Lazy kind of days......and cardboard boxes.

Do you have days when you just don't want to get out of bed?

The warm duck down is wrapped around you and the cloud of comforting 'just right' air envelops you.

Yet the alarm beckons.....

My alarm rings with a statement of "Mumma sandwiches must be made.....wakey wakey rise & shine".

And invariably I leave behind one or two little snugglers in my spot in the bed as I make my way to the kitchen.

They can stay.

They don't have to make sandwiches.

They don't have to get out of bed for anything at all.

I leave them be.

They will follow me soon enough...tummies gurgling for brekky.

Today after I dispatched the big ones, one by one off to school,  I sat on the couch.

I could have stayed there ALL day.

It is a bit drizzly outside. 

But a parcel arrives.  I arise to answer the door.

It is in a big box.

We unwrap it.

The contents are inconsequential.  

A box A box. my kingdom for a box!

Perfect indoor toy for the two littlest.  I mean really is there anything better than a cardboard box?

GOURMETGIRLFRIEND'S WONTON NOODLE SOUP:
Wonton noodle soup is one of my absolute favourite foods.  A bad one is sooooo dissapointing but a good one is close to heaven I think!
Mine is always different depending on what is in the pantry or fridge or garden.
It's surprisingly easy if you haven't made it before.  DO give it a whirl!
It uses ingredients that I consider MUST ALWAYS have pantry items. Especially if you love Asian cuisine as much as me!  It needs other ones too from the fridge but I make sure I ALWAYS have these as I make quite a lot of recipes that rely on them (I store little portions of pork mince in the freezer for dumplings and wontons).
The MUST HAVE pantry items are: dried noodles, maggi seasoning (as pictured below),

chicken stock, wonton skins (I always have these in the fridge),

shao xing wine (distinguishable by it's distinctive duck egg blue & red label as in pic below),

sesame oil. (Most of these things are at your local Asian grocer- it is worth finding a good local one in my opinion. I love asking about ingredients I haven't used before. Asian grocers are treasure troves.)
The most difficult part to this recipe is the making of the wontons.  And it isn't actually that hard. They are very forgiving and once you have made it once I bet you will be going back for more.
Experiment with different flavours & noodles too!  It is delicious with slivers of chicken or silken tofu....go crazy!
The recipe I have written here is the mix I used on that day.  It tasted great but I haven't done it like that before- i will again though!.  I had some gorgeous Giant Red Mustard leaves to use, some chilli and some Vietnamese mint- all growing in my garden asking to be made into something delicious.  Vietnamese mint is one of those magical asian herbs- like Coriander- it was perfect for this soup, it added an amazing fresh zinginess that lifted the soup to another level. Soooooo good. and you could just feel it doing you good too!  My kids LOVED it!  It grows really easily- you really should plant some- you should!  Giant red mustard is the same. It grows easily and loves to be plucked!

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 1 inch knob of ginger
• a handful of Vietnamese mint ( i used 3 in the soup, 2 in the pork mince and another one to garnish)- I would often use coriander but didn't have any
• 1 red chilli
• 2 inch knob of ginger (1 inch grated into pork mince & other 1 inch sliced and put in broth)
• 2- 3 drops of Maggi seasoning (this is SUPER strong- don't over use this sauce.  It is to me the 'secret' ingredient if you like, to the authentic flavour of Wonton soup but be very careful not to overpower the broth with it. )
• 200g free range pork mince
• 2 tablspoons sesame oil
• 1 egg
• a bowl of water (for helping seal the wontons)
• a pack of wonton wrappers
• 2 litres of chicken stock (if you don't have good home made stock you can substitute with a good powdered one)
• a dash of LIGHT soy (it is more salty than dark so you don't have to use as much & will also leave the broth a lovely light colour)
• green veg of your choice (I had Giant Red Mustard leaves in the garden so used those)
• dried soba noodles (it was all I had in the pantry- i don't have any rules about which to use- but the rule I stick to is to make sure you boil the noodles in  a separate pot as it will taint your broth otherwise)
• extra salt if required

 METHOD:
In a pot bring a prepare your dried noodles as per packet instructions.  When cooked drain and run cold water to stop cooking process. I add a dash of sesame oil to keep noodles loose and to add flavour. Set aside.

