Go Aussie, Go Aussie!!!

Congrats to the Australian Socceroos who kicked Uruaguay's arse to get into the World Cup!
The second time ever and the last time we were in was 31 years ago!!!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie OI OI OI
Aussie Aussie Aussie OI OI OI
Aussie OI Aussie OI
Aussie Aussie Aussie OI OI OI!

My get well round up

I want to make a list of all of the posts that people made for me so that I can make sure I see them and anyone else can go check them out. ( They will be in alphabetical order)

FarmGirl Fare

Food Blog School

Masak Masak

1. Check out Amy's lovely flowers and get well message at Beauty Joy Food;
2. Check out the cute Babaganoosh with his good wishes at passionatenonchalance;
3. Check out Kalyn's beautiful snapdragons which are beckoning Clare and Kiri to get well soon at Kalyn's Kitchen;
4. Check out Squirt's life story and well wishes at ...slowly she turned... ;
5. Check out Tasha, cake (yum!), flowers and get well wishes at A Few of my Favourite Things;
6. Check out Flotsa in a Berkeley window at Middle-Fork;
7. Check out the kitties, Fridolin and Maruschka at Rosa's Yummy Yums;
8. Check out the Cat who is sad but has lovely flowers for Clare and Kiri at Belly-Timber;
9. Check out Flotsa who is sending Clare and Kiri some virtual ice-cream at Far Cartouche;
10. Check out Earl and Toejam looking so cute they will definitely cheer up Clare and Kiri at So Cal Foodie;
11. Check out the sweetie, Tigger who looks like he can give lots of loving to Clare and Kiri at Shelli's Sentiments;
12. Check out Phoebe and Trina giving cute winks to Clare and Kiri asking them to get well quickly at Indy Foodie;
13. Check out the adorable kitty antics which will bring a smile to Clare and Kiri's faces at Tigers & Strawberries;
14. Check out Macroom who is sleeping away on a very cute chair (my Mum's favourite cartoon character!) at Dispensing Happiness;
15. Check out Gigolo Kitty who is trying to negotiate better terms with Santa this year over at Gigolokitty!;
16. Check out River who is making sure there are no stray doggies around for Clare and Kiri at kitchenmage;
17. Check out Lixue who offers furry cuddles to cheer up Clare and Kiri (extra ones for Kiri as she loves him - I am so jealous but I understand as Kiri is such a hunky cat) at Look Hunny, I Cooked;
18. Check out Aggie who sent a hug, chocolate cake and flowers to Clare and Kiri at kayaksoup;
19. Check out the most adorable kitten fight ever plus candy for Clare and Kiri at Anne's Food;
20. Check out Leo who sends his best wishes at my little kitchen;
21. Check out darling Molly Doodlebug with beautiful heart cookies and a lovely message for Clare and Kiri at Farmgirl Fare;
22. Check out Tanuki who wanted to post himself to Sydney to see Clare and Kiri at A Cat in the Kitchen;
23. Check out Marlin sprucing himself up as he brings S'more Treats to Clare and Kiri to cheer them up at Heather's Space;
24. Check out Maggie sitting in a sink and offering lots of wishes to Clare and Kiri to get well soon at Love and Cooking;
25. Check out Miss Kitty with a lovely get well message and flowers for Clare and Kiri at Culinary in the Desert;
26. Check out Maggie and Wellington offering to go Down Under to see Clare and Kiri at Modern Girls Kitchen;
27. Check out the kitties from France who brought flowers for Clare and Kiri at Lali et Cie;
28. Check out Princess LouLou who sends her royal wishes to Clare and Kiri at Stalking the Waiter;
29. Check out Alicat's former kitties and Spanks with lots of good wishes to Clare and Kiri to get well at Something So Clever;
30. Check out Billy Lee, the cyber kitty who is up to tricks at The food pornographer;
31. Check out Jack and Charlotte who both sent lots and lots of hugs to Clare and Kiri (I want one too!) at My Adventures in the Breadbox;
32. Check out Tyson who will beat up that doggie which tried to hurt Kiri at Food Chronicles (I'm sad about Meggiecat's loss too!);
33. Check out Dale who sends his love and hugs to Clare and Kiri plus apologies for his species at One Hot Stove;
34. Check out Miss Domino who is looking for Clare and Kiri at Farmgirl Fare;
35. Check out Dusty who is concentrating very hard to be worried at bakingsheet;
36. Check out speedy Trixie who offers good wishes to Clare and Kiri at greengirlart;
37. Check out Snoopy who is joining us for the first time at everybody likes sandwiches;
38. Check out Red-Boy who wishes Clare and Kiri well at bunnyfoot;
39. Check out Lyle who offers Kiri a safe place to play at Basic Juice;
40. Alisha and Mattie sends Clare and Kiri well wishes at Playin' Whaley;
41. Check out Shishi, Mel and Spot who all offer well wishes plus good advice to Clare and Kiri at s'kat and the food;
42. Check out Huggy and Buddy who join us from California with well wishes at The Poor Cracklins;

Clare is finally back in da house

(Baby Possum eats apple on my parent's back verandah)

Wow, Oh my WOW!!!!!!!!
All I can say at the moment is THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

All of you wonderful people, the 85 comments and the posts *sob* (tears of thanks) I am completely awe struck and so happy that I know such a wonderful bunch of people. When I was in hospital and Casey suprised me with the pages and pages of comments I was shocked and so happy! It definatley made my time so much better, I think I read them about four times each day and I showed them to EVERYONE!

