mosaic road

Hot Potato !

This luscious potato gratin was sinfully rich, oozing cream and cheese, a meal in itself. We enjoyed this luxurious upgrade to the humble potato recently. Potatoes are really man's best culinary friend, full of dietary requirements and able to be cooked and served a zillion different ways. It may well be possible to try out a different potato dish every night for a decade , maybe even longer, and never get bored or repeat a recipe. I read once too, that a baked potato was the nauseated woman's best friend so anyone with morning sickness may want to give this a go !!! My favourite potato is the Idaho with its pink skin, which I always leave on.

 And for more vital potato trivia - the biggest potato ever grown was 3.2 kgs - that is the size of a newborn baby or chihuaua !! I would imagine baking it would take all day- think of all the sour cream it would need - yum !!

YouTube - Facebook Inbox - 明版的Howard drum show!!! [HQ].mp4

via www.youtube.com

What incredible natural talent, what innate rhythm and what a future ! This baby is 3 but his ability is way, way, way beyond belief. How gifted !! The way this posts cuts out a lot of the filming of the actual child so maybe google it to see him and his drumsticks ! Or maybe I can pull out all stops here and overcome my fear and TRY to post a link - scary stuff though ! Watch this space !!  Click HERE !

Doh a Deer !!

I was sent these pics last week and I just love them. What I would give to be that lady, up so close and personal to such a beautiful animal - and I mean the bambi here, although the dogs look gorgeous too ! What a privilege to see a deer, let alone come face to face with one on the morning dog walk. Sadly it isn't going to happen to the Cocoa Pop and I, although in some outer suburbs, kangaroos have been driven into parks and gardens due to the drought. I do remember seeing groups of deer wandering around gardens and woodland in Monterey, USA and being so charmed by their fragiiltiy, serenity and liquid eyes. I am well aware that they do not belong in the suburbs though and cause havoc on roads and damage flora. Still, the beauty and grace of animals always affects me and makes me yearn for more harmonious living between them and mankind.

Last Night's Dinner

Crocodile Dundee, roast lamb and fruit cobbler - it seems my Saturday night had an Australiana theme going on !! The movie, though oldish now, has lost none of its charm for me and I loved seeing it again. If anyone wants to wile away a couple of hours laughing and laughing then I suggest you rent the DVD. It is so long since I have eaten a roast with all the vegies that I was quite looking forward to this - it did not disappoint, that's for sure. It was the exact sort of meal I grew up on though I must confess to never having cooked one - I know - SHOCK ! HORROR ! but my family eats so little meat and it has always been thus. The yummy cobbler is perhaps one of the easiest recipes ever to make. I did an apple  and peach version. it was passed on to me by a new blogging friend at CasaCullen . It is thoroughly delish and I thank her for adding a new staple to my diet.. More trips to the gym though as we had it with cream !! Follow link to her recipe HERE !!

http://www.casacullen.com/2010/01/recipe-of-the-week-recap-easy-fruit-cobbler.html.

Earth Hour - just do it !!

There can be no reason on earth why everyone does not get involved in this !! We all have a chance to make a difference by turning off our lights and appliances for Earth Hour. Also, what better excuse could there be for planning a candlelit dinner. That is what I hope I will be enjoying as a friend is cooking me a roast lamb. Hopefully it will be done by the time the oven needs to be turned off or maybe it will be done on the bbq so no electricity will be needed. I am so looking forward to it as I rarely eat meat. No matter what you or  I have for dinner ,we can all enjoy our meal tonight surrounded by flickering tealights . It will be enhanced just by knowing we are make a contribution to reducing the size of our footprint. Bon Appetit !!

Weekend Plans.

This weekend is the Grand Prix, a huge international event held here in Melbourne.It interests me not one zot. The screeching of racing Ferraris and the smell of burning rubber is just not my idea of entertainment and I must confess to not being one for spectator sports. You can hear the cars training and racing in most suburbs including mine. I can hear a dull roar that becomes louder depending on the wind. I will try to block out the sound and intend to spend a lot of my weekend in the garden where everything is looking very sad apart from a vast and healthy array of weeds that is poised ever ready to strangle the wilted and pathetic plants that have struggled through the  summer heat. I may even seek inspiration from another international event also on here in Melbourne, the Flower and Garden Show. Although that just might plunge me into total depression seeing other gardener's triumphs while I come to terms with my truly total lack of a green thumb.

The Boomerang Cookie Tin

When the actor moved to his new abode I gave him a food oriented housewarming gift. It was a tin of fresh oven baked cookies, ginger crinkles in fact. The tin has magical properties and when returned to my kitchen it will be refilled by me, a Mrs Field wannabe, with something yummy to take back for when hunger strikes. Yesterday I made a batch of Anzac cookies and they never actually made it into the tin as the hollow legged actor ate his allotment before even getting out the front door.
At the weekend M & M cookies too vanished in record time !!
Even banana muffins were inhaled, or so it would seem, by ravaging hordes amidst the weekend bedlam. Luckily for my children and their friends I love to bake and I think when I look at my happy family nest that we have successfully proven that the torch of love is lit in the kitchen.

Let's Hope an Old Dog Can Learn a New Trick !!

Today I have to go into the city for a computer course. It is a day I have been dreading for fear of being bored witless or just being witless, embarrassingly so !! We are changing software at work so I am supposedly getting the heads up early so I can train other staff. Heaven help both them and me. It will be a day of faking it as I fly by the seat of my pants, pretending I am au fait with the software jargon and pretending I know my way around a PC when my life revolves around my Mac. I may have to even look vaguely professional when really I would like to roll up in my jeans with my Starbucks. I have been in a panic all night that I will run late and be charging down Collins St, possibly still in a dressing gown, like a headless chook, hunting high and low for the right place. And then the thought of having to impart any knowledge gained, that is if that epiphany actually occurs, fills me with dread. Patient explanations have never been my strong point. So all round I am out of my comfort zone, up a creek without a paddle and like a fish out of water. All this just screamingly begs the question, what on earth was wrong with the old software ???

Pretty Party Girls

When I see my daughters - in this case, the patient - and friends dressed up for parties it is a stark reminder of long, lost youth. These girls have glossy hair, illuminous skin and expensive, white smiles. They exude the joie de vivre that comes from drinking at the fountain of youth. It makes me feel a little old and jaded, I must admit, as I fight the daily battle of greying hair, senior moments, receeding gums, sun spots, crows feet and a whole plethora of other vastly unattractive and unromantic issues best not mentioned in a public forum for fear of clearing the whole of cyber space. I can just hear the sound of cyber "eeuuwwhhs" faintly but here is where I am grateful for any age related hearing loss. Some days I struggle briefly to find any pluses in being 50 something but yes there is a plus and that is knowing and enjoying the fact that I have made it thus far mostly healthily and happily, For me, the saying 'age doesn't matter unless you are a cheese or a wine' is a timely one.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words !!

The snow bunny in Japan will be most unhappy about me posting this picture but how could I resist. It was just such a funny thing to happen. We skype all the time and on her break {on her birthday} she rang and either she was exhausted from turning 21 or the conversation was just not rivetting enough and she drifted off to sleep !!!!! I discovered that it is impossible to wake someone up in this situation. I shouted and banged a bit but to no avail. Even for a devoted mother, watching someone sleep on skype is akin to watching grass grow ! This child has always loved to sleep, day or night, but I do wonder if she is the pioneer of this, the now documented, online snooze.