20 December 2012

do you feel like a winner?? announcing giveaway winners!!


 Greetings all,
I enjoyed a new hair cut yesterday & i thought it looked cute.  As i was describing how i'd like my hair cut . . . i couldn't work out whose hair i was copying.  Then my husband looked at me & said i looked like a German preschooler.  I wasn't offended as i realised who i was copying - my Austrian sister-in-law - who we're spending Christmas with, so now i'm all single-white-female copying her.  Only she has a freshly broken arm, so i'll be her double in the kitchen!!  
 My husband said i just needed a pair of lederhosen!!  I thought my hair was a winner??
NOW to announce the winners of my latest giveaways . . . drum roll . . .

win an autographed copy of Andy Griffiths' The 13-Storey TreeHouse


Congratulations Yana from White Mouse Creations 

Lego Duplo Read & Build GIVEAWAY: WIN 1 of 3 TRIPLE sets!!


Congratulations Jacinta from Sew Model Mama 
Melissa from WoollyButtHill &
Mel from Coal Valley View.

Congratulations Leslie/ Melbourne Girl from Life at Number 10,
Kylie from mealy & i &
Mel from Coal Valley View.

Congratulations Shar from Mum on the Run!!

Ladies, please email me (via my profile) your delivery address & the prizes will be sent out to you.  Lego & xBox game winners - please ensure your delivery address is not a Post Office Box, as your goodies will be delivered by courier from PR company One Green Bean.  You can choose a business address of course, for your privacy.  Thank you!!  All winners were chosen randomly . . . after confirmation they were indeed legitimate bloggers who follow my blog (sneaky entries - we do check you know!!)  Love Posie

18 December 2012

Grill'd Summer Salads

Greetings all,
Had the pleasure of eating at Grill'd today, test driving their new Summer salads.  My husband & i have always enjoyed this restaurant chain with their fresh, healthy & delicious burgers . . . the salads are a sensational assortment of ingredients & flavours.  The restaurants are classic & i love the bandana clad staff.  They even have an AirStream travel-trailer for burgers at events.  Sweet!!  You're given bottle caps with your order, to 'nominate' your choice of 3 Local Matters charities, who win share of $500 every month.  The first Grill'd restaurant opened in Hawthorn in 2004, now we have 3 around Canberra - so business is booming around Australia!!  Congratulations Grill'd.    
 The staff are friendly & clearly enjoy what they do - with attentive service & genuine interest in what you're ordering.  

CHICKEN, POMEGRANATE & GOATS CHEESE/ 1890KJ / $13.90

Grilled chicken breast, black & white quinoa, Meredith Dairy goats cheese, pomegranate, almonds, mesculin, raspberry & poppy seed dressing.

MIXED VEGETABLES & DUKKAH/ 1250KJ / $12.90

Mixed roast vegetables, black & white quinoa, cherry tomatoes, feta, mesculin, balsamic dressing & dukkah.

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD/ 2410KJ / $12.90

Grilled chicken breast, crispy trim bacon, free range egg, shaved parmesan, baby cos, Caesar dressing & croutons.

The Chicken Pomegranate & Goat's Cheese salad was truly incredible, colourful, i was reluctant to share . . . as every fork-load looked so pretty & was so so good!!
 Our waitress said she orders the Mixed Vegetables & Dukkah salad every day!!  Personally i found it a bit heavy on the balsamic, however, it was shared around & very scrummy. 
 Choose from beef, lamb, vegetarian & chicken burgers + steak sandwiches on a traditional bun or panini including gluten free.  They are all fabulous flavour combinations.  The seasoned hot chips are fantastic with a great sauce selection too.
Thanks Grill'd & One Green Bean for the $30 vouchers, we'll be back - with our appetites & taste buds primed!!  Love Posie

16 December 2012

social commentary Sunday . . . 'tackling the pressure of Christmas'

Seasons Greetings all,
Now I love a good festive activity & grateful exchange of love, stories, family time, however, I’m not religious – Christmas for me is about bringing a year to an end, reflecting, relaxing & raring to go for another year.  Depending on where we’re living & if my husband is home, we might do a fully-sparkling-real-Christmas tree with full decorations; be visiting family interstate; or have a quiet family lunch at home.  We keep the Christmas gifts to a minimum & focus on each child’s birthday as a special time to receive goodies (evenly paced throughout the year!!)  As a newly wed, I diligently hand wrote Christmas cards to everyone we knew, we had a new life in tropical Darwin to share; 2 years later we had a baby to blab about; another 2 years later ‘twins’ to show off; & another 2 years later . . . a fourth child to celebrate . . . that was 2004, the last year I sent cards. I don’t mind the Christmas newsletter email (no paper waste) but please don’t ask me to log onto a website to download your message.
 The pressure to spend – an ill disguised reserve-bank-interest-rate-cut-to-stimulate-the-retail-economy = the message “BLOW it on Christmas shopping” not “save it & pay off your mortgage sooner” as that would be sensible.  My children have never asked for the latest or greatest toy blazoned on the cover of those chain store catalogues.  I love that they have politely suggested they would like activities (books, board games, craft) & equally politely explained to me that clothes don’t count as gifts.  At least they know the difference between needs & wants!!

