ANZACS and Zucchini Pickles...

I made a batch of Anzac biscuits yesterday (this is an old pic) and they are so yummy with a cuppa.
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I found a recipe for Zucchini Pickles on Indira Naidoo's Saucy Onion blog here so I thought I'd give it a whirl... She has a lovely blog about her Edible Balcony.
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Zucchini, capsicum and onion soaking in salt for 3 hours...

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...all ingredients combined and heating...
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...my lovely Big Dutch Blue (on her maiden voyage - I got her for Christmas and this is the first time I've used her - I'm doing Lamb Shanks later this week for sure!) ...
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... ready for bottling...
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The finished article - lovely colour and consistency but I must confess I think I stuffed up with the salt in this recipe - somehow along the way I put it in twice so it's salty. I'll let it sit for a day or two then try some. If it is still really salty I'll ditch it and try again because the recipe is a "good 'un" otherwise. Silly me!
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Kirby is fully recovered from the wisdon tooth episode. She was still having some jaw pain late last week(aching up near her ears) so I booked her in for some Bowen Therapy where the lady gently massaged the muscles in her jaw which creates a release. She is finally off all pain relief so that's a blessing. My advice to anyone having wisdom teeth out - be aware of your pain medication - just because it is prescribed to you doesn't mean you have to take it. It may not suit you and may be worse than the pain iteself. If it doesn't feel like it's doing the job, either ask your doctor or a pharmacist for advice on alternative medication. Kirby was prescribed a strong pain medication, Endone, but I really think it did more harm than good. I think she could have got by with something like Panadeine/Panadol and Ibuprofen (Nurofen) with better results. Anyhoo, it's all over now and she's back ready to hit the books again for another term.
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Thank you all so much for your well wishes and prayers for her speedy recovery. It was truly appreciated.
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Joolz

MasterChef...

We watch MasterChef every night and tonight a young bloke from Adelaide got into the Top 24 - Callum Hann (#41/50)

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I hope he has a real crack at it and has fun along the way. It is such a good show - you just sit and relax and watch a good hour of entertaining television. Go Callum!
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Joolz

Anzac Day ...

Today we pay tribute to our soldiers past and present - we are proud of you and we salute you!
Lest we forget.
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Here are a few more spider webs that I have snapped. Our mornings are very dewy and when I get home from my walk, all the webs are glistening in the sun.
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Joolz

Happy 80th Birthday, Mum! ...

This is the spread we (me and my 4 sisters) put on for my mother's 80th Birthday afternoon tea.
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She had a lovely afternoon catching up with old friends.
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The lady in the pink jacket was Mum's first new girl friend when she came to this district to live with her older brother and his wife.
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This is the framed collage that we gave Mum. My sister Leanne had a local photography shop do the collage from photos that we all supplied. They set out the pictures and did all the hard work. There is a picture of everyone in our family plus old pics of Mum when she was a young girl of 16, her wedding portrait, her parents and brothers and sister. Mum was so pleased with it. It makes a great gift for someone who has 'everything'.
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Mum surrounded by some of her 10 grand children and 16 great-grand children.
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Mum with grand daughters Kirby & Brianna and great- grand daughter Rylee.
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Birthday cake No. 2 !!!
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Me and my dear Mum...
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It was a busy day as we all went out for dinner as well - 5 daughters, 4 son-in-laws, 8 out of 10 grand children, their partners and 13 out of 16 great-grand children were there. We made lots of noise but it was fun!
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Cheers - Joolz

Wisdom update...

Kirby is still taking Panadol and Nurofen for her mouth pain, but less frequently. We realised on Thursday morning that the Endone she was prescribed (Morphine based) was tripping her out (the anaesthetist told me she could have it with P & N!) and she couldn't tell if she was in pain or not. She basically didn't sleep more than a few hours at a time since Monday night. So Thursday (under doctors orders - he told me I'd basically been overdosing her with all 3!) she just took Endone and no P or N - she still looked totally zonked. Her pupils were really dilated and she still had a lot of pain. Friday I said 'no more Endone - just Panadol and Nurofen, alternated'. This made her a lot brighter and her eyes returned to normal and she had colour in her cheeks again. She got up and baked a cake! All this time, she has been eating well and hasn't had trouble chewing food. Yesterday, she still needed relief, but less often and finally said her mouth was starting to return to normal. This poor kid has not left the house since Monday, spending time on the couch or in bed trying to get some sleep. It's been a long week for all of us so I hope today is even better for her. Not a great way to spend a week of your Uni holidays, is it? If/when Brianna has to have her wisdom teeth out, she can decide - I'm not going to be responsible for putting my child through that much pain again!
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We're off to see the flooring in the unit so will have some pics to post later in the week. We also have a fancy dinner to attend on Monday night so that should be nice.
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Stay safe,
Joolz

Suspect mole...

When I had my health check recently, I showed my doctor this mole I have on my arm. She suggested I attend a skin clinic with another doctor at the practice. He went over me with a special light or lens (not sure which), checking my moles. He advised me to have a shave biopsy on this one. I fronted up on Tuesday and had the thing shaved off and the specimen was sent off to pathology.
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I went back on Thursday to have it re-dressed and the results were back. Although he had told me it did not look like a suspect melanoma (he had some other looong name for it), the results came back to say it was pre-melanoma and should be taken off by elliptical excision (the mole and surrounding and underlying skin are taken in the shape of an oval or ellipse).
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As a result, I have a 5cm long, 5mm deep incision, lots of very neat internal stitches and about 8 external stitches. Scarring should be minimal. It is right on the bend of my elbow and holy crap it smarts when I bend it!
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So peoples, do youself a favour - get a loved one to check you over for irregular shaped, coloured, flat moles - especially under bra straps when you can't see them. Get a doctor to check the moles, take photos for size/growth comparison and get them removed. Better a small scar than a large chunk of flesh having to be cut out. I'm glad I went along - I have another few that will be monitored over time.
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Cheers - Joolz

Toblerone & Raspberry Choc Brownies...

