Here’s my favourite green smoothie recipe:
Two carrots
Two handfuls of parsley
A handful of spinach
A handful of kale
Half a beetroot (with the tops)
Two cabbage leaves
A handful of mixed berries.
So refreshing!
Month: June 2012
The ‘to eat’ list
I have many lists. A ‘to read’ list, a ‘to watch’ list, a ‘to visit’ list and a whole bunch of others.
Some lists have more than 200 items on them. They’re all housed within one master spreadsheet that owns me helps me keep track of things I want to do. One of these lists is about things I want to eat. Food to try or retry. Here’s a few things on it at the moment:
Tamales with prickly pear & tequila salsa
I’ve never had a tamale and I haven’t eaten a prickly pear since I was a kid. I found this recipe here and to be honest, anything this blogger posts goes on to my to eat list. He has an amazing way with words and beautiful photography.
Pumpkin pie porridge
I’m not a massive fan of porridge but when I do eat it, I like to mix stuff through. Usually I have chopped dates or peanut butter or honey. I’ve been thinking that adding some mushed up pumpkin and a bit of cinnamon has the potential for serious yums. What do you think?
Peanut butter mousse
Mousse is my dessert of 2012. It’s making a come back I tells ya. Peanut butter mousse has the potential to be sickly sweet. But look, I’m prepared to give it a go.
Bibimbap
I’ve only had Korean food a few times and I’d like to give Bibimbap another go. Although having said that, the first and only time I ever ordered it, it was at a team lunch and Andy had to coach me through what to do with the big raw egg in the middle! I find such yokiness a tad overwhelming.
Speaking of Korean food, does anyone know where I can buy pre made kimchi?
Sword fish
I’ve never had it. Can you believe that? Me! Lover of seafood! It’s true. I’ve never tried Mr Swordfish. Goodness!
Fried green tomatoes
Just cos I really liked the movie…
Caprese tart
I mean look at them. Enough said, right? DELISH!
Coconut flour muffins
I haven’t tried coconut flour yet but oh, I want to.
Egg foo young
I like it when food has a funny sounding name.
A gaytime from the Abercrombie in Broadway
I keep reading about the Abercrombie’s gaytimes. Nobody has actually said anything particularly amazing about them but I still want to try.
Green cheesy mish mash soup
Cos I love a mish mash! Sarah’s done a video recipe and I really like that concept.
A puffer cake
I like the name, I like the shape and I really like a chocolate/sprinkle combination.
What’s on your to eat list?
Photos:
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream!
After spending last weekend in FREEZING COLD Canberra, I am DESPERATELY CRAVING sunshine! Goodness, that was a lot of screaming in one sentence wasn’t it?
The thing is though, I really don’t want to be one of those people who complain about the cold in winter and then the heat in summer. I try hard to live in the moment. Or at least in the season. So I’ll rewrite that first sentence.
After spending last weekend in Canberra, I’m looking forward to the next sun shiney day that comes along. Here’s a triptych I’ve put together of the ice-cream I plan to make once the mercury gets over 20 degrees.
Maybe I’ll share it with you.
Now, back to my warm bowl of soup…
Sources:
*Rocky Road icecream from Annie’s Eats
*Ice-cream sandwiches from Smitten Kitchen
* Coffee choc chip ice-cream from Wholesome Cook
The awesomeness of May and June
I’ve loved the last couple of months. Here’s some photos from May and June.
Below:
* Squids ink linguine at Pasta Vera, Pyrmont. The week I moved to Pyrmont, someone recommended Pasta Vera to me. It took me the whole 11 years to get there but it was worth the wait!
* Beautiful flowers from Tomas & Jones
* Wilkins and Kent on Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. I want every ceramic item in their window. Love that store!
* My favourite winter nail polish
* My flat, all packed up
* Beef bourguignon in mini pots – dropped around by Sheela on one of the first days in our new place.
Melbourne art below:
Top row = my favourite pieces at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne University
* I was too perplexed by the first piece here to write down what it was. Let’s just call it the Weirdo piece by Weirdy McWeird
*Vivienne Shark LeWitt, If the shoe doesn’t fit must we change the foot?
