Tuesday 31st

I cant believe that January is gone already! How time flies when your having fun!
I have had a quiestish one today as I have not been 100%, I have wrapped a few boxes of books today, posted a whole heap of orders (THANK YOU EVERYONE!) and felt a bit naughty scabbing some old doors that were dumped out the front, from the people that just moved out opposite us! I was needing some props for flooring for my food photos and thought with a touch of paint, they will be perfect!


I am a bit excited to start seeing even little bits'n'peices of my next book come together and look so REAL! I am also quite nervous and can only hope that you all love it just as much as the first book! I have a bit to go still until it is in my hands, so I will hold back on the nerves until closer to the time!
I have not decided on the final number of how many recipes will be in it....at this stage it is 75!!!!!!
I have taken photo #15 tonight!!!!!!! So 60 more to go.....my challenge is to have them finished by February 29th......CAN I DO IT!!!!!!!???????? OOOOHHHHHH the pressure it on!!!!!!!!

Hope you have all had a wonderful day & sweet dreams tonight, I know for certain I will enjoy sleeping tonight as its so much cooler than last night!

Take Care Of You,
Coll x

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON:
29 DAYS TO GO: 60 RECIPES GO

The twins had already had dinner, yet still wanted to eat Dads! He was kind enough to share! If you look closely you will see a meal we enjoyed after I took its photo for COTC FOR KIDS!

Happy Monday :-)

School is back.....and I am one of these Mums that is always a little saddened by this....as I watch my big girls go off to Year 4 and Year 2, it only seems like yesterday that they were starting Preschool. I recall Miss Year 4 starting preschool, I sat in the McDonalds in The Hunter Valley all day (Im not kidding!) and different friends & family joined me throughout the day to keep me company, as the McDonalds was only 3 minutes around the corner and I wanted to be as close as possible if she needed me!!!!!! She didnt!!!!!!! And so here we are, starting school again, not only do I miss not having as much time with them, I like those few weeks of sleep ins, PJ days, no huge routine, late night dinners and movies, no homework....and I like seeing them as my babies still as I dont overly enjoy that WOW moment when I realize they are just growing up SO fast!

The house was so quiet today when the twins went down for their sleep and I quickly remembered what it was like to run around feeling like I have skates on getting everything done whilst I had that free time! I did the clothes washing, completely organized and sorted my home office (this was a bigger job then i thought!), went through the recipes for my next book CUT OUT THE CRAP FOR KIDS plus what seems like 100 other things! 

I feel like I am pushing it to get my side done (before printing etc) in this month of February as I had planned.....but once again....Im up for the challenge!

Will keep you posted with how I go! Todays to-do list gets a HUGE TICK! Paperwork done.....now Im off to order my groceries and then the fun of cooking and photography begins tomorrow!!!!!! Wish me luck!!!

Hoping this finds you all well and that your childrens first day back at school was enjoyable for you all.

Favourite flowers of mine, given to me by a lovely friend!

Saw this online today and had to share it :-)

What my second book CUT OUT THE CRAP FOR KIDS looks like at the moment!

Take Care Of You
Coll x

Marketing!

Teatowels, Coffee Mugs, Canvas shopping bags or Aprons?????? That is my thought process for today!!!
I have decided to expand my shopping cart of 1 item (!!!) and get something else with my name on it!!!!!! What will it be ??????

Advertising is so expensive and getting my name out there is not the easiest....I believe I have a great product that has helped so many already, and from what I hear from the emails I receive from complete strangers, others agree with me!..... I feel that I have been given these food issues for a reason and to help others is the reason...whilst life has been busy with the twins being so young I have been able to sit back and relax with it all slightly......but now its head down, bum up.......cant wait to finish COTC#2......and decide on Teatowels, Coffee Mugs, Canvas shopping bags or Aprons????????

In the meantime.....look at my delicious coffee my hubby made me (on rice milk of course!) that helps with the thought process!!!!!!

Take Care Of You
xxxxxx

Happy Australia Day!

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

Just dropped by to say HI! and let you know I havent forgotten about the other recipes I am to type up for you from last weeks dinner party!
We have had a huge week here and book orders and enquiries have been keeping me extra busy this week!
Even though the sun hasnt been shining here, we have managed still to have a beautiful Australia Day, celebrated with family and good friends!

Made my "Cherry and Almond Cake" from my book today --- sorry though I didnt manage to get a photo before it all simply disappeared :-)

Hope this finds you all well!

Take Care Of You
xxx

KANGAROO ENTREE FOR DINNER PARTY!

ENTREE #1
FILET DE KANGOUROU AVEC SAUCE A LA MOUTARDE CREMEUSE
(Kangaroo Fillet with Creamy Mustard Sauce)

Step 1 - make a sweet potato bake, with slices of sweet potato, a little cream and garlic. Pre make and then allow to cool. Once cool cut into desired shape and size. I use a "scone" cutter. I then keep them warm in a low oven until ready to serve. This goes at the bottom of the serving plate.

