Sunday 18 March 2012

Embracing Autumn







 There's no denying it any longer, the weather in Dunedin has definitely turned.  While we did get a few sun-soaked days, the overall temperature has really dropped and it feels like winter is stalking us, slowly getting closer and closer.
But as I've mentioned in earlier posts, I love using cold weather as an excuse to get cosy, and when it comes to clothes it's no different!  Over the past week or so I've had made a few sneaky purchases that have got me excited about layering up in colours that remind me of slowly transforming leaves and crackling toasty fires.  It's all about embracing the changes.  

Next purchase I'm considering...a onesie. Thoughts?

 

Wednesday 14 March 2012

You Give Me (Wedding) Fever










This year we've been lucky enough to be invited to three weddings, the first of which was a few weeks ago up in Auckland.  The weather was hot, the champagne was cold, the scenery was beautiful and the friends were great! I caught up with old friends and made some fantastic new ones. 

Not to mention it was an opportunity to get dressed up fancy, and of course no-one was fancier than the bride herself.  My absolute first reaction was to gasp, and then straight away in my head I thought "what a bitch!". Which I suspect is how most brides want their girlfriends to react! Haha.  Everyone danced the night away to fantastic classics by a great live band, and of course the next day get-together allowed for tales of the previous night's shenanigans!

There's honestly nothing better than a celebration with food, drink and lots of people all brought together for one reason - love! Awww.  Cheers!

Sunday 11 March 2012

Cosy Days

Rainy days outside mean cosy days inside: sewing projects, staring out windows, cuddly jumpers (and even cuddlier kitties), hot cups of tea, baking biscuits then eating too many of them...bliss.
 







Tuesday 6 March 2012

Presents for No Reason


All the way from Milwaukee - exciting!!

Nearly there...

Yay!
 A couple of weeks ago I made my first purchase on Etsy...I'd been signed up for AGES but just never had the time to look for things that I want.  But a couple of weeks ago I stumbled across this lovely blog and shop, BridebluI was looking through the shop in order to enter a competition on another blog site, and ended up falling in love with a collar-shape necklace.  So instead of winning a necklace I actually bought one...but I think that was the purpose, so let's say in this case I was a sucker for the advertising! Hehe.

So only 10 days later and after a reasonably crap Friday, I came home to find a lovely parcel in my mailbox, all the way from the U.S.  It was so exciting that I actually ripped the package with my teeth!  Inside was a beautiful little box, wrapped with ribbon, and it was such a surprise to see it so lovingly packaged that I just wanted to let it be known.  Not only did it make my day, but the necklace I'd bought was even cooler in real life.  

So overall I had paid only NZ$20 including postage for something beautiful from the other side of the world, I had supported another crafter and cheered myself up all at the same time. 

The lesson kids?  Buy yourself presents for no reason, and they magically appear just when you need them. x


Saturday 3 March 2012

The Weather Outside is Frightful


Ok, so that's the beginning of a Christmas song, but it's quite appropriate for the weather in general lately.  We're at the beginning of March, and even though it's technically autumn, we usually have lovely late summer weather here in Dunedin. But not for us in the past couple of weeks!  It's been cold, rainy and windy, so I've spent quite a few weekend days inside cleaning, making cakes and doing a bit of work for the shop.  Cosy inside days warrant cosy comforting dinners, and one of the yummiest things I made was Moroccan-ish lamb stew with mashed kumara..delicious!


I say Moroccan-ish because I didn't follow any recipe, instead I just used the knowledge I've absorbed from watching the Food Channel at every opportunity!  If I'm spending a day inside I'll have the TV on that channel rather than have music playing. I really do feel like I've learnt lots from watching all those cooking shows. I've written the "recipe" below, but I kind of just threw in what I felt like, so by all means mix it up! If you like some spices more than others then feel free to add them to your own taste. As long as you get your seasonings right and cook it so the meat is tender, you can't really mess this up*.

*Disclaimer - you might mess it up, in which case you probably haven't been watching enough Food TV.

Wintry Warming Lamb Stew (serves 2-3)

1. Brown 3 lamb chops in a large pot. Make sure the pot is on medium high heat. 
2. Add one chopped onion, 3 finely chopped cloves of garlic, and a half teaspoon each of cumin, coriander and turmeric.  Add chilli powder to your own taste. I added a quarter of a teaspoon, but also added a whole dried chilli to the mix, which I took out before serving.



3. Cook until the meat is caramelised on the outside and the onions are softened.


4. Turn down the heat to low and add a tin of tomatoes, half a tin of water or stock, and two tablespoons of tomato paste.  Stir everything together, add some pepper and leave to simmer, stirring every 15 minutes or so.  Cook until the sauce is thickened and the meat is very tender.  If the sauce is too thick before the meat is cooked, you can always just add more water or stock and just keep cooking it down. Add salt at the very end to your own taste.


I served this with mashed kumara and steamed courgettes and peas from our garden, and it was so delicious, and extremely comforting at the end of a cold wet day! 

If you want your whole meal to be in one pot you can add a tin of drained chickpeas or cubed potatoes at step 4.  If you want to add greens try stirring in some frozen peas or baby spinach just before serving, so they are heated through but still lovely and green.  Enjoy :)


P.S. There isn't an end photo because I was hungry and forgot to take one....