Friday What's on my mind

Can I Prune My Cumquat Tree in August in Australia - Link Back to Rhonda at Down To Earth for a treat.

At the moment I have Thyme, Curry Plant, Rosemary, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Spearmint and Eau De Cologne mint growing.  A couple of decorative pots, one pet grave and an ugly hedge which I think I will take out.  But my main concern is can I prune the centre attraction - the cumquat?

Any suggestions on the perfect herb patch?  Do you have a blog that I can link too that might help?

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to link Back to Rhonda at Down To Earth if you haven't already.  Have a great day or evening.

Thrifty Cooking

Today has been all about thrifty cooking.  I never use a recipe for main course meals, I like to make it up as I go and with what's in the pantry.  Yet, I can't bake sweets or cakes to save myself without a recipe.
I will only do the grocery shopping once a week, mainly because I hate shopping for food and we try and live within a budget.  So I find I often have to 'make do'.

So this is what I did. I raided the pantry and fridge to see what's available, then I waited until I got some divine inspiration.  Once that happened this is what I came up with.

Vegetable & Meat Lasagne with Home Made Pasta 

First I made the pasta, and luckily I had enough eggs.  It takes three egg yolks and two eggs.

Then the messy bit, mixing the egg mixture with the flour.  Not going to show the mess I got into, but it worked out ok.


My recipe makes heaps of pasta and it can be frozen for next time, so no waste.  It's also so easy to cut and get it to fit the dish so much better than the pre-cooked stuff.  Yuk!  If you've never made your own pasta you should.  You will NEVER go back to the pre-cooked stuff.

 Picking herbs from the garden is a must, I didn't have any parsley, but that didn't stop me.  I used what I had; rosemary, curry plant ,thyme and lemon balm (mint) all chopped up and chucked into the meat sauce.

One of the layers is roast pumpkin with a sprinkle of ginger.  This is all the pumpkin I had, better than nothing!

Another layer is onion, chopped mushrooms and sour cream with nutmeg.  I could eat this on it's own.

Then the main part, the meat sauce.  I added lots of carrot, celery, onion, garam marsala, garlic and mince meat to this pot.  If you want a meatless dish, just leave out the meat.  Once the meat was cooked, I put the other bits and pieces in with a tin of diced tomatoes and tomato puree.  I just used enough to give a rich but not too runny texture.

I made the cheese sauce, using margarine, flour, milk, garlic, garam masala and cheese.  Once I had everything cooked and cooled, I assembled the lasagne with meat sauce, pasta sheets, cheese sauce, pumpkin and mushroom, more pasta and repeated until it was all gone.  Sprinkle the top with more cheese.

Pop it into the oven, keep an eye on it until the top has browned and Bob's your uncle.  All done.  

The longest part was resting the pasta dough in the fridge for three hours before rolling it out and then putting the layers together.  As we all know, this dish will be even better tomorrow evening but tonight is the night.

Dala Horse Soft Toys

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, it's Christmas in July

Winter & Darma Dala Horses

Winter

Darma

I've been secretly working with Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes on the 3D Dala Horses.  I didn't even know what a Dala was until about a month ago.  Pam gave me links and lots of information that I soaked up like a sponge and then got to work making my Dala's.
There are some other blogs which have a keen interest in this little Christmas in July challenge so you should sooch over and check out what's going on.  Carina at Carina's Craftblog has the most beautiful embroidery designs, then Katryn at The Pickled Herring blogspot who amongst other things produces beautiful felt inspired Scandinavian Crafts and don't forget Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes who has been working on her own Dala 3D horse.


If you would like to make a Dala horse similar to mine, click here to go to the tutorial and download the pattern template.  Thanks for visiting and I 'd love to hear what you think of my Dala's and let me know how you go if you decide to use my pattern.


Cheers and Merry Christmas for July

Superstition

My mother taught me many superstitions as I was growing up, possibly something to do with her Irish background or maybe just silly ‘Old Wives Tales” but nevertheless I've never forgotten the things she told me.  

There’s one I remember clearly, ‘If you can untie a knot your husband will be good to you’.  As a kid, when I got my knitting into a tangle mum would always tell me that I should try and undo the knot myself otherwise my husband would not be good to me.  According to her I was destined for a miserable life because I never had the patience to undo really tangled knots but she would sit until she undid the knot and got it all sorted for me.  What can I say, my husband is good to me and likewise but these days I cringe if I can’t undo a knot and have to cut the thread.

Another tale I have trouble ignoring is “Never put new shoes on the kitchen table unless you want bad luck”.  I’ve done somersaults to stop new shoes being placed on a table.

If I ever see crossed knives, I go out of my way to straighten them as I couldn’t stand the thought of having an argument with anyone (and it’s best not to be seen doing it just in case you didn’t get to the knives in time).  I carefully handle mirrors otherwise I will suffer seven years bad luck if I break one.

When I open a new jar of jam, or sauce I make a wish for luck, just like I make a wish when I have the first fruit for the season.  I never go to bed with dirty feet, otherwise the rats will eat my toes, and should I stand on a crack, I will break my mothers’ back.

Your wish will come true if you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake and same with the wishbone from the chicken or turkey if you get the long half of the wishbone.

As a kid I slept with my arms crossed over my chest because my guardian angel would watch over me and if anyone in the house spilt salt, we had to throw a pinch over our shoulder to keep the devil away.

When someone drops something and I pick it up for them, as I hand it back I say “You’ll get a surprise tonight”.  I practice this on a regular basis.  Not sure why!

Hot ears means someone is talking about you (not in a nice way) and an itchy right palm is great because you will receive money, whereas an itchy left palm means you have to part with money.
I never walk under a ladder for fear of more bad luck and a pimple on my tongue means I’ve told a big fat lie.  To find out if your friend loves you pick the petals off a daisy one by one saying, he loves me, he loves me not, until you get to the last petal to find out your fate.  If you want to see into the future, pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.

These are my fondest memories, I know there's heaps more.  I don’t think I’ve suffered in anyway because of them, in fact I have great childhood memories.  I was an adventurer.  This may sound like strange thought patterns for a Sunday.  Am I becoming my mother?  Do you have any childhood memories or superstitions you’d like to share?

More Softies

Robin Pin Cushion

Honey Bear

Puff

Friday What's on my mind

What's this mystery object?

Last Friday I posted a strange item and asked anyone if they new what it was.  Thanks to everyone who took the time to guess.  A couple were close, even warm but I'II show you what it really is.

Well, it’s called a Vinturi - apparently wine needs to breathe!  As wine breathes, it opens up and releases its intended aromas and flavours.  This fancy item can be used for a single glass of wine, whereas the other alternative, if you decant wine, is to pour the wine into a jug.  My son said it’s the same principle as a carburettor except when associated with a car it’s called Venturi.  The carburettor mixes air with the liquid.

This is my husbands 2 minutes of fame demonstrating how his Vinturi works.  

Link back to Down To Earth to see what other people have on their mind today.

Have a great day