Cherub Lamp

I was recently given this lovely cherub/angel lamp.  I'm tempted to remove the lamp part and just mount the angels on a big chunky block of wood.  I'll leave it like this for a while though and see how I feel in a month or so.

Normally I'm not a fan of angels and cherubs - actually cherubs freak me out a little but these two have such sweet faces. I often find that cherubs look a bit sinister (especially for something that's meant to be angelic).

 

I've put them on this sideboard in my study area for the time being.  (And yes I know that the frames aren't hanging straight).

I've had a lovely day. My dad came over (from 2 hours away in traffic) to take me supermarket shopping and also to Bunnings (hardware).  I am still not driving and have been doing my weekly shop by walking 30 mins to the supermarket and then catching a taxi home with all the groceries. So it was nice to do it the easy way. He also took me to lunch, lovely to spend some time with him.

And I have finally worked out what colour my house trim actually is. Dulux North Sea Blue.  I'll be repainting the front door tomorrow!

Easy Dinner Recipe - Italian Lamb Shanks

I cooked these lamb shanks for dinner the other night - great for when it's a little cold outside. We've been having very changeable weather lately. It was a lovely hot 32 degrees the other day but now it's back to winter weather.

This meal is super easy - one of those ones that you can chuck everything into the pan and then let simmer while you play with the kids or sneak off and browse blogs on your iPad....

It's the way to my husband's heart.

Take some lamb shanks (anywhere between 2 to 6 for this recipe) and season them in flour, salt and pepper. 

In a pan saute the lamb shanks, onion, garlic and celery with a little olive oil until the meat is browned and the onion mix is transparent.  I have used red onion in the photo as it was all I had, but I usually use brown onions. This is one of those recipes where quantities don't matter too much. I only had 2 lamb shanks so I used 1 onion, 2 sticks of celery and 2 garlic cloves. If I was using more shanks I 'd double that amount, possibly not double the garlic though.

Once the meat is browned, add a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt, a tin of died tomatoes, a cup of stock or water and half a cup of dry white wine (if you don't have any open you can skip this, or just drink it yourself if the kids are annoying you) and some aromatic herbs. I added a bay leaf and some thyme from the garden. Rosemary is also a good option.

Bring to the boil, lower the heat and cover. Now just let this simmer for around 90 minutes to 2 hours until the shanks are tender. Enough time for you to go and catch up on all your favourite blogs.

At this stage you can add sliced mushrooms and cook for a further 10 minutes or you can just serve.

This is divine served with gnocchi, mashed potato or pasta.

 This is divine served with gnocchi, mashed potato or pasta.

all this equals a happy husband...

cheers Fiona

Baking Bread

On Sunday afternoon the kids and I made bread. We made a plaited loaf to have with dinner and some little rolls for the kids to take to their teachers on Monday morning. However as I was serving dinner, I noticed one bread roll was missing. My husband piped up guiltily "well I didn't know they were for the teachers".

So yesterday afternoon we were making bread again....

This is a fantastic recipe that works every time.  (courtesy of The Australian Women's Weekly Bake cookbook).  US readers be aware that your cup measurements are different to our Australian ones, I think.

You will need:

10g dried yeast

2 teaspoons castor sugar

125ml warm water

2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour

1 tsp salt

30g butter, melted

125 mls warm milk

Whisk yeast, sugar and the warm water in a jug or bowl until yeast dissolves. Cover and stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes until the mixture is all frothy.

Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in melted butter, milk and yeast mixture. If you have a mixer with a dough hook then mix on a low-medium speed for about 6 minutes. Else, turn dough onto a floured surface and give those biceps a workout. You'll need to knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is nice and elastic. I LOVE my KitchenAid!

Don't worry that the dough is still sticky at this stage. It is meant to be.  Otherwise your bread will be too heavy.

 Place the dough into a large oiled bowl, turning the dough once to cover it in oil. Cover and stand it in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough doubles in size.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (180 degrees Celcius for a fan forced oven). Oil an oven tray.

Turn the risen dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. 

These photos are of my 8 year old daughter kneading. She has amazing action - like an Italian nonna!

Shape your dough into whatever shapes you want. We made 4 plaited loaves using a double recipe. Plait just like you would long hair.

Place your rolls or loaves onto the oiled tray. Leave enough room between the loaves for them to spread.

If you want seeds on the top then brush with oil and sprinkle them on.

Cover with a clean tea towel and stand in a warm place for 20 minutes. The loaves should look something like this below.

Bake - the timing will depend on the shapes you have made. One large loaf will take approx 45 minutes. These loaves took around 25 minutes. Bread rolls will take about 15 minutes.

Turn onto a wire rack to cool. (or eat warm!)

 

Happy Baking! 

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Grey and White Bedside Table

I've had a reasonably productive day - did some paid work (business consulting), painted some furniture, baked bread and cooked lamb shanks for dinner, did reading in my son's kindergarten, cycled for 40 mins (stationary bike in my lounge room), picked up a cabinet, did some housework and I even remembered to get ham for the kids' lunch tomorrow.

I've finished a quick makeover on a little vintage bedside table. The very top part of this had badly peeling and broken veneer so I just peeled it all off and sanded down the wood underneath. I then painted it all a greenish-grey and painted the trim in white. I think it's very sweet.

