Desire Empire

I'm Cooking at the Sydney Good Food and Wine Show in June

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:07:00 +0000

I got an email yesterday with this line in it:

"The competition was tight however we have reviewed all the posts today and voted based on both blog and recipe creativity and we are delighted to invite you to progress to the “Cook Off” round of the promotion. Congratulations!!"

So what does it mean? It appears I made the cut down from 80 to 18 Bloggers across 3 states. This apparently is what that means,

"Cook Off Sessions
•Will involve you and another blogger cooking your recipes at The Chopping Block stand (sponsored by Gourmet Garden, John West Fresh, Leggo’s, VZUG appliances & Campbell’s Real Stock.)
•The sessions will be MC’ed by a celebrity chef (Sammy/ Bella from My Kitchen Rules or Chef Dominique Rizzo) and they will judge the winning recipe from the 2 bloggers Recipe Requirements. Due to time and stand constraints, recipes must:
1. Be able to be prepared, cooked & plated within 30 minutes (you can prep ingredients prior to session if required)
2. Use equipment available on the stand: wok burner, induction cook top and oven
3. Feature Gourmet Garden herbs & spices. It would also be great to use products of other partners from The Chopping Block (see ingredients available on stand Page 2)
4. Be your own original recipe
5. Recipe ingredients and additional equipment lists to be provided 4 days prior to the show"

So 3 bloggers from each state (making 9 finalists) will then be chosen to attend the Noosa Good Food and Wine Show later in the year. The winner of that round will share in some fabulous prizes including a 12 month ambassadorship for Gourmet Garden..........Baby steps guys, baby steps!!!!!!

Hmmmm I've got my work cut out 'cause the other contestants look good. Real good!!!! But hey I'm still in it and we are all subject to the same rules. I have nothing to lose and will be doing my best.

Check out the competition here. It looks great.......If nothing else, I will learn something doing this.

For the recipes I blogged for this competition and for all my other savoury recipes go here. For sweet ones
go here

Today I'm linking up to

Summer Coastal Styling Ideas for Your Mantel and Porch

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:15:00 +0000

Hello from Sunny Australia!!!!

We are still managing to pull temps of 21C here 10 days off Winter, which isn't too shabby. It's still lovely at the beach, but at this time of year I need to sit in the full sun to feel warm. Usually in high Summer I don't do anything unless it's in the full shade, but at this time of year, it's just lovely under the Australian sun.

This little Beach House has a Summer theme all year round but I've been changing things around a bit lately. It was getting cluttered in here and I've just mixed things up for a cleaner look. The banana leaf is a feature on my mantel right now. I just love the statement a beautiful piece of greenery can make to a room. I often use large leaves in my decorating because it's sometimes all I have in my garden and they last longer than cut blooms.

Juxtaposed against the clean coastal lines, I often have a little French themed vintage going on too. It's a more cluttered look but is very textural and earthy.

I really adore having pieces from nature in my collections and as much as I like white, I so like it against the greys of nature.

Something as beautiful and simple as a Chinese orchid poking out through a shabby frame can be very effective.

And for a more masculine look, which I also adore, I think a cluster of vintage nautical is swoonworthy.

Oh and just a simple shot of my latest porch makeover. The foam came with a blue cover, which I have kept due to the state of the Beach House finances and I have to say the black and blue combo out here is growing on me.

If you'd like some more coastal styling ideas I have a button at the top of my side bar, with lots of inspiration for you

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post, after my momentary meltdown. Mr Beach House and I are happily on speaking terms again. Can you believe the big Beach House Brat told him he should be nicer to me and that's what prompted the movie offer. At least he does try!!!!! I think I am bringing up a great husband for someone in the future. If only I could teach him to pick up his stuff, she would be a very lucky girl indeed.

Today I am partying here

Flower Power Fashion for a Summer Beach Party

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:26:00 +0000

Well it's been a crazy weekend here at the Beach House. It started out well enough, having lunch with some old uni friends on Friday, which was a great catch up, but in many ways thereafter, it took a turn for the worse. I could ramble on about how I totalled the side passenger door on the station wagon, while rushing to get a park close to the front door of swimming lessons on Saturday morning and only a month after all the other dings in the car had been fixed. I could go on about how I grabbed the keys on Saturday night, because I could take it no longer and left home momentarily, after the littlest Beach House Brat refused to eat her dinner for the fourth night running. I mean give me a kid who will not eat roast chicken and I will show you my daughter. I didn't think they existed but apparently they do.

And I won't tell you how the kids ran after me into the garden crying for me not to go. How I explained I wasn't going anywhere, I just wanted to sit alone in the car for a little while so I could be by myself. Or how in the 5 minutes it took us to walk back in to house, Mr Beach House had thrown her full chicken roast in the bin to punish me for screaming. Nor am I going to tell you about how I then really lost it with Mr Beach House and said lots of horrible things to him and went to bed early on my own. Or how he came in the next morning and said I clearly needed a break and how I should catch a movie by my self and he would look after the kiddos. No I'm not going to talk about all that, because if you are anything like me, that would bore you witless!!!!!!! By the way I saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which gave me hope and made me feel good.

But what I will tell you about dear reader, are these cute little beach shoes I used to make with my mum in the 70's, which I resurrected on the weekend. So many good things came out of the flower power era, not least of which, were the matching floral print peasant dresses my mum made for us to get around together in. And these little floral adornments, were another. I mentioned them to my mum the other day and asked whether she still had the old daisy wheel we used to make these on. She couldn't remember throwing it out, but she couldn't remember where it was either, so she gave me a new one for Mothers Day, which was very thoughtful.

This raffia is actaully what is left over from the 70's.

These daisy wheels have a little knob on the front which you can turn to make the spokes go in and out. You just wind the raffia around them to form a flower. I used two different colours to make it look pretty.

You then push a needle threaded with raffia between the daisy wheel and the petals.

Tie it in the middle to form the centre of the flower, Leaving the strings long so it can be tied to the shoe strap.

Turn the knob to retract the spokes. You then have a sweet little daisy.

To make the straps for the shoe, cut three stands of raffia per shoe in alternate colours and tie them off at the end with a knot. Push a needle through the knot and hammer it onto a wooden surface, so you get even tension on the strap. Braid by plaiting. When you get to the end, tie it off in a knot to secure.

Measure the braid around the first or second toe and tie the flower to it with the over hanging strings left from the raffia used to tie off the centre of the flower.

To wear the shoe, slip it over your first or second toe and tie it on a bow at the back of your ankle.

You can also adorn hair clips with the daisy.

Just slip a bobby pin through the centre of the flower

Or how about a pretty little wrist band?

I know what I'll be wearing to the next barefoot ball on the beach. Because Lord knows I need a little bit more partying in my life. How about you?

Have a great week and thanks for all the support for the recipes I posted last week. The judging starts Tuesday and I'll let you know whether I proceed to the cook off or not.

Today I am partying here

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Indian Potatoes with Dill My Fifth Entry in the Garden Gourmet Blog Off/ Cook Off

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:39:00 +0000

It's been great keeping a food diary this week via the Garden Gourmet Blog Off/ Cook Off. What I've learned is, we eat a lot of seafood here at the Beach House and second, these Gourmet Garden herbs and spices are a fast, convenient and tasty way to add flavour to even my most tried and true dishes. The ones I don't have to open a recipe book for, as I cook them so often. We survived all the experimenting very nicely thank you very much and Mr Beach House even commented it was like having a restaurant, when he saw the menu board. No wonder he rarely takes me out to dinner. Hmmm I'll have to work on that.

