The thing I like about Sundays is its slowness.
I wake to find myself in a tangle of limbs. Between one to three of the the offspring burrow their way into our bed during the early hours of the morning, and I wake to their tousled heads and sleepy smiles.
There's the requisite mock wrestling with us and the day begins.
We potter round doing house projects that have dragged on for months.
We visit the local park and the children cycle round the lake.
With the cool in the weather I go for a short jog. Building up my fitness takes time. But on a Sunday that's absolutely fine.
I cook slow food for dinner. Risotto is a favourite. It's the kind of day where I can spend the time stirring the rice and chatting with the family. I had the pleasure of meeting Loukie Werle a few years back and she gave me her wonderful book and this recipe is brilliant.

Lemon Risotto with Rocket.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
400g arborio rice
125 ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus lemon wedged to serve
1.5 litres (6 cups) simmering chicken stock
90g freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 large bunch rocket, rinsed, spun dry and coarsely chopped.

Instructions:

1. Combine the oil and onion in a heavy based pan and cook over moderate heat until onion is soft.
2. Add the garlic and stir for a further minute.
3. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes.
4. Add the wine and lemon juice and cook until absorbed, stirring constantly.
5. Add one cup of stock at a time and stir until absorbed. Continue until you have added all the stock.
6. If the stock runs out before the rice is cooked add some simmering water.
7. Add the parmesan and rocket and stir vigorously.
8. Stand for 3 minutes and then serve with the lemon wedges.

What are you having for dinner tonight? Hope you've had a lovely weekend x

Image courtesy of We Heart It.

How To Accessorize With Tiny Birds: Biggy's off to Disneyland, leaving cousin Tiny Bird home to wallow in disappointment and envy. What wonders will he discover at the happiest place on earth?

Old Truck with this fine specimen from 1912

The picture was taken in Washington DC, and it shows another truck from the Woodward and Lothrop Department Store.

[via]

How To Accessorize With Tiny Birds: Let them surprise you with your favorite childhood candy. Their inner GPS can locate any vendor within 10 miles.

One of the BIGGEST complaints about royal icing is that it can be a ROYAL PAIN IN the wazoo...

The royal wedding fever COMPLETELY missed me until yesterday morning.  I was too busy to even think about it.  I had a simple cookie design that I wanted to try as a gift for one of my childhood friends that I probably haven't seen in 15 years.  She was coming to town, and I wanted to make some special cookies for our little reunion.

Since I was expecting her in the afternoon, I got up EARLY the next morning when Bernie headed to work to give them a looksie and turn off my {NEW} fan.

I knew immediately something was VERY VERY wrong.  The icing was not the slightly shiny matte color it should be, but looked as wet as when I'd flooded the cookie.



My heart SUNK.  I mean, even if I could re-bake and re-decorate them, there was no way they would dry before it was time for her to arrive...

Luckily, since our actual get together wasn't until Saturday, I was able to shoot her a text and gain another day to fix things.

Obviously, I was less than pleased...besides the unplanned baking marathon at 4:00am, I was out of eggs and had to make an early morning convienence store run.  Have you ever noticed you see the darnedest folks when you go to the quick stop at 4am?

As for the icing, I was so busy throwing a FIT, I almost forgot to take a picture...ALMOST.

The best way to describe it texture wise is marshmallow fluff.  Slick, foamy, and when the surface is touched, it sticks and peels away in a layer, kind of did like Jello does when you touch it before it's completely gelled.
As for an explanation of WHY, I don't really have a great one {yes, I know that's not helpful at all} but, I have an educated guess.  At first, I really really thought I had added too much color.  BUT the second time around, I was forced to do the same thing, and it didn't happen, which leads me to believe that it was something else.

I think that some way, some how, I got oil into the icing.  It's really funny because after almost two and a half years, this has happened to me a TOTAL of four times EVER including this one.  The funny thing is...I have been thinking about this "phenomenon", especially since one of my FB fans recently had the exact thing happen to her.

So, on that note, even though I am not positive that was the cause, do everything you can to keep oil out of your icing.

Just for the record, my cookie buddies and I have a few other theories on what causes this to happen.

One is over addition of color, the other is humidity.  If ANYONE has anything to add, or anything they can contribute to solve this mystery, feel free to chime in.  I am not trained or an expert, so I may very well learn something.

The same things also happened to my friend Shelley, {HERE}. She thinks she may have overbeaten.  That may very well be what happened to me.  I walked away SEVERAL times...


As for the cookies, all's well that ends well.  I fixed it, I got to watch the most amazing wedding that I have ever seen, and I even got to take an afternoon nap.