(Joolz pic)
...and it's even a 'healthy' recipe, too!
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(Joolz pic)
TOBLERONE & RASPBERRY CHOC BROWNIES
3 eggs, separated
1 cup caster sugar
200gm tub low-fat vanilla yoghurt
1.5 tblspns vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups SR flour, sifted with
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
50gms Toblerone chocolate bar, each individual piece (triangles) halved - (um, I used 100gms!)
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Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C. grease and line a 30cm x 20cm lamington/slice tin with baking paper.
Combine egg yolks, sugar, yoghurt and oil in a bowl. Stir in flour and cocoa.
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Step 2 - In a small separate bowl, use electric beaters to whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into cocoa mixture gently then when combined, add raspberries and stir through. Spread mixture in the tin. Scatter Toblerone pieces over the mixture.
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Step 3 - Bake for 20-22 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool completely in tin before slicing into 24 pieces. Enjoy in moderation!
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LOW kJ ~ LOW FAT ~ LOW SODIUM
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Per serve - 445kJ/107cal Sugars 11g
Protein 2.8g Fibre 0.7g
Total Fat 3g Sodium 76mg
Sat Fat 1g Iron 0.7mg
Carbs 17g Calcium 34mg
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Kirby is still not well with her wisdom teeth - I have spoken with her Dr. and have changed the dosage of the pain medication as I think we were overdosing and causing her to feel more unwell.
(we were told she could have a mixture of 3 meds) Hopefully she will improve as the day goes on.
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Cheers - Joolz

Pain relief...

Kirby had her four wisdom teeth extracted under general anaesthetic on Monday. She had day surgery at our local hospital and came out of the operation beautifully. She has been taking it easy on the couch and keeping warm. Tuesday she was feeling quite good but this morning the pain has become more intense and she didn't sleep much at all last night, even with the pain medication prescribed by the anaesthetist. I hope things start to improve later today - I hate seeing her in pain.
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Thank you all for your comments on our kitchen renovations - it is at the unit where Kirby lives - not our house. We have bought the property as an investment and for somewhere for both girls to live while at university. When they have finished with is, hopefully the market will be kind to us and we can sell it for a tidy profit. If not, we will hang on to it and rent it out again.
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The flooring is now in but we haven't seen it yet. Heading there this weekend so all will be revealed then.
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Cheers - Joolz

Easter renovations...

This is how we spent Easter - painting, sanding etc.
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Brianna transformed the lounge room pelmets from 'mission brown' to 'new antique off-white' with great results.
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We painted a feature wall in the lounge room - Dulux 'Spiced Nutmeg'
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This is how Angus felt after the painting was finally all finished on Monday night - absolutely knackered!
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This room will look really spiffy when the new oak flooring goes down (was supposed to go in Tuesday but the stupid contractor double booked himself! Grrr!)
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Kirby chose a decorative metal motif to set the wall off.
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Finally - the old grotty kitchen and.... (drum roll if you please.....)
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Ta Da! The finished kitchen, just waiting for the new floor boards. We are extremely happy with the way it all turned out. It was not a cheap fix but the investment will pay off when we sell the unit in years to come.
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And now, the food! Good Friday night entree - Angus made Zesty, Garlic Prawn skewers. Recipe to follow.
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Kirby made a nice big salad.
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I made potato, carrot and sweet potato oven baked chips - healthy and yummy!
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Good Friday dinner - Angus cooked King George Whiting fillets on the barbecue.
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On Saturday, Angus found an organic butcher shop nearby so we had T-bones and rump steak and a big tossed salad and baked potatoes.
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On Sunday, we treated ourselves to lunch out at Jolleys Boat House, on the River Torrens. This was my main - caramelised pork belly, watermelon, green mango and peanut salad with red chilli nam jim. Very rich and oh, so delicious!
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Desserts ... Passionfruit Pavlova for Brianna ...
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...Caramel semi-freddo, double choc icecream and butterscotch peanut brittle for Kirby...
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...and Gus and I shared the Jolly's Menage a Trois! A passionfruit creme brulee', a pineapple vanilla semi-freddo and a molten chocolate pudding with fresh cream. Heaven on a lovely long plate!
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The young 'uns
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and a couple of old crocs! Truly a great reward for the hard work we put in.
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So that was our Easter weekend, full of lots of hard work but some good times and delicious food too.
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Cheers - Joolz

Happy Easter...

I hope everyone is enjoying their Easter weekend. It's a lovely time to catch up with family and friends and to enjoy this lovely autumn weather we are having. I have enjoyed one of the nice hot cross buns which I bought freshly baked by our local baker. The girls have been sharing their choccy eggs so all is right with the world!

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We have been busy painting (and spackling, mending, sanding, washing down and repairing) our unit where Kirby lives. We have had a new kitchen installed and new flooring goes down on Tuesday. We are very pleased with the job - it looks fantastic so far! We are all quite stiff and sore from all the reaching, sanding, wall washing and painting so we are going out to lunch to celebrate our achievements so far. I'll put up some pics later of our progress.

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Cheers - Joolz