Where Is The Light?

This is turning into a bad week for The Boy and I and I really hope it goes away tomorrow at 5pm so I can have another wonderful weekend. I shouldn't complain, I cannot remember the last time I had a bad week, but I'm going to have a whinge about it anyway.

Firstly, I have been feeling blah lately. Work hasn't helped with that as I am currently going through my own "Groundhog Day" between the hours of 8:30am - 5pm and I'm getting a little sick of it. Then we have the money. I already mentioned the electricity bill, but there was also the issue of a gas bill from our old place. I thought this had been resolved 6 months ago! But according to AGL (who I will NEVER go with again) we still owe them $150, even though 3 different reps and one team leader told me our balance was ZERO! So I had to pay that yesterday so the joint account this week has seen over a grand disappear :( Then my personal account has also seen that amount disappear due to bills and my car rego and service. I know it only happens once a year, but all these "once a year" expenses all seem to arrive at the exact same time!

My dress arrived yesterday. I will NEVER buy clothes online again. The model in the picture must have been at least 2m tall because this dress was almost down to my ankles. It was very poorly fitted, I did the measurements, but it was out of proportion for my body, the zip at the back was so long and stuck out it looked like I had a tail, it was too big but the next size would have been too small. I showed The Boy and I could tell instantly he didn't like it. I put my hand on my belly and rubbed, he agreed if I did that in public everyone would be asking when I was due. So that will be returned which is another $10 in postage, so yes, I have now paid $20 to try on a dress and that is now the end of my ezibuy experience.

The Boy lost his phone at work yesterday. It is still ringing, so that means it didn't fall into the boiler, but he cannot find it. He has narrowed it down to one of two sites of the station. He is upset because it has all his contacts in it. I am upset because it has every single sms I have ever sent him including the very first one. I almost cried when I told him my phone doesn't keep the sent messages :( He still hasn't found it, but it is still ringing, so there is hope.

And finally, last night, The Boy was home late so there was no walk, we did some housework and then it was time for dinner. He didn't want to make the lasagna because it would take an hour. Fine, I told him if he didn't want to, he could heat up the remaining leftovers. All we had left was spaghetti, so he heated that up and boiled the pasta. He then joined me on the sofa. I kept asking him if the pasta was ok because it has been boiling for a while, he assured me it was. Sure enough once he finally checked it (during an ad break - men!) the water had gone and he had managed to burn it (which I didn't know you could do) and it was all stuck to the bottom of the saucepan. I pulled out the small saucepan, forced the remaining pasta we had into it and cooked it, watching it the entire time and actually draining it once the timer went off. We had dinner at 8:30, if I cooked the lasagna it would have been 8pm. At least we didn't resort to take away.

So there, and now I promise that I will not be ranting for at least a month at the very earliest. We all have bad weeks and this is one of them for me, but I am actually laughing about it now and looking forward to seeing what else is around the corner. Also it is your last chance to enter my Giveaway, it closes 9am tomorrow.

EDIT: The bad week is over! The Boy found his phone in tact with about a hundred missed calls from me!

Image: Flickr

Green Thumb

I really was born with a green thumb, and I am finding it really hard to keep this a short post as I could blog all day about my love affair with gardening. As soon as I could walk I would sit outside with Dad and watch him work the garden, when I was old enough I would help in whatever way I could. We moved house when I was 10 and a year later I decided I was ready to do some gardening all on my own. Dad carved out a bed for me and away I went. I was constantly expanding the bed to make way for more and more plants. We always had fresh veggies and flowers and each year I would try new things. It is no surprise then that for my Year 10 Work Experience I picked a nursery.

This love affair continued until mum decided about 4 or 5 years ago to move into a townhouse in a attempt to get my brother and I to move out (I'd already moved out twice by this stage and returned both times). That was the end of gardening. Had a few pots a mum's but it wasn't the same.

Since I met The Boy and we moved in together, the intention to start with some pots was always there, but it never happened, because something always came up. However, I tapped into my desire to totally re-vamp The Penthouse and took The Boy to the nursery on Saturday morning for some seeds because we were going to start from scratch. We have been slowly eating more organic food, it is expensive though, so the only organic stuff we buy is fruit or veg that requires you to eat the skin, such as apples and zucchini. Of course it would be much cheaper to just grow organic produce ourselves, and until we get our dream acreage and can plant anything we want, we have to make do with pots.

