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cinnamon choc chip cookies

September 30, 2012 By corrie 11 Comments

think about it – a lovely buttery cookie with a hint of cinnamon and delicious choc chips throughout. It’s my kind of cookie. I broke my strict 1200 calorie a day diet (it’s killing me, seriously!) to do a spot of baking on Saturday. I sent retro daddy to wheel &barrow for some new mixing bowls and a spatula (beware of putting your nice spatulas in your thermomix) and I got baking.

And the result was a delicious batch of cookies that lasted about 24 hours in our house!

What you’ll need
2 egg yolks
1tsp vanilla
2Tbsp water
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g icing sugar (or regular sugar if you have a Thermomix)
300g flour sifted
1/2tsp baking powder
1-2tsp ground cinnamon
150g choc chips

Thermomix directions
Place sugar in TM bowl and process for 15-18 seconds on speed 9. Add in softened butter and process for 20 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and process a little longer if needed.

In a separate bowl mix egg yolks, water and vanilla with a fork.

Remove measuring cup from lid of your Thermomix and process on speed 4 while pouring in egg mixture through the top. Scrape down sides of bowl. Now tip in sifted flour, baking powder and cinnamon and process on speed 4 for 15-20 seconds.

Now I like to do my choc chips the old school way so tip out your cookie mixture into a big bowl. I usually remove my blade and get all the cookie dough from the bottom.

Now fold in those yummy choc chips. I love to dig in my hands and get them all throughout the mixture. And taste the cookie dough too. More than once. **Now divide the mixture into 2 equal portions and roll into a log. Wrap in plastic and roll again to keep it round. Pop in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 160 (325 degrees) and slice cookie dough into 1 cm pieces. I like to use a serrated knife for this one. Place on lined baking trays and bake around 15 minutes when your oven is at the right temperature. Mine took about 20 minutes but who knows what temperature my old oven is really working at.

Cool on tray a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack and enjoy. Thank me later.

No Thermomix?

let’s go old school. In a small bowl combine the egg yolks, vanilla and water. Sift icing sugar into a large bowl. Cream butter into the mixture (Kitchen Aid, beaters or good old wooden spoon will do). Gradually add in your egg yolk mixture and combine. Add in sifted flour, cinnamon and baking powder and combine. Fold in the choc chips and follow instructions from ** above.

Filed Under: baking, cookies, recipe, thermomix

baking solves everything

September 27, 2012 By corrie 18 Comments

I have never been as busy as I’ve been the past 11 weeks! A new baby throws any sort of routine out the window and you find yourself in a constant cycle of feeding, changing, settling and then running around like a crazy woman trying to feed other little ones, make a drink, grab a snack, jump in the car, find someone’s shoe, brush someone else’s hair, write a quick email………it goes on. You know what I mean.

Thankfully my little guy is starting to sleep for longer stretches at night and I no longer find myself up to watch the start of Good morning america every single morning. We now just watch it a few mornings. And I’m starting to feel like my old self again. Yesterday I plonked emerson in his daddy’s arms and did some baking with the little ones.

They love getting in the kitchen and I feel so bad that I haven’t had a lot of time to do baking. Plus I’m trying to get the kilos off and I just can’t say no to baked goodies. But yesterday we did some lemonade scones…. I skipped the cream.

and some cookies. I used old faithful, my one cup cookie recipe, using muesli instead of oats for a nice bit of variety (and to finish off the bag). Elodie took on quality control and as I went to grab something from the other side of the kitchen she tested out a cookie and put it back on the tray before the oven.

Cookies too! Elodie decided to taste one and put it back! Cheeky

This is my one cup cookie recipe and it never fails me. Just 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of oats, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of desiccated coconut and about 175g of melted butter. Combine all of the ingredients, roll into little balls, flatten on a baking tray and bake in a nice hot oven (my oven is crazy old so I do 400 degrees for everything now) until golden. Cool on the tray and enjoy! If your mixture is too dry add a little juice, too wet then add a few more oats. It’s that easy. Play around with chocolate and nuts too.