* John Brack, Two Typists
Bottom row = my favourite pieces at The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria
* Bronte Berenger, I promise to never get paint on my glasses again
* Wall of Indigenous masks
* Sidney Nolan wall
Below:
My favourite pieces of Indigenous art at the Ian Potter Centre,
National Gallery of Victoria
Below:
* Rock the Ballet fun. Not the best show I’ve ever seen but a good night out
* My cute little sleeping husband
* Mexican dinner club with Mel & Jay at El Loco, Surry Hills
*Beautiful housewarming flowers from Leigh and David that lived three whole weeks! I guess they stayed so fresh because our house is pretty much like a cold storage container!
*Long weekend in the ACT with my homies Kys, Sheels & Kat. And yes, that is Kylie sitting on top of the ACT sign reading a book. Cos that’s how we roll.
Below: Friends’ babies & fur babies
*Kat’s doggies -Irish Wolfhound Murphy who when standing up, is as big as a pony! Her staffy Lucy has the most expressive eyes I’ve ever seen on a dog.
*Harley Williams who can communicate whether he wants to wear his jumper or not. He’s possibly a shape shifter.
*Amber’s new baby girl, Skye Willow.
Happy (sort of) birthday G-ma
If my Grandmother was still around, today would have been her birthday.
She passed away 7 years ago after a long, brave battle with leukemia.
I was truly blessed to have had her in my world because she was a woman with a real zest for life!
Situ was a people person with a fantastic sense of humour and a wicked laugh. She was excitable, thoughtful and had the most hectic schedule of anyone I have ever known. She got involved in as many clubs, charities and activities as she possibly could because she liked to pack as much into every day of her life as she could.
If I can be even half the person she was, I know I’ll have a life well lived.
RIP Situ. You were a rock star!
Friday 5 – things I’m working on
Stuff I’m working on at the moment:
1) Worrying less
My tendency to take on everyone’s problems and fret about them is really not healthy.
2) Being calmer about my walls
For some reason, I’ve become unnaturally obsessed with keeping our walls clean. My nephews stayed the other week and little Drewberry seemed incapable of walking through any part of the house without running his fingers across the walls. It took immense self control not to flinch every time he did it. It’s silly. But then I do think, well, if the Good Lord intended me to have dirty walls, he would have blessed me with children, right? I mean, it’s hardly fair.
But I’ll work on this. Begrudgingly.
3) Being more organised
I’ve become a bit of a procrastinator. I leave things till the last minute. I don’t know when this started but I really need to give this new habit a swift uppercut.
4) Walking up 100 calorie hill with a heart rate of less than 180
We now live at the top of a step incline. According to our heart rate monitors, you burn 100 calories just walking up the hill. Which is great exercise! Up and down a few times and a training session is done. Except that I am a breathless, sweaty mess by the time I get to the top and I swear profusely the whole way back down. But I’m going to own that bitch, just you watch!
5) Being a better blog commenter
I read, I ponder, I rarely comment. It’s not very friendly. I’m going to make a concerted effort to click through and comment on my favourite blogs.
Have a good weekend friends. Try and do things in fives please.
Neen
xx
Super powers
If you could pick one kick ass skill to have, what would it be?
I myself am a trifle obsessed with telekinesis. I can’t stop reading about it. I want it to be my super power. How cool would that be? I could be the new Olivia Dunham!
Today I was staring at a piece of paper just out of arms reach, willing it to move towards me. Mostly because I was lazy. But also because I wanted to see if my mind was strong enough. Eventually it started to move and I convinced myself that I was manipulating energy in just the right way. Then I realised it was the air conditioner blowing it towards me.
It turns out my desired super power needs a bit of work. Maybe I’ll refocus on being invisible instead.
Photo from here.
Lovely blogs
Well, the Lovely Blog Awards have been doing the rounds again and my sweet friend Miss Mel tagged me as a blogstar. So, now it’s my turn to tell you 7 random things about myself and then pay it forward to 7 other lovely bloggers.
7 things I’m sure you’ll be glad to know about me
1) I have a habit of deleting texts as soon as I read them. I do it automatically before I’ve even registered that I’m hitting delete. This is particularly annoying when you’ve just sms’d someone to ask for a phone number or link and they’ve sent on the details.
