The Vege Garden Is Going Off

 I am loving this time of year when the whether is wonderful and warm or shall I say hot, everyone is looking relaxed after their holidays and most of all the summer veges are starting to produce like crazy.

I had a plan for our vegetable garden.  I carefully planned out what vegetables and herbs we needed to plant so that we had a lovely supply over summer with the garden structure we have.  Although we still haven't finished building a small part of the garden structure, we still have four great raised gardens.  To cope with the volumes, I simply planted some vegetables like tomatoes, lettuces, basil, sweet corn, chillies, and sweet peas in garden bags.  I hadn't done that before, but I must say it worked a treat particularly if you are pressed for garden space.  Simply buy a bag of vegetable mix ... and plant your vegetables straight in it them.

I even planted some maori potatoes that a great whanau friend gave me back in August.  That really fulfilled my vision that I blogged about in HOMEGROWN FOOD and I was so excited about.  I didn't get them in the ground in time for xmas picking, but nevertheless they are in the garden and it'll be a month before we see the fruits of our labour with those beauties.

My vegetable garden about 2 weeks into summer planting

The fruits of our labour .. and this is only a small portion of produce we are getting.

I'm really enjoying my vegetable garden and since we moved it closer to the house, it's wonderful to look out the kitchen window and gaze upon how lovely it connects to the house.  Maybe I'll blog about the transition to make it happen.

We have courgettes, rocket, herbs, cucumbers, kale, spinach, silver beet, radishes, lettuces and beetroot all constantly coming into the kitchen and I've made some lovely relishes to try and keep up (which I'll save for another blog).  

Our carrots aren't quite ready and neither is our water melons, sweetcorn, capsicums, spring onions, tomatoes and chillies but it won't be long to go now and I can't wait.

We haven't used any form of pesticides on the garden either which is great so the only real challenge is ensuring there is sufficient water.  Living off a water tank and with such dry weather we have been experiencing, conserving as much as we can is critical.

One thing that has definitely become clear during this summer exercise is that we need a bigger vegetable garden! 

Happy living peeps!

Retro Drawer Goes Shabby Chic

I've been looking around for a couple of pieces of furniture to finish off my daughters room and found this cute little retro drawer.  As usual, I wasn't feeling the finish and horrible brown slightly orange look to it.

This piece has been painted white and duck egg blue and given a slight shabby chic finished.

I am really happy with the finished product and so is my daughter Aaliyah. 

Happy living people.

Duck Egg Blue Tea Trolley

My cousin Marian has been staying with us over the last couple of weeks and she was inspired by some of the furniture that I have up cycled and we discussed how she wanted to do some furniture of her own.

I told her about the Annie Sloan range, then I pulled out an old tea trolley I had planned to paint and let her loose.  The colour she chose was Duck Egg Blue and  she completed it within the hour.

Although the photo isn't very good, I think it looks great, but I need to work on my photography skills!!

Happy living peeps!!

First Of The Summer Peaches

My dwarf peach trees have been coming along quite nicely this year.   I blogged about them in SPRING BLOSSOMS and again in AWAITING THE FRUITS OF OUR LABOUR.

One tree in particular has produced better than the other two in terms of the size of the fruit and I just had to share some photo's of the crop we picked from it.  I say we because my cousin Marian has been staying with us and enjoying the joys of what the Ponderosa has to provide over the past couple of weeks.

Marian picking the crop from the small tree - the basket isn't even half full yet!

The fruit from the one dwarf peach tree

I was so impressed with the volume of peaches, especially from such a small tree I just had to send a photo of the basket to my husband.  His response 'HECK!'

The birds have gotten to a couple of the fruit so Marian has plans to slice the good bits off and caramelise them for a yummy dessert!!!  The rest will be devoured au naturel

Happy living peeps!!

Strawberry & Chocolate Friands

Friands have to be one of my favourite sweets to indulge in and this recipe is really quick and easy to make.  I make them in mini muffin tins 1) because I don't have a proper friand tin (shock horror) and 2) they are the perfect bite size treat.

If you don't have chocolate then simply leave it out.  You can even replace the strawberries with other berries - fresh or frozen.  Blueberries are awesome!!

