Baby Boomer's Lament

This weekend 2 of the junior Glenquarry Goddesses were at Hens' weekends. One in Melbourne, the other in Marbella Spain. This got me to thinking as I do, how did I miss out on all these things, that are now considered rites of passage now?

It started at breakfast this morning, I was looking at Facebook and saw more pictures from the said Hens' weekend and I said to the Signifiant Other, "how come I didn't have a Hen's weekend!"

BTW,  I made a absolutely fabulous breakfast this morning, if I say so myself! A few years ago I did Michelle Bridges 12 week challenge and one of my favourite recipes from this was the breakfast beans, so I made my own version of that with chill and chorizo, and then added our fresh chook eggs and made a spicy Spanish  beans and baked eggs.

and spring was here, so we dined Al Fresco!

Anyway I digress...

Thinking about the Hen's weekends got me thinking of all the things that weren't invented, or part of the circle of life when I was at that stage. And then I started to think, can I claim all of them retrospectively?

Here is the list I made, and if you have any other things I forgotten please feel free to let me know...

so here's what I have missed out on, and maybe it has had big consequences on how my life has panned out!

There was no such thing as work experience when I went to school. If you wanted to experience work, you left school in Fourth Form  (year 10).  If you didn't want to work,  you went onto 6th form and then University,  AS IT USED TO BE FREE THEN!  Some of my friends took more than 10 years to do their degrees,  and some (you know who I'm talking to here!) are still going....

But I didn't go to Uni until I had to pay, put "L" on my forehead!

So most of friends and I went into our chosen careers without any real idea of what was involved, needless to say most of us are doing something else these days :-)

Schoolies... well, what I can say. That's a week of my life that never happened!  I know some people who came after me at at school,  and Schoolies changed their lives.... literally,  one of the girls I know  of came back from schoolies with a present, that would keep on giving for the next 18 years or so! A baby! 

For all of you who didn't have the Schoolies experience, who's up for a gray haired version some time soon?

Glenquarry Goddess will host a Gray Schoolies,  if the need is there!

Hen's weekends.  This is what I found when I googled it

Hens Party Shop Sydney - MyHensParty.com.au‎

a website just for hens parties!

give me a break and take a look at the number of hits..

About 1,350,000 results (0.39 seconds) 

When I got married back in the dark ages, the only rite of passage for a bride was a kitchen tea. And why? Because we know that women love kitchen gadgets when they are getting married!

 Mine was a tupperware party held on a Saturday afternoon , WITH WINE! 

The Tupperware lady was a bit overwhelmed that we were drinking wine, it was not what she as used to,  but we had a jolly good time! The husbands to be/boyfriends were out the back in the yard having beers and a BBQ. I still have some of that fabulous tupperware from that kitchen tea and glad to say it has now come back into fashion!  

Baby Moons, well I figure I have at least 4 weeks of baby moons owing to me, that I am going to take as soon as I can work out who is going to pay for it!

Baby Bonus! I thought that was the baby you got to take home from the hospital, not the flat screen TV people may have bought!

Paid Maternity Leave, Family Tax Benefits etc etc...I get a bit tired of people bashing the baby boomers, about how selfish we are, how we bought houses when they were cheap etc .. but it's all relative. 

I'm not finished yet, but I'm going to make this a 2 part blog post, so stay tuned for tomorrows list!

Feel free to add to my list you if like!

Opportunity Knocks... vintage shopping

One of my not so secret pleasures is to wander around op and second hand stores for bargains. We are blessed here in the Southern Highlands, in that we have a plethora of these around the area.   A couple of Sundays ago we went into Bowral for afternoon tea and decided to wander around Dirty Jane's Emporium and then take tea in the quaint tea house on site.

Think of your grandmother's best china,  all delicate and dainty and old fashioned silver tea services, and you'll get the picture.  Our chai tea was one of the best I have had in a long time.  And then......

with the tea pot our tea was served in!

so much so that I asked if I could buy that very pot!  Sadly it was not to be had, but then I became obsessed with getting a teapot just like it, I can be like that some times!

I became addicted to getting my ideal teapot!

Not quite the teapot I was looking for

 So I trawled Dirty Jane's after our tea and found this one with a matching sugar bowl as well.

