april through april

My amazing friend Janine went to Miami to become a chef, and this is her blog. It’s full of delicious food! Check it out!

i don’t like to think i’ve become boring in the last few months (now that I’m not drinking or going out much) but guess what we found ourselves watching this arvo ‘Masterclass in Oils with Ken Harris’. It was all about how to paint two paintings. Exciting TV?!!! I’m not sure about that. It hit us half way through… WHAT ARE WE WATCHING??!

p.s we could even do a workshop with him if we wanted!?

the ‘cake boss’ buddy valastro is in town for the cake expo and we scored some tickets to go check out his show - it was a bit of fun for a sunday afternoon. as my lover said, he’d never thought he would be spending his sunday afternoon watching a guy ice cakes! haha. We made some little girls day by giving them our tickets to meet the guy (worth $595 by the way… seriously, i wouldn’t pay $595 to do much really, especially just to meet someone!!? oh well!)

britney’s ex, kevin ’k-fed’ federline came in to the studio to promote the channel nine show ‘excess baggage’. he danced up a storm in the studio at our ‘nightclub’ (actually i was expecting bigger things from him… but anyhoo) he was a good bloke and had some fun with us.
check out the video here!

last nights dinner - hot chili con carne

we googled some recipes, but we couldn’t find one that we really liked… so mixed and matched a few recipes and then added our own bits and pieces.

here’s how we did it!

700g of diced gravy steak/chuck steak/round steak (anything that is good for slow cooking)
300g of beef mince

1 brown onion – roughly diced
8 small swiss brown mushrooms
1 red capsicum – roughly chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cans red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can of corn (rinsed and drained
2 cans of diced tomatoes (used one full can, then drained the second can and only used the tomato. Keep the juice just in case you need more liquid at the end)

cumin, cayenne pepper, chilli to taste (we used lots, coz we like it hot!!)
2 chillis – one red, one green
salt and pepper

1. Turn the slow cooker on to high.
2. Brown the onion and diced steak in a frying pan, then place in the slow cooker.
3. Brown the mince in the frying pan, then add all spices and salt and pepper and mix through well. Then add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes into the pan as well and heat through.
4. Add the mince mixture and corn/beans to the slow cooker with the mushrooms and chilli.
5. Give it a good stir and pop the lid on. (It might look like there isn’t enough liquid, but you’ll be surprised how much liquid comes out over time)
6. About an hour in we added some capsicum, to add a bit of sweetness (and we’d forgotten to add it earlier)
7. It stewed away for about 4.5/5 hours and was perfect! Just make sure your steak is tender, and then you’re ready to go. This meant we didn’t eat dinner til 10.30ish, but that’s okay – it was delicious!!

[two hundred and ninety four] thursday felt like friday, friday felt like saturday and saturday felt like sunday - which meant sunday was a bonus day really - even though i had to work on friday, it felt like a long weekend… relaxing with my baby! winning!!

[two hundred and ninety three] 20/20 cricket at the WACA perth v sydney. a hot night, but another beautiful sunset!

[two hundred and ninety two] life’s a beach and i have been soaking up the rays in the heat - the scorhin’ temperatures mean i just have to go to for a swim. der!? today an estimated 170,000 people are going to pull sickies, as thursday was aus day and tomorrow it’s the weekend - nothing beats a long weekend! 

[two hundred and ninety one] australia day hit a scorchin’ 41 degrees. it’s an annual thing to hit cottesloe beach for the haviana thong challenge - it happens all over aus and perth has won the last few years. i didn’t go down this year, we spent the day at city beach, then watching the cricket, then at a friends house… but pricey from 52 things took these shots.

[two hundred and ninety] i love cheese straws and am always looking for new recipes. these ones are so moorish. find the recipe here

[two hundred and eighty nine] there is a lid for every pot. i have definitely found my lid - he’s beautiful, honest, thoughtful, forgiving and understanding. 

{two hundred and eighty eight] i’ve only been home for just over a week from bali, but i want to be back in this villa - relaxing, reading and swimming.

[two hundred and eighty seven] check out the hot weather for the week ahead! boom! 

[two hundred and eighty six] i can see the sunset from my balcony every night. it’s always different!