Earlier this year...

Sorry, I know this is boring, but I want to pop in a couple of posts with photos from earlier this year - one for April, one for Easter, one for May, one for June - so that I have some photos of T on here, for my own memories, from this period.  The time period also known as The Days of Hideous Illness (a.k.a. Hyperemesis Gravidarum).

A highlight of April was taking Tabitha to the zoo for The Daddy's birthday (the big 3-0) - Tabby is kind of obsessed with meerkats, so any chance to visit the funny little creatures is always exciting.

Face of Awe watching her meerkat friends...

Such cute creatures.  Tabitha has a stuffed, fairly realistic toy meerkat who goes to bed with her most nights.

Even though T loves her food, she was so keen on the lions that she tried to share her banana chips with them.  She was surprised they didn't go for them...

Checking out more big cats.  Do you see a pattern here?  One of her first words was cat, she loves the meerkats, loves the big cats...  Yes, she's a cat lady in the making!

Wandering around with two of her favourite people - Daddy and Aunty Q:

Another of her favourite people - Grandpa Gra - holds her to have a close-up look at the swimming seals:

Daddy showing her the statue baby seal - I think that she preferred this to the real ones, because she could poke its whiskers!

We are incredibly skilled at posing for terrible family photos.  I'm not sure that there is a single photo in existence of our little family where we are all smiling directly at the camera!

In the above photos, I am just shy of 7 weeks pregnant.  The nausea first kicked in around the 6 week mark, by 7.5 weeks I was struggling to get off the floor, and by 8 weeks I was on medication (to stop the vomiting, as I was becoming dehydrated and starting to lose weight).  I stayed on the medication until 22 weeks, still vomiting most days, and still feeling incredibly shocking.  Now, at 29 weeks, I am *only* vomiting a few times a week, and apart from a couple of hours in the morning, I'm feeling okay, just very tired.  I tell you, if I had have been this sick when pregnant with Tabitha, I'm not sure there would have been a Baby #2!  With Tabby, I only had the ordinary 12-week morning/all day sickness, and certainly not badly enough to threaten hospital!  I have resigned myself, at this point, for being sick for the entire duration of the pregnancy, but I am very thankful that I am so much better now than I was for the first half - I have heard of women who have had the Hypermesis Gravidarum condition in full whack for the entire 40+ weeks!

Bendigo, Blondies and Basil

I haven't been blogging much lately - I am working on a pretty exciting new project, which is taking up a bit of time, and hopefully I will be able to reveal more later next month!


We escaped to Bendigo for the long weekend, visiting dear family friends on their beautiful property.  My parents and sister came to, and we all had the most relaxing few days.  We played with the animals (horses, cats, dogs, chooks, guinea fowl!), we swam, ate, drank, toasted marshmallows on their outdoor fireplace, and watched some spectacular sunsets over the bushland.  I have posted photos of their lovely property before, HERE - there are also some very sweet photos of Tabitha with the chooks.


Tabitha adores their larges dog, an ever-patient golden retriever, Jem:

Jem is licking her tummy!

It always makes me laugh that chooks will all crowd in and lay their eggs in the same nesting box, instead of using the others on offer:

Back home, made a delicious and relatively healthy dark chocolate and rolled oat Blondie (recipe HERE):

Tabitha and I are spending as much time in our little back garden as possible, as the sun puts in a fine effort despite the beginning of Autumn.  The hammock is in full sun, the basil and tomatoes are still thriving, the cats are loving the warmth.  


Here is Tabby in front of the basil:

And eating cherry tomatoes straight from the bushes:

I love her hair so much - soft and straight as cornsilk:

Eww!  Ate a stem by mistake!

One for you, Mummy!

Disturbing the napping cats:

This is a little patch of miniature violets which grow along the edge of the decking - Tabitha often picks them all for me, offering them in her chubby fists.  Melts my heart!

Enjoying a bowl of walnuts (along with a whole raw carrot, her favourite snacks).  A bit of an evil look on the face - "don't even think about eating my walnuts!"

