taking stock

A little snapshot of life as it is right now, because it's fun to look back one day and remember.

Making: A mobile to hang above Pearl's cot, from driftwood and tiny ceramic birds, a ceramic leaf and a tiny ceramic toadstool.
Cooking: Lots of roast chicken, parmesan baked potatoes, and asparagus while it's still in season.
Drinking: A glass of warm water with lemon every morning when I wake, and a glass of pinot before bed.
Reading: Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (the author of Anne of Green Gables). I should probably start reading real books for grown ups again but this is just pure escapism for me and about all my weary brain can handle right now.
Wanting: To make a new batch of granola as my breakfasts have been decidedly lacking it without it for the past couple of weeks.
Deciding: On a pre-school for Rose for next year, the local Steiner school is topping the list for me at the moment.
Enjoying: Dipping into 'An Everlasting Meal' by Tamar Adler. A different kind of cookbook which is changing the way I look at food, cooking and eating in general.
Waiting: Not very patiently, and with a great deal of excitement for our upcoming trip back to England in December.
Liking: Starting to do some work from home for a few hours a week and earn a little money again.
Wondering: When Pearl's first tooth will decide to arrive because it feels like she's been teething forever with nothing to show for it yet.
Loving: The warmer, lighter evenings.
Considering: An attempt at baking a loaf of sourdough bread.
Watching: Recorded episodes of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces.
Marvelling: At the garden bursting into Spring bloom. Every morning we wake to discover that a new plant has flowered.
Needing: More hours in the day.
Smelling: Pearl's little head, to get my fix of that new baby smell before it disappears.
Following: Along as this lady rocks her minimalist wardrobe and feeling inspired to do the same.
Admiring: Anyone who manages top get out of the house in the mornings without leaving the place looking like it's been burgled.
Buying: A few Christmas presents for the girls, including this book and these storytelling dice for Lila, so that we don't bankrupt ourselves in December.
Noticing: I really need to re-paint my toenails and get a fringe trim so I can actually see again.
Getting: The house decluttered by purging it of things we no longer need or don't actually use. It's a never-ending process.
Bookmarking: This list of Ways to be Kind to Your Children. Because lately I feel like I've been tired and snappy with them too often.
Disliking: The constant stream of illness that has rampaged through our household non-stop during the colder months. Please let it be over now!
Opening: A frighteningly big electricity bill that we managed to rack up over the Winter. Vowing that I will make everyone wear three jumpers each next Winter and never turn the heating on.
Laughing: At Rose and the way she says 'I-chair' instead of high chair and how she informs me that her hands have gone all 'sprinkly' after spending too long in the bath.
Feeling: Tired but happy.
Snacking: On bowls of chopped fruit mixed with natural Greek yoghurts, a handful of almonds and a drizzle of honey.
Wishing: That we had a dishwasher. Three children and no dishwasher is not a situation I could recommend to anyone.
Coveting: A new pair of summer sandals. There's a pair of Birks in my online shopping cart patiently waiting for payday.
Hearing: The girls playing outside together in the garden
Looking: Forward to getting back in the water and reacquainted with my surfboard again over the next few months.
Feeling: Virtuous that we've finally started using cloth nappies with Pearl, and guilty that we didn't with the other two, but all that washing whilst living in tiny apartments and homes with no drying space was just not feasible.
Hoping: to make a Saturday morning yoga class a regular thing. I've managed to get there the past three weekends and I've been feeling so much better because of it.
Wearing: A lot of outfits revolving around black skinny jeans, Breton striped t-shirts and a chambray shirt because it's easy and requires little effort. Thinking I should apply a dab of red lip stain to try and avoid looking completely like a boy, but usually forgetting.
Reminding: myself that I have a lot to be thankful for.

