Up up and away

“What’s that?” The Dude exclaimed this morning to me, as I stumbled bleary eyed, out of the bedroom.

“Sunlight?” I mumbled back, “Are you trying to say its too early for us to be up and we should go back to bed?”

“No no no,” The Dude shook his head and pointed in the direction of the balcony, ” Look and see before they fly away!”

“Wow! Hot air balloons!” I cried out excitedly, “They look so pretty against the morning sky!”

“Uh huh! You only get to see them if you wake up early enough! Something about the heat of the day just disagrees with this ancient flight technology.” The occasional engineer explained.

“They seemed to be going really fast,” I commented, “The balloons were so close to us a minute ago and now they have drifted further away. They look like little coloured dots in the sky now.”

“The wind must be pretty strong out there,” The Dude mused, “Do you know that you can’t steer a hot air balloon? Its all up to nature when you’re up there!”

“Do you think we’ll ever go hot air ballooning one day?” I asked The Dude over breakfast, long after the balloons had flown away, “The view from above must be sensational!”

“Maybe,” The Dude replied, “Never say never I say, even if we are both absolutely terrified of heights!”

Hmmmm a valid point indeed – I might do a raincheck on that till I overcome that phobia! Still it was very uplifting to see those balloons on a Monday morning! Hope the pictures lift up your spirits too!

Happy Monday everyone!

Easy does it

Ooooh has it been a little quiet lately on the crafts front? No problem! Nothing a little googling can’t fix!

I’ve been searching online for a simple project to satisfy my crafty fix. Something that’s relatively quick and easy to make and won’t cost the earth. Something that involving this item as a material.

Image from Wikipedia

That’s right! The humble but very versatile clothespin! The idea came to me while I was loading a batch of freshly washed clothes into the dryer (how technology has changed the world)! Found in almost every household, available in supermarkets and household stores, this household staple has been a popular medium used by many crafters for time immemorial!

There are heaps of craft projects online that you can pick and choose from. I’ll showcase a few of my favourites – hopefully one or more might tickle your fancy!

To start off, how about making your own kissing clothespin magnet? A little ink, paint and imagination goes a long way here! I think this will be a great party or wedding favour! More details here!

Animals are always a fun thing to make, especially if they look as cute as this giraffe, cleverly fashioned out of clothespins, pompoms and paper! It’ll be a hit with the kids for sure! More details here!

Perhaps you are the practical sort and would like to craft something that can be used around the house? Perhaps this tutorial for a clothespin planter might interest you?

If that seemed a little too easy for you or if gardening is not your thing (it’s ok I understand), maybe this circular clothespin mirror might shine some light into your life! More details here!

I love how just little gold paint and decoration transforms the humble clothespin into a fancy placeholder! More details here!

And last but not least, and my favourite of them all is this beautiful inspirational wall sign that doubles up as a photo holder with the help of, you guessed it, clothespins! An amazing step by step tutorial to make it can be found here!

A little bit of Sunday inspiration is always best to kick start a brand new week! Have a fantastic day folks!

Star power

Look who we spotted this morning at the market giving a cooking demonstration!

It’s the very talented and funny Alvin Quah -one of our favourite contestants from MasterChef Australia season 2!

Alvin was in the market today to “Cook for a Cure” in support of Research Australia. This is the second year that the “Cook for a cure” initiative has been up and running – to get involved, all we had to do was to invite people over to dinner at our place and donate what we would have spent on a meal outside to fund research in cures for leading medical ailments. What a really novel way to raise funds for a good cause!

Now back to Alvin and his culinary showpiece of the day, a simple Hokkien noodle stir fry, hawker style, was on the menu today! Here’s Alvin holding a bag of the said noodles and explaining to the audience his method of blanching the noodles before the big stir fry.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to hang around to have a taste of the final product or snap even more photos of Alvin or sneak in an autograph or two from him (we are such huge fans!). But still it was such a treat to be able to see him in action in real life! And whatever it was that went into that stir fry sure smelt very yummy as the market was absolutely perfumed with those savoury aromas as we went about our shopping!

All that talk about Hokkien noodles is making me hungry – I think I’m going to go and cook us some noodles for lunch now. Have a slurpy Saturday everyone!

Hokkien noodles image from Healthy Food Guide

You can find out more about Research Australia’a Cook for a Cure here!

Blast from the past

It’s true what they say – about fashion never going out of fashion. Especially in the world of knitting I think!

I picked up this book – Retro Knits: Cool Vintage Patterns for Men, Women, and Children from the 1900s through the 1970s by Kari Cornell and Jean Lampe, on a whim at a recent trip to the library, mainly because I was curious as to what vintage knitting patterns and the clothes that people used to hand knit were like.

Surprisingly, most of them would not look out of place in our modern times! Check out this sweet looking bolero from the 1950s….

This ever practical looking cardigan that can be paired with just about every outfit….

And this set of him and her matching sweaters which might motivate some lovebirds to get their needles clicking!

I was pretty inspired after flipping through the book and decided to visit the local op shop to see if there were any vintage knitting stuff I could pick up for a bargain.

