Choc-Chip Crunchies

I've been wanting to make these for weeks now so tonight I finally made them. The recipe is my gran's and its so delisious! You have to try them.

Choc-Chip Crunchies

1 cup Butter
15ml Golden Syrup
2 cups Rolled Oats
2/3 cup Dessicated Coconut
2/3 cup Choc Chips
1 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 170°C. Melt butter and syrup, add remaining ingredients and thoroughly combine. Press mixture into a square 23 x 23cm baking tin and bake for 30 min. Don't over bake as it will crumble.

Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe

This recipe is my grandmother's recipe that I love making. It takes a while to make it but in the end its totally worth the effort and time.

Christmas Fruit Cake

Stage 1 Ingredients

1kg + 1 cup Cake Fruit Mix (usually a mix of raisins, sultanas and candy peel)
2 cups Water
2 cups Brown Sugar
200g Butter
2 tsp Bicarb / Baking Soda

Stage 1 Method

Combine all the above ingredients, except for the baking soda, in a large pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes on low heat. Remove from heat and add baking soda. Leave over night.

Stage 2 Ingredients

1 box Green Glace Cherries, halved
1 box Red Glace Cherries, halved
1 cup Dates, chopped and softened in boiling water
2 tsp Mixed Spice
1 tsp Cinnamon
3 tsp Instant Coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water
5 Eggs
3 1/2 cups Cake Flour
3/4 cup Brandy

Stage 2 Method

Add the cherries, dates, spices and coffee to the fruit mixture. Add 2 eggs and 1 cup flour, alternate eggs and flour until all thouroughly combined. Add the brandy. Spoon into well greased baking tins (I used two loaf tins and one small round tin). Bake at 140°C for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. These cakes keep for quite some time, but to ensure their freshness keep them in an airtight container and once a week "feed" with 15ml brandy.

Not just another Monday

Today was a public holiday in SA so I got to have my lovely N with me the whole day! The weather was sublime, putting me in another glorious mood. The air is warmer, the flower buds are beginning to appear, the grass is greener..... I could go on and on .....
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While N was hard at work finishing the grouting in the bathroom I was doing some place cards. You should know by now that I never leave anything to the last minute, so with having more than half of our RSVP's already, I printed their names and got started. I finished 33 and look forward to getting the rest done.

After we were both finished we sat outside in the sun and decided that sushi was perfect for the weather. So we rushed off to buy some salmon and other goodies, came home, made the sushi and had a sushi picnic. It was a delicious day!

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Since we got my first wedding band we've been trying to decide what wording to have engraved on both of them. We're going to have all three of my rings engraved - the two bands and my engagement ring. It just so happens that last night on TV the Sex and the City movie was on - perfect timing! When they spoke of the letters from Beethoven I thought it couldn't be more perfect. At the end where they finally get married and Big says to her "ever thine, ever mine, ever ours" it sounded just right. On the first band "ever thine", engagement ring "ever mine" and on the second band "ever ours". Love it!

What Sundays are made for...

Spring is most definitely on its way. I woke up this morning to glorious sunshine and much less cold in the air. I can't tell you how happy I am that the winter is finally going, bring on the sunshine, warmth and happy springy feelings.

We decided to have a good old Sunday lunch today which was so incredibly satisfying. While my lovely N slaved away in the bathroom removing the wrong colour tile grout, I cooked up a storm. On the menu was roast beef, roast potatoes, orange & honey carrots, garlic buttered green beans, Yorkshire puddings and sherry & wholegrain mustard gravy, followed by Malva pudding and custard. Delightful!

Before I started all the cooking I quickly had to make a plan for an additional invitation. I did actually make more than enough initially but we ended up inviting a lot more single people without partners than originally expected. There was no chance that I was going to make more pocketfolds so I came up with another idea that took half the time and effort.

Back to baking - Part 3

I've been wanting to make this cake for some time now. I remember when I was young, my grandmother used to make it for us and it was heavenly. I've searched for her original recipe but couldn't find it, I did find one that was quite good but didn't have that crisp sweet orange flavour that I remember so well.

Orange Cake

(Source: Flop Proof Baking)

1 cup Sugar

160ml Butter

Zest of 1 Orange

2 Eggs, separated

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

2 cups Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

Pinch Salt

175ml Orange Juice

75ml Water

Cream the sugar and butter. Add the orange zest, egg yolks and vanilla essence.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the orange juice and water. Blend gently.

