You don’t need special tools or special skills to open a young drinking coconut – just a knife and a minute or so. Put the coconut on its side. Cut slices off the wide end until you see the ‘eyes’ – they look like bowling ball holes. You are only looking for the ‘soft’ eye,…
Everything was Star Wars for Cameron’s fifth birthday party. The cake: Yoda, lime flavoured as requested by the birthday boy. I tried a white chocolate and fondant mix to cover the cake. It was nice, but it didn’t go that well with the lime cake (a white chocolate mud cake would be a perfect match…
If you need to make a quick but effective Star Wars cake, try something like this Chewbacca cake. It’s a rectangle cake, with the top corners rounded off. I covered it with a chocolate butter cream (I used the Crabapple Bakery’s chocolate fudge frosting). It’s a simple outwards motion with a cake spatula or butter knife for…
Some more insightful words from my kids, because they have so much to say. So, so, too much to say. Abby: Daddy is a working man. Mummy is a working girl. Abby: Happy Father’s Day daddy! Cameron: Happy Birthday! Me: It’s “Happy Father’s Day”. Cameron: HO HO HO! Father Christmas? Abby: I have a vajama. And…
I love talking with my kids. They say the craziest things, and I think the preschool years are just awesome. I apologise in advance for their toilet humour – it’s mostly unintentional. Me: I love you to the stars and back. Cameron: I love you to the moon. Me and Daddy: Aww. Cameron: And then the…
I think I was more excited about Abby’s Frozen party more than she was. There was so much to do, including making the costumes. What a great idea to sew your own Frozen costumes I thought – at the time. In the end I only had time to make three – Cameron’s Kristoff vest, my…
Even though I’m a tad late, the rise of the super moon prompted me to get out my camera and do a bit of photography practice. What a perfect night for it. Bit chilly outside in my pajamas, but a jacket and ugg boots helped with that. I didn’t do too badly – after I remembered which numbers…
Some of the following things are phrases I never expected to use before I had kids… Don’t lick the CD Don’t put your willy on that Don’t touch the dog’s bum Stop riding your trike naked Take that book out of your mouth Stop sucking on your sock Stop eating your shoe (literally, Cam was…
Congratulations to Kat! I will be in contact and sending those booties out to you shortly. Winter finally hit Wellington. To be honest, it’s been a rather mild winter, but we’ve had a few extra nippy nights. And just in time, we received these awesome sleeping bags for the kids. The kids were thrilled with…
I love food like this. I love how it reminds me of mum’s cooking, and the mix of Cambodian and Vietnamese elements (although it originates from Burma). Mee kola is not hard to make, but you need to have all the right ingredients. There are different ways to make mee kola, but it’s traditionally vegetarian.…
Ahh, the only redeeming thing about winter is the soups. Cabbage with a smoky sausage like rookworst makes for a fantastic soup. With some potato and beans, you have a one pot meal. Another delicious, cheap and easy option for a cold and hungry bunch. Something I might try next time is maybe some buttery…
So, what did I learn from our 15 days in a campervan? Quite a bit it seems… Don’t listen to the husband when he says you don’t need a torch. You so do. The floors get filthy, quickly. Bring a dustpan and brush to clean up dirt/sand/grass, and an old towel to soak up wet…
Who doesn’t love something hot, saucy, steamy and exotic, especially on a cold night? When it comes to food, chicken tagine will do nicely. This is one of my favourite winter dishes. The flavours of preserved lemon, with spices like ginger and cardamom all slow cooked with chicken make it wonderfully exciting. This version of…
The idea of spending 15 days in a campervan with two under 5 years olds was a little worrying at first. For two working parents it was going to be quite a change from the norm. And I’ve never been campervanning before – or ‘vamping’ as I’ve decided to call it. Luckily, the weather was…
I managed to cut my thumb on what my husband mockingly describes as a butter knife. In my defence, it was a picnic dinner knife that has a sharp serrated edge on it. However, I have no defence for thinking it was a good idea to wipe it with a paper towel – those things…