So last night it was potatoes. Some of my relatives came out to Australia from Ireland due to the potato famine of the 1840s, so I guess you could say potatoes are part of my DNA. I am always very interested in different ways to prepare them, because my fall back position in cooking, is a quality piece of protein, served with a green salad and potatoes. This recipe is sure to delight, it is interesting to the palate and very healthy. It's loaded with herbs and spices and you leave the skins on, so you get the full nutritional benefit of the vegetable

Indian Potatoes with Dill

1.5lb or 750g small potatoes (chats or new)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds

10 curry leaves. (available in packets in the supermarket)

1 brown onion finely chopped

1 tablespoon of ground coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tablespoons Garden Gourmet Dill

2 teaspoons Garden Gourmet Ginger

2 teaspoons Garden Gourmet Chunky Garlic

Salt to taste

In a saucepan, combine potatoes with plenty of water to cover. Bring to the boil over a high heat and boil, uncovered, until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and cut into quarters.

In a large frying and heat oil over a medium heat. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, onion, coriander and turmeric and cook stirring until onion is lightly golden and spices are fragrant. 4-5 minutes

Add dill and reduce heat to low. Add ginger, garlic and salt stirring for one minute.

Add potatoes to pan and stir to coat in herb and spice mixture.

Serves 4-6 adults as a side dish.

Well that's it from me and my Garden Gourmet odyssey. I would like to thank Garden Gourmet for giving me the opportunity to strut my stuff, in the quest for some truly great prizes and for supporting Australian bloggers in this way. This is a corporate which really gets us guys and for that I am truly grateful.

Until this week, I had never used Gourmet Garden Herbs and Spices, but have found them to be a great and cost effective alternative to the bunches of herbs I usually buy. I will be making sure I have a stash of these in my fridge from now on.

If you would like to see they other recipes I feed my family with go here for savoury and here for the sweet

Over and Out

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Showcase Sunday
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Seafood and Dill Pies My Fourth Entry in the Garden Gourmet Blog Off/ Cook Off

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:43:00 +0000

Today I am going to talk about my number one cooking inspiration....my mother. I grew up cooking at her knee. I have talked on here about what fantastic entertainers my parents where and how they were both fantastic cooks. But where did it all start???

Well for my mother's part, she was not the kind to get married and have 3 kids hanging off her by the time she was 23, oh no no no. In 1954, as soon as she was old enough, she boarded a ship with her best girlfriend and headed for the UK. They landed in London in late Autumn, just in time for the cold weather to hit. In order to avoid paying rent and so as to have a comfortable warm abode for the harsh European Winter, she applied and got a job in a home in St Johns Wood London, as a mother's help. Originally her job was to do housework and look after the 4 children of the house. But one week, the Dr and his wife attended a medical conference abroad and my mum was left to look after the entire running of the house. When the head of the house and his wife returned home, it happened to be mum's half day off. She had left them a Steak and Kidney pie, which they thought was delicious and immediately offered her another 10 shillings per week to assume the role of household cook.

As Spring rolled around mum left the house to meet up with her girlfriend to hitch-hike around Europe for 6 months........which of course is a fabulous story in itself.

As the Winter rolled around again it was decided she and her girlfriend would apply for another cook's role, this time in a large country manor, so they could stay together. They ended up in a large country house with their own apartment in Aylesbury. Very English and actually very friendly. They were cooking for an old couple. One of their sons had been a fighter pilot, killed in the war and the other was the headmaster at Cheam School, later attended by Prince Charles, who ate at home occasionally. So you can imagine the standard required.

One memorable occasion mum said, was making and then handing round the fruit cake along with the whisky on the fox hunt held on the estate. Anyhoo to say my mum is a good cook is an understatement. It was a pleasure to grow up in a home where meals were almost always delicious and on many occasions an event. My father would visit the Sydney fish markets every Saturday morning and Saturday lunches were big in our family. Usually involving things like fish roe, octopus and shell fish, which was most unusual in an Australian home in the 1970's and early 80s. My parents fostered in me, a love and inquisitiveness of food and its preparation, which I hope to pass onto my children. And so today I give you my fourth instalment in the Gourmet Garden Blog Off /Cook Off Competition. Seafood and Dill Pies. Again a tasty, quick and easy weeknight wonder, to be enjoyed by the whole family.

Individual Seafood and Dill Pies

1 tablespoon of butter

2 tablespoons of plain flour

1 cup of low fat milk

2 tablespoons of Gourmet Garden Dill

500g marinara mix

1/2 cup of white wine or rose

salt and pepper to taste

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry thawed

1 egg lightly beaten

To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a pan over a moderate heat. Stir in the flour. Gradually stir in the milk and stir until the flour is well combined with the milk.

Add the dill and white wine and allow to thicken slightly.

Add the seafood and cook for several minutes.

Once the pastry has thawed up end the pie dish and place it on the pastry. Cut around the edge of the pie dish leaving a1cm over hang.

Spoon the seafood mixture into the pie dishes. Top with the pasty cut outs. Fold down the over hanging pastry and press the edges down with a folk and cut a slit into the middle of the pie.

Brush on the egg wash and bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve with garlic and rosemary potatoes and a simple green salad.

This mixture makes 4 pies in ramekin dishes or 2 pies in larger pie dishes.

For my other recipes go here for savoury and here for sweet

Today I'm partying here

52 Mantels

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Crafty Soiree

Chinese Pepper Steak

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Hi Gals and apparently Guys.

My recipe entry today in the search for Australia's Best Blogger -Come- Chef Competition is one of the dishes my mum served up loads when I was a kid.....Chinese Pepper Steak. I always used to love it when I saw this bubbling away on mum's stove. Yes, this recipe has been passed down from mother to daughter and my new family loves it just as much as I did when I was a kid. So what's to love here people??? I'll tell you, it's quick, tasty, has green stuff in it the kiddos will eat and you can go heavy handed on the pepper or not, depending who is your audience. So really I should be saying what's not to love!!!! When the Beach House Brat first saw it, his first words were 'yum'!!!! Surprising considering the amount of 'green stuff' in it.

This recipe makes use of the Gourmet Garden garlic and the ginger and they worked just fine. Adding flavour for very few calories.

This is a quick stir fry, with a lovely rich thickened soy pepper sauce. It goes beautifully with the beef and I guarantee it will be speedily woofed down by your family just as it was by mine. Oh and moulding that rice there was a first for me and it worked first go. I encourage you to try it. Just firmly pack hot rice into a little ramikin with a spoon, place the serving plate on top of the ramekin, turn it over, give it a thump and hey presto, you will feel like you are dining out. Mr Beach House's comment ...."I bet you won't do that on my plate"....I betcha I did!!!!! Love that this competition is pushing me to come up with the goods.

Chinese Pepper Steak

600g sirloin or fillet steak

1 tablespoon of oil

1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden ginger

1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden chunky garlic

Freshly ground pepper to taste (1/2 teaspoon at most)

1 green capsicum chopped

1 onion thinly sliced

2 spring onions diced

1 tablespoon of plain flour

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 cup beef stock

1 small can of sliced water chestnuts

Combine soy sauce, flour, beef stock and sugar in a jug. Stir to dissolve any lumps in the flour and set aside.

Heat oil in a fry pan add garlic, ground pepper and ginger and cook for several minutes until fragrant.

Add meat in batches and lightly cook. Remove the steak from pan and place on a plate so that meat stays tender.

Add onions and capsicum cook for several minutes. Add water chestnuts

Add soy mixture

Return steak to the pan along with any resting juices.

Stir in shallots and allow the sauce to thicken. Serve with steamed rice. And Enjoy!!!!

Serves 4, (Two adults and 2 kids)

I've just had a click around the competition and there are some fabulous recipes being made with these Gourmet Garden herbs and spices. These little tubes are really growing on me. I never went near them before, but now I think they are going to become part of the 'furniture' in my fridge. They are handy and I am saving $$$$$$ because I am not throwing out unused herbs. My American bloggy friends are also commenting that they use them particularly in the long winter months, when their own herb gardens are not producing.

I am loving being part of this competition and will happily bring you another instalment of what we eat at the Beach House tomorrow. Be seein' ya!!!!!!!!

