friday Flowers...

Around The Hills...

A few photos from the local area, when it was a bit more Autumny, than Wintery.

Chocolate Ganache Truffles.

First step , make Chocolate Ganache.
Melt Chocolate and stir in an equal amount of Cream.
Then let that set in the fridge.
Take teaspoon fulls and drop them in Icing Sugar, so you can roll them into little balls.
Make sure they cool off again...maybe the freezer for 10 mim.
Then dip them in melted chocolate, and again, set them in the fridge.
I served mine in little silver cases. 

Pan Fried Savoury Pancakes...

Tonight I made Chicken, Vegetable and Cottage Cheese stuffed Pancakes, with a Creamy Mustard Sauce.

First I made the Cottage Cheese
Heating a litre of UHT milk to 120 degrees,
adding 2 desert spoons of vinegar, resting it for half an hour then straining through muslin.
Finally seasoning with Salt and Pepper, and stirring through a little cream.

Then I made butter, just whipping about 1 and 1/2 cups of Cream until it separates,
 and patting and shaping the results.
Keeping aside the Butter Milk.

Then I made Pancakes, using 3/4 of a cup of Buttermilk, 2 eggs, 3/4 cup of Plain Flour, adding a bit more water after resting the mixture.
I stuffed the Pancakes with the Chicken and Vegetables and some of the Cottage Cheese.
Then fried the parcels in a little of the Butter ... and served them with a Bechamel and Mustard sauce with a little extra cream. 

Sunset At The North Pole...

A friend just sent me an email with this image.
It's so beautiful that I wanted to share it with you...
Taken on the 13th of march 2011, this is one of the rarest pictures you will see in your life.
It's the sun at the North Pole with the moon at it's lowest point.

What's On My Kitchen Bench...

Or What I'm Having For Lunch.

The soup from yesterday, just mashed roughly
 with Salt, Pepper and Parmigiano
and a dollop of plain Yogurt.

Not Another Tea Cosy...

It looks warm and cosy, I'm just giving it a test run.

Pumpkin Soup...

I bought some tiny Jap Pumpkins today,
which will probably be on my bench for a while, they're so fun to look at.
In the mean time it's so cold and dreary that I've decided to make soup,
with Lentils, Potatoes and Garlic,  and some other Pumpkin I had.

I was just doing a drawing about Caterpillars' for my other blog, when I noticed this little guy on my scarf.
He is so tiny, so tenacious, all quick and wiggly.
 Even standing up trying to figure out where to go.
Small yet brave...

Another Tea Cozy....

I've been off line for 3 days (Telstra had a local outage).
In the mean time I made another Tea Cozy.
I'm gradually getting the hang of it
and it's easy and fun.

The Room Makeover...

This is the last bit of my room makeover,
 new dazzling light fitting(Bunnings $38.00)
and 10 meters of panne velvet draped and swagged over the top of the hideous vertical blinds.
I wake up feeling like I'm on stage every morning.

Crazy Felted Tea Cozy...

I roughly cut out a pattern from a felted Cardigan,
altered it a bit as I went along.
Sewed the base and top edges together.then added some decoration.

This will give you a rough idea of how I went about it.

Another Felt Project...

Felted Hat,

Cutting up an old cardigan which I felted,
I used a long rectangular piece for the side bit.
   A circle, for the crown, using a plate as a guide.
Then pinned and stitched on the sewing machine, and voila!

Friday Flowers.

Just picked from the garden, so pretty.
Something cheerful for the kitchen bench.

More From The Corner Post...

Looking back and remembering a lovely brunch with friends ,
at this delightful cafe nursery in Beaconsfield.

Paper House With Tea Light...

Using pages of an old book,
and lit by a led tea light...something to make just for fun.

Cut out the shapes, add windows and a door.
 Leave a bit  of overlap so you can glue it up,
I covered the windows and door with some other paper so you get more of a glow.

What's On My Kitchen Bench....

Potted seasonal colour...

I had such a fun day making drapes and finding crazy light fittings
 all part of the 'big clean up'.
It's always fun to express your creativity.

Finding Little Treasures...

In the process of cleaning up, I came upon this illustration...

It's ink on a padded envelope.
Alex drew it for Max...
and I have a strange feeling
 it had something to do with C.S Lewis.

The Big Clean Up...

Or Time For A Change...

Today I've spent time cleaning up,
changing over and moving things around in my bed room.

It's time for a change, and it's amazing that simply looking at things differently and putting them back in a different way makes it all look more exciting.
You don't always have to get new stuff to make it more appealing or appropriate to where your at.

Just a few details...
of some things I really like.

Misty Morning...

It's a dull and dismal this morning.
However I did manage to get these lovely photos...
it all depends what you focus on.

What's On My Kitchen Bench....

The Marie Claire 'Fresh and Easy' cookbook,
and some lovely end of season Tomatoes.

Tortellini For Tea...

I made these using Wonton wrappers,
 filled with a bit of Ham, Chicken Breast, Sun dried Tomato and Mushroom
which I blended in the food processor.
Cooked for about 4 min in boiling water.
Served with the remainder of the Beurre Blanc sauce and freshly grated Parmigiano.
Delicious.

More Felting...

I folded over some of the fabric, cut out a shape (still joined at the top).
Tied a bit of felted edging through the top bit and tied a bow.
To draw it all together.
Sewed a bit on the sides, and added the flowers from yesterday.
The side bits just sort of overlap.

Felt Flowers...

The next step of the project is cutting out flower shapes
 from the felted fabric I made yesterday,
 and sewing a button on to hold the layers together.

I'm having a personal challenge to get rid of something everyday for 30 days,
and to make something in 30 days or less.
I'm combining the two and making something new out of something old.
I'm celebrating transformation, and yes, Nardia is still being helpful.

Look Who's Helping...

I started a project yesterday and it involved 'Felting' an old woolen cardigan.
Today its all dry,  appropriately shrunken and ready to go.
So when I started to cut it all into pieces ready to be made into something fabulous...
of course I had help. from miss Nardia.
She does look good in a bit of red though.

A Bit Of Crumpet...

A bit old fashioned, but delicious ...

With Blue Costello, Sun dried Tomato, Black Olives and Basil.

Great for an easy lunch, or anytime really.

Change....

Sometimes change seems like it's achieved at a snails pace...
I just found this little fellow on my Kitchen bench.
His shell is just a bit bigger than an Apple Seed.
 He's reminding me to move towards things that will be good for me,
even though sometimes progress is slow.

Bruschetta For Breakfast....

Toasted Olive Sourdough, topped with
warmed Tomato, Red onion and Basil Salsa.

Dressed with Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar and some Salt and Pepper.

With Coffee...a great start to the day.
Especially if its all drizzly and cold and you need something easy and delicious.

Flowers On My Bench....

They've been on before, but they're so beautiful
I want to look at them again.
Violas and Wild Strawberries.

Pork Wontons...

Minced Pork with Garlic Ginger and Spring Onions.
Mixed with a teaspoon of cornflour and cold water, then folded into a wrapper and steamed.
Served with Soy Sauce and a drop of Sesame Oil.
Silky and delicious.