear and sadness. I understand that most peoples argument would be that it is not right to lie to your children. My answer to you comes straight from this movie. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
My husband and I have told our children that it's not the physicality of Santa that they need worry about. That we want them to just enjoy the magic of wonder and the possibilities in the world. Because it's wonder and possibilities that Do exist, they make us dream, invent, create and make the world a better place. So don't crush this spirit in our children, let them Dream a little longer. God knows we all live with reality for such a long time.
I loved this movie, and yes I shed a tear. My husband was asleep at the beginning, but woke for the rest of it and said he didn't mind it. The kids loved it and vowed that they didn't care what the other children said, they were happy to believe. xx

 

 

 



Sunday night dinner - Lazy

 

After a day in the garden and inside sorting out which of the kids toys to keep and what to give away (exhausting). I really could not be bothered cooking ! However, since I really don't like take away I usually start just throwing something together rather than get take-out. As any other foodie will contest, once in the kitchen, well, you know, the creative juices take over.

So tonight I cooked:

Voila ! 

Scotch fillet steak with sauteed vegetables and steamed corn.

Vegetables were shallots, fennel, leek, carrot, zucchini, brocolini. I caramelised the shallots,fennel and leek with some crystalised honey I had. I then cut the other vegetables up smallish putting in the stalks of the brocolini in as well and leaving the heads until the end.
 

You can see in the background the odd lengths of corn, that's because they are fresh from our vege garden.

 

The finished product, just a little coconut oil garlic and dill and the vegetables do the rest. Husband and kids satisfied xx

 

If you would like more detail on the cooking of this dish just comment below - thanks guys x

 



Annies Lane Kaffe Scarborough - Review

This is the first of what I hope to be many reviews on food providers. Of all shapes and sizes, cafes, restaurants, take-away, fast-food and more. I am in them a lot, so I figure, why not share what my experience's are. So to kick this off I will share the opening night at Annies Lane Kaffe. Annies Lane Kaffe   is situated on the beautiful Scarborough Beach Queensland. This cafe has been recently taken over by the lovely Annie and the gorgeous Ed. Thank god for the new owners, the previous ones were beyond ridiculous (that's another story) Crisp linen table clothed tables add to the already lovely environment, looking out over moreton bay. They had a duo singing and we also had a special appearance from some carolers, awwwwh.

 

 

You can check this and other reviews of mine at

Urban Spoon

 

Annie's does breakfasts and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday, and have just started Tapas. Tapas will be on Friday nights to begin with and if last night was anything to go by you will need to book to get in.

I do love Tapas style eating and this was an attack on the senses. Beautifully presented and good portion sizes for sharing - tick. Calamari melted in the mouth with a lovely crispy covering an aioli dipping sauce. Prawns were on a crispy julienne salad with sweet chili sauce (were a little over cooked but still delicious and fresh)

Beef empanadas were a hit with the whole table. Chicken and mango lettuce parcels. Mushroom and feta on rocket salad and mussels with garlic butter sauce were all divine. There are a few other items on the menu (which I will try next time) The prices start at $8.90 and go up to $12.00. We were certainly full bellied at only $22 per person.

Annie and Ed are still awaiting their liquor license so they invited Ocean View Estates Winery  to supply the wine for this evening. We enjoyed a smooth Shiraz.

I have been thinking about how I am going to rate my experience's, which I am a little adverse to doing. I am also sure I will want to re-rate earlier reviews as time passes, but a girl has to start somewhere.

Hmm so what to use, Sun dried Tomatoes ? Juicy grapes? Crispy Croutons? Hot fries? That gets me thinking. I will be reviewing all different venues, so maybe I should have different scaling systems for different categories. So for High level Restaurant / Cafes I will use Truffles. For all other restaurants/cafes, Sun dried Tomatoes. For other types of venues that aren't really trashy take-away let it be juicy grapes and for takeaway venues, hot fries.  All out of ten.

So the verdict on this Tapas experience will be (drum roll) 6 sun dried tomatoes. I have had two other real tapas experiences, one in Sydney and one here on the Peninsula and I am using these to help me come up with this rating.

