Knock knock.......

I have been pestering the husband ever since we moved into our house for a new front door. It was a very old water-logged, orange glassed, horrid thing. Anyway, because my husband is a bit more practical than me, it was noted and agreed upon that we would wait until we built our front verandah before the new door so we wouldnt get the same water-logged problem as the old one.

Smart man my husband.

So here she is, in all her natural (read: unpainted) glory

She will get a coat of paint when we decide on a colour.

These were the ones that jumped out to us at bunnings. I wanted a bit of a statement colour.

But we have managed to narrow it down to 3 finalists.

We are both a bit fond of the bottom one as its a bit more brown which will match the warm colour of the lounge room, but our hall way is more grey so the middle one will go better, but then i like the purple in the top.

I think our poor door will be naked for a while.....

TGIF

I love Fridays.

Actually, i love Friday nights more, cause i know then i have survived the week. And i am hoping i can get through today. If i can, i can say i survived a pretty horrid work-week. Work: bad. Deadlines: bad. Human error: bad.

After today is over i plan to do nothing over the weekend. Zilch. Nada.

I havnt had a weekend like that in a long time so i think its on the cards.

Im even doing my f&v shopping on the way home so i dont have to go out tomorrow.

Did you see what is on the master class on MasterChef tonight? Chippies! i love hot chips, so i am so excited to see how the pro's to theirs.

Oh its excitement plus in this house! hehehe

Wishing you all a lovely Friday, and an even lovelier weekend, you deserve it!

xox
DC

Meal Planning

Im a meal planner, have been since, oh how long have i been doing to housewife gig, um, 2 1/2 years now.

I read about it in a magazine years ago and the idea of it is to minimise food waste and only buying for the meals you have planned.

I dont go to the extreme of planning breakfasts and lunches, but dinner time would be a disaster if i didnt know what i was cooking when i got home from work.

So it started. Every other Thursday night i rummage the pantry and freezer to see what i already have to make meals of, then raid my cookbook cupboard to see what interests me and also ask the husband if he has a hankering for something in particular (the response is usually mexican or pizza).

4 lists are made. One for Woolies, one for the fruit market for the 1st week, one for the 2nd week
(i couldnt fit 2 weeks worth in our fridge), and one for the meat market.

I find a fortnight meal plan and subsequent grocery shop works for me. I think i'd hate Woolies if i had to do one every week.

Then, just in case you thought i wasnt insane enough, i make a little chart for the fridge that explains when and what we are having, also has little notes from time to time for things i might need to prepare a day or two in advance. Like if i need ricotta for something, but dont want to buy it 10 days early for example. You will also notice that i like to change the font and colour of my chart. Yeah, im that exciting.

So here is this fortnights meal plan.

My Hay Days.

So you know that choc coconut slice i was telling you about from the weekend, it turned out gorgeously as i'd hoped, although the critic of the house (husband) said the icing was way too sweet. Crickey, it must have been for Mr Sweet tooth himself to mention it. So next atempt will be only a thin layer of melted chocholate, not the icing sugar mixture thats currently adorning it.

I'm really starting to get into Donna Hay. She has some amazing books out and her magazine is really pretty. Im not one to buy magazines, except for the christmas editions for Womans Weekly and Family Circle, but for that past 3 months i have bought every edition of Womans Weekly and also grabbed the latest Donna Hay over the weekend. I think i will start buying them all the time now.

Oh and did you know that Donna Hay has opened a shop? I am really looking forward to heading into the city to check it out.

Anyway, here is the choc coconut slice.

Look at the lovelly shopping list i got free with my mag this edition. She must have known i'm a list freak. Thanks Donna!

Sunday outings: Balmain

The husband worked again on Sunday so i decided i really wanted to spend some time with my sister, brother-in-law and niece.


I met them at their place (completely in the opposite direction to Balmain) so we could all go together (because i knew i would get lost and also to maximise our together time). Balmain has become a favourite haunt for sister so i was keen to see what the fuss was all about.

So many pretty shops. Not nearly enough money. I'd love to go back to raid the lovely homeware shop near the park and also the bakery with the fig tart. Yummy!

Sydney cleared up yesterday so we could all frolic in the sunshine. It was nice to be not-cold again!




The coffee was great, and if you want a biiiig coffee, you can get one in a bowl.

The niece i speak of, couldn't possibly get any cuter.

I love weekends. What did you get up to?

Master Chef.

If you watch Master Chef on chanel 10, you'd know about those mashed potatoes from the first master class.

I love trying new things in the kitchen, and truth be told, my mash is a bit meh so i watched the clip again and set out on my pomme purees mission. I baked my spuds on the rock salt, scraped out the fluffy centre and lossened them up with a fork (i know they said to use a seive, but really, i couldnt be bothered, oh and my friend L tried it and told me it made a mess, so that step went out the window).

On the stove went the milk to warm up and then added to potatoes over low heat and then mashed them a bit with a whisk and started to add the butter.

This is where i wish someone else was cooking so i didnt have to see the quantity.

My heart was hurting adding knob after knob, but i kept saying 'its a treat its a treat its a treat'.

Whisking away the potoatoes turned into a creamy cloud that i couldnt wait to try, and being the cook, you just have to taste test! OMG. So good.

It was served with grilled steak and some veg. Oh and i also attempted a red wine jus, also inspisred by the lamb glaze that George made in the same episode.

So would i make them again? Maybe for dinner guests, too much effort for mash.
Was it worth all those calories? I really dont think so. Save them for desert!

Which brings me to the sticky date pudding i made. I got the recipe from exclusivelyfood.com.au and it is seriously not only the BEST sticky date i have ever had, but is now my favourite thing to make.

Well, its another wet day in Sydney town, so whatever it is you have planned, i hope you have fun!

xox
DC

Jumping on the blogging bandwagon

Hi there.

Welcome to my blog.

Im not really sure why i created it, but i read so many lovely blogs i felt inspired to start one myself.

Its currently 6.20am on Saturday morning, so i dont have much to share at the moment, but the day is young, so i will probably be back later with a post about my favourite thing to do on the weekend. Grocery shopping!

PS Its reeeeeeally wet in Sydney today so i hope everyone is somewhere warm, dry and safe!

xox
DC