Weekend Activities

The heat was rather horrid here on the Sunny Coast over the weekend, so the main part of the day was spent inside in the air conditioning.  On Friday, from late morning until 5.30 I helped friends put up a "dog proof" fence at their new property. Firstly we had to remove the old netting and barbed wire - I thought that stuff was long gone, but obviously not. I think in NZ it isn't sold anymore. The ants weren't happy with us disturbing their homes in the posts - they can be really aggressive - I don't like them. My friends had already put in new posts within the boundary of the property to make a smaller area for the dogs. It was hot work, but very satisfying to see the finished product. They worked for another 1.5hrs to finish the last little stretch after I left, only to have one of the dogs start to dig out underneath it - little horror. An electric wire is going to be run around the bottom and about 1/3 of the way up as both of them are climbers as well.


On Saturday I returned there after 4pm to watch the "burn" pile be consumed, instead we demolished the walls of the built in back entertainment area. Once again, ants had made their homes between pieces of wood and were very upset to have all their eggs fall down onto the ground. In this area, the previous owner must have been concerned about his building skills and compensated by using 'millions' of nails. It has made such a difference opening the area up. There are still supporting posts to be replaced that are rotting and others to take out completely, then new paving to be laid etc. They'll get there, slowly but surely.

Sunday morning I attended hill sprint and resistant training as part of my Gold Coast Kokoda training - it was brutal, but I'll be back. I definitely need to work on my cardio fitness.

Then I went up to the Noosa Farmers Market for the first time. I had contacted Supernatural Organics about purchasing some garlic corms off them for me to try and grow my own garlic here. Due to the climate being so warm all year around, I wanted to get garlic corms that have been acclimatised to the area. They were so lovely and told me if I couldn't make it to the market they would post a kg down to me, however that would, of course, increase the price. Peter and Wendy were so lovely to meet in person and gave me some very helpful advice. I am looking forward to growing my own garlic this season. While at the markets I found a couple selling salami - plain pork without nitrates and a pistachio and prosciutto salami plus some cheese, one of which they imported from France and was delicious. I had to buy one of each. My lunch today will be consist of some of the pistachio salami and the cheese. There were lots of other tempting goodies to buy, however, I resisted and left before temptation got the better of me.

I finished the day off with grocery shopping and baking - baking for the young adults who live here and for the 'extras' that it appears are living here as well - to take with their lunches - cheaper than buying muesli bars and the likes. I actually enjoy baking, although struggle to not eat it while it is still warm - a real no no for me at the moment as I am not eating any sugar and only low carbs each day. Feel so much better for it too. Then it was dinner, which considered of chicken and a 'fat' salad, made of salad leaves, cucumber, tomato, olives, capsicum and feta cheese with a dressing made with a natural greek yogurt base - delicious. There was hardly any left, so the boys must have liked it.

1 comment Baking, Exercise, Friends

Fencing, Lawns, Weed Spraying, Christmas Cake

We arrived home on Tuesday night and first thing Wednesday morning got straight back into "life at home". Pete and I both went into Moffat Beach at 5am - me to do a double class of Animal Flow and Move and Pete to go and have a cup of coffee with a friend. We then, all had breakfast together before heading home. I spent time with the grand daughters until Ross got home from work and then went to acupuncture, before picking Annika up and bringing her home with me for a couple of hours.

Pete, meanwhile got stuck right in to replacing rotten fence posts - the wooden boundary fence has been held up up Star Pickets or Warratah's as we call them. One of the posts had completely rotted off and the other two are only just holding on to the ground. Pete is replacing them with treated posts this time and is going to concrete them to above ground level. It was hard, hot work for him, digging out the posts that had been concreted in. He got two or the three dug out, one replaced and concreted back in and the other one ready to finish tomorrow. Pete is not 100% at the moment, as he is fighting off another cold.

We both went for a walk in the evening and noticed how much the stream a few 100 metres from us has risen with all the rain that has fallen here and how dirty it is. Apparently it completed covered the little bridge in the peak of the rain.

Last night, back in NZ, my eldest granddaughter had her Yr 8 graduation, she is off to High School next year. I think she looked gorgeous.

