Tonight I made a little birdie singlet for friends who have just had a baby girl - Maisy - love the name!
Also pictured are some heart and birdie ornaments I made a while ago that hang from twigs collected from the play ground.

Tonight for dinner, I made my version of Nigella Lawson's summer meat balls. I am adding the recipe here for you, Laura!

Get a simple tomato sauce going by chopping an onion and garlic, frying gently then adding 600ml passata (or chopped tinned tomatoes if that is all you have), finely chopped carrot (I do mine in the food processor) and a good splog of white wine. Bring to a gentle simmer and get on with the meat balls.

Grab about 400 g each of pork and veal mince (I make my own veal mince from veal schnitzel as it is cheaper and less fatty), mix with about a cup full of fresh bread crumbs, a quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, whatever herbs you have about (I used oregano and parsely tonight), and an egg. Mush it all up together with your hands, then roll into balls and plop into your simmering sauce. Allow it to all simmer together for about 15 min or so, or until the meat balls are cooked through. You can serve them up with pasta, couscous (nice with a bit of mint tossed through) or Italian bread. This is one of my favorite fugal food recipies!

Quilting and Jam

Last night I enjoyed making my first pot of Jam. First I hulled 500 gm of beautiful red strawberries and quartered them. Grab a large pot and sterilise jam jars in boiling water for about 10 min then into the oven to dry off. In same pot, boiled up the ripe fruit with a cup of sugar and a bit of water. A good splash of vanilla extract (no pods at present, otherwise would have put one in!), and a few peices of orange rind. With this lovely red mixture bubbled and released its lovely fruit perfume through the unit, I got to work on my quilt.

The quilt is of course a work in progress - though last night I managed to get all the blocks sewn together. Like the jam, it is my first! It is showcase of beautiful fabric squares sewn together. The pattern is from the book "Material Obsession" (love the title, it says it all). It will be a quilt for our bed. I have posted a picture of the blocks hanging, just waiting for another free night or hour to spare (pretty rare, but they come eventually) and I will sew them up to make the top.

About an hour later and the jam is jarred (flaked almonds tossed in at the end) and labeled and I am licking out the pot! Charming husband Matt has made a perfect flat white with Toby's Estate Decaf blend. Honestly tastes like the real thing and will not keep me up to all hours.