Entrance Envy

After 3+ years of looking at my crumbling pathway each and every time I walk up to my front door I am having serious entrance envy of these gorgeous homes with their colourful doors and outdoor decor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still waiting for the Council to approve the front courtyard but with their new 25 day turn around we should get the word any day now so I can start putting my front house design into action!

 

[Images via my Pinterest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
 

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The Perfect Sunday Dinner

Our Weber BBQ gets quite the workout on Sundays and I'm sure drives the neighbors crazy with the delicious smoky smells drifting around at dinner time

There's a bit of an art to stacking an equal amount of heat beads and letting them fire up for a good 30- 40 minutes before it's ready to put the food in to cook  .... While waiting for it to heat up I get the meat and vegetables ready

I make a little foil boat for the vegetables to sit in, 2 layers of foil usually does the trick and it saves me buying the disposal trays which you can only use once

I chop up potatoes, carrots and onions and drizzle on olive oil, garlic and herb seasoning, salt and pepper and put them into their foil boat

Soak about a cup of smoking chips (purchased from Bunnings) in wine and stock for about half an hour and then when the Weber's ready to BBQ strain the liquid and spread the chips onto the heat beads ... they add a wonderful smoky flavour to the food

The pork roast gets rubbed in olive oil all over, seasoned with lots of salt and cracked pepper and topped with a few cloves of garlic and fresh herbs .... I always choose a pork roast with a lot of rind as I absolutely love pork crackle!

A tray goes in under the grill plate to collect the juices, the smoking chips are scattered over the heat beads and the pork goes straight onto the grill  plate for about 20-30 minutes to crackle up

Then the vegetables are added and the lid goes on for at least an hour for the vegetables to roast and the meat to cook ... It's important to restrain yourself from peeking and taking the lid off or you'll let all the heat out

Once the pork reaches temperature is moist on the inside with the juices running clear and the vegetables roasted, take it out, cut the crackle off (or it will go soggy) and then cover with foil and rest for about 15 minutes while you make the gravy .... Try to refrain from eating all the crackle while you wait!

 

To make the gravy use the juices from the roast pan, red wine, stock and cornflour to thicken, salt and pepper and then you're ready to serve up a perfect Sunday dinner

 

Roast Pork With Crackle, Roasted Vegetables and Gravy

 

 

 

 

That my friends is my perfect Sunday Dinner!
What's your perfect Sunday Dinner?

 

 

[All images my own]

 

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Fridays Letters - Dear Xmas Holidays

I'm back with my first Fridays Letters link up for 2013, a big thanks to Ashley from her shiny new blog The Sweet Season for hosting Fridays Letters into a New Year!

 

I'm imagining this weeks letters are written pool side to escape this crazy hot weather we've been having with an icy cold cocktail in hand

 

 

Dear Xmas Holidays - You were fantastic I feel refreshed relaxed and revived and ready to take on a New Year!

 

Dear New Year - My 2013 word Embrace is going to be my mantra this year and I can't wait to see what the New Year has in store for me!

 

Dear Air Conditioning - You are still the best money spent on my house to date. I know it's a bit of a luxury but you can't put a price on having a comfortable night sleep on a hot summer night!

 

Dear Bugs - This week I've had encounters with a cockroach on the bus, a buzzing psycho mosquito keeping me awake all night and a wasp on the inside of my screen door. Stay outside and away from me where you belong bugs!

 

Dear Lemon Tree - I'm sorry I neglected you on those scorching hot days and forgot to water you. It's my fault you are looking rather dead like but in fairness you haven't produced a single lemon since I bought you ... maybe you'll try harder from now on hmmmm. 

 

Dear First Week Back At Work - I have almost survived the dreaded first week back to work, the constant flow of icy cold air conditioning is definately a bonus.

 

 

 Why don't you  head on over here and link up some Friday's Letters

 

[Image via my Pinterest here]

 

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Taking The Plunge

With Perth's recent heatwave and our Summers getting hotter and sweatier I've been thinking more and more about a house with a swimming pool

 

Being able to dive into that cool blue water when the heat gets too much would be such a good feeling and entertaining outside poolside would be the perfect backdrop on a summer evening

 

Yes the decision is made - I want a swimming pool in my next house !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have a swimming pool?
If not, how do you keep cool in Summer!

 

 

[Images via My Pinterest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

 

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Crayfish and Prawn Cocktails Recipe

As promised I'm sharing my Christmas Eve entree dish Crayfish and Prawn Cocktail which I modified slightly from the original recipe to use my own sauce, less lettuce and more prawns.

 

I made the crayfish and prawn mix ahead of time and kept in containers and also chopped all the other ingredients and kept in sandwich bags so I was ready to assemble and serve when ready - I love dishes like that you can prepare ahead of time it makes for a stress free party dish.

 

I'll be honest this was an expensive dish to make for 6 serves it cost $55 for the crayfish and prawns alone not including the other ingredients. There was only just enough meat from 1 crayfish so if I made this again I'd use 2 crayfish which would bring the cost up to $75 which would make this a special occasions dish only. Having said that it does look pretty spectacular and I got lots of ohhhs and ahhhs carrying them to the table!

 

 

Crayfish and Prawn Cocktails

Woman&Home Recipe

Makes 6

 

3 iceberg lettuce leaves finely shredded

6 red tipped lettuce finely shredded

3 spring onions finely chopped

1kg cooked Australian tiger prawns, peeled, deveined and chopped (keep 1 whole prawn for each person for a garnish)

1 crayfish, cooked and meat chopped (keep legs for garnish)

3 tsp seafood sauce

1 tbs thousand island dressing

Lemon juice

Cracked pepper

 

1. You'll need 6 cocktail glasses and layer the ingredients as you go.

2. Chop crayfish meat and put into a small bowl and stir in thousand island dressing and cracked pepper and then spoon into bottom of glass.

3. Top with spring onions.

4. Top with iceberg lettuce and red tipped lettuce pushing down to fill.

5. Chop prawn meat and put into a small bowl and stir in seafood sauce and cracked pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Then spoon into top of glass.

6. Garnish with a whole prawn on side of each glass and some crayfish legs.

7. Serve and enjoy.

 

The prawns and crayfish before

 

Prawns peeled, chopped and sauced up

 

Crayfish cooked, chopped and sauced up

 

Layer into your glasses - crayfish, spring onion, lettuces and prawns

 

Serve and enjoy

 

Sharing with link parties Savvy Southern Style and The Dedicated House ... why don't you head on over and see what everyone else is linking up!

 

[All images my own]

 

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Oh Shit It's Monday

I had a totally indulgent relaxing Xmas Holiday with plenty of sleep ins, Foxtel remote holding, midnight swims to cool off, slothing inside in the air con, catch up with friends and family, hitting the sales, and more than a few homemade cocktails. It was just what I wanted for my Xmas Holidays!

But now it's back to reality as the start of the working week beckons ....

 

 

Oh shit it's Monday!
Let's hope it's not too painful!

 

[Image from my Pinterest here]

 

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have no problem using packet cake mix every  now and then especially when there's such a great range available now

I baked these White Wings Red Velvet Cupcakes recently and they turned out really tasty and just check out the awesome colour of them!

 

Baked in their cute red patty cases

Iced with cream cheese icing

Sprinkled with a mix of chocolate sprinkles

Ready to eat!

Plese note, I was not sponsored by White Wings - I just really love their cupcakes!

Do you ever use packet cake mix? What's your favourite?


[All images my own]

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