Pictures...the beautiful pink king proteas currently gracing our table...the mobile I made to hang above Pearl's cot...a newly flowering geranium....a newly sitting Pearl discovering grass for the first time...my vision of a wooden fence with climbing flowers growing up it is slowly coming to fruition.

the happy mundane #3

I couldn't decide if this gratitude list should be last weeks (very late to air) or this weeks (slightly ahead of schedule) so it is by default, both. Some weeks just get so hectic that finding a moment to sit down uninterrupted at the computer or pick up the camera and document life with a few shots is just not on the agenda. It doesn't of course mean that there has been nothing to be thankful for. Rather the opposite, as after getting my head around the big disappointment mentioned in the last list and returning to my full-time, now-mother-of-three duties, life has been full and rolling along relatively smoothly. With the odd speed bump of course; like the few days that the baby has declined to have anything more than twenty minute cat naps during the day. Those are then balanced by the times she has a three hour afternoon sleep (in her Moses basket no less!), allowing me to operate with two free hands and bask in a feeling of great achievement after managing to cram as many tasks as humanely possible into this window of time.

Without further ado, here's some more of the little things I've been grateful for this past couple of weeks...

1 // A still-warm-from-the-oven chocolate cake delivered to us by our incredibly generous neighbours at the weekend.

2 // Expanding on the above (because it really deserves it's own number), living on such a great street with such kind and caring neighbours. Some of the sweet things they have done for us lately include delivering unexpected new baby and birthday gifts for our girls, sharing produce from their gardens and giving us clippings from their plants, entertaining Lila and Rose for a few hours while we get things done...and the list goes on.

3 // A trip to Aldi, where I happily discovered it was 'British Week'. Hello packet of chocolate Hob Nobs and HP sauce.

4 // Catch ups and cups of tea with a best friend (also mama to a new babe), with good advice and words of wisdom. Even though it's the third time I've done this baby thing I still feel like I'm winging it half the time.

5 // Planning to take the children for a weekend away visit to my sisters place tomorrow for some cousin time and to grab the chance to see her before she leaves on her month long visit back to the UK.

6 // Curt agreeing to make a start on painting the interior walls of our house white whilst we are away. Finally! No more disgusting magnolia. I am so incredibly happy about this.

7 // Daily lunches of avo and spinach on toast with seeds and crumbled feta sprinkled on top, finished with a squeeze of lime juice. Courtesy of a big, $5 dollar bag of avocados.

8 // Freshly laid eggs every day, gathered by my little helper Rose. She is exceedingly proud of being entrusted with her own two special daily tasks of this and collecting the post from our mail box.

9 // A husband who has been making a big effort to be home at 6pm every night instead of 7pm so he can help me out with the crazy hour of baths and bedtimes and the baby juggle.

10 // First smiles by Pearl. Nothing beats the magic of those first few big beaming grins. I'm trying not to take it too much to heart that last night she didn't want to share them with me during her bath and chose only to bestow them on the taps and flannel hanging off them.

11 // My biggest girls reading progress. Curt has taken over her nightly reading practice since our new arrival so when I got the chance to read with her the other night I was literally speechless when she picked up a fairly wordy library book she hadn't seen before, with a good few sentences on every page and read it to me with minimal hesitation and errors. I'm so proud of her.

12 // Tackling some pantry organisation. The top shelf is now looking very aesthetically pleasing with its rows of little glass jars that I've been collecting forever for this purpose. The rest of it however is an absolute shambles but I'm working on it.

Photos...Eggs from our feathered friends Daisy and Evelyn...favourite lunch...pretty pantry shelf.

being // well

I've been thinking a lot lately about certain aspects of life. It's not a shiny or new concept, nor is it particularly exciting or flashy but matters of health, body, mind and soul have become a focus in the past few months. Wellbeing... and being, well. Allowing yourself to become the best version of you that you possibly can be. I don't think it's just me, I feel like there's something in the air, as though a lot of us are starting to be more mindful of the kind of lifestyle we lead and its effects on ourselves. While once upon a time I was consumed with living life to the full, having a good time and to hell with the consequences, I suppose I've just grown up. It's not that I don't want to have a good time anymore, its just that my definition of a good time has changed slightly.

And the past few years of raising babies have taken their toll. Interrupted sleep, exhaustion brought on from a hectic daily schedule and stressing about whether they are eating well enough is nothing unusual and all par for the course when parenting young children, but it doesn't really lend itself to actually thinking about taking good care of yourself. I actually found it hard to write this down, there is a lot of "I" and "my" in this blog post and it feels almost selfish to say it but I suppose I just took a backseat in my own life for a while. But now I'm starting to realise that I can't be the best person I want to be for my family unless I actually look out for and take better care of myself.

