Sunday, Sunday...

Late on Sunday afternoon, just as I was thinking that I really couldn't be bothered making dinner (I do love cooking dinner on the weekdays but come the weekends...) Lyndon got a phone call. There was a supposed 'water leak' at Harbour Lights apartments, where he worked a few months ago.

As Lyndon had finished working on this project back in August it came as a surprise. The one guy who works for the same company as Lyndon, and who is still assigned at Harbour Lights was not available so Lyndon got the phone call. Not so good for Lyndon, but good for me. *snigger, snigger*

We drove into Cairns city and whilst Lyndon went to 'work' on problem solving, Monet and I walked around. It was nice to do this in the early evening, about 6pm.

All the boats had docked for the day after taking the hoards of tourists out onto The Great Barrier Reef...

and Monet had fun running along the boardwalk...

and we took some opportunities to take some 'self-timed' portraits near the art-work along the wall of the Harbour Lights building (it's meant to reflect the spawning of coral)...

Lyndon wasn't gone long, about 45 minutes. Monet and I had a nice time for an early Sunday evening and we got 'take-aways' for our dinner. *snigger, snigger*

What did you get up to on Sunday, or what do you have planned for this Sunday?

A Joke (in a Truthful Kind of Way...)

Did you hear the one about the couple, who have been with each other for over 11 years and engaged for five years and thought they'd better tie the knot in 2008, so they have an excuse to go on an overseas holiday?

You didn't?

Well, you have now.

A Drive Up The Road...

How lucky am I?

It is simply another *gorgeous* day in paradise. I went and pumped some petrol in the Subaru and Monet and I headed off north to Port Douglas, a 45 minute drive. Along the very picturesque Captain Cook Highway.

No matter how many times I travel along the road from our home to 'Port', it nearly always takes my breath away. And today was no exception. The road wraps along the coast for most of the way, past palm fringed shores and the most awesome blue Coral Sea. And I live here! It blows me away. And Monet sat quietly in the backseat listening to 'Blur' I had pumping through the stereo and pointing to the water and saying "It's beautiful Mummy". She knows true beauty when she sees it.

Upon first arriving at our destination, I drove to the 'Lookout' and took a few shots of the 4 Mile Beach below...

After parking the car in the main restaurant strip, we went for a wander along the streets. It's nice to be there on a weekday, rather a weekend when the crowds are impossible to walk through and it makes it hard to browse the shops...

We wandered around and made our way to one of my favourite places in Far North Queensland, the 'Point'.

There is something magical about it. SO very pretty and a great place to take photos, especially like a day today when the ocean was so very blue...

Monet likes 'The Point' too, but for a totally different reason.

After a 'play' we went and sat under one of the palm trees and ate our morning teas, which consisted of fresh watermelon, dry biscuits and cheese spread. Rather lovely in fact. It was nice to sit there without dozens of people invading our personal space. Instead there were a few couples scattered around...

Monet played in the playground again before we headed back to the car and made our way home.

And to think it is only a 45 minute drive north from our home.

How lucky am I?

Hiding, Hiding...

To help bribe (yes, I bribe!) Monet out of the bath each night (she'd play in there all night given half a chance), we offer a few games of 'Hide and Seek'. It works a treat.

So we play 3 games, most nights. Lyndon hides first, followed by myself, followed by Miss Monet herself. When doing the 'seeking' we stand with our face at the front door and count loudly to 10 (or to 16 or 18 - depending when Monet wants to stop) and then say "Coming, ready or noooot" and go on our search for the hiding parent. It doesn't take long to seek us out, I mean, we live in a 3 bedroom apartment and there are only limited hiding spots!

Monet is getting awfully good at playing.

She used to run from her hiding spot out to we were once we finished our 'counting' and say "Here I am!!!!!" Not now though. She hides and sits still. I know the day is coming where we won't be able to find her.

You can imagine how great she thought it was the other night when Lyndon had Monet's new shelves pulled out from her bedroom wall, as he had been painting her room.... (see look!)

The three of us were in there, admiring the paint work (Yay!) when I suggested to Monet to stand behind the shelves and pop her head through one of the sections so she'd look like a doll. She did a great job not moving...


...Did you spot her?

Maybe not quite 'Where's Wally', but pretty good all the same.

Orderly Lines

My girl can certainly crack me up at the best of times.

She likes things to be 'orderly'. Everything should have it's place in Monet's books.

