What's for Dinner ???

This phrase when uttered mid afternoon in my house often makes me break out in a cold sweat of panic.

Thinking of something for dinner is one of the biggest hurdles I have to overcome each day.

First of all it has to be something everyone eats. If you count Abbey in this that means either pasta, vegemite sandwiches or two minute noodles. Then it has to be something that we haven't had in the past week because otherwise dinner will be greeted with groans of "Not again !!! We ate that last week." And it has to be reasonably healthy because I have somehow found five kilos in the last couple of months that I am keen to lose again.

I try to plan the week ahead's meals when I do my shopping every week. This sometime works but often I am so desperate for fruit, toilet paper, chocolate, etc that I have to shop before I have found time to do this. This then results in being completely unorganized, having to go to the supermarket every day and therefore spending way over the food budget for the week and still not knowing what to cook every day for dinner.

After reading on several blogs how other people plan their menus I came up with the idea of a monthly master menu that gets repeated. First of all I listed 24 meals that most of us enjoy. I listed 24 not 28 as my thinking was this gives us every Saturday night to either get takeaway, go out for dinner or try out a new recipe.

Then I used ical to plan which day we had each meal and set them to a 4 week rotation. Now on shopping day I just print out the calendar for that week, stick it on the inside of the pantry door so I can see what is for dinner at a glance and write a shopping list for the ingredients needed to make those meals.

I feel so organized.

Now I am thinking of creating 4 master shopping lists that I can print out and adjust accordingly depending on what we have left from the previous week. Now, if only I had an iphone I could get that list emailed to me each week on shopping day.

An iphone really would enrich and simplify my families' lives in so many ways.

David, are you reading this ?

Please ?

Lol.

Newcastle

We have been to Newcastle. We really liked it there. But we are not going back there to live !!!

We went up there four weeks ago to research the area and to find a town to live in that was not too expensive, not too suburban and that had good schools for the kids.

This turned out to be a big ask.

First of all it is soooooo expensive to buy a home there. To buy something similar to what we have in Warragul was going to cost us at least $200,000 more than our home is worth here. And it is virtually impossible to get a block that is bigger than 700m2 within a 1/2 hour drive of David's work.

We found a town that we didn't mind called Medowie. It was quite rural and the homes were on big blocks. It only had a primary school in town but we would deal with traveling to secondary school when the time came. We even found a house for sale that we liked. There was not much in the way of infrastructure in town either. There were the basics such as a supermarket, chemist, butcher, hairdresser, bakery and post office but we were going to have to travel to get to swimming lessons, music lessons or to go out for dinner. But once again we thought we could deal with that.

Then David finally got his contract from his work and it was nothing like what they had indicated it was going to be. On the money they were offering we couldn't even afford to rent a four bedroom home that would fit all our furniture in let alone buy one. Which didn't really matter as 4 bedroom houses to rent seem to be as rare as hen's teeth in the Newcastle area. They were also not going to pay for our relocation which they had also said that they would.

Anyway, to cut a long story short after weeks of negotiations with David's employers they finally offered a half decent contract but it still fell way short of what they said they would give him. Also our time in Newcastle was up and because they had spent so much time dicking around with the contract we no longer had time to find somewhere to live. The kids had to get back to school. Our house in Warragul had still not sold and we could no longer afford to pay a mortgage and pay for David to fly to and from Newcastle every week and for accommodation for him during the week.

The whole move was no longer financially viable and to be honest, we really didn't want to go. We didn't want to leave our home, our friends and family and the kid's school to move somewhere were we knew no-one, had to live in a smaller, older home with kids probably having to share rooms. And we would have very little money to travel back to see our family and friends.

So we are back here for the moment. Hopefully David will find a job here soon because although I feel confidant he will find something, it is a little unsettling not knowing when he will be paid again.

But it is lovely to be back in our home and near our family and friends. I just hope we made the right decision.

Resuming Transmission.....

......Now !!!

Yes, I am the world's worst blogger. Without a doubt. But I am here to redeem myself. Or to at least try.

The main reason for my blogging absence is because Abbey stopped sleeping during the day and no matter how hard I tried I could not find the time during the day to blog and by the time I have got the munchkins off to sleep at night I am simply too brain dead to write anything coherent.

But Abbey seems to have taken pity on her close-to-the-edge mother and has gone back to the occasional three hour day sleeps, allowing me once again to blog.

