Pure White Tea Trolley

I have inherited a few trolley's and have painted most of them.  This latest piece started off when my daughter originally wanted two tea trolleys as side tables in her room so she got to painting them white and they looked wonderful.

Unfortunately they weren't practical as her room lacked storage so the trolleys went when we renovated her room.  I blogged about her room in AALIYAHS ROOM REVEALED.

This piece is painted in ASCP pure white finished with clear wax and has since moved to another home to be loved and enjoyed.

Happy living peeps!

Poached Feijoas

Last night my husband walked inside with a huge bucket of feijoas he had picked from our trees saying "what will we do with these?" I knew my family would want to have some but with Gig's friend over for dinner, I immediately decided to try this new recipe for dessert.  Simple decision turned into a challenge considering he told me after I started the dish he had never tried feijoas in his life.

The coconut sugar is what makes the syrup brown.  If you don't have any then simply use normal sugar, or for a healthier option use maple syrup or honey.  You won't need a lot if you are using a sweet wine.  If you don't have a sweet wine, or prefer not to use it, then just use water with your sugar, honey or maple syrup.  Whatever you do, don't leave out the bay leaves as this is what balances the whole dish.

I used my paleo version of my homemade GRANOLA but you can simply use toasted nuts.

This dish was a huge success with Gig and his friend demolishing it!!

Ingredients
16-20 feijoas peeled
1 1/2 cup of sweet wine
2 bay leaves
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
Juice of one lemon
1/4 - 1/2 cup of coconut sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)


Method
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for about 10 mintues.

Take the fruit out, then turn the heat up until the syrup reduces by half. 

Pour the juice over the fruit and serve with greek yohurt & toasted nuts.

Serves 4

Happy living peeps!

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My Room - Before

The renovations to our room are starting to get closer and I'm fairly excited on what that might look like. 

This bedroom is the biggest bedroom but with only one window it is quite dark. Being on the western side of the house it is also the coldest bedroom even with the fireplace.  

It has a built in wardrobe but the intention is to pull that down and place a walk in wardrobe on the southern wall of the room.  My thoughts will be to choose the same colours used in the rest of our renovations which should lighten the room.  The fireplace will stay but I am thinking of painting it.  In saying this, I have no idea what colour.

The furniture will be painted and there is even talk of replacing the window with doors opening out onto a private outdoor space.  Lets see what eventuates.

Happy living peeps!

 

 

Old Trays Get Facelift

If you are ever after a quick decor fix then look no further than painting an old tray.  You can pick them up for less to nothing from the local dump shop and give them a new lease on life.

That's exactly what I did when Jayden and I were having a craft day at home.  She was making her terrarium, which I blogged about in MY TREASURED TERRARIUM.  I had an idea to paint some old trays I had laying around to display her terrarium on.  The process was pretty simple.  Tray, paint, brush, newpaper & wax.

In our case the we used Annie Sloan graphite finished with clear wax.  

Tray 1 - First coat

Tray 2 - First coat

Tray 2 - 2nd coat

Tray 1 - Finished product - Sorry it's not a very good photo

Tray 2 - Finished Product

The opportunties are endless.  You can display them with a glass dome, place jewellery and display them on your dresser, display a vase on them or continue to use them as a serving tray.

Happy living peeps!

Smokey Bacon Wrapped Chicken

If you want a simple dish that will wow your guests, then this is for you.  With only 4 ingredients, it takes a short moment to put together before placing in the oven.

I think the smoked paprika brings out the bacon, but if you don't have it, then simply leave it out.  If you want to go all out, you can stuff the chicken breast but I like this recipe just like this.

Ingredients
4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breast
8 slices of streaky bacon
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
Freshly ground pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 180c.

Season the chicken with the paprika and pepper then carefully wrap each breast with 2 slices of bacon.  You may need to secure it with a toothpick if necessary.

Place on a deep, lined baking tray and bake for 45-60 mins depending on the thickness of the rolls.

Chicken is done when the juices run clear.

Servces 4

Happy living peeps!

Tiny Side Drawer Gets Makeover

I inherited this little side drawer from my mother.  It has been in the whanau for a number of years, but it desperately needed a new lease on life as it had seen better days.

A few weeks back I finally had a bit of me time to look at picking up the paint brush again and decided this was the piece that was going to get my attention.  ASCP Pure White and Paris Grey were the colours of choice finished with clear wax.

