Ladies who lunch...

For Christmas last year I gave Jane a voucher for a high tea for herself and five friends. Last Saturday she decided it was time to collect, and invited Clare, Melissa and Sam from Canberra, and Kylie and Elle from Wodonga. Clare took the days between Easter and Anzac Day as leave, and came down early. Anzac Day was a typically early start, and as dawn broke it got really cold. Both Jane and Clare had to have hot showers to try and defrost later in the morning!

I marched in Wodonga, and we stayed for the service. It was a nice quiet service, with the only downer being the selection of the performer to sing the national anthem and Amazing Grace. She was just horrific, and should stick to singing in the shower. Needless to say, I was surprised that they let her have a crack at the second verse of the national anthem after butchering the first verse!

Me and my boy on Anzac Day before the march

Sam and Melissa arrived during the afternoon, and we had Nana Chris' Chicken mayonnaise casserole for dinner, with sourdough bread. I had a busy day cooking in preparation, and left the girls to their gossip that night. 

The girls slept in on Saturday, and breakfasted on a loaf of 'Easter bread' - Chocolate, prune and espresso sourdough! They all though it was rather decadent. Mid morning they all disappeared to frock up and get ready for a day of food, bubbles and gossip. The invitation read 10:30 for 11:00, but no-one was really surprised when they weren't ready until 11:30! Festivities started with a glass of Jansz fizz for all of the girls. 

Clare having a minor face painting emergency… Lucky for Kylie!

The first team photo

The girls at the table

I had to photo bomb one of the photos!

And a little more formal!

I set the table with the tea setting we picked up in Canberra a couple of years ago, and it was our first opportunity to use the linen tablecloth, crystal bowl (thanks Hayeks), and crystal decanter (thanks Papps) we got as wedding gifts. We served a total of eighteen dishes during the day, with some on the table to start the ball rolling. The other dishes came out either as individual plated dishes, or as platters to share. The menu was as follows:

• Curried free range eggs
• Cauliflower veloute 'espresso', with prosciutto 'biscotti'
• Smoked salmon with scrambled eggs
• Goat cheese and tomato tart, with rocket and balsamic
• Pork and caraway sausage rolls with spicy tomato sauce
• Ham and cheese croissants
• Mini yorkshire puddings with roast beef, beetroot relish and caramelised onion
• Lime and chilli flash fried prawns, with aioli
• Smoked cheddar and cabernet paste Napoleon, with leatherwood honey roasted walnuts
• Broken glass red velvet cupcakes
• Chocolate croissants
• Rocher meringues, with cranberry, hazelnut and chocolate
• Blueberry and cinnamon rugelach
• Scones, with strawberry jam and cream
• Hazelnut macarons, with lemon cream cheese icing
• Poached pear and custard tarts
• Peanut butter and chocolate soufflé
• Salted caramel fudge ice cream, rolled with popcorn and dipped in dark chocolate

Rocher Meringues, in the crystal bowl

The cauliflower veloute espresso, with prosciutto biscotti

The girls ate through until about 5:00, and lubricated themselves with a jug or two (??) of Flora Dora. This is a fabulous, old fashioned cocktail built from Gin with raspberry and lime cordials and ginger ale. It got to the point where it was just easier to give Clare a stein and dispense with the champagne saucers.

A very happy girl!

The girls had a fabulous time, and loved the opportunity to get dressed up and have a fun day in. A couple of the girls commented that it was one of the most relaxing days they had enjoyed for ages, and an experience that should be repeated as often as possible. Jane said a few very lovely words, and suggested that this should be her Christmas present every year!

This was Jane's major sentiment for the day, although she did make the distinction that Clare was the sister she chose to be a girlfriend 

I know its good Kylie, but licking the plate???

All of the dishes worked really well, with one of the girls suggesting that her death row meal would be a plate of the pear and custard tarts, and me having to do up another batch of the cauliflower veloute for dinner on Saturday evening (because they needed more food…!).

Jane and her bestie!

I had a lot of fun, although I definitely noticed the lack of bench space for preparation, and almost wished I was back in a commercial kitchen. MacK was just a treat during the day. He was so well behaved, and just played quietly whilst sampling the odd plate of treats.

After the girls 'defrocked', and had their second round of cauliflower veloute, MacK took charge. He had the girls running through the house looking for monsters and mountain climbing. It was great fun to watch the little master organising everyone!

Follow me Guys!!!!

The Monster turns three!

It seems as though it was only yesterday when we welcomed a wee bundle of joy into our arms on a wet Townsville afternoon. Perhaps it was fitting that three years on the tropics were again a little wet, as tropical cyclone Ita made her way down the North Queensland coast.

We might have gone a little overboard with the celebrations this year, with MacK having three cakes. The coincidence of it being his third birthday was just that – we have absolutely no intention of making four cakes next year, or for Jane to get twenty something cakes in December!

We wanted to have a small gathering at home in Wodonga with local friends and then have a bigger party in Canberra the following weekend. MacK makes a habit of looking through cake decorating books, identifying those he likes. Accordingly the first birthday cake (at the master’s request) was a penguin. This was a lovely cake, although very few got to eat it.

On the Saturday, Jane and I drove to Melbourne to see the excellent play ‘The Long Way Home’ (about the struggles some defence members are having on return from active service), while Clare and Leigh looked after MacK. I didn’t start making the cake until we got home at 11:00pm, and had to get baking powder from the supermarket before I could start. Needless to say, it was rather late before I crawled into bed. I think I had only been in bed an hour or so before MacK wandered in and threw up on our bed. After another couple of episodes, we woke to a thoroughly miserable wee boy, and cancelled the party. We ate the cake, but all of us were ill in varying degrees through the week.

We then made another cake for MacK to take to school on his actual birthday, which was well appreciated by all. There was no fancy decoration or theme, just a simple cake with blue icing. The choice of blue was in line with the schools support for autism on that day, with all the kids encouraged to wear blue.

The wee man is a dab hand with presents these days!

On Thursday evening after work, we raced up the Hume to Canberra for another weekend of celebrations. I was up early to finish MacK’s stegosaurus cake, carve a watermelon into ‘Walter the watermelon monster’, and make red velvet broken glass cupcakes. We had a really lovely morning, with plenty of friends over. The thought that the kids might be entertained in the park and with a bubble machine was in vain, as we copped rain for the entire weekend.

Walter the watermelon monster!

Stella the stegosaurus - the birthday cake

Broken glass cupcakes - visually spectacular, and taste just as good

 Despite the weather the kids managed to have fun as they always do

Dave, Grace and George came to visit, and we had a great fun catch up with a bottle or two of red. On Sunday morning we took all the kids to the playground at the Arboretum and then departed for home from there. Jane and MacK had to make the run home by themselves, as I had to go on to Sydney for a course for the week.

MacK loved the bubble gun that his "Nanny and Poppy from the Coast" sent him, and has had great fun playing in the back yard!.

In other news, the Development Application for the shed and water tank is through, and we will build them in the next month or so. We are looking forward to having people call in for the first of our working bees! The plans for the house are almost finalised and we will now commence work on the applications for those