Pemberton: Silkwood Wines

The drawback of Pemberton being small is that places to eat and drink are limited.

Our first choice no longer has a chef. Others weren't even open.

Thankfully Silkwood Wines, located on stunning manicured grounds at the edge of a lake, was and serving lunch. Given the wrap around deck was full, we knew we were onto a good thing.

Bruce the pram was pleased with the outdoor heaters and plenty if space to park up for lunch. And Mini Me was on her best behaviour too.

Pemberton: Lavender & Berry Farm

Close to town. Self-contained. Wood-fire. Nearby café.

These were the things I looked for when choosing our Pemberton accommodation.

Lavender & Berry Farm did not disappoint. The rammed earth chalets are cosy and have everything you'd need - wood fire, TV and DVD player, radio with iPod connector and fully equipped kitchen. However, no oven.

First Family Holiday: Pemberton

It was a little ambitious booking a family road trip four months ago. Who knows what demon I may have spawned.

What I did know is the first two months with Mini Me would be exhausting and Hubby and I would need some quality time.

I also know our travel bug can not be cured with the shock therapy called parenthood. She'll need to learn early.

Holiday packing post-baby

After years of wanderlust I have packing down to a fine art.

I can pack a bag of this size for a minimum week trip and not look like a scummy 6-month traveling backpacker. Everything item has a purpose, everything outfit can be dressed up or down, there are no one offs or non-essential items like straighteners, high heels or massive make up kits.

For a weekend trip Hubby and I would share this bag.

A new world: Mum & Bub movie watching

Motherhood has opened a whole new world for me I didn't even know about. Cracked nipples, leaking boobs, large breasts (hmmm... Sensing a theme).

And in discovering the day time habitats of mothers I've uncovered mum and bub movies.

I always thought non-school holiday cinemas were visited during the day by the unemployed, elderly or kids skipping school. They always say 'go to the movies before bub is born because you'll never get a chance after'. But you can.

Event Cinemas has 'Babes in Arms', Grand Cinemas 'Bubs Club' and Hoyts 'Mums and Bubs'. These heavily discounted special sessions each week out of school holidays allow you to take bub, the pram and yourself to the movies.

Viva Duende

Bruce the pram is once again satisfied.

Yes I've named our pram. He's a big green machine (ie the Hulk's timid alter ego Bruce Banner), Mini Me's bouncer, carrier and pack horse. 

So why is this whole lot of pram-man sated? We've found another place to park his huge ass while my belly satisfies itself.

Sunday morning breakfast's destination was Leederville. 

We made a beeline for the staple brekkie at Sayers, only to be turned away like Joseph at Christmas. Admittedly they are small inside to accommodate a pram, and they did offer us a seat outside under a heater. But it was one of those rare cold Perth mornings and Mini Me does not tolerate the cold.

Where to? Mrs Picnic suggested Duende. I scoffed... Tapas for breakfast? Lady you're loco!

But eat my words I did. They made room for pram (tick) and breakfast they served (tick). There is a range of options from healthy avocado, tomato, feta on toast to bacon and eggs and even the standard big or veggie breakfast. There's even a few Spanish inspired options, like mushrooms on polenta and my choice for the day - chorizo, beans and poached eggs.

My breakfast was saucy and hearty. The eggs were poached perfectly and the chorizo spicy. Hubby ordered a good serve of eggs & bacon, while Mrs Picnic and Mrs S ordered the avocado on toast with a side of poached eggs. Everyone was very pleased with their meals, including Mini Me who guzzled her milk.

I didn't like my coffee, but the fresh orange juice, especially it's presentation, made up for it.

How cute is this serving of fresh of orange juice?

For the reasonable prices and no rush but attentive service at Duende, I'd say we could learn from the Spanish way of life and start there got brekkie and stay all day for their evening tapas (which I can vouch for).

Once again another successful Sunday outing.

Mrs S has a little cuddle with  Mini Me

Duende

662 Newcastle Street, Leederville

P: 9228 0123

E: duende@duende.com.au

W: www.duende.com.au

DIY Sharpie mugs ideas

Finally Mr Picnic proposed to my blonde bombshell friend, who shall now be referred to as Mrs Picnic.

Engagements are exciting. They are the start of something shiny and golden, before the potential angst of wedding planning, families and post-honeymoon blues can begin to creep in.