Especially when she plays. She lines up everything. Her 'Little People', her books, her 'wheeled items'...



And her dolls.

And don't talk to me about her shoes...

Looks like a shoe shop doesn't it? Can you spot her mini-Birkenstocks. Thank goodness they were only $12 from Target! *heehee* It's actually a wonder those shoes aren't lined up in proper foot order. She must be one of the only little kids I know who put her shoes on correctly every time with out me saying "You're putting the left shoe on the wrong foot!"

Monet can spend hours lining her toys up along the wall. Arranging. Re-arranging. It fills in quite a bit of time here. I must've driven her rather 'batty' with her shoes, clothes, toys, books before she gained independence.

I can only imagine what her wardrobe will look like once she can reach the hanging rail!
*oh dear!*

Last Sunday Morning...

Last Sunday saw the three of us head off out for breakfast, for the first time in ages. We used to always go out on a Sunday morning for breakfast, but then it became a little more convenient (and cheaper) to eat breakfast (usually bacon and eggs) at home.

But sometimes it is nice to go out and have a nice breakfast cooked by someone else.

We went to Holloways Beach (a Cairns Beach suburb) to 'Coolums' which recognises itself as the only restaurant right on the beach up here. And it was lovely.

See?

Even if we did have to wait (and wait...and wait) for our orders to arrive, it was worth the wait. Even if I couldn't eat it all and Lyndon had to help polish it off. (True - I'm not lying!)

From there we drove into Cairns City and visited the lagoon. It has been simply ages since we went for a splash/swim in there (about January I think was the last time) so that was fun! And something different for a Sunday morning.

The water was a little chiller than the water in our 'warm' pool so to say that the lagoon waters were refreshing is a bit of an understatement. Still, the water temperature didn't put us off nor the scores of tourists/locals who were in the lagoon also.

After changing out of our cozzies, we went for a wander around the Marina, something we hadn't done for a while either. We had wanted to walk around near the now completed Harbour Lights, which Lyndon helped to 'construct'. Ever since moving to Cairns the boardwalk in front of Harbour Lights had been all boarded up so it was nice to be able to 'see' the building as a whole, with a few restaurants on the walkway. It looks really good...

We spent the remainder of the day being lazy at home, which was okay, as we had been out and about early on in the day.

And that was our Sunday.

What are your plans for this Sunday?

La..la..laaa.....

Guess whose daughter sang the best AND the loudest at Playgroup today??

Yep, mine.

Usually a little reserved when it comes to 'sing-along' time, Monet today sang in a fine voice!

I wasn't the only one who sat shocked as the other parents looked over at me with raised eyebrows and grins.

*lovely*

Food, Weather and Family...

Lyndon's parents picked a corker of a week to come up and visit last week. The weather was showing itself off in this part of the world with 32 degree heat with blue cloudless skies. *lovely*

Since they left on Saturday the weather has been overcast and blowy. Except yesterday morning. Yesterday morning was very nice.

Lyndon, Monet and I went to Palm Cove early Friday evening to visit Lyndon's parents at their hotel room here. It was very nice and very comfortable. We enjoyed a drink each on the balcony before heading off to one of Palm Cove's many restaurants for dinner.

The view from Mark and Marianne's hotel room...

We settled upon one called 'Bella-something-a-rather'. Even though I can't exactly remember the name of the place I can say that it was top bloody nosh. The wine went down smoothly, the food was so delicious (I had a lemon and lime infused chicken breast, sitting on a bowl of pumpkin risotto with a coconut cream sauce on top - yum!), the dessert was scrummy and to top it off, the house cocktail was tantalising. And the company? Wonderful. I am sure that the 5 of us can agree that it was a top night out.

Mark and Marianne left at Saturday lunch time, back dwon to country Victoria, back to their home... It was nice to see them both up here and I am glad that the weather was great for them. I am sure they had a lovely time away.

Saying goodbye was easy as Marianne is back to join us for another week in less than 7 weeks time, which will be rather good fun.

Have you been out for a 'lovely' dinner lately?

Busy Baking Bee...

I was a busy little bee in the kitchen yesterday. I had the 'in-laws' who are holidaying up the road, at Palm Cove, over for dinner. And you know that I enjoy baking/cooking and it is always nice to prepare a food for others.

My FIL, Mark, is an electrician so last weekend after they had arrived, he put some new lights in my kitchen...