You can find all my recipes here

Today I am partying here

Crafty Soiree

House Of Hepworths

Tomato and Thyme Risotto with Mussels in a White Wine Jus

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:51:00 +0000

So What's Cooking Today? If you are new here or have just joined me for the week, this is the second of my recipe entries for the Blog Off/ Cook Off competition I am participating in all week. As you may have guessed from the competition's title, it involves blogging and cooking, which are two of my passions. Have a look here if you want to see the reason I entered and what is required of the entrants.

I am having a lot of fun revisiting many of my tried and true recipes and jooshing them up with Garden Gourmet herbs and spices. I have a had a few comments and emails already, talking about how convenient they are.

In the old days before I wised up to how much money I was wasting, I used to buy armfuls of herbs just to use a teaspoon full here and there for some recipe I was cooking. After tearing off a few leaves and cooking up a storm, they would be left to wilt on the kitchen sink for a few days and inevitably be tossed out with the rubbish. Now ladies you are way too clever for me to start spinning you a line that this stuff is fresher than the stuff you can walk out the back door and pick from your garden. I love you dear readers, so I'm not going to lie to you. But if you are like me and don't have a comprehensive herb garden of your very own, then these little babes are great if you need fresh tasting herbs at your finger tips, to give your cooking the edge. The Gourmet Garden combinations are great too. I used the Thai seasoning here and it was lovely. I can say this because I just had some left over Thai Chicken burger in my sandwich before I sat down to write this and it was luverly.

So what did we have for dinner last night? As you can see from my little black board tags up there, it was Tomato and Thyme Risotto with Mussels. This is a very tasty creamy little risotto dressed with beautiful fresh mussels in a white wine jus.

When I'm eating this one ladies I do like to wash it all back with a little Rose and a fine conversation with Mr Beach House. If I close my eyes for a second, depending on what's playing on the stereo, I could be in a little French bistro.

So here's what goes into it

and here's how it comes out the other end of the Beach House Kitchen. This is comfort food guys....and equally as good on a hot summer night on the back deck or curled up in front of the fire having an at home date with the one you love!!!!! I hope you will try it and let me know how it goes.

Tomato and Thyme Risotto with Mussels

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 thinly sliced leek well washed

2 tablespoons of Garden Gourmet Thyme

4 cups of fish stock. I use a store bought version

1.5 cups tomato Passata/puree

2 cups aborio rice

3/4 cup of white wine or rose

1 tablespoon of butter

1kg bag of live mussels cleaned. Reserve 1/4 a cup of the juice from the bag

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pan heat the oil, add leek and thyme and cook for a few minutes until the mixture is fragrant and has softened.

Put the stock and tomato puree into a saucepan and heat.

Add the rice to the leeks and coat well with the mixture. Add the hot stock to the leek and rice mixture, 2 ladles at a time, stirring until the stock is absorbed, and the rice mixture is creamy and soft. Whilst the rice is cooking, melt the butter in a pan, add the wine. Add the mussels, and the mussel juice cover and cook for 2 minutes until the mussels have opened.

Stir the parmesan and salt and pepper through the risotto. Serve topped with mussels and their pan juices

See you tomorrow with the next instalment. Bye!!!!!!

Today I am partying here
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Kid Friendly Thai Chicken Burgers with Yoghurt Dressing

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Sun, 13 May 2012 21:08:00 +0000

Hello ladies

If you follow me on Face Book you may remember, I told Mr Beach House a few weeks ago, I needed more excitement in my life, I wasn't sure in what form it would be, but I knew I was ready for it. Well I think I've found it. I've entered a cooking competition, which I will be posting about every day this week. It may come to nothing, but I have lots of energy at the moment and feel it is something I am ready for.

This little box of Garden Gourmet Herbs and spices arrived at my door yesterday afternoon. All I have to do is use these herbs and spices in my cooking between 14 and 20 May and blog about it. I confess I am an absolute sceptic about tubes of herbs. Lets just say I am a fresh kind of girl. But as I said, I need some excitement in my life, I love to cook, I am competitive and I have the freedom to run this all from the comfort of my own kitchen. Accordingly, this competition is sooooo me. Anyway, I thought I'd try the herbs and spices in my cooking and if I didn't like, them I just wouldn't go on with my entry in the competition. There is no way I could eat this stuff for a week if it was yuck.

I squeezed a little dab onto my fingers and shock horror, they tasted like real herbs.....so far so good. The tube I decided to go for first was the Thai Style Seasoning, incorporated into a kiddo friendly chicken burger I make alot for the Beach House Brats. Nothing like testing something you are unsure about on the kiddos first. Ha Ha!!!! At least I knew the verdict would be honest!!!!!! I wondered how they would go with ginger, garlic, chilli and lemon grass. The thought of a meal they won't eat makes me go cold, so I added this stuff slowly and had my little taste tester on hand to see how much she could handle.

We settled on three tablespoons, which gave the burgers a nice subtle spicy Thai taste. Believe me if my fussy 3 year old says this is 'yum'. It really is, cause she is hard to please.......we are talking Westmead Childrens' Hospital feeding clinic, as a toddler. She was a baby who was born on the 90th percentile for weight and then dropped to minus 3 on the chart at her worst. So if she says 'Yum' I know I'm onto something.

I am a mother who hides vegetables and chunky meat and is constantly thinking up new ways to get this kid to eat. This recipe is also quick and easy, because all you do is chuck all the ingredients into a food processor and turn it on.

If I am lucky enough to move to the next round, here are the possibilities. Let me tell you I feel good about this!!!!!!

From the Garden Gourmet Website:

"The Blog Off/ Cook Off involves 3 stages with awesome benefits including a chance to cook off at the Good Food and Wine Shows, a fully funded trip for 9 bloggers to Queenslands Sunshine Coast, a video production of a demonstration you can use on your site and exposure to 50,000 members on the herb eCooking School database. Additionally, Australia's Best Blogger-come-chef will win $2000 cold hard cash and a $5000 12-month ambassador partnership with Gourmet Garden."

So yeah I'm throwing my hat in the ring to see what happens. Nothing ventured nothing gained right? I will be blogging every day about our normal weekly meals. This will be truly how we eat and I hope you will stop by each day to see what we had for dinner. Wish me luck ladies, I so need this challenge in my life right now!!!!!!!

Thai Style Chicken Burgers with a Garlic Yoghurt Dressing

2 chicken breasts chopped

1 carrot peeled and chopped into chunks

1 zucchini chopped into chunks

3 spring onions finely chopped

1/2 cup peanut oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup bread crumbs

3 tablespoons Gourmet Garden Thai Seasoning. Up this to 4-5 tbspns for adults

For the Dressing

1 teaspoon of Garden Gourmet Chunky Garlic.

1/2 Cup Low fat natural yoghurt, combined.

Good quality dinner rolls to serve

Whizz all the burger ingredients in a food processor or equivalent, except for the oil and shallots. Make sure you don't over process the mixture so the vegetables remain a little chunky. This way they will add texture and crunch to your burger.

Stir in the shallots.

Take handfuls of the mixture and form into burgers. Cook in oil until golden brown.

Toast dinner rolls and serve drizzled with the yoghurt dressing.

This recipe makes about 12 burgers which you can freeze. The dressing measurements would dress about 4 burgers.

I think you could also make the adult version of these as a little appetiser. Just roll them into bite size balls and fry them.

So ladies I'll be giving you my finest this week and don't forget to have a look at my fast and fabulous week night wonders button at the top of my side bar, for some other quick and easy ways to feed your family. Have a great week I know I will be!!!!!!

Today I'm partying here

Ask Anna

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Sundae Scoop

Beach Cottage House Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:19:00 +0000

When I recently visited this cute beach cottage I wanted to linger longer. It has a fabulous studio and lots of room to move. Go here if you are a serious player.

Have a sunny and happy weekend!!!!!!!

Today I am partying here

Super Saturday
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Market Yourself Monday
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Delicate Construction

Slow Cooked Lamb Greek Style

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:27:00 +0000

Hello Ladies

Just a quickie from me today. I mentioned this slow cooked lamb in a recent post and there were recipe requests. The shots are as rustic as the meal today. It's difficult to be creative when you have 2 hungry boys hanging off your shoulder, having just come in from an all day sailing event, who are just about ready to eat the crotch out of a low flying duck.

