nellymary's Salsa Verde or Green Sauce

I have to share this recipe with you...nellymary or Narelle is a moderator at the Down To Earth Forums and has her own truly inspiring blog, "just like my Nan made" Narelle is also the 'inventor' of the citrus cleaner we love.

I didn't have anywhere near as many herbs as Narelle but I'd been saving the dark green string onion tops for several days so I put them in the food processor along with 3 whole spring onions, a clove of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and a scant half a cup of basil, sage and chives.(Regular readers will know why there is no basil left).

Blitzed until quite smooth and then tasted for seasoning, it needed more salt and is absolutely delicious. We had it on a bean salad yesterday and this morning I've had some more on my toast with cheese spread. See what a brilliant green it is and it smells fantastic. As Narelle say it will be very good on pasta or anywhere else you would use pesto.

  Also wanted to share this special Vegemite label that was marketed around Australia Day at the end of January...I think it's quite clever!

Well I'm off to hang out the washing, it's still warm and sunny here but thankfully not so hot, the mornings are delightfully cool, Twitch has been running around the garden at full speed and then flopping down for a well-earned rest lol

Love from Sue
xx

PS If you'd like a chance to win a copy of Rhonda's book, Down To Earth, A Guide to Simple Living have a look at Kristen's blog, she's also written a very pleasing review of it.

http://www.kmevsmyself.com/2012/03/book-review-giveaway-down-to-earth.html?

Twitch is a Big Boy Now

 He's almost 5months old already but still not full grown, he has about a kilo to go to catch up with his Dad, Georgie.

So my recent photos...here he's perched on the back of the settee, no chance of missing anything that way!

he can jump into the large pots by himself...

and look completely innocent....

oops....didn't realise you were still watching!

He goes from one planter to the next....

  Remember on Christmas Day when he was only this size?

 He does bring such joy to our days, especially during these painful times of Priscilla's illness.

These are the latest siblings of his parents, Bella and Georgie,

and this the new sable doe, she's not much older that than the babies and always gets into the box with them..aw!

Hope you've enjoyed this bunny update

Bye bye for now,
Love from Sue

Quick Visit To Northbridge

On Friday we decided to make a quick visit to Kakulis Bros in Northbridge for some fresh spices, olives and a nice lunch. Joe was craving some Steamed Lotus Leaves and Prawn goodies so I ordered them while he found a nice table next to the garden in the Old Shanghai. I went to the Singapore and Malaysian stall and ordered a Combination Plate, rice, beef rendang, Malay chicken curry, lamb curry and Chinese style honey chicken for Joe. There was also a large scoop of mixed vegetables, cabbage, carrots and green beans. $20 for lunch for two is really good value and we even took some home with us! The train is free during the day for pensioners too!

I took a few pics on the way back to the train, past the Urban Garden and the Art Gallery.....

a pretty stairway
rooftops above the trees
a beloved man
a giant crane
an unusual window
a city oasis
a sign to think about

I took some more photos of Twitch yesterday to compare with earlier ones, I;d say he has doubled in size since we became his guardians(I like that word better than owners). Will post them tomorrow.

I popped in to see Elizabeth yesterday, she's been unwell, and left her a Clayton's Quiche, bread and butter, orange quarters and some chocolate teddy biscuits for the Lads! Next door Gordie was baking a banana cake and muffins and his pizza dough was ready to use too. I went outside to admire the rabbits, Georgie was in fine fettle and Bella has 3 new kits, they're Twitch's parents.

Yesterday was the second anniversary of the passing of our grandson, Dominic..we were with his parents in spirit. Priscilla also had a very rough day...some things are just too hard to understand at times aren't they?

Hope you have a really enjoyable week,
Love from Sue

This and That

Oh my goodness, it's over a week since I last posted here and it's not because I had nothing to report...quite the opposite but not enough time to sit and think!