...and lights over the BBQ area outside.

It is nice to be able to see what you are cooking both indoors and out.

For dinner I spent the day preparing a few salads, including the delightful (yes, delightful!) Moroccan Salad, and even made some fresh baguettes. Yes, I was busy.

And we finished off with a slice of the delicious Strawberries and Cream Meringue Cake, which I had never made before but will definitely be baking again because it is divine!!! Just by looking at this photo I am tempted to go and get another slice from the fridge.

Oww...I love a good meal. And I enjoy preparing them. Most of the time anyway!! *heehee*

Strawberries and Cream Meringue Cake

I was a little unsure how this would turn out but I need not have worried. It was delicious - just like out of a cafe display case. Pretty posh and very yummy.

The recipe calls for 'golden caster sugar', I just used ordinary caster sugar so the cake turned out a little paler than the piccie they had in the book...

*Taken from BBC Books 'Good Food Magazine 101 Tempting Desserts' published 2006* - a UK mini cookbook

Ingredients
-for the cake-
100g butter, at room temperature
plus extra for greasing
100g golden caster sugar
1 large egg, plus 2 egg yolks (keep the whites for the meringue)
85g self-raising flour
25g shelled pistachios, finely ground
2 tbs milk

-for the meringue-
2 large egg whites
100g golden caster sugar

-for the topping-
284ml carton double cream, softly whipped
200g strawberries hulled, sliced or left whole

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced. For the cake, butter and lime the bottom of a 20cm/8in round, loose bottomed sandwich tin with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes until pale and creamy. Beat in the egg and egg yolks. Gently stir in the flour and ground nuts alternately with the milk. Spoon into the tin and level it smooth.

Make the meringue. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Whisk in the sugar, a couple of spoonfuls at a time, until smooth and glossy. Spoon into the tin and spread it. Bake for 45 minutes until the meringue feels crisp.

Leave in the tin to cool, then loosen the edges with a knife and remove. Peel off the paper and leave until cold. Spoon the cream over the meringue, then the strawberries.

Serves 8

Another Addiction

Have you been wondering where I've been?

*probably not*

Lyndon's parents have been in this corner of the world since Saturday so I'll be using that as an excuse, but if the truth be told, it's because I have been here...


...*I know!!*

I always said that I wasn't going to join Facebook. I wasn't keen on people 'finding' me and I wasn't too sure about the whole 'privacy' thing. But after receiving invite after invite from friends, I bit the bullet. And now I'm addicted. It's all rather silly really the Facebook thing so I do prefer to blog. After all, this is my home here.

On a good note I have hooked up again with a couple of people from Primary school (!!), from Uni, from work, from blogs (you know who you are), a bosses daughter who I took to Robbie Williams back in 2001 because no one else would go with me and some good friends from Victoria who we left behind when we moved to FNQ.

I'm sure Facebook is a passing phase in most people's lives but it is all in fun for the time being. I recommend it, you'll never know just WHO you will find!!

Oh, and I have been awfully addicted to this too... *sorry*

What are you addicted to currently?

Talking on a Friday...

Have I told you lately how beautiful the weather has been lately, bar a few days earlier on in the week? Well to say that today is stunning is a little bit of an understatement...

We have Lyndon's parents coming up to visit tomorrow for a week. They're staying here one night and then staying at a lovely Resort up the road at Palm Cove for the remainder of the week. I'm looking forward to seeing them. It's been a while since we've had family visit. And its been a good bribery tool for getting Monet to behave. *heehee*

For the first time, since I don't know when, we visited Rusty's Fruit and Veggie Market in Cairns City, this morning and picked up some lovely fresh Tropical North Queensland pineapples, as I know Lyndon's mum (Marianne) loves them. And so do we. I'll be cutting one up after we take a dip in the pool.... (sorry to make you jealous, but hey!)

Speaking of Grandparents and considering it is Flashback Friday, I present a photo which contains my Grandparents (my dad's parents)....



What a family hey? Left to right, my sister Kim, Mum, Granny, Me (!), Dad and Grandad.

It was 1982 and my father had taken long service leave. We were about to head on a 6 week road trip north to Coffs Harbour, which I have special memories of. I love the fashionable jumpers that Kim and I are wearing. In fact, I think Kim knitted her own (she has always been a talented knitter!) and she had only turned 13 a couple of months before this photo was taken.