Whisk egg whites till soft peaks are formed and fold into mixture.

Pour into a large rectangular baking dish.

Bake for 20 - 30min on 170°C.

Glaze

60ml Orange Juice

1/2 cup Water

Zest of 1 Orange

75ml Sugar

2 Tbs Corn Flour

2 Tbs Butter

Add all the above ingredients to a sauce pan and whisk whilst bringing to the boil.

Remove from heat and poke holes in cake with toothpick.

Pour glaze over the cake while still warm.

Back to baking - Part 2

I haven't tasted these yet but N says they're really good. They're fast and easy to make too.

Pastry Wrapped Sausages

1 pack Cheese Grillers (6 per pack)

1 pack Ready Rolled Puff Pastry (I used Cheese & Herb)

1 Egg, beaten

Sesame Seeds

Brown the sausages. Cut the pastry into six equale squares. Roll each sausage in a square of pastry and "glue" the edge with beaten egg. Arrange on a baking tray, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake on 180°C till golden brown. Serve hot with a honey and mustard dipping sauce.

Back to baking - Part 1

It feels like forever since I lasted baked something tastey. Since I've been at home a lot more I've been trying to make interesting meals and snacks for N to take to work but unfortunately my intentions were better than my actions. Last night I gathered up my remaining energy from the lazy day and made muffins. Half way through the recipe I realised that I didn't have some ingredients and ended up changing the whole recipe, and much to my surprise it was a success!

Peanut Butter and Oats Muffins

1 cup Flour
4ml Baking Powder
4ml Baking Soda
2ml Salt
1ml Cinnamon
3/4 cup Oats
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1 Egg
1/3 - 1/2 cup Milk


Combine the dry ingredients, add the wet, mix well to form a stiff batter. Alow to stand for 5 min (I always do this when baking with oats, it allows time for them to soften a bit). Spoon into muffin tins. Bake for approx. 15 min on 180°C. Makes approx. 10 depending on size.

Another busy weekend that flew by

Friday afternoon started with the three hour meeting with Lily from Betaferon (not Interferon as previously mentioned). She shoved as much information as she possibly could into my tired brain. At the end of the session I injected my mom in the stomach. It was scary but not as bad as last night when I had to do it on my own without Lily. I'll get used to it as I go on but for now I'm still worried that I hurt my mom, even though she reassures me each time that I'm doing fine and that she doesn't feel a thing.

After that I went for a Revitalizing Facial which included a chocolate mask and a should massage. It was just what I needed!

Saturday was spent shopping. We shopped for hours and were exhausted when we returned home. I still managed to put a load of washing on and make a delicious dinner despite the exhaustion. We have a new maid for a month (our usual maid is off sick for a full month but will come back in June) and she seems to be a bit slow for my liking so I helped her out a bit by getting some washing started.

On Sunday we celebrated Mothers Day with a champagne brunch. I was up early baking up a storm. The menu consisted of:

• Quiche Lorraine
• Crustless Ham & Egg Tartlets
• Mocha Muffins
• Blood Orange Quarters
• Champagne & Orange Juice

The quiche was really good, filled with eggs, cheese, bacon, onion and cream - I couldn't have increased the calorie content even if I tried . The muffins were ok, I wouldn't make them again but if I had to I would definitely add more sugar. They lacked something else but I can't put my finger on it. The ham and egg tartlets couldn't have been any simpler. I lined each muffin tray cup with two thin slices of ham, broke an egg into it, added a bit of grated cheese, a splash of cream and baked them for 15 minutes. All in all it was a really good time spent with our little family.

In the afternoon I got some wedding DIY stuff done - I finished the border for the seating plan and made more tissue paper flowers for the initials. And that's about it.

Organization

The little free time that I had this long weekend was spent packing boxes for the guest tables and other sections of the wedding. Our fabulous new decor company is going to be setting up everything so to make things easier and more organised I put together a box for each guest table containing all the things related to that specific table like the table number, favours, gel candles, place cards, cameras, etc. I also have a box for the cake table (cake server, gel candles, fairy lights & batteries), fireplace (tapered candles & holders, jars for individual roses), sweetheart table (pillar candles), guest book table (guest book, mint books, gel candles, pen & sign in picture frame).... you get the idea. I have also made a file for each person involved in the wedding, basically its just back-ups of things previously discussed, like the DJ will have a file with the songs for the ceremony & reception and since he's the MC as well he'll get a copy of the order of the day, the photographer as well as N's one best man will get a file with the must take photo's, the decor company will get one with the layouts and positions of everything. So with all of this done I'm feeling a bit more organised and lighter.