Before

After

I chose these colours because I wanted it to go into Aaliyah's room to replace the side table that was originally in her room.  I blogged about this in RETRO DRAWER GOES SHABBY CHIC.  I think it turned out wonderfully, except Gig and Jayden say I need to add some colour into the room.

Happy living peeps!

Coconut Panna Cotta

I first made this recipe as a result of trying to find some "paleo" friendly desserts for my whanau.   It is very easy to make using only 5 ingredients and super healthy as it's dairy free, gluten free and only uses natural sugars from maple syrup.  If you prefer to use honey, then by all means go ahead but make sure to test for your level of sweetness you prefer.


To help cut through the richness of the coconut cream, I paired it with fruit poached in a fruit syrup made of orange juice, lime juice, maple syrup, lemongrass and star anise.   The recipe can be found HERE

I serve this in dishes as opposed to turning it out onto a plate.  I place the cold poached fruit straight on top of the panna cotta, then pour the cold fruit syrup on top.  Absolutely delicious!!!

Ingredients
500 mls of coconut cream
10 grames of powdered gelatin
1 teaspoon of vanilla or the seeds of a vanilla pod
5 tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 cup of water

Method
Heat the coconut cream, vanilla and maple syrup until it's only just boiling, then turn off the heat and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the water and gelatin until it doesn't have any lumps.  Pour this into the coconut mix and stir until the gelatin is dissolved completely.

Pour into your serving dishes and refridgerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Makes 6-8 dependant on how hungry you are.

Happy living peeps!

The Swarm That Got Away

It's been nearly 12 months since I blogged about our bees on the Ponderosa so I wanted to share my latest experience that happened earlier this year in February.  I came home one day to find my husband a little nervous about our bees.  I brushed it off quickly until he pointed to the cherry tree outside our dining room.  Aaaaahhh, it all made sense! 

Our bees had swarmed from our wine barrel and decided to nest in the cherry tree which proved to be a problem.  A) I had no idea how to get them from the branch into a hive B) They couldn't stay in the tree given it was right outside our dining table. I decided to sit on it overnight.  

The next day I recieved a phone call from my wonderful mother who had organised for a hive and bee suit to be picked up along with a visit from the local bee association representative to come and move the bees from the tree into the hive.  Seems my mother belongs to the local bee association and she had made the Ponderosa a location for her bees :-)

Along came the bee guy and explained what the process was going to look like.  He was armed with a cardboard box and some packing tape.  No bee suit or anything.  When he asked me to help him "shake" the tree branch into the box, I did so without realising I was only dressed in shorts and a singlet.

While he held the box up to the branch, I yanked it as hard as I could towards the box 3 times to ensure most the bees got into the box.  Luckily it worked a treat and he proceeded to tape the box completely shut ensuring there was no way in or out of the box.  He then cut a small envelope hole in the side of the box and told me "now we wait".

After about 10 minutes the side of the box became full of bees which turned out was a great indication the bees were all trying to get inside the box to where the queen was.

Bees out of the tree and trying to get into the box where the queen is

 We waiting for about 2 hours until the bee guy left with big instructions that once all the bees were inside the box, tape the holes completely shut and transport them to where the new hive is.  He then said to lay a plastic board down by the hive so it acts as a ramp, and dump all the bees onto the board.  They will then walk up into the hive and hopefully live happily ever after.

Quite nervous .. I did exactly what he said and taped the box shut.  I left the box in our shed as the sun had set by the time they were all in the box. 
First thing in the morning I lay the plastic board down and dumped the bees as he said.  Then it was a matter of waiting ... again.

Bees attempting to get into the new hive

  After an hour the bees had covered the hive completely and checking each hour for the next 3 hours, the status hadn't changed.  They all appeared to be trying to get into the hive.  Then at 6 pm my husband went to check the hive to find the side of the hive was bear.  He opened the lid to see if the bees had reached the inside of the hive only to find it was empty!

Bees .. gone!!

The bees had decided that this hive wasn't for them and carried onto another location.  It is fair to say that I was gutted, BUT I did learn so much from this experience.   Our bees swarm every year and I have discussed with Gig the option to look to relocate the swarm into the hive so we are able to utilise the honey.  This was the perfect opportunity that obviously wasn't mean to be.

So .. our bee journey continues and at the end of the year, I hope to have hive full of bees.

Happy learning peeps!