Step 2 - marinate kangaroo in a little olive oil, fresh rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook "rare" just before "plating up!"
Put pieces of Roo on top of the sweet potato.

Step 3 - using a potato peeler, peel long pieces of sweet potato. Shallow fry in hot oil until crispy. Try not to eat too many as you go...as these are SO yummy! I then placed pieces of this on top of the kangaroo.

Sauce - 2 heaped teaspoons seeded mustard, 375ml evaporated milk. Mix thoroughly in a saucepan on medium heat. In a small container place 1 teaspoon of cornflour and 1 tblspn water, mix well until the lumps are gone. Add this cornflour mixture to the milk mixture and stir constantly until thick enough for your liking. I placed this sauce in little bowls on the side of the plate.

Hope this all makes sense.....as there was no real recipe to follow.......

Will write more later or tomorrow!

Take Care Of You xxx

Starters @Dinner Party

Starter #1 BEEF AND BREAD!

1 french stick
Butter/Marg
1 large piece Scotch Fillet
Sauces of your choice - I used bought Seeded Mustard, Hot Chilli Sauce and also Sweet Chilli Sauce.

Cook Scotch fillet on hotplate - cook rare. Set aside to rest. I cooked mine the night before. When ready to prepare, slice as thinly as you can.

10 minutes before ready to serve.
Cut French stick into 1-1.5cm pieces and spread lightly with butter.
Fold 2 small pieces of meat on each piece of bread and top with sauces.

To tell the difference in the Chilli sauces, I put a slice of fresh Chilli for decoration on the one with Hot Chilli sauce and I put small pieces of fresh chives on the one with sweet Chilli sauce on it.

Starter #2 is being kept secret as I "threw" this together to make something I could eas with all of my allergies and IT WORKED AND IT WAS DELICIOUS! So I am going to be sneaky I'm sorry and say this is being kept for COTC#3 !!!!!!! I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW.....I haven't even got book #2 out yet and I already have plans for #3!!!!!!!!!!

Trying to relax :-)

It's funny how life if busy busy busy busy and there are days I sleep walk as I literally dream about resting and stopping. Yet here I am laughing at myself because I have the opportunity to do it and I can't! We are away for the night (me, hubby and 4 kids) at his parents farm in the country. It's raining and I hadn't (until now) been able to get Internet connection (tragedy I hear you say!) and hubby is off fishing, kids are happy playing and I should be able to stop and sit and do nothing....yet Im a tac bored and it's driving me mad! What's going around in my head is the 100 or so things I could be doing at home! Crazy I know!

Instead I have been day dreaming about recipes, how I am going to take some of the photos in my next book, what I would like to cover to look like and all that exciting stuff I have put out of my head until "February" .....woo hoo.....not long now!

So finally I can get a little Internet connection so I have checked and answered emails, Facebook and decided I will have a mini vent on here! Ha ha!

I have also intended to (and will still try to now, if not at a later date) post some recipes
on here from what I cooked the other night at our dinner party. Most of them are not exact recipes but I will still them for you anyway! I'm sure you will love them as we did!

Until next time....... xxx

Ps I know there is spelling and grammar errors but it's not letting me go back and change them!

Pps it's raining so much....how much rain will we need for us to be flooded in !!!????? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner Party

Good Evening! My eyes are almost hanging out of my head as I sit here this evening! My dinner party that I hosted last night went down well....and I chauffered our guests home at 4am! With 4 children there was never going to be any chance for a sleep in and I think we did well sleeping in until 8am! The preparation all went quite well and as much as it was busy, and I felt like I had 100 different little things to do, I had it all prepared in a few hours, table set, house cleaned, time to sit for a 10minute feet up and cuppa and get myself all dressed up!
Typical girl (or should I say typical me!) I left what I was wearing to the last moment and was super excited to find a dress that I bought at a huge bargain in Surry Hills 2 years ago that I had never worn before! It didnt actually fit me all that well when I bought it! But recall just "having" to buy this dress as it was $299 marked down and down and down to $25! I am not the type to spend $299 on a dress so I "had" to get it! And of course I thought it was gorgeous :-)


Enjoy the photos!

