18 September 2007
Clever, Clever, Clever
Enjoy!
10 September 2007
Poppo's "Must Have it NOW!!!" Peanut Butter Fudge
So, on the way home, Dean and I phoned my Dad (who has now inherited my grandfather's nickname - Poppo) and got his recipe. Mind you, he didn't actually have it written down. You see, his recipe comes from the back of a jar of Marshmellow Fluff. So, he rattled it off by memory.
Dean, my talented and all-knowing chef, was a little concerned about making fudge with peanut butter and marshmellows. Well, that was until he tasted it. He loved it! :-) As a result, it was one of many treats served at Poppi's Suprise Birthday Party. So, straight from the back of our super-secret brown paper bag, here we are posting the recipe here for those who asked for it at the party.
Enjoy! :-)
2 cup of Peanut Butter (or Peanut Butter chips) - You can use smooth or crunchy
1 jar (7 oz) Marshmellow Fluff (Yes, this is available in Australia - at Coles, in the same aisle as Nutella. If you can not find any, substitute an equivilant amount of regular marshmellows.)
3/4 cup Evaporated Milk
2 1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
In a large pot over medium, combine milk, butter and sugar. Heat ingredients until boiling. Add Marshmellow Fluff (or marshmellows), stirring until melted. Remove pot from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Spread mixture out in a semi-shallow baking pan. Allow to cool in refrigerator until firm. Cut into squares and try not to eat them all at once.
09 September 2007
Surprise for Poppi!
She thought that she, Dad, Hunter and Grandma from Kingston (Dean's mom) were going to drive around and try to find Tara who had gone to "pay her bills." (It was the closest explanation we could give her for what it means to "go do some running around" when you're not actually going out for a run.) Well, it turned out Tara was "hiding" at a party in the park!
Guess who the party was for!??!!? Miss Poppi Claire's 5th birthday! She had no idea what was going on - this was her first party. But, lots of people she knew were there, there were pink and purple balloons and streamers everywhere and a whole pile of presents! Plus - Dad made her a super special pink and purple spotty cake with a princess tiara. AND!! Everyone was at one of her favourite parks. Her friend Jack (and babies Thomas and Thomas) came along and they spent 98% of the time playing. (We actually had to keep bringing them back over to "the party" to do things like eat, open pressies, blow out the candle on the cake.)
Dean cooked up a storm with some help from his mum. The picnic table was covered in goodies. Even though everyone gobbled up the yummies, there was still plenty left over!
All up, it was a really nice afternoon. It was just so special that Cousins, friends, Great Aunts and Uncles and Grandma were able to come and celebrate Poppi's birthday a little bit early. Even Grandma and Poppo and Uncle Will from Florida were able to be a part of the big day! We're so grateful for those who came to be with Poppi on her special day. Just being there, lavashing her with attention was the best and most important present of all!
Here's a selection of photos from the day
Opening Presents - "Megsie", a FurReal Friend (Notice the Fairy Wings? A special pressie from Great Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Bob - a birthday party dress-up costume!!)
Another pressie - KidProof Digital Camera (This, of course, had to be taken out straight away so our little amateur photographer could capture her own happy snaps from the party - see below.)
More Pressies - This one from Grandma & Poppo in Florida. A new Disney Princess dinner set! Poppi wanted to know, "How did they know I like princesses?" (Clearly, the answer must be that Grandma and Poppo read the BrisVegas Balmforth Bulletin!!)
A beautiful princess nightgown from Uncle Will in Florida. There was some convincing that had to be done to assure her it was something to sleep in and not a dress she could wear about town.
Poppi's Birthday Party Self Portrait (with her **new** camera)
Cousins Kate and Stuart on the big day!
Great Uncle Bob - he had to drive for 7 hours to get Brisbane! We were so lucky he was in town and able to come to the party!
Great Aunty Cheryl and Cousin Sharon Ashen - both great contributors to making sure the party happened. Aunty Cheryl came to the park early and help make sure Poppi's party had its very own gazebo. Sharon, of course, brought Jack AND her super special tatziki dip!
The end of a wonderful day! One very happy Poppi - Falling asleep in her Princess bed in new Princess PJ's with her new Fairy Barbie (from Jack)!
11 August 2007
Theme Park Fun For All
We hope you enjoy.