Well I guess you want real news huh?

First up, I think you need to know that I NEVER EVER EVER considered putting Kiri down.... and I gave EVIL looks to anyone that dared suggested it...... the guy that took his dog for a run not on a leash, maybe.... but not Kiri, ever.

So yep, Casey was right. A big mean doggy ran up and scared Kiri. He completely freaked out and bit me.... 32 times on the thumb side of my wrist over top of the joint. I didn't really notice at first until I ran inside, Kiri let go and I had stuck my had under the tap. That is when I noticed all of the holes and all of the blood that was running down the sink (I don't think it was quite a pint though Mc Auliflower LOL). At this point I was still not quite thinking right and Casey was runnin around freaking out about the blood, it was everywhere. Out the front, down the hall, down my jeans, in my toes, on Kiri's faces and body (he looked like a horror story), his leash is still caked. Kiri was hiding in the laundry and shaking.

At this point, we were very lucky that my Mum called and said to drive for the hour and a bit to their house. I walked inside, she saw my hand and said I was going to Casualty (Emergency). I thought, they will give me a tetanus shot and send me on my way. Well not quite, I got the shot but also 2 different antibiotics I.V. and told to come in the next night. I woke up at 5 am sooooo thirsty and like I would puke, I walked around outside til my parents woke up, and couldn't eat or drink, my hand was swollen and there was pus already. My mum said i'll be fine (sure...)(She has been an RN for 40 years), she gave me some anti nausea drugs and I fell asleep. I slept for 5 hours, woke up felt better ate and drank alittle then felt ill again. I went back to Casulty the doctor looked at me and said I was being Admitted. I was in shock, this began my week in hospital. It was pretty crazy, I never really considered myself as "ill", but I really didn't feel to well.

One thing I sure do know is that.... hospital food is HORRIBLE, INEDIBLE, TASTELESS :P :P :P So much good food which was ruined. To give you an idea, I had my arm in a sling and a drip in my other bicep, my sister was feeding me and gave me some mashed potato, "mashed potatoes have to be edible". I shuddered. She took a spoonfull and laughed and laughed and laughed, she said it was crunchy...... LOL

I came home on friday, but my parents internet connection sucks, and is unusable. Plus I couldn't type, this is actully pretty sore right now... but I couldn't wait any longer.

So how is Kiri? Oh he is soooo fine, when I came home, he saw me, I picked him up and he rubbed his face on mine about a hundred times, I put him down he jumped back up, I walked anywhere and he followed, I sat down he was on my lap smooching me. So I guess you can say he missed me :) That was so nice :) I think my parents are glad that he is gone though LOL.. and their cats even happier.

Thank you all again, for the get well wishes. I think they really did work as once I started to improve I got better very quickly XXXXXXXX

eClare in hospital with cat bites

Hi guys, this is a quick post to let everyone know the site will be quiet for a little while as Clare is in hospital with some nasty infected cat bites, not to be confused with "Cat Scratch Fever", which I believe refers to a feverish self limiting disease.

The story begins as we were getting in the car to leave for a long weekend at my friend's wedding at Junee, in country New South Wales. Just as we got into the car a dog came out of no-where and attacked Clare and Kiri (who was in her arms). Kiri totally freaked out, and instinctively went on the attack, biting clare multiple times on both arms. Clare was rushed to hospital with 32 punchure wounds from Kiri's teeth and claws. Luckily Kiri's claws had been clipped that day so nearly all the damage was from his teeth.

Her right arm became badly infected and it is all puffy. Today is Monday, and she has been on IV antibiotics since Friday and is progressing well now. Hopefully she will be able to come home in a couple of days. Some people are telling us to put the cat down, but we won't have it. It was completely the dog's fault, which was running around un-leashed and who's owner was riding past on a push bike and did not stop.

We never got to the wedding on Saturday, so congrats to Lachlan and Emma Cook, my mates from HIgh School and Uni.

I will pass on any messages for Clare, and have access to a colour printer if you want to send on any eCards.... Casey

Reshreshing Drinks!

