Sunday Baking

For the last four or five weeks I've got into the habit of doing some baking of a Sunday morning.

I used to bake regularly for the school week but got out of the habit in the past couple of years when things started to get me down a bit.

I'm trying to bake only 2 things, sometimes 3 each week as I really don't want to feel like I'm stuck in the kitchen for the whole day and so far we've all been enjoying the results.


Gingernuts are always a firm favourite in our house and I've made these a couple of times.

Cupcakes are also a favourite and the best thing is that they freeze really well (icing and all) which means I can pop one in a lunch box for a treat sometimes and it's defrosted by the time lunch comes around.

I always have to make two kinds of cupcakes of course as Miss R won't eat chocolate ones and Master M won't eat any that AREN'T chocolate.

I've also fallen in love with muffins.  They are so easy and for a person who doesn't really like the decorating side of baking, they are a perfect fit as once they're out of the oven you don't have to do anything else, ...well, except eat them of course.   Oh and they're perfect for a quick breakfast as you only have to microwave them for 30 or 40 seconds and presto....brekky!

I made some cheese muffins which are beautiful and will add some ham and maybe sundried tomatoes or other things next time.  Then again, I love them as just as they are too.

Our favourite Anzac muffins which I mentioned in a recent post have been made a few times as they're a firm favourite and we really love them for a quick breakfast.

I tried some chocolate chip muffins which were a big hit with the boys (okay...and me) and may be on the cards again this week as there are none left in the freezer and I'm getting some not so subtle hints.

The classic Anzac biscuit is a regular as well.  Very much favourites around these parts and with Anzac Day coming up next month I think will be on the menu again soon.

I have had a helper occasionally.

Miss R loves making some lemon biscuits from a recipe in a cookbook she received for Christmas a few years ago.   They're actually called Mum's Lemon Biscotti but they're nothing like biscotti.  We don't mind though as they're delicious.

I even made a carrot cake from a packet cake mix.  I prefer making things from scratch but I don't mind making something from a packet mix if it's good.  This one freezes well too!

Another packet mix was the brownie I made last weekend.  We had some extras in the house on Sunday so I decided I had better make something chocolately for them.

I also made some shortbread and I can't believe that I have NEVER made it before.  How on earth did that happen?

Anyway, I can now say that I've made it and it was is scrumptious and incredibly easy to make.  I know there are so many recipes and ways to make it out there but if you're looking for an easy 3 ingredient one, click on the link here for the one I used.  YUM!

Now I've just made myself hungry again so I may have to go and have another piece of shortbread before the hordes polish the last few pieces off.

Enjoy your week everyone.

xx  Susan

This week I'm loving....

Time with my girl

The boys are away (lovely hubby at work and Master M on school camp).

That means time with just my girl and I.  I'm amazed at how quiet it is in the house (and she's often my noisy one).  I've also had a day when I didn't have to throw a load of washing in the machine which was really strange and I felt a bit lost for a minute to tell the truth.

We've had quiet time, snuggly time and movie time...on a school night...staying up late.  It was fun.

New Projects

I don't have a pattern for my latest project.  I just picked some yarn leftover from my last project and started working on a half formed idea the other evening.

It was sort of what I wanted but not quite working out.

So I frogged it (quite a few times) and it has started to come together.  Thank goodness I'm writing down what I'm doing as I go.

I then looked over at my stash basket and realised that I had some yarn that would probably work up nicely in this pattern so I started that too of course.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this one will look in the end.

Out for Breakfast

I don't often go out for breakfast.  It's a bit of an indulgent thing and most of the time I'm getting kids to school then walking the dog so it's mid-morning before I get the chance to do much.  

The other morning was dog bath day (I even got him out from under the house quite easily although a pocket full of treats may have been what did the trick!).  There's lots of muddy puddles where we walk right now and I wanted him to stay clean for one day at least so I took the opportunity to go out for breakfast after the school run.

I was also in desperate need to get out of the house as I don't often go anywhere except school and groceries half the time.  In fact, I usually only buy a coffee once or twice a month as I just don't want to go anywhere.

We have some great cafe's in our town, a few only a 5 minute walk from our house, but I really didn't want the noise and the bustle around me.  I needed somewhere quiet, where I could sit and write in my journal without interruptions and noise.

So I headed up the hill to the Mountain View Café at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve.

It was such a beautiful morning and I'm so glad I decided to head up there.

I even took another selfie!  Two in one post!!  I rarely take them as I feel like a bit of an idiot but there's no other family photos of me so I decided I had better take some myself.