Definitely worth a visit, it was their first night and from our perspective the entire night went smoothly. Oh and the kids loved it so thats always a bonus- well done Annie and Ed x

 

American Election - Obama

Big congratulations to Obama and family. Also congratulations to the American public, who have been given a second chance at fixing the mess they are in.
From what I can see though, I wouldnt like to have Obamas job. See, this is what I make of it - the Republican's, a lot of which are extremely religious, usually well off and somewhat red-necky, walk around with their heads up their butts. That's generally speaking and obviously wouldn't represent them entirely of course.

Then there are the democrats, who sometimes get a little idealistic and flowery, but on the whole are "thinking" about a better future. A future that comes with changes and sacrifices, NOW. A thinking person realises, that it's best to cut back on things, on your own terms. Rather than have it forced upon you, when everything goes to the total crap-farm. So hopefully the Americans see it that way, sooner, rather than later. We here in Australia take it for the team, when it comes to taxes and other related levies, to provide for the long-term. It might bode better for the likes of the mining companies to do the same, and this money be tucked away for our future children. (This will be a subject for another blog).

It may also seem that the American election was won on the subject of Abortion and Gay marriage. So take note the heads of our two main political parties, it's looking like the same might happen down under. Not legalising these two matters does not make them go away, it makes them ugly. If we legalise these issues we can "move forward" to a better place. One that faces reality - we have gays in our communities (and more than you could even realise). And they should have the same choices as heterosexuals (gosh it sound sstupid even making this statement, it's so obvious)
On the matter of Abortion, people have many reasons to seek assistance with abortion, none of them easy. Abstinance does not work (the Catholic church is proof of that). Let us legalise Abortion so we can get on with trying to create better ways of avoiding the need to have one. Until we do this we will be stuck in a world that still doesn't understand human beings. We do things wrong, we make mistakes and bad things happen. Let's not make them worse by ignoring the outcomes and sweeping them under the table.


I saw a video clip the other day that was done by some uni kids, the subject was gay marriage. It was quite funny.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/college-humor-gay-men-will-marry-your-girlfriends-video_n_2117777.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false


I also saw a clip of what is typical of a lot of Americans (this girls beliefs handed down from parents). This comes ffrom FEAR, of what I really have difficulty understanding, but fear breeds hate and it is sad.
 

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2012/11/08/14/57/us-teen-think-australia-has-a-christian-male-president

Food for thought xx

 

Breaking Dawn 2 -Review

 

 

Breaking Dawn Part 2 - Review

 

Well, hubby and I (yes, surprisingly he will come to this girly flick with me) just saw Breaking Dawn Part 2.

First up, I must admit, I am a Twilight Loverrrrr ! The first editions of this saga were a little B grade, however I still enjoyed them. With most stories, the books are usually much better and I know this has been said before. The same goes for Twilight. I do think it is a difficult one to convert to screen though as a lot of the story goes on in peoples thoughts.

Anyhoo, I think this last installment is the best, it has grown up a lot and the acting wasn't as wooden. I really enjoyed it. As usual the geography and special effects were great. Such beauty and contrasts, I love the clean crispness of the scenes in these movies. I also love the opulence. So much aesthetically pleasing objects all through the movie- ahhh.

It was great fun, highly recommend you go and see it, even if your not a huge fan xxx
 

 

 

 

Breaking Dawn 2 Movie 

Sooby - Subaru Outback - Feel the Love

The Curiser had to go!

My family have been big Toyota supporters in the past. I have had 3 Toyota Camry's. We have had 2 Toyota Land crusiers and we still have a Toyota Rav 4 for the business. For many reasons, practical and emotional we decided it was time for the land cruiser to move on.

My husband was very apprehensive, which made my two boys even more emotional about selling this beast.

What is it about a car? The attachment, the memories, the habit, the worry that you might be moving on to something worse ?

I think all the idea tossing we were doing, was making the kids fret even more about selling the cruiser. That and all the teasing we were doing.  They would say stuff like, "how could you sell this car mummy, it hasn't done anything wrong" and would even cry !!!!! It ended up being  joke in the house, with me talking to the car and saying that it had to go. 

It is really an awful process off-loading a car that you have many memories in, so I tried to make light of it.  

Cut a long story short. I took the boys to see an Outback that looked promising. We went for a test drive, it was black leather interior, beautiful bucket seats in the back and a great huge boot. Then we explored the sports button !!! Well this sold it to the boys, it didn't take much for them to start rationalising the need to sell the cruiser and get this little baby. After a bit of haggling and so on and so forth, little Sooby is now a part of our family.