I love giving friends a little something soon after the announcement, and rather than the standard bottle of champagne, this time I created a 'his and hers' mug set (especially since she loves tea).

Personalised his & her mugs made easy with Sharpies

Booze boob

A bottle of Prosecco, three bottles of Secret Stone and being the last to leave Nobu with B and R... Today is a dusty day.

My friendship with these two ladies blossomed on one of those after work drink nights gone wrong. At the Monday morning meeting there was an unspoken vow never to talk about that night and where we ended up. Our bond was forged.

Many would say they are party girls and that's our friendship. But it is much more than that. However, we do like to drink.

Which is why, two months after giving birth to Mini Me I find myself writing this feeling a little dehydrated.

After months of denying myself of sashimi and sushi, my lunch staple, I've come back with a vengeance and Nobu delivered. But no amount of deliciousness could soak up our drinks.

This poses a problem. Booze boob.

Though I joke about giving Mini Me kaluha and milk, I certainly don't want to be the one to introduce the vices of alcohol into her life. It's bad enough she'll get a foul mouth from me.

As I quietly glided (loudly stumbled) into the house and climbed into bed I suddenly remembered... Pump and dump! 

This was actually big of me to remember. I have never, yes NEVER, cleaned my face of make up after a night out. My pillows resemble an abstract painting full of black smudges and gold glitter (that was from my diva stage). It's lucky I remember to take out my contacts and shoes.

At 1am I found myself with the breast-pump, willing it not to sound like a tractor pulling a load up a hill and trying to stay awake with Minion Rush (Facebook had nothing interesting to read). It was a little heartbreaking to ceremoniously pour the offending milk down the drain. After all, my body worked hard to produce that milky goodness. Even if it had a vintage SSB tang.

Though it kept me away from my sweet, sweet bed, though Mini Me's morning feed felt like getting up for a marathon and though her cries today are like jack hammers to my brain, I'll probably do it again.

Mad for mandarins: Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake

Nonna's mandarin tree is the tree that keeps giving. This week we picked three buckets and there's more to come.

Looking to create a citrus treat, I found a gluten-free chocolate cake. Every workplace now has someone who won't have gluten. It's the 'vegetarian' of years gone by. And I've always wanted to make a gluten-free dessert.

Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Almond Cake

 

I adapted a Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake to take away some of the tartness. It felt odd blending the entire mandarin, skin and all, but it gives the cake a nice moistness (I know people hate that word) and bitterness, which the nuttiness of the almond offsets. The chocolate and honey give it that hint of sweetness.

It's a really light cake that works great warm or cold with a side of mandarin flavoured cream (beat the cream with the juice of one mandarin).
 

You can boil the mandarins (peel and all) the day before.

Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake
8 mandarins
2 tablespoons honey

500g almond meal
12 eggs
500g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup dark cooking chocolate

1. Place mandarins in a heavy based saucepan, cover well with water and bring to the boil. Boil for about 2 hours, drain and set aside to cool.
2. Grease and line 28cm cake tin. Set oven to 180°C.
3. Chop and seed mandarins and place in food processor with the honey. Transfer to another large bowl and add eggs, sugar and baking powder. 
4. Melt the chocolate and fold into the mixture with the almond meal.
5. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until firm to touch (in my oven I baked it for two hours).

NOTE: The purée can be made the day before.

The disappearing cake.

 

DIY This Little Pig nursery prints

When I was setting up Mini Me's room I scoured the net for DIY projects because I wanted to be that mum.

They all looked hard and time consuming. So I came up with my own and I'm giving it to you for free. All you need is a printer and five frames.

This little pig prints to brighten up the nursery wall

Don't hate me, but I love working

Yes, I love Mini Me. BUT, I miss working.

Most people hate going to work. Not me. I love it. 

Don't get me wrong, I have 'I don't want to get out of bed' days. But four out of five days I actually enjoy going to work.

I love the structure, the people and even the challenges. I love my job - even dealing with ignorant people, unjustified complaints and office politics. I thrive on solving a community member's problem, finding the best way to tell people about the projects and disruptions, turning a negative perception into an ally and building relationships.

It's by no way anyone else's dream job, but being the Public Transport Authority's communications person for projects is mine. It defined me for a long time.

That brings me to this bittersweet day. 