As for that wedding...I went from not caring at all, to watching through tears.  I was proud for Britain.  Proud for the young couple, in awe of the traditions of the monarchy, and admittedly very excited to see what the future holds for the two.

I sincerely hope that life brings them the greatest joy and happiness, and that they use their celebrity and privilege to change the world.  I'm proud to have witnessed a joyful moment in history, when good news seems to be in such short supply.



On that note, I am praying for all of those affected by the storms last week.  I must admit, I feel a little helpless and overwhelmed with all of the devastation lately.

I hope that everyone spend this Saturday thankful for what they have, and for those that are struggling, I hope that you have peace.  I don't have a lot of money and I am kind of grounded, but, if you are reading this, and I can help in some way, I am all ears.

How To Accessorize With Tiny Birds: Let them guide you. They may not know how to link arms and skip, but they'll get you there unscathed and in half the time.

Dam Climbers....

No, I am not swearing on this blog, nor did I misspell it. Sometimes there's not much to climb where climbers live, so they have to improvise.



That video was pretty casual.  Anyone can climb a crack on a dam.  How about climbing a dam like a big wall with plastic holds?



I think these next climbers are lost...



If anyone asks, I don't want a dam. 

Have a great weekend!

--Katy Pfannenstein
Program Coordinator

'But look, it's got crystals that make it look all shiny!' I exclaimed.
His face looked blank.
I slid open the little pendant.

'And you open it and there's this stuff inside that makes your skin sparkle!'
Still blank incomprehension.
Time for another tack.
'You remember that ridiculously expensive and totally unnecessary computer programme upgrade you needed to make the systems allegedly run faster for you? Well THIS necklace is the equivalent of that.'
His face cleared.
'Well it's very, um, pretty' he offered.
There are times when I bless growing up with four brothers. Because it taught me how to speak man. And also to justify totally unnecessary but oh so gorgeous things sometimes.
So go on, what have you bought recently that you didn't need?
I'm throwing open the confessional box.

Thanks for the wonderful introduction, Ben. If you missed it, you can scroll down to the previous post. I guess I should probably tell you a little bit about myself:

I also had a house guest for a few days. Nikki from Styling You came to stay in all her glory. Jack took one look at her and started calling her Princess Nikki because she is so shiny and fresh, in complete contrast to his own mother. They became fast and firm friends and Harry loved her because she had cool apps on her iPad. Mr Woog loved her because he got the chance to be silent while we talked at each other for three days (and we were recovering from the world's biggest argument from the night before which culminated in me taking to his wetsuit with a pair of scissors. But we are choosing not to dwell on that. It was PMS's fault )

We drank wine, she critiqued my pedicure, shopped and wrote. Twas excellent. And she was the perfect date to an event we were attending.

On Thursday night I got my shit together and managed to arrive just a tiny bit late for the launch of the book, When My Husband Does the Dishes. This new memoir by twitter's funniest lady and uber-blogger Kerri Sackville outlines life as a mother and wife, with a healthy dose of sex, friendship and PMS.

The launch was held at a bookstore in Paddington. It was packed. There were bloggers who had come in from all over the country. Sacko certainly has some pulling power. Champers flowed a plenty, as happens when you stick a whole lot of mummy bloggers and the eastern suburbs social set in one room. The vibe was loud, louder and inappropriate for much of it. Which is why I was having such a good time.
I purchased her book from a youthful assistant who then stared at me horrified when I swooped up a handful of display Easter eggs next to the till and shoved them into my handbag. As I had my wobbly boots on, I asked her to write out on a bit of paper what I wanted Ms Sackville to inscribe my newly purchased book with.

One day I hope my breasts will be as bountiful as yours,
Kerri Sackville

And when I got my book back, she had clearly ignored my request.

By this time I was starving as well. I wandered outside to chat with some guests when a man stopped me and asked what was going on in the packed bookshop. I said I would tell him if he gave me a bite of his kebab.

I guess he REALLY wanted to know what was going on.

So the weather forecast is calling for 7 days of rain and I do not care, because I think I will knock this book over in a day and then will spend the rest of the week implementing her advice such as When I need to Start a Therapy Fund for my Kids. This includes when they find you in the shower wearing a tampon and ask my you have a string "in your bum " and when they see you sobbing with greater gusto then they ever could.

BUY IT NOW. BUY IT HERE.

It was a big week which culminated in a funeral yesterday in the driving wind and rain down at Bowral. And it did get me thinking how lucky I was to have such amazing family and friends. I watched my dear friend sob over the grave of her mother and it struck me. Life was too short as it is. So I have decided not to kill myself anymore. Or eat food from strangers in the street.