I am so into food at the moment. I am becoming involved in the production of a beautiful glossy cook book being produced by The Beach House Brat's local school. Very exciting time ladies. This is an area well known for its good food and coastal lifestyle, which will be all showcased in the book. I'm so looking forward to working within my community to produce something that is exciting and beautiful.

I am also awaiting a delivery from Garden Gourmet Herbs and Spices, to be used in my daily cooking then blogged about in the hope of reaching a live final cook off in Sydney. This is soooooooo outside my comfort zone I can't tell you. I mean I'm fine when I am cooking for family and friends, but being judged like this is scary to say the least. But I've got nothing to lose so yeah I'm throwing my hat in the ring. I am going to post every day next week so if you want to see what we are eating each day tune in.

In honour of what's going on at the Beach House right now with regards to food, I have a new button at the top of my side bar collating all the recipes I have posted since I started blogging. They are fast and fabulous family favourites. Even the slow cook ones, because they are so quick and easy to prepare.

Slow Cooked Lamb Greek Style

1.8kg (4lb) lamb leg, it's important to make sure the leg will fit into your slow cooker

1 tbspn dried oregano

4 medium desiree or other all purpose potato halved.

400g (14oz) tin of chopped tomatoes

80ml (2.5 fl oz) or1/3 cup red wine

500ml (2cups) chicken stock

1 strip of preserved lemon finely chopped ( I used 1/2 a lemon quarter)

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cook for 10 hours on low or until lamb is cooked through. The lamb will be at the fall apart stage by now, so succulent and tender!!

When cooked remove lamb, potato and tomatoes. Drain some of the fat from the top of the sauce and decant the remaining sauce to pour over the lamb. Serves 4

I actually left most of the sauce in the cooker and threw back the left over lamb, to eat as a soup for lunch over the next couple of days. Yummo.

Have a lovely weekend. Of course I will be cooking it and blogging it up to you next week.

Oh and I think Beach House of the Week will be back for tomorrow as I have a cute little beach cottage I want to show you.

Today I am partying here

Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

Show and Tell Friday

Weekend Wrap Up Party

Easy Cupcake Wrappers and Other Ways with Doilys

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:04:00 +0000

Hello Ladies

Hope all's well with you? I have been playing with paper doilies here at the Beach House today. The reason???? Not because I have hours and hours up my sleeve, due to my new little friend liberating me from the kitchen.....well not really anyway. It's more about a panicky sounding email I got from our dear playgroup leader last night asking would I be OK to get some craft together at short notice for this week's session. Lets call the author of this email Amy, shall we? Now Amy is about 5 minutes off having a baby and she is at the 'tying up loose ends' stage of the pregnancy. One of those loose ends is writing craft and morning tea rosters for playgroup. These kind of people are the unsung heros of our community providing a fabulous service to all the preschoolers and mums in our area. These people are instrumental in lubricating the social fabric and I am grateful to them. So no it was no trouble to come up with something at short notice for our little darlings to put together..

As it's Mother's Day on Sunday, it was a no brainer, Mother's Day cards of course.

For this one, fold a small paper doily in half and cut along the fold. Glue the half doily onto the folded edge of an A4 piece of thin card board folded in half. Cut a piece of ribbon so that the ends overhang the length of the folded edge and glue it along the edge of the card, tucking in the ends and gluing securely. Simple and in about 10 minutes from woe to go you will have a stylish card to be proud of.

I was on a roll with the doily theme. Here's some ideas for gift wrapping for Mother's Day. I secured this doily with a spot of tape on the backside, so it didn't move in the wrapping process. Again, a simple but effective way to add a sense of 'pretty' in your gift wrapping.

Today I learnt that these paper doilies are so completely versatile. I can't claim this as my idea but I think it is fabulous. I found it over at Cake Central and I kid you not, this little sweet heart literally took a couple of minutes to make. Can you imagine these on a wedding or baby shower desert table, filled with beautiful cupcakes? Gorgeous and so simple.

All that is required for a template is a deconstructed patty pan with its bottom cut out. Leave a space the size of your finger at each end for gluing and you end up with a little lace cover for your cupcakes which is very pretty. I have seen packet of these things in baking shops for ridiculous prices. I got three cupcake covers out of one dinner plate sized doily. Sweet and cost effective, which is my kind of thing.

So there you have it ladies, a quick and easy way to add another layer to your gift wrapping, cards and cakes via the humble paper doily.

Be seeing you!!!!!! Oh and Happy Mother's Day to you all. Mother's make this world tick and I will be celebrating them all come Sunday. Love ya mum and thanks for reading me!!!!!

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Chalk Board Luggage Tags Coastal Style and Becoming Unchained from the Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:40:00 +0000

Hello Ladies!!!!!

All well rested and ready to face another week out there in the big wide world? Yes? I had a very relaxing weekend, which mainly involved straightening up the house while the boys sailed. They won their division and complained when they got home that the girls didn't make it down to the yacht club to see them off. My excuse.....I lost track of time and was happy to have some down time. When left at home to my own devices, I love nothing more than to just swan from room to room with no interruptions, apart from my sweet little side kick of course, whom you have seen many times on this blog. I usually have a cup of tea on hand in my travels and I just plonk myself down and imagine the possibilities in each room. Very cathartic and restful indeed. I did manage to steel 2 hours to myself on Saturday morning whilst the kiddos were at soccer and birthday parties. And boy did I make it count. I had a look at some gorgeous properties for sale. I loved this little beach cottage kitchen....industrial style. I also attended part of Australia's biggest garage sale and hauled myself some fabulous bargains. I have trend tip on the back of that little exercise as well ladies, but I make it a little further down.

I also got up to a little crafting in the sun too. I love these luggage tags in all their forms and I wanted a way to be able to re use them. It dawned on me that chalk board paint was a way to easily achieve that. These tags can be quite pricey at stationary stores and I am yet to see them in the $2 stores near me, so I thought I'd create my own wash and wear coastal variety, that I can use over again.

This was a card I made to go with my coastal toothpicks and I just washed it with a baby wipe and it was ready to use again.

I wanted a few different combinations so for one card I made a little love heart with tiny shells.

and tied up the cutlery with hemp twine.

I also used a coral chip that I found on the beach far from these parts and then I stood it up in another piece of coral.

I love the details on this piece

I have a thing for black and neutrals right now.

And my porch is heading in that direction as well. The stripes there were part of my garage sale haul.

And now for my trend tip. We are finally through with red. Why? because all this stuff was at throw away prices. No matter what, I still like it in a coastal palette. In fact if something is off trend, I usually like it all the more. I'm so looking forward to making some more art for the Beach House Brat's bedroom gallery wall using the red frame and the old kettles will do very nicely as vases at some point in the future.

Over all a productive and happy weekend for me mooching around the Beach House and environs. Have a good week everybody. I'll be having lots of fun with my slower cooker. Yes it's very exciting here up in paradise. I am loving the way it's getting me thinking about dinner early in the morning. It's adding about another hour to my day. Dinner is on and cooking by 8.30am and I don't have to think about it again until it's serving time. I could kiss the person who invented this little gem. Mothers little helpers no longer come the in the form of small red pills, but rather an appliance that genuinely lessens the load. Bliss!!!!! And Mr Beach House's review of tonight's slow cooked lamb shoulder "perfect". Yes ladies, it's mission accomplished for yet another week. All's well at the Beach House!!!! Be seeing you soon!!!!!

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What we Wore and Made

Crafty Soiree

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Make an Easy Mother's Day Gift Coastal Style

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:16:00 +0000

Well girls I couldn't let the lead up to Mother's Day go by without a dig at Mr Beach House. I know you love it when I give him stick on this blog and it appears I am about to do it again today. Now I can hear your mind ticking over from here........You are thinking, but you're not his mother and of course you are right, but that doesn't mean he doesn't act like my number one son lots of the time. The poor man......he has been known to say more than once, "Carolyn if I wanted a beep beep life coach, I would have married one". Hmmmm seems I need to pull back a little on the bossing around and be a little bit more wifely than motherly...... I'm working on it believe me!!!!! But I still want some Mothers Day appreciation from him come mid May.