Today the Fremantle Line tunnel for the Perth City Link went operational. It follows part one of the biggest train network disruption Perth has seen. You'd think it would give everyone a platform to whine, but Perth didn't, despite the heavens raining down for most of it. 

Mini Me fast asleep on her first train ride.

 

The reason for minimal complaints was the team effort to put in place a flawless communications campaign. It was a strategy that started in late 2012 involving people from a number of organisations. The core team at Transperth and the Alliance deserve so many accolades for doing a brilliant job.

So why is it bittersweet? For purely selfish reasons. I feel like the person who was a key player for the entire season, only to be injured and side-lined for the Grand Final. No one remembers the people that got you there, only the players on the day. After working on the project for three years, putting the groundwork in place, this was the once in a lifetime opportunity; my crowning moment. Then my 'injury' came and I'm benched.

It's times like this that I miss the daily grind and wonder whether I should go back to work sooner. 

Mini Me... the youngest member of the comms team

But then it's moments like this that show me there are so many different types of once in a lifetime opportunities and maybe this is the job I should be jumping out of bed for. For the time being anyway.

Mini Me's first photographed smile

 

Mmmm... Metrio & Co

One of the bonuses Mini Me brings is you're up early on a Sunday morning without a raging hangover.

Why is this good? Because I can indulge in my favourite meal of the day. Breakfast!

'Eat like a King at breakfast' is a diet mantra I love to live by and so enthusiastically we bundled up Mini Me and went hunting. Though it was before the Sunday morning rush, we couldn't find a spot for us and pram at our first pick. Off to Angove Street in North Perth it was.

There was room at each of cafes on offer, but it was the wafting scents and tasty treats in the food cabinet that made us choose Metrio & Co.

Once again the pram was happy to be nestled between us and another table and we were ready to order.

The breakfast menu is on a blackboard inside, which does you make you feel slightly like a creep as you hover around to read it. And it takes ages to decide with everything sounding so tasty. All the staples are there - eggs, muesli, pancakes - Hubby chose the big breakfast ($20) and I opted for the mushroom bruschetta ($15).

I couldn't wait to dig in!

When my piled high mixed mushroom and goats cheese dish arrived, I couldn't wait for the photo before I dug in. When ordering mushrooms I expect there to be more than the standard button mushrooms I buy, and this did not disappoint. The goats cheese was silky and the toast crunchy. There was a little bowl of homemade tomato relish on the side, which was odd, but delicious.

Hubby was impressed by his full plate of eggs, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, hash brown and homemade tomato relish. He also downed his $3.50 coffee with such enjoyment he ordered another.

The service was smiling, quick and above and beyond, topping up my tea with more hot water.

We were suitably stuffed enough that we needed to go for a stroll and dream of buying in the area.

Another win for my grumbling belly and large pram.

Metrio & Co

36/38 Angove St, North Perth
P: 9227 0077

West End Deli from my pram's viewpoint

There's a lot written about West End Deli and its amazing food. So rather than look at it from my stomach's point of view, I thought I'd take a look from the pram's viewpoint.

Since being encumbered with this new accessory my thought process for every lunch and coffee date no longer starts with 'what new hipster place haven't I tried, whose food porn photos are all over Instagram', but now begins with 'is it pram friendly?'.

Mad for mandarins: Mandarin Mousse

Do not judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, a mousse by its photo.

Rather than look at my boring, dull photo, clear your mind and imagine feathers - light and fluffy. Now imagine the feeling of smooth silk - soft and cool to touch. Bring those two things together and weave through it the lightest zest of freshness. 

That would describe the Mandarin Mousse I made with my cousins yesterday.

The deliciously light, fresh and zesty mousse - image does not do it justice.

 

Hot, hot, hot: Chilli oil

If your cooking needs some spicing up or your chilli plant grows like wildfire, here's a spicy old recipe from my Nonno to preserve them to keep the heat going.

Homemade chilli oil - it's as easy as 1,2,3

Chilli oil. A little mix that fired up so many meals - stir-frys, marinades, sauces. Our family always competes to see who can stomach the most as we dribble a bit on our pastas.

It's so simple, Hubby threw it together with no chilli eye or sliced fingers, despite a raging hangover from his birthday festivities the night before.