Visiting the shop always makes me feel like I’m about to embark on a treasure hunt. There’s always something that might catch your fancy if you look hard enough!

Fortunately, I didn’t have to spend that much time searching high and low for all the knitting stuff was conveniently located in the centre of the store!

The knitting patterns were going for a dollar a book. At that price, who can resist picking up only one book? Alright you got me there – it’s seven to be exact!

I even managed to find this beautiful hand knitted top in mint condition for Bugs going for less than a fiver – a real steal I say, especially if you take a close look at the detailing on it! Someone must have spend heaps of time and effort making this!

I’m pretty excited about my vintage finds today! Hopefully I can find the time to try out one of the patterns in the near future!

It’s finally Friday everyone! Have a great day as always!

Serious fun

Image from My Desi Baby

It’s a little weird of me to talk about a children’s book. We all know that grown ups (like you and I) read grown up books and pigs only go oink all day and night, right?

But Sandra Boynton books are a different story altogether! There’s something special about them that makes you want to read the stories along with your kid as well! Perhaps it’s the cute cartoons that cleverly illustrate the stories….

Or the funny text that is entertaining but educational at the same time….

Or their handy size which makes it easy for little hands to hold and flip the pages! Whatever the reason, her books are a big hit in our household!

Ever since we discovered these adorably hilarious books, I’ve been consciously looking out for them on our trips to the library, especially since we’ve pretty much gone through most of the titles shown in that first picture. Today, we were extremely lucky to finally find this Sandra Boynton book that we had not yet read!

This little bear and his thoughtful query really made my day as we had been feeling a little overwhelmed at the end of the day in keeping Bugs as entertained as possible before her bedtime.

This book, like all the others before it, was filled with enough silliness and cute cartoons to put smiles on all our faces as we read through it! And the sage words at the end of the book were a great reminder that things are never as bad as they seem!

Isn’t it amazing what you can learn from a children’s book? Have a fantastic Thursday everyone!

A gift from Mr Lawson

We received this commemorative flyer from our local council in the mail a few weeks ago.

The flyer was printed on some really nice, sturdy paper and contained a lot of informative details about ANZAC Day like the significance of the Dawn Service….

And the all important ode.

But what made this flyer extra special was that it contained a recipe for ANZAC cookies provided by Mr Bob Lawson -an ANZAC who was present at the Gallipoli landing itself! A big “Wow” was what I exclaimed when my eyes fell upon that section of the flyer!

It was the perfect day today to try out Mr Lawson’s treasured recipe, given its ANZAC Day. Wartime cooking and baking must have been very tough as food was rationed. That probably meant that recipes had to be really creative, using as much of pantry staples like flour and sugar….

And rolled oats in them and less of “luxury” items…

Like butter (shown here with a bit of golden syrup). I was really surprised to see how little butter the recipe required.

Once I’d sorted out the wet and dry ingredients, the next step was to mix them all together.

A few good stirs with my trusty pink spatula and my ANZAC cookie mixture was ready!

I followed the advice of the recipe and dropped little teaspoons of the cookie mixture onto my baking tray…..

And was pleasantly surprised to see the cookies more than double in size a few minutes after they had been in the oven!

The first batch that came out from the oven was a tad unsuccessful as I had forgotten to set the timer on the oven. By the time I realised my folly, it was a little too late to salvage it.

But no matter, there was still heaps of cookie mix in the mixing bowl so I swiftly popped in another batch into the oven and set the timer on pronto. Ten minutes later – finally success!

Mr Lawson’s recipe has been cleverly designed for the frugal cook in mind for I did manage to make 42 cookies (including those terribly burnt ones) out from the mix, with zero leftovers!

There were so many cookies that they filled our big container to the brim!

Naturally we had to eat a few so that we could close the lid without crushing the others.

Taste wise, I kid you not when I say that they are probably the best ANZAC cookies I’ve ever eaten! Mr Lawson sure got it right in making the perfect butterscotch, caramel tasting cookie with just the right amount of chewiness! It’s no wonder they’ve been a hit with so many all these years! Thank you very much Mr Lawson- for your gift of the recipe and so much more!

I’ve shared his amazing recipe below, hope you enjoy it -be sure to let me know if you do try it!

****Mr Lawson’s ANZAC Biscuits****
Makes approx. 35 biscuits

Ingredients
- 1 cup each of plain flour, sugar, rolled oats and desiccated coconut
- 115g of butter
- 1 tablespoon of treacle (golden syrup)
- 2 tablespoons boiling water (add a little more if the mixture is too dry)
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

Method
1. Grease biscuit tray and preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Combine dry ingredients
3. Melt together butter and golden syrup. Combine water and baking soda – add to butter mixture.
4. Mix wet and dry ingredients together
5. Drop teaspoons of mixture in tray, allowing room for spreading. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on tray for few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

Rainy day fun

You know it’s a dreary and cold day when the streets are wet and glistening….

No one is sitting in the outdoor portion of the cafe because the tables are soaked with rain and….