So a few months ago I decided to make some changes. Firstly in the way we all eat; instead of just concentrating all my attentions on what the kids consume. Our diet wasn't terrible by any means but I realised I wanted to make more meals from scratch, cutting out the processed wherever possible, eating simple, fresh foods, more wholegrains and less sugar. Also in looking after my body and mind. I have no desire to be a gym bunny or a hard core runner but I have always been drawn to yoga and after periods of doing it intermittently for years I've finally committed to making the time for one class every week and I love the way it makes me feel stronger and calms my mind. I've rediscovered my my put-on-hold passions of surfing and painting and discovered new ones like nurturing a garden and growing things. 

I now know what else is important to me, close family ties and friendships and making a comfortable home, a haven. One that reflects us and our lives and a place where my family and friends feel at peace and like they want to stay. Reading and writing. Being outdoors, experiencing the seasons. Nurturing a love of books, an imaginative mind and an appreciation or beauty, art and nature in my children. I feel like everything is just starting to add up, as though I'm finally figuring out who I am. A lot happened in my twenties; l was many different things and travelled a lot of paths but now I'm on the brink of my 30th year it's all slotting into place. I realised that almost all the posts I've written about here so far this year have detailed this journey of sorts, slowly reclaiming my self again and finding my way as a mother and as my own person too. I know I'm never going to have all the answers, but right now life feels good.

Image 1 //  Image 2- source unknown- via pinterest // Image 3

the first veggie box

This is the year I decided it was time to get it together when it comes to the food we eat and to stop making the same old randomly put together meals, probably featuring sausages and fish fingers a little too often, usually conceived of fifteen minutes before the childrens dinner time. To start actually using some of the stack of cookery books I own, to plan more in advance and cook good, simple food. I wanted to start buying less but better quality ingredients and making more conscious buying choices which support local producers when possible. Another key factor was that I was also pretty sick of the below average fruit and veg from the supermarket which was often starting to go bad before I'd even got it in through the door.

So in addition our very young vegetable patch in the garden, I also signed us up for an organic box scheme with a newly launched local co-operative not long after we moved here. After a few months of patiently sitting it out on the waiting list, they finally had a space for us to join. This Thursday, our very first weekly box of organic vegetables and fruit was delivered to our doorstep. Rose was so excited she actually tried to climb inside the cardboard box with it all.

We made a beeline for the juicy plums and oranges, oohed and ahhed over the lovely array of vegtables and pondered over the remaining few ("....Erm, so what exactly is that then?"). Thanks to google, they have now been identified as beetroots. Slightly embarrassing to admit when I grew up in the countryside, on a farm no less. It would seem I didn't pay much attention to things of little interest to me at the time, including vegetables. I will also come clean that I had to watch a video on you tube about how to prepare a leek (with Lila peering over my shoulder adding helpful observations along the lines of "Mummy, why aren't you chopping yours as fast as that lady?"). It's all a learning curve though and the resulting leek and bacon risotto topped with a poached egg was worth the effort and the large pile of washing up. I have no accompanying picture because as a general rule, I would rather eat my food as soon as possible than stand around photographing it. The kids finished every bite without even the mention of a post-dinner biscuit bribe, so that can go down as the first veggie box success story.

What shows up in the box every week will be completely different, depending on the season and what is in abundance, and the idea is that this will force me to be more creative and venture away from the old favorites on permanent, boring rotation. No doubt there will be a few surprises and a fair amount of what arrives may have never made it into my shopping trolley before. I know that some days it's likely to all feel a bit overwhelming but it will be Autumn here soon and so when all other inspiration fails then I can just throw it all in a big pan to make soup and at the very least it should keep us warm.

breaking out of a food rut

Lately I've been feeling stuck in a rut in terms of the food I've been cooking every evening. We've settled in to a comfortable routine of rotating almost the same dinners every week which makes it easy to do the weekly shop in double quick time, but soon becomes incredibly boring. Last week I decided to mix things up a bit and set aside an evening to look through my underused cook books and collection of recipes ripped from various magazines or printed off the web which are haphazardly shoved in an empty notebook. What I really need is a stack of these and something like this to organize the chaos.

