Sunshine = Gardening. The kitchen garden project part 1.

After what feels like an absolute eternity of grey skies and rain I was pumped to wake up and see sunshine streaming through the windows this morning.

You know your Victorian when the prospect of 23c is positively balmy and you start looking criticially at your wardrobe and actually wonder if your legs are ready for shorts....

Short answer....No.
Really...My legs make the cast of Twilight look like they've just come back from Hawaii...
But when has that ever stopped me?

The yard at our house has absolutely nothing in it apart from grass - well mainly weeds with grass sharing the space and two garden sheds.
Why someone decided to build 2 large garden sheds facing each other instead of just once decent sized shed that I could lock Rusty in is of constant puzzlement to me - but thats ok. I'm used to being puzzled, it's a comfortable place for me.

So a few weeks ago I thought that it would be a fantastic idea to plant my own kitchen garden. Grow some herbs and vegetables, save money, make my yard look more inviting and make a greener footprint for our family.

Sounds wonderful right?
Hmmm...maybe I forgot to mention that I have managed to kill just about everything I have ever planted before. Which Rusty takes great pleasure in reminding me...constantly...

I really should invest in a gag for him...or industrial ear plugs for me!

My plan is to literally make him eat his words. He'll be grateful when he is eating scrummy homegrown tomatoes and strawberries...right?

Anyhoo...I digress....I do that a bit you really have to try and keep me on track...

So my plan for today is to spray some herbicide on my horrible mixture of couch grass, onion weed and bindi thorns in the area I want to have the beds.

I know it's not the organic way to go but I am attempting to do all this with a 7month old strapped to me so unfortunately I am going the path of least resistance at the moment.

As soon as I have killed all the things I want killed (I am so hoping that I am not setting a precedent for my poor garden) I can turn over the soil....edge the beds and add some gypsum and compost to the soil as it's pretty heavy clay here....

Which apparently means that my vegies will get soggy feet and they don't like that...

I'll take some pic's throughout the process so you can see what I have been dealing with...

I'm also gonna make some mini greenhouses to raise some seedlings....so they actually grow....apparently this works....or maybe my dear old dad just likes making me look silly....both are distinct possibilities.

If anyone with a green thumb has any tips or tricks I would love to hear them...

I'll keep you posted!

Hugs
Dee

PS: I have noooooo idea what is going on with my pics...they go funny when I try to upload them. I think there are gremlins in the blogger server!

And he's off!

Well, the day has finally come...

It's time for me to spend the day crawling around my home on my hands and knees to see it from the same perspective as my little adventurer and try and Blue proof the house.

Why is it that children age you so quickly? I didn't have gray hairs before having my son.
Well, maybe just a couple but they were from his father, who thought it was funny until he saw my hairdressers bill. Then he stopped giggling.

But anyhoo I digress...

My child might be the singularly most determined child on the planet. Once he fixates on something, come hell or high water as long as it's there he will continue to try and get it.
I wonder whose gene's he gets that from....

He particularly loves electrical cords.

Blue's been rolling and commando crawling his way around the lounge room for a while now, but hasn't quite gotten onto his hands and knees and started properly crawling.

Or so I thought.

A little while ago we collected all the misc. electrical cords on the floor and put them in a box and stored them in the tiny corner between the tv unit and one of our armchairs. Blue watched us the whole time...we thought nothing of it.

This morning after a bit of a rough night I put Blue on the floor with his toys and Yo Gabba Gabba and bolted into the kitchen for a much needed caffeine fix and when I came back....not a Blue to be seen.

Now, if you've got kids you'll know the feeling you get when you realise that no-one has come and taken your child but your heart jumps into your throat all the same...

So here I am, calmly trying to workout where my son could possibly have gone when I hear rustling and giggling coming from the corner of the lounge room....

Found him!

Here he is, in baby Nirvana surrounded by the upturned box of electrical cords, having an absolute ball.
That is, until he realised I'd found him.