Today I weed sprayed both at home and at Ross's - it took me 30 litres of spray at Ross's place! I also mowed our lawns on a high setting to take all the seed heads off the paspalum and other seeding grasses. 

Then this afternoon, I decided to make the same very nutty/fruity Xmas cake that I made last year that we loved. It takes me a good hour to cut up all the nuts and dried fruit that goes into it.  I will have to make another one tomorrow to take to NZ with us. I have contacted the NZ Customs Dept and they say as long as there is no uncooked fruit or nuts on top of the cake, I can take it to NZ with us.

Cut up nuts - brazil, almonds and walnuts

Dried fruit cut up and added

Ready to go in the oven.

Leave a Comment Baking, Fitness, garden, leisure

Grandchildren, baking, beach

The little girls got dropped off early this morning as their Mum had a days work training and had to leave at 7 am and their Dad, Ross worked last night and doesn't get home until 9am. So Hollie looked after the two littlies until I returned from the gym and what a marvelous job she did. Both had been fed breakfast and were happy playing when I got home.

I did some baking with Annika, who once again pinched the cookie dough to eat raw. I also cleaned out the inside of my car - it had rather a build up of sand, etc in it. Trouble is, I then had to find homes for all the things I took out of it; still a job worth doing. I find it quite amazing how much 'stuff' I end up with in the glove box, centre console and under the seats. Annika got quite a haul of 10, 20 and even 50 cent coins, which she quietly put in her "special" box the fairies left for her last night. She tells me her Daddy told her she needs to get some money and learn how to save it, so she thought it would be a good idea to take what I had found and put on the bench to deal with when I had finished cleaning the car. Hmmmmm ....... 

Hollie and I went to the beach this afternoon. We did some sunbathing and swimming; the water was a bit chilly, but we still got in once, then we chickened out the second time and decided we'd just sunbath a bit more. After lying in the sun for about for a while, we decided we'd had enough sun for the day and got an ice cream each. Hollie's was enormous. I just had one scoop. Half way through eating hers, the cone broke in half - I thought it was really funny watching her try and eat it - she got rainbow coloured ice cream all over her hand. She finished it all though.

Back home it was time for a shower to wash sand off places sand just does not belong! I had my body scan at the gym as it is the end of the 12 week challenge. I'm fairly happy with my results, just need to get rid of the visceral body fat - it's the stuff that will cause heart attacks etc. Back to cutting out sugar (pouting lip here), no more ice cream or cakes. Healthy eating here I come again, well, until Xmas Day - calories, sugar, fat. consumed on Xmas Day do NOT count.

4 comments Baking, Beach, family, leisure

Lemon and Macadamia Biscuits.

I found the above recipe in an old magazine when I was cleaning up. I finally got around to trying it.  The biscuits are rather yum and to be honest, the uncooked dough isn't too bad either.

Lemon and Macadamia Biscuits.

Combine 125 gm, soft unsalted butter ,1/2 cup caster sugar and the finely grated rind of one lemon in a bowl.  Beat until soft and creamy.

Add an egg and mix again.  I then put away the electric beater and hand mixed through 1 1/2 cups self raising flour and 1/4 cup chopped macadamia's. 

Roll teaspoon full amounts into ball, place onto baking tray and press down lightly. Bake at 180 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. In my gas oven, I have it on 160 degrees and check after 10 mins.

We tested these while still warm, actually, I tested three of them. They really are good. You can taste the lemon and the macadamia give a nice flavour too. 

2 comments Baking

A Snapshot of my week

I'm not sure where the days go and sometimes I can't even remember what I've done on each day - should I worry about that I wonder! Each day started off with some form of exercise, either at Moffat Beach Studio or Plus Fitness in Beerwah, out in the community or at the beach and three times ended up with exercise on the treadmill and rowing machine at the gym.

