Great Places To Visit.

I love beans.  Yes, I know lots of you don't. But, if you've never tried them give them a go sometime. They're nicer than they sometimes look.  I've created this recipe to taste good and look pleasing to the eye. Give it a crack! Quick Baked Beans. 1 x small red onion - diced 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic 1 x 400g can Cannellini Beans 2 x 125g cans Four Bean Mix 1 x stick celery - diced 3 tablespoons water for skillet instead of oil 1 x 400g can Italian diced & peeled tomatoes 1 x 50g sachet tomato paste 1 x cup water 2 x teaspoons demerara or brown sugar 2 x teaspoons fish sauce 6 x Basil leaves chopped 1 x teaspoon ground Cumin Ground black pepper and basil leaves to garnish. Method: Put 3 tablespoons water into skillet, add onion, and garlic and saute.  Add celery. (I like my celery still a bit crunchy) Put beans into a colander and rinse well under cold water, drain add to skillet with rest of the ingredients except for you...

Baba Ganoush. (Eggplant Dip) This recipe is delicious with vegetable sticks, turkish bread, or your favourite dry discuits.  I also like it as a condiment for saute' mushrooms, hash browns, grilled tomatoes. (Vegetarian mixed grill) It is probably equally as good although I haven't tried it on an assortment of steamed vegetables, or jacket potatoes. Ingredients: 1 large Eggplant 1/2 cup Tahini paste 3 cloves crushed garlic 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 pinch ground cumin sprinkle of sweet paprika salt & pepper to taste 1 tablespoon chopped parsley Method: Char grill your eggplant until slightly blackened, then place it on ovenproof paper on a tray and bake it until very soft at about 200C. Cool slightly. Scoop out flesh, discard skin. If you like a rough, rustic texture, use a fork and mash it.  If you like a smooth, paste type consistency, put it in your Thermomix or Food processor. Add tahini, garlic, lemon juice, cumin salt & pepper and 1/2 parsley. ...

  Mortal Insight A brilliant novel. Draws you in, then keeps you in suspense. It brings you conspiracy, crime, action and asks the question: When your life is at stake, are some truths worth bringing out into the open? Detective Sergeant Steve Keller has begun to see things. He desperately hopes the visions mean something and not that he's going crazy. But the visions don't go away, and when they start meaning something more, Steve finds himself caught in an investigation way bigger than he ever imagined. As the pieces begin to fit together, something dangerous emerges. He can't hide what he knows, but to expose it doesn't just stir up controversy, it provokes someone who lurks in the shadows; someone who will kill to keep this information quiet. Great reading, didn't want to put it down when I first began to read it. When I picked it up the second time, well, I couldn't put it down until I finished it at 2.00am in the morning!!! Worth the lack o...

Hubby is on holidays this week, so we decided to take a train trip into the city today, and just wander.  Turned out to be a good idea. Melbourne is lovely. The many lane ways are packed full of great places to eat at as well as many assorted little shops tucked into the tiniest spaces. Very interesting. The hardest part was choosing where to eat and what to eat. There are so many choices!  Loved the beautiful floors in the Royal Arcade building, never get tired of walking through here, it's so pretty. We spent about 3hrs just wandering down lanes, across the mall and looked at Myers Christmas windows (beautiful as always) and on and into more lane ways. So many little hidden secrets withing these lanes. Do yourself a favor and take a stroll sometime.  Just make sure you are hungry, because little cafe's are everywhere!!

Celebrated a friends birthday at the NGV last weekend, with a tour of the gallery exhibits and a high tea. Fantastic idea! Our little group of girls, enjoyed musing over the Jean Paul Gaultier Exhibition which is on until the 6th Feb 2015. VERY interesting fashion to look at. Not the type of stuff you wear shopping, but still gets you thinking. For starters, how the heck does someone think of these designs. What about the poor people who have to turn the dream into a reality?! WOW! They are talented I tell you, these items are complex, delicate, loud, soft, stiff, supple, all in one piece. It has to be seen to be believed.  I'm not a fashion follower, but after this exhibition, I would go back for more! It was fascinating!!! Do yourself a  favour and drop into the NGV for a visit, or high tea, or just afternoon tea, or both. Not all exhibits cost you to go into, only some. Even so it was only $22.00 AUS.  Well worth it, we all thought. They do allow you to take photos ...

Healthy, yummy, delicious, nutritious, what more can I say?  Dreamt up this for my lunch today. Felt like some rice and veges with a difference, so here is what i dreamt up.

The first in a series of short stories for children who love horses.  This is the story about 8 year old Anna who receives a pony for her eighth birthday.  The cover has just come back from the illustrators/design team and I'm very happy with it. Won't be long now and the book will be up and available at Amazon. Keep your eyes glued to this page for the release!!