And to finish off a pretty perfect afternoon I came home from the newsagent with some special treats. Just grabbing some time to myself with a cup of coffee and a pile of magazines is heaven. Totally underrated. And will you check out the savings on that gorgeous book – it’s a beautiful book too.

oh but then got it better when I read from Mrs Woog that Country Road opened an online outlet store! 1 new summer dress and a top came to less than $50 and will be at my house soon. What a day.

Filed Under: baking, recipe

headshots by Seed Photography

September 25, 2012 By corrie 34 Comments

A few things about me. I do not lead a glamorous life. I prefer to take pictures of my children. I avoid being in front of the camera. And the last time I had a headshot taken it was done by retro daddy a few years ago with a quilt hanging over a door behind me. Very professional looking. With a quick bit of makeup and lipgloss. Fancy. But recently I’ve been asked for my head shots by a few magazines. And I kept thinking to myself I wish I had some nice up to date photos to send.

And I was asked just one too many times and decided I had to get them done. Professional and up to date. So I emailed the lovely Nicole at Seed Photography who kindly did a newborn session of Elodie and knew I’d be in safe hands.

My hair was done on Saturday and I asked a lovely school mum Nicky who is a makeup artist if she’d do my makeup. I told Nicky I wouldn’t mind her 4 kids in the background since it was school holidays and really it was just like being at home. Nice to see other kids do the same things as mine. Drive their mum crazy in the school holidays! Thanks Nicky for the gorgeous makeup and I loved my false eyelashes. I plan on using your services a bit more often for special occasions because I loved it!

this is my posey pose photo which makes me laugh! I’m so not a poser!

I went straight from makeup to Nicole’s studio – this was a northern beaches team effort with hair, makeup and photos all done on the beaches. I love that. Nicole of Seed Photography is so lovely and any nerves I had went away as soon as I got there. She taught me how to look to avoid the double chin and she has a wonderful light and airy studio with so much natural light coming in. And my little guy Emerson makes the perfect prop, don’t you think?

I can’t begin to thank Nicole for these gorgeous photos. I’m so self conscious about my weight at the moment and watching what I eat but I look at these photos and don’t see any of the bad things I think about my shape. I just see me. I almost want to get back in the car, drive over to her house and give her a big hug and a kiss to say thank you. I have some beautiful photos that just capture my life at the moment and make it look beautiful. And I wish all my mummy friends had this opportunity……………………………

So thank you Nicole. You are so kind to take these for me and did the most perfect job. Now when someone asks for a head shot of me I’ll have this lovely collection to chose from. Thank you. And to all my lovely readers you know where to go when you need a lovely photo taken…………just go and see Nicole.

Filed Under: blogging, mummy blogger, retro mummy, seed photography

capture the cover

September 23, 2012 By corrie 1 Comment

October is a busy and exciting month for retro mummy but it also means I have lots of things to finish up in the next week or so! One of the things I’ve been meaning to mention is a pretty cool competition that could see one of your photos on the cover of your local yellow pages next year.

Not only could your picture be on the cover but there are some great prizes going to winning entries too. A new DSLR anyone? iPad? cash? The idea behind Capture the Cover is letting amateur photographers like you and me share photos of where they live and be on the cover of your local Yellow Pages.

These are my all time favourite photos of the northern beaches. And you can find more information on the website here, pinterest, facebook and twitter. So get snapping and hurry as there isn’t much time left (Sydney entries close on the 5th October) and some cities have already closed.

Filed Under: everything else

Power shopping

September 16, 2012 By corrie 14 Comments

Things are a little quiet here on the blog as we are taking some time out and enjoying our holiday. That and the fact my internet isn’t working up here. But we are having a relaxing time and nothing relaxes me more than shopping. Minus little ones. I love to shop! Retro daddy not so much but when he first met me we were in Europe on a Contiki tour (yes, that is the very romantic way that we met). And he knew what he was getting in for. I shopped my way through that tour. But these days I have more people to shop for but less time to shop. And so I have perfected the art of trying things on quickly. Some people power walk. I power shop.