And here is the before photo. If people even dusted and polished their furniture before sending it in for auction I'm sure they would get heaps more money for their items. Although I'm not about to suggest that to the sellers....

In regards to my broken arm's progress, it's less painful today. I'm doing my physio exercises every 3 hours and I have booked into one of sydney's best hand and wrist orthopedic surgeon for a second opinion next week. I'm just not 100% happy with the alignment of my hand.

Anyway I hope you've all had a good start to the week also.

Cheers
Fiona

Hello Cupcake!!

Today I'm surrounded by vanilla cupcake ingredients as I'm baking 200 cupcakes for our school movie night fundraiser tomorrow evening.

I've only been going for two hours and I've already licked my fingers that many times, I feel sick from the sugar rush.

So I thought I'd share these gorgeous images of cupcakes. Mine won't look like these though - the movie is Toy Story 3 so my kids and I have cut out heaps of little pictures of the movie characters and we'll glue them on to toothpicks and use them as cake toppers. I'll post some photos on facebook when we're done.

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And some of my own creations





Well it's back to the kitchen for this little Martha Stewart....

cheers

Fiona

A Blue Chair and Side Table

I've finished my first two projects in a long while....and my arm ached last night but I didn't dare complain to my husband who already thinks I'm doing too much.

The little side table I shared in the last post has been painted in a french taupe (my kitchen colour) and I found (in my shed, as you do..) a gorgeous vintage crackled porcelain handle that was made in Limoges, France. It suits the table perfectly. I think I may keep this table for a while.

My aunt gave me a huge wicker chair that was very bright blue so I toned it down with a darker blue (Deep Ocean Blue by Dulux). I have a huge tin of this as I thought it was our house trim colour but unfortunately it isn't. Our house trim is actually darker than this so I now have a whole 4 litre tin to get rid of. (and I can't work out what our house colour is).

The chair is quite gorgeous. I love the plaited trim detail. It's very comfortable and in perfect condition but I have no room for it so I'll be selling it.

The chair before was a bright ,light blue and a bit too over the top to live with...

....and the side table before:

I'm off to walk to the supermarket and then catch a taxi home with all the groceries. It's such a bummer not being able to drive. Our school has a movie night on Friday and I'm running the cake stall so I've got 200 cupcakes to make and decorate (I offered before I broke my arm but am sure it will still be fine). I'll be busy tomorrow. 

cheers

Fiona

Getting back into it slowly...

I went to the hospital last Friday to get my cast off my broken arm.  I had been completely sure I'd be almost fully functioning again....I'd even told a friend I'd see her at the gym today. So when the doctor started deliberating if they were going to operate and started mentioning things such as mis-alignment, early onset arthritis, possible fusing of my wrist etc I had a little panic!!  Anyway, the outcome is they aren't going to operate as it may actually make things worse but I have four more weeks in a splint and have to try and use my arm even less.  Four more weeks without driving which is a bit of a pain but I am enjoying the walking. (I'm not even allowed to run still).

So today I decided to try a little painting ... something that was light and easy to move and didn't require a lot of sanding.  I have only primed it so far but am happy to be back doing what I love.

This little table is very gorgeous with lovely wood but quite marked and the wood on the table top is actually a different colour to the legs (I think a bad staining job, rather than different wood).

 

I'm not sure if I should be painting with my arm but I am going a bit mental not being creative.

Check back later this week for the finished piece. I'm still not 100% sure what colour I'll paint it.  I'll have to check what nice paints I have in the shed.

cheers

Fiona

Waiting to paint this...

In anticipation of my cast being removed this Friday, I could not resist browsing eBay recently for something to paint.  Yesterday I scored this little cabinet below. I can't pick it up till next week (as I haven't been able to drive with my broken arm).  I'm looking forward to trying out a homemade version of chalk paint on it.  I'll let you know how I get on next week.



please excuse the bad eBay photo

I'm sure my husband will wonder why I needed to buy something when I still have our bedside tables, a couple of doors and some chairs to paint, but I know you bloggers will understand....

Hope you are all having a good week.

cheers
Fiona

An Unexpected Find in the Country

For the long weekend we went to Dubbo in Central NSW, my husband's home town, to stay with his mother (his father was actually in Sydney for the weekend for the football grand final). Thanks Beth, we had a lovely time with you!

We had a great weekend. It poured rain in Sydney but the skies were bright blue in Dubbo - the photo below is untouched! Amazing.

We went to the Western Plains Zoo which was fun. Phil and the kids cycled around but I was too scared to ride with my broken arm - the last thing I need is 2 broken arms! Phil and the kids went to Dubbo Gaol also while I took Charlie, our dog, for a long walk along the river. We also stumbled across a cute cafe, Short Street Store.  Not really what we expected to see in rural NSW but a great find and will definitely be our "local" when we next visit.  It used to a corner shop (since the 1930's) and my husband used to play pinball there after school as a kid.  It's recently been renovated and is now open for breakfast and lunch.

Great coffee and food all served in a very cute setting - lots of little rooms and spaces to enjoy your food!

 

 

In regards to my painted furniture, I've still got another week or so in my cast and then I'll have to see how my arm is. I am keen to still do some as I've got lots of ideas.  In the meantime I've got some business consulting work to do which will keep me busy.

Have a great week,

cheers Fiona