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Friday, January 18, 2013

Pabs is here!!

With the impending arrival of baby Ginige the influx of family has started.
Pabs the prodigal aunt has arrived, in fact she's been here nearly a week. We've spent the week eating and checking out the sights of Bellevue. The weather has been marvellous! Blue skies, crisp air and not a spot of rain.

A beautiful Washington day

Even with amazing weather, Pabs is still averse to a short afternoon stroll

On the weekend we took Pabs to our favourite food haunts in Bellevue, the famous Blazing Bagels; best bagels this side of New York. Then we took Pabs to Whole Foods and I think she's found a second home. Despite the extortionate prices, the range is probably the best in terms of fresh food that you can find. They also have a proper butcher with meat, not shrink-wrapped. It's kind of refreshing.

We finished the night off at the Crab Pot where we ate our weight in crabs and still had more to bring home. Since becoming adults, the actual "when" this happened is up for debate,  Pabs and I decided that we no longer needed to do presents and instead we share a nice meal out. Something we both enjoy doing. We really did try to take Pabs somewhere classy but we mentioned Crab and I think she went deaf on all other suggestions! Having said that, I've been here three times and even though it's kitsch and they give you bibs....love this place! So from Manly Pavillion last year to the Crab Pot this year.....hmmm











On Sunday we got up nice and lazily and took a trip to Red Mill Burgers...Pabs it seems, had a craving for an amazing burger. We arrived at 11, hoping to get in early but alas we were foiled. Red Mill doesn't open till noon. We stepped inside the ubiquitous Starbucks nearby and enjoyed a drink before hitting the burger joint. It was just as amazing as I remembered! Yummmo

Food first
Rose joined us for our burger venture





We've spent this week driving around, we got Mani-pedis on Monday at the local nail place. The shop was run by a man and since we overwhelmed him by providing the custom of 2 women, he had to call his wife in to help. I've got bright blue toe-nails to welcome Baby Ginige into the world.
Apologies for the fat swollen feet!


Pabs got to experience the wonder that is Walmart, the shop that sells everything. In search of awesome winter boots that she can travel with, we discovered that some our fashion sense was just not up to scratch. Apparently this isn't what we should be wearing;


Sensible Timbaland boots aka...not fashionable


This is;

Silver, platform boots with  fleece lining. Only $17 and
can double as a high vis wear too.



We did the same on Tuesday, but met some friends for lunch at the French Bakery to enjoy pastries and proper coffee. You wouldn't think the home of Starbucks would have such a hard time producing REAL coffee....but alas...it's true.


Wednesday was a long day of shopping in between meeting Nuwan at work so Pabs could experience Microsoft and more importantly the Microsoft cafeteria. Actually it was a day of Microsoft with a trip to the Microsoft store as well.
Now that is someone excited about being at the Microsoft stor


We originally planned to watch Les Mis but a quick regroup at lunch and we concluded that we had not finished our shopping.  This is a conclusion women often come to I think....besides Bellevue square is huge and Pabs was lumbered with an extremely pregnant woman who needed to sit down often. Pabs bought up the place, I just bought some lippy.

Now we wait, Ammi gets here tomorrow so we're hoping that that's what Baby has been waiting for.  Come on Baby Ginige, it's time to come out!









Dukkah



We haven't been able to find this middle-eastern spice mix anywhere in Seattle, in fact we've barely seen a middle eastern restaurant!

I did a bit of research and settled on this recipe because it had all the bits and pieces i liked.



1 cup of almonds (roasted in the oven 5-7 minutes at about 180c)
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
I table spoon each of coriander and cumin dry roasted in a pan
Salt and chilli to taste





Once gathered and roasted I tipped the spies into my  my food processer and let it do it's magic. Once the spices are ground (use a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder if you want it really finely ground) add the almonds and pulse. I've found if you add the almonds too soon and keep processing you'll get dukkah flavoured almond butter....tasty but not quite what we're after. The almonds also left some bigger parts but again, I'm all for the texture.



Serve with warm crusty bread and olive oil....delish!

This is also my favourite way to serve lamb, I cover the joint in oil, stud it with garlic and cover liberally with dukkah. It smells amazing as it  roasts in the oven.


