Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter long weekend


This year we spent Easter at home. Our time was split between lazing around doing nothing and a couple of easy outings. Here's what we got up to.

Big trees provide hours (ok, maybe not hours but longer than you'd expect) of free entertainment for the kids.


Explored the Winter gardens.


Steve surfed at Port Waikato.


While we ate hot chips. And yes, they were hot!


Played with Lego when it got wet outside.


Made (and ate) Rocky Road.


Drank heaps of coffee.


Made (and ate) pancakes – perfect for every special occasion. These are seriously good. Leave a comment if you want the recipe. Of course, they're gluten-free too!



Personally, I've spent hours putting a Wasgij together. What's a Wasgij I hear you ask? It's a jigsaw but the catch is you don't know what it actually looks like until you've finished.


Got lots of chocolate goodies from E.B. (have seen Hop?)


We also went to the movies to see Hop and played Banagrams. We hope you've had a nice weekend too!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Best we forget


It's not often I give up on gluten-free baking but after many less-than-perfect attempts, I am not even going to try baking Anzac biscuits today.

How I miss them :(

Sunday, April 24, 2011

San choy bow


Not to be confused with Sam Boy chow which is basically a chip sandwich.

Worried about my girls growing up not knowing how to cook, I decided it was time to learn how to prepare a few basic meals. They all seemed excited at the suggestion of taking turns to cook a family meal but without a bit of nudging from me, the idea stayed as just that – a great idea! Anyway, a couple of nights ago I told Ruby it was her turn to cook and I had just the recipe!


She really got into it and everyone enjoyed what she dished up. San choy bow is perfect for those nights when you're not super hungry but want something easy and healthy. In our house it's on par with rice paper rolls and sushi.


Whist this isn't the exact recipe I used, it's very similar. My recipe included a bit of oyster sauce (gluten-free) and dry sherry (which I substituted white wine for).


Ruby also made delicious chocolate mousse for dessert. I'm sorry I wasn't quick enough with the camera – it was fabulous!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Tawharanui


Apart from cheeking seagulls attempting to fly away with our packet of chips, the natural beauty of Tawharanui is breathtaking.

Pohutakawa trees along the beach provide loads of shade, not to mention great for climbing. There are caves explore and surf too. Basically, something for everyone. Geez, I even got in the water! This is the second time I've used my wetsuit – quite possibly the last time before next summer!



Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The smell of fresh bread


Mmmm. Fed up with spending a small fortune on small, hard gluten-free bread that goes stale in no time at all, I decided to drag out the bread maker.

I wasn't sure if it would turn out as the yeast was past the expiry date but I took my chances. As it baked, the smell began to waft through the house. We kept checked the timer impatiently to see how long it had before we could hoe in.

It smelled good; it tasted great. There was no way Ruby would get to keep this for herself. After indulging I took a walk to the local bulk foods shop to stock on ingredients because I think I'll be making this again – very soon.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Nesting


Don't get the wrong idea. Perhaps it's the possibility of returning to paid employment soon?? Deer girl is my most recent acquisition – I just love her. Here are a few more...

New cushions to match my newly covered lounge cushions.


Miniature black swan from Hilda. Not Crown Lynn which is very Kiwi and very collectible but gorgeously kitsch nonetheless.


My collection of doily coasters – finally finished!