Day 1 of our 2nd kitchen renovation

September 25, 2013 By 26 Comments

I had to rename this slightly differently because this is my *cough cough*  2nd kitchen reno in 2 years and I’d like you to read about each on the blog. I do love putting new kitchens in. So there was lots of action and noise was going on here just as I expected. But such a neat job and I think the kitchen floor looked better after they had left than before. OK so here is before. Big brown 70’s kitchen ready to be ripped out

Big empty room after big brown 70’s kitchen has been ripped out.

OK let’s talk flooring. There was some debate on instagram and facebook and I invited it about the flooring. You are mixed in your views, some of you love the floorboards in kitchens. Yes I love the look of floorboards in kitchens. And I love that we found floorboards running throughout the kitchen BUT my floorboards are scratching very easily and are still soft. I am not loving how they look now compared to when they were first done and I don’t trust myself with them in a new kitchen. I decided to go for more of a country kitchen this time around and the tiles I have picked suit it to a tee – think UK Country Style with a big black cooker in the kitchen and little mantle above the oven. That sort of thing.

So look I think there will be 2 camps when the job is done and I’m ok with that. I love the tiles but a little part of me will wonder what if I had run the floorboards right through but based on how they are surviving in the lounge/dining I think I’ve made the right choice.

Day 2, 3 and 4 will see the kitchen floor tiled and day 5 and 6 will be retro daddy painting before he goes back to work. Oh the excitement of watching paint dry and guess what colour we’re doing the walls in. You guessed it, my signature colour – dulux vanilla quake half strength with vivid white trims. You know me too well. No really, you do. When I’m on a good thing I just stick with it. No point messing with a wall colour because I love the grey with the white and I think it will look fabulous.

 

Filed Under: 2nd kitchen renovation, kitchen, renovation, renovations

how not to take photos from the internet

September 25, 2013 By 61 Comments

I did want to call this blog post ‘hell hath no fury like a blogger scorned’…………..but I’ve toned it down. I’ve slept on it. You see the universe is a funny thing. About two weeks I shared on facebook how one of my sweet buddies Sarah of A Beach Cottage had her images used by businesses to sell their products. Grrrr it made me cranky for her and that’s what I told her. Then I’ve had two incidents in the past week or so where my content has been taken and passed off as their own. And let me tell you it makes me angry and shake and then angry again. Then I sleep it off.

You see I always play nice. I use my own photos. I ask permission where it’s necessary and I always err on the side of caution. People don’t always do the same and I’ve had a tough lesson in that. Firstly I had a lovely reader send me a link to a fabric giveaway on an aussie craft blog, ohhhh I went to have a look at the blog, checked out her recipe page and oh there is a thermomix cake recipe, oh that looks familiar, my toffee apple tea cake. Oh even the wording on how I arranged the fruit. Better check mine. Yep that is my recipe. Send a polite email and go to bed (well I went about my day then went to bed). Next morning it’s still on my mind and I haven’t heard back from the blogger so I go and check. Well actually on closer inspection not only is the recipe word for word and  a recipe by xx blog but that is my photo. I looked at my photo and looked up close at hers and yep my photo too. I mean come on at least if you’re going to call a recipe your own then make it and take your own photo. I spent an afternoon in my kitchen for that blog post. So a please remove that recipe and image was sent. Now apparently something else I’ve learnt from my 2 incidents is that no one wants to own up to it. Apparently it was the web developer who did it and just a stuff up. As my mum always loved to say, yeah right!

Ok so I’ve moved on from that and then my neighbour texted me yesterday to say heh keira is in the newsletter from xx a children’s services business on the northern beaches (where I live). Oh that’s funny I deleted that newsletter this morning. Better go and look at it. Sure enough down the bottom was a big photo advertising their back to school consultations (which you pay for) and it’s a picture that I took and edited with some wording and use in my own back to school photos. Well I’m mad now. So I start to type an email and decide no I’m going to call. Now if you know me then I’m not a phone person. People will tell you that I text or email but I was on the phone and I was cranky.

I spoke to someone and insisted they remove the image as it’s of my daughter and no permission was given. Oh let me put you through to the director………….silence………….I’m sure this is where she is briefed and puts on a very patronising and fake voice, ‘oh I see, what is your name and website then, and your number, oh someone else in the office must have done that and just found it on the internet, and it went on and so on. And all the while I am made to feel like I’m the person in the wrong and it’s not her problem or her business that have done this. And I did kind of have ‘my crazy lady heart is pounding and body is shaking voice’ to her ‘patronising condascending this is my business and who are YOU to call me up with your crazy lady voice’. I can laugh about it now….just.

