Brunch Me!

Another wet weekend but all is good coz it was my Brunch weekend.. or well it was an early brunch on Sunday and it was fab! the new every 2 monthly tradition! This time we had popovers instead of bread rolls and they were FAB! Emma totally did a good job with that one.. and I totally love being spoilt! Good time good times.. altho I still had to do the dishes afterwards and I must say popovers + water = total grossness! Popovers and water? you ask.. well it was little bits of left over popover that we couldnt get out of the muffin tray.. to that I added water to loosen it up, coz I like to make things easier on myself when it comes time to cleaning.. but then when it came time to cleaning it was this puffy slimy mess.. kids would have loved playing with it.. but not me! But it was much easier to clean and that is the main thing.. anyways here are a couple of pics of my wonderful Sunday brunch..

Here it is in all its glory...All dished up and ready to eat!
and lets just end the post on Nemo posing as the Pillow king.. once again.. seriously what is his deal with pillows?

Socks!

I gots new socks! new spunky socks from Emma! YaY! how I love socks! So happy! The little things in life make me o so happy! I am wearing the socks now even!
What socks you say.. smartwool socks! I got the Chestnut pair.. and maybe.. just maybe I will get more for xmas.. namely the Wasabi pair *hint*

and lastly.. awww look at Nems and I.. how cute are we?

Avocado Cornbread Muffins

So I was foodporning it this morning when I came across a recipe for Avocado Cornbread Muffins and I thought to myself.. "how interesting".. and seeing as tho we had extra avo's in the fridge I also thought to myself.. "why not give it a go".. should go well with the pumpkin soup we have for dinner.. what's the worst that could happen right?

So I made them.. quick and mighty easy they were to make.
The texture.. a bit gritty but then I don't know what cornbread is actually meant to be like.. seeing as tho I have never had it.
The taste.. a bit bland but kinda fresh and sweet if that makes sense and I am glad that I decided to chop up some avo and keep it as chunks instead of mashing it all coz those little extra bits of avo really helped.. well I think so anyways..
The overall result is.. they are ok.. I will eat them, coz I don't want to be wasteful but I won't ever make them again..

Vent!

Ok that is it! I have to vent! Nigella Lawson should NOT be allowed to eat on TV! It makes me cringe each and every time she goes to stuff.. and I mean stuff! Take smaller amounts woman! You don't need to shove it in.. noone is going to steal your food.. it is ok to just take enough so you don't look like a pig and have to use your fingers to help stuff it into your mouth.. or like when you ate yorkshire pudd with maple syrup and took such a huge amount you had to turn your head away from the camera and wipe the syrup from your face! Which left a glossy smear so we all knew how much of a pig you were being! It doesn't make food look more appealing to have someone stuff their face.. seriously! Nigella angers me. Rawr! I am so saddened that she has now replaced my two fat ladies.. they were much more entertaining and well I didn't have to watch them be.. well gross.

I have woken up with a stiff neck this morning.. and as the morning goes on it seems to be getting stiffer and stiffer.. not cool! I bet Nigella did something to me coz I can't stand watching her eating and she can hear me bitching about it. lol

Well Nemo seems to want his breakfast so I best go and make that happen.. You wonder how I know he wants his breakfast? well.. it is coz he jumped off the couch.. went to the kitchen and looked in his bowl to discover nothing so he came back and has now parked his arse right in front of me and just looks at me.. so yeah I best go make it happen before he thinks my leg or something will do for breaky..

Snoozy Nemo!

Nemo and his love of sleeping like a real boy, aka human real boy.. you know with his head on a pillow.. Snoozy Nemo @ YouTube

T&S Jesus Candygram!

After a slow wet week there was finally a break and we actually got some sun! Just in time for the Tegan and Sara concert on Saturday night.. not that we get sun at night but it meant that it wasn't raining and miserable while we were standing in line with all the teens.. however I did manage to see a couple of people who were older than me so I didn't feel SO outta place.. just a little. It was pretty cold tho standing in line but I guess you can't win them all.

