Farewell to Chiara and a busy few days...

Bri and Chiara at Wynn's Coonawarra.
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Brianna, Kirby & Chiara
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We farewelled Chiara on Wednesday morning. There were a few tears shed amongst us. Chiara was a perfect guest and we certainly enjoyed having her stay with us. It will be great to meet her family in October in Turin.
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This is the entire group of exchange students and their hosts.
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What an experience it has been for these students. Hosting an international guest then later this year, jetting off to Italy to rejoin them in their country to experience their daily life and culture.
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L-R: Beatrice, Samantha, Sally, Maddy, Brianna & Chiara
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On Thursday, Angus and I headed to Adelaide. We did a few jobs at the unit and found a lovely leak in the shower recess, called a plumber and he estimated the job to cost +$600! On our last trip there, the toilet had backed up and that cost $580 to have the pipe to the septic cleaned out and tree roots removed and an inspection point put in! We have bought a money pit, I think! We find it very hard to get jobs done because of the turn around times with tradesmen or just physically going to buy things - sometimes you have to go across town a couple of times before you find what you want. The new kitchen will go in, sometime in March (fingers crossed!) then we can start to redecorate with feature walls, new vinyl etc.
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A quiet week ahead, I hope. Enjoy yours,
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Cheers - Joolz

Food, food and more food...

On Friday night, the Italian Club in Mt Gambier help a Pizza & Pasta night and we were all invited. They had a very big crowd.
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On Saturday night, we gave Chiara a typical Australian dinner - roast lamb, potatoes, carrots, pumpkin and peas with gravy.
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Chiara, Brianna, Samantha & Beatrice
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On Sunday, we joined the Macera family and visited the Coonawarra wine district. Ric rode his motorcycle there and he gave Chiara and the girls a quick ride down the road. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Upstairs at Hollick.
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Salmon & Leek tart with fresh herbs
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Aged Teys Brothers black Angus scotch fillet, dauphinous potato, pepperonata, green beans with cabernet jus
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Rare roasted Naracoorte venison topside, daupine potato, local beetroot & horseradish cream, green peppercorn jus
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Stuffed chicken fillet, carrot mash, coriander cream and cream beans
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Pan roasted duck breast, black olive polenta, spiced cherries, mushrooms and Arabica sauce
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Grilled Watson's lamb backstrap, white bean puree, shiraz jus; warm salad of confit lamb shoulder, cherry tomatoes, basil and white anchovies (mine!)
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Pasta with prawns and chorizo (didn't write down the description for this one, sorry)
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Now onto the desserts.....
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White chocolate panna cotta, anise jelly, chocolate crumble and cherry icecream
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Bitter dark chocolate tart, chocolate sorbet, caramel sauce, salted peanut brittle & pure cream
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...and finally, steamed lemon pudding, passionfruit and nectar syrup, passionfruit semi freddo and pure cream
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We went home feeling very full. It was a warm night so we sat outside and had pizzas cooked on the pizza stone in the barbecue for a late dinner.
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Chiara got to see our cat, Bonnie, play with a mouse before eating it and because the night was so warm there were lots of bugs swarming about. She had bugs in her hair and trying to got down her t-shirt.
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Tonight (Tuesday) we have a farewell dinner for the Italian students at TWC then we farewell them tomorrow as they head for Melbourne for 2 days before they fly back home to Torino.
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Cheers - Joolz

Mars Bar Chocolate Crackles ...

MARS BAR CHOCOLATE CRACKLES
200 gms Mars Bars
2 tblspns thin cream
2 tspns cocoa powder
3 cups Rice Bubbles

In a small bowl, over simmering water - melt Mars Bars, cream and cocoa until smooth and runny. Place rice bubbles in large bowl, add chocolate mixture and combine well. Spoon into patty pans.
As an Easter treat - top each crackle with a small foil wrapped egg (I used Australian chocolate coins for our Italian guest).
Refrigerate to set.
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On the menu last night - crumbed lamb chops, mashed potato, peas and carrots with rich brown gravy.
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Chiara came home from school and went and had a sleep - she was tired from 'teaching' some junior school children how to count and say some things in Italian and the day had been quite hot.
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Cheers - Joolz

A day at the beach at Number 2 Rocks ...

We headed off at 11 am for the hour long drive through the sand dunes...
(click on pictures to enlarge)
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which lead us to Number 2 Rocks.
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It is a beautiful horse-shoe shaped bay with a reef which lets the waves break, leaving the inner water calm and safe for swimming.
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When we first got there, the girls explored along the shoreline, looking for small fish and crabs.
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You can see the waves breaking on the rocks behind the girls. We listened to the thundering sea all day.
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For lunch, we had lamb chops and beef sausages with various salads which we all shared. I think the Italian girls all enjoyed their lunch.
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Here are two of the chefs - Angus & Ric
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Sausages and lots of salad.
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Our friends have kayaks so the girls had fun paddling about.
(Sally, Maddy & Brianna)
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Beatrice, Chiara and Samantha.
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A wave came in and gave Chiara a wet bottom!
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They had lots of fun. We also set up a volley ball net and they played that also.
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They spent time walking along the beach, drawing in the sand and looking in rock pools for crabs and star fish.
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L-R : Brianna & Chiara, Sally & Maddy, Samantha and Beatrice.
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In the late afternoon, it was time for some beach cricket. Beatrice was very good
at hitting the ball.
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More waves crashing on rocks... soon it was time to pack up and head for home. On the way back we found a steep sand hill so the girls could try some sand-boarding.
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They found it tiring, climbing to the top, sliding down then climbing to the top again and again!
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It was funny to watch...
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..sometimes they stayed on the boards...
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... sometimes not!
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Oops! Beatrice takes a tumble!
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A beautiful sunset to finish the day...
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We arrived home and had toasted ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner then showered to wash off all the sand (there is still lots in my house!). We all slept very well last night.
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Cheers - Joolz