We have loooooved it so much so far, the best thing I ever did. I can now whip into car parks, it's heaps cheaper on fuel, oh and that sports button is the bomb.

 

What did husband think? We took it on a two week road trip to Victoria, take a look at the following pictures.

 

Yep, it definitely cut the mustard, we are very happy with this new (old) car. Its a 2008 model but has all the mod-cons.

 

What car love's and lost's have you suffered ?

 

 

Blogger, is such a dirty word !

(Pic copied from Brooklyn Based Blog)

Hmmm, I have been thinking, well I am always thinking, heaps and heaps of stuff and ideas going around and around - what fun !!

What is it to be a person that writes Blogs ? Wikipedia's definition is, quite lengthy (see below link), it talks about the origins about web-logs (we-blog). A place where every day people have a portal, to talk about ideas and feelings and share knowledge. A place to share "real" experiences and have a bit of fun.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

What makes me sad and sometimes angry (although I try to avoid this emotion) is the people that make "blogging" ugly. There are more and more cases of Bloggers that review different idustries, threatening to give bad reviews in their posts if they dont receive free accommodation etc etc.

Blackmail is totally unacceptable ! The funny thing is, the masses might be sheep, but they are not  stupid. With this sort of behaviour people will soon tire of "bloggers" and look to other mediums for entertainment and advice.

Not so long ago, I had a local "blogger" threaten me, if I didnt let them post about my business. I have my own blog(s). Which I mantain sporadically and to be honest I quite enjoy this medium of communication with my customers and friends. 

I think I still have the right to decide who promotes my business and who doesnt ?? 

I spend a lot of money promoting my business through different and many chanels and I wish to retain control over the content of this promotion. I will not be held to randsom, by some un-educated, "Kardashian" who cant write a piece unless it is all about him/her !!

 I also don't believe it is ok for someone to create a so-called business of the back of real businesses. Businesses that employ people, rent premises, carry stock, support communities, pay insurances (and many other costs). I constantly see businesses giving products to these "idiots". Let's face-it most of them are idiots, and the majority of their followers are other bloggers making each other look like they have heaps of customers following their posts. Dont be fooled people, most of those that follow these blogs are other bloggers, and they dont really want to buy your products !!
Anyway, now I am off my high horse.

I guess the saving grace is that for every one of these "users", there are a 100 more bloggers with credibility and real content. Im off to have a little glass of Fifth Leg, cabernet sauvignon shiraz merlot. xx

Check out this blogger, shes one of the good ones xx

http://frenchwomendontgetfat.com/content/mireille%E2%80%99s-musings-l%E2%80%99art-des-vacances

Key Ring - Betty Boop - my Pen Name

Just had to share my new Key Ring, Im so excited to get this key ring !

Betty Boop, my inspiration for my pen name - Betty Boots xxx

How cute xxx



What are you "Happy Feet"

Last weekend my husband took my two boys off camping for the night, so I could have a girls night out. I had huge fun with some great chics, Mon Komo came up with the goods again. When my boys got home on Sunday afternoon, they had with them a tiny little treasure. We will call him "Happy Feet", check out the video below to see why. He is so cute and precious, we fed him chewed up Just Right to begin with, then started Googling, to find out more. My verdict, was that it was a baby Crow, how wrong I was !
Anyhoo, armed with this conviction I called the local "Bird Man" told him I had a baby crow and he promptly told me to head off to get myself some "Ox Heart", little lady - aaaaargh.
A couple of days passed, little man was eating well and drinking from a dropper. However, as the temperature dropped with this rain, he started to cheep a lot, and seemed to be getting distressed.
We had also decided that I was possibly wrong - Never, I said ! But I did start Googling again to try and find out what this awesome little creature was. Frustrated and worried I decided to drop past the bird man and show him in person, and find out finally what type of bird this was. Are you ready??

He is a Curwail ??? So I asked, from the Quail family? We had some thoughts that it could be. When I went home to Google Curwail, I couldn't find any type of quail to that name. I now think he was just pronouncing the word "Quail" to me so I could understand - hmmmmm. So I think its a Brown something or other quail - but I am pretty sure its a quail ???

The Bird Man has our little man (at least we have called it a boy) now, and I cried my eyes out when I dropped him off. I can be such a sook ,but he was so amazingly beautiful and cute. We will be visiting him, to make sure he is ok.