Give me 30 minutes minus kids on Hastings st! 2 dresses!

Take yesterday morning. In half an hour I visited 4 small dress shops, tried on 4 dresses and came home with 2. There is an art to that! I was on a mission for some bright summery dresses and wasn’t interested in anything else. Focused.

And retro daddy might have taken pity on me and the fact it’s hard to get out shopping as he even offered me his credit card. That only happens at Christmas and birthdays so he knew how much I was looking forward to a little shopping time!

Filed Under: everything else

I’m on instagram!

September 14, 2012 By corrie 14 Comments

I know! It kind of took me a while but I got there! You’ll find me as retromummy (well, obviously) but I don’t really know what I’m doing! In fact I had to ask my nanny how to reply to someone:) And I haven’t worked how to blog the photo yet without using flickr but I’ll get there.

From october h&g mag. Loving the light and door

Anyway, I’m going to have a play around with it for the next week or so but I do feel like the last person on there! Are you instagram? If so please come and find me because I haven’t worked out how to follow anyone else who isn’t on my facebook list! At least I find my incompetence funny!

Filed Under: blogging, everything else

Which craft projects to pack

September 11, 2012 By corrie 17 Comments

Retro daddy and I were having a little conversation about our holiday – I said we should have either lunch or dinner out each day. He thought we should always have lunch in (remember he’s the accountant). I made it clear this is my holiday too and I’d like a tiny break from the cooking, the dishes and the groceries…thank you very much.

I also hope that means I get a bit of craft time while we’re away. And part of the fun of taking some projects away is deciding what to take. I’ve decided a summer knitting project would be perfect. All of my girls could do with a little cotton bolero or cardigan each. You know how much I love the baby kina pattern! And you know how much I love bendigo cotton for my summer knitting too. And also try the spring cotton which knits up tighter and holds it’s shape much better.

Another favourite summer knitting project is this little knitted tee, the cap sleeved tee. Super easy and knit in one piece from the top down. It’s super addictive too. Or maybe it’s just me. Once I find a pattern I can’t stop making it. I also have everything here to try this pattern which would look pretty on elodie too.

And I’m thinking some hexagons to stitch would be nice too. Of course my first hexagon project is still waiting to be quilted so I could attempt to hand quilt it which could look nice! Or I could take my machine away with me to machine quilt it but I have a feeling I won’t get that one past retro daddy. Pack light are his words to me at the moment. And we have a pram, portacot, suitcases and more to fit in the van.

But whatever happens I’ll have some fun picking through my stash and deciding what to take and then there is the fun that is having some quiet time to myself to get a bit of craft done. Something I’m struggling to do at the moment.

Filed Under: knitting, quilting, sewing

I made a dress

September 10, 2012 By corrie 21 Comments

I can’t quite believe it myself. But with our holiday coming up soon I really wanted to make my girls a new dress each to take away with us. I have so many patterns and sewing books and forgot about this one. The book is called Girl’s World by Jennifer Paganelli and has a couple of pretty girls dresses but I knew this one was perfect. It’s called Tallulah.

A few thoughts on the pattern. It’s easy but I didn’t find the instructions or the diagrams that clear. Maybe that’s because I haven’t made any of the patterns from the book before. And I didn’t love making the side vents. For example you make the vents first, do the hem and then hand stitch the edges of the hem where you folded up the vents. Not the easiest way to do this. And I prefer more of a full skirt so I’m going to have a play around and keep the bodice but do a gathered skirt and see how that goes with keira’s dress which I’m hoping to make next.

But tillie loves her new dress. I used some Flower Sugar for the dress and some cute Colour Basics for the lining. Just the top of the dress is lined but gives a cute contrast from the back.

And how did I get any sewing done with a newborn, you ask? I know you’re wondering. Well I popped emerson in a sling on sunday morning. Retro daddy was at mass with keira. I had everyone else and did half the work while emerson was on me. Then finished a bit more in the afternoon with emerson in his rocker and finished the whole dress off this morning.

It felt so good to be sewing again. I forgot how much I love my machine and just making things for my little ones. I feel a few more dresses and maybe some little pj pants coming soon. Summer is a great time to sew and dresses can be so quick and easy.