The Boy had to stop me from buying every packet of seeds on the shelf, telling me we need to start small, so we only bought some heirloom tomatoes, capsicum and basil. We eat a lot of tomatoes in summer, so these were a must, and you cannot have tomatoes without basil, and the capsicum came in seven different colours, and I am a sucker for cool stuff like that. We also bought some lavender because I love the smell of it and want to eventually make some lavender wands for gifts and for my clothes.

Yesterday the planting began, we had a seed germination tray and seed raising mix and put the babies in. As I ripped open the seed packet The Boy peered over.
"They look like the seeds you actually get from the vegetables."
I looked up at him and laughed, he was being serious.
"Yes sweetie, that is because they are from the vegetables and are not genetically engineered."
He has so much to learn (just like I have so much to learn about engineering, he is trying to teach me but I find it a little boring).

A quick spray with water, and the anticipation begins. Waiting for those first shoots to spring up from the soil and then for those first leaves to open. I remember it all now. And of course in three months time we will have lots of lovely organic tomatoes, basil and capsicum. I think I will be inviting everyone I know over for home made organic bruschetta. Could there be a more perfect summer food?

The Boy Can Cook

Being the hopeless romantics we both are, The Boy and I always celebrate our anniversary every month. Sometimes we do something big, other times it is just a little handwritten note. Last week I made mention to The Boy that it would be wonderful if one night he could do all the cooking and I could just sit back and relax and watch TV. Usually we cook together, but it involves me giving him orders on what to chop up and opening tins etc while I am the "creator" who puts it all together to make it an actual meal. I knew he had the creativity in him, I just wanted him to use it.

Wednesday night was our anniversary and he decided to cook for me. He went to the shops and bought everything he needed and when I came home he handed me the menu. I was in for a treat. Around 6-ish he headed off to the kitchen to begin. I couldn't help myself, so I followed. He told me not to do anything, but being the slight control freak I am (ok maybe more slight-moderate) I pottered about unpacking the dishwasher. He was onto me and as soon as it was unpacked insisted I leave the kitchen and shut the door behind me.


An hour later and dinner was served. He even went to the trouble of setting the table complete with a candle centrepiece and very lovingly served sparkling grape juice (as I don't drink). The meal was wonderful. In fact, I felt upstaged, it was better than anything I had ever put on the table. The steak was cooked to perfection with a lovely garlic and pepper sauce, and sitting on a bed of white and sweet potato mash with a side of creamy bacon cabonara and bush spice coated carrots oven roasted. They were my favourite and I will be giving those a go and serving them as a side dish to impress. He even told me that he used an egg ring for the mash to make it perfect "just like on Masterchef" (we are so watching that again next year if it will get him into the kitchen more).

Afterwards we relaxed with apple pie and custard and I went to bed a very very happy girl. I really do have the most wonderful man in the world. It also helps when I decide to tell him exactly what I really want as opposed to being subtle and dropping hints about "what would be nice".

Mystery Box Test

Amanda over at L-Plates is having Masterchef withdrawals (aren't we all) and has therefore decided to have a Mystery Box Test. I have decided to take part, and with the list of 10 ingredients, I used 6 of them (couldn't get sage anywhere, which reminds me to start that herb garden!). So I present to you Chicken Breast wrapped in Prosciutto severed with Garlic Potatoes and steamed Green Beans.

Firstly I cut the potatoes up and boiled them for 5 minutes. While they were boiling away I put a shallow pan of olive oil and crushed garlic into the oven. After the 5 minutes, drain the potatoes and take the pan out of the oven, and separate the garlic from the oil (otherwise it will burn and start popping all over the oven), just be careful because it is hot. Coat the potatoes in the oil and cook in the oven.

Coat the chicken breast with a little melted butter and place that in the oven also. My oven was on around 180 (fan forced) and I cooked the potatoes and chicken for around 20 minutes, remember to turn the potatoes and chicken half way through.