Lovely girl, offering her beloved walnuts to Possum:

The days are long but the years are short.  Lately, I have begun to occasionally feel slightly panicky, watching this incredible little girl, where just yesterday I was watching a baby.  When I hold her at night, feeding her before bed, my heart overflows with love, and I cannot believe how perfect and warm and delicious-smelling she is.  I pat her hair while she has her milk, and her hand tangles gently in my own hair.  There is no greater moment, and I am blessed to sit here with her, like this, three or so times every day.


It seems like just weeks ago that I was cradling a tiny, soft, chubby, pink-cheeked little baby.  She is now the sweetest, most hilarious, kindest, prettiest little girl, and her constant wonder and interest in all details of life are so thrilling to me.  I desperately want to freeze time, to keep this fascinating, fascinated child, her hand in mine.  But it is not to be, so all I can do is treasure every moment.

Cup Day and Simple Pudding

Last week, we had Melbourne Cup Day.  We had my parents, sister, godfather and godson over for lunch.  I did simple ham and salad rolls, and made a cheesecake.  I am really happy with my cheesecake recipe - I make it quite often.  It's adapted from a recipe from my friend Amy, and is very silky, owing to being cooked slowly in a water bath.  You can find the recipe HERE.

I like a fairly thick crumb base, but the outside appears deceptively thick, due to the crumbs creeping up the sides when I press them in...

I often pile blueberries onto a cheesecake.  It just works.

My godson made a chai cake, which he came up with on his own.  He loves chai - the cake was excellent, nice and spicy with a cup of tea!

Here is Tabitha clutching the name of her horse (drawn from a sweep), watching the exciting race!  It was a photo finish.  She is in her pyjamas, having just woken up - doesn't she look like she's wearing racing silks?  She looked like a little jockey! 

After everyone had left, I made a very large tray of pasta bake.  Tuna with plenty of veggies - the recipe is HERE.  There was enough for 6 very large servings (to the original recipe, I added another medium can of tuna, made the white sauce 1.5 quantity, included a large cup each of peas and corn, and generally bumped up all the other quantities a little too, including another 80g pasta).  This freezes really well.

The next day, we had a visitor - my mother in law's cat, Winston, came for the morning (long story).  I locked up our own cats, so they didn't terrorize him (they happily snored away in our bedroom).  Tabitha followed him around the house trying to hug and kiss him.  He does look anxious, below, but being a British Shorthair, that's just the way he always looks!  He is very soft and cuddly:

I have started making an excellent and easy new pudding.  I must admit that I have NO idea where the recipe is from - I have it hand written (my writing) on a scrap of paper in my recipe book, called "his Granny's hasty pudding".  What a mystery!  Anyway, it is so quick and easy and a new favourite of The Daddy.

All you need to do for this simple pudding is beat together
a tablespoon of melted butter (20g), 1/2 cup of sugar and an egg.  Beat them well, then add a cup of self raising flour, 1/4 cup of milk and a pinch of salt, and beat well to a batter consistency.

Lightly grease a small pie dish (about 2 cup capacity, shallow-ish better than deep, but use what you have.)  Pour in 2 or 3 tablespoons golden syrup, allow to settle evenly, then pour the batter over the top.

Bake for around half an hour at 180 degrees, until a crisp, golden crust forms and the pudding is just cooked in the middle (you can use a cake tester).  I serve it with a drizzle of extra golden syrup, and some cream or ice cream.

There!  So easy, takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, including putting away the ingredients.  Don't even think of bothering to use an electric mixer - it's scarcely worth the effort of twisting out the beater!  I use the same Pyrex jug that I melt the butter in - too easy.

General Things and Chocolate Brownies

EDIT - sorry I accidentally deleted the duck recipe without noticing, it is in there now...

These are Tabitha's favourite things of the moment - her 'baby' and shoes.  She spends much of her day walking around the house, clutching onto her baby and a shoe or two:

These are two of my favourite things:

This gorgeous gift bag arrived in the post from my Godmother - Tabitha's God Grandmother - who lives in Connecticut, USA.  It is a (slightly belated) birthday present:

A fabulous book about Miffy in New York City, which is just brilliant because a) Tabitha already loves Miffy books and b) We caught up with Kathie and her husband George while we were in New York in May, so it is a great memento of our trip!