N is doing better. She's still sore and battles with sitting for long but I'm confident that she'll be better soon.

We took my mom on a steam train trip on Sunday. Its not really N and my kinda of thing but my mom loves trains as it reminds her of when she was young and would take train trips down to Cape Town with her mother, so we were happy to take her. It was a four hour trip and my mom had the best time. I packed a picnic basket full of tasty goodies and off we went. A couple of times when I looked at my mom she had tears in her eyes, maybe from memories of days gone by, I'm not sure but it made me a bit sad, she's had a hard life and deserves more happy times like this. Her legs weren't working well at all and but luckily the friendly people that run the train helped so much. Here she is, so excited that she couldn't sit still:


Since yesterday was yet another public holiday my future in-laws came around in the afternoon for tea and cake. I made yet another peanut butter cake, this time it was a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake, and it was even better that the carrot one from before. I'll post the recipe in a couple of days.
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..continued

Savoury Tart (Souttert)
(Source: Unknown)

2 Tbs Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
1 Tsp Dry Mustard
2 Large Eggs (I used 3)
1 Cup Milk
125ml Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Large Tomato, cubed
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 Cups Lean Bacon, chopped (or viennas or chopped chicken breast)
1 Green Pepper, chopped
1 1/2 Cups Cheddar Cheese, grated

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased dish. Bake on 180°C for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 150°C and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

This is a very short week at work for me. Tomorrow I'm taking my mom for tests for the clinical trial which she might be accepted into. Wednesday is voting day - 2009 Elections, I'm not sure why they bother as we all know who'll get the majority of votes. And Thursday I'm taking N in for her operation that she was meant to get a few weeks ago. So its a busy week. Oh and tomorrow morning we're meeting with a lawyer to draw up the ante-nuptial contracts (we've been advised to do this as soon as possible).

Rings and things

After meeting with the dress maker on Saturday we had a quick breakfast then met with the ring designer / jeweller. I originally wanted a band on either side of my engagement ring but for a while I've thought of rather going the more traditional route of having only one wedding band. Luckily she had such a gorgeous one that I could try on. It was the perfect fit and I loved it! There are two issues though - firstly its R5 000 (thats about $500) more than the other two and secondly it has round diamonds instead of princess cut diamonds. The jeweller did say that it might be possible to take those diamonds out and replace them with princess cut ones. It should take a couple of days for her to let me know for definite. N was so great about me changing my mind, she simply said that I have to wear it for the rest of my life so she'll get me what I like.

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The new one that I love

The second option

N's ring was ready so we got that as well. We're happy with it, although I didn't realise that the titanium was so greyish, but N loves it so its ok.

The rest of Saturday was spent baking. I definitely took on too much but the results were worth it. My mom loved it. We had 18 people so my mom was surrounded by people which is what she needs. She's not doing too well so she needs to know that there are so many people that care about her.

Here's some of the goodies that I baked:

From the left - Peanut Butter and Carrot Cake, Banana Bread, Melting Moments and Savoury Tart. I also made Cream Scones (the Joy of Baking recipe is definitely the best I've made). I highly recommend the Peanut Butter & Carrot Cake (especially the icing) and the Savoury Tart, they were loved by all.

Peanut Butter and Carrot Cake

(Source: Black Cat Peanut Butter Recipe Book)

Cake

400ml Cake Flour

15ml Baking Powder

5ml Cinnamon

3ml Salt

250ml Honey (I used 125ml Honey & 125ml Sugar)

100g Butter

100g Peanut Butter

3 Eggs

100g Walnuts (I omitted this)

250g Carrots

5ml Vanilla Essence

Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Beat the honey, butter and peanut butter together, add the eggs beating well after each addition. Add the mixed dry ingredients, carrots and vanilla essence. Bake in 2 x 20cm greased cake tins at 170°C for 35 - 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Icing

125g Peanut Butter

400ml Icing Sugar

125ml Cream Cheese

5ml Vanilla Essence

Using an electric beater blend all the ingredients until smooth (I added a bit of milk to soften it a little). Use for filling and topping once cake has cooled.

Days of our lives

We made the tastiest soup and muffins last night. Cream of Cauliflower soup (without the cream ofcourse, we used milk instead) and Carrot, zucchini & dill muffins (without the dill and much much less oil - only 2 Tbs instead of 1/2 cup). A very good meal, I'd definitely recommend having it on a chilly night.

