I have been having EPIC Jam failures in the kitchen. I assumed on moving to the country I would inherit the Jam making gene. Apparently not! I shall soldier on. In the meantime I have preserved some lemons for a recipe I'm wanting to try. Surely I can't go wrong with preserved lemons........watch this space.
Bread making using Tania's No Knead recipe. So easy and I had some super rising going on when I left it to rest by a warm fire. I served this with ham and homemade vegetable soup.
A new cookbook. Amazing recipes in here. Can't wait to share some with you.
We said goodbye to Aunty D and my niece. They jetted back to sunny Brisbane. I hate goodbyes, but it won't be for long. We will be seeing them again soon.
Saturday morning sport..........freezing cold (look his nose is pink) but heaps of fun. We head into town afterwards for a wander and coffee. And on this occassion a barber shop visit for the boys.
We have discovered a new cafe. They have delicious baking and great coffee. These two loved their "fluffies" and melting moment biscuits.
A sneak preview! Some goodies to review and a great giveaway coming up.
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| Note to self......dust! |
I have been decluttering like a lunatic. I think with it being winter, and being inside more I want less clutter around me. Are you a declutter nutter?
We have had a huge change around with the bedrooms. The boys now have their own rooms. Tom loves having his own space. Bell now "resides" in the playroom. We have named it her "Teen Retreat". I have had another huge toy and clothing clearout. Put some toys away and divided the rest up between Tom and Georges rooms. The set up in each room works well and there is significantly a huge reduction in STUFF.
The boys just were'nt using the playroom. They would go in, grab what they wanted and play in the lounge or their room. Bell has been wanting the playroom since we moved here and is so excited to finally have it. It gives her space away from the boys too.
And as Tom is a very early riser, he now gets up and instead of coming into our room (most of the time), pops his light on and plays.
Georgie's room is very cute, I have a bit of a jungle theme going on here......and of course plenty of bunting.
A cold afternoon in and movie session watching the Lorax.......and the inevitable popcorn cleanup afterwards.
Have a great week!
Oh, I've had my fair share of jam failures, but short of actually burning the jam they are all fixable! I have found that you can either cook it a bit more, or add apple juice to too thick jam to make it right.
ReplyDeleteIsn't de-cluttering wonderful?! I walk around the house just looking at everything after a good clean out, and admiring my handiwork. Your new spaces look lovely. It's nice to change things up. xx
tell me more about the jam making? I've made one batch that was too runny (made a good sauce for yogurt/porridge though) and one that was quite set but still good ..
ReplyDeleteLove these pictures - and I'm also wanting to hear more about preserved lemons !! :-) x
I'm a de-cluttering nut too Elaina which ties in nicely with my other obsession of collecting treasures from the op-shop :-) I reckon it does have something to do with Winter and spending more time indoors. Your rooms look great, nothing better than a good change around. Mel x
ReplyDeleteNever made jam - but at present it is one of my boys fav's (on everything!) so maybe this could be a good little project for my boys to help me try and make. xx
ReplyDeleteI'm decluttering in an ongoing fashion, but working to a deadline now as I have a pile of stuff that I am determined is not coming back with us to the old house in two months time. Love the boys rooms with the granny throws and old wool blankets. I do a cheats jam without sterilizing and store it in the fridge and only make small batches, seems to work ok. mel x
ReplyDeleteThat soup and bread look so yum and I've just eaten dinner! We thought when we moved to the country we'd just "eat a lotta peaches", my Dad is the jam maker in our family,esp rosella jam. Love your winter rooms, look like very happy spaces. Had to laugh, little boys and bruised shins.
ReplyDeleteJam is a very hit and miss thing with me, more miss than hit but Strawberry Jam always seems to turn out well, yum! I'm even worse when it comes to making bread, so I'm off to have a look at the recipe as I DO like the sound of no knead bread!
ReplyDeleteDe-cluttering is an awkward one here as my hubs is a huge hoarder of things and me not so much! Luckily we compromise and lots of things get put in cupboards and stylish boxes, so kept but out of sight! x
I love these kinds of catch-up posts! Reading them feels like having a good old natter! :-)
ReplyDeleteCarly
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my mums coming over today to help me have a declutter...I usually need an offsider to keep the momentum going...otherwise I tend to get distracted rather easily by all the pretty stuff.....lucky bell getting her own space. x
ReplyDeleteSadly I didn't inherit my mums baking gene! I'm useless! Now every time I find a new treasure and old one has to leave! :) x
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to try my hand at jam making, but I never have the freshly home grown fruits that I think jam making deserves. I'm a declutter nutt too...I definitely think winter time, and being stuck inside more, is a huge motivator for that. I agree with Carly, this post feels like a go ol' chat over coffee, thanks for the chat, Rach xx
ReplyDeleteOk so the jam isn't rolling just yet but look at that insane loaf with the soup!!! You are rocking sweet friend!!! Loving the change around with the rooms! I purge all of the time too! Your home is ever so cozy!!!
ReplyDeleteGosh I just love your pictures and looking into your beautiful life. You are just an amazing women who is gorgeous. xx
ReplyDeleteLove those bedroom photos :)
ReplyDeleteMy last marmalade was a disaster ;'(
My bread recipe is very similar but half the amount
I would love to try preserving lemons - it's not something anyone really does here, probably because they don't grow here naturally. I had loads of jam disasters until I started using jam sugar, which has pectin in it. No more runny jam which doesn't set!
ReplyDeleteYour bedroom looks like a lovely, calm, serene space. x
Love ham and vegie soup. I like the idea of decluttering but am easily distracted and have a tendency to hang on to things. It's satisfying when it does happen, though
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