Monday: Fine weather, so it was in to the gardens at home for me. I started on the back garden, a narrow long one that had 5 Cordyline things and ground cover in it. The Cordyline's are in the wrong place as the washing gets caught in them. I cut them back, dug them out and they will have a new home at Ross and Bernie's. I also saved some of the ground cover for them. The rest went into the garden bin. I also weeded the front garden, put some more compost onto it and planted a capsicum out there. Three chillies and two eggplants went into the 3/4's of the back garden I got completed. I'll finish the rest another day, once my garden bin is emptied. Both it and my compost bin are full at the moment. Lawns also got a mow and I swam a kilometre in the local pool. I was very happy with my time, 32 mins and 11 seconds, the best I've ever done and I didn't have to stop - amazing. I haven't swum since the beginning of the year. I want to try and swim a couple of times a week.

Before

After

Tuesday: Looked after the grand daughter's for the day. They survived and so did I, just. Tamara did not want to sleep - little monkey, so I put them both in the double pushchair and we went for a 5 km walk. Pushing an extra 25 kg's up hills, even if they are small ones, got the sweat running off me.

Wednesday: Moffat Beach for exercise - two classes then a 3 km walk/jog along the beach. I live in a beautiful part of the world. There were lots of dogs out being exercised too. Some swam eagerly, others reluctantly and one I saw wouldn't be tempted near the water at all.

Then I spent a couple of hours with an amazing woman who I have known since high school and who is the mother of my eldest nephew. She is 'actively dying' of Metastasized Breast Cancer and now has (supposedly) weeks to live, with the "pacmen" as she calls them, taking up residence in her brain, liver and lungs as well as all through her bones. We went op shopping. If Leslee has her way, her determination, humour and strength of will, will keep her alive until next year.  She is quite inspirational. 

Then I headed up to my Aunts for the night. Each evening, a strong sea breeze gets up and the kite surfers have a ball out in the entrance to the Maroochy River. This was our view from her apartment.

I counted 13 Kite Surfers at one stage. 

Thursday I went for a bike ride, walk along the beach, swim and bike ride back home again with my Aunt and some of her very fit "young" 70 something year old friends. It was a beautiful day and the water was delightful, once in. Getting in took a little bit though. I was very pleasantly surprised at how warm the water was.

Friday: Beach session, then to the Community Gardens to give them a good watering. The hot days and drying winds have removed all the moisture from the ground that the days of rain we had deposited. Then I met up with my old Team Leader for lunch, bought some preserving jars so I can bottle some of the beetroot out of the community gardens, made another batch of mango chutney (no more mangoes in the freezer now), bottled the Kombucha and baked some Lemon and Macadamia Biscuits. I sure I have done other things as well, like vacuuming, washing floors, laundry, grocery shopping etc, but they are just the normal day to day things that occur, no matter what else I am attempting to squeeze into my days.

2 comments Baking, family, Fitness, Friends, leisure, Preserving

Pete's birthday cake

It's Pete's birthday on Thursday and he's actually home for it this year. When I was helping my daughter-in-law with the girls on Monday night, feeding, getting to bed, folding washing, hanging out washing, dishes etc, I told Annika (Miss 4) that it was Grandpa Pete's birthday. Her eyes lit up and she immediately said, "are we going to make him a cake?" I said I'd make the cake and we'd have the birthday tea at her place, since little Tamara goes to bed between 5 and 5.30pm.  Anyway, yesterday we picked Annika up in the morning, went to the supermarket, bought another round cake tin and the pre-made Betty Crocker Chocolate Frosting, M & M's and and candles, the numbers 5 and 6, to make 56.

Home we went and cake making began. I didn't have that much patience cooking with my own kids when they were little, and have even less now, preferring to just get in and get it done. So, I suggested to Miss Annika she may like to watch Finding Nemo, for the 101st time - she thought that was a great idea and so did I. Grandpa Pete kindly offered to watch it with her. I used a Mudcake recipe my sister-in-law always made for her boys birthdays - lovely and moist. It has a cup of strong coffee (not as a nephew discovered, a cup of strong coffee granules, but an actual cup of coffee made strong) in it - so I got Pete to make that as I don't like coffee or really know how to use the coffee machine.

The recipe is as follows:-

Chocolate Mud Cake

2 eggs - lightly beaten
1 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup oil (I use canola)
1 cup milk with 1 tsp vinegar added - it curdles it.
1 tsp vanilla essence

Sift dry ingredients into larger bowl
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
salt

Add wet ingredients to dry and beat until smooth. This is a very runny mixture. Line a round tin and bake at 180 degrees for approx 1 hr, depending on your oven, I check after 45 mins.