I ask for it to be taken down but all that has happened is a very wishy washy apology for the error that a local child’s photo was used because we thought it was a model. Flattering but doesn’t wash with me. Every picture on their website and blog has just been taken from the internet.

Now my armchair critics will be rubbing their hands with glee and someone was brave enough to come on my facebook page and say well pictures of her are on the internet. Correct. She is right. Yes there are photos of my children on my website and on the internet.  Everyone has different comfort levels and not everyone shares the way I do and some people share more. I used to watermark my photos as that was the thing for bloggers then it kind of went of fashion and the advice was don’t let the watermark distract from your photos. But this business just a few suburbs away from where I live are using my back to school photo without my permission to sell their back to school consultations and services. For money. And it is my daughter and my photo and my back to school photo. Has this business ever paid for a photo or had their own photos taken or actually looked at where images are taken? Do they have a policy? I would have liked them to own up to it and not just say well we thought it was a promotional photo of a model. Is that their policy just to take images willy nilly and pad out their newsletters and website. It would appear so.

But I’m always going to turn a negative into a positive. I might look at protecting my photos if I can. I’ll think about photos on the blog. I’ll think about how I’ll handle this the next time it happens and how I will deal with the offending business because let’s make no mistake. This is a business charging for services and receiving money and using my photo to make it look professional. And I had to tell her that even if you find an image of google images which was their excuse that you need to put a source. Find the source. Do you have permission to use that image and call it your own. And most of all I believe in the power of the blogger and word of mouth. And I have a big mouth. And let me tell you that anyone who needs back to school services or specialist services (and I have a child who does speech and physio and therapy), well I will be only to glad to tell them about the wonderful experience I’ve had yesterday. Just wonderful, warm and fuzzy.

Do you run a website, blog or business? Do you send out a newsletter? Where do you get your images? Do you take your own photos to avoid any issues? Do you put a source and where the photo came from? Have you had an image/recipe/project taken? How did you feel? What do you think?

Filed Under: blogging

let the kitchen renovation begin

September 24, 2013 By 16 Comments

Let’s get this party started! Today at about 10.30am the kitchen rip out team will be here, they will make noise, there will be dust and they will rip out this old kitchen in no time. And tomorrow I will start blogging and sharing each day of the renovation. And all things going well on the 18th October I will have one beautiful white kitchen……..a mixture of hamptons and english country style. To say that I am excited is an understatement…..

Now I’m a little sentimental when I look at these photos and I was emptying the kitchen drawers (oh man that is one crappy job because of the crap that gets stuffed in those bottom kitchen drawers). But I found all of the original booklets and receipts for the kitchen appliances when the kitchen was installed back in the early 70’s.

We bought the house from the original owners so everything was still there and I liked seeing the original owners name and the fact she didn’t even put the house number on the docket for the fridge because the house opposite hadn’t been built yet.

But it’s time to move forward. I’m sick of wiping away the chipboard flakes from the kitchen counters each morning or finding them in my jug or thermomix. I want to break out into Andrea Bocelli, ‘tiiiiiime tooooo say goodbyeeeeeeeeeeeee……….’.

So let the kitchen renovation begin……..and please let everything stick to budget and spare me any unforeseen dramas!

Filed Under: kitchen, renovation, renovations

peach trifle and a gluten free apricot cake

September 20, 2013 By 9 Comments

This post is brought to you by Woolworths Select

Growing up I have lots of memories of spending weekends and holidays at grandma’s house. And dessert at grandma’s house was always the same. Canned fruit with a vanilla ice cream slice. Not a scoop always a slice, remember those vanilla slices you’d have to unwrap. I like memories like that and hope my little ones have their own memories of growing up in our house and what we ate. I’m a big fan of canned fruit because it’s a great way to have fruit in the cupboard and can easily be served up for dessert and is so great for baking. And I love baking.

And to share the baking love I have two very easy and oh so family friendly desserts to try out at your house. And to make them even friendlier I’ve made the apricot cake gluten free. These all passed the taste test at our house and also are great for feeding a crowd………….or large family.

Woolworths Select are now using Australian fruit in their canned fruit range and it comes from some of Australia’s best fruit regions. I think it’s important to buy australian made and austraian produce so think this is a great move…..and Woolworths are trying to do this across all of their Select range. The taste and quality of the fruit I used in these recipes was great and you wouldn’t associate it with ‘ home brand’.

