First Day

Finally.  Our fully pledged Kinder girl!  Monet was so chuffed this morning to be headed out the door with her 'school bag'.

All went well on her first day of 'Nursery School', attending for three hours this morning.  She was fine and happy enough when I left.  (Remembering that Monet and I have spent practically every day of the past 4 and a half years together.)

She made a little friend (*phew*) and seemed to enjoy her time away from me.  She did say that she drew a picture of me in the sand and said she missed me which made me go all gooey inside.  

The Director of the Nursery said that Monet went really well and with us talking to her teacher, said she wanted another six Monets in her class.  That's our girl.

Tomorrow we start 'full-time' at Kinder, for a good 5 1/2 hours or so, five days a week.  Hopefully enough hours to wear her out and keep her happy.  And her mummy happy.  (I have a day set aside for housework, another for grocery shopping and another for a weekly lunch date with Lyndon.  Two days spare up my sleeve - bliss.  Though this all comes at a steep price as all Nursery Schools (along with Schools) are privately run...)

Our girl is growing up and my tummy is growing out!

Dubai Stay

We spent a night in Dubai on Friday.  We lashed out at on a night's accommodation in a two bedroom apartment in a high rise building on Dubai's main strip, Sheihk Zayed Road, a road that runs straight through Dubai's heart at 14 lanes.  The buildings there are magnificent.

From all our windows we could see the highest building in the world, the Dubai Burj.  (It felt a long way from our hotel room we had in Melbourne back in October, when we were excited to have a view of the Eureka Tower.)

On Friday we spent a little time in both the Emirates Mall and at Dubai Mall before checking into our room.  We spent a bit of time wandering the section of Sheihk Zayed Road we were staying on and we were in awe of the tall buildings which line the road.  

Yesterday after breakfast in a French Cafe, we drove along the main beach road in Dubai, which takes you past the magnificent Al Arab Burj Hotel.  No matter how many times we see the building, our jaws still drop when we spy it.  It is a magnificent looking structure.  There were a few helicopters buzzing around the top of the building, looking like they were going to land on the famous heli-pad but we never did see one land.  

We didn't stop there though, our plan was to have a little closer look at the Atlantis Hotel located on the end/top of Palm Island.

It was very busy there but worth the stop to go and have a little sticky beak.  Unfortunately you couldn't get inside the hotel (not even the foyer) due to it being 'for guests' only, which is fair enough because there were a lot of people milling around.  You do get to see the little shopping area, where the ceiling is truly fabulous...

There is an adventure/water park there, which looks like a lot of fun which we may do sometime down the track.  

We made our way home via the new (but rather ordinary) Dubai Marina Mall.  The view from there was rather cool though.  (I could handle living in one of those apartments.)

That was how we spent both Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Rather memorable, wouldn't you say?  This morning Monet had me up not long after 5:30am, so I am feeling rather exhausted already.  *phew* Lucky Easter Bunny made an appearance here leaving Chocolate Eggs near the front door.  Happy Easter everyone.

To see more of my photos of our Dubai weekend, I'll be posting them onto my Flickr account soon....

Chilli Lime Chicken and Pasta

Ooo I like this recipe a lot.  It is fresh tasting, light and easy to put together.  Nice to eat on a warm summer's day...

*Taken from Women's Weekly 'Meals In Minutes', pg 54, published 1998*

Ingredients

4 (680g) chicken breast fillets

8 large cherry tomatoes

300g fresh lasagna sheets

100g baby rocket leaves, torn

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon drained capers

2 teaspoons finely grated lime rind

2 small fresh red chillies, seeded, chopped finely

Method

Cook chicken on heated oiled griddle, in batches, until browned both sides and cooked through.  Cut chicken, on the diagonal, into 1cm-thick pieces.  Cook the tomato halves, both sides, on same griddle until just soft.

Meanwhile, tear pasta into large, uneven pieces.  Cook pasta in large pan of boiling water, uncovered, until just tender; drain.

Divide pasta among serving plates; top with chicken, tomato and rocket, drizzle with combined remaining ingredients.

Serves 4

Twitter Munchies

Thanks to everyone for your kind words on my previous post!  It is nice to be able to share my news freely now and if you saw more, well there would be no hiding the fact that I am (just about) 18 weeks pregnant.  

In case you didn't know I am now a regular 'Twitter' (writer?).  (Look there on my sidebar)  If I  am not blogging at least you can see me twittering away...  It was because of me starting this, that I was contacted by an Australian Company who sell (mainly) Australian foods to those overseas.  I had commented on Dave Hughes Twitter page about not knowing 'Samboy' chips were back in Oz and available in a twin pack (very old school!)  The next thing I know I am contacted by the Great Aussie Food Company, followed by me ordering from their site.  

My parcel arrived on Thursday, less than a week after being ordered.

Two packs of Twisties and a box of BBQ Shapes - the two products we have sorely missed since leaving Australian shores.  Sure, the postage and handling cost about triple the cost of the products enclosed but by jingo ringo, it was worth it.  

I think next time I might order Cheese and Bacon balls, a couple of Chocito Bars and some Peppermint Patties....  Lyndon is a bit peeved they don't ship Marathon Dim Sims!  *heehee*

So my question to you is, if you are an ex-pat, what food items do you miss from your homeland?  If you aren't an ex-pat, what do you think you would miss if you were so?

