Thursday 31 December 2009

Merry Christmas and happy New Year 2010!!!

My poor blog has been neglected for a while but with the house renovations I have been too busy to write anything. My mother has come to OZ and is staying with us till Feb which has been a wonderful Christmas gift for me. She has been a tremendous help with Luke while we are off to the house to get it all done before we move in on the 10th of Jan. We had a wonderful first Christmas together as a family and I was glad my mom was here to share this special time with us. We all went to my mother in law's house for Christmas and Luke just got so excited by all the wrapped boxes which he found out later on the day that inside the boxes there were toys too. We had a wonderful Christmas lunch and after that unwrapped all the gifts, it really was a special day. So tonight we are going to go to friends house for the passing of the New Year and enjoy our selves a bit before the big move. Slowly we are already packing and I am having a chance to get rid of some clutter on the way. Also I am going through all my wardrobes and giving away all the clothes that don't fit me anymore, which I have been clinging to with the hope that some day I will fit them again. I guess I need to be realistic and just give them to someone who can actually wear them instead of them just sitting in the closets year after year. So my new year resolutions are:

1) Get rid of clutter

2) Not buying things I don't need

3) Stop smoking again

4)Get more active and exercise

5) Eat healthy

I wish all of you a wonderful New Year and that all of you can reach your New Year resolutions! Enjoy a great Christams song!

Friday 30 October 2009

Home Sweet Home!!!

Its been really busy around here in Oz. So many big events going on that I don't even no were to start. First, a month ago we received notice that the owner of the house we are living at the moment was having issues with the tax department. Because of this he will be needing to move back into the house in January 2010, so we found our selves homeless! So we started at full gear looking for a new rental place and re-thinking the whole, "lets wait another year to buy a house". So we started looking into sale properties and rental. After some search in the past two weeks we found an affordable 4 by 2 in a good neighbourhood, just walking distance from my mother in law. Its a great location, the neighbourhood is very green with loads of beautiful parks. The schools in the area are one of the best in Perth so for Luke this will be very good. The house is only a short walk to the shops and almost in front of the house there is a small park with huge gumtrees and a little playground for Luke. It is also in a cul-de-sac which means no big traffic so if Luke wants to play on the street he can. The house itself is on a big land 736 square meters (for Brazilian standards this is not very big but for Dutch standards this is huge!). It has an awesome big back yard with two peach trees, one mandarin tree and one lime tree so loads of "caipirinhas or margaritas" in the future. The house inside is very tiered, it needs a good scrub and a good paint job. A new kitchen is also a must in the house and floors too. All in all its a great house with so much potential, so we bought the house!!! I am very excited because its my first property and its all mine which makes a big difference from renting all the time. We got a good price for it and because we need to gut the inside we can change and do what ever we want. So very very exciting times to come ahead, I made some pictures of the inside and as you can see there are still tenants in the house but they will be gone by next week. So we probably will get the keys in December. So will start a DIY section on my blog with all the before and after photos to inspire anyone doing some renovations or thinking of renovating.


Second big event around here was Luke today, he started crawling backwards or pushing himself backwards. So he is mobile now, which means for me more work in getting the house baby prof, so I guess in a couple weeks to come he will be crawling.
Third big event was my brother in laws first photographic exposition in an art gallery. He was in the newspapers and all. That was last night, Rob and I were very proud of him and already ordered our Christmas presents (just kidding)!!
Yesterday was Halloween and we spent it at Tania's and Glen's place. It was so funny Tania had dressed up as Princess Leia from star wars, she looked awesome!!! Glen was Count Dracula, rob and I just didn't have the time to really dress up though, but we had a great time. The boys smashed a pinhata and had a blast with the treasure hunt. Unfortunately forgot to take my camera so no pictures...naughty Alex. So very busy weekend, now we are leaving to have brunch with Rob's uncle and the rest of the family. We all are going to say goodbye to one of Rob's cousins who is leaving to South of France to work as a wine expert in a winery. Have fun with all the new videos and pictures of Luke and the new house.








