An anniversary and other stuff from the week...

We celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary yesterday.  My lovely hubby  sent me flowers which arrived at work, mid morning.

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  Aren't they gorgeous?

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Wow, where has 27 years gone?  Thank goodness, some bridesmaids dresses have improved over the years!

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I have revived my azalea - it got a bit neglected while we were away and all the pretty flowers were shrivelled and dried.  A good watering and I dead headed it and it has sprung back to life.  I love this colour!

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Ahem, this is my back garden - badly in need of a good weeding and cutting back.  Most of the roses (carpet/ground cover) have not been pruned.

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They have all shot out nice and healthy but there are old rose hips from last summer which still need trimming off.  Will try and get to that job this weekend as the weather is meant to be fine.

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I made Annette Sym's Macaroni Beef for Wednesday nights dinner.  It a very satisfying dish but low in fat so that's a bonus.  Recipe link here

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I had a win at our local Target Country store earlier this week.  I went in looking for a queen bed sheet set for Kirby.  I found one (flat sheet, fitted sheet and 2 pillow cases) but couldn't see how much it was.  I asked a sales assistant who told me it was $139 (which I thought pricey).  I said "Don't suppose they're going on sale soon?" and she said "Actually, the sale starts tomorrow on all manchester."  I couldn't believe my luck, that never happens to me.  I thanked her and said I'd be back next morning.  I ended up buying a QB set for $69.50, a KB set for $74.50, a normal QB set for 22.50 and that light coloured cushion on the bed for $12.  Total purchase $178.50, total saving $169.50 - yippee!

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Thursday night we had Pork with pan fried apples - a recipe from Taste.com here

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My sauce looks darker than the recipe picture but it sure was tasty.  I used pork chops instead of fillet too as the supermarket didn't have fillet. Yum!

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Yesterday, I got all my postcards and brochures etc from our trip to the US and organised them in a scrap book, all in date and city/town order.  It was a job that I thought would takes hours but it wasn't so bad once I sorted everything into towns first.  Then I just glued or sticky taped things in.  I am not sure how I will choose what photos to get printed off.  I want to do some, but excluding some is the hardest part!

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Time to go get stuck into that garden while the sun is shining.  I'm just going to do a bit today then a bit more tomorrow so I don't do my back or neck in!

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Cheers - Joolz xx

This and that...

Friday night last, I made this yummy Chicken & Speck Pasta Bake by Kate Bracks (MasterChef) - the link is here

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Brown 500gms chicken breast then stir fry off the vegetables (I added mushroom because we love it)

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After making the white sauce using stock, white wine and flour and milk, add this to the chicken and veggies.

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I used this Vegeroni pasta (not sure if this is available in all states as its SA made I believe).
(I could not get this picture to turn no matter how hard I deleted and retried - grrr, blogger!

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Top with fine bread cumbs and parmesan cheese, then bake for 15-20 minutes until crust has browned.

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Delicious to the last mouthful!

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Kirby had really good news last Friday night.  Apart from completing an Advertising School course and achieving a High Distinction for it, she also received a promotion to Media Executive.  We are very proud!

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Saturday, I made Creme Caramels from Rachel Khoo's Little Paris Kitchen book - her blog is here

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They were turned out really well, although I need to read the recipe a bit better next time.

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They were a bit rough around the edges but very yummy.  I need to tweak the custard next time.
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I also made this huge loaf of soy and linseed bread - just mixed the dough in my bread maker, let it rise until nearly done then transferred the dough to a loaf pan.  I finished off the last of the loaf this morning, it makes lovely toast.

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A sign I found on the internet...
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Sunday afternoon was spent with friends and my sister and brother in law.  Just sitting around the chiminea having a few wines and beers.  Lots of laughs....

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Pink Lady apples were on sale at our IGA for $1.99/kg.  Woolworths have them for $4.98 at the moment so I have been buying bags full!

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All cut up ready for juicing...

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Pure Pink Lady juice...

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Deeelicious!

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Breakfast, I think my favourite meal of the day.  What do you like for brekky?  I like eggs on toast (that's my homemade bread) -boiled/poached, baked beans on toast, sardines on toast, cheese and vegemite on toast... can you see I like toast?

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Monday afternoon I made Anzac biscuits.  I had a brain wave to put cranberries in them, then I though ... that makes them CRANzacs!  What a discovery!  I googled them and ... lots of other people have had the same idea, obviously.  I'm not a trailblazer afterall!

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They are very gooood!

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Strawberries have also been cheap at $1.68 a large punnet so I bought 6punnets and made strawberry jam.  I got 7 jars and a full jar of strawberry syrup.

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I plan to make vanilla bean icecream this coming weekend and swirl the syrup through the icecream them re-freeze.  Strawberry swirl icecream - my favourite!  What's your favourite flavour?

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Since coming home from our holidays, I've been craving home cooked, home-style meals.  Last night I needed to have roast lamb... I didn't put anything on the leg at all, nothing.

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I love when the veggies get all brown from the pan juices...

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Just like Mum used to make!

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I burned my thumb late last week, getting a bowl of food out of the microwave, my thumb nail pierced the glad wrap and STEAM burn!!! Yeeouch!

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I was very careful not to let the blister pop too soon, keeping it covered with Band-aids and as dry as possible.  The blister let go 2 days later but I still kept it covered.

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This is it today, its still got a way to go (and has come out redder at the day has gone on) but I have stopped it from peeling and going all nasty as burns tend to do.  Rivetting stuff, I tell you!

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What's going on in your corner of the world?  The weather here is so changeable - one day I have summer pants on then like today, I am back in winter woolies because its cold, wet and windy!

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I need to get out in my garden this weekend if possible - I have carpet roses to prune, even though they have shot out green again.   I am way behind!

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Off to Weight Watchers tonight - not sure how I'll go this week having eaten all those nice things.  I did manage to come back from 5 weeks holiday and when I weighed in I was 200 grams less (yes, LESS!!!) than when we went away.  The scales at Weight Watchers do not lie!!

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Cheers - Joolz xx

Napa Valley Wine Tour ...

Day 9 - Sunday 11th August - Platypus Wine Tours, Napa Valley

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There were 12 of us on our tour, 4 ladies from Oregan, Martha & Eileen from Boston, Mike & Esther from Utah and us.

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First stop, Hagafen Wines

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Razi Wines - with Fred Razi (hope we see our 6 bottles that Fred is shipping to us!)...

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This is Whetstone Winery, a beautifully hand restored building.  The 4 wineries we visited were all boutique wineries that Platypus choose and we nearly had them all to ourselves.  It was quiet and not rushed which makes for great wine tasting.

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Beautiful weather...

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Our new found friends ...

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Martha and Eileen with Fred Razi - "Come here, Fred.  We'll make a Fred sandwich!"

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Sincere thanks to our driver, Toni, who kept us informed and took us to some great wineries.  When she first hopped on the bus and introduced herself she said "We'll have the air conditioning on but I'm gonna be having the side window open because, you know, I have my own private summers!".  

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Joolz xx