Any assistance or suggestions will be most welcomed xx

Valentines Dinner

Mud Crab or not to Mud Crab ?

My amazing husband took me to our local seafood sepcialist Morgans Seafood Restaurant.
We had our "Omar" (Nanna) sit with the kids, and off we went to our romantic rondevue.  Mr fabulous already had an idea about what he wanted to order, which was, the lobster meal to share. Alas, there was no fresh lobster available, so we discussed the "Mud Crab" adventure. There are heaps of super yummy seafood treats on the menu so I would have been happy with any dish.
The decision was made, Entre - Seared Sea Scallops and Crispy Duck and Mooloolaba Spanner Crab Cakes, to share - mm mm mmmmm.
Main - we opted for the hot mud crab with spicy chilli jam & lemon and herb vinegar. Surprisingly my favourite condiment was the lemon and herb vinegar. I usually add a chilli jam to many of my meals, however I couldn't get enough of the lemon herb vinegar.

Ready and armed with the required untensil to devour this tasty morsel.

The Mud crab "ordeal" was worth it and even though we shared the 1.6 KG muddie, with the entre's, it was certainly enough food. If your going to do the mud crab journey, you just have to dive in. During our meal I was chatting away to my husband when I was using my Crusher utensil to ever so lady like, crack open a claw. Slippery little sucker! Crab juice went spirting into the air ! I caught a gentleman at the nearby table, who had been observing how articulate we were with the dinner, see this happen.  Laughing out loud, I turned back to look at my husband and right on his nose I saw a chunk of mud crab. I couldnt stop giggling and then I did the only thing you can under such circumstances I wiped it off and ate it !!. I guess I could have leaned over and licked it off his face, but that's not manners.

The damage was done, full bellies and lots of laughs, we totally enjoyed our Mud Crab experience. I highly recommend you try it too. xx

www.morganseafood.com.au

Leonard Cohen

I was listening to my itunes endless, mish mash play list yesterday. I just skipped over songs I didn't want to hear, whilst working. Up came my old friend Leonard Cohen singing, "Dance me to the end of Love". Whilst I by no means claim to be a Leonard Cohen Officialdom. I know when I like a song and, usually, I like other stuff they do to.
It's quite an intense song and I really love it, I usually replay it a couple of times when I stumble across it again.
I enjoy so much of his work, it's hard to pick other favourites and I guess it does depend on my mood. I can say I am partial to these as well:
Leonard Cohen: The Gypsy's Wife

Leonard Cohen & U2 : Tower of Song

 

As coincidence will have it, today when I am trolling through the news. I see a side story about a new album by this lovely man. So, what did I do, even though I don't have time? I dive in to check out this new work. Old Ideas is the album.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/review-of-the-week-leonard-cohen-20120202-1qtwi.html

My favourite song off the album is : "Show me The Place", lthough I will need to listen to the album a couple more times.  It's usually the one that hits me straight off that remains my favourite.



If you haven't already made Cohen's music your friend, jump in and do it now - you will not regret it xx

Chicken Dinner in a Hurry !

I don't know about you, but I am constantly disappointed with take-away food ! For me I find it actually quicker and easier to either, whip up something at home from scratch. Or, do a half take-away half home cooked meal. On our way home from the Italian Shoe Fair, on a buying trip, this week, we discussed getting take-away. We were exhausted after four days of buying shoes for the Australian 2012 summer season. With my natural adversity to take-out, I suggested we grab a cooked chicken and add the vegetables at home. I find this works well for me, because I have young children and surprisingly, it is more time efficient. Instead of sitting at the take-away restaurant waiting for my order, trying to amuse the kids, because they are super tired after vacation care. I can already be home, with kids in the shower, while I am whipping up something yummy. Occasionally with a small wine in hand, all is happy in the house! With this in mind I decided to share what I made.

I call it "Chicken Dinner in a Hurry".

As I mentioned we collected a chicken, from Red Rooster (quick, cheap and easy)

 Next, I just grabbed whatever baking vegetables I had in the crisper, this time it was sweet potato, potato, carrots and pumpkin. I chopped these into "quick" baking sizes, with the oven ready on 200 degrees Celsius. Just quickly peel and cut, should take around 5 mins. Then blast the little buggers while you check on the kids.