Once cooled, cut the cake in half - spread with jam and cream, or frosting and put other half on top. Frost and decorate however you like.

I made two of these cakes, (we ended up only using one cake as they were quite large) as we decided to make it into a cake with a surprise in the middle and cut a circular hole in the middle of two of the layers, leaving one layer intact. Once three of the layers were frosted together, we filled the hole with M & M's, which then spill out (theoretically) when the cake is cut into.  With the circular piece cut out of the middle, we made Annika a little cake of her own, even with a little hole in the middle, stuffed with M & M's.

The cake was a hit with Miss Annika and we adults weren't too disappointed either. We had Pete's birthday dinner a day early as he and I are off to Cirque du Soleil, Avatar at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on his actual birthday and we are both really looking forward to it.

2 comments Baking, Birthday party, Cooking, family

Raspberry Scrolls

I found a recipe on facebook for Raspberry Scrolls which I really wanted to try, but given I'm not meant to be eating anything that was in the recipe, I thought I'd make them at work instead, where I knew they'd be appreciated and eaten up quickly, making it less likely I'd devour them all.  So on Monday, shopping day, I ordered the cream cheese, frozen raspberries, butter, yeast and cream, we already had the other ingredients in the pantry.

So to begin, warm 1 cup (240 ml) of milk, add 1/2 cup (135 gm) sugar and 2 tblsp's active dry yeast (2 standard size packets) - mix together, then add 1/2 cup (115gm) softened butter, cut into cubes and 2 beaten eggs. Mix well until butter is blended in. 

Add 4 /12 cups (562 gm) all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp salt.  Combine well, tip out onto a floured bench and knead. I kneaded it for about 5 minutes, adding a little extra flour as I did so to get a nice textured dough that didn't stick to the bench or my hands. 

Place the ball of dough back in the bowl, cover with clingwrap and leave in a warm spot to rise for one hour (longer if it is a bit cool). 

About 5 minutes before the dough is ready to "knock down" and roll out, place in a bowl 250 gm of softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix together, I used a hand held electric beater and mixed until it looked like cream cheese frosting. 

In another bowl (yep, lots of dishes) mix the frozen raspberries, (the recipe said 2 packets, but I only use 1 500 gm packet, but I think I should have used another 1/2 packet) with 2 tblsp's cornflour.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle, roughly 5mm thick - use your own judgement here.

Spread the rolled out dough with the cream cheese mix, then spread/sprinkle the raspberry mix over, leaving about 1 cm back from one long edge.

Roll up tightly, slice into rounds and put on baking paper in a large roasting dish. Set aside somewhere warm to rise again for approximately 30 mins - depending on room temperature. Where I work was cold inside, so I put the oven on its lowest setting and popped them it for 20 mins. 

The finished product. 

They were a huge success and thankfully everyone loved them and they disappeared into stomachs rapidly, meaning I could only have one or maybe two. I'll certainly make them again, and for a yeast dough, they were really easy to make.

1 comment Baking, leisure, Raspberry Scrolls

Coconut Cake

One of the residents where I worked made a coconut loaf - it was delicious. The only problem was, it wasn't big enough. So I decided to make it into a cake, by adding extra of each ingredient. It is such an easy recipe to make -

four ingredients; coconut, flour, sugar and milk.

To make the loaf, just use one cup of each, to make a smallish round cake, 1.5 cups of each.

It really is easy and I love the chewiness of the edges of the cake. The tin must be either oiled and floured, or lined with baking paper, as the cake does stick. I cooked it for 40 mins at 180 degrees Celsius. Try it, I guarantee, if you like coconut, you'll love this cake. It doesn't last long at work, that's for sure. One of the residents puts a berry jam on it - which I think is a little weird, but each to their own. I can just imagine sitting at a cafe with a cup of coffee, latte, hot chocolate and being served this with cream and a dusting of icing sugar.
Enjoy.

3 comments Baking, Cake