From Moscow with love - our FAMILY

Igor (our cousin) took this photo of Larissa and Eugene when they drove from Moscow, where they live, to Zhitomir, Ukraine to visit their mother/grandmother (our Aunt) for the New Year.

MUSTARD PORK CHOPS with GNOCCHI

Tonight it's MUSTARD PORK CHOPS with GNOCCHI
The pork is cooked for just enough time to take away pinkness but ensure tenderness within. The mustard, cider, garlic, and cream add comfort and piquancy. To soak up the gorgeous juices, serve with a fantastically quick potato substitute, gnocchi.
If you are in the mood, add a green salad, hot crusty bread and a glass of wine or two!


Ingredients
2 pork chops or butterfly pork tenderloin, (around 500 grams weight total)
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1/2 cup cream
1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Preparation
Cut the fat off the chops, and then bash them briefly but brutally with a rolling pin between two pieces of plastic wrap to make them thinner.
Heat the oil in a pan, and then cook the chops over a moderately high heat for about 5 minutes per side. Remove them to a warmed plate.
Pour the cider into the pan, still over the heat, to de-glaze the pan. Let it bubble away for a few minutes, then add the mustard, garlic and stir in the cream.
Let the sauce continue cooking for a few minutes before pouring over each plated pork chop.
Cook the gnocchi, strain, and add to the pan to absorb all the remaining spare juices before adding to your plates.

Serves 2
ENJOY!

A glass of wine perhaps?

After dinner with some friends last week, when all the cleaning up was done, I found this wine bottle, 2 glasses and the bowl of nuts sitting on my bench top.
I didn't see who had actually put them there, or if they had purposely arranged them to look the way they did, but it all looked good to me.
So for now, they are staying right where they were left....ready to be shared with friends, next time they drop by.
Can I interest you in a glass of wine perhaps?

It's Salsa time!!!!

It's "Salsa" time in our house!
I've got the hankering for corn chips and fresh mouth watering Salsa!
Don't you just love the taste of tomatoes, onions, coriander (cilantro), jalapenos and limes?
Once you add a few other ingredients to the mix, you will never eat salsa from a jar again.
Fresh is best, especially when it comes to SALSA!
I'll post my recipe later....for now, there's housework to be done!

Sheree and her little man.....

Meet Sheree & Geoff's little man - Samuel Geoffrey Gatley Lyon, born 1/1/11 - what a wonderful birth date. He is just gorgeous & oh so tiny.

My Sock Thief

Found....One SOCK THIEF - so that's where the socks go!
Note to self: Do not leave clean/dirty laundry anywhere near Maccers.

My boy Maccers in the park

He's on to something.....

Happy New Year

We wish you health and happiness.....may all you wishes and dreams come true in 2011!

Our Christmas Card....

to you.....

Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe

These cookies are perfect for any occasion, just by changing your cookie cutters to suit. Once they are iced, served and eaten, be prepared...everyone is going to want a copy of the recipe. ENJOY!

DIRECTIONS:
1 ½ cups butter, softened
3 cups white sugar (they are called SUGAR cookies)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Beat in eggs and vanilla.
Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cover, and chill the dough for one to two hours (or if you want, overnight).
When ready:
Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter.
Place cookies 1 inch apart on baking tray lined with ungreased baking paper.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven.
Check often, as they may cook quicker depending of the size and shape of the cookie cutter used. Cool completely.
Ice and decorate to suit the occasion, Christmas, Birthday, Easter, Valentine's Day.
Makes approximately 5 dozen.

The hole in the garden...Don't know anything about it.....Why do you ask??

I don't know where I got this photo from, but I just had to share it.....

It's been a long time....

Here we go again.......

