No-sew mini curtains

Our little girl's busiest "room" is her home corner. So many "babies" to cook and wash for. Recently she complained to me that her shelves looked a bit untidy and asked if I could possibly "knit" her some curtains.

We put together these easy-as-pie little numbers without so much as a single stitch one afternoon.

I simply cut a tea towel in half, folded the cut edge under twice and ironed it flat into a "hem". I then punched through eyelets every 5cm (or so) with a hammer. (Tip: pierce a small hole in the fabric first with a sharp knife or scissors to get the eyelet through).

To hang them I used hook and eyes and PVC coated wire. All the supplies were from Spotlight and the whole thing cost around $4. If you use a tea towel you already have it would cost under $1 to do this.

And she's right you know, it looks so much tidier and complete with some pretty little curtains for her crockery shelf. Hmmm, those books shelves stacked with puzzles and games look like they could use a little "tidy" too...

Autumn recipe list

It's hard to believe we'll be doing this again very soon!

Phew! I’m done collating my recipes for the new season — 28 all up. I figured a few spare nights a month should be left for eating out, eating at friends’ places or a leftover night. I’ve tried to stay in season with produce (I’m still learning in this area). As we’ve recently moved here I’m sure next year will be more successful as I get to know what’s best around here during Autumn. I’ve also tried to mix it up as much as I can while respecting the palates of family members. It feels great to know that a whole season is sorted (although I will allow for some recipes to be omitted if the family is really persistent — even though I have banned the word “yuck” at the dinner table my kids still let me know in no uncertain terms it if they don’t like something). My main sources were:









I give you THE LIST:
Pizzas (Hawaiian Small Fry & Margarita Mama & Papa)
Vegetable Soup
Pork Cutlets with Apple Sauce
Spicy Chicken Meatballs
Lamb Cutlets with Beetroot Salad
Lemon Chicken
Spaghetti with Garlic Oil & Herbs
Bow Tie Creamy Pasta
Battered Flathead with Sweet Potato Fries
Vongoli Linguine
Aleppo Chicken
Pumpkin Soup
Gruyere, Leek & Bacon Tart
Pork Noodle Salad
Minestrone
Tuna Patties with Green Bean & Lentil Salad
Sang Choy Bow
Chicken & Leek Pie
Peas with Crunchy Bacon
Pork Dumplings
Chicken Nuggets and Wedges
Gnocchi with Mushrooms
Pan Fried Veal
Chicken & Basil Stir-Fry
Steamed Salmon on Potato & Leek
Pork Sausages with Le Courge au Gratin
Roast Chicken
Brown Rice Pilaf

I’ll make weekly menus from the list and shop the meat and non-perishables monthly. Fresh produce will be a weekly shop. If we invite guests over I’ll go with whatever is scheduled and just get extra for the recipe in the weekly shop. I like to put my list on the fridge each week so that I can see what I need to get out of the freezer each morning.

Week One :: Autumn cooking
I’ll list my weekly menu each Monday and some of the recipes. I think it’s a bit cheeky for me to list all the recipes out of cookbooks so I’ll just be listing my “own” recipes (that is, ones I have adapted, received from friends or made up) and anything from magazines. I may list the odd one from a cookbook, I figure that's just promotion for their book, right? All my recipes serve two adults and two kids. Here’s this week’s menu list:

