Tuesday

I don't know about you, but I have a child at home sick with some sort of boring bug and I'm clocking up some significant Nurse Maude hours in the process.

Yesterday was spent disinfecting the house to get rid of the germs Bailey insisted on throwing around.  Which let me tell you, is nowhere near as glamourous as it sounds.  And today he woke up looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost (google it if you're under 35) which means we've officially entered Day 2 of his Germ Watch and my House Arrest.

He's stoked as it means a whole day of lying in bed playing Mine Craft while waiting for food to be brought to him on a tray. Tough life.

I, on the other hand, am BORED OUT OF MY EFFING MIND.  So bored in fact, that today I've been doing what could only be described as Hardcore Organising.  Complete with Before and After shots.  Because if I'm bored, you should be too.

Before:

After:

I've also got stuck into some serious labelling.  I know.  I'm totally living on the edge.  Check it out....

The Sticky Tape label disturbs me no end.  Because there's a glue stick in that draw too, but I adhere to a strict 'One Label Per Draw' rule and so I was torn between printing a 'sticky tape' or a 'glue' label.  Really, I was.  Upon looking at that photo, I think I'm going to have to remove the glue stick immediately.  Big Issues people, we're all about the Big Issues.

Which brings me to my next discovery.  Printers that print onto CD's.  Um, hello labelling heaven.  It's so nice to meet you.  Since I bought myself a new printer on Monday, I've been churning out the labelled CD's like there's no tomorrow and I'm a bit excited at how professional they look.  Thanks to my clever cousin, Dalice for hooking me up with all the printer info.  

Um, did I just type the words 'hooking me up'?  Seriously?  

I think I might be high on second hand Vicks Vapour Rub fumes.  

K&Co over and out.

Little Suzie Homemaker: Sprinkle Cake

So on the weekend, Sophie and I whipped up a delicious Sprinkle Cake.  I whacked a pic of it up on the K&Co. Facebook page and one of our lovely likers asked for a blog post with the recipe.  So Beth, this one's for you.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups self raising flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 eggs

3/4 cup sprinkles.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to around 200 degrees

Grease the bottom and sides of a round cake tin.

Line the bottom of the tin with baking paper.

Throw everything, except the sprinkles, into a bowl 

and mix on high speed for about 3 minutes.

Add your sprinkles and gently fold them into the mixture.

Don't go too hard with the mixing, or the sprinkle colours will run.

Pour your batter in the tin and bake for around 35 minutes.

Once it's cooled completely, ice with Cloud Icing.

Ingredients:

1 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

Directions:

Now I'm not going to lie, this looks and sounds like a right pain in the butt to make,

but honestly, it's very easy and totally worth the effort.  Promise.

Ok, so combine your sugar and water in  a small saucepan.

Stir over a medium heat, without boiling, until the sugar is dissolved.

Turn up the heat a bit and bring the mixture to the boil.

Boil, uncovered without stirring, for about 5 minutes.

If you have one of those fancy pants thermometer thingys,

the syrup is done when it reaches 116 deg Celsuis.

If, like me, you just rely on instinct when in the kitchen,

the syrup is done when it's thick but not coloured.

Remove from heat and allow the bubbles to subside.

Beat your egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer

(or Kitchen Aid if you're a little bit up yourself, like I am.)

Beat until soft peaks form.  

While the mixer is operating, add the hot syrup in a thin stream

and beat on high speed for about 10 minutes.

The mixture will triple in size and become very thick.

And yummy.

Add food colouring of your choice and ice the cake with it.

Seriously.  

How good does that look?!

How about you?

Do you  have a recipe to share?

Feel free to add a link below!

flu shot 101

So yesterday I channelled my inner 80 year old and went and had a flu shot.  Cos I'm practical like that.  And like all good doctor's surgeries, I put in a solid 45 minutes of waiting time.  Which didn't really bother me because I had a pile of washing at home that I was avoiding and, as luck would it have it, it was just enough time to hear one of the doctors announce the name "Ray Pervert"  Not. Even. Kidding.