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Birthday, New Years and Baby Shower


Phew, a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. December/ January is always a  busy time for us but sometimes how much can happen with a baby on the way is still surprising.
The weather is still chilly, most days the frost we wake up to doesn't even melt. The last three days we've had beautiful sunshine but still below zero temps. We also suspect that the ambient temperature dial on the big Mazda is dodgy, it keeps telling us it's about 5 degrees when Nuwan and I are both certain it's freezing.

Birthday
My birthday being on the 31st has always been fun but challenging, people are always super busy. Nuwan and I celebrated by venturing to our favourite bagel spot and having our favourite bagels. I'd bought my presents before-hand, treating myself to a sewing machine, books and clothes. Nuwan surprised me on the day with an amazing Nappy Bag as well....it'll take a while to come in but can't wait till it does!


 This year, being potentially the last I will have to celebrate myself, I decided to have a little afternoon tea. I doubted I'd have the energy to do a full meal.

We had a few friends join us for some food, cake, wine and of course hot chocolate. I got some lovely presents

Made myself a birthday cake :)












New Years
We spent New Years with some friends who live close by. They made an amazingly delicious dinner of brined and slow cooked chicken, scalloped potatoes and salad! We rang the new year in with water (me) and very strong vodka (Nuwan).

This year is certainly going to be one for ages. I mean, 2012 was crazy enough but 2013 only promises to be more insane.

Sushi, slides and BLT dip

Dinner


Ryan and Nellie



Eclairs

Pavlova....how traditional

Add caption




Baby Shower

So I protested to my Seattle friends that one baby shower is normally enough for a person. I was told, quite firmly, that I really have no choice in the matter and where did I get the impression that it was about me?

Thus, it was, that I was asked to come to Rose's on the second day of the new year to celebrate Baby Ginige's baby shower number 2.

Rose and Nat had gone to town decorating the flat and Rose had laid a beautiful table with blue for the baby and red accents for moi.

We had a delicious soup for lunch and peach pudding for dessert, not to mention a little sparkly.

I got to open presents all over again, they were fantastic!


















My new baby carrier...it's red!



Another nappy bag...and this one's red







Thanks for coming Gill


Friday, January 4, 2013

Masala Chai Mix

I was wracking the old brain to try and think of something to give the lovely ladies at my second baby shower. Pabs, I guess this means I owe you a present or two ;).
While at the appropriately named Whole pay-packet (otherwise known as Whole foods) I saw some re-usable tea-bags. Something I'd never seen before. It occurred to me then that maybe I should give the lovely ladies some tea. Something that reminded them of me.

I scoured a number of places for recipes and in the end, tweaked a few to  make my own. I then made my own and finally asked my dear husband to try it as black tea is on my list of no-nos.

Ingredients


- 125g of good quality loose leaf black tea (we used Dilmah - a ceylon orange pekoe)
- 3 tablespoons cloves
- 4 sticks of cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons of cardamon pods crushed
- 1 teaspoon of peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon of nutmeg (ground)
- 150 g of crystallised ginger



Preheat oven to 140 celsius or 120 fan forced.

Crush the cinnamon sticks and cardoman pods in a mortar and pestle.



Place cinnamon, cardoman, cloves and pepper in a baking tray roast in a the oven  for 5 minutes until
fragrant. Trust me you'll know when the time is right, the whole house will smell like masala chai.



Place the black tea in a small bowl, along with the crystalised ginger (chop into small pieces if they are big like mine) and nutmeg.


Let the spices cool briefly and mix with the tea. Make sure there is an even distribution.



I bottled these for friends and added the following 'brewing instructions for one' from thekitchn.







Brewing Instructions
tea for one



1 cup of water
1/2 cup of milk
1 tablespoon of Chai Mix placed into a tea bag
Sugar or honey to taste

Bring the water to a boil and add the teabag. Turn off the heat and let steep for about 5 minutes. Add the milk, turn on the flame and reheat until hot. Remove from heat, discard teabag, sweeten to taste, enjoy!




I should add that the best way to store tea is away from light and, while pretty, if you plan on keeping the chai for a long time I'd invest in some dark or opaque tins to keep the light out and the tea fresh.