A birthday

Today was Kevin's birthday - as one of our friends said "you have exceeded your biblical allowance of three score and ten" - he is 71. We had a little gathering with friends yesterday to celebrate. It was also Helen's birthday so she and James came as well.

Today Kevin and I went to Garden City to buy the iphone that is my present to him (I also bought him a cover and a car phone charger) We got a beginner salesperson who was firstly a bit taken aback that we didn't want/need a sales pitch and then proceeded to take such an excruciatingly long time to complete the paperwork that we both almost lost interest and walked out. We were a bit too tired of the whole bit that we didn't check our invoices/receipts and found when we got home after 4pm that we had someone else's. The phone wasn't in action by then either - activation was supposed to be within an hour. We plan another visit to another salesperson tomorrow.

We then went to have lunch while we were at the shopping centre and decided the Asian food train looked worth a try. You select what you want, and pay according to the colour of the plate the food is on and the number of dishes you consume. As usual these days, I wasn't very hungry, but some rice paper rolls appealed (two to a plate for $4.50). I enjoyed mine and so did Kevin and he could have eaten more. Unfortunately, it seemed that there were no more available and so we paid up and moved on. A couple of prawn dumplings from another stall and an iced coffee from another and we had had enough.

When we got home I Googled rice paper rolls and found several recipes. All the necessary ingredients (except peanuts) were in the pantry or fridge/freezer so I made some for dinner tonight. They were very nice, though Kevin wasn't too keen on the coriander I included. I/we will make them again.

Craft Fair

My sister Dorothy and I went to a Craft, Antiques and Collectables Fair this afternoon. It didn't open till noon (Anzac Day today means the morning is devoted to services and marches) and was jampacked by the time we left at 2.45.

I had wanted to go so we could listen to a talk on recycling and refashioning clothing by Jody Pearl, and we did. It was worth the admission fee in itself. Only problem is now I have yet more projects to add to my TO DO list.

We wandered around the Craft part and I bought some pickles (an African Mango Pickle) from Armanda whose Eggplant Kasaundi is absolutely fabulous. I usually buy that, but I had a full jar at home. I also bought a pack of vegetarian dahl and some passionfruit butter. I could actually taste what I was sampling which was great.

By the time we got to the Antiques section I had run out of puff, so I sat on a chair while Dorothy did a quick round. She resisted the temptation to buy anything.

Christmas Festivities

The round has started. Today it was lunch here with my sewing group. A few people missing because of conflicting engagements, but a most enjoyable occasion. Easy on the hostess too - everyone brought a dish to share and it was all delicious.

I have two events next week, so will need to do some more cooking for them. Christmas itself looms ever closer. Lunch here. I have bought a turkey - that is the extent of my preparation. It will all pan out in the end - it always does.

Getting better

I think. Not so much nausea, still have diarrhea. Stayed up all day today, but am heading to bed soon. Actually ate a bit too.

I tried to make macarons today - not a wonderful result because my oven is not very reliable. They are still edible and should be passable sandwiched with some buttercream. I will do that tomorrow morning and take along to a family gathering at Crawley. Not sure if I will make more for the big party next weekend.

A productive day

I cooked the chicken wings - I had to sample one and they are yummy. They are now in the freezer.

I cut lots of bias strips for the quilt binding and pinned them together. I plan to sew them tomorrow - I think that I have probably only got enough to go maybe half way round. I need nearly 10 metres and even after they are joined I still have to press the finished strip in half lengthwise. It's a big job.

I made a bag from the textured fabric I did a while ago.


No photo of the bag because I forgot and then it was too dark. The flash on my camera washes out lots of colour.

I went shopping and bought some more chicken wings which are now marinating in the fridge.

I deadheaded all the roses and filled up the green bin for collection tomorrow morning. I plan to fertilise them tomorrow evening so it will be watered in on Wednesday morning when the reticulation goes on.

I am now going to have a glass of wine and start a new book - the latest in the "in Death" series by JD Robb.

Coincidence

Yesterday I wrote about macaroons - today they are on the front cover of the Fresh liftout in the daily paper. The article says they are difficult to make - not the impression I got from Googling. Also, apparently the name is macarons - macaroons contain coconut.

What I did today

Delivered the quilt. I can pick it up on Monday 23rd. Gives me a few days to do the binding before THE birthday - I have already started cutting strips. I am going to use the scraps from the top to make a pieced binding - I only need 9 metres! A good idea since I cut a couple of strips too narrow for the quilt, but they will be fine for the binding. And, thank goodness, the pieced backing was quite acceptable.