I selected seven 'new' (i.e. not already on our usual rota) meal ideas and hit the supermarket armed with my corresponding ingredient list. The criteria was that they had to be healthy, would also accommodate a 3 year old- or could be easily adapted to become child friendly, didn't require any obscure ingredients which would be obscenely expensive in New Zealand. I'm still reeling about the fact that sometimes a red pepper, or capsicum as they are called here, is $5 which is aprox £2.50. Shocking! Oh, and also most of them had to include some kind of meat or seafood as my husband is of the opinion a dish lacking in meat is not a proper meal.

Here's what I chose...

day one- Grilled chicken and courgette burgers with a yoghurt and mint dip served with rocket in wholemeal pittas

day two- Caramelized red onion and goats cheese pizzas on thin base Turkish bread

day three- Sirloin steak with chunky garlic potato wedges and grilled tomatoes

day four- Grilled pesto beef burgers with mushroom and spinach couscous

day five- Red onion, sweet potato and sausage frittata with a green salad

day six- Mexican chilli bean wrap with avo, salsa, sour cream and melted cheese

day seven- Prawn and lemon risotto was the plan but I was exhausted so I bailed out and threw together butter beans, a tin of chopped tomatoes, black olives and salami on toast.

I also made homemade basil pesto which I used in the beef burger recipe and incorporated the remainder of it into some lunches for Lila and I. It was super quick and easy to make and actually way better than the shop bought alternative.

So I'm happy to report that the experiment was a success. The total weekly food bill worked out to be $20 more than usual but it was definitely worth it for the break from monotony. The two vegetarian meals also went down well with Curt though I'll admit that I did grossly over cook the pizzas as I may have got a bit distacted on the iPad (a nice crispy base is always good but almost snapping your teeth off is another matter entirely). Lila was not a fan of the frittata, but seeing as she has never been keen on eggs that's probably fair enough. My personal favorite was the chicken and courgette burgers which were really more-ish and felt virtuous too. If anyone else is feeling uninspired when it comes to the evening meal I'd definitely recommend giving this a try.

Image of chicken and courgette burgers found here.

Image of red onion and goats cheese pizza found here

easter (and eating)

The sun just kept on shining for us over the Easter weekend. Some of the fun involved an awesome family day out and Easter Egg Trail in a gorgeous setting followed by dinner at our favourite pub. We got busy in the kitchen making Easter nests (cornflake cakes filled with mini eggs) and decorated a straw Easter bonnet for Lila with yards of pretty ribbons. We visited the beautiful country house gardens of the richest man in England and enjoyed a picnic on the lawns and a delicious afternon tea with cake of course- I feel I should mention here that it wasn't a personal invitation just a special day when they are open to the public!

We came across this incredible little childrens play house in the grounds...I almost died. Apart from obviously wanting to move in myself, I would love one just like this for Lila and her soon to arrive little sister, but while Curt is very good at DIY, this may possibly be too much of an ambitious project!

Here is Lila with my cousins Natacha and Zoe, her new best friends.

It goes without saying that an indecent amount of chocolate was consumed over the weekend- someone had to help out Lila with all her goodies and it would be rude not to when you have the excuse of eating for two :) So in a nutshell, it was a glorious weekend of gardens, blue skies and eating. Lovely, though I feel like I am very definitely full now.

However as this is a chocolate themed post it seems only right to share my latest and greatest discovery- A Touch of Sea Salt Dark Chocolate by Lindt. Yes, salty chocolate. I wasn't convinced until I tried it but it is so good, especially when you have sweet and salty cravings simultaneously. I sincerely hope I can get hold of this when I get back to New Zealand as I think I have sparked off a long-term obsession.

cake

At the moment I am experiencing huge urges to get stuck into a serious baking session. I am at my happiest when in the kitchen creating sweet treats and whisking, mixing, generally getting flour everywhere and making a huge mess.