I don’t mind Christmas carols sung properly. . . sexy Christmas songs make my skin crawl & don’t get me started on sexy elves or a sexy Mrs Claus.  Advent calendars are a fun concept, we had them growing up with a chocolate per day. In Summer??  Molten chocolate welding a cardboard door you can’t open without a box cutter??  I like the new tact clever mums are using with “a family activity suggestion” behind each door, but I’d actually prefer my children to discover “a December chore to complete” . . . it’s bush fire hazard reduction time, school bags need to be emptied & swimming pools are full of Funnel Web Spiders!!    
 So everything is done & dusted, your husband is on leave, children on holidays, you literally have nothing to other than relax - in the cool change of the evening - with some television viewing, only it’s non rating season & it’s all rubbish. Australia has recently gained more channels on free-to-air television . . . unfortunately dedicated to extending home shopping/ sports/ repeats/ news.  Australia has very few Christmas themed movies, they’re ignored anyway, the choices are 1950’s American movie classics or 1990’s jovial ‘unfunny’ versions (complete with snow/ gift panic/ missing reindeer/ alcoholic Santa/ dysfunctional family “reuniting & saving Christmas”, yawn) . . . or be punished with A Christmas Carol, again.  Thank goodness gifts might include board games, books & the wonderful DVD series of your favourite shows!!

I do the Christmas shopping well in advance as I make better gift choices & the retail staff aren’t homicidal from listening to festive music.  The car parks become mine fields & just today at our local shops . . . a toddler was hanging around the top of the escalators, so I ushered him out of the way & tried to identify his mother – who came screaming over like I was a kidnapper.  Well yes, stranger danger but seriously, Mums – watch your children!!  We’ve witnessed a child fall to his death from the top of an escalator at a shopping centre, it happens!!  His mother was distracted. I have noticed - the shops are EMPTY - it’s no wonder gift cards are the hot item, you can’t go wrong & get great value in the sales.  Some argue it's thoughtless & 'just' cash, well, the thrill of Christmas gifts left me when i started earning my own money, mind you, my husband still surprises me, & it's not with a gift card!! 
 Finally, the all-consuming-all-day-lunch . . . my Mummy is English & granted we spent every second Christmas in Europe, so hot turkey, ham, pork, 15 vegetables & a massive pudding seems suitable, so long as we’re running a marathon before dinner, it is freezing Winter outside.  I’ve only ever seen my mother swear & slam the oven door . . . you guessed it . . . on Christmas day.  It was a military operation for her, the dining table was set a week in advance & we’d all have a polishing/ cleaning/ folding/ primping job. We are a large family but the world’s biggest turkey which takes forever to cook . . . why can’t any host born after say 1960 just admit it’s a tough meat to master, swap it for two small turkeys or something they are used to perfecting, like chicken!! Do we really need ham & pork too??  Our family got so big (14 grandchildren) so as my parents got older, even though they had 4 capable married children (8 extra pairs of adults hands) they hired staff to serve us.  We had pork in a Weber BBQ; ham in the kitchen oven & turkey in a commercial oven installed in the old billiard room downstairs, for big catering events. Add to that 22+ people & the fact it’s 35C outside, all we wanted to do was swim!!  Our Christmas lunch commenced with champagne & seafood, however, we’d still be very happy with one meat & sacrifice a dozen vegetables for lunch, so we genuinely had room for pudding served with lashings of brandy butter.  As Mum relaxed with age, she’d let us swim before dessert & also let us help ourselves to cold cuts for dinner, she stopped martyring herself over every detail once she turned about 60.  Hallelujah.  That’s the spirit, friendly & happy. 

 When we build our homestead & have a farm, I imagine we’ll be staying home or hosting Christmas.  Apart from the fact we live 200km from our nearest relative, going away for Christmas is a huge task + horror on the roads.  We will have a traditional roast, perhaps we might raise our own reasonably-sized-turkey or tastey venison, served with seasonal vegetables from the garden & if the children have a specialty dessert or fantastic sauce they make, wonderful!!  Specialty contributions, not strict traditions!!  Just light & happy, with lots of swimming & genuine relaxation, unrushed & truly enjoying each other’s company.