I had to leave a food related post before I went away didn't I? hehehe
Well actually, it was rather warm here in sunny Sydeny today. After my walk, I needed a drink. A cold, refreshing drink. I am not one for drinking sweet sodas *Blurgh*, why would I, When I can have this? This is so refreshing, slightly tangy, alittle fizzy and cold, the perfect drink for hot, sunny days. The basic formula is so easy, some fruit, ice, mint and sparkling mineral water. This version contains passionfruit, lime, orange and mint leaves. Other good choices are strawberries and lemon balm.

If you find this too tart, alittle natural sugar like some apple concentrate would be the perfect sweetner. Please give this perfect refreshing summer drink a try, it might cause you to give up oversweetend sodas too.

WCB 22 - Boos house!

It might look like Kiri as asking nicely to go play outside, but this is what he wanted you to see. As soon as I picked up the camera he was sitting nicely at the door. Just before this he was jumping up trying to open the door. Yes, he can open the slding door if it is only open a little bit. Freak LOL....

Well, I hope he is a good puss cat this weekend as he is staying with his fraternal grandparents, sans parents. For some reason this sets my heart a shaking. I hope nothing bad happens. I think my mum is excited about him trying to sleep on her head. If only she knew LOL. hehehe

If you want to leave your wcb post please go visit Boo, as she is the keeper of the WCB flame for this weekend. Just think how nice it will be for the puss cats to go on hols in KL! Lucky puss cats.
Thanks heaps Boo & Boo I know you will both do a fabulous job :)

WCB - This Weekend

Ok puddy cat lovers and owners, I am leaving tomorrow afternoon, to begin my trek to a Wedding, which is a long way away and I will be gone all weekend.

The very lovely Boo ( the cat) and her mum Boo_licious ( the blogger) are going to be guest hosting WCB 22 all the way in KL Maylasia!

So if you want you puddy cat to be included in the round up leave your permalinks with Boo for this weekend!

Kiri will be appearing here tomorrow arvo... and I will check back in on Sunday night :)

Hope you have a great weekend, and I will be taking pictures of CAKE!

Kiri's Party!

Here is Kiri getting ready for everyone to come to his and Casey's birthday party! HE wants them to hurry up!



Here are my baby carrots for Kalyns WHB 4! They are growing well!



This was Karen's Jellyfish and prawn salad. It was soooo yummy! I think she might have converted quite a few people with this yummy dish! But don't be like Casey's dad and eat too much because you might get indigestion from it. But Karen recommends green tea as the perfect remedy.



This is Kates Sundried tomato and Pinenut Dip, it is really good! It is fresh and tasty mmmm



This is Dave and Marg (Casey's Parents) Home Smoked trout, which they caught themselves at their cabin at lake Eucumbene, mmmmmm!!!!!!




This is Kate modeling her Sourdough, dip and smoked trout sandwhich mmmmm



This is our friend chris's Multicoloured squashed cherry tomato and olive salad. Yum! There were comments about his being a guy and able to cook! So if this appeals to you, just let me know ;) as he is desperate and dateless, but smart, good looking and a really nice guy! oh and an awesome photographer



This is a BBQ swordfish, which was one of Casey's favourite dishes, there were also BBQ chilli and garlic prawns, but sadly there were no photos. hmmm they must have disappeared to quickly



These are some Italian Arancini that Jai brought from his fav Italian cafe



This was some really yummy dip and turkish bread that my Aunties brought for me :) They also assured Casey that being thirty isn't such a big deal (hahahahahah) :P



This is THE HUGE four layer devils food/blackforest cake that I made for Casey and Kiri's birthday. My two special boys.... awwwww (love you both!) (yes kiri reads eatstuff!)



This is all that was left, it kinda collapsed into a glorious mess when it was sliced,as it was defying gravity! and Fresh cream whilst really tasty is like buliding a house on sand LOL!




This is Kiri after he had waaaayyyy too many beeers! and is alittle drunk, but one is the legal age for puddy cats!



Here is Kiri taking a well deserved break, he had a big day, from being a model in his new suit to greeting guests, and playing. Woah it was hard. But most of all he wants to thank all his new friends from all over the world for their very kind wishes, love andthe hard work they went too to make his party such a very special day!

WCB 21 PARTY TIME!

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!

If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink! and add a "weekend cat blogging" tag to your post!

If you would like to participate in WDB 7 (Weekend Dog Blogging) please go visit the lovely Sweetnicks and send her an email!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRI!

So this is THE WEEKEND of Kiri's first Birthday Party, I can't beleive my boy is all grown up (almost) *sob*.
When it came to deciding what on earth Kiri would wear for this very important photo shoot, well I had no clue. Actually, I did. But, I kept changing my mind. First it was a pirate, then FG asked me about the eye patch and the parrot. Oh, I thought how to deal with that? So I decided on the next best thing. The min criterior was that it had to show off his sleek physique, tank top? Too Casual, Superman.. NAhhh. Suit.YES! That's it!

