September 30, 2008 at 6:39 am (Food)
Tags: Add new tag, birthday, crafting, cup cakes, Tea party
It was our darling friend Shelley’s birthday was today and it was hosted at Helen’s house. We had a tea party with our wonderful friends and their kids. This has become abit of a tradition now so we brush off the dusted tea cups and get the baking going,sit, chat and craft.
Isn’t it great getting together and being with your girlfriends and talking about everything under the sun ….eating great food, tea and bubbles! Check out my flickr pictures for more x
September 28, 2008 at 7:03 pm (family)
Tags: school holidays, wellington, westpac stadium
September 24, 2008 at 12:31 am (Food)
I made this last night for tea and it is delicious! As well as the tomatoes I also added eggplant! Yummo!
Ingredients:
10 tomatoes, halved
2Tbsp thyme leaves
2Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1and half cups of couscous
1 and half cups of chicken stock( any stock will do, I actually used miso soup!)
Spinach Pesto
60g of spinach leaves,roughly chopped
1/3 cup of roasted pine nuts
1/3 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 good size clove of garlic, finely chopped.
preheat the oven to 200 C. To make the spinach pesto, place the spinach, lemon juice, pine nuts,parmesan, oil and salt and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
Place the tomatoes, garlic,thyme and oil, salt and pepper in a baking dish and toss to combine.This is where I also put in one good sized eggplant sliced. Roast for 20 minutes. Add the couscous and pour over the stock. Cover with foil and cook for a further 10 minutes. top with the spinach pesto. Serves 4.
Tip: This menu can be served hot or cold also works well served as a side dish for chicken or fish.
ENJOY!
September 22, 2008 at 4:44 am (Garden)
What a beautiful day it is!Today I started weeding and my next door neighbour came and pruned my conifer tree because you could not see out the kitchen window! I was looking at my vegie garden and it desparately needs a weed and there is hardly anything in it!! There is celery that has re-sprouted from last year so I will leave it in and see how it goes. I think I will go and get some seedlings and plant a few things and test my green fingers.I always have good intentions in the spring for the garden but sometimes it just doesn’t happen!
September 19, 2008 at 8:15 pm (Recipes)
The Gems met yesterday for a crafting session and we are on a soap making mission. I made up some lemongrass Liquid hand soap with rose essential oils and grated in orange zest and it worked out! It smells delicious and is so smooth and silky on your hands. We also want to make our own soap. Helen has gone away to study up the chemistry on soap making as it is quite technical and takes time.
Here is the recipe for the liquid hand/body soap, it is easy and goes along way. It is great for at the kitchen or bathroom sink or in the shower or bath, Enjoy x
Things to gather:
1/2 cake of pure natural soap- Sunlight or similar. Check out the ingredients and select that which has the least amount of added chemicals.
3 Green tea bags( you can also use other herbal tea bags too) soaked in boiling water- enough to dissolve above soap to a sloppy consistency- around a good cup of water.
2 tsp of coconut oil
2 tsp of honey
1 liquid dispenser pump container
few drops of essential oils
fine/medium grater
mixing bowl
Method:
grate soap finely and place in the bowl.
Remove the teabags from the hot water and set aside to cool.
Pour hot tea over the grated soap and stir intil dissolved. As indicated above you will need enough water to turn the mix into a sloppy consistence.
Add melted coconut oil and honey and continue to blend.
Finally add the fragrance/ essential oils.
Use a funnel to pour the mix into the dispenser.
Note: Green tea is a wonderful skin tonis and antioxidant. Peppermint tea and oil will revitalize mind and body.
Tips: When the teabags are cold sprinkle around the base of your pot plants as they are high in nitrogen.
September 17, 2008 at 2:19 am (Recipes)
Tags: Add new tag, baking, ginger loaf, recipe
Made a yummy loaf today and is great for the kids lunches! and is so easy too.
100g butter
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup of milk or buttermilk
1 cup of flower
1tsp of cinnamon, 1tsp of ground cloves, 1tsp of ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs separately. Mix in the milk and sift the dry ingredients. Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for approximately 45 minutes on a medium heat. Cool before you remove it from the tin…but it is really yummy hot from the loaf tin too with a lovely cup of tea, so experiment!
September 15, 2008 at 11:28 pm (Down Syndrome)
Tags: Conference, Down Syndrome, forum, New Zealand Down syndrome Association, Wellington Down syndrome Association, workshops
In the weekend we travelled to Christchurch in the South Island for the NZ Down syndrome Association Conference. It was fabulous! We heard loads of wonderful people speak and met up with old and new friends. The Link and Transition workshops for the people with Down syndrome ran along side our forum and at the end of the weekend they presented to us!
Also on the Saturday night we had a disco and there was around 30 young people with Down syndrome that danced the night away!
It is wonderful getting together like this as we have all came back motivated and boosted for the future.
So I am back and will get our Wellington Association excited about the up and coming events for the future.
Well done everyone it was a wonderful weekend.
September 11, 2008 at 7:21 am (swaps)
Tags: jewelry, leaf tea, paper, photos, swap, wonderful!
I did a swap with Mata Hari Jewelry and it was so beautiful. She is a wonderful Jewelry artist and i love her work! Lovely paper stash and photos, yummy leaf tea and little pieces of jewelry! tHANK YOU SO MUCH . Can’t wait for you to get mine!
September 10, 2008 at 5:53 am (Memories)
Tags: baby shoes, bronze, clogs, precious, tiny steps
I had a wee arrange around with my furniture today. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ringaroundthemoon/
…. it must be the Spring in the air! i found these little bronzed shoes that my mother had done over 30 years ago! How these feet have travelled since then! They are the cutest things and beside them is the little Dutch clog that my grandfather found when he was in Holland many years ago! These are small and worthless but to me they are so precious!
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The Vespiary
We took the kids to the Westpac Stadium for the first time! They loved it but it was so cold and the game wasn’t the most exciting…to me! It was an NPC game between Tasman and Wellington….Wellington won of course!