Trifle is one of those good old fashioned desserts that just goes a long way. You can cheat and buy all the ingredients and just assemble or if you have a bit more time up your sleeve make the cake and custard from scratch and go all out in the homemade department. Whatever you decide this is just a winner and we got 3 dessert sittings and sent some off to the neighbours too. Whatever you do just make sure you make it in a glass bowl to show off all of those pretty layers.

Now the apricot cake is something I’ve been making for a while but I’m trying to follow a gluten free diet so thought no better place to start than with my baking. And this cake is so easy but looks so special with the apricots on top. And to serve a crowd or when you’re entertaining, just double the cake batter and bake in a large rectangular baking tray and top with a whole can of apricots…..like this…..

Now every so often my apricots sink……it’s heartbreaking but these things do happen. So I’ve resorted to covering the whole apricot in a dusting of flour which does help them from sinking to the bottom but they do kind of go to the middle. Next trick is towards the end of baking to top with another apricot to give you the pretty presentation. For extra wow factor dust with some icing sugar and serve with whipped cream.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we did…………..and keep an eye out for the Australian canned fruit ranges from Woolworths Select.

easy peach trifle
 
Print
Prep time
Total time
 
You can use whatever fruit you like for this trifle. I went with peaches because I was trying to use a few different fruits in these recipes but whatever you have going will be fabulous.
Serves: 12
What you'll need
  • one packet of jelly crystals (whatever flavour you feel like)
  • 2 jam roll cakes (you'll find them in the bread section at Woolworths
  • 1 litre of custard (homemade or store bought)
  • 1 820g Woolworths Select Peach Slices
  • 600mls cream for whipping (I know, this isn't a low fat recipe)
  • maraschino cherry (optional, these can be hard to find)
Instructions
  1. Make the jelly according to the packet and leave to refrigerate until it's wobbly but not totally set.
  2. Find a nice glass bowl for serving and lay some jam roll slices around the base.
  3. Cover with some peaches and syrup which you can spoon over the cake pieces gently.
  4. Pour on the jelly then half of the custard
  5. Place another layer of jam roll slices, more peaches and syrup then the rest of the custard
  6. Place a final round of jam roll slices on top of the trifle and cover with whipped cream (which I whipped until nice and thick with a few Tbsps of icing sugar)
  7. Spread out nicely and top with whipped cream
  8. Put a cherry on top and refrigerate until needed
  9. If you like a drop of alcohol you can add something like brandy or cointreau to your cream (just a little) or drizzle over the cake layers when you add them in to the trifle.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 
gluten free apricot cake
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
this makes one big cake and is great when you have people over
Recipe type: special diets
What you'll need
  • 100g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup/110g raw caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup/150g Woolworths Macro Gluten free SR flour
  • ½ cup/60g milk
  • 1 egg white
  • Woolworths Select 820g can of Apricot Halves in juice
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar together. I like to do mine in the thermomix for 20 seconds on speed 5 or you can do it with a good old wooden spoon or electric mixer until the mixture is pale, creamy and thickened.
  2. Add in egg and combine for about a minute.
  3. Then sift in the flour and add in the milk. Gently combine until it's all mixed through. Now in a separate clean bowl beat an egg white until peaks form. Gently fold this into your cake mixture in 2 separate additions.
  4. Spread into a lined small cake tin.
  5. Take out some apricot halves and coat in gluten free flour and gently place on top of the cake. Don't press down.
  6. Bake in a 170C/350F oven for about 30 minutes until the cake is cooked.
  7. If your apricots sink then just tops extra apricots around the cake once the cake is halfway through the cooking time
  8. Remove tin from oven, leave to cool in tin for about a minute or two then remove from the tin and leave to cool.
  9. Mind you I like this warm. Enjoy
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Filed Under: baking, gluten free, review

the recipe for a perfect holiday

September 20, 2013 By 13 Comments

We are having the loveliest time up here and I am seriously going to be sad and have some PHB (post holiday blues) when we have to head back home. It has all the right ingredients for a fabulous holiday. We’ve got beach time

pool time….this will probably be the one photo of me in the pool as I’m always behind the camera but it had to be done. Proof I have braved the cold water each morning and in true mum style I don’t like to get my hair wet. Just like my own mum……

good food (we have one special dinner out on our trip and it was just gorgeous)

and eat back in the apartment for most of the time

shopping time (it’s not often I duck out of the house without the babies of the family)

more pool time

 

and ‘just doing nothing’ time

Like all good holidays this is going way too quickly and I won’t lie, it’s hard work taking 5 kids away and looking after them in a different environment. But we’re doing it and we’re having fun while we do it. Full debrief when I get home.

