Sunday Citar - The Persistence of Yellow


Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme.
Pop over and have a look, I am sure she would love you to join in as well.


This week for my birthday, one of my work colleagues gave me a beautiful book - The Persistence of Yellow ... "a book of recipes for life" by Monique Duval.
Today I will share some of the writings with you ... and some of my yellow photos ... enjoy.

Oh and the book is of course subject to copyright.



On Tuesday she woke up and realised she had forgotten the definition of the word "Impossible". She decided it must not have been important #230 (Tuesday was my birthday this year ... and so I no longer have the work Impossible in my vocabulary!!)

Once upon a time, a girl prayed for true love. Her prayer was answered. She learned to love herself. #30



There is a quiet wind voice inside of me. It's the same voice inside of you. Delicate and persevering, it lead us towards each other. Across desert sand, traffic noise, solitary sky. I found your little house by the sea. And I never wanted to leave... #189

and from the back cover ...

And suddenly, the clouds parted and she realised what she had been following.
She saw it there in the distance like a house with wings and a candle burning in
every window: Her heart. So, of course, she had to enter.
Once you follow your heart, and then find it, you must open the door.



THANKS to my friend (and colleague) L for knowing that this was the book I need in my life right about now xxx

A Basic Meal



Another food blog! Trust me though- there won't be many. I just thought I'd share our dinner tonight because it was cheap, easy, and somewhat good for you! No recipe, nothing fancy. But since I appreciate simple fixing ideas for dinner, maybe someone else does too! So here is is...



Salmon $7 with mashed potatoes $1, squash &  zucchini .60 cents/each. 
Total cost for two people: $10 (with marinade added in). 
Total Cook Time: 15 minutes (after marinated)




Okay so the mashed potatoes were from a packet, not good for you, but easy. Veges- cut up and toss into butter or EVOO coated skillet for 5 minutes on high, sprinkle on s&p & herbs, then cook on simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Salmon- marinate in Lawry's Sesame Ginger for 30 minutes in fridge then throw on George Foreman for 5 minutes.

Ta-Da! It was delicious!

Easy Sunday: Acceptable Broccoli, Zucchini and Bacon Pasta Bake

I'm breaking my sweet Sundays and going savoury. I feel the need to share some of my standby Monday / Tuesday meals. On M/T I leave food in the fridge for Annabelle, our M/T nanny, to reheat for the Tsunamis' dining pleasure. So it needs to not dry out, be safe to reheat and it needs to be food that they'll eat without fussing.  This pasta bake ticks all the boxes. It's the only food Maxi-Taxi will eat that has 'green bits' in it and not spend hours sitting there picking out minute bits of vegetable that are not actually visible to the naked eye.

Acceptable Broccoli, Zucchini and Bacon Pasta Bake


300g wholemeal pasta spirals
60g butter
1/4 cup wholemeal plain flour
450ml reduced-fat milk
1 reduced-salt chicken stock cube
2 tsp olive oil
4 short cut bacon rashers, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large head broccoli
2 grated zucchinis
1 1/2 cups grated tasty cheese
Wholemeal breadcrumbs
Butter


• Preheat oven to 180°C.

• Cook the pasta, drain.

• Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until mixture is bubbling. Remove from heat. Slowly add milk, stirring until mixture is smooth. Return to heat. Melt the stock cube in a little boiling water and add to mixture. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until mixture comes to the boil. Add 1 cup cheese and stir through.

• Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the bacon, onion and garlic and cook, until soft and lightly caramelised.

• Break the broccoli into small florets. Add grated zucchini. Cook in the microwave until soft. Use a fork to mash. Place in ovenproof dish.

• Add pasta, bacon, onion, garlic, zucchini and broccoli and mix together. Pour the cheesy sauce over and mix well. Sprinkle ½ cup cheese on top. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over top and dot with small dobs of butter. Bake about 30 minutes until golden.

Enjoy!

[Image by Louise Lister from Taste ; recipe my own]

Blue Crabs Game!

