weekend

soccer at a rather far away location
kicking off our growing season with blueberry, asparagus and potato seed plantings
and the usual eating and reading


hope you all had a lovely weekend

interesting things

 

make : the cutest plant signs for the garden

sew : the prettiest  dress for spring

kids : a sun catching nature collage

print : retro prints for the boys room

re-use : those old spice racks - more here

food lately

lately in our kitchen we have been making :-

 date and ginger cake

Sultana scones from this cookbook

artichokes in olive oil, garlic and lemon juice

vegies from the garden with a little bacon

local smoked trout with pasta

caramel pear pudding

corned beef pot pies

We are still very much in Winter mode here. It's been cold and rainy here lately and the fire rarely goes out.

Looking forward to a little Spring influence in the kitchen very soon as we start to see a subtle shift in our weather.

my creative space...so far

Today I thought I might show you a sneak peek into my not quite finished sewing corner. Some of you may remember this corner space :-

Well, it's not finished yet, but it's relatively tidy and functional at this point in time.  Last week you could not see the table for all the junk projects piled on.

 

 

Bowl for cut threads

 

My cottons shelf still needs to be filled and hung. A corkboard needs to be cut for the frame and hung. But we're slowly getting there.

For other creative spaces have a look over here.

goings on

Thrifted 50's wool blanket with hand embroidered initials and appliqued bunnies. Rescued from the bargain bin. There is a little patching work to be done, but I think it will add to the home spun look.

Julia sorted all my buttons into colours for me.

Buckwheat pikelet for Violet.  A favourite lunch box filler this week. Though she preferred to wave it around than actually eat it.

Chocolate. I confess I had more than two. I think it may even have been more than four.

Utilizing the extra window sill space in winter. It is usually wound out in summer.

Wondering what Julia will eat once mandarins are out of season.

Sketching with pen again. I haven't really done any drawing since high school.

My poor bare vegie garden still managed to produce some broccoli and kale.

Enjoying the sorting of a big bag of hand-me-downs from a local mum.


***

Rain is forecast for the next few days.  I can hear it now beginning to fall. This is wondeful news for our water tanks (we actually had to buy a load of water last week) . Bad news for the full load of washing that is on the line. I'm hoping to get some sewing done in this weather and will be googling for a recipe for corned beef pie to use up some leftovers.

Hoping that the day is kind to you.

refrigerator soup

Today I thought I would share a little habit of sorts that I have been cooking up every week for the past month. Once a week when I bring my groceries home, I clear out and set aside any vegetables that are left from the previous week in the fridge. I really hate wasting good food, particularly of the organic type, and I find it is all too easy for vegies to become forgotten, only to emerge several weeks later, growing mould and totally inedible. Not nice. But my new system seems to have put a stop to this.

I make a big, all in one pot of soup from the leftover, not-as-fresh-as-it-could be vegetables. Last week I used my big cast iron pot, but I usually do this in the slow cooker. With the slow cooker I merely throw everything in water, without frying first.

But this day I fried the onion and any subsequent vegetable thrown in for a few minutes in some butter. I do like the taste of a little butter in soup.

Chopping up the vegies that were leftover. Today this was cauliflower...

cabbage...

zucchini and carrot. 

I then filled the pot with water, seasoned with salt and pepper and added some sprigs of thyme from the garden. You can also add handfuls of dried lentils, split peas or barley to bulk up the soup if needed. You can add combinations of herbs and spices if you like.

I allowed it to cook all afternoon. When I cook this in the slow cooker, I leave it cooking about 24 hours on it's low setting. 

Often I serve the soup as it is, but this time I pureed the soup with a stick blender and stirred in a small carton of cream. Stirring through until heated, and then adjusting seasonings.

Enjoy!

pottering around weekend

It was yet another weekend of pottering around the house for us. We had family visit for the day on Saturday. On Sunday Daniel was determined to get the painting done for the verandah, which has been put by the wayside lately. Painting is not his favourite job in the world. Not at all.

The usual pancakes were had for our Sunday breakfast and some bought flowers brightened up the day.
Washing was hung out with Julia who is very eager to lend a hand in the washing department.

Violet has been teething and is very clingy of late. It is that stage where she just doesn't want to be put down. Which makes it very hard to get anything done (like making lunch or taking a bath). But on the rare occasions she does go down to play, she is enjoying banging on my colander with a wooden spoon. Though frustrating and tiring at times, I realize how quickly this clinging and teething stage will pass, as it did with the others.

I think a slow, pottering around weekend was just what we needed. Though Daniel may disagree.

How was your weekend?