If you are wondering what to do with the egg yolks, you can make a healthy home made mayonnaise, aioli or Nigella has a wonderful sponge recipe that uses just yolks no egg whites.

If you want a completely gluten free option, replace the plain flour with rice flour.

Ingredients
3 egg whites
90g of melted butter
1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
100 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 big strawberries cut into 24 pieces

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease two 12 hole mini muffin pans.

Place the egg whites in a bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients and beat roughly with a fork.  Stir in all the remaining ingredients except the strawberries until nicely combined.

Spoon into the muffin pans and top each friand with a strawberry piece.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until friands are golden.  Leave them in their pans to cool for 5 minutes before turning them on a cooling rack - trying to resist the urge to have one.

Makes 24

Happy living peeps!!!

What To Do With An Old Couch

I hadn't painted anything before xmas then decided to start a new project.  I found this old two seater fireplace couch on trademe for cheap as chips.  I liked the texture of the existing fabric but wasn't really feeling the colour.  I went to a couple of local fabric stores to see if they had anything that was appealing to use to recover it but couldn't find what I liked.

So ... I decided to paint the fabric.  Yes that's right.  I've done it before with my old lampshade that I blogged about in OLD LAMPSHADE GETS REVAMPED.  It was pretty easy to do that, but a whole couch is a little more challenging.  Instant thought?  "better get on youtube and find out more".

What I found out was the fabric has to be pretty wet before starting because the paint has to soak into the fabric and no just sit on top of it.  I also found out that as the couch dries, the fabric hardens, but after a very light sand with a light grained sand paper, it comes back feeling like fabric again.  Oh well .. better get into it I decided.

Colours of choice .. French Linen and Pure White from Annie Sloan.

Before shot but just after I glued some of the beading back on that had come loose.

A good look at the fabric

Finished product ... Just love how the detail of the fabric stands out

A closer shot

I must admit that this took a lot longer than I originally thought.  In fact it's a day between coats to allow the fabric to dry as it's so wet.  It also takes a lot of paint.  In fact one whole tin of french linen was used on this couch and that's with me thinning it down with water but in saying this, different materials are more absorbent than others.   

I also cheated slightly and used a spray gun instead of a paint brush.  I made this decision after 30 mins of painting only a 1/4 of the seat cushion with a brush when my husband suggested it would be quicker to spray it.  Ok, I agreed and it took me less than 5 mins to do the rest with spray gun.

Two coats was all it needed and I must say, Im really impressed with the final result!!  I now purchased an old rocking chair and I have plans painting that one too.

Happy living peeps!!

Toffeed Fruit Salad

I must admit that when it comes to creating dishes, I prefer something easy and not overly complicated but packed with flavour.   It's not that I can't be bothered putting a lot of effort into cooking, it just means when the family are hungry, the food needs to be on the table with as little stress as possible and if this means in less than an hour, then that's even better.  If it's a dish that needs a little time to marinade or do it's thing, then again, it's got to be fairly simple.

I have a few cooks/chefs that I love and if I'm totally honest, my favourite TV channel is the Food Channel especially when cooks/chefs such as Jamie Oliver & Nigella are on.  Their food seems to connect with me and let's face it, they don't seem too bothered with the fancy stuff.

There's also a couple of NZ cooks/chefs that I love as well with Anne Thorpe and Annabel Langbein being right up there.  To me, it's not just about their food - they have a point of difference in their purpose.  Anne Thorpe's food is gorgeous and through her fight with cancer she's chosen dishes that are good for the body and soul.  Annabel's current purpose is all about helping create dishes from her garden whilst teaching people how to create a garden as well which is something I can connect with.

I have many of Annabel Langbeins books and was pleased to receive her latest one from the girls this xmas.  I also received Anne Thorpes book Kai Ora for xmas not once, but twice a few years back, so one sits at home with me and the other is at the beach house in Matarangi. 

I have created many of Anne & Annabel's dishes and even placed my little twist on them every now and again when I don't quite have the right ingredients or enough to feed the multitudes, but to me, that's what food is about.  Playing around with flavours that you like and making it work for you and your family and the following experience is an example of this.