Filed Under: sewing

I’m redesigning my blog

September 8, 2012 By corrie 14 Comments

Next month I’m finally getting a total overhaul of my blog and moving to wordpress. It is so exciting and I’ve been talking about it for a year BUT it’s scary too. What if I don’t get it right? What if I get sick of the new design? What if you my lovely readers get confused and hate it?

And it’s the little stuff like what font do I want my headings for? What is my colour scheme (it involves pink, of course)? Where do I want my social media icons placed. I’m giving myself a case of serious performance anxiety!

But it’s exciting. Really exciting. I have chosen the lovely Courtney Kirkland to do my blog design. I love her style and I’d been waiting way too long (like a year) for another designer so decided it was time to find a new one. And Courtney’s having a baby soon so I’m pretty sure I’m in the last month of her bookings. Hope she doesn’t have the baby early!

The great thing though about this whole design process is going back through my archives and finding my favourite posts and pictures. And what do I want to be known for – hopefully for more than just having lots of babies in a short period of time. It’s been inspiring me to get back into my craft room and kitchen and start makin’ and bakin’ again. Because I won’t be making any more babies..

So any tips or advice you’d like to give me or what you’d like to see improved on my blog – fire away…………..let me know what you’re thinking……

Filed Under: baking, blogging, craft, kitchen, mummy blogger

retro mummy plays nurse

September 7, 2012 By corrie 23 Comments

You know if I’ve learnt anything in the 6 years I’ve been a mummy, well it’s that little people get sick with a click of the fingers. You can put them down to bed perfectly happy and next thing you know you’re dealing with vomit, croup or some other sickness. And I’ve also learnt that when they need to go to hospital you are generally wearing some pretty daggy clothes or pj’s minus your bra. Always happens to me.

And so last night I packed elodie’s bag for her ear op and fell asleep getting her to sleep. We had some great cuddles. About 11.30 I woke up to find emerson awake, time for a feed except he was gasping for air and coughing. He didn’t want any milk so I put him on my shoulder and he was wheezing and really struggling to breathe. I raced upstairs to get retro daddy up and we agreed to call the hospital who told us to call the ambulance. He was wheezing so heavily and crying and holding his breath and basically freaking us out. And we’ve dealt with croup and asthma with Finn but I’d never seen Finn in such a state. So Emerson got his first ride in an ambulance at midnight.

And what timing since retro daddy was due to the leave the house at 6.45am on the dot for elodie’s ear op. So I asked retro daddy to text our super nanny and see if she was free and thankfully she answered her mobile at a crazy hour in the morning. You see in all the rush I forgot my mobile! Sweet little Emerson was admitted to the hospital for observation but then did really well on the steroid. So they let me go home just as retro daddy was driving in the opposite direction up to the day surgery with Elodie in the back. And the big kids were waking up to our lovely nanny. And so I’m on strict instructions to bring emerson back if he gets worse as they are not sure if he has croup or bronchiolitis. But right now I’m just glad to have both of my babies with me. Elodie on the couch next to me soaking up all the attention from her big sisters and emerson in front of me in his bouncer trying to keep him elevated.

And to top off a super start to the day retro daddy went out to the car after Elodie’s op to find a parking ticket despite the machine not taking his money in the morning. It can only get better from here…………………………

Filed Under: everything else

my top tips for blogging

September 5, 2012 By corrie 52 Comments

So earlier in the week I gave a little talk on blogging to a lovely group of ladies here. And here are my top tips which I think make a great blog and a great blogger! Even if you’re starting out you can adopt these and even if you don’t blog these are really important to think about your online presence.

find your niche

I think this is one of the most important things to set you and your blog apart. Is it your love of fashion, your obsession for cleaning/organisation or something in particular. Now if you’re running your business you can still have your blog sharing bits and pieces of your personal life. It gives readers out there a peek behind the scenes which they love, it lets them ask you questions/get to know you and makes your business more personal.