My Grandparents in this photo had just celebrated their 50th wedding Anniversary. I remember we gave them a ceramic pot with 50 gold $1 coins which had only been released in Australia for a while. My Grandad lived for another 9 years and my Granny, another 16 years...

I have fond memories of not only that particular day, but of my Grandparents. They were proud Glaswegians and so very proud of their granddaughters. I think all Grandparents are especially proud of their grandchildren, don't you agree?

I think often of all my Grandparents, none of which are alive today, which is a pity because I would've loved for them to meet not only Lyndon but also Monet. Grandparents are special people and I know Monet always appreciates seeing hers, even if she is only 3, and I know our parents appreciate seeing her.

Enjoy your weekends!

Little Miss Spreader

First of all she started helping me do the laundry, then it was vacuuming and now it seems as if Monet likes to make her own breakfast and lunch. Well, sort of.

I have trouble getting Monet to eat certain foods, especially around dinner time. We've tried cutting our vegetables into shapes, into people...

...etc but nothing seems to work. She's fussy. Trust me. I so wish she wasn't, but I know in time she'll (hopefully) eat foods she now even refuses to taste. She won't even eat hot chips as we told her it was potato and wasn't that a mistake? Rice is pretty big on the menu around here but even last night she said she didn't like rice. But she did eat it. (I think she was testing me!)

All this coming from a little girl who would bend over backwards to get her hands on an olive! Loves them. She gets mighty excited if she sees on her dinner plate a few olives alongside her dinner.

Upon reading Nigella Lawson's 'How To Eat', which I received as a parting gift from an old work place back in 2003, Nigella suggests getting children to help prepare meals and the like so then they might just eat what they helped prepare. I'm pretty good at getting her to help out in the kitchen with baking and the like but I had noticed lately that Monet is going off her morning food. Not wanting cereal but wanting toast and then only eating half of it. Until this morning.

After me cooking the toast I got Monet to spread the butter on them and then her favourite vegemite.

She ate two full slices. She even made her own lunch. With help from me. And ate it all.

I could be on a winner here. *fingers crossed for dinner*

Banana Cake

I'm always on the hunt for quick, easy and simple Banana Cake recipes. And I think I may have found one. I always have bananas 'hanging' around our place, but as you know, they tend to turn brown pretty quickly if not eaten on time. What I tend to do is place the browning bananas in the freezer, complete with skins. They aren't good for eating once you do that but boy, are they god for baking!! When I want to use them, I take them out the freezer about an hour before hand.

In this recipe I used 4 small-medium sized bananas.

I used my mix master for this recipe, only stirring in the mashed bananas by hand.

The recipe stated to cook in a 'little hotter moderate oven' for an hour, but I found my cake, cooked in a small square tin, baked in around 25 minutes. you've been warned!

*Taken from the CWA's (Victorian division) 'Cookery Book', published 2003*

Ingredients
125g butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups SR flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
pinch salt
2 tbs milk
1 tsp bicarb of soda
3 ripe mashed bananas

Method
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, and then sifted dry ingredients.

Add the soda, which has been dissolved in the milk. Lastly fold in the bananas.

Bake for 1 hour (!!) in a little hotter than moderate oven.

When cold, ice with lemon icing.

Green Chicken Curry

Always on the hunt for a good Green Chicken Curry recipe, this one came pretty close. Our only complaint was that it was a bit too spicy for our likings (and Lyndon loves spicy foods!) Next time I would minus one of the tablespoons of curry paste, but otherwise this was pretty tasty...

*Taken from Murdoch Books 'Australian Family Favourites'*

Ingredients
250ml (1 cup) coconut cream
4 tbs green curry paste
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
250ml (1 cup) coconut milk
4 Thia eggplants (aubergines) or 1/2 purple eggplant, cut into chunks
2 tbs shaved palm sugar or brown sugar
2 tbs fish sauce
4 mukrut (kaffir) lime leaves, torn
1 handful Thai basil leaves
1-2 large red chilies, sliced
coconut milk or cream, for drizzling

Method
heat a wok over a low heat, add the coconut cream and bring to the boil. Stir until the oil separates out.

Add the green curry paste, stir for 1 minute then add the chicken. Cook the chicken until it turns opaque, then add the coconut milk and eggplant. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the eggplant is tender. Add the sugar, fish sauce, line leaves and half the basil, then mix together.