Best news first, Priscilla's tumour has confined itself to one spot and not gone burrowing into her lungs or bone marrow so we are thrilled with this news as you can imagine. Last Thursday she went to a wonderful hairdresser who shaves chemo patient's hair for free and then she showed her how to tie the pretty new scarf she'd chosen on-line (and paid for by her step-grandad!). Priss has been to the wig clinic and been loaned a really cute short blond wig, pictures coming soon. You can follow Priscilla's 'journey' here at her own blog.

Over at the Down To Earth forum we've had a huge number of new members following Rhonda's appearance on two national TV programmes as well as radio and the book tour...if you still haven't joined click on the badge on the right of this post and it will take you there, it's free, fantastic and so very inspiring.

On Sunday Gordie took Jess, Livvie and I to our first ever rabbit show at Ashfield near Guildford. We'd hoped there would have been more bunnies to admire but we saw some different breeds and some gorgeous Lops like Twitch, Olivia and I took loads of photos with my little camera and they are really bad! Still want to see some? Ok here goes...

This last one is an albino British Giant, roughly twice the size of Twitch who will weigh 2.5 kilos once he's full grown.

Then I mentioned that we were near Woodbridge House which was built in the mid to late 19th century by a Parliamentarian, Charles Harper, on the banks of the upper Swan River. His family lived in this beautiful 3 storey house and he began a school there which has blossomed into Guildford Grammar School. This short film shows you the beautiful house and area around there...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFcp0eKvHr4

It's run by the National Trust nowadays and you can look around the house for a small fee....the girls and I went in but they were somewhat distracted by being given a sheet and told to look for toy rats in each room! I did manage to get a little edikation thrown in too! The house is furnished as it would have been over 100yrs ago with many of the family's belongings still in place. I took a couple of photos outside, can you see the girls in the doorway?

This side faces the river, the verandas would have been a lovely cool place to sit on a Summer's day.

Across the lawn to the river...

Olivia took this arty photo of Jessie talking to me about the house. They both filled in the Visitor's Book...Liv said "Wow" and Jessie said how much she loved the house and would like to live there!

Two more batches of soap have been made this fortnight.. I have 2 of Deb's wooden molds now and they make soap-making so very much easier. I use Rhonda's second recipe all the time now.

1 block of Copha
1000 gms olive oil
450 mls filtered water
172 gms caustic soda

This batch just has 3 tablespoons of sweet orange essential oil...it's lovely and light...

Well I think I've caught up to date now, there's also been a lot of reading and a little knitting going on as well lots of cooking and gardening,

Hope all is well with you(especially Claire who has not been well for far too long),
Love from Sue
xox

Sweet Chilli Sauce

Another vegetable that is very cheap at the moment is capsicum or red and green peppers. We love the Thai style sweet chili sauce and so I had a go at making some on Monday evening...it's delicious and the most beautiful colour. It's not too hot and lovely on all sorts of meals from omelettes to spag bol as well as with Thai style chicken etc.

You'll need

3-4 large red capsicums, washed and de-seeded, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno chilli, this is when you need to know your chillies, perhaps 2 little bird's eye chillies would be the same?
2 chopped garlic cloves
2 teaspoons chopped ginger.

Process these together in a food processor or blender and scrape into saucepan.

Add 1-1 1/2 cups of sugar(your taste again)
3/4 cup of white vinegar
a teaspoon of salt
a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
and a grating of black pepper.

Simmer the sauce uncovered (with the window open!) until it thickens and all the vegies bits are tender...this will take 30-50 minutes.
Soak your jars in hot water, pat dry with a clean towel and pour in the sauce.
Put the lids on and allow to cool.

I didn't make too much as this was a first, Gordon has one bottle and the others are in the refridgerator.

Priscilla is doing quite well although this week she has begun to lose her hair...this was quite a shock and she said she'd been trying to deny the fact that this would happen. Her Dad and I have ordered a lovely scarf and head-band from headcovers.com so hopefully that will arrive this week. She loved the torquoise colours and the name was just right for our own Mrs Kelly! 

Here she is...hot off the press

That's all for now,
Love from Sue
xxx

Zucchini Flan..Mum's Recipe

.....an oldie and a goodie especially now that zucchinis are so cheap....