This announcement, of course, set me right off.  All I could think of was that guy in the bar on The Simpsons yelling out "Ray Pervert.  Is there a Ray Pervert here?  Do we have a Pervert in the building?"  And I got a serious case of the giggles.  While texting this very story to my friend.  Which of course, made me look like a complete lunatic...giggling violently to myself, while staring at my phone.

And right at that moment, out comes the nurse.  She took one look at me, giggling about poor old Ray and his unfortunate surname, called my name and told me to wait in the hallway.  Probably to make sure I wasn't high.  She grabbed my flu vaccine from my sweaty palms (needles make me totes nervous) and politely informed me that they'd run out of room in the Nurses Station and could I follow her to the end of the hallway.  Into the tearoom.  Um, ok then.  

So I followed the nurse down the hallway and into the tearoom, where she proceeded to lay out the flu shot supplies on the coffee table. As you do. And then BAM! She whacked that flu shot in my arm, while I innocently admiring their fancy pants Nespresso machine.  I don't know what shocked me more.  Getting the flu shot while standing up in a tearoom or the fact that nurses don't drink instant coffee anymore.

How about you?

Do you have a funny surname that we can all laugh at?

And how do you like your coffee?

One flu shot or two?

NB:  This was not a sponsored post.  But if Nespresso wants to jump on board and do some sort of giveaway for my lovely readers, I'd be bang up for that.  I'll just get their nurse to call my nurse and we'll have it sorted.

little suzy homemaker: shepherds pie

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Scott does not cook.  Ever.  Ok, that's not entirely true.  He has been known to whip up a few dishes in the past, but he doesn't enjoy doing it.  I'm not sure why, because he's actually quite good at it. 

Anyho, on Saturday night he decided to throw together a Shepherds Pie.  Which shocked me to the core.  So much so, that I asked if I could take photos and blog about it.  To which he replied, "Sure.  Do you think the readers would prefer me with my shirt on or off?"  

Honestly, I think they'd probably prefer it if you didn't wear those effing white shoes in the kitchen.  Or anywhere else for that matter.  Just saying. 

Now normally at this point, I'd have a pretty picture of all the ingredients you need to make your own Shep Pie at home but I was hooking into a fairly hefty glass of red wine at the time and totally forgot to take the photo. So you'll just have to endure a boring list of ingredients instead.  Here's what you'll need:

500g mince

1/2 grated carrot

good squeeze of gourmet garden chunky garlic

2 cups beef stock

1 tblsp worchestershire sauce

1 bay leaf

2 tblsp tomato paste

3 spuds

grated cheese

And here's how you instruct your husband to make it...

Firstly, peel and cube your spuds, 

throw them in a pot of boiling water and 

boil away until cooked (15-20 mins should do the trick)

While the spuds are boiling, you can start on the mince mixture:

Start by frying off the carrot & garlic and then add the mince.

Cook the carrot, garlic & mince mixture until mince is cooked through.

Add your beef stock...

your worcestershire sauce...

 your tomato paste....

and whack in a bay leaf.

Stir and bring to the boil.

Transfer the mince mixture to an oven proof dish.

Drain the spuds, add a bit of butter, a dash of milk

and use those muscles to mash them up.

Spoon the mashed spuds over the top of the mince mixture

and top with grated cheese.

Throw it in the oven (200deg) for around 20 minutes.

Making sure you don't burn your retinas with those glow in the dark shoes.

Serve on it's own...

Or with the world's biggest piece of garlic bread.

Totally up to you.

And you're done!

Meanwhile, in other news...

I've made it into the next round of the Blog Off/Cook Off comp!!

I know.  I really, truly am just as shocked as you are.

And nervous as anything.

Because now I have to cook a meal at the Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show

in front of real people and everything.

Thank you so much for all of your support over the last couple of weeks.

Your comments & kind words of encouragement really have blown me away.

And it's one of the main reasons why I love all things Social Media related.

I mean where else in the world do you get such cool things

AND have an army of people (both known and total randoms) cheering you on?!