Decided to work on one of the outstanding UFOs: the sea urchin from the Innovative Stitches workshop last month. Not too much to do, but got lazy and decided to freemotion without a presser foot. BIG mistake - needle in left thumb, lots of blood and a very bent needle.

Went to my friendship sewing group. We have been meeting since 1988 and decided today that it was too late in the year to celebrate our 21st anniversary. Shame, but we can look forward to our 25th.

Two of the group have just returned from sojourns in France (not together, in different areas) and, while raving about food in general, concurred that macaroons were one of the most enjoyed sweets. Came home and googled. I will try a batch tomorrow - I have all the ingredients, and they seem like they will be a good sweet nibble for the party. If the experiments are edible I can use them at the two meetings this week where I am supposed to supply sustenance.

Fiddling with food

Not much fibre today, even of the dietary kind. I spent most of the morning making finger food for Kevin's 70th birthday party at the end of the month.

Today's achievement - all mini-quiches: 36 crab, coconut and lime, 21 sundried tomato and feta, 12 cheese and prosciutto. We HAD to eat 3 of the crab ones - they browned too much on the bottom and would not reheat successfully. It's true!

Helen delivered three bags as her contribution - two lots of Thai chicken pies and some pork spare ribs. I plan to make some marinated chicken wings and possibly more sausage rolls (I have already made 8 dozen, but they are only bite size). Along with some commercial party pies and cocktail frankfurts I think we have the savoury aspect covered. The freezer is filling up.

Since it is an afternoon event (afternoon tea?) I probably need to consider some sweet bits and possibly some sandwiches. We went shopping at a big barn liquor outlet last week and the drinks are under control.

I need to revise my lists.

A marathon effort

I finished sewing all the squares into the large blocks of 16. Lots of pressing and the odd bit of frogstitching.

I laid it all out on our bed and decided it wasn't big enough - needed another 4 blocks to make it long enough. So I cut and stitched strips and cut out squares. They're not pressed yet, but they are ready to go. I have put the whole lot away because the intended recipient is coming to visit tomorrow.

I plan to make crab and coconut tarts and mini quiches tomorrow. More stuff to be frozen for the birthday party. And I just realised I need more distilled water for the iron.

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

We went to swapmeet today and I bought some new herb plants. My Italian (flat leaf) parsley has been wonderfully lush, but it is now bolting to seed.

I bought one to replace it, plus a small curly leaf parsley. I also bought some sage - I don't use it as often as I could because I never have any growing, and it is not readily available in local outlets. I hope this survives. NO, I hope that it flourishes. Then I can make sage and onion stuffing for the Christmas turkey.

No need for rosemary. I have two very vigorous plants outside the study door which need another chop back.

Thyme is also planted in a pot and seems to be doing well.


My favourite herbs, apart from parsley, are basil and coriander. I bought some basil seedlings yesterday and hope they will grow quickly. I have never had much luck with coriander. As soon as it is big enough to pick it goes to seed. Not a problem though, since it is readily available in local outlets. A packet of each goes into the shopping bag whenever I buy the weekly vegetables.

Today

we didn't go walking. We had to deliver Kevin's new (old) Mazda 929 to a garage for wheel alignment and suspension whatsits early in the morning, though they didn't actually do anything till the late afternoon.

I went to Bestway for yet another of Pam's inspirational 4D workshops. I can now digitise grub roses and circles with various fills - more purple circles?

I sat outside and read after we picked up the car. Temperature possibly 22 degrees Celsius - very nice. But as the sun sank, the mozzies invaded. I think they may be a problem this year since we have had so much rain - it even sprinkled a little today.

Dinner was Cardamon and Black Pepper Chicken - so easy and so yummy. Thanks, Helen, for reminding me of this recipe when I rang - she was making it too.

I did absolutely no fiddling with fibre.

Almost tweeting

I am resisting the move to Twitter and I have only looked at a couple of Tweeters.

However, I found an entry on someone's blog that looks almost like a Twitter blueprint. Can't think what to Tweet about? Help is at hand!