You'll need

2 cups of thinly sliced zucchini, (about 2/3 of a large one)
1 tin of chopped drained tomatoes or 2-3 thinly sliced fresh ones
5 beaten eggs with 3/4 cup milk
60 gms each of parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese, grated
basil or oregano to taste(I used 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh basil)
1 chopped onion
2 crushed cloves of garlic
salt and pepper

start by sautéing the onion until quite soft then add the garlic and stir-fry a little longer.
take off the heat and mix in the tomatoes, parmesan cheese, herbs and season to taste

grease a flan or pie dish and make layers of zucchini slices and the tomato mixture(2 layers of each)
pour over the eggs and milk, top with cheddar cheese and bake at 180C for about 45minutes.

Lovely hot or cold


Cooler weather is on it's way...it's been up to 40C in Perth this weekend.....toooo hot for me. Minimum 16C to Max of 30C will be fine thank you very much.
Love from Sue
xx

Welcome to The World

With much love we welcome the arrival of Fergus Henry, born about an hour ago in Manchester. Congratulations to Kath, Mark, William and Unka Tom...he's beautiful...Kath says he came complete with drool lol

Horses and Carriage, Like Love and Marriage

On our way home from Mandurah yesterday, Deb and I stopped at the Boat Ramp Cafe opposite the new ramp on the Safety Bay Foreshore. As I sipped my orange juice I realised I could see a white horse through the trees across the road.  We walked over and there were 2 beauties and a replica carriage being readied for a local wedding. Also admiring them were Deb, Chloe and Chelsea....Chelsea was in Deb's class the year I was her asst(10yrs ago) and Chloe had been in Kerry  and Jane's class with me about 14yrs ago! Eeek. Anyway here are some of my photos.

Deb had to kiss them much to Chelsea's delight!

They were both males and around 16yrs of age

The driver's hat

The beautiful replica carriage, a phaeton perhaps from the early 1800s?

I took lots of photos at Dolphin Quay in Mandurah and will share them this week.

Our little family has 3 birthdays today, all in England. Auntie Jessie, cousin Dave and second cousin Rebecca...hope you have a lovely day xoxo

It's a public holiday here tomorrow for Labour Day and the forecast is for 35C!
Happy Long Weekend fellow Westies,
Love from Sue
xx

Some New Photos

Hallo Every-one, not a great deal going on here, we're quite stressed by the incessant barking of the dog next door and waiting for our landlord to do something about it.

Here is a photo of grandson, Cody, 11yrs old taken by, wait for it, his 2 yr old brother with an IPod! Apparently David takes lots of pics and this one actually had the subject in the middle. Their brother, Caleb, turned 5 yrs of age this week! Jessie and Livvie have a beautiful new doe, a sable lop which means her body is grey and her legs and nose are charcoal....she's 9 weeks old and so lovely. I'll have to take the good camera up there and get some photos of the whole rabbit bunch! There are 4 baby lops too.

Joe and I have moved Twitch's cabin into the house now after seeing a mouse in it (brrrrr). Twitch is quite content to sleep in there even when the door is open and he was especially pleased with the fitted carpet installed during yesterday's big clean-up!

Twitch is also very fond of his rosemary stick collection and often falls asleep near them...

In Canada, Priscilla has undergone her first three chemotherapy treatments this week. Monday was very rough and in the evening a nurse came to the house to give Priss an injection to stop the vomiting. The nurse blamed the carboplatin for the nausea and the vomiting.....a note from Priscilla on Tuesday explaining...

Nurse at hospital thinks it is the carboplatin that caused the nausea. I have only Etoposide today and tomorrow. She told me to take the stematil (prochlorazine) every 4 hours. And is giving me an IV dose of it pre-chemo drugs today, so hopefully we will have a better day. She said stick to light meals, soup, toast, etc. nothing rich. Hoping that today will be an easier day. Thank you everyone for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers.


That's all our news for now, thank you for all your comments.
I hope you enjoy your weekend(don't fall out of that kayak, Joy!)
Love from Sue
xx