I have never understood the pressure of having to attend lunch with one family & dinner with another, ON Christmas day.  Especially with alcohol flowing freely.  We have already said to our children – there are four of you, you’ll each have partners one day, with their family demands, spend Christmas with them if you wish & Boxing Day or another day in December with us – we are not scoring points on who is with us on the actual 25th of December.  Just remove the pressure & stress off everyone, especially in a large network.  I bet our Christmases as parents of adult children & grandparents will be wonderful celebrations.  
Are you making changes on how to cope with crazy chaotic Christmas??  Love Posie

13 December 2012

the silly season gets sillier

 Greetings all,
To expel the crazy of Christmas out of my life - i've always planned well in advance, as we have large families & parties to hold in December too.  This week we'll be bringing home 14 children from school to a party here, then deliver them to a school disco.  For me, with a lot of preparation & organisation, it's quite effortless . . . busy/ crazy/ noisy . . . but my children will have a ball, everyone will be fed dinner & i'm saving a dozen parents the trip to the other side of Canberra, because i can, thanks to my husband & the fact we have two 8 seater cars!! 
Amazing what you can do with a $3 packet of balloons, twine & removable hooks on the ceiling!!
All the fans & tissue shapes are available in my on line shop, they're reusable & inexpensive, yet pay for themselves over time.
 I'm making almost all the food myself, as it tastes better, i have the time & it is more cost effective, i even want to give making candied pop corn a go.  
 Thanks to playing on Instagram these past couple of months, a whole new group of 'friends' have opened up.  I hit 1000 followers this week.  I popped by the new Moxom + Whitney florist in Braddon, after welcoming hugs & giggles, Loulou presented us with this gorgeous bunch of blooms, which are sitting front & centre on the party table.  How delightful are people in this world??
 Ok, back to party preparation & fluffing tissue pom poms.   
If you are local &/ or have friends in Canberra, please direct them to the Downer Hall (just north of Canberra city) tomorrow evening, 4-8p.m. for a gorgeous little market event.  I'm having a huge sale, enjoy.  For more Christmasy decorations & festive fun, check out KidSpot Village Voices My Creative Space, love Posie

09 December 2012

last minute Christmas shopping . . .

Greetings all,
Personal plug for my 12 year old business, which is closing down, sigh.

MASSIVE 
7 day sale
30-80% off
vintage style imported Tshirts 
including American Apparel
printed paper bags & coloured twine
jam jars with labels
Kirsten Doran screen printed panels
Christmas lanterns, napkins, plates & cake stands
toadstool lights, erasers & lamps
Moyou acrylic jewellery
party decorations for tables & cakes
hanging tissue fans
toys, books & games
+ special offers . . .
spend $100 & receive a copy of Handmade Living book,
flat rate shipping Australia wide & credit cards welcome.
store closes/ last orders Monday 17th December, shop here, SHOP NOW!!
I'm also doing a market on Friday night 4-8p.m. at Downer Hall ACT, details here, come along for nibbles, drinks & gorgeous locals selling their wares.  More incredible bargains at the Posie stall, always with a beaming smile & EFTPOS.
Thanks for your support, you won't be disappointed, love Posie

08 December 2012

a royal case of morning sickness

Greetings all,
I had this post typed up a couple of days ago, in line with the ridiculous international coverage of Princess Kate's morning sickness.  I had morning sickness 24/7/9 & it wasn't pleasant, at all, i was rendered unemployable (which wasn't at all useful as i'd just finished 6 years of Uni & some $$ would have been handy) alas, all i could do was swim & eat fruit (fruit was easier to bring up that anything else, ick!!)  I was hospitalised each pregnancy for morning sickness & yes, the only time i felt happy & hungry while pregnant, was on a drip, in an air conditioned private hospital, with delicious meals being brought to me.  My princess moments.  
 In my original post i wanted to say how annoyed i was with all this 'twin speculation' as she's so acutely morning sick.  With the best obstetricians in Great Britain caring for the princess/ duchess, i'm pretty sure someone has pulled out the ultrasound machine to confirm single, twins or more.  So can the newsreaders just shut up about it already!!
However, this prank call from an Australian radio station to the English hospital where Princess Kate was receiving treatment, where radio hosts pretended to be Queen Elizabeth & Prince Charles checking up on her . . . where they were actually put through to the ward nurse & actually treated like 'royalty' . . . now the lady who put the call through - has committed suicide . . . it's so incredibly sad.  I haven't been following all the social media on this tragic turn of events, however, i've heard on the news the radio announcers received death threats & 'blood is on your hands' comments.  This is something absolutely no one could have predicted, Prince Charles himself even laughed off the stunt, but it just goes to show - bullying, pranks & indirectly humiliating anyone, for entertainment - you have NO idea how they are going to accept it.  Ever.  This is a huge warning to everyone out there, that what might be funny to you, might be extremely embarrassing & devastating to someone else.  Especially with instant-media-coverage.  The instant Twitter & social media hate, is alarming & grotesque.  Yes, a tragedy has occurred from a prank which should never have worked in the first place, however, let's learn a lesson from this, not bring more hate into the world.  Love Posie

