Easter Egg Inspiration (all images courtesy of flickr.com)

For my lovely niece this year, I have decided to make her an Easter Egg Basket and to decorate some gorgeous eggs. I was thinking of different mediums with which to experiment, to create some wonderfully rich and vibrant designs. I have included some fabulous, artistic creations from the talented users at flickr. Be sure to check them out! Thanks for the inspiration!!

Reasons why I love Sundays...

Today was a lovely day. It began beautifully with the morning sun shining into our bedroom. Attending mass was good and then breakfast on our verandah was divine. I made a delicious strawberry, mint and maple syrup compote to top some organic Irish Soda bread with fruit. It was made even tastier with the T2 French Earl Grey Tea. Decorating the table with a vase full of Lisianthus, and a brand new Autumn inspired table cloth created such an inviting theme. 

We also attended the football today, after I visited family. Mum's home made spinach pies and gorgeous salad was enjoyed again on our verandah. 

We walked to Jubilee Oval to watch the Dragons' return to their football home. It was gratifying that they won! 

Dinner was soup from our local Chinese restaurant. Dessert was the lovely strawberries I bought at the farmers' markets yesterday, and the Lindt chocolate flakes I melted over low heat on the stove. Mmmm...oh and again, some T2 French Earl Grey Tea. 

Sundays allow for slow movement, reflection and the opportunity to dream, sleep and have wonderful conversations. 

I am really looking forward to the school holidays - so that I can read more blogs, books, listen to music and enjoy time to relax, cook, garden, reflect, explore and travel

A Saturday of Sensations!

Today I went to market, to market - to Eveleigh Markets at the Carriageworks. Check out the website for details and images -  www.eveleighmarket.com.au  It was indeed a delightful experience. I went with my dear friend Helen, from work. We had such fun, drinking coffee, eating artisan hot cross buns, buying lisianthus and greenery, not to mention delicious fruit, vegetables and cheese. One of my favourite cheesemakers is Binniore cheese, from the Hunter Valley. I used to go to a local farmers market, until they stopped stocking Binniore cheese and was quite pleased to find them at the markets. I purchased what was once, and will now again become a staple - cows milk marinated fetta and a new cheese - Duette. It is a lovely mix of gorgonzola and goes really well with fresh figs. Buying two varieties of cheese made me think about how Charles De Gaulle once said "How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" 

I bought lovely fresh lemons, capsicum, fennel, eggplant, broccoli, dutch creme potatoes, portobello mushrooms, swiss brown mushrooms, fuji apples (my favourite - closely followed by Pink Ladies) baby beetroot, dutch carrots, fresh strawberries and cheese, pots of sage and tarragon. It truly was a wonderful experience. 

There was a lovely wine tasting for Mistletoe Wines at the Hunter Valley, so after tasting the blend of shiraz cabernet, I bought one for my husband. 

After our idyllic morning, chatting to the farmers, cheese makers, wine makers and flower farmers we headed home. 

I then visited my favourite butchers  Nick and John and came away with different cuts of lamb and beef, chicken and ham and bacon.

Dinner tonight was inspired in part by Maggie Beer and in part by the fabulous farmers whose produce was indeed sensational. I do have to say vino cotto is now one of my favourites! I deglazed the pan (after cooking some delicious t-bone steaks seasoned with salt and pepper) with the vino cotto and used it to serve with the beef (after it had rested) and it was just divine. Figs with duette and strawberries accompanied the shiraz. 

One could think that all I did was shop for food and cook food - well that was most of the day, though I did want to reflect on the successes on my verandah - the endive is taking quite well to the pot and today I planted sage and tarragon. I have now got the planter pots ready for the seeds which I will plant tomorrow. 

I have to say that food is a joy, a delight. To eat excellent produce is not only life giving but it does indeed feed the soul. 

Another day like this

This about says all I want to say about today.

