Late Night Pinny

Another hard-wearing little number for day care.

If I do say so, I think this will be cute with little leggings and a long sleeve top underneath in winter.  The red skirt got a thrashing in the sandpit this week but came out of the wash looking new again. 

Must go hang this on Toddler Cuggles' door so she can gush over it in the morning!

Friday Beers with Kids

I do love a beer, a nice dry pilsener would be so refreshing right now.  Life has changed though, these days I'm home with a toddler on a Friday arvo and beer now means baking... 

I've just whacked this in the oven - 3 cups SR Flour and a stubbie.  Half an hour at 180 and I'm expecting a beautiful loaf of bread.  There's heaps of variations of this on Google.  I'll leave a comment later to let you know how it turns out! 

Warm and Happy

I love it when a project turns out the way I imagined.

Warm winter colours for the not so wintery Qld weather.  And.....!

It's totally reversable!!!  I know.  I'm too cool for school.

This is part of a growing Cuggles! wardrobe for Toddler to sport at Daycare, it's hard wearing, can get paint and playdough rubbed in without too much staining and best of all it looks good.  Poor little girl and her own clothes were coming second to my paying projects for a while.

Sigh.... so happy. 

At my house: Donna Vs Nigella

Superior styling, concise instructions and proven results vs. good styling, verbose instructions and unknown results.  That's what I'm pondering this week, as a loyal Donna Hay girl I have recently been tempted by Nigella with her 'Nigella Express' program the ABC is running.  I've strayed so far as to borrow a Nigella book from the library, but I keep choosing my tried and tested Donna Hay recipes.  Donna really just puts a bit of sophistication into everyday ingredients 'Express' version of Nigella seems to rely on pre-prepared (good quality) ingredients in order to then throw something together more quickly than you could have otherwise.  I'm not going to cross over anytime soon, maybe just have a little dalliance at some stage. 

Are you wanting lovely warm breakfasts with this cooler weather?  We recently had house guests and I thought it would be very domestic to serve up a good ol' pot of porridge to start the day.  I turned to a copy of a DH mag from Autumn last year and found 'Vanilla Porridge with Honeyed Apples'.  Have a look at the DH website for the recipe.  I hadn't made this one before but can advise that when doing the honeyed apples, high heat doesn't necessarily mean the highest heat your burner can go up to.  Oops.  I can also advise that if you want an even quicker version of this idea, you can grate some apple into the porridge toward the end of the cooking time and stir in the vanilla and honey as well.  DEEELISH.

If I break out any Nigella recipes I'll share those experiences too, just to be fair to the poms.  You can visit the Nigella's website by clicking this link.  Be aware some recipes are submitted by readers, not Nigella.

Thanks Lou for inspiring this 'At my house' sharing game.

Using Beautiful Things

This was my Great Grandmother's green and white spot jug.  I got it because I love it, I've had it for years, carefully packed and moved to different houses and States, waiting until I felt I was a grown up, with a grown up house in and a grown up life so I would feel justified using it. 

Well, don't know about being grown up, but hubby and I are in our mid-thirties, with a toddler, a baby bump a dog and a mortgage.  So, the dust was rinsed off and some fresh and beautiful smelling lavender and pretty looking (but funny smelling) flowers now occupy the jug.  It is in our bathroom to be admired every time someone goes in or out.  It's been said before but the simple things really do bring the most pleasure.

Do you have any treasured items like this you love to use?

Is it that time?  I'm off to pop the kettle on and contemplate what other beautiful things can come out of hiding around here.

PS.  One day I'll figure out some photography basics, the picture really doesn't do justice to the true colours.

Fun-ny

These Crayon rolls are really fun to make, I got on a bit of a 'roll' and delivered a supply to the shop, Handmade Heaven last week. Not an original concept, but I do quite like mine because it folds over at the top and then rolls up - stops the crayons falling out in my handbag. As with most things, the desire to make something like was inspired by Toddler Cuggles.

We were supermarket shopping at the time. She shouted 'No man! Don't touch!' as an elderly gentleman went about selecting his cereal from a shelf in the same aisle as us. She screamed 'WIGGLES!!!' as we went past the DVD display, on it went. Oh yes, and she pulled at my dress, looking down the top, pulling it up at the hem trying to see the baby in my tummy. That's when I dropped a bag of sugar which went everywhere and I had to find someone and explain ourselves so it could be cleaned up.  Ok, it was pretty funny.

Not one to be controlled a 2 year old, I have mastered my straight face and can calmly ignore or suggest distractions when the tanties despite who is around and how loud she is, but geez it can be draining!  So I decided those little eyes and hands needed to be kept occupied and created my first Crayon Roll for the little darling.  I certainly need my cuppsy after those kind of shopping trips.
PS.  Do you like the new look of my blog?  I love it!

Mrs Fixit

Did you think I didn't love you anymore when my link vanished from so many of your blogs?  I recently 'broke' my blog.  I had logged on during a quiet moment at work, (the lovely Liesa is happy for me to do this) and from then on, ALL the blogs that I follow showed Liesa's blog profile instead of Cuggles, sorry Liesy.  After getting no response from the Blog Help Site, I took matters into my own hands and think/hope I have fixed the problem.  Here's a picture of Handmade Heaven where I work part time.  Isn't it a cute little place?

Easy Dinner

Here's a great recipe that my Mum made often and that I have recently started making for my family.  We always called it Ki Si Mein at home, though I suspect the authentic chinese recipe (if one exists) wouldn't use curry powder!  Despite that, it is really yummy and easy, Toddler and Hubby will both eat it, a sure winner, and it has protein, veg and carbs all in one dish:

NANNY CUGGLE'S KI SI MEIN - SERVES 4

Ingredients

1 large brown onion, chopped roughly
2-3 sticks celery, sliced
1/4 large cabbage, shredded (I know, cabbage - trust me)
500g beef mince
1 tblspn curry powder
1 pkt chicken noodle soup, plus 2 cups water
2 - 3 tblspns rice
1 cup frozen peas

Method

1. Heat some oil in a large pan and cook onion till soft;
2. Add mince and cook til browned;
3. Add curry powder, celery and cabbage and stir well;
4. Add soup mix, rice and water, give it a good stir, then cover and leave on low heat for 20 mins, it should be simmering gently;
5. Throw peas in and stir, leave simmering for another 5 mins or until rice is cooked.

All done. 

*My toddler is a pretty good vege eater but I'm pleased and surprised she will go so far as to eat cabbage in this dish.  Hubby, well, he's a bit of a 'snobby princess and the pea' he will eat lots of things, but they have to be a certain way.  For a while I refused to pander to him but in the end I got jack of seeing him raiding the pantry for something other than what I slaved over.  That's when I sat down with him and wrote a list of all his favourite foods and recipes (he is a very good cook, so I'm compteting with those expectations) and started noting the other dinners I make which he will and won't eat.  Saves money, time and frustration all round.