The last month has been hectic with heaps of people inspecting our house but unfortunately no buyer yet. Hopefully it will sell soon so I can stop worrying about it. And so I can relax a little and not have to keep it so tidy which is a challenge when you have a toddler who likes to change outfits at least 20 times a day.

The kids start school holidays tomorrow and they are off to the football tomorrow night to see Essendon and Carlton at the MCG. Tom is a Essendon supporter and David is a Carlton supporter so it should be a fun night for them. Abbey and I are staying home, the football is far to cold and boring for us. We are going to cook a gourmet dinner for my Mum instead. We are having Ricotta and Spinach Gnocchi with sage butter and Baked Rice with Caramel and Coconut Pears. Yummo !!!

Tom is off to Ballarat on Saturday to stay with David's parents for a few days, he will be back on Tuesday. I will miss him terribly but it will be nice for him to spend some one on one time with his Grandparents who I am sure will spoil him rotten.

Right now I am going to make the most of the rest of Abbey's sleep and go and strip some beds. The excitement never ends !!!

Oh, and I have fixed the link to my recipes, I didn't realize it didn't work. Just in case anyone still reads this blog !

Freezing

It is sooooo cold here today, winter has arrived.  We had a top temperature of 13 degrees in Warragul today, which is nowhere near warm enough for me.  This cold, dismal, rainy weather is making me dream of a tropical holiday.  Bali, I miss you !  I long to feel your oppressive humidity hit me like a ton of bricks when I step off the plane at Denpasar.  I yearn to drink $1 Bali Moon cocktails whilst watching the sun set over the ocean.  I dream of the smell of frangipanis filling the air.

What makes the need to go to Bali even worse is the fact that my parents are currently there on holidays and sending me text messages telling me how lovely and relaxing and hot it is there.

It has been too long since I have experienced Balinese hospitality.  Eighteen months to be exact. Here are some photos of our last stay in Bali.

This is Abbey enjoying being beside the pool.

This is the view from the Sunset Bar where I enjoyed numerous Bali Moon cocktails.  For $1 each.  Did I mention already how much I love Bali ?

This is Abbey and I at the swim up bar.  Abbey loved her fresh pineapple juice as much as I loved my cocktails.  Well, nearly as much.

Abbey enjoying her breakfast.

Oh beautiful Bali, I will come and visit you soon.

If I don't freeze to death first !

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Things have been fairly boring around here, nothing particularly exciting to report.

Our house goes on the market next week and once it sells we will pack up and move to Newcastle. I have been spending a bit of time researching the area and trying to work out where we should live and which schools are good.  We are planning a fact finding trip in a few weeks time so hopefully I'll know more after I visit Newcastle myself.

But since I don't feel like blogging all that boring stuff like Abbey's latest tantrum or what I had for breakfast I've decided to do a bit if a random post about some of my favorite things around my house.

Just incase anyone is interested !!!

First of all is Bloom Vanilla Bean Liquid soap.  It lathers beautifully, smells absolutely divine and doesn't dry out my hands, which is a good thing because my hands look twenty years older than I am.   And the packaging is gorgeous, it looks lovely in the bathrooms. 

I absolutely adore my apple macbook.  It is easy to use and lets face it, it is one good looking laptop.  I often have to beat the kids with a stick to get them away from photobooth so I can use my mac.  It is very popular in my house.  Even David who was a Mac hater has come around a little.

I love my Pandora bracelet, it is gorgeous and every bead on it was a gift and has meaning.  A charm bracelet for grown ups is a brilliant idea.  Since it is full I am now thinking of getting some different coloured glass beads, I saw a bracelet the other day that looked great and it had white and grey glass beads in it.

My navy blue wall.  I must admit some people look at me strangely when I tell them a have a big navy blue feature wall in the middle of my house, but i love it.  I think it really works with the white furniture and as my house is very light and open  it doesn't make the house seem dark or small.  And yes, that is Annie on the TV, my girls are obsessed with it.  It plays all day at my house.  Even Abbey who turned two in March can sing a lovely version of "Tomorrow".

Cassidy's bed.  What little girl wouldn't love a bed like this ?  I think it is beautiful and I love making it every morning and arranging the cushions.  Cassidy likes to have the netting closed when she sleeps, it makes her feel like a princess.

Abbey has only recently moved into a bed but I've had this doona cover for nearly a year, I fell in love with it when i saw it and I knew Abbey would love it as birds are one of her favorite things.

