Lead up to Birthday week.....

Its been a big, busy, crazy emotional week.   Not only because that is how I usually get around birthday time (another year , more grey hair, what have I achieved?  where am I going? - you know how it goes)  but because I am also working on many projects all at the same time.  Its like my cook/gardener/DIY/crafty inner self is on autopilot (and on a time clock apparently) and wants to start and/or complete all projects I have going.   Crazy - I know.

No matter what I am creating, experimenting or doing, I always have my trusty pocket camera with me. A photographic diary of sorts.   I know one day I will look back and realize these days (the crazy busy ones) are my happiest.   So here is a photo diary of what is keeping me interested of late:

In the garden:: A tiny Echeveria plant grows out of what I thought was a dried up root.

From a friends well established edible garden - beautiful, nourishing beans.

Fabric ::  Watching mum create something gorgeous with this fabric (More to follow soon)

From El Mercado::  (Top) Organic Food Market free range VS  (Bottom) Supermarket free range.  The proof is in the taste.

From my Father::  Admiring his latest original, upcycled work of art.

From my Mother::  a beautiful crochet creation

Cafe::  Martino honing his skills.....

while I admire the cafe's refurb including these gorgeous mango wood stools.

From the sewing machine :: new fabric place mats, that are teaching me much patience along the way....

thats all for now.  Thanks for reading.

xox
a (nearly) older and (hopefully) wiser craftyclaudes.......

Jamie does Greek Salad...very very well!

We recently finished watching the "Jamie Does...." series which was screened here in Sydney on Ten.  Every week Jamie took us along on his culinary journey around Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and other beautiful and food exciting places.  We enjoyed the series so much that we bought the book.   Our first recipe to try was the Greek Salad, here it is:


We served it with a cannelini bean mash and some crusty bread.  Delicioso!!   I have had many Greek salads before, as they are refreshing and punchy and interesting.  However, this one used Dill and Mint as the herbs (usually I use Oregano)  I think that is what made it.  Very fresh.

You can get the recipe free from Jamie's site


Give it a go.....your taste buds will thank you ;-)

Pakistan Fundraiser - rocky road treats........

The Pakistan Floods have really broken my heart.  Seeing daily footage of people who have lost their loved ones and also their homes due to the monsoonal rains has been so sad.  I could never imagine such devastation. The look of sheer terror in the eyes of the people (especially the little kids)  is something I still cannot get out of my mind.  So when my lovely friend L asked for some help in raising funds for the people of Pakistan I jumped at the chance to do my bit to help.  Together we hatched a plan to have a bake-off and make some sweet treats that we would sell for AUD5.  We set ourselves a target of AUD1000  which we knew would be something we could achieve with lots of effort.  We also chose Medicins Sans Frontiers as our charity.  For the treats it was decided it could only be something sweet and scrumptious.  L makes some super yummy choc/banana cakes (she is famous for them!) so that was a no brainer really. I thought I would make some funky rocky road.   So an email was sent around to our circle of friends, work colleagues and many others tempting them with our goodies - all for a great cause.  Now the orders have come in and its time to start making the choc treats ready for delivery at the end of this week.    We are soooooo excited as we know we have made over our target of AUD1000.....our final tally to be announced soon!    This has been a very humbling experience, one that we hope to do as often as we can supporting different causes and charities.   Happy days.....