For this past fathers day hubby and I purchased Blue Crabs tickets for our parents, and ourselves. Hubby's sister, brother in law, and our nephews also got tickets in the row behind us. We thought it would be nice to get our parents together and enjoy an evening outside watching a ball game. What we didn't know was how the weather would turn out. Since we've had scorching hot weather lately we thought for sure it would be a warm, humid night. Way wrong. It was BEAUTIFUL! No humidity, cool, and pleasant evening. We ate peanuts, burgers, fries, sausage, chicken tenders... and turkey hill ice cream Mmm! Our seats were right behind the home plate so no worries of foul balls...since nobody had a glove. Hubby did catch a squishy Blue Crabs ball they threw from the roof though, and gave it to Daniel. Afterwards they had a spectacular fireworks show; One of the best I've seen in awhile. The icing on the cake- on the way out we got free 8 count nugget coupon for Chick-fil-a! Guess where I'm going for lunch Monday? :) We couldn't have asked for a better night.  
Here are a couple photos!

Daniel so excited!

Brothers @ Blue Crabs

I just love this picture 

Same picture as above, just playing with effects :)

View from our seats

Us

My Parents

Dylan & his Grandma playing with Uncle Jimmy

Design Democracy Awards

London Design Festival by Torie Jayne
I am so excited to tell you that Torie Jayne has been nominated for the Design Democracy Awards.

mydeco have teamed up with London Design Festival to run the first ever 'Design Democracy blog awards', championing the best design blogs in the UK. The blogs with the most votes in each category - plus one overall winner selected by mydeco and LDF - will form the official blogging task force at London Design Festival 2010, with VIP backstage access to all 200+ events. The winning bloggers will be assigned different itineraries and their posts will create four unique perspectives on the festival.

I was asked to write ‘what design democracy means to me’...

Design democracy is about giving everyone and anyone the chance to express their take on design. With the introduction of blogs this has become more prevalent than ever before and gives us all a voice; we are no longer restricted to sourcing ideas from traditional media such as glossy magazines and television. Blogs can be a celebration of design and a platform to share a love of interiors, for example, to make a house a home regardless of budget or design credentials and then to share that vision with the world. I know I have found so many inspirational ideas here in blogland and it has given me a chance to share with you, my sweet readers, all that lovely inspiration.

If you would like to see me win please vote for me on the mydeco website. Thank you darlings!



Have a sweet day!

Wednesday Wonderfuls....

Our creative fun...



Enjoying play dough on the deck with daddy, while I run about getting ready for a girlie party tonight for my beautiful friend who is getting married in a couple of weeks. I am crafting a tin can flower bunting (photo's to follow) sushi making and flower decorating for tonight's special event...fingers crossed it all works out on time.

Quick & Easy (no cook) PLAY DOUGH RECIPE

1 cup salt
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup of water (warm or cold)
food colour and extra flour for rolling and playing with at the end (i also store the dough in the fridge)
Mix with a wooden spoon in a large bowl - we like to divide the dough into four parts *we place a little food dye into each ball, that way we end up with a rainbow of colours.

Our play dough box contains...shells, pebbles, sticks, dinosaurs, plastic animals, glitter, cutters, and patty cases. Quick, easy and no burnt pots at the end!



It's so nice to look outside my window and see this...relaxation, contentment, warm weather and beautiful growth in our garden.





It has just been a gorgeous day and one cute little boy loves to potter in the garden with his daddy...our lemon and olive trees are happy in warm sun, i am excited for tonight and for the warm summer days and balmy nights that are fast approaching. x

My Beliefs

I believe ... that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe ... that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe ... that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe ... that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe ... that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe ... that you can keep going long after you can't.

I believe ... that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe ... that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe ... that my husband and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe ... that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I believe ... that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe ... that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.



"What are your beliefs?"


x S.K.K x

This Saturday I'm grateful for... grandparents!

