Friday, April 30, 2010

B-Ball Boys






Nothin' but net!!

Sweet Stuff


Batter Up!

Sports day!

This is what Big Brothers and Daddy's are just the best for!!!





Thursday, April 29, 2010

Autumn Harvest

Feijoa's are super, super yummy- tart and tangy and this year our tree planted about 3-4 years ago is now really coming into it's own... the Feijoas above are just the first harvest we will probably get about 5x this this year and supplement it with some more from other more mature trees around the MQ Patch. I just wish we had a dehydrator!

Brandy Ice Cream

When I was little we had this recipe for something that we called 'Lucerna Ice Cream'. Lucerna was a restaurant that one of my aunties worked at and they made this incredibly rich amazingly delicious ice cream. I seem to recall it has like 12 egg whites and lots of cream and Brandy in it.
I did ask my Aunty to see if she could get a copy from my mother for me (we don't speak- long story- guess I just don't really do all that well at relationships with women) of course being the kind and loving mother that she isn't she wouldn't give it- or the recipe for Red Hot Potato Salad or Cinnamon Honey Parfait.

Anyway over the summer one of my garden e-letters had a recipe for Brandy Ice Cream which had been passed down through a Mosgiel familyfor generations- the connection to Dunedin was what cemented my plans to try it out in the hopes that it was like Lucerna Ice Cream.

Beat 3 Egg whites.



Then add 1/2 Cup of Castor Sugar.
Beat as for a Meringue- in other words beat it to within an inch of it's life- so that it stands up to salute when you pull the beater out. (So glad I have an electric beater- one day I'm going to have a flash cake mixer flasher than this little red head one).





In a separate bowl beat 300mls of cream until it holds it's peak.



Fold the cream into the egg white mixture.



Add 3 T of Brandy or Brandy liqueur.



...and mix...



Then freeze it in a container of your choice.



Have your kitchen assistants do the dishes....



And enjoy!



It's not quite as rich and delish as Lucerna Ice cream but it pretty bloody good anyway!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Bacon Bagel

Ok, if you have never been to the little market at the hall on the corner by 'old Albany' AND you like food. Then you definitely should!! I can't tell you which weekend the market happens... I stumbled on it a few Saturdays back (before winter sport started) and oh my goodness!! I was expecting the standard, soaps and handcrafts, as well as various cheap crap. But it's pretty much all FOOD. GOOD FOOD. Nice cheeses and artisian breads and pickles and home made jam and FRESH as Bagels that you can take home as is or get a BLT with seriously good mayo... swoon.


Ain't that the truth

I have a million thoughts and feelings clambering in my head since I heard the news on Sunday Morning. I didn't personally know any of the guys who died nor did Les though he did work with the survivor till last year when he was posted to 3. But what Jerry Mataparae said was right- 'we' are a family in the Air Force and we do all keenly feel the loss and it opens old wounds as well.

Beyond the complete waste of three awesome people and the grief of their families there are so many things in the past few days that have made me sad and mad and frustrated . But there was one glimmer amongst all that. It came from Radar, who was a friend when I lived in Dunedin which makes his words even sweeter. Check out his blog post here.

Over the Wall!

When you make Chocolate fudge you boil it for a while and then you leave it to cool down for a 5 or so minutes before giving it a good beating. If you are making the fudge in the morning before school for the bake sale you kind of forgot about and you leave it for a bit longer than five minutes... then your fudge will coll so much that the sugar will recrystallise itself in some kind of random escape plan to avoid becoming fodder for five year olds....



Pretty extreme method to avoid being fundraising eh???

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Night Moves

Will has been in his 'big boys bed for a while now and even has a day time sleep on his own. These two things have been made a bit easier by his two sleepy time mates....







Last of the Golden Weather

A couple of weeks ago Merenia pulled the last of the tomatoes out of the garden. We still have a few carrots which Will likes to pick every so often and we always forget at dinner time. So now the gaden has some sad little spring onions that never amounted to anything... some self sown mystery plants. Some poor old capsicums, that got swamped by other plants, who are hanging in saying "We can do it! We can do it!" (They can't). And the swan plants which finally, owing to the departure of the wasps and aphids because of the cooler weather, have a reasonable number of Monarch caterpillars.








We are going to miss the sun very, very soon.

Monday, April 26, 2010

RC Will

Will and Kieran developed this pretty cool little game with Will's new 'transmitter' (Also known as a "transmittal" in Willism).



RC Boy

While the big kids have expressed an interest in gliding a along the way (more so Merenia than Kieran) I think that Will is probably the one who is most likely to really want to take it up and it's neat to see his developing knowledge when he does get a chance on the sticks...



Sunday, April 25, 2010

Where are you?



23 things that make me smile and or laugh

Today is a day for remembering.

With all due respect to thost who lest not be forgotten I am going to remember some funny things that have made me smile and sometimes laugh over the last wee while....


Love the combination of electric windows in the car and the back row of seats NOT being beside the controls. It means you can do fun things to your kids.


What exactly do they make here?

No child was hurt in the making of this photo... this was an intentional act.

Love him in those PJ's.



Love his new haircut. And the fact he is developing his own style and tastes!


Love crossed eyes!



Missing fun neighbours and their crazy sons.

Hmmmm... this girl!

Not too big to be wrestled.



Crazy crawling races.


Daddys and their boys.


Boys who love to learn. (And long may it last!)


A place to rest your head.

Happy ANZAC Day amongst the serious I hope you have time for fun.... we're going to a party after the parade!