So here he is in all his birthday splendour!





Now isn't that just the cutest, EVER!!
For this WCB, I have uploaded the photos at high res, so click on them to get a bigger image.

Ok EVERYONE LETS HAVE FUN! :)

The last guest have just left the party, I am exhausted so there will be lots of food pics tomorrow! And a few cute ones of Kiri!

Check out the very shy Squirt, who made a huge effort to come today, pats Squirt! at Slowly she turned
Check out Bella and Tasha with there lovely plate of sardine Pastries. YUM! How did you know it was Kiri and mine's favourtite? at A Few of My Favourite Things
Check out Boo, taking over to make presents and help Kiri Celebrate! Thank you! At Masak Masak
Check out Miss Kitty, sharing her toys with me for her birthday! Isn't she generous? at Culinary in the Desert
Check out the lovely card that Trina and Phoebe made for me at Indy Foodie
Check out the champange and pumpkin cake that Rima and Nala made and fought over today for Kiri, WOW. at Les Carnets de sbmarie
Check out Glinda all decked out in her party finest with her sister Gisele to that party at Anne's Food
Check out Pixel and Billy Lee all dressed up in there finest sitting gear, they sure look spiffy at the Food Pornographer
Check out Jazz sharing his water, Tigger bringing his favourite olives, and Lixue sharing her favourite toy (and admitting she has a crush on me *swoon*) at Look Honey, I cooked
Check out Maruschka: an imposing teddy bear! at Rosa's Yummy Yums
Check out baby lucky, he decided to bring toys and shrimp, my favourite! at The Countess
Check out Bowser and his stylish Bow and the Awesome flowers Tanuki brought for me! Thanks guy's at a cat in the kitchen
Check out the little black cat who was enticed to the party for some food at Kayak Soup
Check out all the guys getting along for the party, AND they brought Pumpkin Cheesecake! YUM at Restaurant Widow
Check out the AWESOME Tuna Cerviche that Nic, Phoebe and Dusty brought and all enjoyed to the big Party at Bakingsheet
Check out Le Gros Noir who likes to follow his mum everywhere like me! at Lali et Cie
Check out all the Kitties wishing Kiri a Happy Birthday at Love and Cooking
Check out Mrs Cat Chairman Kaga style and the resplendent feast at Belly-Timber
Check out Patchy Cat who wanted to come... but got "held up" at Farmgirl fare
Check out my wild cousin who wants to come visit at Farmgirl Fare
Check out Miss Domino who was too shy to come to the party at Farmgirl Fare
Check out Tinker rolling in the dirt (she might have had a bit to drink at the party.....) at Middle Fork
Check out Caramel, the youngest p-a-r-t-y animal here! at Heathers Space
Check out Butterscotch and Stella hugging on the bed! at my party! at The poor cracklins
Check out Toejam, and his bow, Earl and his hat and the presents and the food at Socalfoodie!
Check out all the kitties, resting, relaxing, napping, pretty much having a perfect kitty time at Tigers & Strawberries
Check out Kittaya, what a stylish guy he is, just like me! at Mahanandi
Check out Charlotte being the cute ktitty she is! at My Adventures in the breadbox
Check out Vodka and the beautiful flowers she has brought for Kiri, what a sweetie! at Cel's Home Page
Check out the caviar, they toys (both kiri enjoyed immensly) the donation to charity and the naming of the nameless one at Kitchen Mage
Check out Luke and the WDB round up at Sweet nicks

Reminder

Don't forget it is almost Kiri's birthdays... so get your cats ready to P-A-R-T-Y

*note: I don't mind if you bring a plate or a drink to help celebrate!*

Oh! Insects!

Look what I found when I was watering my new garden!


How cute am I?
Oh no!!! here comes a HUGE lady with a big black thing. RUN!!!!!!!!



Oh stretch... come on stretch......

Oh and BTW I am very ashamed for you all not to know where Cheese and Tommy toe toasties come's from!

Cheese and Tommy toe toastie

Double points if you can name which sketch the title of thid post comes from :) hehhehe


This rather alluring jaffle is pretty fab. Thin slices of Sweet and Sour Rye with caraway seeds ( I think this is what you call pumpernickle Nic?), Vine ripened tomatoes, onion sprouts and grated pecorino. Oh yeah. Simple and perfect sustenece after a hard days slog.

THAI!!!!