Tom's computer skills.  If there is ever anything I can't work out on the computer Tom can more often than not sort it out.  And it doesn't matter whether it is a PC or a Mac, Tom can work out either.  He recently received "student of the week" at school and the reason was he fixed his teacher's computer when she couldn't get it to work !!!  He is a very handy boy to have around.

I LOVE this kitchenaid mixer.  Unfortunately it is not mine, it belongs to my Mum who has kindly let me use it while she is holidaying in Bali.  She will be lucky to ever get it back.  I have become very attached to it, it makes kneading bread so easy and homemade pasta is a breeze.

And last but absolutely not least (actually probably most) is my washing machine.  I did fall out of love with it a little when it blew up but now it is working again I love it more than ever.  If  I had to do washing the old fashioned way I would never have time to sleep.  Of all modern conveniences I think the washing machine is the best by far.  I really do try to not take it for granted !!!

PS.  Abbey is probably my favorite and my best thing in my house at the moment because she is cute, soft, cuddly, chubby and so funny.  She keeps me laughing all day.  And her dress sense is just so interesting !!!

 

Circus

That's what my house was tonight, a circus.  

I am surprised I haven't been carted off in a straight jacket by now.

I could not, for the life of me, get my children to go to bed.  Then I couldn't get them to go to their beds.  Then I couldn't get them to stay in bed.  Then they wouldn't go to sleep. Aaaaarggghh, what the hell is going on ?

Eventually I got Abbey off to sleep in her own bed and then I managed to get the big kids asleep but they are both in my bed.

So now I am trying to figure out whether I will move one or both of them and sleep in my bed or will I just admit defeat and sleep in one of their beds ?

I think that they are a bit sad that David has gone away for work again after having him home for two weeks.  I for one am glad he is working again although his new job is in Newcastle.  For three years.  So that means that realistically we need to move to Newcastle.  Which is quite exciting really, Newcastle is lovely and I would love to live on the coast but it all seems a bit too much like hard work to move interstate away from our family and friends.

So Newcastle, watch out, we are headed your way.  The real estate photographer is coming to take photos of our house tomorrow and then it is only a matter of time until we have to pack up everything and move north.  At least the weather will be better, it gets quite cold here in the winter and the summer was so hot, I never want to experience 46 degrees and raging bushfires again. 

My Beautiful Boy

My eldest child Tom is an absolute joy.  He a such a kind, thoughtful boy always happy to help and thinking of others.  Well, mostly anyway.  He is a nine year old boy with nine-year-old-boy attitude at times but on the whole he is a wonderful child and I feel thankful he is mine.

This week Tom came home with a Mother's Day card that he forgot to bring home in time for Mother's Day.  Inside was a poem he had written all by himself.  Here it is :

Dear Mum,

If you were a star

And I was your shine,

I'd wrap you in my gold coat

And make you mine.

If you were a book

And I was the pages,

Dad would be stuck reading 

For ages and ages.

If you were a tree

And I was a leaf,

I'd hold on to you tight

So you don't come to grief.

If you were a volcano

And I was the gas,

We'd blow up together

And really annoy Cass.

I love it.  It is lovely and funny and a little obscure.  It warms my heart and makes me even more proud that this gorgeous boy is mine.  I also like the way that he was a little mischievious and teased his sister a bit.  She read the poem and was annoyed so I guess it had the desired effect.

It has been a busy week here with David still home, still waiting to start on his new project. Hopefully he won't be waiting too much longer, the time off has been lovely but after two weeks of being at home he is keen to be employed again !!!

Abbey and I did some baking today.  We made my favorite muffins, Raspberry and Coconut Muffins.  They are really yummy but they had a rather strange effect on poor Abbey.

How cute is that ?

From the Mouths of Babes

Every night before I go to bed I go and smooch my gorgeous babies.  They are so scrumptious when they are all snuggled up in bed and there is a certain amount of truth in the saying that you love your kids a little more when they are asleep.

David really likes to snuggle them too.  He will go so far as to actually pick Abbey up and cuddle her, breathing in her yummy babyness. 

He talks to them too.  I usually whisper a quiet "I love you" in their ear but David likes to have a full conversation with them.  I would be petrified I might wake them but he is fearless.

Last night he was enjoying a snuggle with Abbs when he whispered "Love you Abbey".

And do you know what that precious munchkin said ?

"Love Mum !!!"

