mosaic road

Here Comes the Bride

These quick photos were taken just before I headed off to my wedding party. We all loved the dress, the pomp and ceremony. I spotted a few amazing hats in the congregation that reminded me of flying saucers. There were some lovely outfits and some frumpy ones. But on the whole, the adage of less is more was very evident making the entire event very tasteful, to my mind. 

Wedding Cake & Bouquet

I am prepared for my Wedding party - bouquet purchased from the florist, well picked from the vegie garden in reality and wedding cakes made for the guests. Royal icing was meant to adorn them but  whipped cream was quicker so I did not miss out on one second of the pre, pre , pre wedding commentary.

Highly Sought After Item

The shops have been cleared, not a single one of these remains on the shelves. I bought one of the very last today. What is this most desirable object, you ask ?? A tiara, a tiara fit for a princess. All sold in honour of the Royal Wedding and all being worn to the princess parties that will be taking place as it is televised live on TV tomorrow evening. I am in fact going to one of these Wedding parties and will be seen in this hot purple number. What fun ! I am not a royalist in particular but like everyone I will be keen to see what the Royal bride is wearing. After we have all passed comment on the bridal party, we will raise our glasses and eat, drink and be merry - after all, any excuse !!

Easy Hot Cross Muffins

I love any recipe that starts with Easy.... . It is already a winner with me ! This seemed like a great recipe and luckily everyone loved it. I made it as a slice to make it even easier. I know I am so so lazy. It called for some mixed fruit which of course I did not have. What I did have was a jar of mixed fruit. So the end result was sort of Christmas mince pie meets Hot Cross Bun, probably a culinary first, but a great tasting one. I took these offerings to our family morning tea on Good Friday, all were devoured. Now I have a recipe to cover two celebrations - nothing could be easier.

Bedside Reading

I do not read enough, not nearly enough. I have always been a reader and loved books, book shops and libraries. The internet, blogging and having an online business all detract  from reading time. They get in the way of and also almost replace picking up a good book. Any spare moments when in the past I may have sat with a novel are now non existent. I am on my laptop constantly. My Easter resolution was to read a novel so I gathered a little collection to sit beside my bed and I started a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed holding the book  and casting aside the computer for the short time before I fell asleep. Reading before dropping off to sleep is meant to be way better for you, more relaxing than staring at a flickering screen. This novel that I commenced is part of a series and I have read others by this author . It is light reading and written in a sort of innocent style, just perfect to heave beside the bed.

Cut Flowers

I never have cut flowers in the house. I never buy flowers and rarely pick them out of my garden. I love flowers and flower markets and  florists though. And yes they brighten a room  and can look so divine and make the most gorgeous gift but central heating or summer heat make them wilt fast and then I feel so sad that they just get tossed into the compost. I feel the same way about live Christmas trees when I see then all brown out on the nature strip. I love to see flowers growing but am happy to leave them adorning my garden for me to enjoy when I am outside. I know others will see this as an odd attitude. My mother is the opposite to me and always has cut flowers and these gerberas did look amazing. What a colour, they really just exude Happy Easter.

Happy Easter

Easter Buns and Coffee

Yesterday we gathered at Grandma's for our annual Easter bun fest. She is nearly 87 and we all congregate in her small flat and eat and drink and gossip and laugh our heads off. She served hot cross buns and whipped butter. The coffee she serves is an excellent organic blend, so good that I drink it black.

Funnily enough 2 members of the family ran to Grandma's . One of them was me !! I ran the 12.5 kms from my house and my nephew caught a train from the CBD and then ran from the station.  That gave the 2 of us carte blanche to eat our fill and them some.

The CocoPop would have very much liked to eat her fill too.

HAPPY EASTER to the BLOGWORLD from MANNINGROAD xxx

 

 

Good Friday Fish

I eat very little fish and I never cook it or want to cook it mainly due to the smell which wafts through the whole house and takes eons to vanish. Eating fish on Good Friday was the way my mother grew up and then consequently so did I. I did not continue this tradition with my children and we all eat whatever we feel like . But tonight we all felt like take away fish and chips. I rarely eat take away food and could not come up with the last time I ate a meal like this laden with bad fats. It was so good to throw dietary caution to the wind !!

Yummy Roasted Vegetables

With autumn not only do we get a change in weather but we get a change with what's on our dinner plates too. Our salad days are passed and root vegetables have crept into our diet again. I mean who eats a parsnip in summer ? It's just not right ! But once a chill is in the air swedes and turnips appear in full force. Roasted vegies are so easy to do and so many combinations can be created. Our melange tonight had little chat potatoes, zucchini, red pepper, cauli and parsnip. Across all that was a smattering of little diced pieces of a chill encrusted cream cheese plus loads of black pepper. Yum !