A chore free weekend

Last night I went hell for leather on the house chores.  I cleaned the bathrooms, did loads of washing, ironed.  I even cleaned the fish tank.  As a result I now have a clean house and a whole weekend stretching out in front of me chore free!

It is a gorgeously liberating feeling.  To know that I will go home and just get to relax and do as I please all weekend with none of those pesky cleaning obligations.

I must do this more often.

For the record, I used the shower screen cleaning recipe of 1/4 cup bi-carb soda, tablespoon dishwashing liquid and enough vinegar to make a paste that was posted on the Vogue forum and it really works brilliantly!  My shower screens are crystal clear again.

The sounds of summer - Mr Whippy

After a slow start, the Australian summer has arrived in its full glory and it is hot, damn hot.  Yesterday was 37 degrees and even in the shade with the breeze blowing, there was no escaping that heat.

Naturally talk at the BBQ soon turned towards cool things, ice-cream in particular and my friend began to regale us with the story of how the night before she had been walking the dogs with her husband when they heard the siren song of the Mr Whippy van.  In the heat they tore across a major road and through the suburb, lured on by a tinny rendition of "Greensleeves" until at last they arrived at the van and forked out $8 (!!!) each for an ice-cream (he did give them mini free ones for the dogs).

Then with precision timing, as we were still laughing at her story, we heard the fateful music.  Heads popped up like Meerkats, and the ice-cream truck (this time playing "Teddy Bear's Picnic") rounded the bend.  Before he had even stopped the truck the crew were up and running across the park.

There are some things that just taste better, even if you do pay a premium for them - chocolate in the shape of a bunny, grated cheese, a sandwich someone else has made and yes, ice cream out of a truck.  I don't think it matters how old we get, when you hear that music playing, everyone wants an ice-cream.

Australia Day

Happy Australia Day everyone!  I hope you spent it celebrating in style, I sure did.  I had a sleep in, went to a BBQ in the park and finished the day eating gelato and playing on swings, all in the best of company.  What more could you want?

Australia Day means different things to different people.  As a pretty damn patriotic Aussie, it has always been special for me, a day to think about all the things that make this country great. In fact, my activities today kind of summed it up.

A sleep in - we work hard in Australia, but we know how to enjoy ourselves too.  We are rabid sports fans, devotes of the beach, lovers of a good time.  Most people I know are extremely committed to their jobs and work some serious hours, but give us time off and the laid back Aussie emerges.

BBQ in the park - I love the community spirit in this country (which I guess is summoned up by the word mateship, although politicians have stolen that word for nefarious means and I don't like it so much any more).  I have the most marvellous group of family and friends who form my community, but it is larger than that.  The response to the floods shows that this whole country of ours is a community, and it is wonderful

Gelato - Australia is a land of immigrants.  In fact I'm first generation Australian on one side.  Any each of those waves of immigrants have brought such richness and vibrancy to this country.  Food is a great example, but there is so much more of our identity that has been forged from the influence of all those nations.

So on Australia Day each year, I get to revel in the enormous luck I had to be born in such a wonderful country.  However 3 years ago Australia Day took on another meaning for me, because on the 26th of January 2008 I got to stand next to my best friend as she married the love of her life.  We all thought they took a risk on the weather given that Australia Day is generally bloody hot (it was 37 today) but it was perfect, in fact the whole day was perfect.

I've said it before, I love a wedding, but watching my best friend get married was really special.  The happiness that those two have brought to each other's lives, the fate of them finding each other, the life they have forged together, all of those things now form a part of Australia Day for me.  So happy anniversary guys to to everyone else, happy Australia Day!

My productive garden - part 3

Look at the bounty my garden has produced.  I never get past the excitement of picking something from my garden.  It is always full of herbs, but in summer, a bed not much bigger than my desk also gets planted out with as many vegetables as I can fit in a small space.

However, it has been a bit of a disappointing year to this point.  With all the rain everything grew like crazy, but nothing ripened.  The squash were particularly disappointing as they kept rotting before they got to picking stage.  Likewise the black russian tomatoes had just sat disappointingly green on the vine, not doing a thing. 

But what a difference a week of sunshine can make!  Last night I went out intending to pick the few red cherry tomatoes I could see, only to find hiding beneath their giant leaves a veritable army of squash!  And next to them the tomatoes had suddenly coloured up too!  Even the cherry tomatoes were hiding their glory just waiting for a closer look.  There was so much that I was able to bring a massive container into the office to share with my colleagues.

I feel all proud of the efforts of my little garden!  Just imagine what we could all do if everyone turned over a bit of their garden to growing produce.

Leftovers

What is better that a yummy, healthy, satisfying meal?  Having enough of it that you can have it again for dinner the next night with no effort!

I made a massive pot of fresh salsa and bacon pasta last night, so much so that I could have it for dinner again tonight!  It is a simple meal, but super tasty.  Filling but also light on these hot evenings.

It is one of my staple meals, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Fresh Salsa and Bacon Pene (serves 3-4)
4 largish roma tomatos, de-seeded and diced
handful of basil shreded
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons caster sugar
6 rashers of bacon diced
small packet pine nuts
about 350-250g pene
baby spinach (I used rocket because there is a complete lack of baby spinach at the moment)
shaved parmesan (to taste, I like lots)

Mix together the diced tomatos, basil, sugar, balsamic vinegar and oil.  Leave to sit for awhile.

Fry the bacon, when it is looking crispy add the pine nuts for the last few minutes to toast.  Drain the fat off.

While you are ftying the bacon, cook the pene according to packet instructions.  Drain and return to the saucepan.  Add the tomato mixture, bacon mixture, a couple of handfuls of baby spinach and the shaved parmesan.  Stir through till spinach has wilted.

Serve with extra shaved parmesan and cracked pepper on top.

Sunday morning

Oh I do love pastry.  The flakier the better, so what better way is there to start the day than with a couple of golden croissants.

Owing to the wonder that is Sara Lee, I tend to have ready access with a supply of them on hand in my freezer, but I do tend to save them up as a treat.  This morning was a good morning for such a treat, so just a few minutes after getting up, I had fresh, hot croissants, smothered with jam and a cup of tea on the table.

Mmmmmm, a superb start to the day.

So you remember that time Noah was pole dancing?

There are some images that once seen, will remain locked in your head forever.  For me, the image of someone dressed as Noah in a sheet from Vinnies and shiny nylon hair, pole dancing on a boat is one of those images.

Last night was the great K's 30th birthday and he had it on the "Pirate Party Boat".  Everyone donned high seas themed costumes and we sailed around the lake for hours, enjoying a BBQ, drinks, music and eventually as a result of the drinks and music, some impromptu pole dancing.

The costumes were many and varied.  There were several excellent pirates, quite a few sailors and members of the Admiralty, but there was also seaweed, a suba diver (complete with fins which made walking interesting) and of course, Noah.  Sourced from Vinnies, his costume was excellent, but it is his enthusiastic, if unskilled, pole dancing that will lock him in our memories forever.