Marie et malade

This is what I made on the weekend.
Well, actually, the first photo is what I used to make the stuff in the later photos. They came from Sara's garden. Sara doesn't much like grapefruit. Nor marmalade. In fact, she thought these were lemons. We're past that now, and we know they're grapefruit.


I chopped them into quarters, and cut out the pips and the centre pith bits, and popped those extra bits in a bowl with a bit of water. Then the remaining yummy grapefruit bits I sliced and sliced and popped in another bowl with the rest of the 4 litres of water.
And then I waited for 24 hours while they soaked.

After the waiting, there was bringing the water and grapefruit to the boil (pop the water from the pips and the pith in, as this is what will help make it set - something to do with the pectin in the pith and the pips, apparently).
And then there was boiling for an hour.
After which, I was allowed to add the sugar.
6 kilos!!! To 2 kilos of grapefruit! Yes, you wouldn't imagine you could fit it all in the jars, would you.

Anyway, then there was more boiling and waiting and watching it looking volcanic.

Bubble, bubbleAnd then there was lots of pouring and mess (after about a million years of stirring and watching and waiting and testing to see if it would test using the back of a wooden spoon and also some drops on a plate every so often).

And then we had marmalade in jars!

Christmas Crackers and the jokes that lie within

Yeah, OK, I know that Australians call them "bonbons" (madness, I tell you).
Now, Christmas crackers are a bit of a tradition. I had no idea where they came from until I started writing this post, but now know that they are a British tradition (hurrah!), invented by a London confectioner called Tom Smith in 1847. Apparently they were a development of his bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (hence why they are called bon-bons in Australia although, I put it to you, they're not sweets any longer, so why call them the same thing?!) Anyway, more exciting historical information here.

Now, I am actually most interested in the jokes that come with crackers as, typically, they're just rubbish. Not only can you not remember them positively the moment after you've read them, but the reaction is never a laugh, and always a groan. Can cracker-makers not afford decent jokes?
Well, that was what I thought until an anomoly last night, when we were round with the lovely Beks and had eaten our rather delicious pancakes with bacon and eggses and maple syrup (Beks was hilarious when her sugar rush kicked in and all she could do was stare, googly-eyed!).
And we discovered a funny joke in a cracker!!!
Well, actually, this was when Ed arrived to pick me up (he is rather lovely, as Wednesday is Stitch and Bitch night, as we all know, and therefore can be Girls Only). (Not that he was the joke, although he did make some very funny comments.)
Let me put this into perspective. The couple of the jokes read:
Q: Why did the cow have a bell?
A: Because her horn didn't work
Q: What do you call a chicken in a shellsuit?
A: An egg

Anyway, Ed's masterpiece was:
Q: What do ghosts eat?







A: Ghoul-ash

Hilarious!!!
Can we up the calibre, cracker-makers, please? The stakes have been raised!

Making a Wedding Quilt for the Mollicas

So I made a quilt for Cathy and Matt to celebrate their wedding, which was on Saturday 25th November, 2006. I chose creams and whites, with a beautiful butterfly detail as Miss C loves her butterflies.
In progress:And complete:

Oooh, kimono

Isn't it pretty?! I found it in the Made In Japan shop a few weeks ago when I went shopping with Lara. They sell all sorts of beautiful things including antique kimonos and, given Ed and I were going to Ed's work do, and his work do was themed "countries", how could I resist?
Photos of me in the kimono and Ed as a Canadian Mountie my be forthcoming if we can get some...

And for Beks' Birthday

We went to Lynch's, which is an extremely delicious restaurant on the Domain Road, and is a baby- and mobile-free zone (sorry for all those of you who can't bear to be parted with them). In fact, the first time we went there, this baby- and mobile-free policy caused uproar amongst our set (goodness knows why, as not one of us had a baby at the time, and all of us could quite easily have switched off our mobiles for 2-3 hours. Well, maybe the boys couldn't have done so without some sort of withdrawal symptoms, but really). Now, though, blase does not begin to describe it.
So, Julianne and Pete and Michael and Viv and Hugo and Beks and I (the Significant Other sadly had to go to play football in Albert Park), all had just a wonderful and relaxing chatty evening.
For eats:
Entree: Julianne and I shared the positively delicious classic spiced calamari with Vietnamese salad and nuoc nam
Main: I selected the oven roasted new season lamb rack with asparagus, olive and tarragon jus
Dessert: Pete and I shared the special Sticky Date Pudding, and we tried the Bombe Alaska as they brought another because poor Viv and Julianne's souffle collapsed (the kitchen was sooo embarrassed and Julianne had a giggle because she always makes the most delicious souffles and they *never* collapse apart from one occasion, which she can tell you all about herself!)
It was all super fun, and Viv gave Beks a tray of the most gorgeous mangoes and I am to make mango ice cream for S&B session tonight - more yummies.
No pictures this time, sorry! Will remember to take some next time.

Devotion to Duty

So, on 25th November this year, the lovely Cathy married the lovely Matt. Now, for most people, their wedding day (apparently) is extremely busy, but what did they find time to do? Vote! Devotion to duty in the extreme!
Check out the pic of Cathy on her way (courtesy and probably copyright--all credit to them--of the Herald Sun in their photo galleries).

Isn't that sensational? I'm all for voting, even in the UK where it isn't compulsory, so credit to them for bypassing the option of the postal vote.

Talking of which, *how* long are they taking to verify the votes??? Beks is beside herself with anticipation, and I'm not sure how much longer she'll hold out before exploding! Hurry up vote-counting-people! Provisional counts (for those of you who are interested) available here.

Ma bicyclette est jolie

Today the girls made excellent purchases, with Sara getting a bicycle helmet, Sam picking up her newly-serviced bicycle, and me getting gloves and these really cool reflectors . Cleverly, they're made by a local Melbornian, and the panniers have been shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Design Awards: City of Melbourne Sustainabiliity Category. Check out the site and the panniers.
There may be photos of us looking tres chic on our velos tomorrow :-D
In the meantime, enjoy the fact that, a while ago, Eddie somehow found me spokeydokes!
Look how shiny and cool they are! I look well flash on the roads now, and no excuse for anyone hitting me (or, as Jim The Hippy pointed out, although I'm a moving target, I'm easier to see and therefore easier to hit... He's always helping!)
There may need to be photos of the shininess tomorrow, if I can stay awake long enough to photograph them in the dark. I wonder whether I can get some more so Sara feels much cooler than she currently does in her new bicycle helmet?

Out with the old; in with the new!

We have a new settee!
All very exciting, and comfortable, which is an improvement on the poor old futon, which is looking very sad and bedraggled these days. Sad, old, saggy futon (below), has been with me since 2002, when Michelle Regan moved out and bequeathed it to me. Since then, many people have slept on the futon including [commence futon hall of fame] me, Leah, Rosie, Jenny, Ben, Michelle #2, Mike, Lisa, Ed, Sian, Lara, Andrew, Beks, Andrew #2, my Mum and Dad. All of whom, for many years, stated that the futon was quite, quite comfortable until my Mum and Dad's most recent visit earlier this year. Having slept for lengthy periods of time (up to a month) on the futon of glory over the last 5 years, and having extolled its virtues to me many a time, this year they finally said "Gosh, the futon's not very comfortable" and "I hardly slept a wink last night" and other such things. So Ed and I went shopping and the result (of many hours' hard labour traipsing through shops and sitting on settees) is below in all its chocolatey brown yummy leather comfortable goodness!