I tell ya, I just saw a face I am sure that I will see quite a great deal in the next 18 years or so...I swear I could actually see his thought process. It went something like this...

"CRAP! She caught me. Ok, damage control time. Must....look....adorable. Nope, she still looks not happy. Time for plan B ...MUMMY LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!"

This is the point where he scooted his little bum around, got up on hands and knees and calmly crawled out of there. TA DA!

So now I can't help but wonder....
Is my child a mastermind? Does he get up in the middle of the night, push his little high chair to the computer and compete in chess competitions or write essays on Shakespeare?

Am I getting conned into changing all these nappies? Is he laughing at me the whole time?

Ooops lack of sleep is finally causing paranoia.
Who would want to write essays on Shakespeare??

Oh well, better go and get started...bet you Rusty can't open the child catches on the doors when he comes home.
Should be worth a giggle...

Now how shall I keep Blue entertained today? A walk, visit friends? Oh I know....
Did anyone see where I put the chess board?

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs
Dee

Grown Up's Chocolate Cake

I love deserts.

I am particularly fond of wildly decadent, three tiered, mousse covered concoctions that make your thighs expand just by moving within 5 feet of the desert bar at your local restaurant.

You know the kind I mean.
The sort where you convince your partner to share with you because you couldn't possibly eat an entire slice all by yourself - but then you polish it off before they even manage to lift their fork from the napkin??

Come on, tell me you do it to?
Don't leave me hanging here....

Well, this is not one of those cakes!

Because as fabulous as they are I think that sometimes we all need a recipe that is moist, rich, delicious and versatile...
This choccy cake will take you from dinner party to BBQ and even to a kids birthday party just by changing the icing.
I've used a ganache for the adults but a chocolate buttercream would be divine too!

Grown Up's Chocolate Cake

Adapted from taste.com.au

- 1 1/3 cup plain flour
- 2 tablespoon cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 200g good quality dark chocolate chopped
- 225g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 4 eggs (at room temperature)

- 1/2 cup milk (at room temperature)

Ganache

- 150g good quality dark chocolate chopped
- 125ml cream
- 20g butter

Then you....

- Preheat your oven to 160c. Grease and line a 24cm cake tin. I prefer to use a springform pan as they are less likely to decide to hold onto your cake and not let it go.

- Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder & bi-carb soda together in a bowl and set aside.

- Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water (don't let the water touch the bowl) until it is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

- While all this is happening cream your butter with an electric mixter for 1-2 min or until creamy. Add the caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy and almost white in colour.
- Move your mixer down to medium speed and beat in vanilla and then eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Pour in cooled chocolate mixture and beat until combined.
- Beat in a third of the sifted mixture, followed by a third of the milk - repeating until all is added.
- Beat until smooth but be careful not to overbeat as this will cause your cake to toughen and resemble a hockey puck!
- Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Cool for 5 mins in pan before transfering onto cake rack to cool completely.

To make Ganache....

- Combine all ingredients in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of barely immering water until smooth.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken for 30mins before slathering all over your finished cake.
- Dancing around the kitchen to bad country music while licking the bowl is entirely optional!

Cast of Characters Part 1. Meeting my boys!

I am lucky enough to have a lot of very special and important people in my life.

People who bring me joy, sadness, love and some days downright blinding honesty.

These three are usually the ones causing all of the above.

Meet Rusty.

My love, my other half, the yin to my yang, the father of my child and occasionally the recipient of my boot to the nether regions.

After 6 years he still makes my heart beat faster whenever he is around. Whether that is from lust or fury really depends on how much of a pest he is being at the time.

Rusty is incredibly, bluntly honest.

I learned a long time ago not to ask questions I don't really want to know the answer to.

Like, does my bum look big in this? Or did you just put your toenails behind the couch?

Y'know stuff like that.....

We met at a country pub. I was bored, he was tanked. He tried to convince me that his Toyota Lexcen was a Commodore. I told him he was a moron, he stalked me and 6 weeks later we were engaged.....