Tuesday 29 September 2009

First time at the beach!

Here in Oz we had a long weekend which was pretty full on. On Saturday we spent the afternoon with Tania, Glen and the kids. We went to the park near their house and Glen and Rob entertained the kids with a bottle rocket launcher. It was great and all the kids in the park were very intrigued by the rocket. Glen made a video and its on facebook (don't know if the link will work) for those of you who want to check it out. Luke had his first time on a swing and he just loved it.
It was a wonderful sunny day on Saturday and on the Sunday the weather was even better. Around midday on Sunday we met Aline, Paco and Nina for lunch at the beach. We had lunch at Trigg beach cafe and the food was the best I had since arriving in Perth. The weather was just wonderful, 26 degrees Celsius!!! So after a long winter we finally manged to go to the beach and soak up the sun a bit. Nina and Luke saw the beach for the first time and cried when we put them on the water, I guess the water was still too cold for them. Luke was just mesmerised by the beach with its birds , sand and sea. The sun was pretty strong so I had to slime Luke with sun protection and keep him in the shade for most of it, but still it was just wonderful day.
Monday Luke and Rob spend the day at Grandma's and I stayed at home having some time for myself, unfortunately didn't get to do any crafts because the house was a mess and it needed some good cleaning. Managed to do so much, I forgot how easy it can be to clean the house when you don't have a baby interrupting you every 10 minutes!
I also started a scrapblog a while ago and thought it would be great to share it with all of you. I am doing this for my family so I can print it out when Luke turns one, so they can have a photobook of Luke's first year. Its turning out nicely, would recommend the site to any one wanting to do a scarpblog-book. Its a free site and very user friendly, check it out! Well will leave you all here and hope all is well. Enjoy the photos and the scrapblog.





Tuesday 22 September 2009

Its Fun to Play and Dance!

Luke is getting funnier by the minute. I had to share the video below with all of you because this little man keeps making me laugh all day long! He is truly a happy baby who loves to play and have fun but it leaves me with no time at all to be crafty and I am starting to miss my machine! Oh, you might be wondering why I have a picture of ducks here but these two little fellows decided to just hang around on our roof one afternoon. I just hope they don't make a nest up there, also Luke was finding this very funny and kept yelling at the ducks!My mom and dad are arriving in Perth on the 10th of October so I just cant wait for them to be here with us and share with us our special moments. My mom will see Luke for the first time,she has seen him through photos and video calls but not in person so he will be a very spoiled little man in a couple of weeks time. I hope you enjoy the video and photos! The photos you just click on it and will take you to my web album. Will hopefully be able to post some crafty things soon!




Funny faces

Bath Time!


Having fun with Grandma

Friday 11 September 2009

Its Play time!

Luke is growing so fast that it seems like ever day he is learning something new. His grandmother found some old toys that where from my husband when he was a bub! So Luke got some exciting vintage toys to explore. His favorite is the ball with shapes which he still cant find the corresponding shape to fit into the ball. But he has manged to get a few in when mummy helps him. He just loves it when the shape fits and disappears inside the ball, he goes on and on giggling in delight of his achievement. Luke is also starting to sit on his own but I still keep some cushions around him just in case he loses balance and falls over. After two weeks of the whole family being ill and Luke having to have a trip to the emergency room, its great to see him feeling like himself again. I haven't had the time to do any crafts lately because I was also ill and feeling very run down but hopefully this weekend I can continue to work on Luca's quilt. As you all can see I have changed the look of my blog and I think I am finally satisfied with it. I also added snapshot, which means; in places with links you can see a snapshot of the website, its a pretty cool tool. I hope all of you are well and enjoy the videos and pictures below.






Thursday 20 August 2009

Just Keep Swimming!!!