It's the best team sport I've ever known.

xox

where the magic happens

I thought you might like to see my new little craft room/study/blogging area.  It was a spare room, that in the two years we've been living here hasn't been used once.  So, a couple of weeks ago I took it over and turned it into my own little room.  You know, the room I go to when I tell the family I'm going to knock out a few blog posts or do some hardcore crafting, when in fact I actually come in here to shut the door and get some peace and quiet, which may or may not involve a bit of online shopping and some Facebook stalking.  

Anyho, here it is...

I'd love to wallpaper the wall behind my computer,

 but I'm useless at making decisions like that

and have a decorating budget of a blogger (um, that would be zero dollars)

so the boring beige will have to stay.

Yes, I have two desks.  One for the blogging, the other for the crafting.  And before you think I'm completely up myself for having two desks, I should let you know that they were only about 100 bucks each when I bought them a few years ago.  And, like the desks, almost everything else in this room was already in our house.  I just rearranged things a bit, dragged furniture from one room to another and tried to bring it all together by sticking to a simple colour scheme of black, yellow, grey and white.  Budget, people.  This room was totally done on a budget. 

The shelving/draw unit you see there is where I keep/hide all my scrapbooking supplies.  It's from Super AMart (where I also purchased the desks from) and is actually part of their wardrobe range.  It used to fit in our wardrobe in our old house, but doesn't fit where we are now, so I pulled it out of storage and whacked it in my new room.

Here's the wardrobe, which now houses all of my party supplies, old teaching resources and project life thingy whatsits.  It took me bloody ages to organise it and I'm still not really happy with how it looks, so for now, the doors stay firmly shut.

This cute little desk organising arrangement is from Kmart.  It was only 10 bucks and that included the 3 things at the back, plus a big spotty box (which, if you look carefully, is on the top shelf of the Super AMart wardrobe shelving/draw unit) & a magazine holder (which you can see sitting on the shelf in the wardrobe).  Run, don't walk people.

The 365 journal is from Kikki K and I'm about two weeks behind with that little project.

The Totes Random notebook is from Typo.  You may remember I gave a couple of them away in a giveaway a few weeks ago...Tara and Nikki, have your prize packs turned up yet?  

Little vintage bowl is from my mum's collection.  Which she gave to me a while ago, because she didn't want all the "grotty old stuff" in her house anymore.  Thanks mum.  I think.

And yes, I really do keep my desk this organised all the time.  I know.  I'm over myself too.

How about you?

Where do you blog/craft/do stuff?

Tell me everything...and throw a link in if you have pics

xox

um, i'm totes busted....

Listen up lovely readers, cos we have what can only be described as a Major First World Problem on our hands. 

As you would know, a few weeks ago I was very close to cracking 500 likers over on my Facebook page.  In a spur of the moment, borderline romantic gesture, my Lovely Husband announced that he was about to become the 500th liker.  Cue loving looks and genuine thanks from me.  For at the time, I thought it was just a little bit lovely that my non-facebook loving husband had decided to 'like' my page and become the 500th liker.  Talk about teamwork. Yep, we're nothing if not a Team.

Anyho, fast forward a couple of weeks on from that romantic gesture and reality has hit.  My husband is reading this god dam blog.  And talking to me about it. And it's freaking me out.

I mean, up until a few sweet weeks ago, he had NO IDEA about the extended periods of time I may or may not spend at shopping centres. So let's just say that the Gourmet Garden Blog Off/Cook Off could not have come at a better time.  Because right now, thanks to 5 blog posts in a row that consisted of nothing but recipes, he thinks I spend my days whipping up incredible dinners, engaging in copious amounts of housework and other similar 1952 style domestic activities. Which I totally do.  See....

But, let's face it,  it's not all aprons and vacuum cleaners around here, people.  I think it's fair to say that spend ALOT of time at the shops.  And it's not always to buy delicious tubes of herbs.  No, sometimes it's to buy other things.  Important things.  Like shoes.  And handbags.  And anything else that should happen to be on sale.