p.s next week when I’m back to reality (boo hoo) I have a reader event and still have a couple of spots free. If you can come to Mascot on Tuesday 24th from 2-4pm for a cooking event with Ed Halmagyi and yours truly then just drop me an email to retromummy@hotmail.com

Filed Under: holidays

My ProBlogger Event Debrief Part 1

September 19, 2013 By 24 Comments

This is the way it usually goes after a conference. I go to the conference, I get home, I write up my notes to share with you and I publish them the next day. Thing is that I have sooooooooo many notes from ProBlogger and soooooooo many things I want to share and I don’t know where to start. So I figure I’ll just start with the welcome on day 1 and work my way through day 1 until I need to start a second post.

OK, so Darren gave the welcome speech (well he is ProBlogger after all) and the first thing he asked us was what is the challenge facing us as bloggers? And for most people it comes down to time. His advice? There will always be  more that you could be doing and that’s just a fact of life. So you need to make peace with it. Know your goals and judge the opportunities. 

Another challenge is fear. Ask yourself what is the worst that can happen? How would you recover if it happened and whats the best thing that could happen. And that saying that I just love about getting out of your comfort zone because that is where the best things happen.

During the welcome a few of the fabulous speakers were introduced and I loved Trey! Trey’s advice was do you what you love and it doesn’t matter who shows up! Don’t you love that. People get so worried in blogging about traffic and stats and I’m so glad that when I started blogging way back in good old 2006 that wasn’t even a worry for me. In fact it was years before I even knew what my traffic was. And I love that about this blog. So focus on what you’re going to write about and don’t worry about the other stuff.

I also loved Trey’s advice about things on the side can make the money and allow you to do what you love. So you need to experiment and it might be that your income is directly  or indirectly related to what you love doing. Great advice for bloggers and people thinking about a career change.

And the last obstacle is the comparison game. Oh that old chestnut. Bloggers are so guilty of this and it’s not fair. I love this from Darren – it’s not fair to make comparisons because you compare everything you know about yourself to a snippet of someone else. How good is that? How TRUE is that. Darren went on to say that you are unique and use it as part of your story and you are so much more than what people say about you. Gold. Right there. Write that down. Thanks Darren.

Ok so that was just the welcome address. Can you get a sense of how fabulous the conference was? It was. I have so much more to share and didn’t think I’d go on so much. Straight after Darren’s address was Amy Porterfield the Facebook guru. I was notetaking and paying attention the whole time and she was one of my favourites.

So I’ve shown you how to change your timeline cover here and after re-reading my notes I’ve realised that Amy recommends updating your timeline cover each month. So that’s a little challenge for you. Some other facebook tips from Amy are to make sure you link your personal facebook page to your blog page. You do this by putting it as your employer and if people come over to facebook looking for you they can click on the link and like your blog/business page rather than sending a friendship request. And while we are doing these little things let’s get a ‘like facebook’ widget on your blog page. You’ll find mine on the right hand side of my blog and it’s just a facebook widget (Facebook social plugin) that takes no time at all to install. People can like your page without leaving your blog page and it’s a great way to boost your facebook page.

Amy recommends posting on facebook at least 2-5 times a day. No problem for me as I’m a motor mouth and love to share….and I don’t get out much. But there is some science behind it because only 16% of your facebook fans are seeing your updates so the more you write the more chance they will see one that day. Don’t know what to write about? Think about having a post that either educates, empowers or entertains. And think about an image with your update. When people scroll through their newsfeed a picture is just the thing to catch their attention.

phew…..still lots more to share so I’ll be back tmrw with more from Amy and then the next session which was Tsh and Darren. Hope you learnt something from this post………………..

Filed Under: blogging, problogger

Orange, coconut + almond cakes

September 18, 2013 By 7 Comments

While I’m on holidays I have a few recipes from my lovely readers to share with you. Here is the first one and I’ll definitely be giving this a go when I get home. Looks delicious. This recipe comes from Laura who tells me this………….