Actually lately there's been a little less of the 'beep beep' from him and a lot more of the nice in my direction. Take last night for example. The man never takes his mobile phone anywhere, it rarely leaves the kitchen drawer......could be something to do with me and wanting to stay uncontactable, Anyway lets just say I knew where he was and I needed to speak to him like yesterday. He was at the gym with his mate and I wanted him to pick up some panadol on the way home. My head was splitting and the medicine cupboard was bare. I rang his mate several times to no avail, dragged myself through the 6 o'clock swill with the Beach House Brats and was collapsed on the couch when he walked through door later in the evening. I told him about my head and blow me down, he offered to venture back out into the night and get me some pain killers.......How sweet.

There's also the fact that lately he has been making me a cup of tea and bringing it to me in the media room first thing each morning, as I go through your lovely comments and emails from the night before. I say what????? What the beep beep is going on???? I asked him this morning why he was being so nice to me and was he having an affair???? He just turned on his heel and laughed heartily as he walked off down the hallway. If these gratuitous displays of kindness keep up, I might have to start going through his phone bill. God knows he never uses the mobile phone to call me, and maybe there's someone else. Stranger things have happened. Maybe this new found kindness in my direction is because I let on that I've been face booking old boyfriends and he is slightly worried about that. Whatever the reason, I'll take it, as random acts of kindness are my kind of thing!!!!!

Anyway you didn't come here to find out if my husband is having an affair. You came here because you love budget coastal ideas you can make for Mothers Day, which are quick and easy to put together and make people believe your are a creative genius.

I got this idea from a kitchenware shop that I frequent regularly. The prices nearly always mean I leave there empty handed, but I did make the very sensible decision to buy a scoop of these tiny shells from there some months ago. Let me tell you this is the bag that just keeps on giving. I have made little shell votive jars, vases and Christmas cards with shells from this bag and it is still going. This time I decided to stick some of these babies on top of toothpicks.

That's right, this is how to give your Summer party a bit of coastal zing. You are probably asking now. Who could be bothered???? Well ladies this one is so simple and quick that you would be crazy not to give it a go. Just squirt a little glue into the shell and shove a toothpick up its bottom. What could be easier????? I have packaged these up in a little clam shell but if you don't want to go to that expense, you cold just tie them in little bundles with twine. I notice teacher appreciation week is coming up in the States as well and this gift might make you stand out from the rest. Simple elegant and so dang easy if you please.

Well ladies, that's it from the Beach House. I've got a tiny dancer at home today and she needs some mummy love from yours truly!!!!! Bye

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A Little Bit of Country and Coast - A Guest Post

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:56:00 +0000

Wanna go a little inland with me today ladies? I'd like to introduce you to Deanne from Five Brothers One Sister. Deanne has a fantastic sense of style and I thought you might like to see some of her fabulous creations and styling ideas. Over at Deanne's you will find a gorgeous pool house, some fabulous ways with maps, lots of coastal styling and some fabulous creations that have come out of her gorgeously refurbished sewing room.

Hi I'm Deanne,

I live in beautiful northern NSW on 3 acres, 20km from the town my husband and I grew up in.

After living in the city for 8 years we moved "home" to raise our family.

On my blog I call my husband VCH, short for Very Clever Husband,

because that's what he is- he turns my ideas, dreams and designs into reality.

We have been married for 22 years and

have 6 beautiful children, 5 boys and one little girl- hence the name of my blog.

I have a passion for making a house a home,

but as we are a single income, home schooling family

I have a very limited budget so I like to call my style more dash than cash.

I love nothing better than finding an old piece of furniture at an op shop, garage sale or on the side of the road and doing it up or making it into something else,

or just sticking it with all it's rustic charm into the perfect spot in my home.

We have lived here for 11 years

When we moved in,we had 3 little boys.

Now they are teens and we have three more children.

Our house has had to evolve and change with our family's growth and needs.

Last year VCH with the help of the kids, transformed our garage into a

games room,

adding a bedroom and

bathroom and

converting a large room at the back of the garage into two bedrooms for our oldest boys.
I was on hand to paint and decorate.
My favourite paint colour is Antique White USA by Dulux.

I love decorating with:

white

chalkboard paint,

polka dots and

bunting

as well as maps

and coastal things.

My other loves are

cooking,

organising parties

a little, very simple sewing

and craft.

My motto in all things is that it has to be simple, quick and easy.

I hope you have enjoyed a little glimpse into life over at five brothers one sister and will pop in for a visit.

Thank you Carolyn for allowing me to be your guest today.

Well that's my absolute pleasure Deanne, your home and ideas are so inspiring. I hope you will pop over to Deanne's to see more of her fabulous stuff.

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Moroccan Lemon Chicken - Next Life I'm Coming Back with Me as My Wife

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:54:00 +0000

Next life I want to come back with me as my wife. Why? Well for a start, it's a dang good restaurant here at the Beach House and I am the chief cook and bottle washer. This is a low budget and fabulous meal that serves 4. I popped this one up on Face Book last week and there were recipe requests, so here it is. I call this cooking with cans. You can have most of this stuff in your pantry and freezer, even the garlic and onion. Just waiting for one of those times when you have no inspiration at all and the thought of providing yet another meal for your hungry family, is enough to make you want to jump ship. The only thing you need to buy in fresh is the coriander and hey, if you forget that, you will be forgiven, cause it wont matter if you leave it out. Come to think of it, I don't think it was even in the original recipe.

This slow cooker arrived at the Beach House last week and it has liberated me. Don't know about you, but I can't seem to get my act together in the mornings. Something about naughty little kiddos dragging the chain. So I usually find myself putting the food in this thing the night before, switching it on in the morning and not thinking about dinner again until it's ready to serve. Heaven!!!!!!

This recipe comes out of a fabulous book called Northern Beaches Cooks, put together by a group of mum's and dads just like us......so the recipes are easy, doable and very fabulous. I see myself as a Northern Beaches Cook and this recipe book is so me. I cook lots out of it.

I'm trying to get more of these types of spices into our weekly diet, as they are intense with antioxidants and other goodness, which is what I am after in my week day wonder type meals. We seem to lose it a bit on the weekends, but I figure I at least want to eat well mid week.

You can see I did actually put this one together in the morning as Mr Beach House, God love him, did the school run that day. This day it was PJs until school pick up. Sooooooo nice!!!!!

We are having the left overs from this tonight, made into soup, after a bleak day on the beaches out amongst it.

When family day falls on a cold day in Sydney you have to go with it. Being together out in the wilderness, means we love each other a little more now than we did this morning. We ate our sandwiches in the rain and had a laugh, which has set me up nicely for yet another week as the CEO of the Beach House. I told Mr Beach House on the drive home, I need more excitement in my life. Wonder what I'll come up with!!!!!! Baby land is over for me and I want more now!!!!!

Nothing like a gourmet sanga by the grey sea, to add excitement to ones life!!!!!!! Hmmm I need to get out more!!!!

Moroccan Lemon Chicken

1 tablespoon each of ground paprika, ground turmeric, ground cumin

10 drumsticks

tablespoons olive oil

1 onion sliced

2 cloves garlic crushed

1x 400g can chopped peeled tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock

1 preserved lemon cut into strips

10 black olives

salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch coriander chopped reeserving some to serve

Couscous to serve

Preheat oven to 180C or 350 F, or turn on your slow cooker.

Place spices in a plastic bag. Add chicken and toss to coat.

Heat oil in a large pan over a low heat add chicken cook until browned. Put into your caserole/cooker.

Add onion and garlic to pan cook for 3-5 minutes. Put into casserole/cooker. Deglaze pan with chicken stock and pour into cooker.

Add remaining ingredients except coriander to casserole/cooker. If using a slow cooker cook for 8 hours if using a casserole bake for 45 minutes. Turn chicken and cook for a further 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

15 minutes before serving add coriander.