2) I’m convinced that all living things have feelings. Plants, birds, fish, etc. I also sometimes imagine that inanimate objects have feelings. I often find myself feeling sorry for my car if it has sit out in the cold or drive a long distance on a hot day:)
3) I never know the names of singers, actresses or famous people. But when people say ‘Oh, so and so from that movie is in this TV show now, I always nod and say ‘Oh yes, I know her. She’s good, that so and so’.
4) I am LOVING chobani yogurt, right now. It seems to be low in fat AND low in sugar. I can’t quite believe it can taste so sweet and creamy and be less than 100 calories. It also has locust bean in it, whatever that is. With every spoonful, I imagine I’m eating locust guts and it makes me giggle.
5) I can’t spell the word definitely. It comes up as incorrect in spell checker every. single. time. I do not like bad spelling so it upsets me that there’s a word that constantly trips me up.
6) I can’t drink more than one coffee a day or a I get dreadful heart palpitations. My body doesn’t seem to like caffeine but I also can’t function properly until I’ve had a flat white.
7) I never tell people when they have food in their teeth. Not because I’m mean. I just don’t. I don’t know why.
Seven blogs I love to read
I follow 65 regular bloggers and another handful of sometimes bloggers. I read a mix of personal blogs, foodie blogs, interior design blogs and the blogs of authors.
Melly, who nominated me has a blog that is of course one of my favs. Reading a friend’s blog is a bit like reading their diary isn’t it? I like hearing about all the things that she gets up to on a day to day basis and I love seeing photos of Harley (who I am hoping to dog nap sit soon).
I also love both of Deb’s blogs which you can read here and here. Mel’s already tagged Deb so I’ll pick 7 others but I want to mention Deb anyway. She’s a GREAT writer. I save her posts for when I have time to sit down and read them on a real computer, not just on my phone. She’s also the world’s most well mannered blogger, taking time to respond to all her blog comments and tweets. She’s also lovely enough to comment on most posts made by bloggers she follows. I love your style Deb!
1) I think I just blogged myself
This blog is written by a lovely English lass named Claire. It’s great to read the odd, non American blog, because as we all know, English humour is often more dry and witty. And Claire is flippin funny! She’s pretty, amusing, honest and I find her posts uplifting. I also find that her blog often makes me crave Margarita pizza! Every now and again she’ll mention her age and I’m astounded that someone so young can be so mature. I like that she makes lists and writes posts called ‘5 things’. I’m not sure I’d like her as much if she wrote posts called ‘4 things’. Even numbers are scary.
Now this chic. Oh me oh my. She’s one crazy cat. I’ve followed a few of Catherine’s blogs and her writing never ceases to make me chortle. It’s a bit of a cliché that the Irish are good story tellers but Catherine really is no exception to that rule of thumb. She’s writing a book and I’m going to be the first one in Australia to buy it. So there!
T&J are positive, creative, stylish, beautiful girls that I’m lucky enough to know IRL. They epitomise thoughtfulness and I love their posts. Tomas is my adopted cousin (cousin of one of my besties) and she and her sweet sidekick do things like this; send flowers when you’re feeling sad, leave toilet paper with brides on it in the bathroom of people soon to be wed, come to afternoon tea with a cake stand they’ve made themselves and develop fun twitter challenges. Yep, these two are loveliness personified.
Georgia’s little corner of the internet is a happy old place. I know her in real life too and she is lovely and so is her blog. If it’s delicious baking and delighting in life’s simple pleasures that you’re after, add her to your Reader. She has a couple of blogs and also a care bears tea cup that I covet!
I love Amanda’s blog for the honesty. She really puts her thoughts out there so bravely. I could never be as open about my life as she is and I find it impressive. She’s overcome a lot of hardship and her posts inspire me. She has a second blog that I also really love. It’s a kaleidoscope of pretty colours!
My lovely friend Selina runs this blog with the also lovely Claudia. They were tired of reading restaurant reviews only focused on the inner City so have taken it upon themselves to review good foodie spots in the burbs. The thing I love about this food blog is the length of the posts. They don’t drone on and on and on about the texture of each element of the food but get to the point in a pithy, punchy way. Great writers that review great places. What more could you want in a food blog really?