Starters #1 - Rare Beef with a mixture of sauces and mustards

Starters #2 - Dill Cucumber rounds

Me with my husband in the middle and our guests either side

Entree choice #1 Lamb Backstrap with Rocket and fresh Mint Yoghurt

Entree choice #2 Kangaroo fillet with Kumera layers and Creamy Mustard Sauce

The kids Jelly layered dessert - they were having a movie/pj party in a different room

Main meals choice #2 - Scotch Fillet on a mash of Kumera with Avocado and Bernaise Sauce

Main Meal choice #1 - French Lamb Cutlets with Cauliflower puree, Asparagus and Basil Sauce

Dessert choice # 1 Layers of alcoholic Lime Jelly with Coconut and Fresh Mango

Dessert choice # 2 Chocolate Mud Cake with Alcoholic Cherries, Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate Sauce

Hope this message finds you all well and your hearts full of love.......

Take Care Of You
Coll xxx

Hi!

Hi Friends! Just thought I would stop by for a moment to say HI! Hope this "blog" finds you all well. All has been wonderful here, life is keeping me busy especially being the school holidays and it has been nice to finally see some Sunshine and make it to the beach a few times also.
I had a few nights away last weekend, spending a night at my parents place with the family. We then headed to my nephews first birthday party/christening in Scone, and then the 4 kids and I ventured on to Gunnedah to visit my Aunt and Uncle for 2 nights. It was nice and cool there, and even had to head out to buy Miss 7 a cardigan....and for those that know that Gunnedah area, to have a cool day in Summer is just not normal! It was lovely though as I wasnt really looking forward to that sticky heat that you get there, especially when I still have the twins being breastfed and climbing all over me!
I managed to have a "me" night last night with a gorgeous friend of mine, Skye. For all you mums out there, you would know how rare these nights/moments are! I am aiming for this new year to have one night a week as "me" time....I figure if I aim for one a week thats a start and hopefully it will truly happen at least once a month! I am doing well...19th of January and this was my first one! YAY! We went and saw "We bought a Zoo" I know it was only PG but we both really enjoyed it. It was heartwarming and left you feeling warm and fuzzy inside, which can only be a good thing! It has some beautiful messages which would reach out to those that were listening....I know Skye and I were.
So Im throwing a huge dinner party tomorrow night. Not huge in numbers...its only 1 other family.....but huge in what I am doing. I have sent out invites. The kids are having a PJ/Movie party with lots of yummies in the lounge room....the adult are "Cocktail" and I am doing 4 courses, a wine to match each one and the Entree, Main and Dessert they get choices...so I have even done a menu up in French.....have I bitten off more then I can chew.....ha ha ha ha.... who knows.....time will tell.....will let you know :-)

It has been a week or 2 of lessons for me with dealing with family and friends and I grateful for the ability to be constantly growing as a person, learning how to deal with these situations whilst being surrounded with love and support. These lessons are not always easy and I dont always understand them....one thing I have learnt though in life, is we are not always meant to. Sometimes its about patience. I found this "sign" which I thought I would share with you.

Take Care Of You xxx

School holidays :-)

Greetings from the place where school holidays have kicked in, days are going WAY too fast, the weeks are flying by, I am trying to squeeze so much in, but attempt to rest at times, dinners arent being had until 8pm, wishing the holidays were a little longer, but on the same hand I am getting excited for February and finishing a huge part of COTC#2!....breathe....!

The 4 kids and I have had a busy and fun filled week here, with our Churches "Family Festival" being on. There have been 2 sessions daily 10-12 and 3-5, we have been to both sessions everyday, and end up with extras coming home with me for lunch, pool visits, sleep overs and everything else! I actually quite like this, although it seems my front door is constantly revolving and at times I would like to put a lock on it! I like the fact that the girls have these friends who want to spend time with them and they feel our home is welcoming for them. Im embarrased to say though that because of this my housework has been let go a tad this week and I am (sadly!) looking forward to a day of cleaning tomorrow! I know Im crazy! I do figure though that spending fun and quaility time with the girls during the school holidays is far more important than vacuuming daily :-) Before I know it I will feel like I have blinked and they would have moved out of home and I will wonder where the years have gone....and I know for certain that I am not going to say "geez I wish I had vacuumed more" .....

So I am planning a few more day trips and possibly even a Country trip in to these next few weeks and figure that I have the energy to keep going full swing for a while longer! Then it brings me to February....which I have been trying to ignore within myself, but as the time quickly approaches I am getting SO unbeleivably excited! February is going to be a mad month of finishing my cooking, creating and photo part of my second book COTC FOR KIDS! Then it will be off for a meeting with my Graphic Designer and see if she can once again put perfectly onto paper, what is in my head for the design! Yep, it makes me stop breathing when I think about it...Im not sure why I do this, as breathing is clearly so important! Yet its something I do when I am thinking about something that I know makes me unbeleivably happy or at times nervous (thinking now that I do it also when my eldest daughter competes in dancing)

How is your 2012 going? I hope its been amazing so far!

Well I think I have rambled long enough for the moment! 

Talk again soon,

My love and warmest blessings to you all,

Take Care Of You

Coll x