While waiting to give birth....

I'm still here!  The Cuggle oven is due to ding in 7 days and I've spent the last couple of weeks offline. 

My belly, last week.

While waiting for bub to arrive, I've been sleeping when the Toddler Cuggle sleeps but also have been caught up with other things...

The Cuggle has been in undies for the last 5 days.  She's doing really well, though when visiting the Art Gallery today we discovered that the bathrooms are 2 floors down from the Kids' section.  Apparently my little Cuggle is not the first to wee on the carpet - derr!

Bunnies salvaged from a stained bib, ready to sew on some training undies.

I got the birds up on the wall last week -

Click the link above for the tutorial

Making my Mum-in-Law's Vegetable Lasagne.  I had planned on posting the recipe yesterday so I could play along with Emma's new segment of Easy Peasy Dinner Winners where you can find and share some really good family friendly and easy recipes.  But, I decided to just be pregnant instead and try another time. 

Layered and ready for the oven

Made another easy recipe, Melt and Mix Honey Cake from an old issue of Donna Hay Magazine.  Toddler Cuggle and I enjoyed some for our morning tea picnic in the back yard the other day.  Definitely another recipe which I'll have to share at some stage.  If you fancy making it in the meanwhile, check out the DH Website. 

Melt and Mix Honey Cake, yes the fruit got eaten too!

Finally, I spent hours on the phone to plumbing people on Tuesday because our hot water system broke on Monday night.  Thank goodness for great neighbours who let you bath your toddler at their house, shower yourself and send you home with an 'American Brownie Fudge Cake'.

Now, back to more waiting....
: ) Kim

My friend Barb and her Ginger Kisses Recipe

Meet my friend Barb.  She's from the 80's I think, and not quite what she used to be.

Barb and I met at our local op shop a couple of months ago  and since then she has happily assisted with lots of lovelies like these Ginger Kisses for example.  Recipe below.

And yet, she doesn't like to oblige every time I ask for her help.  If I ask her to cream butter and sugar in the big bowl instead of the little bowl, she flings big chunks of my ingredients all up the wall and onto the floor.  At least I know her limitations... and sadly, she matches the decor of our kitchen.  One day we'll win lotto and get rid of the ugly gumnut tiles and green laminate.

Here is the recipe, I found it online ages ago and unfortunately don't know who to credit for it.  It's a goodie anyway.

GINGER KISSES

Ingredients

125g (2oz) butter

125g (2oz) sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 egg
225g (8oz) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1/3 cup milk


Method
Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup. Beat in egg. Sift in dry ingredients, add milk and mix with a metal spoon. Place teaspoonfuls on greased trays. Bake 10 - 12 minutes at 200ºC.  Fill with mock cream flavoured with 1/4 teaspoon lemon essence.

MOCK CREAM FILLING
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence/lemon essence

Method
1. beat butter and icing sugar to a cream

2. add vanilla/lemon essence, stir in well
3. sandwich between 2 Ginger Kisses.

Yum!!  Enjoy with a lovely cuppa tea.  : )

Donna Hay Banana & Coconut Pudding

This is a new favourite that we enjoyed by the fire.  Sounds romantic doesn't it? Well it wasn't, our beautiful Toddler Cuggle and our Puppy Cuggle were enjoying the warmth of the fire too.  It was a nice family moment. : ) 

This Donna Hay recipe adheres to my strict standards to be called a favourite - yummy, easy, fast and requires only 'normal' ingredients that are likely to be in the house.  The recipe is on the Donna Hay website but I notice they've attached the wrong picture. I know because it is in the Winter 2006 DH Magazine (issue 28) where I got my pudding recipe.  The website picture is actually of 'Winter Trifle with Spiced Custard'.  Might have to try that one next time.  Yum.

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! 

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.

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.

Birthday Girls!