In a large bowl add pork mince,  grated ginger, egg & sesame oil.  Get your hands in there and amalgamate the ingredients very well. It will resemble a paste almost.

On a floured surface put a wonton wrapper so it lies as a diamond and add about a heaped teaspoon of pork mince mix to the centre.  

Dip your finger into the water and baste the edges.  Then fold over and squeeze the edges firmly to make sure they are sealed.  Repeat till all mix made into wontons.

Now for the broth.  Bring  2 litres of chicken stock to the boil. Add 1 inch of ginger slices, a sprig or two of Vietnamese mint,  maggi seasoning and soy.


Once at a boil drop in the wontons.  You will see the wrapper start to shrink around the meat mix to create that lovely little shape you know and love!


Cook the wontons for about 5 minutes.  I added the mustard leaves only about a minute before I served- I love them to be crunchy.


In each serving bowl place a small amount of noodles,  some wontons & some green veg.  Now ladle over the broth till covered and add chilli & fresh herbs!


YUM!!!!!

My listening pleasure today is a band from Norway I've been listening to alot lately.  Theya ren't new but I love them. They help add some quiet to my busy-ness:

How do you celebrate?

A couple of weeks ago our eldest child turned 13.

We had talked about the impending celebrations for a while.

13 is a biggy.

We don't usually do the whole big birthday party thing.

I am kind of disillusioned by the way kids birthday parties have become another way to compete as parents.  Surely being a parent is hard enough without all this competitive stuff?

Birthday parties have become big business.

The idea seems to be that the bigger & more fantastical the party you give the bigger & better you are as a parent.

And inviting every child in the class?!

I don't get it.

Why?

My children are certainly not friends with every child in their class so why would I invite them all?

Isn't a birthday something you celebrate with the people you love and who love you?

I know it isn't very popular to take this stance but I don't do what is popular in anything I do.

I do it because I believe in it.

Because I think it is right.

It is important to me that I live with honesty.

It doesn't make me popular all the time but I am the one who has to live with me and as me.  I need to do what is right for me.

Mr. 13 had thrown around the ideas that are kind of common for a child of his age in terms of party ideas.  Laser war parties, or go-karting, bowling etc.....

I struggled to get excited...and really so did he.

Then one night as we were sitting around the table chatting as a family sharing bad jokes, stories, insights, music, food & love; as we do.......then  Mr13 said something.

"Mum I know what I want to do!  I want to have my friends come around and just hang out; you know like we do.  Just sit around the table chatting, maybe have a campfire & maybe we could do our Portuguese chicken for dinner."

His eyes had lit up.

Mine too.

It was fabulous.  I couldn't have been happier.  I love that he wanted to share his family with his friends.  How could I not be happy with that?

He wrote the invites himself.  He chose his friends carefully.

It will go down as one of my favourite parties EVER.

His friends were a delight.

They sat around the campfire.

They climbed the treehouse.  They played ping pong. They played with potato guns. They jumped on the trampoline.

We ate sitting around the fire and then they toasted marshmallows for smores.

Kind of old fashioned stuff.... but on every single child's face was a SMILE. 

It rained for some of it but we just found enough raincoats and stayed outside anyway.

What was so lovely was to see how they engaged with each other & with all of our family.

It was a great night.

We talked the next day and I asked Mr 13 what he thought of his party.

"It was everything I hoped it would be."

Me too...........

How do you celebrate birthdays?

GOURMETGIRLFRIEND'S PORTUGUESE STYLE CHICKEN:
You can change the ingredients for the marinade.  Mine is never quite the same.  I like that about recipes like this.  It kind of evolves as you discover what you do and don't like & what is available to you.  Have the confidence to try different stuff and see what works.  For Mr 13's party I kept it relatively simple as I didn't want to scare off his friends!
We cook ours on our spit roast over charcoal in a special chicken press but you don't need to have this.  It will be delicious cooked in a regular oven too. The marinade will make sure of this!
Splitting a chicken to flatten it for Portuguese chicken is super easy.  I find using Chicken shears makes it even easier.  Once you have done it once you won't ever be afraid again I promise!
Just cut the chicken from the parsons nose through to the neck- NOT the breast side but the other!  Once cut turn over the chicken and give it a good punch to flatten it down.  Hey presto!  You are ready to marinade. Told you it was easy!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 large organic chicken
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 lemon (rind cut off and reserved & juice will be used too)
• generous glug of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• 2 teaspoons spanish smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 large red chilli (remove seeds if you don't want it too spicy)
• 1 whole bunch coriander (be sure to rinse well as you want to use the ENTIRE plant- roots & all!)
• S & P

METHOD:

Flatten the chook as described above.

