Ag May ...

Hi Cousin C!  It was lovely to have you over and make some Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with you!!!  (oops - sorry no pics of that one). So, a bit more time was spent in the kitchen this past week.  It was a pleasant time in the kitchen.  On the menu board was Cinnamon Pull-Apart for an afternoon tea at a friend's house.  Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes made with the little ones.  Caramel Popcorn for a little self-indulgence.  And then German Pancakes, Aussie Meat Pies and Filipino Adobo - I went international this past week!  Also, we finished the last of our Farmer's Market steak cuts, so that will be the last of our steak indulgences until next month. Sizewise - not really a party pie, and not really a four 'n' twenty pie; more like a muffin pie !  (Ps new recipe) Cheesy ham and broccoli pasta - soooo yum! Garlic and Basil pesto salmon with rice furikake - good for the body; good for the soul.  Yep - that's my "I need ...

Never!!! This project has been a long time coming.  I started it a while ago, but I needed to tweak the design, which I did and the project just rolled on from there.  And now here - for your eye-rolling, you're-so-anal-Ag, viewing pleasure... the disaster zone (or more corporately correct - the opportunity) the design the prototype the implementation the pat on the back No - really - I don't miss working much. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!!!

The baking this month has slowed down a bit... how do I know that?  Well, my list for the "big shop" this weekend did not include the 4kg of flour and 1.5kg of butter that it would normally.  When I put it like that - that's quite a bit of baking, huh?  Rest assured, my baked goods are usually shared around and not just consumed in the Ag May household. But, I'm feeling the baking thing coming on.  The cooler weather is definitely helping along in this department.  So watch this space in the next coming weeks... But for the past week it has been slightly warmer and I've been focussing on some more non-edible crafting.  So very simple meals this past week :- Poached chicken with salad and greens   Spanish Tortilla with salad and greens Taco Salad (own recipe - will include next time) Steak (fresh from the Farmers Market) with 3-ingredient pasta and salad Polvoron (filipino sweet treat) Handmade breakfast - handmade sc...

I have a confession to make... Little Miss M is only 3 years old (no, that's not my confession.  Read on).  She's the sweetest thing.  Really she is.  And she just loves to talk.  She just can't seem to stop. However, even though she loves to talk and can have quite grown up conversations, she doesn't really know how to "fight".  I don't think so, anyway.  I mean, I'm right in the throes of guilt at the moment, so that means my child IS AN ANGEL with a HORRIBLE mommy. So, at this point in time, my dear sweet child is, in my mind and probably in reality as well, incapable of fighting.   And when I report to my Dear Husband that Little Miss M and I had a fight, what really happened is that mommy (that's me) had a hissy fit.  That's right.  And if I report that I had a bad fight with Little Miss M, it probably means that I threw a tantrum.  Not an adult's equivalent of a tantrum, but a real screaming, hair-pulling (my o...

Another week, another menu.  When I have the time, menu planning is a joy.  When I don't, it's a big sad sigh.  This week, with the fam being sick - self included, neither the mind nor the body were very much into food.  But looking back, it was not too bad.   Honey Butter Pork with rice and greens Steak with an Argentine Rub served with cheesy pasta and peas, corn and carrots. Shepherds Pie (own recipe - will post next time) Poached Pears with King Island Dairy Vanilla Bean Yoghurt and chocolate sauce We also had some Arros Caldo (chicken congee - filipino style) - good for whatever ails you.   And we served up a meal of potato pikelets (my sis called them blinis) with horseradish sour cream and smoked salmon (for entree) and roast beef and veg (for the main) to my darling sis as a housewarming meal.  Happy New Home, sis!!!  I'm annoyed that I forgot to take photos, but we were running late and I got hungry. To sta...

"Finding much life and beauty among the ordinary things of our day"... 10 photos over 10 hours - a snapshot of the beauty in my sometimes-ordinary-sometimes-hectic- sometimes-overwhelming-sometimes-good-sometimes-bad-but-always-filled-with-love life.  Thanks for dropping by! Good Morning, mama! Strong hands; precious cargo Got to love me a well-organised, rubbish-free art box! Good nap, lil' sis?  Wanna come out to play? Let's get ready for lunch Inspired to bake something yet, mama? Sleep, my little one.  Rest well and get better soon. A little Iced Coffee, sweetened with life's elixir - sweetened condensed milk - to get me through the rest of the day New skills and new discoveries An organized toy bucket - be still my anal obsessive heart For a glimpse of beautiful lives across the world (thanks to digital cameras and that wonderful sharing community that is "bloggers"), please head on over to Rebe...

Now... before I replace my Creative Commitments for the year, I thought it might be a good idea to see how I actually fared last year (2011).  My Creative Commitments for 2011 were : - - 1 blog post per week - 1 new recipe every two months - 2 sewing projects per month - 2 knitting projects per year Here's a snapshot of the year that's been... Sewing - 25 things sewn in total, a majority of which made it into other people's homes as handmade gifts. Knitting (and crocheting) - 5 things knitted/crocheted up.  I loved learning about crochet and making the gorgeous amigurumi figures. Cooking/baking - 18 new recipes reported on this blog.  I did have a few more recipes that I tried out, but I mainly reported the baking side of things.  All in all, most of these recipes have made it into my personal recipe book, ready to be made again (and again and again). Blogging - 59 blog posts for the year. All things considered (i.e. we had a b...

There's something about blogging that begs for alliteration.  Corny, I know.  But, I like.    Menu Monday, 'cos I talkin' about menus on a Monday.  And not Monday Menu because that just looks like I forgot my "apostrophe s" and this post is not only about Monday's menu. So, here's to Menu Monday!! Al-righty then.  (Hmmm... too Jim Carey-ish you think?  Whatevs.) Anyway, back to the topic at hand... Here's a snap shot of last week's menu (meals and snacks) here at the Ag May household.   Sausages and chips (made from our home grown potatoes) Lamb and Haloumi Braise with mashed potatoes Garlic and Pesto Salmon with Furikaki rice and vegetables Sour Cream Pound Cake (I'm still addicted to this!) Chocolate Chip Cookies (can you smell it?) Granola Bars (ohh - is that a healthy snack you see???) We also had some divine (and I mean DIVINE) eye-fillet steak, rubbed with an Argentine Steak rub accompanied...

eh - for the next 11 months anyway. I'm a bit late starting this year.  I've had my break from my reality - a wonderful break filled with family, chaos, emotions, food, activities and general awesomeness... And now it's time to head back to my reality. And, while my reality is also filled with family, chaos, emotions, food, activities and awesomeness, it is also filled with personal goals and achievements driven by my obsessive, addictive and anal personality (yes, my poor, poor family). I have my personal goals - like always having a visitor-ready home in the most efficient, stress-free manner.  Or making wonderful homemade food at home, including snacks.  Or not having more than 2 notebooks happening at any one time. I have my financial goals - like sticking to my budget and finding new money-saving ways.  Or like saving for a holiday. And I have, more relevantly to this blog, my Creative Commitments for this year.  And these are ... (insert t...