Resolutions

Nobody likes failure. Last year, not wanting to choose and fail yet again to lose weight and get fit, I resolved to drink more coffee at work. I started off well and managed to keep it up all year, thank-you very much. Luckily, Mim and Bill got engaged and Mim asked me to be in the bridal party. The fear of being that one unfortunate girl who looks terrible in her dress was enough to see me finally get moving and slim down.

I considered going for another fun option like resolving to eat more dark chocolate but I'm going to feel the fear of failure and press on regardless. My resolutions, therefore are....

I resolve to be roughly the same weight this time next year.

I resolve to spend more time cooking with the kids, actually letting Joss particularly learn how to cook rather than just do a bit of pouring and mixing.

I resolve to have more people over for meals - fill the hole where Mim was.

I resolve to be a good long distance friend to Mim.

Finally, I resolve to enjoy my family more. Let the fun begin..... (Don't waste time searching for relevance with the photos, they're random :)

Wedding Belles

It's all over. I can't believe that is is finished and that Mim has gone and won't be coming back. Her new home is four hours away and I put off thinking about that throughout the whole engagement. Today it has hit me and I am very sad. I will really miss this smiley face.

The wedding was beautiful, a really joyous ceremony. The wait was not only worth it but really heightened the excitement. Mim and Bill were supremely excited. Mim had overseen every detail for months and then, just when her matrons of honour were getting into their dresses she had a few photos taken and got straight into the car - a full fifteen minutes before we could leave! She had just had enough waiting.

Bill chose The Proclaimers' I Would Walk 500 Miles as the recessional and we came out of the stiflingly hot church into a welcome breeze - no concern to women with a whole can of hairspray keeping their hair under control, yes, even mine. Jossie and Bethany were very excited to see Mim dressed as a princess and Bethany was very keen on my flowers. She also thought it was funny that I walked out of the church on the arm of another man. She thought it looked as though we were getting married.

The dresses were comfortable once we got out of the church. I wonder when I'll have occasion to wear it again.

The official photos were taken in the Victory Memorial Gardens which are just over the road from the library. It didn't seem as though very many photos were taken but that was alright by the matrons as we were getting a little peckish and our shoes were beginning to hurt.

The reception was lovely. Almost two hundred guests were celebrating in the cool of the evening at the Riverine Club. I was very nervous when I had to give my speech but got through it OK. There were tears later when I said goodbye. The cake looked spectacular thanks to Lyn, who iced it, and Mim's aunt who put the roses on and everyone I offered it to took a piece.

I would wonder what to do with myself now if I weren't going back to work tomorrow and expecting 25 assignments to mark.....

'Twas the night before the wedding

When I have something big on the horizon, uni marking, Christmas, a wedding, I often find myself completely ignoring everything else. I hadn't for example, given New Year's Eve a single thought. Admittedly, New Years Eve isn't a great highlight in my calendar. When Mum and Dad lived in Waverton we used to climb onto their roof and watch all the Sydney fireworks on the harbour but Wagga isn't quite as exciting.... Still, we were thrilled to get a last minute invitation to spend the evening with friends and had such a good time. The children swam to their hearts' content and were up way past their bedtime. I thought Bethany might have a nap in this hammock but no such luck.

Catherine made a delicious lemon and blueberry tart and a pavlova, or pavalova as Bethany called it.

Toby was up at the normal time but Bethany slept almost until 10am! We used Mim's last day as a single woman to get everyone's outfits organised and then we had the rehearsal. I gave my camera to Jossie with mixed results.

There is another 'matron' behind me and a few more men on the right. There will be no shorts tomorrow. For the record, my personal cut off for the wearing of shorts is thirty but I don't judge those who have different standards ;)

I do hope the photographer manages to capture me this well.

I particularly like this arty shot. Not long to go now..... I don't know what sort of opportunity for photography I'll have tomorrow but will try to post decent wedding photos soon. I had better get my beauty sleep.