read blogs, comment on blogs and make friends online

people need to find your blog and to do that you need to read similar blogs to yours. This is the most common question I get asked – how do people find my blog because no one is reading it. think about joining up with the link ins which lots of bloggers have each week. Join forums especially digital parents, look for bloggers starting out, run a giveaway, attend events and network – there are some great blog conferences with lots of new bloggers.

blog regularly

you will become a better blogger and your readers will know when to come and read your posts. If you blog all over the place and wonder why you’re losing readers it could be that they’re coming back and there are no recent posts so they stop reading. Let them know when you’ve posted by a simple link on facebook or twitter.

be a real person

no point trying to be someone else or what you think people want to read. it will be a hard act to keep up, be yourself, be honest – if you’re having a tough day share it – they are often my most popular posts!

don’t go too hard too fast

we’ve all seen it, blogger burnout! bloggers who need to step back or wind up their blog. You’ve focused on your blog so much and tweeted yourself to death and tried everything and now you’re burnt out, you didn’t get the results you wanted or followers you wanted and you’ve lost your mojo. If you go at a steady rate, with achievable goals then you’re more likely to stick with it.

use your own photos

I really truly believe in this. Now of course if you’re a fashion blogger or style blogger or say an interiors blogger then you’re going to have inspiration shots. But you want your pictures to be part of your style and if it’s person then why aren’t you using your own pictures. You can use your iphone or little cameras now have great caabilities.

use the same name across all social media

your blog name is your twitter name and your facebook page and your pinterest and your flickr ID and so on. Get it? Make it easy for everyone to find you.This is also good for the search engines because it will be easy for you on google. When people search for your business you want to be on that first page of their search – if you’re using the same name across everything you could found faster for facebook or twitter than your blog. And actually youtube is often the first place you might be found.

watch your language

I read and re-read my blog posts to make sure I don’t have any spelling or grammar mistakes. It’s messy and also not very professional if you’ve got mistakes. Mind you I’m sure in the early weeks after having a baby I haven’t been perfect but really try to watch what you write.

don’t just blog for the $$$$’s

I love that the money came to me when I was least expecting it and has always been a sweetener. If it all dried up tomorrow you’d still find me here blogging and doing what I do. Because I love it. So make sure you are blogging because you love it – it will show and the good things will come to you

don’t be a slave to your traffic

For years I just didn’t even know how many people were coming to my blog. Every monday my stats come in and I check them and that’s it. Don’t obsess over them!

develop a thick skin

just because you’re nice doesn’t mean everyone who reads your blog is. I’m not sure why people need to go out of their way to express their opinions with the purpose of putting me down. So my strategy? Delete and move on. And my new motto is that they need to get on pinterest because they have too much time on their hands.

know your readers

This takes time but look at your readers comments on your blog and questions they ask you. What are people pinning and repinning of yours. Why not have a survey if you need it to find out why readers are coming to your blog.

you can’t please everyone

Knowing that not everyone will like your blog will make it easy to deal with any criticism. I know I won’t win everyone over.

remember your priorities at home

As a stay at home mum your number one priority is caring for your children. Don’t become so obsessed with blogging and being online that no one is getting dinner or baths. I blog at night time or when baby is feeding or super early in the morning when I have an unsettled baby trying to sleep. I do my pinterest and facebook while feeding emerson with the other hand. I make sure my children know I’m there for them.

I get so many invites to launches and events. I have a blanket rule that I don’t go to anything on a weekday because I’m here with all my little ones. And to be honest they are often events in the city when I have 4 little people and there is no way I could do it. I do however go to meetings or grab a coffee if it is to do with my sponsors. But it’s always in my time and when it suits me.

keep your blog layout and design simple

White is best, lots of white. It’s nice to have bright colours for your background and flashing ads but it detracts from your writing so think about your design and what impression it gives to your readers. Make it easy for them to read and think about how your blog looks on mobile phones. Make sure you include social media icons near the top of your blog so people can find you and follow you on facebook, twitter, pinterest and so on. A search button so people can find things in your archives. Your email address, your top posts, a bit of information on you and archives are the basics for me.

social media
Is really important for my blog and just look at traditonal media and how they are using it now. Facebook is where I hang out to share more with you my lovely readers and answer your questions. I love facebook…..perhaps a little too much. Twitter goes way too fast for me and I can’t keep my conversations to a sentence or two. But my FB posts go to twitter automatically.