Bless her.

Office Makeover

The office in our house has always been far from perfect.  It is one of those rooms that no matter how hard I try, it never looks the way I imagined.  I have wanted to move it around a bit and get rid of some clutter for quite some time now so when David announced that he had a week at home (or maybe even longer due to not having a job, but that's a story for another day) I decided it was the perfect opportunity to sort out the offending office.

It has turned out really well.  We managed to condense all our stuff into one shelving unit (we previously had two) and cleared up quite a bit of desk room. 

 

We used to have the desks next to each other but have separated them so essentially one side of the room is David's and one side is mine.  I personally think mine looks better but my mac laptop is far funkier than his Dell so it is probably unfair to compare.  If he went mac he too could be funky but since it took me two years of whining to get my own mac I'm not holding my breath.

I especially like the addition of the floating Ikea shelf.  We have a few of these in our house and they always smarten up a room.  And for $49.95 each are an absolute bargain.

Also love the photos of my gorgeous munchkins on the wall taken by the oh- so- talented Nicole Finlayson.

And the best thing about the office do-over is that it was super cheap.  The only things I bought were the Ikea shelf and an extension cord.  I think it looks great, I am one happy camper.  My photography on the other hand, well that definitely needs some work.  I apologize for the shocking photos.  One day when I have some time I will learn how to take better photos.  I promise.

More of the same

Oh, I am a bad blogger aren't I ???

Nothing too exciting happening around here, just more of the same really.

Had a lovely weekend, started off Saturday with a visit to the local grammer school open day and I have to say I had no idea that schools could be so wonderful.  I was beyond impressed.  The facilities were amazing and the junior school coordinator answered every question we asked with ease.  Abbey adored the Early Learning Centre, she played for ages and did not want to leave. 

The only question now is do we move the kids or wait until they reach secondary school ? And if we do move them now will they hate us for the rest of their lives for moving them from their friends ?  I've put it in the "too hard" basket for now.

My parents and my brother and sister came for dinner Saturday night and I made Nonna's Crostoli.  It was delicious but I was in a big rush and didn't take photos or measure all of the ingredients so I will have to promise to post the recipe another day.

On Sunday I got to go for a big walk with my gorgeous friend Ellen.  We had heaps to talk about and I barely noticed I was exercising.  And whilst we were walking Ellen's lovely daughter Laura did my washing !!!  She is an angel.

David is home this week due to his project being finished up early so I decided to get out for the day without Abbey.  

After a horribly slow trip on the Monash I picked up my sister Lissy and we hit Ikea.  I needed storage containers for the kids and various other bits and pieces.  As always I picked up a few items that I deemed absolutely necessary at the time but now that I am home I am not so sure. 

We then drove to Chapel Street and did a little more shopping and then had lunch at the beautiful Cafe e Cucina.  I had amazing gnocchi with roast pumpkin and duck meatballs in a parmesan sauce.  Yummo, I would like to eat here for every meal.

On the way home I dropped in on my sister in law and saw my beautiful niece and nephew Riley and Bella.  They were so cute, they had so much to tell me that they were talking over each other.

And I arrived home to a lovely meals of roast chicken.

I think I need to leave more often !!!

Tomorrow I am going to look through a house that Ellen is thinking of buying.  I love nothing more than going through houses I have never seen before and this one is going to be impressive, what I have seen of it online is amazing.

OCD ???

I'm fussy.  I'm the first to admit it.  I like things to be a certain way and done a certain way and I don't cope well if this doesn't happen.  If my house is a mess I can't relax or really even function until it is cleaned up.  I can't stand stuff on horizontal surfaces.  I detest clutter.  I love routine.  I think I may have just a touch of OCD.  

I think a little may be a good thing.  I bet there a plenty of messy hourders out there who wish they had just a touch of OCD.

My husband also likes things to be a certain way and to be done a certain way.  He likes his pillowcase on a certain way.  He has been known to snap a carrot over the lid being left off the toothpaste.  I think he might also be just a tiny bit OCD.

 I am beginning to think little Abbey may have won the genetic jackpot and inherited this OCD tendency from both of us.  Her little idiosyncrasies and routines are becoming a little over the top.  Yes, I know she is just a toddler and they do funny things but this is getting ridiculous.

First of all Abbey cannot wear shoes and socks inside.  She will take them off as soon as she can.  She doesn't care where she is, at her house, the doctors, the supermarket, those shoes and socks must come off immediately. She also doesn't care if her feet are so cold I think they may drop off, absolutely no socks.