Go on - Can you guess what this face is all about? Just what is Hunter thinking? (I'll give you a hint - he might not be thinking, he might be doing...)
Poppi - The Tijuana Taxi Driver
Hunter - Maybe, just maybe, having a more authentic Tijuana Taxi Driving experience
Big Ice Cream Scoop, Little Mouth
How to get to the rides quickly when you only have little legs!
Poppi - The Master of Dodge'em (Bumper) Cars
Let's race!
Is it time for the Hi-5 Show?? Yes, that is Poppi dancing the street! She's a natural STAR!!! Hunter - First time on a roller coaster! Scared? Maybe before, but not after!First Ride of the Day - Tweety Bird's take on the classic Octopus ride
Future Locomotive Engineers!Do you think these two had fun together or what??
Hunter - perplexed by the Bumper Cars. But, clearly, nowhere near as perplexed as the other small person behind him!
We've relaxed!
Brisvegas Balmforth Bulletin is now **IMPROVED** and **MORE COMMENT FRIENDLY**
We've heard from some of you that our Comment-Nazi approach to moderating comments is not suitable to how you use the 'Net. So, we've removed the requirement of having to have a Google identity (yes, we know how some of you feel about Google's response to China).
What does this mean? From today, you can all comment to your little hearts content using just your name! We hope this works better for everyone and makes our little piece of cyberspace easier to use.
Love to you all!
Cheers,
Tara & Dean
28 July 2007
The Things We're Planning
The kids are due in just a few mintues. We'll be having some new ktichen adventures for lunch. (And if that doesn't work - well, we always have a snag (aka sausage) or two lying around.) PLUS - Tara discovered a new park close to home that we will try out this arvo (afternoon for the American readers).
But, the really big deal is that on Sunday we're taking the munchkins to Movie World! We've been tossing around the idea of Sea World with the kids for ages and we came across a pretty decent discounted deal for Movie World instead. We checked out the differences between the two parks and Movie World has about a third of their park dedicated to smaller kids (ahem, Hunter.) Going to Movie World means he won't miss out on rides because he's too short.
We're not going to tell the kids. And Dean just can't wait to surprise them. We've planned ahead and got all the necessitites for a picnic lunch - which, coincidently, seems to be the best way to get them to eat a full meal.
So, watch this space for happy snaps!
But that's not ALL we've got up our sleeve. Miss Poppi Claire turns 5 in September! We were hoping to help LeeAnn throw a party with her school friends, but, unfortunately, that's not going to happen. And Poppi is going inter-state on her actual birthday.
But have no fear fans of little people parties! We're going ahead. Grandma from Kingston will be here with us just before the big day. So, we're going to combine the two events into one really fantastic party for a special 5 year old on September 8. We've already invited friends, other little people and family and we're just trying to decide what kind of party to make it. We're fairly certain pink, princesses and fairies will go over really well.
So, if you have ideas, suggestions or tips on how to throw a fantabulous little people party, please feel free to pass them along to us.
25 July 2007
Oh .... He's a funny little bugger!
Dean had the kids make it from scratch. Yeast. Rising in the sun. The whole she-bang. Poppi gave the rolling pin a try after carefully observing the dough rise.
She also gave a whirl to trying to spin the pizza dough in the air like Daddy. In the end, she was successful in spinning the dough. You see, if she spun herself while holding the dough, by default, the dough spun too!
But, by far, the funniest part of making pizza was our little bull. Trying to flatter Dad, he gave his best to trying spin the dough in the air. The result? We had a kitchen and sitting area covered in dough! More funny than the video clips below can do justice.
Enjoy!
It's a Blog-Off! (AKA Let's Start a Recipe Exchange!)
And given the ever-present sibling rivalry, when Dean found out, he challenged Janine to see who could be the best blogger. It was in jest, of course. We're just tickled we'll get to keep up with her family and the future "Great" Scott baby that is joining the world soon. Heck, she's even inspired us to get up off our slack-bums and get our own blog updated.
While there will be no actual blogging showdown, we did run a couple of meal ideas by Janine. They're pretty standard fare in America, but not really something you'd have here. Dean really enjoyed them and when he described them to Janine, her reply... "Yum."
So, since we're a happy little cyber-family, we'd thought we'd share some recipes we enjoy right here. We'll even post some photos (taken with a flair for art by Dean) of the dishes if we have them!