I find when I use "Carotino" it gives everything a great colour and it is healthy and great for cooking anything. I love oil, so I probably add too much! This is the benefit of cooking at home, you know whats in the food and you can add as much or as little oil and other ingredients as you like.

 I also love greens and I go nuts for nuts, so I grabbed what I had, which was some spinach and zucchini, some tired tomatoes, an half an onion. Chop chop chop, messy don't be fussy, you are in a hurry. Chuck in some oil, garlic and get the onions going. I am checking on the kids while these are heating up and changing into something more comfortable

(and maybe pouring one more mouthful of wine)

Stir in the Zucchini when the onion has started cooking, then add three dollops of a pesto mix preferably capsicum or sun dried tomato. Stir through, when the pan is really hot and about to burn add some water, it helps steam the veggies without the need to add more oil and helps cooking faster.

This time I added a packet of pre-browned almonds. I got these from Aldi, along with the pesto jar (I always have these things as staples in my pantry) cheap cheap and yummy. In the last 5 mins of the veges cooking and setting the table, just bang the chicken in the oven to give it a re-heat.

Serve and you are done !! The kids love it and there are heaps of veggies in the meal.

Hope you enjoy, I have heaps more of these quick cook meals, so I will keep sharing - whether you like it or not - hehe xx

Coke vers Pepsi - The Great Debate

Firstly and straight up I have to say I am a Coke lover, and no diet Coke for me. I want the real sugar stuff,  full strength is the only thing I will have. I would rather go without or reduce my intake than to drink a diet copy !

Same goes for Pepsi, I can not stand that fake sugar after taste !! So I just don't go there. I also think Coke is much classier than Pepsi, if that's possible? Most Pepsi drinkers I have met are total Pepsi drinkers, and like me, will not opt for any other cola.

I especially do not like it when I go to a food supplier that only has Pepsi for sale. In these instances I don't get a drink, I get my meal and then either have water or look for another store nearby if I really need a Coke. I sound like and addict, but I really don't drink that much Coke, maybe two a week. When I do, I have to have "the real thing" , because Coke, "add's life", and you "can't beat the feeling". Ok I'm stopping - "Make it real" - heheh, couldn't help myself.

What do you think, Coke or Pepsi ? What's your poison ?

New Years Resolution - Plan plan plan !

This year I am actually making a New Years resolution, which I dont normally do. I'm not really one to take part in such folly, however, this resolution is more of an experiment. I am about to embark on plannning out the next 12 months personally and for the business. So this means I will be locking in days and dates, events and appointments.
I believe, that if I do this, the year will be much less stressful, and of course more organised and professional. The proof will be in the pudding or Christmas Pudding - because I will find out the full outcome of this experiment at the end of the year, when 2012's Christmas will be a breeze - because I'm so organised !!

To achieve this goal I will also be syncing all our phone calenders, work diaries and calenders and texting friends with these dates as well. I think I am going to be super annoying and quite possibly not very flexible, but I will be organised. I will keep you updated as I travel through the year. Big breath - off I go xx

Aldi - You have to love it !

Yes, I am an Aldi lover, for a couple of years now, it did take some time though! In the beginning I was not very trusting of this new comer on the block. The old saying - You get what you pay for, came to mind several times, as I trawled the store that fateful first day. But I soon found that there was very little to disappoint me, except that I can't do an entire grocery shop here. A couple of my close friends "Get" my Aldi crush. However, most of my other friends, who haven't fallen for the addictive Aldi as yet, just don't understand. It's now a running joke when I offer a delicious morsels of food on my platters, or I get super excited about another cosmetic purchase. When they ask I just say "Aldi" ! More often than not, they say, "wow", I really do have to check it out. Anyway, the reason I decided to write about this ongoing love affair with Aldi, is that I found this, today:

Lacura French Manicure Set - $7.99. So I bought one for my Mum as well (of course).

3 Nail varnishes, 1 nail pencil, 2 rosewood sticks, 1 nail file, 1 toe separator, 100 nail forms in each pack.

I am not showing you my first attempt at application, I am useless because I don't let the polish dry and then I bump it. You simply can not bump any stage of a french manicure - Yuuuk! So I will do a post in my updates page once I get it down pat. I think it's going to look great - hehe.

 Tel me, what are your thoughts and experiences with Aldi - are you a lover ?