Along with the book, Kathie (a really outstanding knitter) created three little knitted 'Miffy' type dolls for Tabitha.  They are so, so cute, and the perfect size for her to carry around:

You wouldn't believe how neat they are!  Maybe one day I will learn to knit so perfectly...

During the week, I bought a new Jaffle iron.  Now, it has come to my attention that Jaffles are relatively unknown in many parts of the world, and knowing that I have readers in such fabulously far-flung places as Russia, Qatar, Belgium, Canada and the like, I will explain that they are sort of toasted sandwiches, but made in a special iron, a little like a waffle iron, which seals the edges and cuts them neatly into two triangles.  This is brilliant because you can really stuff them full, even with runny fillings such as baked beans, or cheese corn and tuna.  They are great lunches and snacks for Tabitha, particularly as they are just as delicious cold, so are nice portable sandwiches.

Because I am, to be frank, a total nerd, I did a fair bit of research before choosing an iron.  I went with the Breville 'The Original' two slice seal-and-cut.  Why?

a) Breville were the first to market with an electric sandwich maker featuring the 'slice' feature to divide it into two. This makes them the go-to brand, for me. I spent the morning reading fascinating articles about the history of the jaffle. Yes, I possibly have too much time...

b) I wanted a 2-slice. I think it would be a rare occasion when I require 4 jaffles immediately, so the convenience of the smaller device won out over a massive 4-jaffle iron (although I believe Breville makes the same iron in a 4-jaffle model).

c) This one features a place to neatly wrap the cord, and - wait for it - it can stand vertically for easy storage!

d) Reviews suggest that the non-stick coating on the Brevilles are up there with the best.

e) The plates are square. Most important for me. Many of the brands feature rectangular plates, which are just a giant pain with fancier supermarket breads such as Helga's and Abbott's.

f) It is stainless steel, so isn't quite as naff-looking as some of the daggy white ones.

So I brought the new purchase home.  Do you notice anything strange about the box?

How about now?

It seems that my Jaffle iron came with a gift-with-purchase!

The strange cat sat in the box, staring into space, for a good hour or so.  Sometimes I worry about Possum...

Tabitha likes to ride around in her Cozy Coupe with her baby doll in the back.  She gets quite anxious if her 'baby' is out of her reach for more than a moment or two - she even has to have it with her at meal times, and will 'feed' her baby with a fork or spoon, and offer it sips of water from a bottle.  It completely melts my heart...

Actually, she has two babies - After looking at beautiful, expensive German-made baby dolls, which are fairly heavy and have hard bodies, I was advised by a couple of people to, instead, buy a cheap, simple cloth-bodied baby, which young children seem to prefer - more cuddly, and lighter to hold and carry around.

So I went to Target and found a two-pack ('twins') of cloth dolls, for $14 on sale - bargain!  I have stashed one aside, in case we loose one.  Tabitha smeared jam all over her 'baby' and it looked as though it had been quite brutally stabbed.  Thankfully, they are machine washable...

With the cold weather, I was craving rich and spicy flavours this week.  Asian stir-fried greens, and marinated duck with rice seemed to fill that niche rather nicely.

To make the greens (and you can use bok choi, gai lan or anything similar), I stir-fry some julienned fresh ginger and minced garlic in some oil (not too hot, or it will burn the garlic), then add a glug of Chinese rice wine, boil it briefly, then add some sweet chili sauce, a little fish sauce, some soy, then add the greens and stir-fry over high heat until they start to wilt, then add a decent glug (maybe 1/4 cup) of high quality oyster sauce (such as my beloved Megachef - I use their fish sauce too) and a drizzle of sesame oil.

For the duck - marinate for 30 mins or an hour or so, in a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, orange and ginger marmalade, the juice of half an orange, a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, and possibly a little sliced ginger.  Marinate flesh-side down, keeping the skin dry, then preheat the oven to 180 degrees.  Put the marinade in a small saucepan, bring the the boil, and simmer for a bit to reduce slightly for a sauce.

Slash the skin a few times, then put the duck, skin-side down, in a cold frypan, then bring it up to low/medium heat, and cook on medium heat for a few minutes, letting the fat render out.  The skin will start to get crispy.  Turn over, flesh-side down, and sear for a minute.  The transfer to the oven and cook for around ten minutes, or until the duck is still slightly pink inside.  Remove to a warm plate.

