Thermomix philosophising..

5 weeks ago, my family bought a Thermomix.  I decided it needed to be blogged about because it's been quite an 'event' in our household, but I don't quite know what to write about it.  In the last five weeks, I've prepared a fairly even rate of successes/failures.   There is a definite steep learning curve (as there is with anything new?) but the more I use it, the more confident I feel.   The contents of our pantry has changed a lot too since it arrived. We have way more nuts, grains, flours in our pantry and fruit and veg in our fridge. I am loving the Northey Street markets every Sunday morning - I swear I've never bought so many lemons in my life?!

I will admit though, some evenings I feel overwhelmed by it all. I want to whip up a whole food / gourmet / flavour rich / soul liberating dinner that the whole family will love to eat - but we're so not there yet.. And I remind myself often that the thermomix bloggers that I love, took some time to get there too.    So instead I'll use the thermomix to make a nice salad to accompany our dinner, and while the oven is on, i'll make a batch of cookies in it as well.

And I must say, I have made some incredible things in it - the kneading setting is awesome and has made some killer breads. I've made a fantastic coleslaw in no time at all, and Simon made some great cocktails at Easter time.

I've been to a couple of cooking classes lately and I leave there feeling refreshed and excited about trying new things. I think I'm reaching a turning point where I'm learning from my mistakes and feeling more in control. Menu planning is helping, and we are starting to embrace the new tastes (although Lola is still not sure about quinoa - despite us telling her it was like magic gum that pops in your mouth!).

I love my thermomix, and any issues I've had are purely my own insanities (it's not you, it's me :)).  I've decided I'm going to go back to the oldest entries of my thermomix bloggers, and read their oldest posts rather than their newest ones. I bet their experiences will be the same as mine to start with :) and every now and then I can jump to their latest posts to get inspired about the potential this amazing appliance will one day soon have in my home :)

Some photo's from my first day of thermomixing - marble cake, beetroot hommus and Anzac cookies.

Easter Bunny Bunting

The kids are doing much better at kindy.  9 weeks in, we're able to say our goodbyes each morning without the screaming and the horrific looks of betrayal Lola used to send my way. And while Andrew's protests were never as dramatic as Lola's, he is now content to be left to play in the sandpit each morning.

There is an event coming up at the C&K kindy, and it will involve an Easter raffle as a fundraiser. Donations were called for, and after a trawl through Pinterest, I decided to make some Easter bunny bunting (first blogged about by Dana).

Every Easter for the last few years has involved some craft (see here, and here) but the searching this year was definitely made easier with Pinterest.  I cut out the bunnies Friday night, and sewed it up Saturday night (oh how my life has changed).  Lola actually helped a little, by picking which colour cotton best matched each bunny.

If it turned out well, I had planned on making another set for our home.  And while I love the way it sewed up in the end - it was too fiddly and time consuming for me to contemplate another :)  So I will take it in to kindy with the kids in the morning, and donate it to another family.

Visit to Great Nana's

Everyone loves my Nana.  No more than we do of course, but she is an awesome lady.

She's 90, lives alone (unless you count her birds), and still sends birthday cards to every person in her large, extended family .  She loves her family,  her cockatiels, doing find-a-words, watching the tennis, Bold and the Beautiful and the Saturday night gold lotto draw.  She tells me she only wants to win lotto so she can give it all to us.

Whenever we go to my parents house, we always try to catch up with Nana. If it's a Sunday morning - there will definitely be fresh baked scones and cream.   But any time you drop in, there will always be a cup of tea made with extra love.

Here's a recent picture of her at her 90th back in October 2011 (because she won't like the pic I posted of her already because she hadn't brushed her hair)..