Beef casserole

Aka “I made it up” because that’s what I answered when asked 4 separate times “It smells good, what is it?” 2 tablespoons olive oil4 onions, diced2 sticks celery, diced4 short cut bacon rashers, diced3 cloves garlic, minced1kg diced lean beef4 tablespoons plain flour800g tin crushed tomatoes4 carrots, sliced3 cups water2 Massel beef stock cubes (each cube makes 500mL of stock)2 teaspoons dried thyme1/2 teaspoon allspice2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon sugarsalt and ground black pepper 1. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Cook bacon, then add onion, celery and garlic and cook until onion begins to brown. 2. Add beef … Continue reading Beef casserole

Thai red chicken curry

I started with Helen’s recipe for Aromatic Thai Chicken and added some bits and tweaked some quantities and ended up with this: 1kg chicken fillet (I used half thigh fillets and half breast fillets)1 onion, diced2 cloves garlic, crushed1/2 teaspoon sugar1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste2 teaspoons fish sauce1 tablespoon lemon juice1 tablespoon peanut oil1 stalk lemon grass, finely chopped1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped (I used one of the larger and milder varieties – 2 birdseye chillies would also work. Or more if you’re not feeding whimpy kids.)1 red capsicum, diced150g snow peas270ml coconut … Continue reading Thai red chicken curry

Friday fragments

Hosted by Mrs4444. Whenever I come to write a Friday Fragments post I am reminded that it would be a very good idea to have a draft open all week and pop all the little bits and pieces of the week straight in there to be ready for sharing with the world at the end of the week. And then I remember that all those little bits and pieces are being loosed into the intertubes as they happen in the form of my tweets. But tweets are so ephemeral, they appear in people’s twitter feeds, scroll down the page and … Continue reading Friday fragments

Anglo-Saxon cooking spree

This little book has been sitting on the shelf in the kitchen for a while now waiting for someone to feel like embarking on a culinary adventure. Around about lunchtime today Adam declared that he was going to cook an Anglo-Saxon feast for dinner. So he did (with the odd anachronism thrown in). The book is Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England by Mary Savelli and the blurb on the publisher’s website reads thus: These 46 easy to follow recipes will enable you to enjoy a mix of ingredients and flavours that were widely known in Anglo-Saxon England but are rarely experienced … Continue reading Anglo-Saxon cooking spree

Good things

It was a little scary how much of this I ate before thinking “Hmmm, that might be enough.” I blame @The_Ausmerican On Monday afternoon Caitlin arrived home with these They’re from the lovely Juliette who I know through the kids’ school and who occasionally comments here, she decided to spoil me with real flowers instead of virtual ones after reading my recent posts. Thank you so very much Juliette, they made my day and I’ve been enjoying sitting here on the lounge with that gorgeous display visible over the top of my laptop screen all week 🙂 Almost all the … Continue reading Good things

Friday fragments and Linkfest No. 15

Hosted by Mrs4444. When you get to the bottom of this post don’t forget to come back up here and click on this link to Half-Past Kissin’ Time so you can go check out all the other fabulous Friday Fragments … Continue reading Friday fragments and Linkfest No. 15

18 years

I was 18 years old when we first started talking about “when we’re old and grey.” When I came home and told my Mum that we were planning on getting married her reaction wasn’t quite what I was looking for, she was wary of me committing so young. One of Adam’s friends took it upon himself to tell me to back off, I asked why he was telling me he had a problem with Adam and I being engaged, wasn’t he Adam’s friend? I was so furious that I made him drive me to Adam’s place and tell Adam what … Continue reading 18 years

Two more sleeps…

…till the kids are back at school. I’m not sure I’m ready for everything to start up again, I’ve been filling in the calendar with all the after school activities and realising that there’s a reason I end up slightly frazzled during term time. Caitlin has signed up for 3 dance classes and will be continuing with her singing lessons, Tom is planning on doing karate twice a week, continuing his drama classes and taking up flute lessons in order to play in the school band, David will hopefully continue with sword classes, Adam is doing a pottery course this … Continue reading Two more sleeps…