05 December 2012

oh Christmas tree

Greetings all,
How do you . . . 'Christmas tree'??  I grew up with a rather superior faux tree, from England.  It was quite the big deal to put her together each year & decorate with ornaments collected from all over the world.  Check the lights work first, then apply tinsel & finally . . . the decorations.  Being the last child, i was in charge of the family Christmas tree for many years, until i got married & left home at 22.  Mum said the tree was never ever the same again.  Sob.  Perhaps it had something to do with letting little grandchildren decorate it??
 We do something different every year, as so often - we are moving interstate at Christmas - i'm afraid many years we haven't even put a tree up!!  There has been tinsel hung on palm trees in Darwin, a picture of a tree stuck on a hotel wall in Sydney, a stack of pine cones in the Brisbane bachelor pad & a small faux tree from in serviced apartments in Canberra.  Purely for the children, i'm not religious & my husband has missed 5 Christmases  due to war zones.  I think they are beautiful though.   
 This year we skipped the annual trip to a tree farm to pick & chop down a tree, instead we've gone small scale with an old merchandising prop of mine, with simple lanterns, all popped on the bench in the entrance way.  I like it & you can see it from the street!!
 I've added a few simple felt decorations, with natural wicker & this cute mini pinecone ball, now i need to wrap all the gifts & ensure everyone is ticked off the list.  
 This cost practically nothing as the bench was from a shop window display, i had the tree & the lanterns are a combined set of $1 broken ones from Typo.  Love my wicker star below, it's so witchy.
 Do you go for a real tree, enjoying the smell of pine throughout the silly season, or fake/ faux/ sticky?? All out enormous with every decoration you have ever acquired, or different themes, including minimalist??  When do you put your tree up, if at all??  I started fiddling last week but from the looks of Instragram, mid November is acceptable.  I grew up with it being a 1st of December event, & strictly down on the 6th of January.  Happy decorating, love Posie

03 December 2012

Summer baking . . . the magnificent pavlova


 Greetings all,
A fantastic way to bring the taste, smell & colour of Summer together is to plop fresh fruit & whipped cream a-top-a meringue = the magnificent pavlova.  The story goes . . . an Australian chef created this dessert for visiting Russian Prima Ballerina Anna Pavlova.  New Zealanders claim they created it, whatever, it tastes delicious.  All i know is my English, chef trained, ultimate-1950's-house-wife-mother was the Queen of the Pavlova & it was essential eating after a Summer BBQ.    
As a child, i remember my job was to slowly, every slow delicately, add the caster sugar to the egg white peaks in the Sunbeam mixmaster, so the sugar dissolved perfectly.  This is a skill i've passed onto my 4 children purely so i can blog & fiddle around, while they painstakingly stand by the KitchenAid with a tablespoon . . . performing 'the most important job in the world!!  Especially as my husband LOVES pavlova, he is very judgey.
There are vital parts to the making of a pavlova - the meringue has to be perfect.  The delicate addition of sugar; baking it on foil; cooking it slowly in a cold oven; patiently letting it cool; & transferring it from baking tray to serving platter with extreme caution.  For fear of my children eating aluminium, i carefully peel the foil off before plattering up, however, prepare to cry as your meringue base cracks & potentially sinks.  Fear not, it still tastes the same & whipped cream hides all sins!!  When i say whipped cream i mean - hold the mixing bowl over your head upside down & the-cream-doesn't-budge kind of whipping!!