If you find you can’t do work with social media because you spend so much time doing personal stuff once you’re on there then set times and limits when you’re going to be on there! really important if you have work to do!

And make sure you keep your business and personal pages separate – I make everything on my personal page private. I avoid accepting friendship requests from readers on that page as it’s really for family and school friends etc but the truth is I spend more time on my retro mummy page anyway so that is where my readers want to be.

run your own race
Blogging can be competitive but learnt a long time ago to run my own race and good things would come my way. And they sure did. I really do run my own race. My style is my own. I love the mix of family, craft, food, sponsored posts and the rest of what I write about and I’m happy that way. I love that I know lots of lovely bloggers when I go to events and blog conferences but I also love that I do my own thing and don’t compare myself to anyone else or what they are doing or achieving. It can really take the joy of your successes and achievements and where you are going.

be nice

I don’t think my readers need this because they are all so nice……..but some people like to be controversial, that’s ok. Maybe it will get you more traffic…..for a while. But don’t be controversial at the expense of others. Always be nice and treat other bloggers and your readers as you’d like to be treated. It’s important. Word travels fast….even on the net. And that means no leaving nasty comments or worse – anonymous comments on other blogs you don’t like. If you don’t like it then don’t read it. And make sure you have that mentality.

don’t overshare

No one wants to know everything! Have I ever shared my sex life on here? No. It’s pretty obvious if I have 5 kids under 7 anyway. Know what you will and won’t talk about. And it’s also important for the safety of your family and home that you don’t share too much. Didn’t I learn that the hard way this year? I don’t give out my address, I have a silent number, had the listing for our house changed so it didn’t reveal our address or purchase price and I don’t do school uniforms or logos either. Just little things I always do to keep my family safe. Think about your husband too, show him respect as its not his choice, don’t let off steam about him. Trust me retro daddy can drive me nuts sometimes but you won’t read about it here.

know the etiquette

sometimes as a new blogger it might be hard to know correct etiquette like how do I get on someone’s blog roll or how do I know if I can use that blogger’s photo. My rule is ask nicely first. Don’t copy other people’s blog template or photos. If you want to use a photo of another blogger go and read their policy or ask them first.

And don’t spam your blog posts all over facebook and twitter all day long. Oh that bores me to tears and I almost want to unfollow. Once or twice is enough. And don’t ask for too much info from another blogger. Make it a two way street if you want something from a blogger so that you offer something in return. Try to work with bloggers at your level or a bit higher than you so that you can help each other!

and my last tips I’ll leave you with….
ask questions to enourage a reply from your readers
inspire, motivate, educate with your posts
get your readers coming back from more – so this could be a post in a few parts, giveaways etc
do it because you love it
pace yourself and set yourself realistic goals
monitor your traffic but don’t become obsessed with it – focus on your writing instead

And that is that! Some of it is common sense and some of it you’ve heard before but the ladies enjoyed my talk so I knew I had to share it with my lovely ladies out there………………..

Filed Under: blogging, mummy blogger

8 weeks

September 4, 2012 By corrie 19 Comments

tomorrow this super cute munchkin will be 8 weeks old! Yes really. He is getting cuter by the day. I look at this picture and realise why I keep having babies……………because they are just so cute.

There are plenty of times when it gets crazy especially when I think he’s off to sleep and I start doing something with one of the other little ones and he wakes up screaming. Or just getting Keira off to school in the morning. I’ll ask her to get her reader into her bag or find her water bottle – her favourite response – I’m not your slave! Oops, she heard that one from me and now it’s coming back to bite me.

But you should see how I can make a ham sandwich with one hand, or do up a button wth a baby on my shoulder or feed emerson on one side and get elodie to sleep on my other leg while holding her hand. I’m taking multi-tasking to a whole new personal high! But it’s all good and the weeks are flying by. I’m sure he’ll be on solids and crawling in no time.