Our first offering - Sloppy Joe's (aka Manwich)
Ingredients (American Names, if needed, will appear in parentheses)
1 can Tomato Puree (Tomato sauce)
1 cup Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)
1 tablespoon Dried Onion Flakes
1 tablespoon Green Capsicum (Green Pepper) diced
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1/4 teaspoon Celery Seeds - *Note: We chose to use Cumin, instead.*
1 teaspoon American-style Mustard
0.5kg (1 pound) Beef Mince (Ground Beef)
Directions
1.) Brown the mince in a large skillet and the drain the fat.
2.) Add all remaining ingredients to the skillet.
3.) Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
4.) Spoon mixture on to bun of choice. (Standard American serving would be on a hamburger bun. We chose to use Turkish Bread Rolls.) Toast the buns first, if you prefer.
5.) Serve and eat as either a open-face sandwich (as pictured) or standard sandwich. Beware - it's messy as a standard sandwich. And now you know why it's called a Sloppy Joe! :-)
Surprise at the Airport!
With the condition of having to supply a silly sign and photographic evidence, Kate and Cheryl agreed. And Dean couldn't wait. Cheryl even kept the gag up on the night of arrival, leading Aunt Maree to believe she was at the airport doing a lap outside of baggage claim to pick her up.
Then Aunt Maree walked down to baggage claim....
Have you ever had a Rice Krispie Treat?
2 - A Rice Krispie Treat is perhaps one of the easiest recipies ever created. EVER. It's butter, Rice Krispies (Bubbles) and marshmallows. That's it. (Recipe follows.)
3 - Making Rice Krispie Treats is fun for everyone! Don't believe us? Just look at the kids! Last time we had Poppi and Hunter visiting with us - we had alot of fun in the kitchen!
We told you it was fun to play with Rice Bubble and Marshmallows!
The ORIGINAL Rice Krispie Treats Recipe:
Ingredients
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 package (10 oz. about 40) regular marshmallows
or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies (Bubbles)®
Directions
1. Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add KELLOGG'S® RICE KRISPIES® cereal. Stir until well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cut into 2-inch squares when cool. Best if served the same day.
Yield: 24 squares
Boys Having FUN!
We were lucky enough to have dinner with the Mackenzies. Dean was keen to remind Uncle Bob of his so-called "job" on Saturdays and invited him for a test ride. And Bob, of course, took him up on his offer!
Did the boys have fun "working"? Gee.... that's a hard one.... You tell me!
Visiting Cousins... Well, kind of...
The whole way up to Bribie Island, Poppi couldn't stop telling us what she was going to do with Thomas. You see, when they first met, Sharon let Poppi feed Thomas his bottle. Well, she was quite excited to do just that. We heard lots of "When will we get there" and "Are we there yet" type of questions. We told Poppi which numbers to look for on the clock (1130 am) and wouldn't you know - she paid attention and when it was 1130 was telling us that we MUST be there - just look at the clock! (My oh my - she's such a bright little mind!)
And when we arrived, Thomas was sleeping! So, it was off to play with Jack and Hunter. Before long, Thomas was awake and Poppi was in baby heaven while the boys had a ball playing on bikes, scooters, slides, cars and each other!
Poppi's First Favourite Baby Thomas
And, of course... what we ALL were waiting for - Thomas' feeding time! Thomas is starting on real food these days. Sharon (and mum Narelle) helped Poppi to give Thomas his lunch. We're fairly certain Thomas got most of it in his mouth. He did get a little cranky with Miss Poppi - She wasn't feeding him FAST enough!
The funniest part of the afternoon (for us anyway) was when Hunter snuck into Thomas' bouncy seat for a bit of a rest and a stretch. He only just fit in the seat. Luckily, he was keen to have a cuddle and share Thomas' seat with Thomas himself! :-)
21 July 2007
She's a Wonderful Artist!
During school, Poppi made us some lovely artwork! Dean was so pleased. Even if he only got ONE pretty picture and Tara got TWO. It makes perfect sense that this would be the case - more than once has Poppi declared herself "Tara's girl". (Doesn't that just tug at your heartstrings??? I mean really... How sweet is that sentiment?)
We'll just use the blog here as a virtual 'Fridge to post Poppi's art. We hope you all will enjoy!