Monday :: Pork Sausages with Le Courge au Gratin
I am not really a sausage fan but my kids love them. A new stall at our market carries free range pork sausages so we’re giving them a try. The Le Courge au Gratin recipe is a pumpkin mash of sorts with nutmeg and egg from Elizabeth David, Country Cooking.
Tuesday :: Gruyere, Leek & Bacon Tart
This recipe is from Women’s Weekly: The Complete Book of Modern Entertaining that my daughter gave to me (via Daddy) for my birthday. I haven’t done savoury tarts before so fingers crossed I can pull it off.
Wednesday :: Sang Choy Bow
Also from The Women’s Weekly Cookbook. I do love the Weekly cookbooks, all their recipes are tested A LOT (I know people who used to work for them) and I have yet to make one that doesn’t work. We’ve got lots of lettuce in our vegie patch at the moment so this one is an attempt to use some of it up in a way other than salad.
Thursday :: Steamed Salmon on Potato & Leek
Ingredients:
3 salmon fillets (about 200g each)
3 potatoes
1 leek
1 lemon
chives or dill
Make it:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Slice potatoes (about ½ a cm thick) and leek. Put 2 tablespoons butter and 1 of olive oil in a shallow baking tray and pop in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt the butter. Arrange potatoes on baking tray in a single layer and sprinkle with a little sea salt, cracked pepper and drizzle of olive oil. Bake in oven for approx15 minutes, then turn and bake for another 10 minutes. Meanwhile place your salmon fillets in a bamboo steamer with lid on and steam for approx 15 minutes over a saucepan of simmering water. Once salmon is on heat 1 tablespoon on butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium/low heat. Put sliced leek in pan, sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper and allow to sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. You might like to add a little more butter as it is cooking. When everything is ready arrange a layer of potatoes topped with leeks on plates then pop your salmon fillets on top and squeeze some lemon over them and sprinkle with a little cracked pepper and chopped dill or chives.
Friday :: Pizza Night
For the dough (we use a recipe from an issue of Delicious a few years back, it makes enough for two large pizzas):
2 cups strong flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
200ml warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
7g sachet dry yeast
Sift flour into a large mixing bowl. Add yeast, sugar and salt. Make a well and add combined oil and water. Mix thoroughly and then turn sticky mixture out onto a floured surface and kneed for five minutes. Put ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel. Sit in a warm spot to rise for one hour. Dough should double in size. When ready, punch dough down with your fist and then split into two even balls. Place balls one at a time on a floured surface and sprinkle the top with flour and roll out for pizza base. Place bases on lightly floured pizza trays.
For the toppings:
Small (no more than 100g) jar of tomato passata or tomato paste
4 bocconcini balls
150g ham or bacon, chopped
12 pieces fresh or tinned pineapple
1 cup grated parmesan
2 egg tomatoes
12 basil leaves
8 anchovies
Spread each base with passata to approx. two centimetres from the edge.
Hawaiian Small Fry Pizza :: Slice two bocconcinis thinly and spread evenly on sauced base. Scatter with chopped ham or bacon and pineapple pieces. Sprinkle with half a cup of parmesan. Cook at 180°C for approx 12 minutes or until base is crisp and golden and toppings are cooked.
Margarita Mama & Papa Pizza :: Slice two bocconcini thinly and spread over sauced base. Slice egg tomatoes and scatter evenly on pizza. Place basil leaves on top. Finish with anchovies and half a cup of grated cheese. Cook at 180°C for approx 15 minutes.
Saturday :: Chicken Nuggets & Wedges
Ingredients:
500g chicken breast fillet
6 large potatoes
Make it:
Cut chicken fillet into strips (approx 5x2cm) and set aside. For crumbing you will need 3 bowls: 1 containing 1 cup of flour, 1 containing 2 eggs lightly whisked, 1 containing 2 cups bread crumbs. I don’t make my own bread crumbs, I buy them from a baker who makes organic breads and then add a bit of sea salt, ½ cup of finely grated parmesan and 2 tblspns of very finely chopped parsley. Now crumb each piece of chicken — lightly coat with flour, dip in egg and then roll in crumbs until thickly covered. Once it’s all crumbed cover and pop in the fridge.
Preheat your oven to 210°C. Scrub and chop potatoes into wedge like chunks. Put wedges into a saucepan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Let them boil only a few minutes then drain and tip onto a tea towel and pat dry. Sprinkle with sea salt. In a deep baking tray heat 1 cup olive oil. Place potatoes into heated oil with tongs and return to oven for about 1 hour, turning once. Keep an eye on them, if they are browning up more quickly reduce cooking time. When done place on paper towel for a few minutes before plating up.
When wedges are about 20 minutes off being ready heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook your nuggets for about 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. You might need to add a bit more butter to the pan as you go. Serve with dipping sauces of choice (we go for sour cream and tomato sauce).
Sunday :: Lamb Cutlets with Beetroot Salad
Ingredients:
10 lamb cutlets
1 cup red wine
2 tblspns balsamic vinegar
1 crushed garlic clove
8 chopped mint leaves
To make:
Combine red wine, crushed garlic, chopped mint leaves, sea salt and some cracked pepper in a large bowl. Place lamb cutlets in marinade, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Try and get this done at least 2 hours before you intend to cook.
Make the beetroot salad according to this recipe of mine (just multiply the ingredients by the amount of people you are feeding).
To cook the cutlets remove them from the marinade and place in a fry pan over medium heat. Cook for approx 10 minutes on one side, turn and give them 5 minutes on the other side. Serve with salad.

Don't forget the milk...