Thai Pothong Restaurant

294 King Street Newtown 2042, NSW
(50 meters City side of Newtown station)

Trading Hours
Dinner Fri & Sat 6.00pm - 11.00pm
Sun-Thu 6.00pm - 10.30pm
Lunch 12.00 to 3.00pm ( Closed Monday Lunch only)

Tel: (02) 9550 6277
Fax: (02) 9519 8050
Website: www.thaipothong.com.au
Email: thaipothong@bigpond.com.au

Don't you just HATE it when you go out, end up eating a FABULOUS meal and you didn't drag along your HUGE camera *sigh*. Normally I decide not to tell you these tales without the pictures as hard evidence to back-up my claims, but tonights meal was too good not too (Brag :P)

Casey and I were strolling down King St Newtown (there are heaps of restaurants and this is the longest stretch of shops in Australia... I think) We walk up and back not really fussed at any of the choices (gee we can be picky!). When we figure that we will walk down to Thai Pothong, which has been recommended numerous times as a great place to go for a special night out. We were sold. We walk in and are immediatly seated at a cute little table for 2, the waiters were great bringing out the 2 glasses of water straight away.

Well ... I wont bore you with the everyday stuff, what I will say is CHOO CHEE SCAMPI!!!! OMG it was Fantastic... the sauce the scampi, oh the sauce on rice, oh the flesh of the scampi *drool*. Well it wasn't cheap ($26) but we shared the main, rice for 2 steam scallops for an entree (YUM) and a small paypaya salad. We DON'T regret a thing! (Menu)
If you want to go for That in Newtown, and want it to be special I would definately recommend it, great service, great food. Enough said :)

WCB 20 P-A-R-T-Y announcement!

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!

If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink! and add a "weekend cat blogging" tag to your post!

If you would like to participate in WDB 6 (Weekend Dog Blogging) please go visit the lovely Sweetnicks and send her an email!



Could you possibly guess who this is? It is my boy Kiri of course! I bet you can see just how I fell in love with him, here he is just 8 weeks old! The next 4 weeks spent waiting to pick him up was torture!
If you want to see my baby boy in action click here to view a movie file that is 500kb and a .wmv . * This is sooooo cute!*!!!!!!!!!!!
So why did I want to show you this extreme cuteness til now? Because next Tuesday the 1st of November is his first birthday!

So next weekend's cat blogging is going to be Kiri's first birthday party!!! He wants all of his new friends to help him celebrate, so please join in! Feel free to bring goodies or dress your puss's up if they feel like co-operating!

Hope you all come!

But for this weekend please:

Check out Matilda's puss testing flowers at Skor i Skralden
Check out the cute glinda in a kitty sling! I so want one for Kiri!!!! at Anne's Food
Check out the growing little kittens who are taking over Boos house at Masak Masak!
Check out the pusses who ardusting to their new found celebrity status at The Food Pornogropher
Check out Tigger basking in thew sunlight at Look hunny, I cooked
Check out the newly renamed Bowser setting in at A cat in the Kitchen
Check out Trina hanging out in the window at Indyfoodie
Check out the Phi Phi Island asian lucky cat at Les Carnets de sbmarie
Check out Baily the cute fluff ball at The Moveable Feast Food Blog
Check out the guest kitty Kitties at Kayaksoup
*Pause for a moment for the lost Minnaloushe* I am so sorry for your loss Barbara,
but we welcome the new kitten on the blockMei-Mei Ari the adorable fluffball at Tigers & Strawberries *Cute Kitten alert*
Check out Le Chat and P. I. T. A. (LOL!) at Heather's Space
Check out Bussi enjoying some "Aromatherapy".... HA! sure... at Basic Juice
Check out Smudge, the AMAZING SELF RESCUING KITTY! at Farmgirlfare
Check out Miss Domino the wcb foster kitty rolling around at Farmgirlfare
Check out the ever fiesty Mrs Kitty who is keeping her strength up at Belly-Timber
Check out Wellington the gourmand at Modern Girls Kitchen
Check out the Vodka Cat Recording device at Cel's Home page
Check out the HUNGREY vocal Earl at So Cal Foodie
Check out Macroom, what a good kitty helping Mommy at Dispensing Happiness
Check out the nameless one growing up fast at Kitchen Mage
Check outLe Gros Noir and le Petit Tigré affectionate half cats at Lali et Cie
Check out Bella and Tasha discovering the properties of glass at A few of my favourite things
Check out Lucky and his Mummmy from when he was a tiny baby, wow so cute and tiny! at The countess *cute kitten alert*
Check out baby Charlotte finding her feet, gee she's cute at My Adventures in the Breadbox
Check out Tinker chomping on some grass (wow, another grass conisouer!) at Middle Fork
Check out Maruschka and Fridolin having a cuddle at Rosa's Yummy Yums

SHF & Casey's Birthday!

Sooooo today, Casey is 30. OMG he is old :P (hi honey!!!)
Of course his birthday has to conincide with SHF AND the biggest blogging weekend I have seen yet, OMG! I don't know if I can keep it up. I have already missed out on Blog party .... so sorry Stephanie, I just couldn't.. I wouldn't have been able to post in time anyway :( horrible internet!