Yesterday I was a bit agitated. I had emailed my friends J & Y (maid of honour and bridesmaid) the day before about meeting the dress maker to get the material for our dresses, I then emailed them again about the hair appointments I had made for them on the day of the wedding. So yesterday I get an email from Y asking how much everything is going to be, saying her and her fiance are also saving for their wedding and are trying to buy a car so they have to budget very carefully and she forgot about the money for the dresses. She didn't say it in so many words but I know from the tone of her email that she's unhappy about paying for the things that she needs to. Firstly I told them in January what its going to cost and asked if they're ok with it and they were more than happy to accept. Secondly I'm paying for their jewellery, their make-up and the making of their dresses (which is four times more expensive than the material). So really I don't think I'm the one been unreasonable!

Anyway we sent the ties in yesterday so we should get them by next week Friday.

At the moment we're working on the little tissue paper flowers for the initials that will be hung from the balcony in the reception area. I also want to get N to start on a frame for the seating plan but we (when I say we I mean me) are undecided on the design.

Rainy Days

Despite my best efforts we didn't get to walk yesterday. It poured with rain and the traffic was hideous, so I got home late. I had to start cooking quickly so that N could eat before she went out on her usual "boys night". On the menu for the night was Broccoli & Feta Soup and Cheese & Onion Bread.

Broccoli & Feta Soup
(Originally from Womans Value No Fuss Food, adapted to our liking)


1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, finely chopped
5 - 6 Cups Chicken Stock
1 Large Potatoe, finely chopped
5 - 6 Cups Broccoli Florets
1/2 Cup 2% Milk
1/2 - 1 round Feta Cheese
Salt & Pepper

Soften onion and garlic in olive oil. Add stock and potatoe. Cook till potatoe is slightly soft. Add broccoli. Cook till soft. Liquidise till smooth. Add milk and season to taste. Sprinkle with crumbled feta and serve.

Onion & Cheese Bread

(Inspired by this recipe)

1 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Onion, sliced

1 Tsp Sugar

1 1/2 Cups Flour, sifted

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Salt

1 Egg

2 Tbs Melted Butter

1/2 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

1/2 - 1 Cup 2% Milk

Fry the onion in olive oil. Sprinkle with sugar and allow to soften and brown. Allow to cool.

Combine all ingredients. Turn out into a loaf tin and bake on 180°C for about 30 min or until golden brown. Serve warm.

I'm feeling very unmotivated today. I just ate a kit kat and crave more. I don't think I'll be loosing much this week, especially with such a little exercise. Its raining now so I hope it will clear by the time I have to go home so that we can walk.

Food Glorious Food

Although I'm trying to loose weight I'm drawn to food blogs lately. Hours and hours go by and my hunger just grows and grows! I've tried not to totally deprive myself so I still make all the good stuff, but now I just eat a lot less of it, or try at least. Bread is definitely one of my favourites. I love the smell of bread baking and the soft texture.

Last night I made something a little different, but really good and simple. Its called Peanut Butter Chicken or Peanut Chicken....can't remember. I didn't get a picture of it unfortunately, but here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Chicken

1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, crushed
1 Onion, sliced
4 Tomatoes, peeled and chopped
300ml Chicken Stock
30ml Peanut Butter
4 Chicken Breasts, cut into large chunks (boneless, skinless and sprinkled with chicken spice)
Salt & Pepper

Soften the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add tomatoes, chicken stock and peanut butter. Allow to cook on a low heat until the tomatoes have softened. Add the chicken breasts and cook through. Season with salt and pepper and serve with rice or honey yeast rolls.

Technically tonight is DIY night but I don't have all that much DIY to do. I need to finish the favours but that can only be done bit by bit as we need to get a bit each month. Other than that all that is to be done for now is the hanging luminaries. Closer to the time I'll do the seating chart, place cards and programs. With 227 days to go I think things are pretty much under control.

Our walk after work yesterday was not as good as usual, I had a headache so we only walked about 20 min. But I have good news on the weight loss subject - I've lost 6kg's!! I weigh in every Sunday morning so I have been tracking it closely. I was so motivated in the beginning but now it seems to be wearing off a bit. I try to remind myself of the loss so far but with all the baking I've been doing its a bit difficult. But none the less I will do my best.