This is the list:
Making :
Cooking :
Drinking :
Reading:
Wanting:
Looking:
Playing:
Wasting:
Sewing:
Wishing:
Enjoying:
Waiting:
Liking:
Wondering:
Loving:
Hoping:
Marvelling:
Needing:
Smelling:
Wearing:
Following:
Noticing:
Knowing:
Thinking:
Feeling:
Bookmarking:
Opening:
Giggling:
Feeling:

So to take the first four:
I am making metres of wrapped cord (Why will be explained later)
I am cooking (have cooked) a beef curry for dinner. Yummo!
I am drinking a glass of bubbly.
I am reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Fiddling - not Fibre

I went to Pam's monthly 4D software workshop today. My MacBook played up AGAIN. I think I need to investigate Bootcamp - Parallels is just not coping with this graphics intensive program.

However, I am becoming more and more competent with the software. It didn't take me more than 10 minutes after reboot to get back to where everyone else was - one hour into the workshop.

I really enjoyed this lesson. It mostly involved Stitch Editor, which we haven't used often. Great fun morphing a basic shape. I want to play more, but tomorrow I am hosting the fortnightly gathering of my sewing group, so it will have to wait.

I need to make sandwiches or scones tomorrow morning. Tonight I have made an orange cake. It smells divine - I hope it tastes as good. It was an incredibly easy recipe, so if it is any good I will post it on the blog.

Not quite MasterChef

We followed the last week of the MasterChef Australia program with interest. While Chris was not our favourite we felt he had been dudded when Julie, who had made a hopeless mess of her dishes that night, was chosen to proceed to the final. And then she won - admittedly with better cooking than her previous effort.

I was not impressed by the way the contestants in the competition were permitted to wear such unsuitable clothing. Chris's hats were an obvious health hazard, though they did at least cover most of his greasy hair, while I kept expecting Julie's curls and frills to catch on fire. At least they wore aprons.

I could not possibly enter such a competition. I am a pretty good cook. I have done a Commercial Cooking course at TAFE as well as teaching Home Economics for many years, but I am sure I would fall to pieces under any sort of pressure.

But I can produce something pretty good for the evening meal. This was last night's offering. Fillet steak, smashed potatoes with chives, slow roasted Mediterranean vegetables (finger eggplants, baby zucchini, sliced fennel, onion, tomatoes, garlic and basil) plus steamed green beans and broccoli. Kev was so impressed he took a photo. Pity it is not presented on a white plate.

Tomato Sauce

We bought a box of Roma tomatoes at the Stock Road Markets last Saturday for $5. By Tuesday 6 small bottles had been filled with sauce. This year's version seemed a bit more spicy than the last one I made a couple of years ago - same recipe though. I labelled these "May the fourth be with you". I loved the joke, even after getting it in three different emails

Wednesday I made a pot of tomato passata which I have frozen for winter use. The tomato box was now only half-full.

Thursday I made another big pot of sauce. Perhaps because the tomatoes were now a bit riper and needed less cooking to get the right colour and texture, it doesn't taste as spicy as the first. I got about 2 litres of sauce from 3 kilos of tomatoes. I don't think I will need to make tomato sauce again for another couple of years.

There were still about 30 tomatoes left after that. I was going to make more passata, but they are so juicy and flavoursome now that we have been scoffing them raw. Maybe tomorrow I will. I don't think we'll looking for tomatoes at the markets tomorrow morning.

It's raining!

Easter seems to mark the boundary between summer and winter - we don't really have autumn here in Perth. Definitely no wonderful show of leaf colour.

Yesterday was hot (34.3 Celsius). We had a family lunch outside and almost considered bringing out a couple of electric fans to stir the air.

Today it is raining - a nice gentle dripping that will do the garden a great deal of good. It is still quite warm though.

Lunch yesterday was a major production. Graham brought his speciality of ceviche and I made hors d'oeuvres of cream cheese, capers and smoked salmon garnished with dill. As well there was crayfish (Western rock lobster - a great special at a local supermarket) with homemade Mary Rose sauce. There is a recipe here. I don't use whisky in mine though.

Later there was ham and turkey and spiced lamb riblets with beetroot salad, chickpea salad, egg and potato salad and a tossed green salad plus freshly baked Turkish bread. No-one wanted dessert - strange, that.

And I forgot to take any photos of the feast.

Nothing Much Today

Very little fibre fiddling, though I did manage one seam on the pants I am trying to make.

Kevin was due at Murdoch SJOG Hospital by 12.30 for his colonoscopy. At 11.30 Martin rang up. He had left the headlights of his car on and the battery was flat. He had been unable to start it by pushing and wanted jumper leads. So that meant a trip to Orelia after dropping Kevin off - a full hour spent on this.