Filed Under: newborn

big babies and apple porridge

August 29, 2012 By corrie 15 Comments

I’m a bit of an over achiever in a few parts of my life – let’s take babies. I like to have lots of them and I breed them big. Big babies ‘r’ us. Here is Emerson at just 7 weeks – he’s wearing a 00 (size 3-6 months) jumpsuit and not leaving much room to grow into it lengthwise. I’m only 5ft so I think it’s fair to say he’s taking after his big daddy.

And I love him so much. I mean he is a seriously cute reason to not get much sleep but I’m hoping he starts to sleep a bit more at night. I now find myself falling asleep before 9pm on the couch when he naps a little and then waking up realising I haven’t put the dishes away or brushed my teeth or packed keira’s bag or one of my other jobs before bed. But that’s babies for you.

And feeding a big baby means I’m always hungry! My thermomix has been a little neglected as we’ve been eating meals from the freezer or given to us or takeaway. But I’m using it again and falling in love with it all over again. Awwwww, so romantic. She’s in love with an appliance. I’ve been converting most of my recipes from 12WBT to it and then adapting them if I need to for the rest of the family. This morning was apple porridge – just cut an apple into quarters and chuck in your Thermomix, process for about 4 seconds on speed 6. Weigh in 140-160g rolled oats (not the quick oats), and process for a couple of seconds on speed 6. Weigh in 650g cold water or milk or a milk/water combo and cook for 8-9 minutes at 90 degrees on reverse and speed soft.

I had to top it with brown sugar because you can’t have porridge without some sugar on top. I enjoyed this before 5am with retro daddy who was working downstairs from 4am, elodie who had woken up crying after retro daddy left the bed and Finn who had slept on the couch all night! Well you didn’t think everyone sleeps in their own bed every night, did you?

Filed Under: theromix

are they all yours?

August 28, 2012 By corrie 22 Comments

I’m getting that question more than ever but sometimes I do forget that they are all mine! Like when I was looking over photos I took on the weekend and I look at these 4 and think wow they are all growing and they are all mine.

I think the bigger our kids get and the more space they take up (and the more noise they make, and the more money they cost) the more I’m amazed that I’m responsible for 5 little people! And it’s crazy (oh man, it is crazy) but I love it. And I love that I’m happy with 5. I really feel this is it now.

Filed Under: large families

starting to think about renovating

August 28, 2012 By corrie 20 Comments

One of the reasons that I fell in love with our new house was that I knew that my style would fit in here perfectly. And I know that some people move into houses and get stuck straight into the renovating. But we are not those people. The reality is we have always moved into houses before or after we’ve had a baby – or the twins- and the kitty is always empty after we’ve paid for everything. This time around (let’s not forget that this the 4th property we’ve bought) is no exception.

But retro daddy’s bonus is coming soon and I’ve asked to have some set aside to do the floors downstairs and get stuck into the painting. I think we were kidding ourselves getting someone to paint the house as the cost will just be too much with over 400sqm of house to paint. But that’s ok, retro daddy loooooves to paint…….ok maybe he doesn’t but he does love to save money.

But I know I want the same colours as we had at our last house. Dulux Vanilla Quake (half strength) on the walls with Vivid White for all trims. It’s a very classic look and looks lovely with both wooden and white furniture. Now in our last house we put Blackbutt floating floors down but initially I had wanted to go darker.

At first I was thinking of just ripping up the carpet and keeping the original floors in our new house but I’d like something with a bit of insulation underneath as this house is freezing in winter. So then I remembered how much retro daddy liked the dark bamboo and how much I’m loving the whole dark floorboards, grey walls, white trim and white kitchen look.

These floors are bamboo and stunning. I found it on pinterest and the original source is here. If you follow me on pinterest here then you’ll know I go crazy on my dream renovation board! And so for the first time since we moved into the house I’m going to start getting quotes and start planning to do a few things. And that is exciting. Unless your name is retro daddy……….

Filed Under: homes, renovation