Serves four. Use the left over sauce and any chicken to make a fabulous soup by adding 3 cups of water to it. I love a meal that does for 2 nights.......Doesn't take much to please me people!!!!!!

Recipe Source Northern Beaches Cooks with amendments that work for me

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The Blackberry Vine

Pink Frosting and A Whole Lot of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:15:00 +0000

I have had the best day full of love and little girls. My mum sent over a slow cooker last week and it has liberated me from the kitchen. Dinner was on and cooking away by 9.30am. That was about 8 hours ahead of schedule. So instead of twiddling my thumbs, I decided as we were home for the day, I was going to make it count.

I had nicked enough flowers from the neighbour's and it was time to tackle the laundry instead. That was largely under control by 10.30am. I then ventured into the household finances folder for another hour, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The creditors who were mean to me, didn't even make it into the hat for a chance at being paid this month. So after checking some stuff off my to do list that has been weighing on my mind.........

It was time for the rewards. By 12pm we had baked these little cupcakes and iced them just before lunch. We had lots of fun with this pink frosting. My mum noticed via this blog, that I was into piping icing onto cakes, so she sent this stuff over too. I've never seen it in the stores here and when I asked her where she got it she couldn't remember. I'll be Googling it though, cause I'm a convert. I hate to think what's in it, but it looked pretty and I love the way it went on. It easily did 12 cupcakes and by about cake number 9, I was getting it together. The Beach house Brat thought it was her birthday for some reason. Probably because her mother randomly comes up with this kind of stuff mid week......so I went with it and asked her if she wanted a birthday party for 2 on the deck.

So we set this up out the back and had a little play with her tea set. This is the kind of thing which makes this motherhood gig so worth it. When you have the time to stop and just hang out together.

As it was her 'birthday' I took a video. I didn't muck around with movie maker today, so no music or credits. She was so funny, because she was falling all over herself to eat a cake as I was icing them and then when I said she could, she hesitated. Turns out she loves the frosting too.

Have a fabulous weekend and here's to making it count.

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Inspiration Friday

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Vintage Doily Lanterns and Bunting and I'm Interviewing for My Very Own Housewife

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Hello gorgeous people!!!!

I have to tell you, I love it when my mother chucks stuff out. Recently I was the recipient of more of her beloved 'junk'. I am happy to say it's spring cleaning season over at my circa 1964 childhood home. The age of said home, means most of the stuff that comes out of the back of her cupboards and drawers, is vintage. At these clean ups, I can often be found with my hand out and mum is only too happy her once loved stuff, is going to a good home. Accordingly ladies, today we are talking doilies. Those pretty little pieces of handmade lace that graced many a 1950'a and 60's table.

As we sat at her dining table....old as well...... I asked her what the heck she was doing with so many doilies and what she did with them in her bee hived hey day. "Well," she said "They go under things and also on cake plates, when you have guests." Hmmmm, life sure was a lot slower then. If my girlfriends drop around for a cuppa, they're lucky to get a teabag in a chipped mug, a biscuit and a good laugh. But back then, it was different. All by appointment and with good china, real tea and apparently lots of lace. Suffice to say time has moved on, for better or for worse and as a result, these sweet little things have been sitting in the dark for the last thirty years.

Mum's parting words to me were. 'I'll give them to you, but you won't cut them up will you?' She didn't say anything about glue though!!!!! I've seen these little lanterns on pinterest, my new go to inspiration board...yes I know, I'm late to that party as well. I'm still not officially a pinner, as I don't have the time. In any case, I'd rather create than pin other peoples' stuff, but I love the concept and am such a voyer of human nature, that I do pop over there most days.

With these, there's no need to worry about the glue seeping through the holes, which it does readily. Just wipe off the excess with a damp cloth and the rest will dry clear. The other tip is to stretch the lace well over the jar, so the holes open up to let the light through.

Being under strict instructions not to cut the doilies I also strung them up to make bunting. Cutting them in half and stiching them to tape looks fantastic, but being the honourable daughter that I am....a promise is a promise and I used pegs instead.

Not so honourable however, that I don't knick flowers that hang over the neighbour's fence though.

These things looked luscious out my window and were calling me. Life is sweet when a double red hibiscus shoved into a porcelain white pitcher can make your day.

My face book friends confirmed what I already knew and that is, stuff hanging over the fence is fair game. It just comes down to whether you have the nerve to take it. Some people only do this kind of thing by night, but I started cutting at midday...oh the thrill!!!!! Please don't judge me dear reader. I have to get my kicks somehow!!!!!!

So instead of doing laundry and other boring things that make me wonder how the hell, a highly educated woman like myself, ever got herself into this situation known as 'housewife'. I foofed and mucked around with doilies and red flowers. And if you know Mr Beach House, for pities sake don't let on!!!!! He'll send me back out to paid work 5 days a week, which would be fine, if I like him could walk through the door each night to a clean house, a warm meal on the table and happy Beach House Brats. Unfortunately, I'd still have to do all the other boring cr*pola that makes up the housewife's lot, as well as a paid job. Oh and there's his books that I do for nothing as well. It's official, I need my very own housewife. Anyone wanting to work very hard for absolutely no remuneration, but guaranteed fun and love, I'm accepting applications now. Email me!!!

And you are now wondering if Mr Beach House reads me. Well I can definitely confirm that in the negative. Apparently my father in-law does though, obviously lots of retired time on his hands and perhaps a penchant for a little vintage. Anyway, he recently enquired as to whether Mr Beach House did too. When the answer was "No" he replied, "Yes son, perhaps that's for the best". So I am in that very convenient position where I can do all sorts of sneaky things, like foof around with red flowers and doilies all day and he will be none the wiser.

It can be our little secret!!!!! Hey grandpa????

It's ANZAC Day here in Australia and you can read all about what that means here if you like

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Summer Wreath for Under $10

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:56:00 +0000

Hi How's it going? Here's a quick wreath idea to put together for Summer, or if you are like us down here in the southern hemisphere, to mourn the loss of Summer. I am feeling it keenly as the mornings and evenings turn cooler. After our rigorous afternoon at the beach, I was feeling all outdoorsy and weekendy, so I organised a BBQ for dinner last night. I was foofing around and before I knew it, it was dark. Mr Beach House was cooking by torch light and I was resetting the table inside.

Actually, we really are lucky down here, our Winters are really only about 2 months long and are not harsh at all, but it is generally freezing, because the houses are not at all equipped for it. Open plan, no curtains, heaps of glass to let the light in and floor boards are great for Summer, when the doors are flung open to the let outside in, but not at all conducive to retaining the heat mid winter. We all huddle around the fire place and I bet you can guess which is my seat on a crisp night. I usually have a little hot body wanting to share with me too.

Anyway right now we are looking down the barrel of all that and it doesn't make me very happy, so I am mucking around with some projects which will prolong Summer thoughts for as long as possible. I found this idea on pinterest It's colourful, simple and very affordable. I think it would be lovely on the front door, to greet guests at a Summer party as well.

All you need is a foam wreath, a bag full of cocktail umbrellas and a little girl to 'help', who gets very excited when I get any kind of craft out. I have probably said it before, but this kind of craft is messless, so it's my favourite.

So all you have to do is push the umbrellas in until all the foam is covered and attach a colourful ribbon for hanging. So simple and all recyclable

It seems that I naturally go for colour in my decorating. If you look at the shots of my home in the side bar, there is lots of it. I love neutrals too, but colour in decorating adds so much interest and is such a great way to change a room on a budget.

So cheerio ladies and happy days to you all!!!!!!

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Last Days of Summer and a Family Pow Wow

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:52:00 +0000

When Mr Beach House announced this morning that he was going sailing, the Beach House Brats lost it. They wanted him around and I love that even though he goes on like a bachelor with a wife and kids lots of the time, he cancelled his sailing plans and spent the day with us.