If she decides to have a rest during the day on the couch she must have her special pillow, her pink blanket, her three bunnies that she calls "weewees", the yellow one (which is orange), the blue one and the pink one.  These must be arranged in order from the most loved to the least loved.  

A similar arrangement must be met at bedtime but she also needs her ducky lights and her fishy music. Then the door has to be left open about an inch or she will have a nervous breakdown.

When she eats or drinks if she gets any food or drink on herself the offending item of clothing must be removed immediately.  If her hands are sticky she will freak out until they are cleaned.

She will not eat meat.  She will not eat cereal.  She will not eat potatoes or pumpkin.  Actually it would be easier to list what she will eat.  She will eat all fruit except apples.  She will eat cheese if it is grated.  She would like to eat pasta for every meal.  She will eat cucumber, sweetcorn and the odd pea.  She will eat yoghurt and bread.  And that is about it.

This diet seems to be working for her, she looks pretty healthy.  And she is definitely full of beans.  Not literally.

I'm hoping she'll grow out of it before she drives me nuts.  If I'm not already.

P.S. I have finally posted the recipe for Nonna's Ragu.  If you want to taste the best pasta sauce you need to cook some immediately.

Back again

The weekend was wonderful.  We did some shopping, some relaxing and ate really well.  I finally got to go to Longrain for dinner, I have wanted to for years.  It lived up to my expectations even if we did have to wait 1.5 hours for a table.  The food and the cocktails were absolutely amazing.

I got to sleep in until 9.30 Sunday morning, I can't remember when I did that last and then had a lovely breakfast at Stephanie Alexander's cafe Richmond Hill.  Amazing bircher and the tastiest scrambled eggs I have ever tasted.

The big kids didn't drive Grandma crazy, she said they were easy to look after. My Mum and Dad looked after Abbey and I think she was an absolute pleasure.  She didn't want to come home, although she was very happy to see me and gave me a huge hug and said "Luff you Mum." 

In other news both Tom and Cass got pupil of the week last week and are proudly wearing their ribbons to school every day.  My washing machine is still not working so I am carting my washing to and from Mum's house and handwashing the kids school uniforms.  The freezing cold, pouring rain weather is not helping but I am enjoying being inside with the heater on, listening to rain on the roof.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt my first batch of Nonna's Ragu.  I hope it is a success, I have high expectations and I am going to feed it to my whole family who are coming for dinner Saturday night.

But right now I have to fold some washing before we run out of clothes to wear.

  

Grandma has arrived...

.....and we are outta here !!!

We being David and myself, and we are actually going away for the weekend sans children.

The excitement is nearly too much to bear.

I am looking forward to: 

1. Eating a meal without getting up from my seat at least 10 times.

2. Having a shower in peace.

3. Not doing any laundry (although I can't do any at home anyway do to blown up washing machine).

4. Completing a thought.

Be back Sunday afternoon.  See ya !

The Toddler Terrorist strikes again

I'll let the photo speak for itself.

In an effort to keep Abbey amused I decided to do some baking.  We made the best dessert in the world, Molten Chocolate puddings.  What makes these pudds the best in the world is not only that they taste fabulous but you can make them any time you have 20 minutes to spare and you just keep them in the freezer until you want them.  

Doesn't it look delicious ?

I was actually making them for the weekend but Abbey wanted one so badly I baked one and she ate it for lunch.  They cover all the food groups you know, chocolate, fat, sugar....oh no, they don't.  They don't have any alcohol in them.  Next time I might put a little Tia Maria in them. Here is Abberlicious enjoying her lunch.

Do yourself a favour and make some Molten Chocolate Puddings right now,  you'll thank me for sure.  

Toddler Terrorist

There is 5.5 years between my second and third child.  During that time it seems that I forgot how much mess a toddler creates over the course of a normal day.

Or I blocked it out because it was just too disturbing to think about.

Either way little miss toddler terrorist Abberlicious has the house and its occupants under siege due to the constant high level threat of instant mess.  I fear it because I generally fear all mess and disorder and the big kids are terrified that they might have to help clean it up.  

Cleaning up mess they didn't create seems to cause the big kids in this house to go into instant meltdown.  They think it's bad enough having to clean up their own messes, cleaning up their little sisters' seems to be complete torture.