Add all other ingredients to a food processor and blitz baby blitz, till it's a paste like consistency.

Smear marinade over every part of the chicken, bottom and top.

It is best to leave overnight but a few hours ahead will still be great.

We put ours into the press and it spins happily for a couple of hours basting itself as it goes.  The result is incredibly juicy chicken as the basting keeps the juices in the chicken. Truly amazing.

If using a regular oven it will be best to place it on a rack and cook for an hour at 175C.


Here's how it looks out of the chicken press- so good! 

We like to serve ours with my spicy wedges, roast pumpkin wedges that are cooked with a little garlic & rosemary and a crunchy green salad.  Add a squeeze of lime if you like! YUM!

Happy Birthday Mr13! You make me so proud each and every day.  It was a joy to be part of your celebration. xx

Making your limitations your strengths......

My 11yo has had a really rough trot.

He is the one who has been having the nightmares.....you may have read about it here.

He is an incredibly intuitive child.

He teaches me things.

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Soul important stuff.

The stuff that helps us in difficult times.

He sees things others miss.

he hears things in songs that no-one else does.

He has amazed quite alot of people with his insights into things.

They are the sort of things that kind of make you do a double take.

He is only eleven after all!

We have been reading The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff (I blogged about that here too) with him.

Do go out and buy a copy. Do.

You won't regret it.

And you won't regret re-reading Winnie-the-Pooh either.

I have mentioned this book to several people and been happy to hear they know it.  It is a treasure.

On Friday little Mr11 had an all day Basketball event.  I'm exhausted just writing that!

He came home and I asked how it went.

He told me "It was great.  I used something I learnt from the Tao of Pooh today"

Of course I was thrilled and wanted to know more......what was it that he had used?  What was it he had heard in that book that helped him?

"Well mum it was the bit where they talked about knowing your limitations.  You know how they said that if you know your limitations you can make them your strengths."

"Go on" I said..........my eyes were welling.

"Well I am not very tall and usually I try and run all over the court and try to get goals too but today I didn't try to do that.  I left the tall kids to do that and I just ran and tried to get get the ball off the opposition.  I think I did a better job.  Normally I am trying to do everything and then I just get too tired to do anything well."

I held him tight.  Really close.

I wanted a little of his wisdom to flow into me...........

MR.11's POTATO, LEEK & PARMESAN SOUP:

He is an amazing cook too.  Today's recipe is his.  He tried a Potato, Leek & Parmesan soup at a farmers market, loved it and came straight home to try and replicate it.  He got it right first time and has made it quite a few times since. It is DARN good!  The addition of the parmesan adds the most amazing flavour to this soup.  Feel free to grate more on once served!
He made it for all of us for dinner last night.

PapaGourmet and the 5 boys at the Gasworks farmers market.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 leeks
• 2 onions
• 6 potatoes (we used dutch creams)
• 300g Parmeggiano Reggiano
• nutmeg
• salt
• white pepper
• chicken stock
• good quality butter

METHOD:
 Chop the leeks straight down the middle leaving the root section on.  This allows you to hold the leek under a tap to wash away any dirt and keep it in tact.  A useful trick! 

Then trim leek and chop coarsely.

Chop onions.
In a pot (big enough to hold all ingredients) melt a good size knob of butter at a medium heat.
Add onions and leeks and cook till translucent.
Chop potatoes (we don't peel them- so make sure they are well scrubbed) into rough pieces.
Add them to the pot and add enough chicken stock to JUST cover the vegies (you can add more but we like this soup quite thick).
Grate a generous amount of nutmeg and season with Salt (don't add too much salt as the parmesan is salty- you can adjust at the end if you need to) and white pepper.
Cook till potatoes are soft (about 10 minutes).
Add grated parmesan and BLITZ BABY BLITZ! (my super technical term for using a stick blender).