But still my obsession was not satisfied, soon I  was like a drug addict, I couldn't get enough of tea pots!  I found myself hanging out on e-bay and ruby lane looking  to score more tea pots.....

and then I found these two beauties, one came from New Zealand and one is from the United Kingdom.

So now my teapot obsession is satisfied

 I have 3 beautiful pots that I use everyday.

Here are some other little gems I have picked up recently: 

a pair of candlesticks

 and this weekend bounty from our local tip recycling shop a genuine 1970's crock pot, check out that funky font on the dial!

The Doyenne of Australian cooking, Margaret Fultan's autobiography

a 1970's guide to landscaping, perfect for our 1970's courtyard makeover!

and some more info on being organic farmers

I could go on and on on some of the other great second hand shops, but I might leave that for another post. So if you are planing a trip to the Southern Highlands make sure you make some time for some opportunity shopping, as we know Opportunity comes once in a lifetime!

Well Preserved!

2 Saturdays ago I went with Glenquarry Goddess Junior to a pickling and preserving workship. It was held at a place called Cornersmith which is in Marrickville Sydney.

At this workshop I was surprised that there were more men that women!  We were going to learn the principles and basics from which you can start your preserving at home.  We made a fennel pickle, apple chutney as well as having a very yummy lunch at the end featuring artisanal pickles, labnah (yoghurt cheese) and sour dough bread.

Fennel Pickles

Apple Chutney

I bought the two books above so I could extend my knowledge of preserving as I like the idea of using things in season and saving excess to use at other times of the year.

So if you'll excuse me, I'm off in a bit of a pickle!  

Meet the Fockers....2015 version

It's only 97 days to our annual Meet the Fockers lunch!  If you're new to my blog you can read all about Fockers here.

This year we are going Asian. I like to have a cuisine theme each year. We have done Italian, Moroccan, Mexican so its about time we had something closer to home.

so I'm in the process of planning the menu, consulting my cook books

planning the table setting  design, flowers, crockery etc...

consulting the internet and pinterest!

I love the planning phase of a special occasion like this, so that's why I start months out.  In fact the date for our annual Fockers lunch is made 12 months in advance!

What about you, do you enjoy planning for special events? Any advice for my Asian inspired theme?

Guess who's coming for dinner?

flowers around the house ready to greet the visitors

Last night we had some guests to Glenquarry Goddess, some family from Bris Vegas on a road trip came to spend a couple of nights here with us.

more flowers....

and yet more flowers.....

So what's a girl to do but make something warm and delicious for the wary travellers?  How about some Moroccan chicken slow cooked in the oven? But wait there's more....
some first season peaches and pears poached in cointreau.

Are you hungry?

Here it is so you can make it for yourself, feel free to experiment with the ingredients.... as you know I am pretty casual cook so just use the amount spice you are comfortable with.

I like to use free range chicken, although sometimes I'm not sure it's really free range.

I used preserved lemons, but you could use any lemons or oranges 

My home made Moroccan spice and the dukkah

I dry the chicken with paper towel and I just stuffed into the cavity, dried fruit, apricot, cranberries, figs, 2 of the preserved lemons ( you can use any dried fruit you like)

Then I add my Moroccan spice and dukkah to the outside, just massage it  in!

I used a little bit of hazelnut oil in the bottom of the pan, but any good oil is fine.

Put the chicken in and then layer with any veggies you like, I used celery, carrots, red onions, red capsicum, garlic and some dried blood oranges on the top for a bit of a added showpiece!

A bit of Verjuice as it adds a bit of extra flavour, I also added some freshly squeezed blood orange juice

Then cover the dish  (use foil if you don't have a covered pan, it keeps the moisture in) and place in oven, I cooked it at 200 degrees for 2 hours, but you can cook it slower and at a lower temperature.

Meanwhile, get your  just desserts  ready. ;-)

our fruit for dessert, with the verjuice and cointreau

This is a really nice honey I get from Harris Farm Markets, but you can use any honey and add your own spices

Cut the fruit in half and layer into a baking dish, mix cointreau verjuice  and honey and pour over  cover and cook for about 30 mins 180 degrees. Until soft. 

Here's dinner!

some dukkah crusted pumpkin just baked in the oven  and fresh green beans for  sides

Bon Appetit!