Here is a fine example of her handywork.

She had only been playing with the playdough for 15 minutes.  

Isn't she talented.  Quite a mess for a little girl.

This is what this area of the house normally looks like.

If you're wondering why she is wearing only a nappy it is because in addition to being a toddler terrorist she also seems to be a toddler nudist,  likely to strip from head to toe at any given moment.

Luckily for her she is really cute.

The sun'll come out...

.....tomorrow hopefully !

I'm feeling a little bummed about my washing machine today.  I am a washing fanatic, I rarely have dirty laundry sitting around for more than overnight and not having a working washing machine makes me feel all uneasy and out of control.  Yes, I may have a few issues but it is just not fair that my washing machine has died after only 10 months.  What is it with me and washing machines ?  I treat them well, keep them clean, they would never get lonely or feel unappreciated because I am always in the laundry putting them to good use.  I love my washing machines, is a little love back too much to ask ?

But back to the title of this post, do you remember the movie Annie ?  I absolutely adored this movie when I was a little girl, I knew every word to every song.  I remember as clear as day often belting out my own rendition of "You're never fully dressed without a smile" with my sister and my cousin Nicole. 

My daughter Cassidy recently began singing lessons and I thought she might like Annie so I borrowed the video from Mum and Dad.  Cassidy LOVES it.  Now she knows all the words to all the songs.  She was at her cousins house the other day playing in the cubby, sweeping the floor and she told me "it's a hard knock life for me Mum."  Here's a photo of the poor, hard done by child.

She looks like she lives a life of suffering doesn't she ?

Her love for Annie has grown even stronger since her singing teacher started to teach her "Tomorrow".  She wants to sing just like Annie on the movie.  She wants to dance just like her too.  In fact she has gone so far as to say she'd like to be an orphan.  I didn't take offence.

I guess if little orphan Annie can believe in her situation that the sun'll come out tomorrow that I too can be optimistic and believe that the washing machine repair man will come tomorrow. 

Oh, and I absolutely must add that the gorgeous photo above was taken by the phenomenly talented Nicole Finlayson.  She takes the most beautiful photos, go and see for yourself. 

Frustration

My washing machine smells like it could explode at any minute.  I know I have quite a bit of washing but this is ridiculous.  This washing machine is only 10 months old and it was not a cheapie, it's a flipping Blanco washing machine.

 My last washing machine (which by the way was also not a cheapie, it was a Maytag) lasted 3.5 years.  I actually technically still have it as it is sitting at the repairers because they can't find anything wrong with it.  But when it comes home to my house it leaks and destroys the new panel on the laundry cabinet that we replaced because the Maytag leaked and wrecked it !!!  Arrrgghh !!

Wow.  I feel better now I got that off my chest.

Other than the whole washing machine debacle it was a quiet day at home today with the big kids back at school.  Abbey and I did some chores, played with playdough and made some pumpkin soup.  Doesn't it look yummy ? 

I also posted a picture of Abbs for no reason other than she is really cute.

Well, you have to start somewhere...

....and here is where I'll start.

  

We have had another crazy weekend with David home only for two days and about a billion things to do.  Well, a billion may be a slight exaggeration but we certainly were busy. Saturday morning was filled with the mundane, dentist and haircuts, grocery shopping and a mountain of laundry.  But Saturday afternoon was the best !

I was invited to my gorgeous friend Ellen's home to watch her mum make Ragu and Crostoli. Ellen's mum's name is Valeria but we all like to call her Nonna and we love her to bits.  I'd actually like to keep Nonna at my house forever, I wish she was my Nonna.  

Nonna is from Northern Italy originally and makes the best ragu (or bolognaise sauce, whichever you want to call it) that I have ever tasted.  I had tried over and over to copy it but mine was never even anywhere near as good so Ellen took pity on me and said Nonna would give me a lesson on ragu making.

So now I know.  And my family and friends will be singing Nonna's praises for evermore.

And Crostoli. Oh my goodness, if you haven't had crostoli you haven't lived !  It is sort of like sweet pasta that is deep fried and covered with icing sugar.  And I know how to make that too.  I feel empowered with all this italian knowledge.  I'll share these recipes when I figure out how to use blogger !!!

But now it is back to the mundane with David off to Sydney at the crack of dawn and the kids back to school tomorrow.  Abbey and I won't know what to do with ourselves. I could always try out the crostoli recipe but I don't think my butt will thank me.