Serve with crusty sourdough spread with good butter.   You could add a dollop of cream if you were feeling super decadent! x


My kids love music as much as me...Mr.11's fave at the moment is Quincy Jones' Soul Bossa Nova. This is not Quincy's but another Bossa Nova clip I found on youtube that I thought was great. Bossa Nova is great kitchen music. Turn it up y'all!

You can NEVER have too many bikes....

We were looking forward to giving our eldest a present he had been coveting for some time.

His 13th birthday provided the perfect opportunity to give it to him.

We are bike enthusiasts here.

I think that bikes are one of the most spectacular design objects of all time.

They are beautiful examples of the perfect marriage of form & function. 

My bike is all about comfort.   It has baskets on front and back and a comfortable seat for pootling around.  It is sooo not about speed and all about comfort.   Much like me really!

For others in the house it is about different things; road riding, mountain biking, riding fast.

Hubster has a collection of various bikes for various purposes.

Too many bikes?

NEVER!!!!

We have just finished 3 weeks of lost sleep watching Le Tour de France.

Hubster & I stay up watching in the dark & silent night whle the children are asleep.

The kids watch the highlights the following day, eagerly listening and watching the intricacies of this amazing event!

It was an amazing Tour this year...but then every year is really.  An incredible feat of endurance, strategy & downright hard work!

I wrote in my previous post that our eldest turned 13.

And so he received the item he had been dreaming of for quite some time.  A bike he had designed himself.

Here it is....hiding in the shed before meeting it's new owner.....

www.mojobike.com.au

To say he was happy with it would be a fairly LARGE understatement.
We all think it's a pretty spectacular machine. What do you think?

For his birthday dinner he requested Homemade Hamburgers.

We love doing that.  A spread of different & delicious ingredients on the table so you can add what you want and omit what you don't.
Simple fabulous food using quality ingredients.  You can't go wrong.

GOURMET GIRLFRIEND'S HOMEMADE HAMBURGER RECIPE:

This mix will easily make enough for about 9 burgers.  Adjust up or down for the amount of people you want to feed.  And you can play around with what you add into the mix too.  The golden rule is to use quality ingredients (as always) and REALLY good bread! You'll never want a bought burger again. Have fun!


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1kg organic beef mince
• 2 onions
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 bunch Italian parsley & other herbs of your choice - last night I put basil in too
• S & P
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 loaf of day old sourdough (strip of crust and cut into chunks)
• a generous glug (4tblspns) good quality tomato sauce or relish - of course we used our 'Made in Tassie" sauce (see here for our blog about that)

 METHOD:

In a food processor combine the onion, parsley (use the stalks too) and garlic. Blitz till combined.

Remove from bowl and place crustless sourdough loaf in.  Blitz till it is crumbs.

In a large bowl add all ingredients and combine with your hands until mixture is well integrated.

Roll into fist size balls.

Flatten and cook on the BBQ (or frypan in a little oil) for about 4 minutes each side.

Serve alongside ingredients of your choice.

We have all sorts of things including;  cheese, pickles, caramelised onions, bacon, beetroot, my beetroot confit, tomatoes, lettuce, mustards, horseradish, different sauces, chargrilled eggplant & zucchini, home made mayonnaise, and lots more.  It's different what we have each time.

Here is the birthday boy's hamburger!

I was so sure he wouldn't be able to get his mouth around it. He proved me wrong.....

 I have been listening to Kings of Convenience lots this week. In amongst the busyness it takes me to a peaceful place:

A fine young man.

Yesterday our eldest child turned 13!
Exciting, momentous, magnificent wonderful times.
As his parent I could not be more proud of the young man he is growing up to be.
I tell him often. 
I don't want to look back and regret not saying the things I felt.
And I want my boys to grow up knowing it is good and healthy and normal to speak your feelings with honesty.
He was as excited as it is possible to be.
He understands the significance of this birthday. 
It is the one that means a leap towards adulthood.
His growth gives that away.  He is taller than me now.
 As one of his little brothers said yesterday- he is a man-child.
He knows this term from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle book.
It reminded me of one of my favourite poems.
You may well know it...
It is a fine treatise on humanity.  It expresses all of the things I wish for my children to understand & to know and to live by.

My 13yo is well on his way.....

If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

by RUDYARD KIPLING

I had a look on his iPod to see the song he was listening to. Here it is.
Perfect, just perfect.