The day after Boxing Day

For years now it has been traditional in my family to have two big celebrations at Christmas. One on Christmas day and another, with more family members, on Boxing Day. Andrew and I usually miss out on the second one as we have a Boxing Day celebration with Andrew's family but this year we stayed at Mum and Dad's, with all my siblings and their children, and enjoyed the big, extended family, Boxing Day event.

Actually, seeing as Christmas fell on a Friday, we decided to give ourselves a break in between celebrations and had Boxing Day to relax, cook and play with all our new toys. That meant that Sunday was more relaxed even though there were thirty or so people there - aunts, uncles, Granny and cousins.

Phil and Kristin brought the most fabulous piñata. I do wish I had taken my time over the photo - nice background Amy ;)

From the youngest up, all the children and a few adults had a go at the very strong piñata. Toby gave it a good whack and managed to remove a leg but was not able to deal a fatal blow.

Bethany, in her fairy gear, gave it her best.

Jossie also gave it her all.

Even Granny had a go. All the adults took photos.

In the end it took Tim to make the reindeer spill his sweet load.

The kids pounced and asked for lollies every five minutes until we came home.

Lollies have no hold over me at all. Cake on the other hand..... I made this Malakoff Torte after seeing it at Not Quite Nigella.

It was quite delicious and I will definitely make it again. I love Tiramisu but so many people don't like the coffee in it so this is a delightful, non-coffee option - I love them both!

On Monday morning we said good-bye to Phil, Kristin and C and, in the hope of giving Mum and Dad a little bit of space after the chaos, we went out with Tim, Shona and the pumpkin. We bought chocolate at Adora (they sadly melted into a delicious puddle on the way home today) and then had lunch at Harrigan's next to the Hunter Valley Gardens. I had a lovely vegetable curry. Tim, Shona and the pumpkin then went home and we returned to Mum and Dad's for one more day in the Hunter.

Without all the people there was plenty of time to play with (read torment) the animals.

Sit here drinking almond tea, doing the crossword with Granny.

Swim - Bethany is such a water baby.

And lots of cricket playing - great job on the pitch Dad.

Today, we drove all the way home, stopping in Wahroonga for a present exchange with Sue and Ron. The drive went well, Milo was happy to see us and I am enjoying the wireless Internet access. Now to the wedding.... it's on Saturday!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Late with the first and early with the second. I forgot that once here I wouldn’t have much time or Internet access to post – no wireless. So, to take up where I left off, as a mother of young (ish) children the idea of a six and a half hour train trip by myself was really quite appealing. I didn’t think about the fact that those particular hours were ones that I would usually be asleep. It turns out that sleeping without a pillow in a long room full of people isn’t very easy. The man next to me and one across the aisle were snorers. I did manage to doze, curled up in a ball in my seat but was pleased when the lights went on at 5.30.

We arrived at Central Station at 7.30 and after making certain that my luggage was taken care of, I caught a train into the city where I walked, shopped and had a delightfully smooth coffee with some yoghurt and berries at the QVB. Back to Central again to catch another train to Singleton, this time not trying to sleep but reading and watching the city and then countryside go by. I finished Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (great to read as I loved his biography and everything else he wrote) and began Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden but I was frequently distracted by the scenery. As you leave Central and snake through the inner city suburbs, the houses are so fascinating, some ramshackle or derelict, others elegantly from another time, others still an ugly reminder of the 70s. When you get close to the Central Coast the train travels so close to the river where the hills are reflected in the smooth, glassy patches of the otherwise rippled water. We passed through towns I had never heard of, let alone visited and finally arrived in Singleton.

It was lovely to see Andrew and the kids after a few days without them and delightful to be at Tahlee with Mum, Dad and Granny. I had a nap and then Phil, Kristin and Charlotte arrived after the very long trip up from Melbourne. We were a full house with children sleeping on camp beds all over the house but it was so much fun.