I adore your blog. I’m a mother of two.. a 3.5 year old boy and my little girl who was 2 months old last Sunday (wow that has gone fast). I love to bake, especially with my little boy. My father has coeliac disease and is gluten intolerant. I thought I’d share with you one of the recipes I make for him, when we are having a family occasion.

Orange, Coconut and Almond Cakes

2 Oranges
125g Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Vanilla Sugar (or White)
2 Eggs
1 Cup Ground Almonds
1 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Coconut
1 Tablespoon (GF) Baking Powder

and some Icing Sugar (GF) to dust.

In a saucepan, cover the oranges with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until the oranges are soft. Drain and when cool to the touch, roughly chop into chunks. Discard any seeds.

Preheat oven and prepare a cupcake tray with liners.

Place butter, sugar and eggs into a food processor and blitz until combined. Add cooled oranges bit by bit and process until oranges are chopped and mixed in.
In a separate bowl, Mix the almond meal, rice flour, coconut and baking powder together. Add to the the processor and mix until just combined.

Divide amongst the cupcake liners. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Leave in tin to cool, and then transfer onto a rack. Serve dusted with icing sugar.
 

This recipe can also be used to make a cake. Just pour the mixture into a 20cm round cake tin, lined with a baking paper base. Bake for 50-55 minutes.

Thank you so much Laura for your delicious recipe. If my other lovely readers would love to share a recipe then just drop me an email to retromummy@hotmail.com with your recipe, photo and a bit about you. I’d especially love recipes for special diets like gluten free, dairy free and so on.

Filed Under: baking, cakes, gluten free

how to make your own facebook timeline cover

September 16, 2013 By 39 Comments

One of the things that I love about blogging is that you’re always learning. You were thinking one thing was the right way to do it and then you hear something else and realise that you want to change. I was always under the impression of keeping all of your colours and branding the same on your Facebook page. I thought that my timeline cover should be my blog header to keep it all consistent. Well Amy Porterfield, remember I called her Facebook guru and I do like to call it like it is, well she says let your timeline cover describe you. Ohhhhhhhhhhh. And so I realised that having my blog header as my Facebook timeline cover actually doesn’t tell you much about me.

So I went off to PicMonkey and realised (because I was trying to find the right layout of squares) that there is even a template with the exact dimensions you need for a Facebook timeline cover. Woo hoo. So here is how you do it. The first thing I did was go through flickr and my blog and pick a few great photos. Things that I love so cakes, knitting, quilting (not that there is much of that these days but I love it), fabric (plenty of fabric love going on right here at this house) kids (I’ve got plenty), a fun and fresh photo that I took and I saved them to my computer.

Then I went to PicMonkey which I use for putting text and cute little buttons on photos. Select create a collage and then go over to the left hand side. See that little button FB Cover. How easy is that. How did I not know about this. Crazy.

Ok so you’ve selected that and now you’re going to choose how many tiles you want and that’s up to you! You might want to focus on just a few photos or have a real variety. Just go for it. Up the top of the page you select open for uploading photos and they will appear to the left of the page and you just click and slide over. And if you want to shuffle them around just move them around between the squares.

You can make the white borders smaller by selecting spacing at the top of the left hand column and then save it (up the top of the page). Now if you want to put some text like your blog name or a little byline then you just click edit (it’s just along from Save at the top of the page) and add some text. Save your work to your computer and now you want to head to Facebook. When you click or hover over your timeline it will come up with the little button to Change Cover. So we’re going to click it and upload the collage you’ve just created and saved. Now you are done and can enjoy your new timeline cover.

And that my friends is how I changed my facebook timeline cover yesterday and I love it. It sums up who I am and when people come to my page for the first time they get some fresh photos and can see what I’m all about out. So go forth and make timeline covers………….even if you have a family business go and personalise it and get creative. It’s lots of fun.

Filed Under: blogging, photos

So much to share from ProBlogger Event

September 15, 2013 By 15 Comments

I’m home, I’ve slept in my own bed, Elodie and Emerson have fallen over each other trying to hug me and climb on me when they saw me this morning, I’ve made scrambled eggs and coffee my way, I came home to an amazingly spotless home, everyone is happy, no one fell down the stairs, the house did not burn down, no one was left in the car, no one got sick, children were fed, they visited the shops, they had fun, they missed me and I missed them.