This months SHF (sugar high friday) is being hosted by loveschool ( I can't acess your website!!! to let you know... if you can let her know for me as I am off to bed I will be soooo thankful) Loveschool decided to have a redux of the EVER popular Chocolate theme, and I for one will almost always go chocolate! YUM!!!!! Thanks for deciding to redux this AWESOME! theme :)

So what did I do for Casey's birthday? and for SHF? Keep you pants on I will get to that bit!
I decided that thebest thing I could give Casey would be me, and my time.Aand I should make something for him, that would show him how much I care ( LOVE YOU XXX). So, I figured a four course meal, and some nice champange would be perfect.

I started off with a pea soup, yep simple. Not alot, just alittle nice refreshing, tasty, mouth watering appetiser. So simple to make. I boiled the shells off fresh pea with a few cloves of garlic. When they were cooked 5 to 10 minutes?? I pureed them with a handful of parsley and mitsuba, then strained the broth. I brought the broth back to the boil for a few mintutes. I added a slosh of fresh cream, seasoned with S&P to taste. I gave us each a ladelful, a few fresh raw peas, 1 quenelle of yoghurt and a pile of onion sprouts and a crack of fresh pepper. For something that I have never made before, and didn't have a recipe for DAMM it was good. Onion sprouts rock, ok! They added nice peppery heat to the soup, yum!

The second course that I fogot to take a photo of (grr) was a home grown rocket salad, vine ripend tomatoe, EVOO, balsamic and a shaving of pecorino. Just a few peppery, spicy, tomatoey mouthfulls mmmm

The third course a free range chicked, roasted. If you want the tastiest most succulent chicken I have ever tasted GO TO FRATELLI FRESH !!!! I cried when I tasted it! both from the taste, the expectation and so wanting to make something very special for my boy. To cook it I made some very herby butter with fresh majoram, thyme, salt & pepper. I stuffed this under the skin on the breast and the thighs. I dried the outside of the bird and I S&P it. I gave the giblets to Kiri, and put a whole clove of garlic in the center. I stuck it in a 220C oven.( I think it was just over an hour and I turned it over twice) To serve with this magnificent bird I roasted some potatoes, roasted some beetroot (served with a spoon of yoghurt and cracked pepper), boiled some dutch carrots and fresh peas. I made gravy to dress the peas and carrots, from the pan juices, a splash of Gin and some of the carrot/pea water. The best part is that we still have 2 perfect chicken breasts for tomorrow mmmmmmm chicken

For the fourth course and my SHF entry I wanted to make something special for Casey, and something original, as he deserves it :) He loves trifle and those liqueur cherry chocolates with a whole sour cherry inside... good inspiration I figured. So I went shopping with an idea and let inspiration come to me. 85% cocoa chocolate CHECK. 1 jar of Morello cherries CHECK. Then I saw these little chocolate cups, already made!!! oh you are so coming home with me! Then a mini choc chip ( normally I would get plain, but this is a chocolate themed SHF!) pannetone. Next to the bottle'o and one bottle of cherry brandy later and I know I am on to a good thing. I also managed to pick up a great bottle of champers on sale YIPPEE!

I get home, and realise I have NO IDEA how I am going to assemble this all into a chocolatey cherry trifely thingy???? and make dinner in 2 hours!

So I open the panettone hmmm I cut it into 8 thin slices and I drench them in liquor, good start :) esp as the slices become dark pink. I figure that some choc mousse will be good, but I only have a few hours for it to set... so I find this recipe and I make it with cherry brandy and 85 % cocoa chocolate, I open the morello cherries and seperate them into juice and cherries. I set the juice with gelatine and some more alchol ( is this a trend?) and whack it in the freezer and then I have the brilliant ( I think so anyway) idea of making morello cherry and cherry brandy ( uh oh) mousse. So I puree the cherries and some brandy and and some gelatine. I whip 3/4 cream to soft peaks, stir and put it in the fridge. *note fore hints on gelatine go here*

Ok I have parts, BUT HOW ON EARTH will I put them all together? I wait a while, occasionaly I check the cherry jelly in the freezer. One time I come back and it has almost set. AHAH! I put the panetone slices into the bottom of the chocolate cups and add enough jelly to cover and I put this in the freezer. I wait some more, I realise that I am just going to have to do it. So I get the 2 mousses and the chocolate cups out of the freezer, cherry mousse and a big spoon of the darkest most chocolatey mousse on top. Done.

To serve, I grated some chocolate over the top and another (oh boy) shot glass of brandy on the side. It worked so well! The flavours came together and compliemtented each other, the mousses were great. The funniest part was when Casey thought he had finished and there was a dark brown cup on his plate, I look very strangely at him and he asks where I bought the funky plastic cups HA HA HA . Noooo they are chocolate you fool!, oh, OH he replies and munches it all up.

