...

Tee hee!

Yep, that's my hubby!

Cooking frenzy

Second round of pies are in the oven. The filling this time? Leftover butter chicken and sauce. The crust? Top is puff, bottom is shortcrust. The leftover cut outs were smooshed together, re-rolled and made into a nutella pie. Muahahahaha!

Butter Chicken pies. They smell divine!

Oh, I also made a second batch of beef stew using the rest of the veggies in the soup kit Glenn brought home. And last night I made my second batch of baking mix. (Note to self, find better ways of cutting the butter into the flour. Grating it didn't work too well. Might try freezing it first so it doesn't melt in my hands.)

Beef stew part deux.

I used some cubed beef from the meat section of Woolies,
a carrot cut into bitty pieces (I don't like carrot but they have to go into beef stew, and since I'm making it, they're small pieces),
a stick of celery also in tiny pieces,
half a chopped onion,
some minced garlic,
some chili,
2 small potatoes,
2 veggie stock cubes,
some onion salt,
some pepper,
some tomato paste,
1 beef stock cube,
some olive oil,
some butter,
some flour.

I heated oil and butter in my nonstick fry pan, added the onion and cooked down a bit. Next went the garlic and chili before dumping the veggies into a bowl. A smidge more oil, the beef and onion salt went in until the beef was cooked on the outside. Using scissors and tongs, I cut the chunks into smaller pieces before adding the flour and cooking it out. The veggies went back in, the potatoes and the stock cubes and it all got stirred up pretty well. I added about 2 cups of water and the tomato paste before adding the pepper and stirred until boiling. I boiled for a minute or two before simmering for 20-30 minutes. So far it smells pretty good so we'll see what my husband thinks. ;)

I rock.

Monday Madness

Yesterday (Monday) I had a long day. 9:30am-6pm as Greeter at work. Handing out upmteen yellow shopping bags, directing people with strollers to use the elevators and not the escalators, telling people that the escalator does NOT go down and is not an exit, that the elevator that goes UP to the showroom does NOT go down as an exit, handing out some more yellow bags, having meatballs for lunch and handing out more yellow bags.

Yes, I have to wear yellow. This does not go well with red hair. We all look like jaundiced blueberries!

Finally! MEATBALL DAY in the Staff Cafe! :D A lot of people don't like them but they are my favorite aside from the chicken schnitzels. I'm not usually working on Meatball Day so I love it when they're offered. :D

Then there was the customer who turned out to be from Seattle and went to Inglemoor High School that I ran into while greeting. Crazy huh? (For those not from Seattle, Inglemoor is a school in the Northshore School District while I went to Henry M. Jackson High School in the Everett School District. They're neighboring school districts.)

(While looking stuff up on wikipedia, I found out that this kid I knew is now playing for the White Sox. Go figure!)

How I spent my 4th Mother's Day

Breakfast in bed. Two pieces of toast with strawberry jam and a cup of milk, just what I asked for.
Church with my in-laws followed by a gift from our childrens group and a bouquet of flowers from a Scarlet sister.
Many "Happy Mother's Day!" wishes from church mothers and fathers.
Lunch with Clan Davies, some Rautios and Bruno.
My niece tackling me to the ground and breaking my necklace chain.
Funny antics with my niece.
Mudcake and ice cream for dessert.
My mother-in-law flipping through my album of Ethan and Andrèa's wedding, looking for pages to display at a function this weekend, and dropping me off at home.
Changing into my jammies, sipping a hot cuppa while curled up on the couch with my blankie and bears.
Waiting for my husband to come home with dinner.
Eating fish and chips together while watching The Block and "Lady and The Tramp".
Reading in bed before lights out.

Maybe next year we'll have a bubby to celebrate with...

*sigh*

Mother's Day 2012

So far my only plans for Mother's Day involve church with my in-laws in the morning, followed by lunch and wrangling my niece while Glenn's at work all day. Sounds pretty good so far.

The bears modeling the lovely cards I made for Mom, Mum and Saara.

It is going to be a bit of a rough day for a lot of us so in case no one else says it...

"Happy Mother's Day. You're a beautiful mother."

What's in my purse - *Bare Essentials* edition

And now for what's in my purse when going out for the evening!

I'm heading out for a rugby double header and don't like lugging around my big bag to and from the stadium. The team bag has my water bottle and book, they don't fit in my purple little bag. It's from Oh Sew Cute, a local lady here in Queensland. You can also find her on madeit.

I've pared down my little purple bag to the bare necessities:

Wallet cards added to red planner
Keys - clipped to belt loop
Phone
Small wristlet pouch with lip gloss, soft lips, bandaid holder, hair ties
MP3 player and ear buds
Notepad and pen
Bus card and season ticket card lanyard
Sunnies
Family photo insert


It's a bit of a tight squeeze but it works.