I used to think that having conferences in my home town of Sydney was always the best. But after going away for 2 nights to the Gold Coast (QT, what a fabulous hotel!!!!!) and totally throwing myself into the conference and my people (the bloggers!), I realise that getting away is fabulous. A year or so ago I would have never left home for 1 night but I did it and everything was fine. Gosh we think we need to stay home 24/7 and never leave for a night or that it’s wrong. Well it’s not and I’ve got so much to share with you. I would be taking notes thinking oohhhh my readers who run their own business or want to start a blog or are feeling stuck in a rut in their life right now are going to love that little bit of information.

There were some simply amazing speakers this year and they really were the star attraction for me. Amy Porterfield who I’ll call the Facebook guru. Polished, entertaining, straight to the point, told us exactly what we had wanted to hear and charming and sweet all rolled into one. Gorgeous. Trey Ratcliff let’s call him that guy with the google glasses. A camera and google guru who entertains with his life stories, motivation, simply amazing photos and was just fabulous to listen to. And a real favourite of mine and I know you would have loved her too, Tsh Oxenreider who runs Simple Mom. Tsh hails from Oregon and is a homeschooling sweet mother who had so much to share and teach us and was so relevant for me and what I like to write about. Loved, loved, loved her.

Yes I also realised I do have the confidence to go up to speakers and ask for a photo with them. I so would not have done this at the last conference…..who is this person. I don’t know but I’m loving wherever this confidence is coming from because it’s not usually me.

Being away from the little ones was a weird experience but also a fun one. I never have time just to myself yet I still found myself waking up early. After the drinks on the Friday night we came home to the hotel and danced for a few hours in the hotel bar. I can tell you that I wouldn’t have done that since before the little ones came along so that was lots of fun and maybe I had a little sleep in on Saturday morning before hunting down a hot breakfast.

It was nice to dress up a little. I wear jeans, jeans and more jeans at home so wearing dresses each day and night was lots of fun and a great way to get out some new outfits. And have the time to do hair and makeup and relax while doing it. Such a treat.

Anyway it’s 6.35am on Sunday morning so clearly there was no sleep in here. I have a confirmation group to prepare for at church this morning, bags to pack for our holiday tomorrow (yes I’m getting back on a plane which is just crazy because I usually fly once a year and now it’s twice in a week) and so much to share with you so look out. I’m going to share everything I learnt and tell you to think about ProBlogger next year. As a friend said the ‘pro’ might put people off but I met the most fabulous people at the conference and it is for everyone.

Oh and I had some embarrassing moments. Better share one where I thought oh my gosh that’s my friend shae and I did the big wave, smile and hi and half way through my wave realised oh my that is not shae that is someone else who looks like shae and I turned my smile a little less excited and started to walk to the food table then realised I need to tell this lovely lady I’m so sorry I thought you were my friend Shae. Turns out I did know who this lady was but was also so embarrassed as we chatted about the last session. So turned it into a meet and greet but oh the embarrassment.

So come back tonight and I’ll start with the first of my debriefs………….

Filed Under: blogging, problogger

heading off to problogger

September 12, 2013 By 11 Comments

Well the day has arrived! My bag is packed and I’m heading off for a couple of nights to attend ProBlogger. I always tell other bloggers that this is the biggest and best blogging conference in australia and it seems to be getting more popular each year. 450 bloggers in the one place this Friday and Saturday. Huge. 2 days of conference and 2 night time events in my diary requires 4 dresses, 4 pairs of shoes, bandaids, panadol, knitting, my tablet, camera and phone.

I’ve never left emerson before so nerves are running high. I’m going to miss our cuddles and having him wake me up before 6 each morning with his sing song voice and big smile. But daddy is the fun machine and the kids are excited. Keira told me this morning I need to go because I’m always home and it’s time I did something for myself. Thank you miss 7 turning 17 for those words of wisdom. It is hard to leave but I know once I’m sitting on the plane with my knitting and can enjoy 1 hour and 40 minutes of knitting with some lovely crafty ladies that I can relax…….until I think of home and then I’ll probably send a few text messages, then retro daddy will say please stop texting me, we are fine and I’ll get back to it……..until dinner time when I think of home again and maybe something I forgot to say or write down. Yes, I can be annoying.

Oh dear. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be off the blog for a few days but there will be plenty of action and sharing on my facebook, twitter and instagram. If you really wanted to go you can still buy a virtual pass which I did last year (little note on the top right side bar which says virtual pass) and definitely follow the twitter stream from home. You will learn lots and I’m always excited about what I can learn and seeing all those familiar faces that I see on facebook but haven’t seen since the last blog conference. Ciao for now……………………….