Leave the duck breasts to rest for five minutes, then slice thinly, and pour their juices back in with the reduced marinade.  Serve the duck with its sauce, the greens with their sauce, and the rice in between.  I can never decide if i prefer the duck sauce or the sauce from the greens!

The duck meat should still be quite pink inside:

Today, we had my lovely 'Godfamily' over - that is, my Godfather, his wife Tanya (and honorary second Godmother), and their son, who is my Godson and also Tabitha's Godfather!  Confused?!  My parents and sister came too.  I made, for the occasion, my Godmother Kathie's (!!!) special family chocolate walnut cake - the one with the recipe I will not reveal.  It was delicious:

Tabitha had fun wearing her Boston Red Sox cap today - we bought it for her on our holiday in May, when we took her to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.  It was such a wonderful day, and seeing her in the cap brings back great memories for me.  'Scuse the PJs top:

From the back - Miss Cool in her baseball cap and jeans:

Tabitha is, I am pleased to say, a most enthusiastic cleaner - she loves finding a cloth and wandering around the house, wiping surfaces.  She will even wipe down the cupboards with an Enjo cloth!  I am thrilled to have a little cleaning assistant:

Sometimes I look at her and simply cannot believe how grown up she looks.  It feels like just a few months ago that she was a tiny, helpless baby.

My sister found these Mini Mouse ears - they were mine from when I was eight years old, when mum took me to Euro Disneyland (I went with her on a work trip to the UK over my Summer holidays).  Apparently, for the whole trip, I refused to take them off, and as a result, we have many photographs of myself in historic locations (such as Versailles, Westminster Abbey, the Louvre and the like), wearing Mini Mouse ears.

This evening, I made brownies - a very simple, melt-and-mix recipe from Nigella Lawson's most recent book, Kitchen.  It is a really fantastic book - nearly as good as How to Eat - and there are literally dozens of recipes in it which I plan on cooking.  The brownies are a handy recipe for when you want to whip something easy up at the last minute - they require no fancy ingredients, the butter can be used straight from the fridge, and they keep beautifully for days.

Here is the recipe:

Everyday Brownies - slightly adapted from Kitchen by Nigella Lawson

150g unsalted butter

300g brown sugar

75g cocoa powder (preferably of very high quality, such as Valhrona)

150g plain flour

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

A good pinch of salt

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

150g of milk chocolate - either chocolate chips, or simply a chocolate bar chopped up.  NOTE next time I will use dark chocolate.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius, and line a baking tray (roughly 30cm x 20cm, or 25cm square) with baking paper - I use one long piece which goes down two sides and along the bottom, then another strip which goes along the bottom and the other two sides.  It might seem like a bit of fiddling, but it saves effort removing them at the end, and dramatically reduces your washing-up.

Melt the butter over low heat in a medium-sized saucepan.

Add the sugar (still over low heat), stirring with a wooden spoon to blend it with the butter.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate soda and salt, and stir into the saucepan - the mixture will be quite dry.  When combined, remove from the heat.

In a bowl or jug, beat together the eggs and the vanilla.  Pour into the brownie mixture, and beat well to combine.  Stir in the chopped chocolate or chocolate chops, and scrape into the prepared baking tin.  Spread the mixture evenly with a spatula, then bake in the oven for around 20 - 25 minutes.

The brownies are done when the top looks dry and set, but you can feel the surface and can tell that the mixture is still a little wobbly underneath.  A cake tester will come out a fairly goopy.

When you take the slab out of the oven, let it cool for around ten minutes, then you should be able to carefully lift it out by the baking-paper, and rest it on a cooling rack:

Once it has cooled down a little more, carefully slice the slab into roughly 24 squares (they are of decent size).  Of course, you can certainly do this while they are still fairly hot - they would make a truly brilliant dessert dusted with icing sugar and served with ice cream - but they will be a bit more fragile:

They are spectacularly gooey and dark inside.  I used milk chocolate bits, as specified in the recipe however I think that they stand out too much, so next time I will use dark chocolate bits instead:

Although these are alarmingly rich and decadent, I could happily eat several in one sitting.  Perhaps I will...