My birthday brunch

My darling husband seriously makes the BEST Eggs Benedict! When he asked what I would like for my birthday breakfast - there was no choice! Making the muffins (from scratch) as well, meant that breakfast arrived at brunch. No complaints from me. 
Where custard-type cooking makes me cringe, Paul has no problems making Hollandaise sauce - or custard or Zabaglione for that matter. 
Paul pre-poaches his eggs (one at a time), lets these rest in iced water, before refreshing in boiling water just before serving. He makes his Hollandaise early and then keeps this warm in a thermos container. Paul starts the muffin mix the night before to speed up the process a bit. He cooks the bacon in the panini press. Everything is timed to perfection to serve 5 at once. It is one of the family's collective favorite foods. 
Of course, any breakfast or brunch is not complete without a flat white made by my Mister Barista. 

Happy Pi Day

Paul loves Pi and we all love pie. Writing the date all backwards like people do in the US, means that yet another special day has been created - 3.14 - Pi Day! 
Being married to a fully-qualified Geek has made Pi all that more present in my life... so we celebrate. With a meat pie for dinner... and a pumpkin pie for dessert. 
Being an overly qualified Geek, means that Paul has requested double the number of pies for Tau day... he can make them! 

Happy Valentines!

Not so original (as we have done this for the past three years), but still enjoyable... the kids created their own Valentines Day cards to swap at school. 

I love a Sunburnt Country...

Happy Australia Day Mate! 

For a day with fond memories of standing around a BBQ on Craig & Tania's back-deck, listening to the TripleJ Hottest One Hundred, drinking beer and watching the kids play in the water... it seems strange that we should be shivering with the cold and forced indoors!
Anyway, we thought we would celebrate with a good old Meat Pie, with Lamingtons for dessert. Running out of time, I decided I would make one giant Lamington instead of individual ones. This appealed to the kids... but not the purest in Paul!

Unfortunately, the oven had been left on 'broil', and the pie came out a little more 'well-done' than anticipated. At least it reminded us of the Second verse of Dorothea Mackellar's ode to Australia - "My Country". I shed a tear every time I read this. 

Thanks...

Happy Thanksgiving! 
We have come to really appreciate this holiday. We figure we will celebrate it wherever we happen to end up. It is nice to have a reason to spend time with family, appreciate what we have in life and eat some great food! All without having to worry about gift giving. 

Our Thanksgiving is still very novel. And small. We spent it with our immediate family. Luc was responsible for preparing the appetizers - cheese, fruit, pate, olives... Mietta chose the flowers for the table and Nic helped set the table. Paul was responsible for the Turkey, dressing and gravy. I made the side dishes: green beans, candied yams, mashed potato. We made a cranberry pie for dessert. 

We went for a family walk between appetizers and the main meal. 
For aperitifs, Paul and I drank a version of Kir Royale made with Chambord and Champagne while the children drank italian soda. Wine with dinner for us - sparkling apple and grape juice for the kids. 

Trick or Treat

Kids leaving to go trick or treating... meeting Mario on the way

Paul and I had a very busy couple of days, madly attempting to finish Luc's Minecraft Creeper costume before he had to wear it trick-or-treating. Luc made a start on his costume on the weekend, but I realized very fast that there was a certain symmetry and precision required - much more the domain of Luc's parents! 
I cut the cardboard and assembled the basic structure (thank you IKEA for your packaging). Paul spray-painted the surfaces using random masking and several paint colors to achieve the 'pixelated' look of a Creeper. The remaining texture was achieved with lots of squares of colored paper glued to the surface. Luc was amazed when he got home from school and saw the (almost) result of our hard work. 
The costume definitely made an impact and Luc received many compliments. 
This year, Nic decided he wanted to be Boba Fett, and Mietta chose to be Bumblebee from Transformers. 

Coco

A birthday poster for a very 'Hello Kitty' party