I think that was quite a job well done, and I have someone else who is appreciative to prove it!

:)

Oven again

I have had serious blogiing preventing internet issues the last couple of days, screw you unwired! So here is a semi make up post, hopefully internet permitting I will have my SHF post up tonight :) It is someones special day today ;) no not mine!



Ok, so as per the request and all the interest I have received about my new oven I thought I would show you a photo of him. Yes, he is older than my previous toy oven, he is also dark and handsome .. don't you think? I must say though, that his previous mistress had NOT looked after him and he required a good cleaning! I know that Sam knows just how I feel. Apart from the bad introduction, he does appear to be on his best behaviour.

Since everyone liked the look of my Yummy biccies, I thought I would share the altered recipe. PLEASE use the best and darkest chocolate you can, as they will be too sweet otherwise. If you live in OZ and can't get butterscotch morsals, like me anymore add some more chocolate, or perhaps some nuts.

I also upped the oatmeal in the recipe, to put in as much oats as I could stir in. I also kept 1/3 of the mix in the fridge for acouple of days and baked them then, they were still great! They just didn't rise quite as much.

Chocolate Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies (Makes HEAPS!!!)

ChocolateButterscotch Oatmeal Cookie Dough
2 cups wholemeal plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
250 gms butter, softened
1 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar, sieved if lumpy
1/2 cup raw caster sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon hot water
2 1/2 cups quick cooking (not instant) rolled oats
1 cups butterscotch flavored chips
1 cup of dark chocolate, brocken up. NOT CHIPS and as dark as you can get


Preheat the oven and prepare the cookie sheets.
Preheat the oven to 180c. Line the cookie sheets with lengths of parchment paper, set aside.

Mix the Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookie Dough
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and allspice onto a sheet of waxed paper. Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on low speed for 4 minutes. Add the light brown sugar in two additions, beating on moderate speed for 1 minute after each portion is added. Add the granulated sugar and beat for 1 minute longer. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each is added. Blend in the vanilla extract and hot water. On low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, beating just until the particles of flour are absorbed. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula to keep the dough even-textured. Blend in the rolled oats. Dough texture observation: The dough will be thick and moderately stiff. Work in the butterscotch chips and chocolate, using a wooden spoon or paddle.

Spoon the dough onto the prepared Cookie Sheets
Drop rounded 2 tablespoon size mounds of dough, 3 inches apart, onto the lined cookie sheets. Place nine mounds of dough on each sheet.

Bake and Cool the Cookies
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until softly set and light golden in small patches here and there on the surface or edges of the cookies. Let the cookies stand on the sheets for 1 minute, then transfer them to cooling racks, using a wide, offset metal spatula. Cool completely.

Freshly baked, the cookies can keep for 2 - 3 days.

The OVEN!!!!

So this is it, THE post you have all been waiting for.... does the oven work or is it from the land of infinite sadness.

Well go on, actually look at that picture. OF COURSE IT *#&%&% well WORKS !!!!! YAYAYYAYAYAYAY
Clare is soooooo happy! As you can see, these are Ben's Birthday Biccies. Why does Ben deserve biccies... because he is sweet, we didn't get to see him on his real birthday and I needed an unknowing yet totally willing and deserving guinea pig, gee life's tough sometimes LOL. Since we had a suprise visit, I turned to the Same Baking by Flavours cookie recipe that I used to test that OTHER oven.. the one I didn't get for long.. well :P:P to you! Cause I have a new oven, that whilst not new cooks just as good as you. NERR and is black and much sexier than you too :P

*Can anyone tell just how late it actually is here? :P*

So back on to the biccies, I think they actually worked better this time. They would want to be good, the last of my butterscotch morsals *sob* and 2 (count them 1, 2) whole blocks of 85% Cocoa Lindt. Damm that stuff is GOOOOD. Also these babys are huge. I hope you are getting through them Ben and Nat and enjoying them too. :) xxxxx *Happy Belated Bday too !*


BTW Do you like my new bowl? It was to go with the cute art deco plate.... but it was a victim to the horrors of moving :( as I told Rachel as she helped me unpack, lucky it only cost 2 bucks!

Lunch

So what do you do when you are unpacking, and you need an easy lunch? JAFFLES!!!! or toasted sandwhiches as the case maybe :)
These were great, Smoked tasmaian salmon, homegrown rocket, capers, spanish onion, fetta, perfect. In the jaffle iron for a few minutes and out comes an awesome sandwhich a perfect way to refuel whilst taking a pitstop :)

*Note: this is a small post in the blog scheme of things, but this sandwhich is just to good not to post *drool* ... but I have quite alot almost ready to go.. including information on the oven and wether it is good, bad or from the land of infinite sadness ;) so stay tuned!!!!*

WCB 19 - Mountain Lion Edition

Cat food bloggers unite every weekend and share photos of your gorgeous kitties with us!

