Melbourne Victory Football Club medal night...

In previous years I stupidly read tables of ten as meaning you must have ten people to get a table... On meeting Cassie this year, she told me that they would have just put us on a table with randoms, almost a year later we were on a table if ten and we knew most of the people, thanks twitter! In any case we went, and it was so good! Everyone looked and smelled good, the food and drinks were good, music was lacking, but in commercial situations my expectations are low... Was a really lovely social experience, high vibes, good chats, and getting pictures and having a yarn with lots of our players, and of course Ange!

Thing here have been crazy, with my cousin and her family down from Cairns, we are all exhausted! And Vegas is tomorrow... I still don't feel on top of things, but I am just staying in the present with my beautiful children, who I am going to miss soooo much! I didn't think that Mace would still be so baby by now, so when I booked, I assumed he would be like Marley at this age... It stresses me right out, he's such a lil mamas boy, I hope I don't do any serious trauma by leaving! Great night with great company... Really lovely group of people, and of course a freaking amazing team!!!

Leek, zucchini and chick pea soup... Delicious AND vegan!

It's on, soup season has begun in our house! This summer I ate a LOT of salad, and this winter it will be a LOT of soup... I was cruising the Food vegetarian cookbook and found a recipe I liked but didn't have the stuff for so I just freestyled it my own way... It was delicious! No animals, but full of protein, veggies and not super carby!

Leek, zucchini and chickpea soup
Lug of oil
1 leek
2 zucchini's
1 stick of celery
Tin of chickpeas
800ml veg stock
Handful of parsley

Lug of oil in pot
Chop and fry leek until soft
Chop and fry all other veg
After 4 mins add stock
Simmer for 15 mins
Blend
Add parsley right before serving

Easy peasy right!!! I forgot to take pictures, so got a quick snap of the kids...

A loaf of ginger bread...

Due to the loooooong cooking time on the bread, I started this at 7.30, so it would be cool enough for Kelly who was coming over for morning tea! Been fiending for ginger baked goods lately, the concept of a loaf, warm from the oven with butter sounded amazing! It was!!! Don't remember where I jacked the recipe, somewhere on Facebook because they don't let you copy links etc...

Ingredients:

185 grams butter
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup Golden Syrup or Treacle
2 eggs
3 cups Plain Flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon bicarb
200 grams crystallized ginger cut into very small pieces
Grease a loaf tin well with butter and flour or line well with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and add the spices (except for the crystallized ginger). Add the syrup and mix well. Beat the eggs and add to the milk and fold in the egg/milk liquid alternatively with the sifted flour and bicarb until combined. Add the ginger pieces and mix through. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes at 170 degrees. Remove from the tin and let cool on wire racks.

Supanova 2013 Melbourne show grounds

I am a big fan of Supanova, we go every year... And every year I can't bring myself to queue for photos with my favourites from the Whedonverse... This year Eliza Dushku was going to be there and I was determined to get a photo with her... So I did a lot of queuing, and made it to the front of the queue, watched the lack of interaction for these situations, expecting an exchange of hello's... The minute she spotted me she said how much she loved my tshirt, starts talking to me and her assistant about how awesome Dr Dre is while I die of embarrassment! The photo was my most embarrassed awkward smile! Not my plan, but so happy to have the photo!

Missed panels because mum had a headache so we left after a couple hours... Great stalls and shopping opportunities... It keeps getting better and better organised every year... We will keep going back every year!

Fresh baked vegan spiced ginger biscuits...

After yesterday's biscuit success, I thought I would give them a go as vegan, so Mark can eat them over the weekend without having to medicate... I substituted Nuttelex for butter, and ran out of ginger powder, so added equal parts ginger powder, cinnamon and mixed spice to give it a spiced ginger taste in a moment of desperation! They are surprisingly good!!! Perfect for the vegan in your life!

http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/ginger-biscuits-L13405.html

My Nan's ginger biscuits

1¼ cups plain flour
115 g butter (Nuttelex for vegan)
115 g sugar
1 tablespoon ginger
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 tablespoons golden syrup

Method

Cream butter and sugar.
Add syrup, flour, ginger and soda dissolved in a little milk. Mix well.
Roll into balls and then roll in sugar.
Bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes

The dentist with tiny humans...

This was the first time I took Marley to the dentist... Incredibly slack, I know! I had been discussing it with my dentist for two years at my 6 monthly check/clean appointments, she just made it sound difficult... Her idea is that she should come in for the end of one of our appointments to observe, this was just never going to happen... So I just booked her in...