Swimming is a big part of OZ life so we decided to enroll Luke early for swimming lessons. I think is a great way also for bub and daddy to have some quality time together during the weekend. Also I can go swimming and do some sauna while they are busy with the lesson, so on the end everyone is happy. Luke didn't know what to make of his first swimming and cried a little, his instructor told us that it is normal and by the third time he will start to really enjoy it. By the second lesson he was enjoying it more and cried less. When the lesson is over we change Luke and give him his bottle and before we reach the car he is in a very deep sleep. Its funny because he doesn't even wake up when we strap him in the baby seat in the car and usually he is very light sleeper. So now during bath time Luke starts kicking the same way he does during his swimming lesson and he just laughs away while mommy gets completely wet. So here are videos and pictures of my little swimmer. Also I added the pictures of the little elephant Eli that I made, its my design also which is the first for me. Hope you all enjoy!!!!









Sunday 2 August 2009

Winter = crafty projects!!!

Winter for me was always cold, wet and windy when living for 12 years in Holland and as any one in Holland I was always complaining about the cold, the wind and the darkness that engulfed the land during the 6 months of Autumn and Winter. Snuggling under a warm wool blanket with woolly socks with a nice hot cuppa tea watching movies was something that I used to love to do in the cold dark winter months. This has long changed since we moved to OZ. Mind you, it is still cold for us here, Rob and I even bought a gas heater to warm up our little house in the evenings but nothing at all like the winter's in Europe. My red winter coat has been left in the dark closet and has not been worn at all this winter in OZ. I guess I am still not completely acclimatized to the weather because when I go out for walks with Luke everyone seems to be wearing their winter coats and scarves. But for me its just a nice sunny day and only a light jacket is needed to keep me warm. It has rained a bit, which meant that Luke and I stayed inside most of these wet days, giving me a chance to finish a couple of projects that have been sitting beside my sewing machine. I also went for a workshop and made Luke a very cute bean bag to sit, when he gets older. The shop that gives these workshops has become my favorite fabric shop in Perth. Its called Hot Possum, it is such a wonderful little shop with a great selection of fabrics. They also have a lovely blog where you can see all their quilts and other designs. So I have been busy while Luke sleeps or has his naps during the day. I managed to finish a little pram quilt for Kim's new baby boy. Also made some baby pants and a little elephant (which I forgot to take pictures) for Isobel. I think Kim must be receiving the parcel next week, I hope everything fits the baby because they do grow so fast. I also am working on Luca's quilt which I hope to finish for him for Christmas and my latest project is a cute cover for my sewing machine. I am still getting used to the mild winter here in OZ and still feel a thrill that most days the sun is out and the weather is around 20 degrees Celsius. I wake up to see the sun shinning outside, the blue skies greeting me and there are no clouds to be seen threw most of our winter days in OZ. But secretly I wish I could use my red coat again and walk on snow to hear my footsteps on the white silence and feel my red cheeks become numb from the cold wind blowing on my face on winter mornings.


So here are some of the pictures of the little projects that I have finished. Hope you all like it.






Sunday 21 June 2009

Grated Apple &Potato Crepe

Now that Luke is having his afternoon nap I thought it would be a good time to update my blog. I just made these beautiful yummy apple and potato crepes that I thought I'd share the recipe with you. They are not something you can eat everyday because of the calories(610 kcal per 40 g) but they are a wonderful Sunday brunch treat. I love to have them with smoked Tasmanian salmon but my hubby doesn't eat fish so I buy a good quality smoked ham for him. Its a fairly easy recipe and the results are really impressive, light and with that wonderful sweet and sour hint. It is a great recipe to do when your apples are starting to have a sorry look, here at home we always have apples but they tend to linger too long sometimes. So here it goes:

Ingredients: (this will make about 6 crepes)

1 onion (medium size)

2 potatoes (medium sized)

3 granny smith apples (I think they are the best ones for this recipe but if you don't have them in the house, any apple will do)

1 egg

2tbsp plain flour

Chives

Horseradish cream

Dill

Sour Cream or Cream Fresh

Salt

Pepper


Preparation: (45 minutes)

1. Peel 1 onion and grate on a hand-grater. Put it in a bowl. Peel and wash the two potatoes and grate them coarsely on the grater. Wash and peel the three granny smith apples(if you have large ones use only two apples). Grate them coarsely as far as the core and add to the bowl with the grated onion and potatoes.