Filed Under: blogging

Against all Grain – a review

September 10, 2013 By 42 Comments

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog this week! Trying to organise myself for problogger, buy the big items for the kitchen like appliances, the sink and tiles since kitchen rip out is in 14 days (but who is counting!), helping keira with her poster on chinese paper folding (oh the facts I could share with you), keeping an eye on emerson who is into everything at the moment, I’ve got 19 tunics to hem tonight for school, pack for our holiday and just keep the house running. Yep, we are busy. But I managed to squeeze in a dr’s visit and haircut for finn this afternoon so I am feeling kind of organised.

Anyway, I had wanted to review a few of my latest book purchases and today (and tomorrow) thought I’d share two of my favourites from the order. These are the ones that just really jumped out at me and had me taking notes of ingredients that I would need to get into the kitchen. This is my 4th week gluten free and almost dairy free. The gluten free is definitely easier than the dairy free for me and contrary to what someone wrote on my facebook page – a gluten free diet can be healthy. I never thought it couldn’t be healthy for you. I’m eating better, watching what I eat, clothes are fitting fabulously, my dry itchy scalp has disappeared and I just feel great. Oh did I say that already? Well I am and I’m waking up earlier and not so tired in the morning. And I’m supposed to be doing this diet for elodie’s benefit but I’m the one feeling so fabulous.

Ok so Against All Grain is a new book from a blogger but I hadn’t read the blog before I bought it, I just read the fabulous reviews on amazon (I always read the reviews on amazon because they are so honest!). And there is so much I want to make from this book. The section on breakfast started with a delicious smoked salmon and eggs benedict and had some great choices for breakfast. At the moment I’m having either fruit, eggs, some bacon or gluten free toast for breakfast so looking forward to a bit of variety with this book. Oh and yes I want that cardigan.

It’s beautifully styled and photographed by the author and if you like reading food blogs and pinterest then the pretty pictures will be your thing too. Oh and there is a photo of each and every recipe. I love that. Oh the disappointment when you buy a book and there are hardly any photos. I need photos!

Now this book is actually paleo and I’m not paleo – so this recipe here with the cauliflower rice – yep I’d be doing some nice white rice in there but I might try the cauliflower. Never say never.

There is even a section with kid friendly recipes and I can’t wait to make a few things from this section too like cookies with frosting, chicken zoodle soup, granola bars, roll ups, coated chicken and vegetable curry to name a few.

I prefer the baking recipes in this book compared to the spunky coconut as there is no stevia! Sweeteners are usually honey and I like honey and maple syrup so they work for me. There are some great sweet recipes like brownies, double chocolate macaroons, mint chip ice cream, ganache tart with toasted hazelnuts, chocolate layer cake and snickerdoodle cupcakes (what is a snickerdoodle btw?).

Even retro daddy who usually just flips through a cookbook was reading out a couple of recipes to me which is saying something. And there is a basics section of the book towards the end with 19 recipes for basics like a pastry crust, pizza base, almond milk and a variety of preserves and tomato sauce.

All in all a book that is very good value for money considering you get 368 pages, beautiful styling and photos and delicious recipes that are family friendly. Nothing too fancy or OTT but recipes that I know the kids will enjoy as well as retro daddy.

Filed Under: books, review

a quilt at the last minute

September 8, 2013 By 34 Comments

I like to think that I’ve perfected the art of working at the last minute. Memories of staying up late in high school and printing off assignments while the rest of the family was having breakfast. Remember those old printers that would go back and forth and you’d have to walk away and find something else to do while the  printer was taking it’s sweet time. My mum was always telling me that I left everything to the last minute when it came to my assignments and studying and she was right.

But sometimes that’s a good thing. Sometimes my best work happens at the last minute. Like buying everything I need for the kitchen at the last minute. It’s an art. Like starting a single bed quilt for my little niece’s birthday. Two days before the party. I knew I couldn’t say I’ll make you a quilt, I never get around to those quilts but I knew I’d have to knuckle down and make a quilt

and so while the rest of facebook was going on about the elections I was quilting…………….we had a jammed bobbin, a broken needle, some unpicking – all the joys that go with machine quilting. Sewing on the binding with a machine is not one of strong points so I hand stitched it on.

by about 11ish my eyes were getting really tired and I knew it was time to stop. Back up at 6am to finish the rest of the binding and take some photos and I was done. Start to finish time? One weekend and a severe reaction to a bag of chips (gluten, that is a whole new blog post just about that) thrown in the middle too.