Anyways lets step back a little and start off with Saturday morning.. we figured seeing as it was quite nice and we were going to use the free card to go into the concert, we may as well get full use of the 22 hours of free public transport.. we have good ideas sometimes. So off we toddled.. and for the first time in ages we got to not only sit on the train but it wasn't a loud annoying trip but that might have something to do with the fact that we were in the quiet compartment haha however on the way home we got to sit too.. and it was quiet.. and we weren't in the quiet compartment! Ace!!

We arrive and head off to do our thing.. when this pops up!

Ok it didn't just pop up, coz well that would be a pretty amazing feat but it was already erected but sadly closed so I wasn't able to go and scare the crap outta myself.. maybe oneday I will go back and do just that tho and maybe I will be feeling extra brave and go in the VIP compartment that has a glass floor! haha

Moving along.. we went around the stores.. buying a few things here and there.. nothing of real importance.. or well actually we got a couple of things of GREAT importance from the American Store.. and that would be 2 packets of Tim Tams.. I know.. I know they are not as good as Chit Chats, but I don't have a shit show in hell of finding those here. O how I do miss some of the great biscuits of my homeland.. Chit Chats, Mallowpuffs, Toffee Pops, Gingernuts, Ginger Kisses, Swiss Cremes, Hokey Pokey Squiggles! O the list goes on! It is prolly a good thing that I can't have all these things readily available.. I might then become as big as a house rather than a truck. However I did find some fair trade cookies at the supermarket in Lund.. it was a new supermarket so I had to check it out.. and by new I mean it was new to me but prolly quite old to Lund.. so umm anyways I found some ginger fair trade cookies.. which were quite nice, they had little candy chunks of ginger which got stuck in my teeth and so every time I ran my tongue over it I would get a little ginger sizzle.. it was quite ace! haha

In the cold, in the line, surrounded by teens and the odd oldie.. we waited for the doors to open.. which seemed to take for freaken ever but once we were in, checked in our jackets with.. I swear the slowest and most useless jacket checker inner in the world.. we then headed to the merch table to get Em a hoodie before going to try and find our spot for the evening and we ended up with a decent spot against the rail on the next level.. which is always nice and means you don't have to contend with tall people.. which is always a bonus. It wasn't long before the opening act came on..

Astronautalis

He was quite funny and I didn't mind his songs.. live but that was coz of the whole act more than anything.. he was very very good and I for one would like to know how many years practice it took to be able to get one's leg to shake like his did and not fall off.. however he did manage to spit a big one at someone along with falling over and getting a gash on his arm.. but the show must go on!

I must say he really pumped the place up for a good show.. someone in the audience even made him a little paper.. well I assume it was paper.. table! Kinda cute really.

His set seemed to go reasonably quickly and soon enough T&S were out and doing their thang.

A good selection of older songs along with the new ones.. and of course I got to hear my all time fave 'Living Room' which I wanted to record but alas I didn't realise that the memory card would fill up so swiftly so I barely got any of it recorded on the little camera.. but poop happens. There was lots of banter, here are a couple that I managed to record.. Jesus & Candygram sadly I managed to miss the last moments coz well like I said my memory card got all filled real quick.. anyways there were good sounds and not many morons.. it was all much better than I thought it was going to be.. so I was quite happy with it all indeed, even tho I did have a couple of moron girls behind me but that was nothing to really write home about and I stomped really hard on one of their feet. Nice. Maybe.. just maybe I could be convinced to go next year when they return.

After the concert.. you have that long wait to get your jacket as everyone pushes and prods ya.. but we got there in the end and then headed off back out into the cold and off to a pub to meet up with one of Em's work buds for a beer to kill time before catching the last train home.. which again we got to sit and it wasn't crazy noisy and we weren't in the quiet compartment.. it was one very good day for the train for us it seems.. and also for once we didn't get a new free card when using the free card.

All in all I had a very good day and it was nice to be out and about in the little bit of sun we got.. I sure do love it when things go nicely.

Sunday was an at home recovery day.. we had pancakes. It was grand. I was tired.. late nights and me don't seem to mix well.. I guess I really am getting old.. after all I will be 30 in like a month.. argh! Happy days.