This Ain't An April Fool's Joke...

On January 1st this year I gave up two of my favourite beverages; alcohol and Red Bull.  Not a drop has past these lips since.  Pretty good hey?  As much as I would love to have a sip of an icy cold Red Bull on a warm morning or a 'drink' at 5 o'clock, I haven't.

Not really by choice I admit.

I went cold turkey, because I found out that I was pregnant.

I am now over 17 weeks pregnant and all is going very well.  I am seeing the Head Obstetrician at a hospital in the city every four weeks, who knows my history and monitoring me well.  My 12 weeks scan went fine (a big hurdle for me) and my bloods are normal, so everything is heading in the right direction.  

We have seen our little baby on the ultrasound screen many times now and so far, so good.  It is going to be (another) big baby, as Monet was.   

My last appointment was on Saturday just past, so I don't see my Doctor again for another four weeks.  

I have already felt a bit of movement 'from within', which is always a relief.  We were told that the baby has long legs (via Saturday's ultrasound), but I don't need an ultrasound to tell me that, I have already got a little poking in the tummy region!  

We are all pretty happy around here and the friends from our street are too.  Monet has been asking many questions in regards to having a baby (literally) and having a new little person in the house.  She was awfully worried at one stage on where the baby will sleep, as we don't have a cot.  She was relieved when we said that we will go and buy a new cot.  Bless her.  I think she'll be a great helping hand for me when the time comes.  

I am hoping I survive the heat of a Middle Eastern Summer.  I was worried enough about it, not being pregnant!  Thank goodness our air conditioning is ducted into every room and works wonderfully.  

So, that my friends, is my news I have been aching to tell you all but I just wanted to make sure everything was pointing in the right direction before sharing.  

It might also explain why I haven't posted any 'beer' shots lately.  *heehee*  As no beer photos, here is a fairy photo instead...

Lunch Date

Lyndon and I went out for lunch yesterday, alone, to celebrate our first anniversary.  Our lovely neighbour Karen took Monet for a couple of hours whilst Lyndon and I went to the Shangri-La for our lunch.  

It was so nice there, visiting on a day where it had been raining and everything looked so fresh and clean.  We figured the rain had washed away the sand from the dreadful sand storms we've been getting from Saudi Arabia over the past couple of weeks.

We couldn't make up our mind between the Al-la-Carte Menu or the Buffet.  We decided on the buffet so we got to sample a lot of foods; Asian, Italian, Indian, Middle Eastern cuisines.  Nice.  And I couldn't miss out on dessert now could I?

We returned home a couple of hours later and I collected Monet from a few doors down.  I was greeted with a big hug from her, apparently I was 'missed', but missed quite happily mind you.  

Monet returned home with me soon after and then put on her delightful little dress from our wedding last year and paraded around, showing the neighbours.  Looked rather special with her new shoes I bought her last week...  (sorry, no pic available of her dressing up)

Paper

It is coming up to two weeks since my last post - *I know*.  Suffering from Blogger's Block and to be honest, having a bit of a break.  I know you fellow bloggers understand.

Not too much happening around these parts besides the fact that Miss Monet now has a spacer in her mouth (to stop teeth growing in directions they shouldn't) and Lyndon is in the process of having dental work done too.  (It'll be my go next.  *heehee*)  So we've been keeping our finger on the pulse in terms of teeth around here.  Fascinating stuff really.

But the reason I am blogging today, is to say that today, March 29th, marks Lyndon and my 1st wedding anniversary.  We've come a long way in a year and what an eventful year we have had.  But a year has past and this time last year we had a terrific day.  It was everything we wanted it to be.

Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary Mr. Lyndon.  xx

Lemon Tart

Having always wanted to make a Lemon Tart but never having made one, I thought I would make one.  It was a little time consuming, only because of the pastry but it was worth the effort.  

A hint here, if you don't have cooking beads or spare rice, a good idea to blind bake is to cover the pastry with baking/parchment paper then fill with scrunched cooking foil.  Works very well.

*Taken from The Australian Women's Weekly 'All-Time Favourites', page 44, published 1977*

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (185g) plain flour

1/3 cup (55g) icing sugar mixture

1/4 cup (30g) ground almonds

125g cold butter, chopped

1 egg yolk

Lemon Filling

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind

1/2 cup (125ml) lemon juice

5 eggs

3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar

1 cup (250ml) thickened cream

Method

Blend or process flour, sugar, almonds and butter until combined; add egg yolk, process until ingredients just come together.  Knead dough on floured surface until smooth; wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll pastry between sheets of baking paper until large enough to line 24cm round loose-based flan tin.  Lift pastry into tin; press into side, trim edge.  Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.

Cover pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or rice, place on oven tray.  Bake in a moderately hot oven for 15 minutes.  Remove paper and beans, bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned; cool.  Pour lemon filling into pastry case then bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until filling has set slightly; cool.  Refrigerate until cold; dust with sifted icing sugar, if desired.

Lemon Filling Method

Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl; stand for 5 minutes.

Serves 8