I'm looking forward to...

a holiday in Sri Lanka.

Preparations are well underway. We've had our jabs – some people were very unimpressed whilst others took it in their stride. I'm really looking forward to experiencing all that the Sri Lankan culture has to offer but I'm not sure about swapping coffee for tea although it's probably adviseable.

Some things on our 'To Do' list:

• Soak up the sun on some of the beautiful beaches (surfing for some)
• Visit the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage
• Go to the tea country and tour a factory
• Visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (supposedly contains a tooth from the Buddha)
• Spot a leopard in Yala National Park (fingers crossed).

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!

Coffee break

This tea towel was a little pressie from Corina. With my new haircut, I even look a bit like a 50s housewife–don't ask. Thanks Cory.

A good brew

At long last! The old Sunbeam has been packed away and pushed to the back of the kitchen cupboard. I'm not sure why really, but we may need to drag it out and take it on holidays with us as the new machine is probably a bit too big to lug around. After a bit of tweeking, it delivers a good brew. Grinding and brewing at the press of a button!

Not happy :(

My coffee machine's performance has been sub-standard for quite some time which I haven't been happy about. Even after a visit to the "professionals" it's still not working as well as it did in it's heyday. I like to think these things will just keep on going if you look after them and replace parts as they wear out–but maybe not. I decided to take a look at the seal yesterday to see if it was the cuprit but it looked OK. The problem is, when I pulled it apart I lost a screw so now it's really stuffed. I had a banger of a headache so I should have known better than to take this on.

Everyone who knows me will testify that this machine has copped a bit of a workout over the years. Maybe I should upgrade to a commecial machine? But in the meantime, I have resorted to the Bialetti which is ever faithful providing I keep paying the gas bill!


Of course, coffee always go well with something sweet. This is my gluten-free version of Hello Rosie slice. Really, the pic doesn't do it justice. Let me know if you want the recipe.

Getting to know you

For the Stevens family, the past few days have meant sleeping in, eating, reading, playing, skate boarding and blogging. With the occasional trip to the beach.

And now Steve can say that he has actually read my blog. Of course I had to prompt and prod him for feedback. I think generally he thinks it's 'good'. Why use ten words when one will do? He also said that he's learnt more about me from reading my blog. I quickly suggested that he write a blog so we can really get to know each other. Think of the money we could save on relationship counselling.


A few days ago I confessed to using the DVD player in the car to keep the kids quiet. Of course this has come full circle and they now want to turn it on when we've got a five minute journey to the next suburb. We, being good parents, laid down the law and told them that wasn't going to happen. After some vocal protesting which we firmly ignored, they got the message. Today, after a trip to the library, Steve and I thought it would be nice to stop for a coffee on the way home. More protesting ensued. Again, being the good parents that we are, we let them sit in the car across the road, windows down, looking at books. We enjoyed a quiet coffee.


Note: It wasn't a hot day, the windows were open, and we had a good view of the car across the road from the cafe :)

Begin with coffee, end with coffee

Hopefully you all received our Christmas letter. The girls were really looking forward to a visit from Santa and he did not disappoint. I was reminding them just yesterday that it is never to late to start being good.

Before I could start preparing breakfast I had my obligatory two cups of coffee and another thrown in because, well, it's Christmas! We had waffles with mango, strawberries, bananas and mascapone. It's the first time we've actually had to pay for mangoes - ever!


With some inspiration from Maggie Beer, I am baking a turkey with apple and prune stuffing. I got a free-range, corn-fed turkey from the local butcher and in return gave him all the money in my Christmas account. I only hope I do it justice. The butcher said the secret to the perfect turkey is a good butcher and an excellent chef. Well, he's done his bit, now the pressure is on!

Note: The pic above shows Steve attempt at looking 'festive'. I think those shorts have been around longer than me! Nice clashing Steve.


We are sticking to a good ol' Aussie pavlova for dessert because everybody here loves it. Did you know that the Kiwi's claim the pav' is theirs? To be honest, we Aussies are notorious for adopting anything the Kiwis do well as ours, so there could be some truth in that. I will research and get back to you!


I hope you enjoy the Christmas music selection - it really is hard to find 'good' Christmas music.