When it's not always raining

there'll be days like this

When there's noone complaining

there'll be days like this

Everything falls into place

like the flick of a switch

Well my momma told me

there'll be days like this

When you don't need to worry

there'll be days like this

When noone's in a hurry

there'll be days like this

When you don't get betrayed

by that old Judas kiss

Oh my momma told me

there'll be days like this

When you don't need an answer

there'll be days like this

When you don't meet a chancer

there'll be days like this

When all the parts of the puzzle 

start to look like they fit

Then I must remember 

there'll be days like this

When everyone is upfront

and they're not playing tricks

When you don't have no freeloaders

out to get their kicks in

When it's nobody's business

the way that you wanna live

I just have to remember

there'll be days like this

When noone steps on my dreams

there'll be days like this

When people understand what I mean

there'll be days like this

When you bring out the changes

of how everything is

Well my momma told me

there'll be days like this

days like this

It is so true...the simplest things in life are often the best. Yes. So cliched - incredibly so. After a mixed day at work - a very stressful meeting meant that I didn't leave until well after 6:30pm, I was left feeling very much deflated and tired. The whole day wasn't stressful - infact team teaching and conversations with colleagues and students made the day delightful. In any case my day once again improved when I eventually got home and cooked a delicious parpadelle dish with chicken, prosciutto, field mushrooms and pesto! It was divine and the home grown basil leaves and delicious pecorino gave it an extra bite!

When the thunder storm finally arrived at our place, I was thinking about Autumn rainfall...and then to cupcakes... which took me to flickr. Please look at the fabulous cupcake designs on my page. They are not mine. I would love to one day design cakes in such a way, but for now, I have these wonderful images to remind me of the truly talented bakers out there who delight in baking delicious but aesthetically pleasing morsels of food. A delicious shiraz from Cassegrains, Port Macquarie - north coast, NSW was the embodiment of bliss...as was the homemade chocolate cake (thanks mum) that I decorated with my favourite Lindt chocolate icing recipe. Reading the lovely blogs online (feel free to check out the ones that I follow) has completely relaxed me and I am looking forward to settling down with my book. 

A cornucopia of cupcake cheer! (All are courtesy of Flickr)

Inspirational Cookbooks

One of my favourite cook books is Maggie Beer's Harvest. I just love the way she creates delicious dishes, with a focus on local produce. I also love the fact that she has run a restaurant, starred in her own program, written about food, written cookbooks and has her own line of food. I also love the fact her love of food stemmed from her humble family meals as a child. I love her recipe for fresh figs and prosciutto salad and fig and preserved lemon salad with walnuts and goats curd. I will be sure to photograph these delectable delights once I have made them!

Early Autumn Harvest

I really do enjoy Autumn, particularly early Autumn given the abundance of delicious herbs and fruit and veggies available.  I grow Orchids, Rosemary, Japonaica, as well as ferns and succulents. I have included some photographs of my mother's herbs which grow in abundance. I was given a gorgeous gift of figs, from a work colleague whose mother picked figs at the weekend. This connectedness to the ground, to home grown produce is so incredibly satisfying. I have included pictures. I hope you enjoy!

mint                                               thyme

fresh figs                                      parsley

basil

Weekend at Home

I love weekends at home. It seems, for the past few weeks, that a weekend at home has been a luxury. We have been lucky to have celebrated an engagement party, two weddings, a hen's and buck's night in the last three weeks. This - and a fundraiser for the National Heart Foundation. Tonight we have been able to settle in for a lovely weekend - we cooked tacos for dinner and have spent time watching the news channels and for me - finding new blogs. Feel free to check the blog list that I have created. There are some gorgeous blogs out there and so many talented writers. I spent a few hours at the local library today and have borrowed a couple of books for pleasure - a fantasy novel titled "Ink and Steel" by Elizabeth Bear and "Easter Treats" by Jill O'Connor. I really want to bake some Easter egg shaped cookies for my gorgeous niece. I will post some images of them (providing they look okay) 

I also purchased some seeds for some lovely varieties of carrots and baby beetroot and oregano. I will also photograph them. Hoping to have some lovely veggies come Winter!

Family meals are such a wonderful time that I truly value over the weekend. I adore my family and Sunday lunch is always a joy at my parent's place. Today I took photos of my mother's herb garden. I will post them soon! The basil, italian flat leaf parsley, mint and thyme were in abundance! The endive and tomatoes were also growing beautifully. Let's hope my collection of potted plants can grow in abundance!

Tweet

Twitter is terrific! Microblogging has become a way of letting people know minute details and to keep in touch. I have a few twitter accounts that I am following - namely the Board of Studies, for work and the Sydney RTA traffic report - for all the times I am stuck in traffic. There is Perez Hilton, for when I want to have a micro moment with Hollywood nostalgia and there are countless education, political and entertaining tweets! There are also some downright insane tweets out there... I suppose we now need to think of other uses for microblogging... hmm.. I did read something about a Republican who was sending tweets when the Democrats were presenting the trillion dollar stimulus package.... hmmm.