Our beautiful baby girl, Toddler Cuggles, is 2 today.  Hubby Cuggles and I went a bit overboard with presents but the squealing and wide eyes at 6.15am were worth it.  Our other gorgeous girl, Puppy Cuggles turned 1 yesterday so she will enjoy a lovely cupcake this afternoon with the rest of us.

(I'm hoping my cupcakes which are yet to be iced will look like this, the recipe is from my fav cupcake book, Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook 2007).

We've had a great morning, playing with all the new things, including this slightly wonky handbag that Mummy made late one night and which has already been carted to the butcher and back filled with books.

I think I've been a really good Mummy today, so I'm off for a well deserved cupsy.  : )

 

What a great day!

I've had the best day.  Cuggles! creations are selling quite well, I'm feeling productive, Toddler Cuggles has been entertained morning and afternoon with playdates and I got some great news about a friend this afternoon.

Been busy busy lately!  Here are my new boardies for little men which are in Handmade Heaven.  Sizes 1-2 and 2 - 3 so far.

I've also delived a batch of 'Ginger Cuggles'.  Packs of 4 are $2.50.  They're like ginger snaps but with that bit of extra 'cuggliness' about them.

Meanwhile amid the mad sewing and baking I had another briliant score at one of our fav op shops yesterday.  Toddler Cuggles now has a little table for drawing and doing playdough.  (Thanks Kylie for the cinnamon scented glitter playdough, also available at Handmade Heaven).  The table needs a good sand and a coat of white paint but is solid timber, well made, a great height for a little chair and was just ten bucks.  Bargain!

What a great day!  Just finished my cuppsy so off to bed.

Bums, Bickies & Bargains

BUMS!  Fat little bums wear nappies, and sometimes you don't want the nappy to be the couture.  My very good friend and 'bestest' customer asked me to please make some nappy cover thingys for her 9 week old boy.  So, out came the butcher's paper, pens and tape measure, a couple of calico drafts then a final and bigger draft in pink gingham for my 18 month old and I'm ready to go.  So far I've cut out, finished edges and joined seams on the real ones.  Now just to do the elastic and they're done.  Here's the fabric I'm using on the right.

Bickies!  I borrowed this book from a friend, it was new and in very good condition when we left her home with it.

Then....

the wonder girl Toddler Cuggles found the book, and found a pen while I was washing up breakfast dishes.  She made a few working notes of her own.

This is the back cover.

This is the index.

She didn't stop there.  This child scaled furniture with a stealthy silence, the quiet really should have triggered my 'mummy alarm' to reach the book and same for the pen.  After drawing on every surface of our furniture and walls some time ago we had banned pens and offered pencils only but thought even they were out of reach.  Anyway, we'll be replacing the book.  Oh, and here are the result of borrowing it int he first place - Ginger and Rum BICKIES, not Cookies. : ) 

They're ok, but a bit sweet for my liking.  With 499 others to choose from in the book there's sure to be something more my taste. 

Speaking of finding things to my taste, I absolutely SCORED with my opping today.  It was the Salvo's at Bundamba that made me so happy. We got a pair of gum boots for Toddler Cuggles for 50 cents; a little Ralph Lauren dress for $4; some patterns for $1 each, including a knitting pattern for you if you're reading Liesa, Merry Xmas; a children's clothes pattern book $2 an etchascetch in good enough condition $2 and the bargain of the day?  A black sexy dress which I plan on wearing to a wedding this Saturday for.....$3 because it's Wednesday.  Tomorrow it would have been $12, and a bargain even at that.  No label but who cares, it fits and it matches shoes and bags I already own with no special stick on bra requirements or any such trivia.  Sold.  Here's some of my loot:

Well I've had my cuppsy and bath so off to brush teeth now and to bed.  So many things to do tomorrow!  Starting with scrubbing those gumboots!

Wooden Spoon not Required?

We felt like some fresh bread (ok, damper) this morning.   So we mixed with our hands......

That must have been the secret trick because it came out beautifully, and tasted even better.  Happy Friday, time for another cuppsy. : )