7) Delete the adjectives
Rachel’s posts are are insightful and make me think. Plus she’s going to be a librarian and I think that rocks! I love a fellow bibliophile and a self confessed geek. Her blog is sweet, beautifully written and well worth reading.
And there you have it. I’m handing over the lovely baton now:)
Friday 5 – things I love about the Mountains so far
I’ve lived in the lower Blue Mountains for a week now and I’m digging my new digs. Though I have to say that it does feel a tad surreal. I keep thinking that perhaps I’m just taking a holiday in someone else’s life!
Last week I wrote about the things I’ll miss about Pyrmont. This week, my Friday five are about the best bits of my new place. They are:
1) The stars
I haven’t seen the stars for a decade! But when I walk outside my house in the evening, there they are, all delightful and twinkly and happiness creating.
2) The mist
It rained last weekend and our whole house was shrouded in mist. It was beautiful and refreshing and magical.
3) The community vibe
Our neighbours have all been over to introduce themselves, welcome us to the Mountains and to deliver bottles of wine. It’s delightful! In the 11 years I lived in my flat, I think I had all of about 5 conversations with the transient community that lived there. It’s been so nice to have people make sure we know where to buy groceries, where to find a good butcher and to explain what the weird sirens are that we’ve been hearing in the dead of the night.
4) Mr Owl
There’s a little ‘hoot hoot’ going on outside our bedroom window. I’m yet to actually see Mr Owl but I like falling asleep hearing him out there. I picture him wearing glasses and checking us out through the blinds.
5) Rocco, the Labradoodle who lives next door
Just like all the other locals, he seems quite friendly. He’s been over to say hello and lift his leg on all of our pot plants! I like seeing him sitting outside in a sunny spot!
I’m going to be really happy here. I can feel it in my bones.
Friday 5 – things I’ll miss about Pyrmont
It’s moving day, it’s moving day!
We slept here in our little flat for the very last time yesterday and I got myself nicely nostalgic. I’m literally just one week short of having lived in Pyrmont for 11 years. I moved down here on the June long weekend in 2001 and have been in the same flat for that whole time.
There’s five main things I’m really going to miss about Pyrmont.
1) Living close to the Williams
Even though we haven’t lived in each other’s pockets, I’ve loved being close to Jay and Mel. It’s meant that Ian has been able to spend lots of man time with Jay and that we’ve all been able to exercise together. I’ll miss the proximity, but as a friend of my word, I can promise that there’ll still be regular catch ups.
2) Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre
I’ve only ever been a member of three gyms so this is a bit of a sweeping statement but ITAC is the best gym in the world!! In the world I tells you! They have awesome trainers, a really good mix of classes and they’ve recently refurbished the place with brand spanking new machines. We joined the Centre the day it opened and I already know that I won’t find another gym like it. Boo.
3) Porters Liquor
This is going to make me sound like an alcho but I really, really love this bottle shop. The guys that own it/work there have incredible knowledge of all things vino and their service is second to none. They’ve had this shop in their family for years and years.
I can always rely on their recommendations and I’ll be sad to go back to a chain style store.
4) Urban Oasis
The suburb’s most beautiful gift shop where you can always find lovely treasures. I’ve bought many, many presents at this place and hope I’ll easily be able to find a new favourite.
5) The grocery store downstairs
Pyrmont has a fabulous IGA with a massive gourmet food section. I do most of my shopping there but when there’s just a few bits and pieces I need, I pop in to the shop downstairs. It’s owned by a lovely couple who instantly liked me because they came from a town in Lebanon called Janine. They know everyone in my family, and Ian’s too. I’m friendly with their children and grandchild.
They add cans of soup to my grocery bag if they know one of us is sick. They always round the price down for me. And when I told them how I miss my Grandmother’s cooking, they started to share their Lebanese food with me. They cried when I told them I was leaving Pyrmont and when I walked out of the shop, I cried too.
I’ve been lucky to live in this amazing suburb. But up the mountain I must now go.
See you on the flip side ;)
The random musings of Neen 