It may not be the most exciting of jobs but someone's gotta do it and more than likely the person who takes care of getting the fridge and pantry stocked in your home is YOU.
How often do you shop? Weekly? Fortnightly? Daily?
And what's your approach? Do you plan your meals or do you make from what's in the fridge?
The method I've gone with for the last few years is to plan a menu and do a fortnightly supermarket and meat shop and weekly fruit, veg and other fresh produce shop.
But I've recently decided to revise my shopping approach and shake it up. Yeah that's right, I live it on the edge.
When we moved to the country I thought I was restricted to two supermarkets and one rather over-priced (but to be fair good quality) fruit/veg/deli. Then I discovered our local farmers' markets brimming with gorgeous seasonal produce and my grocery shopping life changed (like I said — on. the. edge.)
It has really made me look at the way I structure meals, pay attention to produce provenance and cook with what's in season.
And so, because there's a shift in season coming I'm working on a menu plan that will see us through Autumn. I'm aiming for 25 main meal recipes (I promise to share) to use throughout the season and want to get the supermarket shop for staples down to once a month.
For lists of seasonal produce try here and here and check out and talk to local growers to get to know what is fresh and best in your area.
Whilst I consult my recipe books and get a kickin' Autumn menu plan in place here's a little gift for you — my grocery master lists for those who don't have one. I've listed EVERYTHING I use throughout the year so that I didn't have to keep writing new lists as I changed my menu (just click the links below and you can download the files). I like to keep them tacked up in my pantry so I can fill it in as things run out. Enjoy.
Grocery list
Fresh produce list
And if you have any Autumn recipes to share bring 'em on.

It's getting hot in here

Wish we were hanging with these guys today:
Man it's hot! Cool thoughts go out to my sis in Melbourne. Hope you guys are sucking ice and soaking your feet in tubs of cool water.
Some say climate change is to blame for this heatwave, others say it's just a weather pattern.
Whatever it is we need some stay cool remedies that don't involve an air-conditioner. We don't have one. I swore against forking out for it when we moved in to our new house. I don't like the feel of it. It is very costly to run and not the best friend in the world to our environment.
Here's some beat the heat strategies we've been using:

• Open up your house in the evening as soon as the sun goes down (especially the south face doors and windows) to let cool air circulate. Leave them open all night.

• Once the sun starts to kick off heat (by 8am at the latest) close your house up, including blinds and curtains to keep the cool air in and the hot air out.

• Get good insulation! Instead of spending on air-con that will cost a bomb in electric bills invest in some top-notch insulation, it really does make a world of difference.

• If you have gaps around your windows and doors get some insulating strips from your local hardware store and run them along all the frames. We did this in our last house and it made a noticeable difference.
  

• Get thermal curtains or blinds. Great for keeping the heat out in summer and the warmth in in winter. They can be a bit pricey but again it's a one off cost that is not going to come back to bite you on a quarterly bill and they will last forever. I had some made to measure at Spotlight a few years back.

Oh and it's also essential to eat tubs and tubs of cold icecream. Over to you now. What are your top stay cool strategies?

Wash day blues

Folding. Done. Phew, that's a a few loads off my mind. These piles on my bed remind me it's time get back to my household routines. They also make me wonder if anyone in this house has any clothing left in their cupboard.
Having a break from "the schedule" is great but it does mean the chores can pile up a bit. That's why I need to work to a plan when it comes to keeping the house in order. I find the more organised I am around the house the more it frees me up to spend quality time with my family and get to my want-to-do list. Oh and maybe I'm a bit less cranky too...
One of the most bittersweet jobs for me is the washing. It's soooo drawn out. First you have to sort, then wash, then hang out, then fold, then put it all away. I'm tired thinking about it. And I've heard some people even iron clothes! (The only things that get ironed in this house are my husband's business shirts — by my husband.) But then there's that freshly laundered smell of clothes on little bodies and the unbeatable feeling of fresh sheets. So really for all my grumbling, the results are worth it. Here's how I approach the laundry:
1. Scheduled wash days. I do two clothing days and one linen day per week. I like to get the loads done early so they are ready to hang out by the time people need to get out the door for school/sport/activities.
2. Hanging it. This is where I get specific with my routine. There's four people in our family and four sections to our hills hoist. Perfect — one section per person. And if I'm feeling extra-perky I group-hang items (eg. t-shirts together, shorts together, etc...).
3. Folding it. Summer is great for my washing routine as I can take the clothes off and fold as the kids have a last play of the day in the backyard as the sun is sinking. I use one basket per person and fold everything as I get it off.
4. Putting it away. Each person's basket goes to their room and the kids' can be put away while they are (avoiding) going to bed. Mine and my husband's should get put away before we go to bed.
Tip: to avoid ironing hang dresses and shirts on their hangers on the line to dry and once done transfer straight to the cupboard.
What's your wash day routine?