The dogs start to wear their winter wardrobe when out on the streets!

With the weather the way it was, it meant that most of the fun that Bugs had to experience today had to be indoors. We started off our rainy day activity day with a parade of soft toys -first up was this little green sheep….

Who was quickly tossed aside to make way for Snowy, the brand new terrier we got from IKEA who was dressed in his racing best.

A toy poodle and the Easter bunny then made special guest appearances….

And the parade finally ended off with Bugs’s favourite toy of the moment -Mortimer the moose with purple antlers!

Finger puppets are always a handy thing to have to entertain your kid. These were next up on my playlist.

Bugs had more fun trying to pull the puppets off my fingers than listening to the tale I tried to make up involving the characters (a story about Santa learning how to bake and dance was the best I could muster up on short notice)!

Our little activity day ended with a music and bopping session to the tunes of “Creep” and “Fake Plastic Tree” with this CD that we borrowed from the library (The Dude is a huge Radiohead fan)!

A different kind of fun for an average sort of day! Have a great day everyone!

P.S: If you have any suggestions on rainy day activities, I’ll love to hear them!

Rain rain go away

Its been a while since I’ve been to the city. Ever since I’ve left work, we’ve had little reason to head into town. But today, a few of our errands required that we made a special long overdue trip there!

The weather had been pretty miserable for the better part of the day. It was grey and gloomy all around whenever we looked. Even the Eureka tower and Federation Square looked depressing when viewed against the backdrop of looming rain clouds.

A couple of traffic lights broke down at several junctions. Thankfully, the friendly policemen in blue were around to prevent chaos from breaking out.

We parked the car and made our way to our destination on foot. Along the way, we passed by many Art Deco buildings like this pink one….

And the famous Myer store!

The store had recently undergone a facelift so we decided to pop in for a few moments to look around. The interior now looks really upmarket and modern, something you can’t tell just by looking at the grand old facade.

There was even a swishy champagne and coffee bar for visitors to chill out in store! All that shopping is hard work for sure!

When we finally stepped out of the store, look what we saw! Blue skies and sunshine! How crazy is the weather! Here’s a picture of the historic GPO building that I took -the sunlight sure brightens up the surroundings!

Even the Commonwealth bank building – another stunning example of Art Deco architecture looked regal against the blue skies!

I felt it might be best to celebrate this sudden burst of good weather with some delicious egg tarts from our favourite city bakery!

I’m sure The Dude won’t disagree to that! Hope your Monday is going well!

Curry and rainbows

The in laws are in town for a visit and we all caught up over lunch at their place today!

While Bugs was happily entertained with her brand new telephone toy and books that Grandma and Grandpa had bought for her….

The Dude and I took the opportunity to tuck into some delicious home cooking!

My mum-in-law makes the most amazing lamb curry that I’ve ever tasted! I can’t describe how fantastic it tastes in words! One bite and you’ll be a fan for life! The Dude and I have tried to recreate the same dish on previous occasions, following the handwritten recipe that she had given us. But taste wise, it was never as close as the one that was prepared by the Grand Master due to our paltry cooking skills! Boy oh boy were we lucky to be able to savour some of it today!

The Dude opted to have his curry with some savoury spiced rice while I had mine with a big serving of yummy stir fried vermicelli noodles!

There’s that mouthwatering curry again on the side of my plate, moments before I devoured it all up!

We were even treated to a bowl of nourishing vegetable and chicken soup which complemented the curry, noodles and rice perfectly!

The Dude and I were thoroughly spoiled with good old home cooking today while Bugs had the chance to have fun with Grandma and Grandpa! And as if the day could not get any better, we spotted this pretty rainbow on the drive back!

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!

Bargain hunt

I love Saturday mornings. Especially when the day starts early. It’s great to know you have the whole day ahead of you! More time to pack in fun things to do and enjoy the weekend!

Which was what we did by visiting one of our favourite places this morning – the legendary, wallet friendly, home decorating haven known as IKEA!

The Dude and I are part of the IKEA family, meaning we signed up to be members of the famous Swedish store. Membership does have its benefits – special deals on home wares, discounted prices on food at their famous cafe as stated on this huge signboard….

And a free cup of refillable coffee or tea at every visit! Like bees to honey, we made sure we took some time out from shopping to recharge at the cafe with the complimentary beverage that we were entitled to!

There was a toy sale going on in the kids section and we did not think twice about picking up some bargains to add to Bugs’s ever growing toy stash….

Like this white terrier soft toy which we’ve named “Snowy”! You can tell The Dude is a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, judging from the outfit that he picked for Snowy to wear!

Before we left the store, a visit to the “As-Is” section to check out what’s on offer was a ritual pitstop.

This section is a great place to pick up some heavily discounted furniture and home wares that have slight defects or have been used as display items. The cupboard that The Dude was checking out in the picture below was going for seventy percent off the normal price because it had a few scratches on the doors. A real bargain if you’re not too fussy!

We ended our bargain hunting in one of the best ways we know how- a trip to the Golden Arches for a spot of breakfast!

Have a fun filled Saturday everyone!