2. Stir one egg into the mixture and add salt (1tsp), pepper and the flour, mixing well. Add the chopped chives and mix again. The mixture should not be dry, if its too runny add a little more flour.

3. Heat a good quality oil ( I use rice bran oil because of it's high heat point) in a non-stick frying pan and add a little butter if you like. With a spoon add the batter and press it a little till its flat. The best, so far for me is three crepes at a time, cooking them for about 4 to 5 minutes in each side. Set aside in plate with some paper towel to drain any oil.

4. Put a generous amount of smoked ham (triple smoked is the one I usually use) on top of the crepe. Add 1tsp of sour cream to the top. Sprinkle some chives over the sour cream and serve. For the salmon crepe: Add a nice generous slice of smoked Tasmanian salmon on top of the crepe. Add 1 tsp of sour cream, 1/2 a tsp of horseradish cream on top of the sour cream and sprinkle with fresh Dill. Its ready to serve and devour!!!

Thursday 11 June 2009

Hello hello from OZ... anyone out there!!!!

Hello my fellow bloggers.....I have missed my little blog very much!!! Sorry again for the strong case of disappearance that has been keeping me away form my beloved little blog. Can't stress enough how being a mom has truly changed my life. Gone are the spare hours that I had to add nice pictures of holidays to the blog or great recipes that I tried one afternoon or even better yet, the little craft projects that I used to do. But don't worry I might be less frequent on my posts but they still will be added with great pleasure, just not as frequent!!! So much has happened, cant believe that it has only been 2 months since my last post (it feels like 6 months!!).


OK... update on the baby front. Luke is growing so fast, he is not a newborn anymore, each day he discovers something new in this big wide world of ours. He is such a good baby, cant complain at all. He sleeps through the night and always wakes up with such a big beautiful smile in his little face. I wish I could wake up with such a smile in my face every morning, it truly makes you appreciate your life more, he is only 4 months old and already he is giving me life lessons. He is a very content little boy who always smiles and giggles, I'm in love...really! Motherhood has been one of the best decision of my life, really cant complain at all ....I am loving it!

On the craft front... I have been busy making baby pants which I got a tutorial made by a great fellow blogger Jessica who created it just for me (isn't she awesome!!!). Here is the link to her tutorial (http://balancingeverything.com/2009/04/21/how-to-make-easy-baby-and-kid-pants/), check out her blog is just great! Will post pictures of the baby pants that I made for Luke and some for Kim's new baby boy that I made but it will have to be another time cause didn't have the time to take the pictures of it yet...sorry guys. Also I made a baby blanket/quilt for Kim's little baby boy which also I have no pictures....naughty Alex!!!

A couple of weeks ago I took the day of from Luke, it was a Sunday and the Quilt show was in town here in Perth. So my mother in law and I spend the day with wonderful quilts and wonderful fabrics to buy. It was great but cant say I didn't miss my little guy...it was the first time we were apart and it was a little weired. I kept calling Rob to check if everything was under control. But apart from that, I just had a great time. All the beautiful quilts gave me so much inspiration to make new quilts and new little projects. Oh and I bought such fantastic Japanese fabrics, they are so cute but also have not had the chance to take some pictures of the fabrics so all of you could have a look. But I did already upload the pictures from the quilts in the show so I hope you all enjoy it. Really Australian quilters are so incredibly creative and artistic, I'm so lucky to be able to see there work.
In another note my brother is getting married tomorrow but sadly we had to cancel our trip to go back to Holland because we could only get really crappy flights which would mean that we would have a 32 hour trip in total to get there and also a 32 hours trip on the way back and I just could not do such a long trip alone back with Luke. So sadly we wont be able to share on his happy day with Vivianne but we will be there in spirit! My father has come to us for 10 days and I can really say I was proud of him, he is 75 and managed a long trip to see his grandson. It was very nice to have him here with me. Now my mom has to come and visit also hopefully in September she will be able to come for a visit. We are also planning to go to Holland next year in Spring.