A good weekend

Our weekend was relaxing and peaceful. Luckily the weather cleared for most of the weekend so it turned out really well. On Friday when I got home from work, I baked a Caramel Swiss Roll. It was so good, I don't even want to think how many calories one slice contained. Needless to say we finished the whole thing by last night.... bad bad! I didn't get to make the Chelsea Buns (Cinnamon Rolls) but will try for another time.


On Saturday I made brunch (flapjacks, bacon, sauteed mushrooms and "fried" eggs) and since the weather was lovely, we ate outside. My mom joined us and we ate and ate! Later in the afternoon we went for a walk. We walked 8km, the longest we've done yet! When we got back we showered and then took my mom for coffee (she was feeling a bit down).

On Sunday we went for a walk fairly early, before we left I made the dough for the Honey Yeast Rolls so that they could rise while we were gone. We wanted to braai for lunch so I marinated some chicken pieces, made coleslaw, and formed the dough into balls. Luckily everything was finished at the same time and the rolls were amazing! Seriously they were really really good! Here's what they looked like still hot from the oven:

I'll definitely be making them again!

As for all the wedding things we had to do, we finished them. We didn't get to go to the venue but will try got next Saturday. I folded all the favour boxes and started filing them. N cut all the black tissue paper that is needed for lining the boxes. I also did the last of the addresses for the envelopes for the invitations. Here's the men's favours:

The woman's favours are heart key rings and Sally Williams Nougat. The nougat I'll buy closer to the time but the key rings I bought last year. They looked so plain and ordinary so I added a rhinestone to each side and a little ribbon. Here's what they look like:

DIY Tuesdays

Last night I folded all the rectangular boxes and half of their lids. Now I have to fold the square ones and their lids. The rectangular ones are for the men's gifts and the square for the women's. Last year I bought the boxes, flat and ready to assemble. I then heat embossed the thank-you note on the lid.

This is what they'll look like once they've been filled and wrapped with ribbon.

I'll do some more tonight and hopefully finish them by the weekend.

For dinner last night I made Corn Chowder. Yum Yum Yum! It was so delicious! Here is how I made it:

1 Tsp Butter

1 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Onion, Chopped

3 Potatoes, Chopped
1 Tin Corn

1 Ear Corn

2 Cups Chicken Stock

2 Cups Low Fat Milk

Salt

Pepper

Powdered Garlic

Soften the onion in the butter and oil. Add potatoes and stock. Cook till potatoes are soft. Add corn and milk. Cook till corn is soft. Liquidise. Season with salt, pepper and garlic to taste. Return to the heat and heat through. Serve with a toasted cheese sandwich.

The weekend

On Friday night we made our first homemade pizza. It was good but we prefer a thin base and neither of us had the energy to roll the dough that thin. So we ended up with a thickish base but it still tasted good. The recipe made two large pizza's, we added garlic, chicken, mushrooms, cheddar cheese and feta......



Saturday morning after fetching N from her appointments (her car isn't starting) we went for a long walk. We walked 6.53km in midday heat, it was hard to say the least, but we were quite impressed that we made it that far. After having lunch and a shower we left for the wedding. Somehow I got the times mixed up and we were 30min late, but it still hadn't started yet so we were ok. It was a very casual wedding and the bride didn't even wear shoes (it was an outdoor ceremony). It definitely isn't something I would have wanted but I suppose they did the best with what they had.

Sunday I surprised N with breakfast in bed, then browsed through recipe books for some inspiration for meals for the week ahead. The last few Sunday's we've planned dinners for the whole week which is so much easier than coming home and trying to decide what to make.

I finally completed the invitations! All that was left yesterday was the bellybands and enclosures, so I stuck everything together and a few hours later it was done - finally! N is still cutting and folding tissue paper for the pomanders. I opened the tissue flowers last night, so I only have to glue them to the balls. Hopefully we'll only have a few more flowers to do. Then on Tuesday I'll tackle the favour boxes....hopefully.

Raining and pouring

Its been pouring with rain here since yesterday afternoon. One of the malls nearby is flooded, so it seems its quite bad. I love the rain. I especially love it when it rains when I'm at work or at night when we're nice and warm in bed. What I don't like about the rain is the driving and the increased appetite. Why is it that people drive like complete idiots when the roads are wet and dangerous?!

I've been reading food blogs for most of the day, which is a very bad thing with this weather. I now feel like freshly baked bread, chocolate brownies (whats new?), macaroni and cheese, banana bread, cafe mocha, some baked cheesy mushroom chicken thingy........you name it I feel like it!