If you would like to be included, just leave me a comment with your permalink! and add a "weekend cat blogging" tag to your post!

If you would like to participate in WDB 5 (Weekend Dog Blogging) please go visit the lovely Sweetnicks and send her an email!


Hi this is Kiri, all of you lovely people out there in the blogging world who like to look at me and my fellow cute kitties need to think about our wild compatriots. No, not just our poor feral cousins. But our big cat bretheran. Like the Mountaion lion in America. Everyone likes to keep pet cats and dogs but neglects our big brothers and sisters. I urge you as caring animal lovers to help fight the slaughter of the big cats. But really they don't just need to not be shot, they need somewhere safe to raise their kittens, play and hunt, with out fear. It is not only the yummy birds and cutsie small mammals that need to be protected, it is the big beautiful predators that help structure the animal community that need your protection.

I urge you to help by donating money to a worthy cause for people who do fight on my cous's behalf like the Moutain Lion Federation if you want to donate money go here.

But please speak out about the Lion slaughter that they want to start in Oregon, where they
plan to kill 782 cougars per year for the next five years, and specifically target females. Think of all the poor cubs who will be left motherless.... then look at your own pet kitty and think about what makes you love them.... then consider how similar they are except these guys get to live free .

I would like to thank Catherine, the kitty lover from Food Musings for letting me know about this *smooch*

If you do make a donation let me know, as I would like to keep a running WCB tally, I am going to be talking to my parents about the donation they are about to make.

THE WCB19 donation count is at $20!!!!

Check out The Gigolo Kitty writing his memoirs . He has gotten into trouble with a former flame though at Gigolo Kitty
Check out Boo who has taken oven Masak-Masak from her nickname stealing mommy
Check out Nala taste testing her mummy's cooking at Les Carnets de sbmarie
Check out the other cute blue kitties and their paper bag at A few of my favourite things
Check out Jazz and Lixue 2 big beautiful fluff cats at Look Honey, I cooked
Check up on the poor sick Minnaloushe, we all hope she is better soon at Tigers & Strawberries
Check out Keep your fingers crossed for her and Lenas Kitty's who are going to the show at Annes Food
Check out Miss White Kitty goosing Miss Black Kitty at Bunnyfoot
Check out Salsa, the beautiful Birman, she has such a hard life at Papilles et Pupilles
Check out Macroom being carried sooo undignifiedly at Dispensing Happiness
Check out Charlotte the new Kitty in da house at My Adventures in the Breadbox *Cute Kitten Warning*
Check out Houdini who wants a slice of the Middle Fork Bithday cake!
Check out New cat having a rest on FG's car at FarmgirlFare
Check out the serious case of Cattitude going on at Belly-Timber!
Check out Daisy and the v.cool grad present at Knife Skills
Check out Huggy and Stella the v.cute Kitten at ghettocracklins
Check out Kittaya helping his mum in the Kitchen at Mahanandi
Check out the cute furling and help her find a name Kitchenmage* Cute Kitten Warning*
Check out Miss Domino the WCB foster kitty at FG's :)

What the hell happened here?

Hi Guys
Here is alittle update to let everyone in on the goss at chez eatstuff.

As some of you might have noticed, FG (Farmgirl) very, very kindly took over the WCB hosting duties for me. So if you are looking for the roundup go here. Unless I am dead, or in hospital it will be back on here at eatstuff next weekend. Oh yeah, I think moving while sick might have caught up with me... and No Sam I am no superwoman.....*sigh*, I wish I was though.

I am stil unable to comment on the oven, and wether it is good or very very bad (ie from the land of infinite sadness), because I haven't cooked anything in it yet! Which is so demoralising, instead we have been subsisting on a diet of delivery food... which does not make you feel better, like a bowl of homemade chicken soup ( my freezer is empty Michele :( ).

Kiri has taken to the new house verywell, Cat alley has not yet been installed, hopefully by the weekend.

Oh, and then there is the issue of the blogspammers. GO AWAY I HATE YOU! Leave me, and my nice readers alone, we don't care about ANYTHING you have to offer. I had been hoping to be able to just keep deleting the cooments as they appear, but they attacked at my weakest point so I am going to turn the dreaded word verification on. So Sorry. Because of the blogger hack, you will enter the comment like normal, hit enter THEN go to the blogger comment page where you will have to enter the wqord verification. Sorry about this. If it is incredibly horrible or if you have a problem, leave a comment or email me, ok? Maybe I will have to remove the comment hack? But, I hope not as I *heart* the comment hack *sigh*. BUT not as much as I love yout comments, so it will lose out to you guys everytime.

Hope you are all well, and I'll hopefully back to my *cybergrl* self very shortly.
xx