We are so lucky to have this playground at the end of the street and as Summer fades to a memory, we are squeezing every last drop out of it. The surf was huge, so I was taking these shots with only one eye open. I have given up trying to keep my baby safe. He's learning how to be a man and that involves exposure to lots of danger.

They are in there somewhere

Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend. Sydney is turning on a stunner this afternoon, so I'm heading off to the back deck, rose in hand, to put my feet up, until the next mini crisis that is motherhood, is upon me. At the moment all are happy and I'm counting on it staying that way for a while. See ya Monday. I've been crafting my socks off and have a Summer wreath for under ten bucks for you to put together with the kids up next.

Today I am partying here

The Battle Fields of France and ANZAC Day in Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:20:00 +0000

Next week we will 'celebrate' ANZC Day in Australia. I wrote this post last year about a trip we took to Northern France. We took a train from Paris and followed the ANZAC military trail for a day. As I had only been blogging for 6 weeks at the time of first posting this story, I am re publishing it (with some edits) in anticipation of that sacred day being observed in Australia next week.

Hi All

Today is one of the most sacred holidays on the Australian calender. It is ANZAC day. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp. The legend of ANZAC was born in 1915, when Australia and New Zealand faced their first military battles side by side as nations.

The Allies planned to break the stale mate on the Western Front in France by taking Germany through the 'back door' via Gallipoli in Turkey. It was a complete baptism of fire for the ANZACs, as it was a badly organised defeat. It cuts very deep here in Australia, as the Aussies where commanded by the British and it was a fiasco. On that first day, whilst the British troops were landed on a beach and saw little action, the ANZACs were dropped in the thick of it and suffered many casualties. The only real success of the operation was the Australian planned retreat many months later, where not one man was killed. There after in 1916, the ANZACs were sent to reinforce the Allies on the Western front in Northern France.

Several years ago we visited The Somme in Northern France and I have to say it was one of the most moving days of my life. It was only an hours train ride from Paris up to Amiens. I booked it all privately online, and sent my Euros off into the ether on trust. Our fabulous French guide Sylvestre, told us to be at the glass doors at Amiens station at 10am on that particular day. That's all the information we got and in typical relaxed French country style, he was there at 10am as promised. We showed up a little before the designated hour and found a little cafe across the road from the station for a quick morning coffee. As we entered, all 6 guys sitting around the bar stopped what they were doing and looked at us as if we had two heads. We ordered our cafe, drank it quickly and left, hoping our day would get better and believe me it did.

Next time we visit France, we plan to spend a week up there. But if you have limited time, I recommend this day trip from Paris to anyone and a guide is probably the most efficient way to do it. If you make the effort, I promise you will be moved beyond belief.

We all in this interiors blogging circle, know and love France for her beauty. She is the absolute pinnacle of

style and elegance, but she has a dark history, that has shaped her people and ours and made us all what we are today.

I am starting at the end really, in the town of Villers Bretonneux. As I write this thousands of Australians and French are gathering in that place to celebrate this decisive battle fought there in 1918, which was the beginning of the end for the Germans and consequently the war itself.

As you can see from the map, Villers Bretonneux was the last town before the major roads and rail line at Amiens. Had the Germans got to Amiens, they were a short train ride into Paris. Their artillery was already within range of the outskirts of Paris at this point. But on 25 April 1918, it is no exaggeration to say that the Australians stopped them along this road. It was so decisive that the little primary school in Villers Bretonneux has a sign in it's playground that says 'Do Not Forget Australia' and a beautiful little museum which is an important stop on any tour of the Somme.

In 1918, the Germans were making one very big and successful push across Northern France in order to end the war. The Germans had regained much of the Territory won, at such a high human cost on both sides, by the Allies over the four years of the war and had pushed the Allies back from Belgium all the way back to the Somme in the first few months of 1918. So the fact they were stopped here at VB, was the turning point to the Allies victory.

This tower I am standing on, is in the Australian war cemetery at Villers Bretonneux. The church spire on the horizon was were the Red Barron was shot down in 1918. It is disputed between the Australians and Canadians as to who shot him down, but he came down in the Australian sector of the front line, so of course we like to claim that one.

The tower at Villers Bretonneux was used as a high post by the French in WW2, as the Germans came through again in 1939. Hilter with his Blitz Kreig, was able to do in 4 weeks what the Germans were unable to do in 4 years in WW1 and that was to break through to Paris. Those are WW2 bullet holes from German fire you can see behind the boys.

This rectangular monument adorns the entrance to all Australian war graves across the world. It's curvature at the top is to the exact angle of the earth's surface. The idea is that it links all the war graves and the soldiers in them together.

The Australians were known for their sense of humour and their inability to conform to military protocol. The Aussies named one of the main streets in the town of Peronne, Roo de Kanga, a deviation of Kangaroo, it is still named that today in their honour. They were larikins and may not have been able to salute officers and handle the military hierarchy of pomp and ceremony, but that is also what made them so tough and ingenious and so feared by the enemy.

Here the boys are lying in a shell hole at Mouquet Farm.

Mouquet Farm was another location, where the Australians had a terribly slaughterous and badly led defeat early in the war. So many wasted lives, but they were still able to find some humour in it, referring to the area as Moo Cow Farm.

This German pill box was on the farm of our tour guide's grandmother. Thus he was able to dig it out and he had installed electricity so we were able to go down the first few steps into the bunker. The older French understandably don't want to promote the area for it's war history. They just want to forget it. There are thousands of tunnels in this area, but most are on private land and have been sealed.

The Germans built such strong posts because in 1914 as they believed this was their new border with France. The Germans were very well dug in at the beginning of the war and that is why the Allies only gained such little ground for such huge losses. The heads thought that the artillery bombardments would debunk the Germans so the infantry could just jump over the trenches, walk across no mans land, and take the German held territory. But the German system of bunkers was so good, that apart from nerves due to the bombardment, the Allied artillery barely touched them. The artillery shells were inadequate to penetrate the concrete so the Germans were well protected underground during the Allied bombardments. The Allies were ordered to attack after these inadequate bombardments. As the Allies ran across no man's land they were mowed down by the German machine guns.

This pill box was on the border of the Australian and Canadian sectors, so our tour guide concluded that it had been captured by either of those two armies. The Allied helmet dug up by Sylvestre complete with bullet holes, a poignant reminder of what happened in that bunker as it was over run.

Inside the German Bunker. A very eerie feeling

This is another example of the German's ingenuity with concrete. This would have originally been the cellar to someones home. It was shored up with concrete and used as a German bunker on the front line at Pozieres in 1916.

The same German bunker as above, note the concrete pylons.

The fields of Pozieres, were Australians first saw action in France in 1916, Some 5000 Aussies were killed on the first day of fighting, here in these fields. At this stage of the war the Australians were under Allied command and not their own. The Generals commanding the battle, were several miles back. It all looked good on paper, with their flat maps and plans of attack. The communications were usually cut off early in the battle, so the men were told to follow orders that were completely out of touch with the reality of what was occurring at the front. Asking men to do the impossible . That is cross open low ground under direct machine gun fire that the Allied artillery barrage had not dislodged.

Walking with dead bodies at Pozieres

The Australian memorial at Hamel, another great Australian victory in 1918, led by their own General Monash. It is interesting that this was the only war memorial the Germans destroyed in WW2 as they passed through Northern France in 1939, as it was originally an Australian solider bayoneting an eagle, a sacred German military symbol, which was a great insult to the Germans.

These trenches at Beaumont Hamel were perhaps the most moving of the day. The battalion that fought on this part of the front line was from Newfoundland in Canada. It was a complete slaughter for the same reasons that so many Australians were killed at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, the Germans were very well dug in in Bunkers. After a sustained bombardment on the German positions, the Canadians were told to just walk across no mans land toward the Germans. This was the complete naivety of their orders and 85% of the Canadian battalion was killed in the first 15 minutes of the battle.

