Happy Mothers's Day 2012

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there. What a day to acknowledge us mums.
We had a quite one as usual here in our household because my parents aren't here in Australia with me & Paul's mum pass away when he was a young lad.
I was spoilt by both my kids. Very privilege  I am. There are so much LOVE around.

But the "Best" bit of all. Something very unusual for a Mother's Day present. But I do things out of the ordinary at times. I have never been on ONE.

A Trampoline. Yeah.....

They even have a play mate.

Helping Daddy building it

Kids on it

They even have a Tent for a cubby house.

No matter how you spend your day. ENJOY it. My thoughts are to those who lost their mum. 

Ultimate High Tea Book Event, Melbourne Sofitel Hotel

We WON a competition by Random House Australia for an Ultimate High Tea Book Event at the Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne. Its a competition where one person enters & then you can nominate 2 of your friends. BUT here is the catch, both friends do have to enter the competition too. & that is how We WON. How exciting.

My Invitation.

It was booked out just for us.

Now here is the best part.... The food.. Finger licking.

Chocolate fountain

Ingredients to dip into the fountain

Savoury food

Crepe with Caramel Sauce + a dollop of cream & strawberry sauce

Here is Kate Bracks - Masterchef winner 2011

Jelena + Me with Kate. Such a lovely person. 

Even the birdie knows how good the food is.

Inside my Goodie Bag: 

Tea Towel + Free Coffee

Free Books

What a wonderful day to spend with friends, eating + listening to authors talking about their book. 

Ginger Sticky Date Pudding

I can't believe how easy was this to whipped up. All you need is a food processor and you are set to go.

What you need:
1 cup(140g) seeded dried dates
1/4 cup(55g) glacé ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup(250ml) boiling water
50g butter, chopped
1/2 (110g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
1 tsp ground ginger

Butterscotch Sauce
300ml cream
3/4 cup(165g) firmly packed brown sugar
75g butter, chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C-fan forced.
Greased deep 20cm - round cake pan; line base with baking paper.

Combine dates, ginger, soda and the water in food processor; stand for 5 minutes then add butter and sugar. Process until mixture is almost smooth. Add eggs,flour and ginger; process until combined.

Pour mixture into pan; bake about 45 minutes. Stand 10 minutes before turning onto serving plate.

Butterscotch Sauce: stir ingredients in medium saucepan over low heat until sauce is smooth.

Serve a slice of pudding with warm sauce and also a scoop of ice cream.

Quotes

Easy Pork Cutlets With Salad

Made a lovely simple dinner tonight. Pork loin cutlets with Salad. I season the pork with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and a drizzle of garlic infused oil. While that is marinating, I whip up a quick salad.

Salad:
Spinach leaves
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Chickpea(a new ingredient I found which we love)
A quarter of Red Onion - sliced thinly
2 slices of toasted bread - cut into cubes
Goats Cheese

Mix all the ingredients together except for the bread.
For dressing, in a bowl, mix some olive oil, salt & pepper + half a teaspoon of sugar. Stir.
Pour into the salad & mix.
Finally before serving, top with toasted bread.

All done in 30 minutes.

Quotes

Dedicated to all the wonderful Moms & Carers out there;

 She can deal with stress and carry heavy burdens. 

  She smiles when she feels like screaming, and she sings when she feels like crying.    

She cries when she's happy and laughs when she's afraid. 

Her love is unconditional.   

There's only one thing wrong with her. 

She forgets what she's worth!!

Icy Poles.

I am so thinking of Summer now due to the cold wet days we are having. Summer also bring along hot days, but to cool off, make some icy poles. I found this on Ikea for $2.99. Wow! I know what my kids will be having this summer.