I had the extended family coming over for dinner the other day, so thought I'd give Annabel's Toffeed Oranges with Honey Ginger Yogurt a go.  Unfortunately I didn't have the required 10 oranges so decided to use the two I had and mixed them up with strawberries and a few kiwifruit.  I also decided not to make as much toffee to reduce the sugar levels in the dish.  Final result - absolutely stunning!!!

Recipe is easy - 10 oranges sliced or diced dependant on the look you are going for .. OR a combination of fruit (about 1 kg altogether).  Place them into a large flat dish and add 2 tablespoons of cointreau or orange liquor (if you don't have it, then leave it out).  Mix together and then make the toffee.  

The toffee is 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water, heat on low until the toffee is dissolved then turn up high and let it bubble away without stirring until it turns golden making sure it doesn't crystallise.   Pour all over the fruit and let it stand for at least 1-2 hours.  The toffee bubbles as you pour it over the fruit then sets to begin with, but after awhile the toffee liquifies as it reacts with the fruit.  Although I used half these measurements for my toffee, it was gorgeous.

The honey and ginger yoghurt is simple.  1 cup of natural unsweetened yoghurt, 1 tsp of ground ginger and 3 tablespoons of honey. 

Divide your fruit into 6 serving dishes, then top with yoghurt before serving.

Happy living people!!

2015 - What Will It Bring

Slightly late for a new year post, but I've been busy doing absolutely nothing but relaxing with my family and enjoy days out and about on the boat - and I must say, it's been wonderful. I still have another 10 days before I head back to the grindstone of work and I'm determined to continue with my current theme of relaxing until then.

I was flicking through pinterest the other day and came across this quote which got me thinking on past years and whether I'm satisfied with my accomplishments.  A pretty deep conversation to have with oneself but one nethertheless.  Upon reflection, it's clear that some have certainly been easy decisions, and some have definitely been very tough ones. 

It got me thinking more about my life on the Ponderosa and the reasons why I started this blog.  Have I accomplished as much as I would like here on the Ponderosa?  The answer?  I'm not even halfway there yet.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that I haven't tried.  When we entered into the our current lifestyle, we made a decision to break the accomplishments into smaller chunks - cause lets face it .... the Ponderosa is a VERY BIG project.

I have to admit that moving did have a tremendous impact on my daughters.  They loved our lives living in Wiltshire and going from simple comforts of switching a light on to the fuse blowing every second day became quite a challenge for them.  But upon reflection they have learnt to cope, we all have. 

They enjoy the daily free range eggs, and ability to not have any food wasted.  If we can't eat it, then it goes to the chickens.  They enjoy the benefits of fresh home grown vegetables and have accomplished the ability to create dishes with what we have as opposed to running to the supermarket every 5 mins for what we want.  They are slowly starting to take on board the beauty of growing our own food but more importantly learning how to do it.  

I think in todays society and our quest to provide our children with the greatest of opportunities parents can loose focus on other necessities for their children.  An example of this is our life in Wiltshire.  The goal was to build the biggest we could afford in suburbia as an investment to then move onto the lifestyle we have now on the Ponderosa.  That is exactly what we did with the Wiltshire property and it had all the luxury anyone would desire and it definitely served it's purpose tenfold.  But upon reflection, it created new challenges for my girls. In order for them to learn to cook, their idea of being a hunter or gatherer was to simply drive to the local supermarket and get what they needed.

They couldn't understand our conversations of how home grown food tasted so much better than store bought.  To them, they hadn't really had an opportunity to understand the importance of it all.  

I was also scared that their view of what's important in life were more materialistic instead of seeing the potential in everything around them regardless of age.  The move to the Ponderosa couldn't have been any more opposite to the lifestyle we had and in some way, shape or form, it forced the girls to take a step back in order to move forward.  We all did.

To have a flash house can be simply fixed with a decision to splash some paint on the walls and home grown vegetables can be simply fixed with a decision to plant some seeds, but the experiences of learning how to do it, can't never be taken away from you regardless of where in the world your life may take you.

I read somewhere that success comes when you like who you are, like what you do, and like how you are doing it.  Right now, I'm loving every piece of it.

So what accomplishment will you try next?

Happy living peeps!!