The ‘magic’ of Christmas is different when little children are around. Despite the early rising of my children we managed to hold off on present opening until 8am and even then only opened Santa presents and one other. Everything else was opened when Tim, Shona and the pumpkin arrived around 1.30. More presents were followed by a fabulous lunch.

Mmmm, my cousins thongs are so delicious and way more interesting than my presents.

Andrew and I love watching our children spend time with extended family and they have enjoyed it so much. The presents went down really well too. I was thrilled with the cake plates to match the cup and saucer I received last year (another cup and saucer and I’ll be all set ;)) as well as Belinda Jeffery’s Mix and Bake and a subscription to Delicious, among other things.

Everyone fell into bed early after such a big day, thankfully we had a few more days of fun to come……

Delicious and Nutritious Truffles

Tonight a taxi is going to pick me up and take me to the train station. I'll catch the 12.31am train that will take me to Sydney and I am so tired after three days of long work hours, bike riding in the extreme heat, cooking, cleaning, washing and packing, that I really hope I can sleep, or at least doze, on the train. I'll arrive, all going well, in Sydney around 7am and will have three hours to wait for the next train to take me to Singleton. I think I'll head into town for coffee and breakfast. I can't wait to see the family, immediate and extended. It has been ages since we were all together, last November perhaps, so I am really looking forward to it.

Last night I made Nigella's chocolate cheesecake for Jen's birthday. I didn't have any but everyone seemed to like it. It hasn't all been deprivation for me. I was speaking, electronically, to Tricia the other night and she mentioned some truffles that are not only delicious but actually have some nutritional value. I wasn't able to let it go so I walked to the shops at lunch and bought the wherewithal to make them.

The recipe came from here though I fiddled with it a little bit. Don't be put off by words such as vegan and raw (not that there is anything wrong with those ;)) these are scrumptious. Sorry, I forgot to weigh the ingredients to make the recipe more friendly for antipodean types. They are called gingerbread truffles but I confess that even though I doubled the amount of ginger in them, I couldn't really taste it.

1 cup almonds

1 cup walnuts

1/4 cup sultanas

1 cup pitted prunes

1/2 cup dried dates

zest from 1 orange

2 teaspoons of ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

150 g dark chocolate, melted

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until mixture can be formed into balls.

2. Form into balls and place on a lined tray. Freeze for at least an hour.

Melt chocolate and dip the frozen balls to cover before putting back on the tray. Refrigerate until set.

The best ever Christmas cake gets better

I have always loved marzipan. When I was young, and I shudder to think of it now, I used to quickly eat the Christmas cake just to get it out of the way so I could concentrate on the gorgeous, home-made marzipan and white icing. Now, of course, I am also in love with the cake and it would be fine to eat it as it is......but why would you when you could do this?

Marzipan

500g ground almonds

140g caster sugar

85g icing sugar

1 lemon

1 teaspoon each vanilla and almond essence

1 teaspooon orange flower water or brandy (I use brandy)

2 eggs

Sieve sugars and mix with almonds, strained lemon juice and essences.

Add beaten eggs gradually. This will make enough to cover a cake completely. I like it on tn the top only so just make half.

Press onto cake!

I'm not a big fan of fondant icing. The icing that has always gone on my family's Christmas cakes is, I suppose, a type of royal icing. I accidentally made mine too wet, I hope it dries out a bit by Friday.

I have never been given measurements for this icing so I just make it up. Roughly, it is one egg white mixed with quite a lot of icing sugar and some lemon juice. It melts as soon as it hits your tongue. Oh, I am going to enjoy this....


My friend Carol gave me this great Christmas decoration that her family enjoyed when her children were young. The hot air from the candles wafts up and makes the windmill thing go around. The baby Jesus, wise men and shepherds then turn around too...... except that I may not have the angle of the blades right, or maybe the candles are too short. Thankfully, it looks festive even if it doesn't go round.