After a really yummy breaky and plenty of journal time, I wandered back to the car the long way.  This path isn't very long though, only about 100 metres.  

It meanders around the back of the picnic area, playground and car park and was just the perfect few minutes I needed to round out a wonderful start to my day.

Storms

It's still hot in these parts and I feel like I've been slow cooked over many months.  The storms we've had over the past week have helped cheer me up as I really, really, really LOVE storms.

Some of them have been rumbly and fizzled to not much but we had one pretty spectacular band of storms head through that lasted over two and a half hours.  It was pretty awesome.

The best thing about the storms is that they have been cooling things down a little after they have passed.  Usually everything heats up again and becomes so steamy you feel like you're walking around in a giant sauna.  Perhaps Autumn is finally on the way....bring it on!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week.

xx Susan

Head in the Sand

...Or the crochet in this case.

I finished the Sunday Shawl (design by Alia Bland) this past weekend when I really didn't think I would get much crochet done at all.

I have to admit it's the perfect hobby when you want to ignore everything else around you and I think I excelled at it last week.

It was made purely from my stash of Stylecraft Special DK which I had no idea what to do with as they're not my usual colours.

I have to admit that I really do love how it's come together.

I used just 5 colours in all with the main body of the shawl in Parchment and Meadow.  For the border I've used Khaki, Camel and Grey as well as a row each of the Parchment and Meadow.

Since I ended up finishing it a lot quicker than I expected, I now have a bit of a dilemma as to what to make next.

Have a lovely week everyone.

xx Susan

Weekend

We had no plans this weekend just gone except to stay at home and slump about the place.  That was just fine with the kidlettes and myself (hubby was at work) as these are often the kind of weekends we love best.

Saturday we did have a project to occupy ourselves as my Mum, brother and his two boys flew to Japan.  I love modern technology which allows you to track the flight and lets you know if it's on time or not.

We spent the day checking in on the flight tracker website working out where they would be and what they might see.

Q.  Where are they now Mum?

  

A.  It looks like they're flying over the Great Barrier Reef right now.  (wide eyed excitement greeted this).

….. a little later....

A.  They're flying over Papua New Guinea now.  (wide eyed...do we live near there?)

….a little later...

A.  They're flying over the ocean near Guam.  (not much interest in that one).

The most excitement came when we realised they were about to touch down and knowing that their cousins were in Japan.  I hope they have a wonderful holiday and have lots of incredible stories to tell when they arrive home safe and sound.

I also started on the Sunday Shawl which I decided to make with my stash of Stylecraft Special DK yarn.  I don't have enough of one colour to make the body of the shawl so I'm mixing things up a bit and I'm quite liking how it's working out so far.

I did take my usual first photo with the hook I'm using for future reference when if I have a brain freeze and can't remember which one I need.

I didn't get a huge amount done on the weekend but I'm happy with it so far.  Hopefully I'll get the chance to work on it a bit more during the week because I've got a really busy one ahead with lots of appointments and things to do.  The crochet may have to take a back seat for a bit and I'm trying not to stress about having such a full calendar.  

I really don't like having a full calendar and need to make sure I have plenty of down time...at home...where I'm happiest.

We did some more baking too which is becoming a regular Sunday morning event for us.  I try and make things to help me out with lunch boxes and after school snacks and this week it was Anzac muffins and gingernut biscuits.

The Anzac muffins are really yummy and full of rolled oats, grated apple, coconut and the other usual muffiny bits to bind them all together.  They freeze well too so are perfect to pop in the microwave of a morning for a quick breakfast.

I just did a quick search and have found the recipe I use.  I scribbled it into my own family cookbook years ago so I'm still happy it's online.  It's here if you want to give them a go.

Digging for treasure was also on the cards on the weekend.

There was lots of tapping and scraping and banging but eventually the booty revealed itself.

There is still more to be found but Master M's pretty happy with his loot so far.

Have a wonderful week everyone.

I'm personally hoping summer will bugger off as the heat is quite suffocating at the moment.  Enough whining and I do have air conditioning which is pretty well cranked up as we speak so that's a positive.

xx Susan

It's a wrap

Bad pun I know.  Sorry.

Wrap or shawl is the word around here at the moment though because that seems to be what I'm obsessed with making at the moment.

With the summer we've had that still seems to be dragging on and on with ridiculous humidity, a blanket was out of the question.  I'm also determined to work through my stash before I buy any more yarn and most of what I have seems to lend itself to a scarf or wrap of some sort.

