Meg's New Friends

A lovely pair of cockatoo's greet Meg each morning in her new apt in Sydney. Only in Australia!!
Great view. I won't post our view!

While NY may not be naturally beautiful, there are a lot of amazing things about it. I'm going to start taking more photos to remind me how lucky we are to be living here. This one is from the South Street Seaport and that's the famous Brooklyn bridge in the background.

I feel sick

Can you imagine eating this pie cake - gross.

This is a cute rocking horse for when Ines gets a little older. Have actually found the perfect perfect one - it's a rocking sheep at one of our local coffee shops but they wont sell it. It's divine.
available here

Would be nice to be here right now. We've never been to Greece - it's definitely on the list. So many places we have yet to visit. One day....

Quinoa with Zucchini and Chickpeas

I just made this. Saw it at the salad bar at WholeFoods and thought 'that looks delicious but I'm going to make it". Super simple, healthy and sure to be a hit with kids.

Ingredients

1 x cup of quinoa
1 x can of chickpeas
1 x half a large onion (diced)
2 x zucchini (diced)
2 cups of chicken or beef stock (i used cubes and i had one chicken and one beef)
1 x tablespoon cumin

1. In a fry pan on medium toast the quinoa until its starts to brown a little. then rinse under water
2. brown the onions, and then add the zucchini and cook those for a few minutes too, toss on about a tablespoon of cumin and mix up
3. add back in the quinoa
4. poor stock on top of it and make sure all the quinoa is covered so it cooks evenly
let it cook away on low/med for about 20 minutes and then near the end add in chickpeas.

Nice comforting food. Yum . will take a photo and add shortly.

Another Pool

Not as nice, but it would do.

Another 100 degree day here

So the idea of being by this pool is just too much. How lovely is it? It's at the Jnane Tamsna hotel near Marrakech. Definitely will go back there. Beautiful.

The Larters have all been feeling poorly of late. Some cute phots of Phoebe and Ash. Can't believe we haven't met Ash yet.

Here's Trouble

This is what happens when the girls are left to face paint on their own - SCARY MARY.

Raspberry Sorbet

From Martha. A scorcher apparently tomorrow. This is what I'm going to be making (and i'll buy some yummy dark chocolate ice cream to go with it)!


1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups fresh or 300g frozen raspberries
Stir together water and 1/4 cup sugar until sugar dissolves.
Pulse raspberries in a food processor until coarsley chopped. With machine running, pour in sugar-water; pulse until mixture is smooth. Transfer to an airtight container, and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Creamy Lime Dressing

I'm loving the sound of this. Will try it and report back:

Creamy Lime Dressing:
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon lime zest
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Special equipment: blender
Blend all the ingredients except the olive oil until smooth. While machine is running, slowly drizzle in the oil until incorporated. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Stieg Larsson

This is the guy who wrote "The girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and the other books. He died and there is now a fight over his estate. For Caroline and Ginny as I know they have read the books. Interesting for anyone else too. Think I might get this book. Need to read more (not magazines!)

Link here

Chilled Cucumber and Yoghurt Soup

I just had my impacted wisdom tooth out today (ouch!) so food is limited to things that are pureed or soupy. Nick got me a chilled cucumber and yoghurt soup for lunch. So lovely in this stinking heat. This isnt the recipe (he got it at Wholefoods) but I loved it so much I think I might make it on the weekend. Recipe here

Family Vaca

Wendy and fam are having a holiday on a working farm. Sounds fun. Thought this picture from their brochure was cute. yum... think of the delicious bacon!!!

Some lovely Larter photos

Classic!

From Anna:
Son says "Mumma they are big nuts aren't they" and I said "yes they are called macadamia nuts and tasty too" and he replied LOUDLY, "No, not these nuts, I am talking about that man there (in tight bicycle skins) and how do you know they taste good. Have you tried them? Are mine yummy too?" We left the shopping trolley, me red faced, and scurried out the door with the bicycle man surely about to call family services!

I just laughed so hard I woke Nick. Have tears rolling down my face. Too funny.

On the list..

Mum's been here for the past month and we've done buckets of shopping. But all for her. Time for me to get some new stuff. Can't fit into anything I own. This is on the list, nice and cool for our stinking hot summers. From the crew (of course)!

My New Favourite Shoes

Connor MacLeod

While I sort my pictures of Ines, here is a too cute one of Connor! Great shot - looks like it's an advertisement.

My New Purchase

Nick went out and bought us fancy new cameras. Mine is this one, I love it, so much better than my old one and a great size for everyday, and he got a big fancy one. What does this mean? Lots of pictures of Ines. I'll start a separate blog just for 'all things Ines".
x

Shawl

I love this scarf/shawl thing. Such a pretty colour for spring and will be good to hide the tum after baby arrives. But, I tend to love these things and never end up wearing them. What's a girl to do??

Pictures for the Nursery

I've been looking around for pictures and I think these are cute. Not sure if they are too subtle for a baby, but rather sweet I think . Having a think.

36hrs in Sydney

See if there is anything new here for the sydney-siders - from NY Times travel section yesterday - article available here

20x200.com

This is a great site for photography that my friend Marcie passed on to me. Basically you can buy photography prints at different sizes and different prices - starting at $20. Some favorites attached. We need to get something quite large for the living room - hopefully it will be one of Nick's photo's otherwise, may do a proper search here. Quite a large collection, but obviously better if they had more!

The Top End

The NY Times travel magazine recently did a feature on the NT. Pretty amazing photos. Would love to see it but think it might be a bit too ' natural' for me. Bugs, heat etc. Just love the idea of it. Unlike anywhere else in the world.

Five

This is my new favorite ice-cream. They only have five ingredients and the passion-fruit flavor (only one I've tried - keep getting the same - is super delicious). Look out for it.

Should I?

I'm always on the hunt for a new baby book to read. What do you think? Should I? This couple are from a train wreck of show that I can't help but watch. The guy - Simon, is Australian.

Connor MacLeod

Here's Connor looking quite the cool cat. Love the little converse shoes and the jacket came from us. Good look Mr MacLeod!

This image is from the J.Crew website. A site and store that Nick and I spend waaay to much time on/in. So pretty and Springlike. Weather getting gorgeous here, although yesterday was freakshow hot, and no fun at all. Better today.

We need more stuff in this apartment like we need a whole in the head, but this seems like a good idea. It's a water bottle with built in filter. Plastic though. We use the steel (or whatever) ones at the moment so we don't waste plastic, but not sure if this is a good idea, or another gimmick (NY water is pretty good although i have been drinking filtered water while preg). Thoughts?
Available at waterbobble.com

Good for the drivers in Oz

Digital breathalizer. Only $12. Seems like a bargain. Good gift idea.
Available here

Nice Idea for a Dinner Party

And Lord knows we usually have enough empty wine bottles lying around (not at the moment of course!) Very atmospheric. Will be stealing this idea, although in reality, probably not the greatest idea for conversations with the person opposite you.
As seen on remodelista - such a good blog.