flavour bomb.

this isn't a concept i've come up with, it's one i learnt from jamie... his latest series, 'save with jamie' is one of my absolute faves!
i watched every episode of the series AND bought the book.
i am a tragic!

anywho... getting back to the bombs of flavour...



the idea is, that instead of letting leftover fresh herbs and the like go bad, you chuck them into an ice-cube tray, with some oil or water or something, to help preserve them. but to also keep them nice and handy to infuse flavour into whatever you're cooking!

the above is leftover coriander (from this salad, cooked earlier in the week) under peanut oil!
i figure that should give a nice kickstart to a curry or something!

and below, is a little brainwave i came up with the other night!



leftover fresh mint, chopped, and covered in lime juice!
MOJITO ICE BLOCKS!

pop a couple of these babies in a glass with some soda water, and your tipple of choice (white rum, vodka, even gin if you wanted!). or not, if you're not a drinker.
they'd make any drink nice and refreshing i think!

are you a fan of jamie too? what do you do with your leftover herbs?

my creative space.

yesterday, i finished off the slightly larger beanie i was working on earlier in the week AND i went for a drive to a patchwork shop and acquired some more hexagon papers...
one guess what i'm up to today...



more hexies!
i'm getting through them... i've just got that stack there to go!

well i did just have that stack there...



what can i say, i was in a patchwork shop!
i think the challenge of getting through all of the fabric i had by the end of february might be a little out of reach now... oh well! we'll see how i go!

what are you creating this week? are you joining in with kirsty too?

green love.

after mentioning last week that my poor pineapple plant still wasn't in the ground, i got busy over the weekend...



and finally got it into a pot! it's even got a little bit of new growth happening from just being in a glass of water too!
it's so mental that it grows just from the top!

also on the weekend, i dragged bb to kmart with me, to spend up the last of a voucher i was given for my birthday.
i'd been trying to work out what we needed, that i could spend it on, and then it clicked!



lots and LOTS of pretty flowers... gardening isn't all about edibles after all!

i also found a gorgeous fern, to pop into our birdcage to sit in our lounge room!



but of course, as well as flowers ARE pretty, and lovely, i DO like to have lots of edibles around...

a new mint plant...



hopefully i don't manage to kill this one! i do not have the best track record with mint ha ha!

and finally, a chilli plant, at bb's request.



now, looking over these photos, i'm realising everything is looking a bit dry! time for some water, and a little bit later, some mulch!
i think i'll put mum to work (she's visiting today) and get her to help!

what's growing in your patch? do you have lots of flowers? or just edibles?

sizing up.

i feel like i've made quite a few beanies over the years... but i still can't seem to get the silly things sized correctly.

first, there were my christmas knitting fails, which were only fails because they were too damn small!

and then there's the beanie i started last week... over the weekend, i finished off the last of the ribbing and got the crocheted top done too!



it looks great, but it's most likely too small for the recipient! oops!

this pattern was reverse-engineered, at request, by looking at a beanie the recipient already owns... and i followed the pattern that i 'saw' to the letter... not thinking about the gauge of the wool used in the original piece!

oh well, onwards and upwards...



the ribbing is cast on, and finished again. with a dozen or so more stitches to hopefully fix the sizing problem...


how do you go sizing your projects? do you make everything a little small like me too?


edit: last night i had a dream that i was wearing the beanie, and it stretched out like crazy and was enormous. what the heck brain?

meal planning monday.

oops, another week, not quite going to plan food wise... hopefully the week ahead will be more successful!



tonight, i'll make the thai chicken noodle salad i never made last week. the night i was meant to whip it up, i went to bed straight after work. i. was. exhausted. hopefully that won't be the case again tonight ha ha!
for lunches today, we've got leftover meatballs from last night... yep, no roast last night ha ha!

tomorrow, i'm off from work. i'm contemplating a quick trip to go and visit my grandma, but that should still leave me with a little bit of time to make something yummy. and i'm thinking the 'save with jamie' lovely lamb pie.
i'll have lunch with grandma, and bb will have leftover salad to take for lunch!

wednesday, i've got the day off again. my mum will be up from the country, so we'll have lunch together, but she normally leaves mid-afternoon to avoid traffic, so again, i'll have lots of time to cook something scrumptious! i'm hoping another 'save with jamie' recipe. this time, the pulled pork peppers i never got around to last week. i ended up having a much later night at work last thursday than i'd first anticipated, and again, pretty much went straight to bed after work... a bit of a habit last week apparently!
there should still be salad leftovers for bb to take to work again on wednesday...

thursday night, i'll grab some bolognaise out of the freezer for a quick and easy meal!
leftover peppers for lunches hopefully!

friday night, i'll be working late, so i'll pop this soup in the slow cooker. should be delicious with a slice of sourdough!

over the weekend, bb is in charge of the cooking because i'm working! he's promised me a curry on saturday night and a roast on sunday!
can't wait!!

what are you eating this week? are you trying any new recipes?

you're my muffin.

i had every intention of making one of bb's favourite things to eat on valentine's day, before our plans went a little sideways. bb went out for dinner with his family, and i, well i was working, no surprise there ha ha!

anywho, to make up for it a little, i thought i'd whip up another favourite over the weekend.

english muffins!

i'd had a recipe bookmarked for a month or so... but then i chatted about sourdough over crafting and dinner on wednesday night, and started thinking about sourdough english muffins!

a quick google search, and i found a recipe to follow...



i'm not sure if i missed a step somewhere... but my dough was SUPER wet and hard to handle!
i had to incorporate a whole HEAP of flour to get it manageable enough to cut out the muffins and was therefore really skeptical when i was popping them in the pan to cook...



lo and behold, they puffed up, and browned up, and were really delicious!

they were a little involved, with the resting times of everything, but all up, there wasn't a huge amount of work to be done... just a lot of waiting!

have you ever made your own english muffins? do you sourdough?

little lovelies.

every week, i try and share a little list of lovely things that have happened throughout the week in my neck of the woods, to try and keep myself looking on the bright side of things.

i mixed up this cake mix as promised...



as well as it being my bloggy birthday, i also had a co-worker with a birthday sunday too! i baked them up and took them into work as a bit of a happy birthday gesture!
hopefully it helped make her day a bit special (particularly because she was working, poor thing!)

i also started on one of my february goals



i pulled on my ridiculously BRIGHT exercise clothes, and went for a run. it was only a short one, but yesterday my muscles were aching a lovely ache, and i'm keen to pull those hyper orange runners on again this morning!
it was really fun!

this guy didn't just want hugs last night...



he also wanted to steal my chesse!
he's lucky he's cute i tell ya!

and lastly, this morning, i'm getting back to one of my favourite past-times...



list writing!
what i want to get done today, tomorrow, in the garden over the year... lots of lists!

what have you been up to this week? what has put a smile on your face?