The fact that all of my baking equipment is still en-route from London is saddening me deeply. Plus the fact that I had to leave all my baking supplies and ingredients behind so I now have to build up everything from scratch. However the small light at the end of the tunnel is that our shipped possessions should (crossing all possible body parts) be with us at the end of the week. Yay for more clothes, all my books and my electric whisk!

Whilst perusing the archives of the amazing Smitten Kitchen food blog (so inspirational, but don't even think of hopping over there if you're feeling hungry unless you want to torture yourself), I came across the recipe for these awesome sounding peach cupcakes with brown sugar frosting pictured above. Also top of my list to make is bannana bread with cream cheese frosting and white chocolate grated on top. We sampled this delight in a cute Auckland cafe at the weekend and it was seriously incredible.

Image: Smitten Kitchen

week.end

Hope you all enjoyed the Halloween weekend. On Friday evening Curt and I were lucky to enough to attend one of the most incredible parties I've ever been to, hosted by my dear friend Natalie. She and her fellow housemates had entirely transformed their home in honour of their 'Vampires of Burntwood Manor' gathering. I opted to be a vintage vampire and the lovely hostess was a delectable vampire nurse. Every surface was filled with ghoulish artifacts, no wall or ceiling was left unadorned and the outside seating area featured no less than a selvaged fireplace filled with hordes of candles. Totally amazing. Would love to share more images but the fog machine they hired (impressive) meant most of my pictures came out fairly hazy.

The rest of the weekend was dominated by relaxing, hanging out with friends, and a little cooking... and then of course eating. One of the highlights of the weekend's culinary adventures was a perfect Saturday breakfast of sourdough toast with caramelised onions, mushrooms and feta. I also managed to fit in a little shopping thanks to the arrival of pay day. One of my top finds with was a darling enamel butterfly necklace which I spied in a dusty jewellery cabinet whilst walking past the window of one of our local charity shops. I'm really quite fond of it and only had to part with the grand sum of two hundred pennies to call it my own.

week.end

Our weekend involved a long walk through the woods in the crisp, sunny autumn air and baking again, which was needless to say followed by mass consumption of the delicious results. This time it was the turn of cupcakes (my birthday gifts came in very handy here). I eventually decided on what seemed the healthiest option, as the recipe didn't actually require any sugar and guilt free cupcakes are always a winning plan. They turned out to be so good- Curt described them as tasting like a cross between banana bread and carrot cake- that I thought it would only be fair to share...

Honey, Banana & Pecan Cupcakes

Makes 32 (mini ones)

100 g (3 ½ oz) unsalted butter, chopped

350 g (12 oz/ 1 cup) honey, plus extra to drizzle

250 g (9 oz/ 2 cups) self-raising flour

1 teaspoon mixed spice

150 g (5 ½ oz/ 1 ½ cups) coarsely grated carrot

1 ripe banana, mashed

70 g (2 ½ oz/ ½ cup) chopped pecan nuts, plus extra to sprinkle

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350° F/Gas 4). Line 32 mini muffin holes with paper cases.

Melt the butter and honey in a small saucepan, stirring until combined. Allow to cool.

Sift the flour and mixed spice into a large bowl. Add the carrot, banana, pecans, eggs and honey mixture, stirring until the mixture is just combined and smooth.

Divide the mixture evenly among the cases, and sprinkle the tops liberally with extra chopped pecans. Bake for 8 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of a cake. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

Drizzle a little honey over the cakes before serving.

Recipe adapted from this book (which uses macadamia nuts instead of pecans, but I couldn't get hold of any, and pecans actually worked out brilliantly).

week.end

This weekend was mainly one of making and eating. Of general feasting on deliciousness. I baked some chocolate chip cookies- using this recipe, which turned out to be the perfectly soft and squidgy (hmm, is that even a word?) inside. Nothing beats freshly baked cookies still warm from the oven. Mine did turn out to be giant ones, rather than regular sized ones, but that didn't faze us too much, we probably just ate a great deal more than we should have.

Curt made us sushi rolls on Saturday night, which are one of his culinary specialities. They are really easy to make, always look very impressive and taste equally great (again, we ate far too many of them). One of our favourite sushi roll combinations is salmon with cream cheese and cucumber.