Happy Birthday.....

Today, April 30th 2010, my new baby niece with no official name was born. Well, actually she was born yesterday but it was the 30th in Australia yesterday. It's times like this that it breaks my heart to be so far away from my herd.... oh I wish I could be there.
Love you Big Sis xoxox

Diamonds are a girls best friend........

This past December the hubby and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary....aaaaaaaaawww...I know. Mr Wonderful surprized me with a little something sparkly and shiny, and I, in return surprized him with something sparkly and shiny. Can you guess what it was? Here's a little hint.......

 There's my something sparkly and shiny, ( looks like someone needs a little moisturiser ) ............ I used his to make this.

Taa daaa.....

Now don't get too excited, I didn't get him the mixer, just the pasta attachment.

So I drove out to Rogers flour Mill today, got me some semolina flour and made some yummy pasta for dinner. The recipe for the homemade pasta I found here.

Add this..

to this....

like this....

to make this....

then this....

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Now don't you all want to rush out and get your own little something sparkly and shiny ?

Tootles.

Eggs.....

I love that my eggs come with a riddle.......

I love that this rooster loves his job.....

I love that this is where my eggs come from....

Thanks Ladies.

I think I may have a problem........I dream about aprons in my sleep. I may need to start taking a dose of gravol before heading to bed just so that my brain stops ticking and I can get to sleep.

I made this apron for Miss Moo a couple of days ago, it's just a prototype but I think I may make some for the market and get other mummies addicted too.

I have been emailing the lovely Interior Health man regarding all the regulations for selling my jams at the market and it is looking doable ( is that a real word?) I have been getting the odd request and my poor hubby I am sure would love some extra money coming in. Here's hoping I can make it worth every ones while.

Ouch....my heart.

Another crack in my heart, another tear cried and lots and lots of hugs from Mum and Dad.
Poor dear Zoe lost her first pet yesterday, Oscar the Siamese fighting fish. She has cared for, talked to and loved that fish for almost four years and has now also learned one of the hardest lessons in life.
Thank you Oscar, for being that guy.....or girl, we never knew your sexual orientation, but that never mattered to us. We did our best .....I hope that you are happy in fishy heaven.

Zoe wrote a note to tell you what you meant to her, then you were gently wrapped in that same note.

We eached picked you a flower and said our goodbyes.

Some of us had a little more difficulty finding the words.

One last special moment with Zoe, and a Primrose to mark your place in our hearts and our home.

Now back to business.

Dessert Pizza

Yup, you heard it right.....tonight, we had oooey gooey caramel banana pizza for dessert. I think my kids may have thought I was headed for the loonie bin, but whadya know, it got the ooey gooey thumbs up from all parties involved.
You see, the plan was to make my world famous calzones for dinner, nothing out of the ordinary, but seeing as the hubby was not around for dinner, we had some leftover pizza dough.
Calzones were yummy, so I was thinking I would post my dough recipe for you all to enjoy......and that is still the plan, but I have to share with you the ooey gooey goodness also.
Now are you ready for this????????

Ok, now wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth and think about the 100 billion carbs in this bad boy.

First course calzones, second course...well you get the picture.

So here's my recipe, incase any of you are brave enough......

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 
  
  In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top and let stand for 10 minutes, until foamy.
• 
  
  Stir the olive oil and the salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough onto a surface floured with the remaining flour and knead until the flour has been absorbed, and the dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.
• 
  
  When the dough is doubled, tip onto a lightly flored surface and divide according to use. 2 balls for pizza, or 8 balls for calzones. Form into tight balls and let rise for about 45 minutes.
• 
  
  Preheat oven to 400 c. Roll out balls of dough, then place on well greased pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Or, if you have no cornmeal, parchment paper is a good alternative.
• 
  
  If making pizza, top with your favourite ingredients. If making calzones, fill one half with your favourite ingredients, brush edges with egg wash, fold over and press edges with a fork. Be sure to also poke holes in to top to let out steam. Bake until crust is lightly browned.

Spring has sprung....

....it's here. SPRING. Although, the weather has been lovely for months now, it really doesn't feel like spring is her until you start to see some color. Granted, there's not much of it yet but as you can see the wait is worth it. This is what is bloomimg in my garden so far, tulips are yet to come and daffodils, but this should tide me over for a while.

So in honour of this lovely parade of colour, I made this fun treat. For those of you not familiar with this yummy treat for the eyes and tastebuds, this is Jelly slice. I can post the recipe if anyone wants it.

Every aussie child recognises this slice. Although, I'm sure I can almost hear the shrieks of disbelief at my use of lemon jello instead of strawberry or rasberry. All I have to say is...don't knock it until you've tried it. I ate three pieces for lunch today, and the only thing stopping me from eating the whole lot was my 4 year old watching me with disgust.

Zoe's crosscountry meet went well. I was cheering so loudly I am surprised I even have a voice today. It went so well that she decided to stick with it and try again next week. Way to go Zoe. I love that she stopped to pose for her pic.....always the poser.

P.S. She doesn't run like her mother....Phew!