Lay out the prosciutto on the chopping board and when the chicken in cooked place it at the bottom and roll the prosciutto around it (this was the point I would have added my sage leaves). Secure with a toothpick (or extra butter) and place in a hot pan for a minute each side, until the prosciutto is crispy. Serve with the garlic potatoes and steamed green beans.

I will admit when it comes to cooking I usually just stick with the simple stuff and what I know. Cooking the way I did last night doesn't come naturally to me at all, but I am glad I gave it a go because I have a lot more confidence now and am ready to take my cooking to the next level (oh how Masterchef of me). If you are up to the challenge check out Amanda's blog, you have until Friday (and let me know to, I am sure you will inspire me).

Afternoon Tea

I am now in the habit of baking on Sunday's. Usually I do muffins or a cake, all made from scratch, so The Boy and I have something to take to work along with our fruit. On Sunday afternoon I was having my lovely friend Miss K over for a catch up. It was my first time entertaining in The Penthouse that didn't involve family, so I decided to make something a little different.
A few weeks ago I found the AWW cookbook The Country Table and as soon as I opened it up I knew I had to have it. So I flipped through it on Saturday and decided on honey jumbles. Interestingly this recipe didn't involve any honey at all but instead used golden syrup. The team behind the cookbook suggested the prep and cook time was around 25 minutes. How about two hours instead! I don't often make biscuits I'll admit, usually if I do I buy a log and use a knife to make biscuits. The only exception to this is making my gingerbread cookies, but these "honey" jumbles were much more involved than the humble gingerbread (although the end result was slightly similar in taste).

As usual I successfully managed to make a mess in the kitchen, even though I was washing up as I went I couldn't help getting flour all over the bench and floor. An hour before my friend was due it was time to make the icing (I had actually planned to make biscuits and cake but ran out of time). The AWW listed how to make the icing. It was 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of flour. We only had 1/2 cup of icing sugar in the cupboard so The Boy was forced to go out and buy some more. When he returned I only had about 20 minutes, so without thinking I made up the icing sugar as per the recipe. I iced four of them and tasted the icing and spat it out. The flour gave it an almost soapy taste and was awful! I had no idea why they suggested flour because it was just wrong. With fifteen minutes to go we had to start again. I just went for icing sugar, water and vanilla essence, and of course, pink food colouring and this time it turned out brilliantly.
The icing was a little runny, but it did give the jumbles a home made feel (that and my lack of ability to make them look the same) they were a huge success and tasted amazing. I will definitely be making them again and the recipe was fantastic. Better than the ones in the shop, much more flavour and still very soft in the middle.

We did have some left over to take to work the next day. Of course The Boy was told at work that next time I need to use blue icing if he is to ever bring in home made food again.

What A Fluke

The Boy once told me (I think it may have been while watching Masterchef - a show I have tried very hard not to get addicted to) that sometimes the greatest dishes come from a mistake. Well last night that certainly happened with dinner.

We had planned our dinners for the week on Sunday and last night was chicken stir fry. In an attempt not to buy a ready made sauce due to all the artificial crap in them (still need to google "vegetable gum") and also save some money I thought I would make my own. The Boy felt like honey and soy and wanted to buy some. I told him to buy soy sauce and I would do it myself. I have vague memories of mum doing honey and soy and making the sauce from scratch, because I would sometimes sit at the bench in the kitchen and watch her cook (which could explain why I can now make some decent meals) and when she made honey soy chicken I would dip my finger into the measuring cup as she coated the chicken with a pastry brush and would savour the contrasting flavours.

I figured all I needed was two ingredients, so I put a spoonful of honey in a cup with an equal amount of soy and zapped it in the microwave. The Boy meanwhile put the chicken in the saucepan even though I wanted to coat the chicken first. He told me not to worry about it and poured the sauce straight in. It began to bubble away and I wondered what on earth we had created, hoping some weird chemical reaction wasn't going to occur that was going to kill us.
As you can see it turned out wonderful. The chicken cooked in the sauce and was a lovely golden brown colour, very moist and full of flavour. The Boy loved it and it is definitely going to be created again. We both think it is even good enough to be made for guests! And the best thing of all? It is 100% healthy and 100% natural, nothing artificial at all. Totally loving that.