The first wrap that I finished this week was my portable project that I started working on just after Christmas.  I wasn't in a rush to finish it and worked on it only when I was out and about somewhere.

It's a very simple mesh design made up of chains and treble crochet (UK terms) which was easy enough to work on without having to take a pattern with me or try to remember where I was up to when I started again.  It was basically pick up the hook and continue working.

I love the hint of sparkle through it and it will also work nicely as a scarf in the coming months.  (If it ever decides to cool down a bit).

The second project I finished this week was the Elise Shawl which is a free pattern on Ravelry.

I loved the lacy design of this one and it was a winner because I had enough yarn to make it.  In fact I was able to add a few extra rows and make it a little bigger so that I wouldn't have any leftover yarn.  I'm really glad I did that as I love the extra length on it.

I have also worked out what I'm going to do with the Stylecraft Special DK that I had leftover.  I did get a few lovely suggestions from people but couldn't find anything that felt right to me or that I had enough yarn for.

In the end I've decided to go with the Sunday Shawl by Alia Bland which I have the pattern for and have wanted to make for awhile.  

I'll have to be a bit creative with how I work the colours into the shawl as I don't have enough of one colour for the main section.  I'll mix them up a bit and show you the progress of it once I start.

I hope everyone has been having a fantastic week and are looking forward to a safe and wonderful weekend.

xx Susan

Memory Lane

My lovely Mum has been having a bit of a declutter recently.  She's been going through her cupboards and finding some really interesting things.  Some of them defy belief as to why you would keep them and others she just couldn't part with.

Mum and Dad have lived in the same house for nearly 42 years now so you would expect a few things to accumulate over that time.

She has found a few things of mine and passed them onto me.  Some I have no idea what to do with as I'm in a bit of a decluttering phase too, but some I just can't part with.

She did pass on a few things I made in Grade 8 shop.

There is my spice rack.

Something I apparently made to hold 'Thingemy-bobs' and have no clue as to what I can use this for.  It gets screwed to a wall and has 4 slots behind the front section to hold things, a bit like a knife block.

Then there is my metal scoop, my cake slice and a sweet copper spoon which is now hanging up from a nail in my kitchen.

My cake tins are a bit rusty so I'm thinking that a photo will have to suffice for these although hubby may find a use for them in the shed.

One of the items has come in very handy already.

The picture below is my spice rack in my pantry.  The yellow labelled containers fit in it perfectly but the bottles, especially on the top row, have a habit of falling when the pantry door is opened.

Those bottles now have a new home and I even found an empty one which I cleaned up the lid on and replaced the broken dill one (which fell and broke when I was opening the door to take the picture).

I'll leave you with this next masterpiece from my little trip down memory lane.

It's my drawing of a fly which I did when I was 4 years old (Mum dated it).  I have no idea what to do with it but it's too spectacular to throw out, especially considering it's been hanging around Mum's house for over 40 years!

Have a wonderful week friends.

xx Susan

This week I'm loving.....

Dishcloths

I had planned to start on at least one of my stash projects of course but realised that a few of my dishcloths were looking very tatty.  New ones it is, although I've only had the chance to get one completed so far.

Midweek baking

When a bit of a sweet treat is needed midweek, nothing beats my 3 minute microwave chocolate slice.  Quick and easy and the perfect sweet snack.  Miss R doesn't agree though as my girl hates chocolate.

(I posted the recipe for this a few years ago and you'll find it here if you want to give it a go).

Lychees

The last lychees from the farm which a relative dropped in for us a couple of weeks ago.  There's about 10 kilograms worth which we've made a decent amount of progress going through.  Well Miss R and hubby have because those two LOVE lychees.

If you're ever lucky enough to have a glut of lychees like us then I'll give you a tip and say that they freeze well.  Peel them first and pop them in the freezer and they're still beautiful.  

Hubby's aunt loves them in her wine to keep it cool during our hot summers.  I haven't tried that yet as I think sweet lychees might clash with a dry chardonnay!

Fun with my boy

Snatching time here and there for some fun UNO time.  I think we're pretty even in the head to head count at this stage although I think my boy may be slightly ahead.  :)

Reading

I love books and used to read regularly but unfortunately that, like my crochet, got shelved (excuse the pun) in recent years.

I'm going through my bookshelf reading old favourites and starting on a few novels recommended or read by some of my blog friends out there.

I love being able to download a book and read it straight away, especially at 2 or 3am when you're having trouble sleeping!

Hubby's away working this weekend and Master M's having a sleepover so it will be my girl and I for a night which we're both looking forward to.

xx Susan