It's moments like these...

...you need "woooot" 's!
Actually I don't quite recall the last time I even had any minties.. not that I am a huge mint fan but the odd mint thing.. like minties or even oddfellows do go down a treat.. After Eight's after dinner mints are by far my fave mint thing.. nom nom nom

Anyways back to "woooot" moments, Emma was away for the weekend and while Nemo was sad he had his first "woooot" moment when he saw Emma's dad at the station, then another when he saw Emma's mum.. all the while not even realising that Emma was right there.. I bet at that moment.. Emma knew just how I feel when Nemo ignores me.. but he finally saw she was there and had another small "woooot" moment but nanny&pop were there.. special for him.. so he thought anyways lol And after seeing only my mug for an entire weekend.. it is no wonder he got so excited!

Now my "woooot" moment didn't come from seeing anyone.. as happy as I was to have Em home.. mine came as I was laying in bed playing my nightly game of word solitaire.. I am back at number one! WOOOOOOOOOOOT! I have been number four for far too long so it was nice to be back on top.. I wonder how long it will be until some little snot nosed bastard knocks me off my perch but until then I am woooting it up! lol

Emma had her "woooot" moment when she finally got santa in the bath! Yes it is as dirty as it sounds! hahaha.. ok maybe not.. but I am all about the dirt!

Well anyways.. my weekend was packed with rain, mist, cold and a sad Nemo, who cried for an hour by the door on Friday evening when he realised that Emma wasn't coming home.. I felt bad for him but hey way to make me feel loved dog! Then he was up and down all night.. driving me insane.. he just wouldn't go to sleep! Luckily Saturday was a little better.. even tho he did have a few moments where he would leave the room if I came in it.. but overall I think he loved me.. or at least I hope he did! Sunday was much the same as Saturday.. which consisted much of this..
Emma took the Monday off work to recover from her wild weekend and I made my first attempt at making Pumpkin Risotto.. which turned out ok.. I think I could have done better but it was a first attempt and I have never really been zen at anything rice.. I also whipped up a quick batch of Vanilla & Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Creamcheese Frosting! I especially took a bite out of this one this morning just so I could post this pic..I know I know.. the things I do for my blog.. such a hard life I lead! lol

I also tried my hand at making Carrot Soft Pretzels and they weren't too bad.. altho we didn't finish them but it was nice to eat a pretzel with no added sugar as the carrot made them just sweet enough! I was happy with the result and that is the main thing.. just wish that they had a longer shelf life...

Well I am back to the usual grind of things.. Nemo is on his spot on the couch all curled up in a blanket and Emma is of course back at work.. but at least it is a short week so the weekend will creep up quickly.. which means I have to gear up for the T&S concert.. hopefully we have some sort of plan of attack for that day.. before that day is upon us.

This is the Life!

Well Nemo's life anyways...

Cake & Cheeeeeese!

The weekend that was.. weather wise it wasn't too shabby but the darkness has really kicked in and it is now full of night time outside at 5pm.. maybe sooner but whenever I seem to notice it is really dark out and look at the time it is around 5pm.. and things go bump in the night!

We went foodage shopping at our usual time of 8am Saturday this week.. coz I never again want to venture off that path! Last week coz Em was home, we went shopping on the Friday and it was pure freaken chaos! People are just complete morons.. with or without the trolley! I even had one lady who I very kindly waited for.. so she could go past and then I could get thru... and instead of allowing it she parked her cart right by me and then walked off! *shakes head* some people!! and then that is not to mention the countless people who just cut you off and then go really freaken slow.. it stresses me out.. I want to get in and get out before the mass of morons come so from now on no matter what.. I am sticking to doing the weekly shop on Saturday mornings.. which isn't always free of morons.. but at least there are less. I was happy with shopping mainly coz we walked out of there with.. Julmust! One of my most favourite drinks here in swedeland.