One layer cake from Scrumptious by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. Some wool/poly batting, some $5/metre fabric for the backing and lots of love from aunty corrie went into this quilt.

And something this pretty just needs a strip of fabric to wrap it all up……………..ready to go to the party! It was great to be quilting again after months and months of knitting.

Filed Under: free motion, quilt, quilting

I’d love your recipes

September 6, 2013 By 7 Comments

Well in a week or so I’m taking a little blogging break, just one week. I never take a break from blogging or my computer but retro daddy has a few weeks off work and is insisting that I switch off too. Well I’ll still be on instagram, can’t give up everything. We’re taking elodie on her first plane trip and the big kids on their second so excitement levels are high in the house and there is lots of do as the day after we get back…………….we’re ripping out the kitchen. No major event or anything!

Anyway I had this great idea that if I had a few recipes from my lovely readers up on the blog then there would still be something new up on the blog every day and we’d all learn something new and I wouldn’t feel so bad that my blog had nothing new up on it. And I wouldn’t be rushing around trying to write blog posts before I went.

And then since I’m really giving the gluten and dairy free diet a go I decided what if I asked for your recipes that you make for people with a special diet so it could be wheat free, dairy free, sugar free, meat free, totally vegan, no sugar …whatever. Just something that you love and think is a winner.

So send me a recipe, email it to me (retromummy@hotmail.com) before next friday, it needs a photo (or two) to go with it, step by step instructions that I can copy and paste into my recipe card, your name and a few lines about you and your family. Go on, why don’t you send me a photo of you too.

I’ll pick at least 10 and start sharing them from next friday………………………….get recipe writing…………………………….I’m excited to see what you’ve got and if you have any questions just ask.

Filed Under: recipe

date + almond balls (gluten + dairy free)

September 4, 2013 By 16 Comments

Tuesday afternoon after school, chicken was roasting in the oven, the kids had worked their way through the rice crackers and I needed something sweet and quick for afternoon tea. Chuck a few things in the thermomix and voila….sweet and healthy balls. But that did not sound like a good recipe name……………….so I went with date and almond balls.

I know there are lots of different recipes for healthy treats but I love chucking a few things in from the pantry and hoping for the best. I’m also keen to try out the coconut oil which I had bought because a few recipes called for it. I think the coconut oil and the maple syrup really make these treats so good! They were gobbled up by everyone.

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
date + almond balls
 
Print
Prep time
Total time
 
Recipe type: gluten free, dairy free
Serves: 12
What you'll need
  • 1 cup dates
  • 1 cup almonds
  • good splosh of pure maple syrup
  • teaspoon of organic coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Place ingredients in food processor or thermomix and blitz until finely processed. I did mine for about 10-20 seconds on speed 6 in the thermomix.
  2. Wet hands, roll into balls and eat straight away or store in fridge or freezer.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Filed Under: dairy free, gluten free, thermomix

starting a quilt……with kids

September 3, 2013 By 28 Comments

This weekend is my little niece’s birthday! I had in my mind that I’d make her a quilt…….of course life gets in the way and time is getting away from me. But I’ve decided a nice comfy quilt made from precut 10 inch squares will be perfect and I’ll hand stitch a few words in some of them. Well that’s the plan. I could be sewing on binding at 2am the morning of the party but I’m itching to make a quilt and my computer is set up in my craft room so I’m always surrounded by pretty fabric and sitting next to my machine.

Anyway, I had this crazy idea that if I laid out the squares just before school pick up when I had a quick 30 minutes and nothing to do then I could just close the door and start sewing at night.

Well first Elodie snuck in…………….

closely followed by emerson…..oh did I tell you he is walking everywhere. He is. And he is loving it. Some of the others have been a bit lazy but this guy is off and in a few days has mastered walking from one of the end of the house to the other and turning. He’s got it all going on and is fast.

look at his face……….mmmmmmmmmmmm let me at it while elodie was a bit more like mmmm what can I make with this………………………

fabric went everywhere and it was fun.

elodie walked it off into another room and I realised it’s probably best to do your fabric work with the door closed or keep it off the floor…………. a cutting table in the middle of my sewing room might be next on the cards.

So I need to start over again but it made for a fabulous photo opp in the afternoon light.

Filed Under: fabrics, quilt, sewing
« Previous Page
Next Page »