Ten Days and a Recipe Hallelujah

 I know, its been 10 days and I didn't come back and tell you about the rest of my 10 days (didn't seem that long) or Easter celebrations (more than enough chocolate and some) or visiting parents or - well, I did do stuff, I just didn't BLOG stuff.

However I do have to tell you that I made my own Birthday Cake because apparently that is the most surprising thing, which it shouldn't be if you know me because (a) I like to cook, (b) I like things the way I like them and there are times when anything else isn't quite right and (c) I have found the BEST CARROT CAKE recipe in the world and I like carrot cake.

I took no photos (well, I took a BEFORE photo)

 

 

 we went out to dinner - the place we went had either 1 star reviews or 5 star reviews and we had never been - the entrees and breads were worthy of the 5 stars but the service was definitely 1 star

 

I drove out to my parents for the first bit of the long weekend (Anzac Day - 25th - is a public holiday here, and Dad was going to be doing to BBQ with Rotary).  The drive out there is so beautiful, but of course driving you don't get to take photos - this is from a lookout I remember always having a cup of tea at when we drove the other way when kids.

 

 Dad unfortunately wasn't well enough to do the BBQ - and for that man to pull the pin on any social event or something he has promised to do, you know he isn't well.

I took Mum to music (their Friday ritual - this man Brian did all of the dances when we were kids and it still banging the piano keys for nearly a solid hour).  Dad has taken over from another gentleman who used to read a poem or two to give him a break - he had given me the poems to read and Brian was VERY pleased to have his 5 minutes when I read them.

I did give the sourdough crusts another run - still forgot the 24 hour step, still didn't matter.

 

I also tidied "that drawer" - we all have one, and this one hadn't been really looked at in quite some time

I came home for Sunday to do a session of Qi Flow (with my Yoga lady - its a mix of Tai Chi and Qi Gong I think) and book club (an interesting book of short stories and a lovely group of people) and this sunset.

I am back to work as of yesterday.

 Oh - and the recipe hallelujah is for the BEST CARROT CAKE recipe is from Food Network.  I do use walnuts instead of pecans and it is pretty delicious.

Saturday's Muse

 It is 5:21am and still dark here - I woke about an hour ago which is pretty much par for the course. I have reached that stage of middle-age where as long as it isn't before 3am, its time to get up and stop arguing.

We made THE MOST AMAZING Sourdough Pizza bases for dinner last night.  My sister gave me a gluten-free sourdough kit for Christmas and, while I have made some bread (both GF and regular) with it, all of the other things that I have discovered to make use of it have been phenomenal.  This recipe has now joined the bao buns and English muffins in the OMG we must do with again repertoire.

Now, I do have a confession to make - I didn't follow the recipe to the letter (surprised?) because this one was chosen due to it not requiring a "start the day before" step because I very rarely google a recipe that far ahead, so when I got a "Important step: Refrigerate for at least 24 hours before using." I was already too invested to turn back.  I relied upon the "relax, its Australia, things move quicker (at least in baking breads) here" mantra and it did work.  That being said, I made a double batch and still have enough for 2 more crusts in the fridge (and the mushrooms that I forgot to have among the toppings we could use) so we will see if there is enough noticeable for me to think ahead about.

While my starter is GF and I have kept it GF so my GF friends can also have both starter and occasional end results, it is versatile enough to work for this so a VERY SUCCESSFUL Christmas gift that keeps on giving.  Sourdough Mate created the kit that I was given - I am not in any way an affiliate, I am just a very happy recipient. (I must admit that the local health food shop is where I get my GF bread flour that I use to feed it now) 

So what are your most recent "hallelujah" recipe finds?

Words for Wednesday prompt

 

I am still waiting for daughter and visitor to awaken so we can organised the next week - so will use the time wisely and do Words for Wednesday (as inspired by River and the words from Elephant's Child)

We were walking down by the river - the gentle calls of birds hunting the muddy banks harmonised against the cicadas incessant beat, the glaring shimmer of the dry heat, the only moisture our sweat - all combined and seemed to defray our nerves after being read the standards and expectations the night before.  

It was the odour that first alerted us - it seemed organic in nature, and it was just around the next corner. A crow cawed our approach.

This long, long, long weekend is started by another Thursday

 I have got 10 days off work for the price of 4!  That is pretty fantastic.

 I have an old flatmate coming to visit, Easter, my birthday, Anzac Day, at least one show and book club all within that time frame.

I am already tired!!

Today, though, my list has bookwork, an accountant's call, shopping for school camp and getting a room from "dump everything and office" status to spare room for a guest.

I didn't even sleep in.  I don't, but today I didn't because I had a dream.

There was some sort of party at a pub - two in fact, one for dogs - but I forgot to pay for them, so had to track down an ex-boss's girlfriend who had organised it.

When I finally tracked her down and was organising payment, I realised one should have come from an account I didn't have details for so I asked her to send it through in an invoice.  I wrote her a note that also had on a recipe that she asked for - and after she left I can't remember if I also put the relevant details on it. 

So I went to the pub but had to park in this car park where there was a lift to street level and the pub was a labyrinth - I eventually worked out it was the wrong one and then couldn't find the car.

Finally I found the entry to the car park but had to walk on the road and there were a lot of corners and I was worried that a car would come around the corner and wipe me out so when I saw a cleaner in a little alley off the side remembered there was a lift near my car.  The cleaner had disappeared by the time I got to the aluminium door so I pressed the button, but when the door slid back I saw that it was a very narrow, very steep, very white staircase and in the distance, the cleaner.  I figured that where my car was must have a door so, after some hesitation, I started to climb.

Very soon afterwards, another man was behind me climbing and the stairs were getting steeper and higher - they had rungs that you could hold onto as you climbed but I seemed to be carting some bags with me making it awkward and scary - my heart was pounding.

That is when I woke up.  I was so relieved that I didn't have to pay for 2 parties I couldn't remember and I didn't have to find my car!

Anyhoo - one step at a time today - get my resources together to work out what I have to talk to the accountant about and work out the camp list.

Another Thursday.

Chilli sauce and movies.

 You see, I had to stay up late tonight as I had to make this chili sauce.

Do excuse the sequence of photos - blogger and I disagree on the way to do things and you can't be bothered arguing with it any more.

When you have a certain amount of chillis and a certain timeframe to do it one, you don't need to wait for a certain moon phase to concoct.

But it doesn't hurt.

Boiled and mouli'd and reduced and bottled to the tune of Moonstruck.

And outside indeed is that moon.