Sunday was father's day so we headed over to the parentals for a feast.. roast chook! nom nom nom and I baked a cake.. Espresso cake with kahlua frosting.. could have done with more of a coffee flavour in the cake tho.. so if I even make it again I might just use instant coffee powder rather than fresh strong espresso from my machine.. but it was nice all the same.. coz the frosting was quite fab!Emma was being a smartass with the camera on Sunday and decided to really kick start my head/eyeache for the day and surprise me by taking a pic.. with the flash! Very funny.. but I paid for it all freaken day.. but still thinking about it now I giggle.. here is the outcome.. the photo she took that is.. not the outcome of my aches.. that is a little harder to illustrate.. altho I do still love the wiki pic.. it sure is brilliant! Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

Two Fat Ladies!

The first inkling of snow has begun.. it started yesterday with mini snow like balls hitting me in the eyes while out walking Nemo and Em said that there were actual snow flakes in Lund.. lucky some! but this morning it appears to have actually given a little snow.. the tops of cars and grassy areas are white while the roads and footpaths are just wet and prolly sludge like.. I haven't yet ventured out into that mess but my time will come.

I guess it really is winter and there is no escaping it.. sadly.

Speaking of winter.. we tried the new winter limited edition chocolate from marabou last night.. it personally was not to my liking.. but Em liked it a little. What's in this winter chocolate you ask.. well let me tell you! It is just a normal lush marabou chocoate bar with added spice extracts.. cardamom, clove, pepper, ginger, cinnamon and vanilla. I preferred the summer limited edition chocolate.. which I didn't like all that much but it just had dried strawberries in it and that was very manageable and didn't leave a lump in my throat.

Lately I have been watching 'Two Fat Ladies' .. now now get ya heads out of the gutters.. it is a cooking show which has two older ladies cooking things I wouldn't usually want to eat but they are highly entertaining, odd banter, breaking out into song and literary quotes. It is from 1997.. dark ages I know.. but they just have this fun about them that makes me want to tune in each night.. sometimes that's the best thing about swedish tv.. all the re-runs of shows.

Pumpkin Galore!

Here we are at the start of November.. and it started with a total yawn fest! I hope it doesn't mean that this is going to be as good as November gets.. oh wait I do actually have something to look forward to.. I am going to a Tegan and Sara concert.. on a cold night in Lund and probably surrounded by stupid teens who don't know how to behave in real life let alone at a concert.. yup I am really looking forward to it alright.. I just hope in the next 3 weeks I can force myself to like their new album so the night wont be a complete stresstest. Ok by 'look forward' I really didn't mean it and I am only going coz I am nice and agreed to go with Emma coz she wanted me to.. but the following weekend is my Sunday brunch and now that IS something I am looking forward to.. nom nom nom!

Speaking of nom.. I have pumpkin coming out of my ears! ok not really but we have soooo much pumpkin its seriously not funny! Emma went a little crazy with the buyage of pumpkins and now we have 6 double serves of pumpkin soup and 9 cans woth of puree in the freezer just asking to be baked with.. chocokin cake here we come.. or well as long as we can find people to help eat it that is! Pumpkin pumpkin everywhere! Even Nemo is gonna get pumpkin doggy treats for xmas.. which I might just have to try myself.. once I have made them that is. Any other pumpkin suggestions?

Emma and I completely forgot that Saturday was a 'public holiday' and off we toddled to town to do a spot of shopping.. I wanted to try and find some gloves for these cold cold days.. but alas sweet eff all was open.. it was o so sad! We headed over to the supermarket we don't usually go to coz there is a sports store where I have a voucher.. we took a chance and it didn't really pay off.. the sport store was closed so we decided to look in the supermarket for the sake of it.. and we came across nooodles! not 2min noodles or anything like that but noodles that came very close to udon.. in their vacuum sealed goodness.. so score! not a wasted trip after all.. we snapped up a packet to give them a go.. but nothing will ever compare to the little noodle shop that Em and I would frequent in Clayton.. all those years ago. Ahhh memories! So many good food memories from living in a land where it didn't cost the earth for simple pleasures.. but at least I cook and bake more now so that has to be good right?

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month, no returns!