Then I went to do some chores and it was time to pick Kevin up. He was a bit woozy from the anaesthetic and has been napping since we got home. I need to make dinner now - chicken stirfry tonight. I will go and pull out a couple of the pak choy he has growing in a wheelbarrow out the back. Yum.

Happy Birthday

to me! Not telling how many though.

Spent the morning finishing off everything needed for the two exhibition entries. The fan was my major concern since it needed to travel to Queensland. I packed it very securely in a large padded bag between 2 layers of cardboard and a bit of bubblewrap for the other two that were made in the workshop, then trotted off to the Post Office and sent everything away.

Bit of a problem with the Stitched and Bound entry. The postcode I took from the entry form was, according to the clerk, wrong. So I changed it, heart in mouth, to the one he suggested. I have since checked the documentation and I believe the entry form is in error. I have emailed the convenor.

Spent a bit of time at Garden City in the afternoon. Kevin told me to buy myself a present. Maybe I should have indulged in jewellery, but I bought a book. The Margarets by Sherri S Tepper. She is one of my favourite SF/Fantasy authors and really doesn't write fast enough. This is her first new book since 2004.



Then we went to look at the apartment in Cottesloe that Helen is moving into. She wants to paint the room she will sleep in and was working on wall preparation. We all sat outside as the sun slid down towards the sea, drinking a rather nice bubbly. Then Kevin and Helen patched walls while I drank more bubbly and watched the sun set. Pretty boring, actually - clouds are needed for a spectacular sunset and there were none today.

Bought takeaway curries from our favourite spot in Hilton on the way home; 2 meat and 2 veg plus complimentary buttered rice and pappadums. Lamb and beef, brinjal and dahl. YUM!

So yes, a happy birthday.

Family Gathering

My sister Dorothy and her husband Mick came to lunch, as did Helen.

We had a very pleasant afternoon.

Helen brought a lot of stuff for us to store. She is moving into a beachside unit at Cottesloe with friends and is going to rent out her own unit. So we get to look after the unwanted stuff.

Dorothy brought dessert. Pretty impressive presentation.

More catch up on the week past

Glenys Mann stayed with us from Sunday midday to Tuesday evening last week.

We went to the textile exhibition at Heathcote on Sunday afternoon. I had been the week before and had loved the work, but particularly the pieces by Christine Atkins (who is a member of Designing Women - boast, boast). Glenys was also impressed. Then we went to Midland to Gomboc Gallery to see the exhibition of paintings by Margaret Woodward. This painter is a favourite of Glenys's and she had really wanted to see the exhibition. I have a friend with the same name, but she is not a painter who can ask for (and get!) $45000 for a painting. I also took Glenys to see the Railway Workshops sculptures and the Coal Dam while we were in Midland.

Monday we went to Fremantle and hit the bookshops, new and secondhand, then went to the Fremantle Arts Centre. Great exhibitions on at the moment: Olga Cironis has wrapped a tree in blankets, Susan Flavell has built heroic size figures from cardboard strips, Ruth Parker has made fabulous curtains from rusted bottle tops and Nicole Andrijevic and Tanya Schultz have used sugar crystals and icing on motorised mirrors to make a magical fairy land.



Tuesday evening we went to the WAFTA meeting. I have been a member for a few years, but rarely manage to go to the meetings since I don't like driving at night. After the meeting we went to the airport so Glenys could get the red eye special. She has since told me that she lucked out and had 3 seats to herself, so could sleep. Wouldn't happen to me!!

Wednesday morning we got a call from Esperance where Kevin's sister and niece live. His sister had had an accident with boiling oil and was being sent to Perth for evaluation by the Burns Unit at Royal Perth Hospital.

A description of the rest of the week can be found on the family blog.

Today we have been prawning. We bought a 10kg box of "soft and broken" king prawns from a fishery company in Fremantle on the recommendation of a friend. It works out to $11 a kilo and despite the name the prawns look great. We are sharing them with Graham, Kevin's brother, and Helen so we weighed them into 1.5kg bags. Then we had to find freezer space.

There was a 1.5kg package I had bought earlier in the year that obviously needed eating first so they have been defrosted, peeled and half of them cooked tonight. The rest will be cooked tomorrow. When you remove heads and shells, 1.5kg is reduced to 750g. Still a lot of prawns for 2 people to consume. And the processing is dangerous. I have so many cuts and puncture wounds from the shells that I wonder if I should get a tetanus injection!