The only good part in this story, is that the Canadian Chaplin from this battalion returned after the war to negotiate with 250 different land owners to purchase their land, so that it could be retained as a memorial to that disastrous battle. These are some of the only trench systems remaining in Northern France, thanks to the foresight of that Chaplain. Immediately after the war the whole of northern France looked like this but without the grass. The government offered a bounty of several French francs for each hole filled in and several more again for any bodies retrieved. Often the bomb craters were corruptly covered over with slabs of metal or concrete and then peppered with soil. According to our guide, it is not unusual to slump into one of these depressions when driving around some towns or for a plough to hit a slab of corrugated iron out in the fields. The German bunker system was extensive and has not been completely filled in. Hopefully one day it is all opened up and preserved.

You can just make out the moose in the centre, at the top of the Canadian memorial at the top of the monument. The reason the trenches are roped off, is because there are so many unexploded shells. In Northern France some 35 people are killed or injured annually, by exploding shells.

Here are some shell casings collected and piled up in a suburban backyard. They are everywhere.

This was a German war grave we visited, an equally haunting and sad place.

Thanks for coming this far with me. I hope you have learned something and enjoyed your little trip to the battlefields of Northern France.

Almost 100 years on we will be honouring our servicemen and women next Wednesday. We will be attending our local RSL, where our son will play in the band during proceedings and then he will march through the streets wearing his grandfather's and great grandfather's service medals. A proud and sombre moment for us.

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The Artsy Girl Connection

Do You Face Book Your Old Boyfriends and Do They Face Book You?

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:48:00 +0000

I have never stayed friends with any of my old boyfriends.... not one of them. Neither, as far as I know, has Mr Beach House with his ex girlfriends.

For me I'm not sure why, but I guess I put them out for a reason (or they me) and what's the point of hanging around to over analyse the inevitable. The fat lady has sung and it's time to move on, was the way I always looked at it.

However, with the development of Fake Book, as we like to call it at the Beach House, that is changing, not just for the general population, but for me too. I know the stats are terrible ( insert 'high' here, if you are OK with it) on old flames chucking in their existing lives and moving on IRL with a relationship rekindled on Face Book. Yes the stats are high, but it would also be interesting to read any studies on the success rates of how these new rekindled Face Book relationships fare over time too.

Probably the same as IRL....... not very well.

So gather round, I'll let you in on a little secret. I've been face booking old boyfriends and they've been face booking me back. There's something about sitting in the comfort of your own media room, finding out what happened to a guy that you spent a formative part of your life with. A few people I have discussed this with, have said to me they only joined so they could stalk past loves. A little crazy in my book, but there you go.

Oh and don't worry about Mr Beach House, he knows and is fine with it.

So yes, I have finally joined the party down at Face Book, because Gen X is the new Gen Y right???? and I am finally getting social media. I am no longer scared of it, I embrace it. In all honesty, my initial interest in Face Book was to drive traffic to my blog, but it is now more than that. As my involvement with it has grown, I have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with my friends, old and new. The attraction for me is the ability to post photos, to see how people look now, to see how all those years of study panned out and developed into successful management roles or restaurants by the sea. To look at wives and broods of kids and basically just to see how they turned out. And good on them, they have done well!!!!

It's nice when an old friend contacts me. Some of them are boyfriends from my teenage years that I never even kissed, but I am happy that they even bothered. I'm sure they are only doing it for the same reason I am, just to see what happened to someone they once remotely cared about. I have absolutely no intention of taking it any further and I'm sure they don't either. I always tell Mr Beach House, he pretends not to listen and we move on. The old friends stay in my friend list and usually after the initial 'Hi how are you after all these years?' contact, that is it. Apart from the odd photo 'like' or one liner, it's nothing more than that.

So on the back of my new face book happiness, I encouraged Mr Beach House to start up a personal page himself. He has one attached to his business, but not a personal one. His response was the usual, 'I haven't got time for that' But as he is well known in the sailing community and is constantly getting requests to join, I convinced him it was necessary. He reluctantly agreed, that he did need a personal face book page to drive more business and he would be only too happy for me to set it up for him. I found him a few friends, sent out friend requests and all of a sudden, the virility of social media phenomenon was evident, it was on for young and old. People started coming out of the woodwork....The friend requests were flying thick and fast and from women too. As he was too busy to handle it, he asked if I would oblige. No problem..... I friended them all, old girlfriend or not. The best part was answering them pretending I was him. Naughty I know, but I was only trying to be polite and will not be doing it again, as it's hardly fair, but he did kind of give me the go ahead to 'handle it'.

That night he came home and said "oh I saw all the friend requests in my email. You've got some people on there I don't want to be friends with.' I don't know who he meant and I don't care. He's probably not talking about his old girlfriends. Because he doesn't know how to use Face Book he said to me tonight he wants to delete the page. 'I'd rather just send emails' he said. He sooooo doesn't get it, or maybe there was one too many ex girlfriend on there. Whatever the reason, he can't seem to remember the password I have told him 50 times, so until he insists, I guess his page will stay up there. Old girlfriends or not!!!!! Hope he can stand the temptation!!!!!

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No Sew Map Bunting

noreply@blogger.com (Desire Empire) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:30:00 +0000

It's official I've gone map. But you probably knew that anyway!!!! In the execution of this project, another fact was revealed to me today too. I love pegs. Love them!!!! I don't mean the kind that I often find myself clutching or biting on under the clothes line, for yes ladies, if I said I loved those kind of pegs, that would mean I really was a sandwich short of a picnic. No, I mean the artsy crafty ones, which allow me to produce art work, simply and effectively with no sewing or glue gun required.

The half dead flowers and Easter eggs had to go. They have been driving me crazy all week and today was the day. We are a week into the school holidays and this cruise director decided she need a day at home to regroup. Read here, that I should be standing under said clothes line making like the hired help, but frankly I felt like crafting instead. And as we established several posts ago, that, I am the reluctant CEO of the Beach House, that's what we did.

To complete this project, I used an old frame, some maps, string, pegs, tacks, a saucer, a texta and of course a little help from my friends.

I decided on circles because well you know, the planet is round, but you could do stars, butterflies or whatever you wish. I even thought about cutting out each country, but in the words of Paul Keating, 'when they were giving out countries, not everyone was as lucky as Australia'. Not everyone got an island continent that is easy to cut around. I looked at the atlas and all the shared borders rendered the country idea a fizzer. I mean, I've got laundry to peg out, so it had to be quick.......circles it was.

This project is not about the shapes at all really, it's all in the pegs. They make it quick and if unlike me, you are more vigilant about your laundry and actually don't let it pile up to resemble a small mountain, time is important. Maybe it's because of school holidays and the lack of pressure on me to man the relentless school uniform production line, that I have been so recalcitrant with the laundry this week. Anyway as you can see, on days like today we hang out in our PJs, so who needs clean clothes anyway?

So once you have hung your maps, throw a few shells in jars around and you have a coastal world traveller thing going on.

The other side of my living room has had a world map theme for some time now. I really like it, so I guess that's why it's been this way for so long. I am a world traveller deep down, but without the funds to follow through.
So I have to be content at this stage of my life, gazing in awe at the places I would like to visit.

Enter Mr Beach House, straight off the water after a day out sailing.....Er Hmmm yes I thought the sailing season was over too. He snookers me everytime. Anyway I showed him my creation and he said . 'What are they, have you had the water colours out?'

Whatever!!!!! But he did take us out to dinner last night though, which was very much appreciated. He's good like that. I have been dropping subtle hints that I needed a break....I don't see how leaving me alone all day with the Beach House Brats after a week of school holidays, while he goes sailing fits the bill, but he did come to the party on dinner, so I'll take what I can get.

Upon our return from dinner, when we were sitting on the couch watching New Tricks, Mr Beach House commented again....no he never quits while he's ahead. He said 'You can't tell they are maps, oh except for the Australian one' Must be the island continent thingy.

So ladies, if you would like a quick and easy weekend project to put together between laundry loads, I think you've found it here. Have a great week people. And to all my new face book likers and google and linky friends I appreciate you and welcome you into the Beach House fold. May we have a long and happy love in.

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