Here in Maxabellaland, Saturday is traditionally a sport, shop, sort the clothes, sweep the floors, strangle the Tsunamis (insert other 's' words here - no pun intended) kinda day. But on Maxabella loves... I thought it would be grounding to make Saturday my 'grateful' day.

I'm writing this post in advance (it's Monday, I'm organised!) as this weekend we are off down the coast to visit Gran and Pops. They only live about 3 hours drive away, but we haven't been down since Anzac Day (and even then G and P were actually off on holiday themselves). So, it's been since Christmas time that we've been at Gran and Pops' place while G and P were actually there. Crazy!

The Tsunamis talk the entire 3 hours drive. Maxi-Taxi, in particular, is fond of a story and will not draw breath the entire journey. I've learnt to tune them out while I drive The Terror along the freeway, but the chattering is still headache inducing and I generally arrive in a somewhat crazed state. But there's nothing like coming back to the home I grew up in and, as ever, when your mum is around you're not the main mum. She lifts the burden of parenting just by being there.  A more experienced mum than yourself, she can be relied on to be the one who knows what needs to be done. Instant relaxation!

So, this Saturday I'm grateful for...

1. Grandparents - in all their loving glory.

2. The excited cry of 'there's a cow, mummy!' from the backseat of The Terror, which, aside from being just plain cute, signals that there will finally be more interesting stuff out the window than strip malls, boring bush or freeway to distract the Tsunamis for the rest of a long journey.

3. Weekend breaks - same shite, different location, I know. But a welcome break from routine all the same.


What's making you happy today?


[Image]

Kitchen bird hooks

Kitchen Bird Hooks by Torie Jayne
Kitchen Bird Hooks by Torie Jayne

1. Gauntlet, pink flamenco oven glove
2. Duck egg blue & pink medium chopping boards
3. Enchanted bird coat hanger hook
4. GreenGate Naomi beige tea towel
5. Duck egg blue trivet
6. Pink & Duck egg blue medium chopping boards

This week in my series of posts, "Fridays Finds", I bring you a selection of items hanging on bird hooks in my almost finished new kitchen. I painted my bird hooks in duck egg blue kitchen paint to match the opposite wall which we have painted duck egg blue. My oven glove is from Cath Kidston from a collection she did a couple of years ago.

Don't forget you can click on any blue lettering in any of my posts to link through to the relevant store website or blog post for more info!

Have a sweet day!

My Bump!

Seeing as it's Friday, I thought I'd treat you all to this little look at my 'bump'. I'll be 36 weeks pregnant tomorrow... Fern thinks it's hilarious and keeps "ticka ticka ticka" (ie. tickling) my belly at every opportunity. Who knows what an 18-month old baby truly understands, but I know mine has noticed my growing bump and is fascinated by it. If I ask her what's in there, she points to her own tummy and says "bubby!"

Poor Fern. She's in for a real shock, and in just a matter of weeks. And so am I, for that matter. At the moment, she is my very best friend and the centre of my universe. Its hard even for me to imagine it any other way. But the cozy world as we know it is about to be rocked upside down... so for now we're enjoying the last precious moments together, my daughter and I, just the two of us...


Have a great weekend, peeps! x
It's raining, it's pouring...











We embraced it and made our our own fun in the puddles...the kids all sporting new gum boots and me rather thankful for throwing mine in the car last minute. Oh, and our $2.oo ponchos purchased quickly... you can't go wrong!



We did enjoy warm winter sun and sparkling rock pools yesterday. Shells and pebbles collected, sand between the toes and finished off with fresh fish and crunchy chips...perfect!















Happiness

I have a new 'Happiness' tab.  Check it out!  What are some things that make YOU happy?

Friday Favourites

Another Friday and another vast array of my Friday Favourites. Thanks for all the lovely comments this week and hello to some new friends. We have a busy weekend again filled with the girls friends birthday parties - Sunday is back to back birthday parties for Sienna and I can almost guarantee that when we leave the last party she was ask "where are we going now" and when I announce "home" there will be a shriek of "what, no!".
Hope you weekend is filled with fun.


Leanne
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)