Garnish with the rest of the basil, the chilli and a drizzle of the coconut milk or cream. Serve with rice.

Serves 4

Pride (In The Name of New Shelves)

A few weeks ago we ordered some new shelves for Monet's room. I had been asking, well really, nagging is more the word, Lyndon that she needed some bigger shelves than what she originally had. Her room is constantly a mess with books and toys and I was getting sick of walking into a bomb-hit room. Now I know how my mum must have felt when my room was messy. *smirk*

So we ordered shelves. Ones that I had been spying for ages.

And they arrived last week. In a flat box.

I'm glad Lyndon is very handy when it comes to these type of things. I'm no good at understanding packaging diagrams and if I had to put something together it would take me literally hours to build. I've done that before, but now I leave things like that to Lyndon. I'm sure he enjoys the challenge. *chuckle, chuckle*

After Lyndon assembled them, I helped move them into Monet's room, then I packed them with her toys and books. Her room looks a hell of a lot cleaner and we all love them...

...so much in fact, we are flirting with the idea of purchasing more for our living area.

Monet has been taking a bit more pride in her room now. She spends minutes, oh I meant, hours, lingering through her books and then, believe it or not, putting them back on her shelves. (I wonder how long that will last?)

This morning I was busy vacuuming when Monet asked if she could vacuum her room.

It seems as if the Little One is taking a bit more pride in her bedroom. I wonder how much more pride she'll take in her room when we get around to buying her a bedhead for her bed, along with a new Dora the Explorer doona cover? (They are on our, well really, my, list to buy...) Hmm....

Baked Potatoes filled with Salad

These were delicious and made very 'light' eating. Felt rather healthy too believe it or not. I added just a little grated cheese to the baked potato after cutting it and instead of prosciutto I used bacon. I didn't make the dressing due to a lack of red wine vinegar in my cupboard (I forgot I had run out!) so instead I made a dressing of balsamic vinegar, mixed with a little olive oil.

*Taken from the Murdoch Book 'Australian Family Favourites' and 'Tossed'*

Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes
4 prosciutto slices
310g tinned corn kernels, drained
2 celery stalks, sliced
100g baby English spinach leaves

-for dressing-
2 1/2 tbs tomato juice
1 1/2 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C. Thoroughly scrub the skins of the potatoes and prick them several times. Transfer to a roasting tin and bake, uncovered, for at least an hour, or until tender when pierced with a sharp knife.

Meanwhile, whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Season and set aside.

Put a frying pan over high heat. Add the prosciutto and dry-fry for a few minutes on both sides, or until crispy. Break the prosciutto into small pieces and set aside.

Sit the potatoes on a chopping board and make two deep incisions crossways over the top so they open out into quarters - be careful not to cut all the way through.

Put the corn, celery and spinach in a large bowl, pour over two-thirds of the dressing and toss well. Sit the potatoes on four serving plates and spoon a little dressing into each potato. Spoon the salad mixture into each potato, letting it spill over a little. Top with prosciutto and serve at once.

Serves 4

Steak Baguette with Rocket and Mustardy Mayo

These were very nice and pretty filling. We cooked the steak on the BBQ (because we can) and I actually cheated and didn't make the mustardy mayo, as I had dijonnaise in the fridge and used that instead. The shame, I know...

*Taken from Murdoch Books 'Australian Family Favourites', published 2007*

Ingredients
3 tbs olive oil, plus extra for frying
1 red onion, sliced
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp thyme
1 tbs Dijon mustard
3 tbs mayonnaise
100g rocket
500g beef fillet, cut into 4 thin slices
2 thick baguettes, cut in half, or 8 thick slices of bread
2 tomatoes, sliced

Method
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small saucepan. Add the onion and cook very slowly, with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft but not brown. Remove the lid, add the sugar and vinegar and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and just browned. Remove the pan off the stove and stir in the thyme.

Meanwhile, make the mustardy mayo by mixing together well the mustard and the mayonnaise in a small bowl.

Drizzle the rocket leaves with the remaining olive oil and season.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the extra oil in a frying pan over high heat and cook the steaks for 2 minutes on each side, adding more oil if necessary. Season to taste.

To serve, put out the bread, along with separate bowls containing the onion, mustardy mayo, rocket leaves, steak and sliced tomatoes. Let everyone make their own baguette.

Serves 4