Since last night was DIY night, I completed the vellum envelopes for the programs. I made 64, so I'm sure that will be enough.

I also made a focaccia type bread last night, which wasn't bad but I've definitely had better. I changed it a bit by adding garlic, oreganum and parmesan. It was quick to make though and good while still hot.

Ahh Sundays!

I love Sundays, I'm not so happy that they're followed by Mondays but there's nothing I can do about that. Sundays are our days. We don't make plans with anyone to do anything, we wake up and do whatever we decide we feel like doing (although this usually includes having lunch with my mom). I'm always up early, so I put coffee on and catch up on any TV shows that I might have missed during the week. Then lately I've been doing any wedding things that need to get done (Tuesdays and Sundays are the only times I get to do this).

Neither of us felt like any exercise yesterday but we forced ourselves to go for a walk......and not just any walk! We walked for about an hour at such a speed, uphill in 30°C heat! Needless to say we were exhausted when we got back.

In the afternoon I finished some wedding DIY projects. I did small bathroom baskets with only essentials in. I find it so unnecessary to load it full of things that you wouldn't ordinarily use if you were out. I also finished the mint books. I was so pleased with these.

On Saturday we bought the jars for the hanging luminaries. I played around a bit with florist wire and got the hang of it. We've got to make a bunch of these in the coming months as well.

I also made muffins yesterday. Strawberry Yoghurt and Oat muffins. They're really good and will make for good breakfast for the week.

My mom made a comment yesterday that upset me. She is a Christian, as am I, and she finds little ways of telling me that N & I getting married is not right, and not the Christian thing to do. I disagree with her ofcourse and have many views on the subject that I won't get into now. But the thing that gets to me is that we do so much for her since my dad passed away in 2007, and she still finds it necessary to let me know that my choice is not acceptable. Don't get me wrong my mother is an incredible woman, she's kind, positive and will do anything for me. She has MS and is at home all day so maybe she thinks about it too much or something?! She can see how happy I am - how happy we are and how well suited we are for each other, I just wish she would put her beliefs aside and be happy for her daughter! I feel so uncomfortable not being able to discuss our wedding plans with her, I feel like I'm hiding things from her. I want to share so many things with her but I can't. I hope that she'll come round soon.

Getting organized

I've got so many wedding lists - lists of things to do, things not to forget, appointments to make, DIY's to complete......that sort of thing, that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. I started making folders for each set of things, so now there's lists and folders......ugh! I do love lists though, I feel much more on top of things when I have all my lists in place.

I've been thinking a lot about wedding traditions lately and wondering if I still want all the things that I thought I wanted in the beginning. Things like throwing confetti (or rose petals) over the couple after the ceremony, throwing the bouquet & garter, having someone walk me down the isle, things like that. Basically this is going to be a "different" wedding since it's a gay wedding and I think I feel that maybe all the traditional things should be left for traditional straight weddings. I'm not sure if I really feel like this or if I'm just a bit nervous of doing everything in front of family that I know doesn't truly understand our relationship. My mom (and the rest of the family on my side) doesn't fully understand why N and I are making this union a legal one, but they are still supportive (meaning that they regard us as a couple and not just friends) and love us dearly (as we do them).

N and I have been trying to think of good meals to make lately since we're cutting back on the bad things and walking everyday after work. Since we're only going grocery shopping on Saturday, we had to make do with what we had. That worked out really well! I found a couple of Chili recipes and took the best bits of them all and came out with a very tasty dish.

This is how:

1 Tbs Olive oil

1 Onion, chopped

1 Green Pepper, chopped

400g Lean Minced Beef

1 Bouillon Cube

1/2 Glass Red Wine

1 can Chopped Tomatoes

2 tsp Crushed Garlic

2 Tbs Tomatoe Paste

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Dried Oreganum

1 tsp Minced Chili

2 tsp Banditos Peri Peri Sauce

1 can Red Kidney Beans

1 tsp Flour

1 tsp Corn Flour

1 Tbs Water

Grated Cheddar Cheese

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion and green pepper, until softened. Add minced beef and cook until browned. Crumble over bouillon cube and stir in wine. Cook for a few minutes. Add tin tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, paprika and oreganum. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in kidney beans, minced chili and chili sauce. Continue to simmer for an additional 20 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, corn flour and water until smooth. Stir into chili, and cook until chili has thickened. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve with slices of warm buttered french loaf. Yum!