Fairy lights turn our bedroom into a romantic hideaway

 I've turned our bedroom into a romantic hideaway with fairy lights.  

Knotted strips of white fabric soften the look of the wire. 

I used georgette: voile, lace or tulle would work as well.

The gorgeous Lily helped me with my decorating.  

I wonder how long it will be before she does a Tarzan across the room.

Sunday again already

Another stunning day - it sounds so monotonous doesn't it? Only its not, its divine. Warm, bright and sunny, soft breeze. My perfect idea of spring. The daffies are blooming, along with lemon and yellow pansies, dark cerise rhododendruns, blue marguerites and lavender. A blue and yellow palette with shots of pink.

The chickens are out scratching - probably digging up my vegies, Kate likes to do that.  Their coop is clean with fresh with lavender and herbs to pick out. Today's selection is lemon balm, Vietnamese mint, rosemary and thyme.

The washing is all done and swaying on the line. The gardens are all watered. The dogs and cats have taken themselves off for naps. There's no one around but me and the birds.

I need to mop and vacuum but its far too nice outside for that. Those chores can wait for the waning sun.

Better than chips: spicy roast chick peas

Great snack! 

Ingredients

• Dried chickpeas, soaked and boiled until soft
• Olive oil
• Rock salt
• Dry spice mix eg cajun

Make sure the chick peas are dry, then mix with splash of olive oil, salt and spices.  Line a baking tray with paper, toss in the chick peas and bake for about 15 minutes. 

I've been meaning to try making these for a long time. They are worth the wait. I'll be making these on a regular basis from now on in. 

Note: cooking with dried chick peas is quite a bit of work. You need to soak them overnight and then they take about an hour to boil.  I recommend you do this however because you'll hardly believe they are supposed to be the same as canned chick peas. These are bigger, have a nicer texture and taste so much better. The way around the time lag and effort is to cook up a big batch and freeze them. They will be ready anytime you need them with no loss of flavour or texture.  

PS: I ate the whole bowl!!

Lovely visit to Kiama markets on a sunny Sunday

A Sunday drive, visit to markets, a picnic and happy Harry hound.

Cashew and coconut curry: failed recipe

A couple of nights ago I tried a new curry recipe.  I promised to share the recipe. Although I love pinterest and all those who share there, this recipe did not really blow my mind. I cooked it a few days ago and have eaten it twice. Its fine, an okay meal but despite the cashews and coconut milk it's not spectacular.  Tonight I ate the curry with quinoa and broccoli and hommous which was a great pinterest idea. So that particular recipe can go into the archives.

And my neighbour says, "What are you trying to do, make it rain?"

I have just finished washing the cars. When I began, the sky looked like this:

 And now I'm finished, the sky looks like this:

From nowhere! How typical. Still its pretty warm for late winter. Whatever you are doing today, enjoy it ;)

Eggplant in pyjamas - eggplant parmagiana

One of my favourite meals, but I don't make it very often. We had this for dinner last night and I had left overs for lunch, which was even better.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
Pureed tomatoes
Ricotta
Mozarella or boccocini cheese
Oregano and basil
Breadcrumbs

Method
Slice the eggplant into scant 1cm slices. Cut ends off zucchini, cut in half. Cut each half into thin slices lengthwise until you have thin strips. Steam both vegetables until soft.

Mix ricotta, breadcrumbs and herbs together in a bowl and set aside.

Spray shallow baking tray with cooking oil. Pour in a small amount of tomato puree. Place the largest eggplant slices in the bottom of the tray - 1 slice per serve being prepared.

Top eggplant slice with ricotta mix, zucchini slices, tomato and a small amount of mozzarella. Repeat until all finished. Gently push down on top slice to compact.

Add more mozzarella to the top of the stack. Back in a moderate oven all vegetables are cooked through and the cheese is bubbling on top. This may take longer than you expect, and depends on how long you have pre-steamed the vegies for.

Serve with fresh basil.  Yummy!!!