Leading up to it, she was so excited! we did practice runs on her mouth, she is a fan of Mummy Dentist! She was nervous once in the chair though, humouring the dentist, then not wanting to open her mouth! Seconds later she did... It wasn't a long process and thankfully her teeth are awesome! Sparking white with no holes...

We will be bringing Mace along next time, good to start good patterns early!

Fresh baked ginger biscuits... Mmmm...

Have had a hankering for these since having a gingerbread man at the zoo last week! Mace is at crèche and Marley is still on school holidays, so we baked this morning... The recipe is easy, a bit sticky with the rolling, but we persisted because the baked on sugar is a nice touch! They are delicious...

http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/ginger-biscuits-L13405.html

My Nan's ginger biscuits

1¼ cups plain flour
115 g butter
115 g sugar
1 tablespoon ginger
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 tablespoons golden syrup

Method

Cream butter and sugar.
Add syrup, flour, ginger and soda dissolved in a little milk. Mix well.
Roll into balls and then roll in sugar.
Bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes.

Size exclusive Easter Nike air max light <3

Things have been so crazy lately... Busy, all the time! Mum went to Vietnam for a week so I was a full time mum, surprised how much I missed work! Mine and Mark's 9 year anniversary, then 7 year wedding anniversary... Seriously doesn't feel even close to that long! Melbourne Victory had a ridiculous finals game of football against Perth Glory and somehow won! And I watched 5 seasons of Queer as Folk, which I will dedicate a whole post to at some point...

What I want to discuss is these beautiful sneakers that were finally delivered to me on Monday... I am not usually a lights fan, but seeing these I just had to have them! Was concerned about buying stuff before Vegas, but would be devo to get to Vegas having missed these and there be nothing for me there! So I did it! They are at Size.co.uk they did take quite a long time, usually you are looking at a 5 day turn around, these were two weeks, but there was a long long weekend in there! Admire these beauties!

Queer as folk US version

I am not sure why I hadn't watched this earlier in my life? I planned to more then once, but it never translated to doing it! Then Cassie suggested it at a time I had nothing else to watch and I got in deep! If you know me, you know I grew up in the gay scene, my first club experiences were on the Melbourne gay scene circa 1997... I was also obsessed with The L Word, so watching this was immediately addictive!

It is well written, you start caring about the characters very quickly... Most of the circumstances feel honest, and you just want to know what happens to them... It will make you laugh and cry... The boy on boy is hot, lots of great bodies, and sex scenes... They capture that aspect perfectly, but they also capture the emotion, the drama and the love... Watch it!!!

Baby growing up...

As my little boy grows, he leaves many garments behind... When he grows out of some outfits, shoes, cute caps, I feel really sad... He is never going to be this small again, and as much as I take pride in his growth, his development and skills, I definitely have a heavy heart that neither of my babies will feed at my breast, fall asleep on my shoulder, and not answer back, haha... He is sad that he has grown out of his Muno shoes this week, hopefully he will like his new shoes, he is such a fashionista! These are them, I certainly love them! But I will have to look out for some new Muno or Yo Gabba Gabba shoes while we are in Vegas!

Trailer Trash Tattoo - Mimsy - Sketchbook

Mark and I have been together for 9 years today (yesterday) and while our wedding anniversary is next week, I wanted to give him the start of the gifts to celebrate... I bought him Mimsy's sketchbook, it's just beautiful! So many awesome ideas! Am completely inspired... Amazing book by an amazing artist... If you are ever in Archerfield QLD you should definitely book ahead!

Easter long weekend...

The long weekend was awesome, spending quality time with the family is always super special... The only downside is the issue I have with Easter... We aren't religious, so Easter itself doesn't mean anything to me, it might sound odd, if you know how much I love Christmas! Christmas to me is about an amazing full day dedicated to family and food, Easter is just a reason to let loose on chocolate...

The problem is that I don't like my kids eating much junk, so getting loads of chocolate goes against my method of parenting... Mostly so they didn't feel like they missed out culturally, the Easter bunny does bring a few eggs for an egg hunt in the garden, of those eggs they ate two small ones on the day, and a further one each yesterday, we have eaten the rest and they shared some with everyone that came over the long weekend... The rough part is trying to explain, or give off the vibe that we don't want lots of chocolate in the house, we don't want the kids to expect it, we don't want to decorate our house for Easter like we do for Christmas... And it is tough trying to convey this message without sounding like a cow... It made me feel that maybe Easter weekend isn't my favourite holiday, and as the kids get older we should definitely not spend it at home!