Well that is all the news that I can think of at the moment so till the next post hopefully it wont be too long. Enjoy the slide show of Perth's Quilt Show.



Wednesday 18 March 2009

Luke Gabriel was born!!!

I am so sorry for my very long silence but I have great news for those who don't already know. Luke Gabriel was born on the 3rd of February at 10:16 pm at the Birth Center. I had a natural labour and it was about 7 hours. For the most part of it I stayed at home and around 6:30 pm Rob took me to the Birthing Center, were I stayed in the hot tube till minutes before pushing my little angel to the world. I had only one shot of morphine for pain relief which was enough for me, I was very lucky; my labour was very fast and I could handle the pain well. Rob took two weeks off from work and they gave him one week paternal leave. It was great, cause I really needed the help in the first month. Now Luke and I are trying to get into a routine. He suffered from colic and also my milk supply is low so at the moment we are working to get my supply up. I never thought one would have this problem, I just thought milk would come poring out, like non-stop! For the rest we are all doing really well, the weather is starting to cool down which for me is a relief. Also I am already planning my holidays in Holland for June cause my brother is getting married. So very busy, as all of you can see, I hope I will be able to update the blog more frequently I will try my best to at least do one post a month. I have done a video of Luke Gabriel, I hope you all enjoy. It's a funny one, he is doing his business and he makes some funny faces, well enjoy. Hugs to all of you!


Friday 9 January 2009

Brazilian Pudding (Pudim de Leite Condesado)

I have noticed that this particular post is very popular, so welcome to my blog, please feel free to also see other posts and features in my blog. It would be great if you would come back now then and see whats new. Well enjoy!!! For all of you who want a very nice dessert with no fuss, you should try this classic Brazilian pudding. It has a lot of sugar so its not something you should make every week. This dessert can make any occasion special and it will hit all the right places. But please be warned that this dessert is addictive, once you start eating you cant stop! It needs to be cold so take that in consideration when making it. I usually make it on the end of the day and eat it the next day. Like any pudding there are a lot of variations to this traditional recipe out there, I have altered the recipe as well just because I like an extra hint of orange to my pudding but they are all basically the same. The big secret of this recipe is how to make the pudding have the little bubbles in it, don't worry this recipe guarantees the bubbles in your pudding. The method seems very difficult and complex but when you do start you cant believe how easy it is! I will write this recipe in English and Portuguese so bare with me OK. Lets start....


Ingredients (Ingredientes):


2 cans of condensed milk (2 latas de leite condesado)


2 cans of milk -use the same cans from the condensed milk for mesaurments. (a mesma medida de leite comum)


5 eggs (5 ovos)


1 orange zest (1 raspa de laranja)


Vanila extract (estrato de baunilha)


sauce (calda):


1 cup of castor sugar (1 xicara de acucar)


1/2 cup of water (1/2 xicara de agua)


*You will need a bunt baking pan; the one that is round with the tube in the middle.


Methode (modo de fazer):


1. Start with the sauce. Please be extra careful with this step specially if you have small childeren at home because the caramel can be very hot and make a lot of damage on little or adult fingers. Bring the sugar and the water together in a small sauce pan. Let it boil in medium heat on the stove. You have to keep an eye on this all the time because it can burn and then your pudding will become bitter. When the sauce is becoming a lighter brown keep steering so it wont burn and turn the heat down a little. Let it get a little darker, you will know when its ready when it reaches a medium caramel color. In a bunt baking pan pore the caramel and make circular movements so the caramel covers the sides of the baking pan (be careful with this because the pan becomes hot so use cooking gloves). Set aside to cool completely (this is very important because if you don't let it cool completely it will make scramble eggs of you pudding). While its cooling get a deep backing pan in which the bunt baking pan will fit inside. Poor warm water in it and stick it in the oven and pre heat your oven 200 Celsius. This will insure that the water will be warm when you put the pudding in the water in the deep baking pan. This is the secret for the little bubbles in your pudding!