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body

Recently I have taken up the challenge to improve my level of fitness. Don't get me wrong, I have always maintained a decent level of fitness and a healthy diet. I have a good relationship with my body but have felt somewhat disappointed in the minimal results I have achieved with all of my hard training. I can run about 10km in about an hour and can swim laps for hours without tiring, however, of late that doesn't seem to be doing much for me. I thought long and hard about my scenario. This was the plateau I had read about. Hours of exercise and not much to show for it. Disappointed as I was, I decided I needed to change things. Not content with the fact I had not achieved my goal I felt it necessary to up the ante. What happened next couldn't have been better scripted in a movie - I went to the gym, with a determination to quit the gym and try something else, and came across this amazing cycle instructor. Her talent and passion for her work is just inspiring. She motivates and does not apologise for pushing her clients beyond the pain / fatigue threshold. Two sessions with her a week and one of her classes, not to mention other exercise has allowed me to notice some pleasant changes. I feel as though I am back on track and inspired more to engage in a variety of activities. The upshot of all of this new and different exercise is that it has allowed me to clear a lot of the 'clutter' in my mind. I feel energised on a Monday evening and feel as though I can meet any challenge. There is a real link between a healthy body and a healthy mind. I now want to turn my thoughts to focusing on Ignatian Spirituality. I think the spiritual exercises will be of use in allowing me to contemplate and discern lifes' challenges. 

A Weekend of Weddings

I knew that this year would be 'the year of weddings'. This weekend is going to launch the 'season' so to speak. You see, this weekend we are invited to two weddings - one on Saturday and one on Sunday. It is indeed a joyous and festive occasion. Yes, each wedding I attend, since having married in September of 2005 in some way, brings me back to the day that I married. So, attending weddings is joyous and happy because one is given an insight into the relationship between the bride and groom. Never is there a greater moment when so many people are there, inspiring well wishes for the bride and groom. It is a pivotal moment when the lucky couple can relish in the thought that all of the people in attendance are there because they want to celebrate this momentous union. 

Attending weddings, or now I should perhaps move onto the receptions, reveals an interesting insight into the varying tastes (namely of the bride) and I am at pains to discuss the merits of any given bridesmaids dress in the fear of offending someone. I will say, there are two moments in the film - 27 Dresses, that captures my feelings of the dresses. One - her closet full of dresses. Two - her wedding. Enough said.

Reception venues are indeed interesting places - I don't think I have ever truly disliked a venue, given that each one has its own idiocyncracies that engender some kind of response. 

The wedding singer - and yes, they do very much exist, are interesting characters. Truly interesting characters that in many ways defy all semblance of 'what is in' and truly evoke the 'wedding genre'. So with that in mind, will I hear another rendition of Ti Amo tonight and tomorrow night?

Down time

I was fortunate enough to leave work at a reasonable hour and get home in time to enjoy some down time - I don't get any of it during a normal work day, so I have much enjoyed it. Down time is so important - I think it is really underrated in our society. The need or the compulsion to fill in every waking minute of our day has become almost a necessity. There is real status in filling your time with work or social or self improvement type activities. It seems as though down time is often seen as self indulgent - perhaps it is, but it is a necessity. To allow the mind to wander, to not have a desired outcome or something tangible to show for that time is quite liberating. So what did I do during my 'down time'? Nothing... actually I made a delicious raspberry shake (from real raspberries) and sat and did nothing but savour the tartness of the raspberries. I hardly thought about the day that has passed - just sat and absorbed all that was happening around me. The sounds of the streetscape, the view of the orchids and succulents growing on the verandah, the curtains dancing to the rhythm of the gentle breeze. While I don't get a lot of down time in the afternoon, I have much enjoyed this moment as I feel rejuvinated and ready to attend to other things.

Autumn Musings

As I farewelled Summer yesterday, I began to think about Autumn and all the potential that it could bring. Albert Camus, a French Philosopher once said 'Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.' Now, whilst it is at least a couple of weeks away before we are indulged with the yellowing leaves, it is timely to at least contemplate what Autumn will bring. I am looking forward to the chance to slow down a bit. A time to contemplate and a time to reflect.