Robina I heart you.

But not your random shootings.

I'll be back when shopping there doesn't require wearing a bullet proof vest.

And so you can see, lovely reader, that I am 

Totes Busted.

So Scott, if you're reading this (and I know you totally are)

I'd just like to apologise in advance for the chest pains, high blood pressure and popping neck veins that you may or may not experience while reading this blog.

But look, if it makes you feel any better, it could be worse.

You could be reading the credit card statements instead.

xox

Blog Off/Cook Off, Encore Performance

So last week I received a text from a lovely friend of mine.  Her name's Julie and she really is a gem.  So lovely, always smiling and very supportive.  Anyho, she sent me this pic, with the message "Look what I bought today" followed by another message that read, "And it is absolutely true that I have never used those products before but am giving them a go because of your blog."  

Good skills Julie.

You've bought my Top 3 fave Gourmet Garden herbs.

And then, I got this message from one of my cousins, Dal, who also happens to be one of my best friends, which read: "Hey Kirst.  I'm actually thinking of giving that thing you made a go tonight.  Where the heck would I find ricotta and breadcrumbs?   And where do I find those fancy things in the tubes?" 

Now reading this message, you might think that Dal is what could only be described as Domestically Challenged.  But I know first hand, that this is not the case because when I caught up with her recently she'd whipped up the most delicious meal.  So clearly her text message was just another example of how good looks and quick wit run in the family.  Ok, so maybe her text message didn't prove a thing about about the good looks part, but this photo totally will...

Anyho, back to the meal that Dal slaved over, all while I sat at her fancy new kitchen bench, sipping on a glass of bubbly and snacking on some hardcore Kiwiana French Onion Dip.   It was a chicken pom pom bake thingy (yes, that is it's technical name) and the other night I borrowed Dal's recipe and made it myself.   

 Here's what you'll need to make your own at home:

2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

3/4 cup chicken salt, or water if you're watching your sodium levels

Gourmet Garden's Thyme

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can creamed corn

1 packet of Pommes or Pom Poms, depending on where you live **

AND an onion and some celery, finely chopped 

(they didn't make an appearance in my recipe because, well, I forgot to buy them)

** I know what you're thinking....1992 called and they want their Pommes back.  

Look, I know they're a bit daggy but they really are quite tasty.

And much easier than whipping up some actual mashed potato on a Friday night, when everyone's a bit tired and emotional.  So using them is totally win win.

Ok, so now that we've cleared that up,

here's how you make the Chicken Pom Pom Bake Thingy....

Cook your chicken until it's golden brown

Add in the tin of creamed corn...

and the sour cream & the stock...

throw in a squirt of Thyme...

and stir it all up.

But don't bring it to the boil, or your sour cream will curdle and it will be game over.

Transfer your mixture to an ovenproof dish...

and tip the contents of the Pommes packet over the top...

Whack the meal into your crappy oven, which has no timer, is tiny and takes forever to heat up  (Or maybe that's just my situation. Any oven suppliers out there that would like to provide me with a new one?  Just get your people to call my people and the deal will be done)  

Sorry, where was I?  Oh yeah, whack the dish in the oven for around 30 minutes, or until those tacky little balls of potato are golden brown, whichever happens first.

And here's what it will look like....

Now I have to be honest,

it looked The Business but it didn't taste that great.

I think a whole can of creamed corn was waaaay too much.

Next time I'd do 1/2 a tin at the most.

Or order in some Thai Takeaway.

Whatevs.

But don't let my bad experience with this 90's inspired dish turn you off.  Feel free to whip it up and let me know how you went.  And, in closing, I have to say that I'm just as disappointed as you are that I lost my cooking mojo tonight.  So here's a picture of me actually taken in 1990 to give us a bit of a laugh...

Um, hello big hair, big earrings and big eyebrows.

Really, I'm at a loss to explain why I spent so many years as a single girl back then.

How about you?

Ever whipped up a dish that wasn't as great as you'd hoped?

Or was that just me?