Misture o açúcar refinado com a água e leve no fogo sem mexer no comeco e depois quando comecar a escurecer mexa até ficar com cor de guaraná. Coloque em forma de buraco no meio e mexa a forma até caramelizá-la por igual. Espere a calda ficar em temperatura ambiente. Caso contrario a temperatura da calda poderá talhar o pudim.


2. When the caramel is cool you can start making the pudding. Put all the ingredients together the eggs, milk, condensed milk, orange zest and vanilla extract (its up to you how much you want from the vanilla) in a blender. Blend it on high for 5 minutes. Pore the liquid into the bunt baking pan. Put the bunt pan on the water in the deep baking pan, who is already hot in the oven. Let it bake uncovered for about ten minutes or till you see the top becoming a nice golden colour. When this happens just cover the pudding with aluminum foil and let it bake for 1 hour, keep an eye on the water and be sure to top it up, you need the water so it wont burn the pudding.

Bata todos os ingredientes no liquidificador por cinco minutos. Despeje o pudim na forma já caramelizada. Para você conseguir um pudim com bastantes furinhos, leve ao forno em banho-maria com a água já quente. O forno deve estar pre-aquecido 200 graus. Deixe o pudim discoberto ate ele comecar a ter uma cor de caramelo ai voce pode ccobri-lo com papel aluminio. Deixe em fogo alto por uma hora.



3. You should be able to see if the pudding is ready if it has risen like a souffle and if you prick the middle with a tooth pick and no liquid comes out than you can take it out of the oven. Let it cool completely before bringing it to the fridge; please leave the aluminum foil on or your pudding will take the flavour of your fridge and that is yuck.

Voce vai poder saber se o pudim esta pronto quando ele crescer como um souffle. Ele quase dobra de tamanho. So pra ter certeza faca o teste do palitinho. Retire do forno e deixe esfriar completamente antes de coloca-lo na geladeira.



4. The next day you can take it out of the fridge and in the same deep baking pan add hot water and let the pudding sit on it for a while, this insures that the caramel will melt and make it easier for you to turn the pudding on a plate. I leave it in the water till the water cools down.

No dia seguinte ou depois que o puddim esteja bem gelado coloque em banho maria novamente so para a calda degrudar da forma. Voce nao presica colocar ele no forno!!!! Deixe ele de banho maria ate a agua esfriar.


5. Now this is the moment of truth!! With a knife cut the pudding from the side of the baking pan. Put a nice big plate on top of the bunt backing pan and turn it upside-down and leave it for a while. Don't mess with it, just let the pudding slowly on its own fall down to the plate. If you mess with it it will brake and you will have an ugly pudding. It will fall, trust me and then there it is you beautiful delicious traditional Brazilian pudding. Very very yummy....specially very cold!
Agora e o momento da verdade. Com um faca descole as laterais da panela. Num prato grande coloque-o em cima da panela do pudim e vir-o de cabeca para baixo para desformar. Deixe ele cair sozinho, nao bata na panela pois vc pode quebraro pudim e ai vc tem uma meleca de caramelo. Deixe o pudim cair sozinho. E quando ele cair vc tera um lindo pudim com furrinhos que e uma delicia!



Thursday 1 January 2009

Happy New Year!!!!

We had such a great time last night at Paul's house. It was strange but wonderful to have the passage of the New Year outside having a barbecue in a warm summer night. The memories of when we had our New Year parties in Brazil was present throughout the evening for me. I had very nice fish with some very yummy salad and lots and lots of water and soda. The picture posted on the blog is just for fun....Rob and Paul were smoking cigars and we thought it would be fun to take picture with me with the cigar and beer ... so for all of you out there I did not smoke a cigar or drank beer this New Year!!! It was great to be among friends and family and everyone really had a wonderful time. Alice was really enjoying the warm weather and the great food. It really was a perfect evening for all of us! I wish all of you a great 2009 and that this year will bring peace, joy and happiness for all of you who read my blog. Enjoy the slide show...


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