What's on the Menu today - Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Garlic Prawns with Chorizo Sausages

2 large Chorizo sausages, thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 kg (4 ½ pounds) medium green prawns, peeled leaving tails intact
1/2 cup chopped fresh Coriander (Cilantro)
1 tablespoon dry Sherry
Lemon wedges, to serve
Crusty bread, to serve

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat.
Add the Chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the Chorizo to a plate lined with paper towel.
Reduce heat to low.
Add the oil and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Add the prawns and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until the prawns curl and change colour.
Add the Chorizo, Coriander and Sherry to the pan and stir to combine.
Divide the prawn mixture among serving bowls.
Serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread.

Notes & tips
Omit the Chorizo and dry Sherry. Replace the Coriander with chopped fresh Continental Parsley. At the end of step 2, stir in 2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped.

Tip: It's important to reduce the heat to low before adding the oil and garlic to the pan in step 2. If the heat is too high, the garlic may cook too quickly and turn brown, which will make your Garlic & Chorizo prawns taste bitter.

Happy New Year & playing in Photoshop

Here's hoping 2009 is filled with endless opportunities and more of the things that are close to our heart and matter the most!

My first photo of the year is a little different - it's Mac looking at one of the fish in our fishpond, created using Photoshop CS3.

My Christmas Pudding turned into a Strawberry Cheesecake

Ok this year's Christmas Pudding didn't make the grade - I threw it in the trash can late last week. Everything was looking good for a few days there, but tell-tale mould, after some very hot and humid Adelaide weather, suddenly appeared on the pudding cloth and so the decision to toss it was an easy one.

I looked the mould problem up on the internet and found that humidity can cause problems with Christmas Puddings, so I didn't feel too bad, humid conditions are out of my control. I learnt from the experience and as the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
So what did I replace Christmas Pudding with? I decided to go with a Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake.
Vlad took photos - IT WAS YUMMY - YUMMY - YUMMY
Let me know if you want the recipe - I made it from looking at quite a few recipes and taking the best ingredients from each.

The true meaning of Christmas - a smile

What is the true meaning of Christmas???

After battling the crowds at Marion Shopping Centre this morning, I'm beginning to wonder if it's all about the outright worship of consumerism for materialistic people!

I did something this morning - every person I made actual eye contact with, I smiled at. It was easy to do, a simple gesture of goodwill, it cost nothing!

How many people smiled back - I could count them on one hand - and I've got to have smiled at lots!

Those of you who did, I wish you love, health and happiness for Christmas and 2009, those of you who didn't......think about it!

Christmas enthusiasm or lack of - A goat, chicken or piglet - it doesn't matter

I'm sitting here after having just baked a batch of cinnamon muffins. They are cooling as I write this.
I've made spaghetti sauce for tonight's dinner, I think my day is organized. I wish I could say the same about Christmas.
My enthusiasm for Christmas doesn't seem to have kicked in this year. Is it only me, or do you feel that way too?
I've got the tree trimmed, the Christmas decorations out of storage and on display and the Christmas cards addressed but as yet not delivered or mailed, this weekend will see them on their way. I've got the pudding made and hanging, looking good too, the menu 3/4 planned and what ever I've had to order to complete Christmas day's menu, I've ordered.
When it comes to Christmas presents though, I always seem to lose the plot. I've got absolutely NO IDEA what Santa should drop off for me, or what he should drop off for Vlad and my family.
Should I do what I did last year?
Last year I gave gifts that can help save people around the world from poverty. Through Oxfam I purchased some goats and chickens, as Christmas presents. No, I didn't physically give gifts of goats and chickens, I made donations in my family's names to Oxfam's Agriculture Program. By now the goats are producing milk and the chickens are laying lots of eggs, gifts that will keep on giving for years to come.
Decisions, decisions, problem solved. Hopefully it's not too late....
Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is...........

My cat - Miss Mollie

Miss Mollie surveying her domain from the safety of the front verandah.

Meet Eddie.....Tamara and Damien's little man

Welcome Eddie, we waited a long time to meet you.

Flowers from my garden

Just a few of the photos Vlad has taken of the flowers in my garden.
The yellow rose is "Gold Bunny", the blue flower is a water Iris and yellow rose is "Tequilla Sunrise".