The brilliance of the family pavlova includes asking the children which fruit they'd like to add & have them clean/ peel/ slice/ stone/ top & tail all the fruit they desire, then decorate it with gusto.  This strawberry pavlova below is the handy work of my 3rd daughter, aged 11, who was on an artistic mission & a strawberry binge!!  
Many will insist passion fruit is essential, i'm not going to argue, the smell of passion fruit growing on vines along my childhood swimming pool is pure bliss.  I'm also partial to an entire fruit salad a-top-a pavlova too.
There are rules, however, it depends if you're on a diet or not, as to how large, high or fluffy you want your meringue to sit & how thick a-layer-of cream you smear on top.  This mango adorned pavlova was mighty fine with it's 'thirds' layering.
My mother swore by the Australian Women's Weekly, however, i haven't been able to nail the tastey, firm yet fluffy pavlovas she mastered with the same recipe.  I am certain there was a missing secret ingredient.  Sadly, my mother has Alzheimer's & cannot remember if she tweaked the recipe.  So for many years i've fiddled around & have finally developed a fail safe, delicious pavlova, where my hero ingredient is using the freshest of egg whites . . . as in, laid-on-the-other-side-of-our-kitchen-window-by-our-gorgeous-hens THAT DAY kind of fresh!!
Why do i bother making pavlova when it takes a couple of hours & you can purchase them . . . mine cost about $5 to make at home, they feed our family of six, twice + you get to lick the beaters & make mini meringues for your children too!!  Oh & the fresh taste . . . drool.
 Meringue
5 egg whites 
(organic chicken eggs are a little smaller than 'regular' store bought eggs & have larger yolks, so i use 5 egg whites from our hens, in a recipe which would normally use 4 supermarket eggs)
 Cup of caster sugar
Tablespoon of cornflour
 Teaspoon of white vinegar  
Preheat oven to 120C & line a baking tray with foil.  Beat egg whites in mixer on high until soft peaks form.  Gradually add caster sugar until it dissolves (you can't feel any grains with your finger tips or on your tongue, just saying!!)  Beat cornflour & vinegar very slowly until combined.  Meringue should look glossy like a pearl.  Spread meringue on the tray, carefully forming a circle with peaks or swirls around the edge.  Bake for 75 minutes (don't let it go brown) & leave in the oven to cool with the door open.
Cream & Fruit
400ml thickened cream 
& spread generously over meringue base.  Add seasonal fruit of your choice. 
Cost
egg whites are laid with love, homebrand cream $2, road side/ market stall seasonal fruit $3
 (in Winter, tinned peaches are pretty fantastic!!)
Extra
Add a few drops of food colouring while mixing the meringue for a coloured base, ditto cream if you have a fun theme or just love colour.  
Whip cream with a teaspoon of vanilla extract & sprinkle of icing sugar for sweetness.
Create individual pavlovas for a dinner party . . . divide & conquer!!
This recipes easily doubles or triples for parties & the meringue recipe can be layered (halve the mixture, cook two bases separately, sandwich cream between them) for a pavlova sandwich.
What to do with the left over egg yolks??  Why make yourself a hearty pasta carbonara for dinner of course!!  Enjoy, love Posie

01 December 2012

hello Summer

Greetings all,
Welcome to Summer in Australia.  It's hot & dry, stormy & humid, where we all hang out for those Southerly changes with a cool breeze blowing off Antarctica.  
The smell of Summer . . . mangoes - when we lived in tropical Darwin, we had mangoes falling in our backgarden.  A local road side fruit stall was stocked full of mangoes, so i loaded up with 4 punnets of strawberries, 9 mangoes ($1 each, bliss) passionfruit (3 for $1) avocado, tomatoes & the world's biggest capsicum (50c each!!) 
 The colour of Summer . . . blooming flowers - incredible & vibrant.  
 The skies of Summer . . . stormy - vast blue skies are swept away with amazing storms & lightening displays, the humidity builds & the rain brings cool relief. 
 The taste of Summer . . . pavlova - i have been making the BEST pavlovas since we've been raising chickens, the egg whites in the meringue are like nothing i've seen or tasted before.  Says a lot about egg whites being FRESH!!  My 3rd daughter (aged 11) decorated this pavlova, she made the meringue, whipped the cream, chopped the strawberries & flicked the passionfruit.  
 The heat of Summer . . . escape - i have no idea how feathered friends stand the heat, there have been a lot of random dirt nests dug up around the garden this week.   
 The benefits of Summer . . . produce - our tomatoes are on their way, 3 different varieties this year, mixed in with chillies, all growing wild with this heat.
I love Summer, the way the washing dries so quickly, the general feeling of light happiness inside, endless days by the pool & soaking up the holidays.  I can't wait until the children finish school, as always, my eldest breaks up first, it's treasured one on one time with my first born.  Love Posie  
PS don't forget the current giveaways - good luck, Duplo Lego ends tomorrow!!