Goodbye Holiday, Hello Home.

Good morning!
Today I feel great.
I feel well rested.
Finally!
Our weekend away with my family was amazing.
Good food, good wine, so many laughs and in a stunningly beautiful place.
If only the kids had slept a little better then it would have been total perfection.

We packed ourselves up and jumped in the car, ready for a short 1 1/2hr drive down south.

We travelled with my brother and sister-in-law, playing leapfrog and sending silly messages to each other as we watched the weather turning...

 It started to get dark, and cold...

We arrived at our destination and it was cold and blue...

We huddled inside and turned the heating on. I panicked at the thought of what I had packed for our supposed sunny holiday.
The girls pulled out their manicure kits and my darling girl was enthusiastic on joining in...

That night was pizza night, and we all took turns crowding into the kitchen creating our own masterpieces.

They were delicious!

The next morning we started with a coffee...

Then headed out the front gate for an adventure...

At the end of the street, mere minutes away...

We headed down the steep hill...

Then more steep hill, followed by stairs and finally...

We reached the shore!

We walked, collected shells, splashed in rock pools...

It was cold and windy, but clear skies and crystal water. Perfect for snorkelling!

We got home and the kids were exhausted from their long trek...

Then the men watched the footy...

Even later it was birthday party time for my grandpa. 

We had a big dinner followed by the birthday cake I had made for him...

After another rough night with the kids, it was a busy father's day morning followed by the local markets.
We saw interesting things for sale...

Bought lots of olives (of course!) and the kids had to have an ice cream from the Mr Whippy van...

Sadly it had to come to an end, family photos were taken, and then bags were packed.
Home we went!
It is so nice to be home again, the kids sleep well in their own beds, and I love having my own kitchen to cook in again.
But it was a lovely weekend, I can't wait for the next family holiday away!

Family Weekend Away

I am so excited for this weekend.
It is my grandpa's 70th birthday and the whole family are going down the coast to spend a weekend together.
It is a beautiful place, only a few hours South of where we live.
Our family have always spent holidays down there, my husband & I used to take many camping trips before we had the kids. It is such a beautiful place to relax and unwind.

The last time we went down was years ago, before I had any fancy cameras, but I still snapped up some lovely photos at sunrise...

I have been put in charge of the birthday cake.
Apparently my baking is up to par, so I have designed, and started to bake, the custom creation.

My rough sketch is a bit messy, but you get the idea!
Since my family is rather large, I chose to use the Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt recipe that I used for my boy's caterpillar cake.
It is rich, dense, and tastes divine!
I figured that it would be good since we only need small pieces, it will go far!

I have to use my huge square cake tin to make two squares, and cut them into a football field shape.
With the remaining I will be making some delicious cake pops, hopefully in a football shape!

So my week will be full of baking (I also need to bring a dish to share for dinner one night) and hopefully a quick dash to the shops because I have come to the realization that I do not own a swimsuit!!
Oh dear!

Chicken & Coriander Asian-Style Salad

Our fridge was full of chicken.
Breast, and a whole bird stuffed in there.
I looked at the breast and brainstormed.
Lunch?
Dinner?
Both?

Both, of course!

I took the smallest portion out and marinaded it in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, coriander and garlic that had been pulsed into a runny paste.

While I let that sit and absorb the flavours, I chopped up some Chinese cabbage (Wom bok), sliced some cucumber, grated some carrot, and sprinkled some torn up coriander on top.
Next was the dressing...
Vinegar, olive oil, sugar, soy sauce and a splash of sesame oil.
Delicious!

Out came the chicken and I grilled it until golden.

I tossed the salad with the dressing and plonked the chicken on top.

Voila!

Flavour..... Amazing!
Preparation time... Express!
I think this one is a winner.

Cheesy Stuffed Pasta Shells

I stumbled across these giant pasta shells at the supermarket the other week and I just had to buy a packet.
Many years ago, a friend's mother had made us the most delicious dinner using these shells stuffed with cheese and spinach and I have wanted to try cooking it myself ever since.

I had no recipe, but gathered a few ingredients that were lying around...

I crumbled the ricotta...

Mixed in the beaten eggs...

Boiled up the pasta until it was almost cooked through...

Mixed in the defrosted pumpkin puree and spinach...

Added some fresh parsley and seasoned it with salt & pepper...

Then I spread a layer of pasta sauce over the bottom of my baking dish...

I found a huge clove of garlic...

...And I grated it finely over the sauce...

I set up a stuffing station...

I stuffed the shells with the cheese mixture...

Then placed them on top of the pasta sauce...

Covered with grated cheese...

Baked until golden...

Delicious, quick and so easy!