Wollongong and other shenanigans..

I have been kind of absent from my blog. Its just been that kind of busy around here... the kind of busy that you don't have ten minutes to write or even think about writing. And its not unpleasant busy, actually its been a lot of fun... we've had a family Easter weekend; my nephew who lives a few hours away from us came and stayed for a couple of days; we had a friends birthday that involved a few drinks at a really cool Mexican bar; and we celebrated our wedding anniversary by going away to Wollongong for a night. Why Wollongong you ask? simply because I have driven past it many times but never have I been. So we thought, Why not?

We stayed at a nice hotel with a great view from our balcony....

...well that part wasn't the best but the hotel room was and going out for a long lunch with my husband (while Lucy was looked after by my mum) was. We ate, we drank, and we ate some more. In the evening we managed to even dance at the Illawarra Hotel... we were the OLDEST people in the place and were wearing more clothes then anyone else, but after a beer or two we stopped noticing.

so overall a great couple of weeks was had... I forgot to mention the most important development by my gorgeous Lucy... she had started to use her push walker to walk around the house...much too soon I think!

Just for Anzac Day

I have decided to repost this gorgeous recipe for one of my favourite cookies, just because its Anzac Day and nothing beats some delicious cookies with a big glass of milk or a hot cup of tea. Hope everyone has a great Anzac Day and remembers the people that have sacrificed their lives for us to be able to enjoy it all in this beautiful country.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

100grams butter (melted)

1/2 teaspoon Bi-Carb soda

handful sultans (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius, and place baking paper on biscuit oven trays (you will need 2).

In a large bowl, place the flour, oats, sugar, sultanas (optional) and maple syrup. Make a well in the middle and pour in the butter, the Bi-Carb soda and 50ml of warm tap water.

Now you need to get dirty and using your hand, get in there and knead the mixture, if after 2 minutes its still too dry, add just a dash of water and knead the mixture again. You want it all to stick together and be firm and not be runny.

Once you have played with the dough for 5 minutes, make little balls placing them on your tray at least 3cm apart. The size of your balls is optional depending on how big you want the cookies to be.

Once all your balls are on the tray, using the palm of your hand press down to make the balls only about 2-3cm deep.

Place in the oven for 10 min, the longer you leave them in, the crunchier the cookies will be.

Remove and enjoy! xx

PS. if you want an even healthier version, replace the sugar with dried dates or prunes (about 5 chopped to small pieces). This wont make the cookies as sweet but can make an excellent breakfast bar!

THE EASTER SHOW

image from foodability.com

How many of you have gone to the Easter Show this year? What you think? Really, what you think?? Did you enjoy the queues? Did you enjoy the gorgeous smells of the animals? The millions of kids trying to get on a ride, trying to buy a show bag, trying to buy something to eat, or just running away from their parents?

I do understand that its a tradition here to go to the Easter Show throughout the Easter season, but REALLY unless you have kids and they literally have twisted your arm and guilt you with things like:

"all my friends are going",
"No one will like me if you don't take me",
"You don't love me enough to take me" etc etc etc..... 

so unless your kids are at the age when that happens, I say why torture yourself?
I have spent years going to the Easter Show with kids that I nannied and spend the whole time chasing them from this and that place (but I was PAID to do it!). I was SOOOOOO glad that this year I didn't have to do it. Lucy is much too little to appreciate it and I have saved myself my sanity and my hard earned money.

My opinion, if you have a choice because your kids are not asking to go, DON'T GO. There will be YEARS of being forced to go by kids that know how to guilt you into it and you will regret starting early.

Of course there are good moments and it does mean that the kids are so exhausted afterwards that they just collapse into bed. Though I'm not sure you will appreciate the peace and quiet because your just as exhausted as they are.

Happy end of school holidays everyone
xx