Hubby being careful not to touch his face as he slices and dices

The key is the chux. My grandparents swear you need the oil to breathe for it to infuse.

Chilli Oil
6 - 12 chillies (or as many as you have)

Glove of garlic

Olive oil 

Jar

Chux clothes

Method

1. Sterilise the jar with hot water and leave to air dry. 
2. Crush garlic glove into the jar and season with salt.
3. Slice the chillies, and put into the jar with the seeds.
4. Fill the jar with the olive oil. Shake for a couple of minutes.
5. Cut a chux in half, fold and rubber band it on the top.
6. Leave for at least a week in the pantry before using. The longer it's left, the chillier the oil.

A hungover masterchef at work

 

A year of dates

What do you give a man who has everything? A year long gift.

To show my gratitude Hubby got a leave pass, Liverpool game tickets AND 12 gifts... How great am I!

12 gifts in one - a year of dates!

After 13 years of gift giving I needed a special idea. Yep 13 years. It's not always smooth sailing. Sometimes I've hated him. But he is my best friend and no relationship - romantic, family or friendship - can survive without work and quality time.

That's why rather than one envelope with a card, Hubby was given 12 - each with a monthly pre-planned date of mostly things we've never done, just for us.

The plan is to open the envelope together at the start of the month, look at the calendar and decide on a date.

It was really easy to put together. 

 

An easy idea that anyone can pull together.

The ideas were things we've never done before, some inspired from my 101 in 1001 and others from the Entertainment Book (gosh I love that book).

The brown blank cards and envelopes were from Kmart. The date cards were adapted from free, downloadable Mad Men inspired save the date cards from Wedding Chicks.

Hubby was pretty stoked and being impatient ripped my nice packaging open for July and wanted to crack into August.

Our first date is actually a pre-planned weekend away. He can't get too spoilt now can he?

Truth, forgiveness and chocolate

Apparently today is 'Tell the truth', 'Forgiveness', and 'Chocolate' Day.

It's no coincidence that these should all fall on the same day. Telling the truth will require forgiveness from someone, which can be solved with the feel good drug chocolate.

So today I'm going to be honest (not that it has stopped me before).

I've been lying to everyone for years... I don't like Kylie Minogue's songs. I know as an Australian girl I should be Spinning Around while doing the Locomotion thinking I'm So Lucky, but I can't. They just don't do it for me.

Also I must confess that in primary school I was a klepto for books. Year 3 I stole the Secret Garden activity book, Year 4 the Jolly Postman, Year 5 a book about Egypt. There were others but I can't remember the names. In all instances I kept them in my school bag until the end of the year and it was too late to return them.

Today, I'm going to forgive.

Hubby, you smell like a pickled herring but I forgive you since you had a good birthday celebration. And I forgive you for leaving your clothes and underwear all over the bedroom floor, everyday. I enjoy the obstacle course as I stagger out of our room in the dark to your daughter's room for late night feeds. Keeps me on my toes.

Mini Me, I'll forgive that you cry for 20 minutes to tell me you're tired. It's okay, don't solve the problem by going to sleep.

Mum, I'll forgive you for making a three course meal of deliciousness for Hubby's birthday lunch that I can't ignore, but later makes me hate myself for being an addict to your chicken cutlets. And I'll forgive myself too for doing it.

And all the people I feel have wronged me. The friends who've annoyed me, the person who stole the last of whatever I wanted at morning teas, the selfish road users who cut me off, Emirates (you know why), mining giants that gave too many uneducated people inflated wages making them feel entitled to act like cavepeople; and Perth prices, I forgive you. The slate is clean. Let's try again.

And of course I'm going to eat chocolate.

How about you?

Happy birthday Hubby

My travel buddy and best friend

Ask any of my friends and they'll tell you, I don't often sing Hubby's praises.

I always say what a geek he was and I made him into the man he is today. I dated him out of pity and we're only together because he can't get enough of me.

That's what I say to others.

Meet Mini Me

Nine months is a long time in limbo; waiting to meet your new little personality.



Mini Me and me before leaving the hospital

Tasty treats at Rochelle Adonis

Australia has to thank the Brits for a lot of things and for me highest among them is High Tea.

That's why a surprise trip to Rochelle Adonis in Northbridge for my English second-time-mum-to-be friend was the perfect way to give her a baby shower, without the fuss.

Savoury first course