I wish I could tell you that since then we've been walking into the sunset but unfortunately my house isn't a movie set and the credits didn't start rolling straight after he said yes.

But it's been fun and there has never been a dull moment....

Rusty is very manly and works with timber all day, he also drives trucks and crushes beer cans on his forehead.

Ok, maybe not the beer cans but he does come home smelling like fresh sawdust which I think is one of the nicest smells on earth!

But enough about him.....

How cute is this little guy???

This is Blue.

He's 7 months old and is the end result of 42 weeks baking, a 50 hour labour and an emergency C section.

Something you never want to hear when you are on an operating table.

"OMG......get a look at it......this kid is gonna drive his parents home from the hospital!!!"

Not quite, but at 10.5lb's he wasn't far from it!

Did I mention that I am 5'1??

That'll teach me for procreating with a giant. Rusty is 6'4....we get funny looks on the street.

It makes me giggle.

Blue has an impeccable sense of timing.
I'm sure everyone remembers the Black Saturday bushfires that Victoria experienced in Feb 09?

Well Blue thought that at 10 days overdue, it would be a fantastic time to make his entrance into the world. Nothing like labouring through armaggedon with ash raining down around the hospital to put you in a calm state of mind...

Maybe I should have named him Ash.

Is it too late to change it by deedpoll?

Blue is a snuggle bug, an adrenalin junkie, a little boy with a serious boob addiction (we're holding off seeking treatment) and an adventurer crawling into every nook and cranny to make sure there isn't any hidden treasure there.

He is my world!

And last but definately not least...

This is Oscar aka PuppleDog...

Don't ask me where that came from, Rusty is inventing his own language.

We expect it to be added to the Oxford dictionary any day now.

Oscar has been our first baby for 4 years now. We adopted him from the RSPCA when he was 10 months old.

Turns out 2 silly people before us never took the time to see what a gorgeous boy he is.

This is the most loyal dog in the world.

He is a puppy gourmet, loves fluffy toys which he carries around like a toddler before randomly deciding to hand down the death sentence and tearing them to shreds.

Has a wicked bark but is a complete sook.

He loves me when I'm cranky, smelly and having a bad hair day.

Can't ask for much more than that!

Oh....and this is the three of us together.

I look so mellow because I am still on pain meds...

These days I look more like this

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs

Dee

Welcome!

Hi There!

Welcome to Not a 1950's Housewife. My little corner of cyberspace.
My name is Dee and I am a 20 something mother of one, amateur foodie, out and proud shoe addict, former career woman and novice domestic goddess.

You can find me hiding in the suburbs here in Melbourne, Australia. But I was born and raised out in the country & I'm living proof that you can take the girl out of the country but not the country out of the girl.

After 7 years in the city I still believe that driving for an hour should take you to another town entirely, not three suburbs over.
I know, I need to let it go .....

Before having my son I worked in the wonderful, stressful and often frantic world of advertising.
I wore pencil skirts, towering stilettos and pantyhose to work. Drank real coffee and had lunch dates at trendy thai restaurants.....

Fast forward 7 months and now I'm at home raising my gorgeous, cheeky little man. I wear track pants and flats. Am now an instant coffee devotee (you can't get decent coffee out in the 'burbs) and lunch dates now involve going somewhere with supplied high chairs.

But you know what?
I wouldn't change it for the world!

So why am I here?

I love to cook and have a slight obsession with feeding people.....my most sincere apologies to my friends and family who have stacked on a few extra kilos since I've been home.

I'm not a perfect housekeeper and I'm learning as I go with some interesting results and an occasionally very frustrated better half.

And the best bit?

My family is insane and constantly keep me armed with fantastic stories which, although stranger than fiction are highly entertaining and just scream to be shared.

So thanks for stopping by. I hope you've enjoyed yourself.

I love to hear from people so please let me know what you think. What you'd like to see more of and what I should shut up about!


Hugs
Dee