Ow ow ow.... not bees, but baby....

Hmmm - 6 odd weeks to go, and gosh, I've already got an intimate relationship with Panadol going... How will I cope if I go over term (as is statistically likely)? Oh the joy of getting up 6 odd times a night (already... I thought that wasn't supposed to happen until after the birth) and having wee Bubba A regularly punching my left kidney and using my cervix and nearby organs as some kind of trampoline.

Despite being so uncomfortable, I still managed to find the energy to go slightly crazy in the weekend and decide that the washing machine needed to be thoroughly washed (including removal of the agitator and scrubbing of all the greasy crud underneath with a toothbrush). I even got excited about the geranium at the front door and spent some time this evening (ooo it has been so lovely and balmy here in Dunedin over the past few days) pruning it carefully. It is strange, going from moments when you almost totally forget that you are pregnant, to ones when you can barely move, to having your insides treated like the unlucky player at the bottom of the ruck. Perhaps this is what allows women to feel prepared for labour (light at the end of the tunnel and all that)?

Excitement tonight when I went to take a look at a blog I regularly peruse, Frugal Me to find a somewhat lengthy comment I posted a few nights ago had been featured on the blog! Hee hee, how nice!

Anyhoo, here's the latest photo, as well as a piccie of the lovely cake Mandy made for my baby shower. 33 weeks....

Hat

Hat
Originally uploaded by mellopuffy

I've been getting this impulse to do something with my hands. That, and the request that we take along something special that we have bought/been given/planned to the final antenatal class had me looking through my copy of Stitch n' Bitch to find something that I could have a go at knitting. This wee hat popped out (easy, cute, etc.) as an idea, so off I trotted to the knitting store to buy circular needles etc.

So here it is - my first attempt at knitting in ummmmm 15 years? It took far less time than I thought it would. Seeing as there seems to be a lot of people in my family alone that are popping out sproglets, I think I might be able to keep myself busy for the next wee while.

9 weeks to go today. I'm feeling BIG (more photos to come soon) and quite a few of the preggie clothes that I have been wearing for the past 14 weeks or so are even beginning to get tight! Went up to my parents place in the weekend as Mum organised a baby shower for us. A really lovely chance to see family. And mum ordered yummy cookies and cupcakes for the party which was awesome (I'm such a cupcake fiend!). One of our oldest family friends confided that in all her years, she had never actually been to a baby shower before! Everyone was really generous, which is such a great help (even using trade me, getting the basics is pretty expensive... though I must admit I am a sucker for slings etc in pretty fabrics).

My cousin N had her first baby in the weekend (on the other side of the world from here...). I got a few texts as her labour progressed (fantastically, she managed a 10 minute second stage of labour - I should be so lucky!), and then finally, a really neat message after she had taken her new baby girl, Emily, home, about how amazing she is.... I'm coming over all emotional now!

But seriously, the enormity of it all is beginning to sink in. I'm impatient to see what our little person is going to be and look like, but at the same time I guess a bit apprehensive about how things are going to go for the rest of the pregnancy and of course, during the labour. Our ante-natal classes are finished, and we're now seeing the midwife fortnightly. Baby A is apparently already standing on its head which is good. I like the feeling of knowing what it is that is actually poking and prodding me from the inside (I know where the legs and arms are now). So wish me luck!

Christchurch and Cupcakes!

I'm off to Chch tomorrow  - will be nice to visit the whanau and am taking the opportunity to catch up with a few friends. AAANNNNNDDD I get to go visit this nice shop.

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Moroccan Roasted Pumpkin and Red Pepper Soup

A really easy pumpkin soup I whipped up tonight. Takes just over an hour from start to finish :)

• Half a pumpkin, deseeded and chopped into really large chunks
• 4 medium size red peppers
• Olive oil
• Onion, chopped
  
• Garlic, chopped
  
• Approx 500ml Chicken or Vege stock (don't use powdered stock - it is too salty)
  
• Can of Moroccan Spiced (or Indian Spiced - its up to you) Tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 180-200C. Put the pumpkin (skin at the bottom) and red peppers into a baking tray. Brush the pumpkin with olive oil. Put the tray into the oven and roast until the peppers are blackened and the pumpkin is nicely browned and cooked through (about 30 min). Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover with gladwrap. Once they are collapsed, remove the skins, stalks and seeds (keep the juices that come out of the peppers - you'll add it to the soup too)
Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Saute the chopped onion and garlic until transparent. Remove the skin from the roasted pumpkin and add to the saucepan. Add the tomatoes and the stock and bring to a gentle boil. Add the red peppers and their juices and heat through for another few minutes.
Take soup off element and check for seasoning. Use a stick blender to smooth the soup out a bit (leave some chunks). Serve in big bowls with nice chunky fresh or garlic bread on the side. Yummy!

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Christmas Meme

Xmascroissant
Originally uploaded by mellopuffy

Is anyone else depressed by the seeming inevitability of Benazir Bhutto's assassination?

That, and what with Martha tagging everyone with a new meme, I've been forced to post a little earlier than I intended during our holiday.

So here we go: What I ate on Christmas day. And if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged as well ;)


Breakfast: Croissant from Ma and Pa's local artisan bakery, Le Pique Nique (spelling?), filled with ham, tomato and Whitestone Mt Domet brie. Glass of bubbles. Mmmm coffee...

Morning tea/nibblies: Aunty Adrienne's apricot truffles and christmas sweets, as well as some fresh cherries.

Lunch: Starter of garlic prawns and whitebait fritters *YUM*. B and Uncle Ray did a swap as B doesn't like whitebait (the eyes! the guts!) and Ray doesn't like prawns (fancy muck!). Roast turkey, new potatoes (both boiled and baked), kumara, roasted carrots, fresh peas, steamed cabbage, asparagus, yummy gravy. More bubbles(French even!) and then some sav blanc. Some time later.... Aunty Adrienne's christmas pudding (made to my grandmother's recipe) with cream. Then off for a nana nap.

Dinner: Baked ham with honey, marmalade and mustard glaze, in ciabatta baps, eaten in front of 'The Notebook' (warning! Grade 1 weepy!), then onto 'Outrageous Fortune - The Movie'. Not having followed this fab programme myself before now, I was not in the least confused by the apparent resurrection from the dead of Aurora (and I had looked at the programme listing beforehand and knew that this special comes in at the end of the 2nd series). But seriously folks - I love this show! I might have to borrow series 1, 2 and 3 next time there is some bad weather and spend a day on the couch catching up with the Wests. And Cheryl/Robyn - is - so - hot - ! Also started watching 'An Officer and a Gentleman' but was too tired and headed off to bed sometime after the motel scene. Looked up the remainder of the plot on Wiki the next day (I know - BAD girl - just couldn't be bothered...).

Christmas this year has been lovely - lots of catching up with old friends and all the family has been around for the first time in ages - so Xmas Day was a lovely relaxing affair. And unlike the rest of the country, Christchurch had fine weather all day and only had the bad weather overnight...though I must say my sleep has been a bit crap what with the drinking combined with the overnight muggy head...arghhh. And today I officially have the sorest arms and neck in creation owing to the purchase of the new Wii game - Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 - which involved me and Phil dancing round the living room like demented barrel 'o' monkeys.

So seasons greetings to you all, hope you have all been able to spend time with family or friends over this past week and hope the New Year brings good things aplenty as well...

-Mel

Curry night - wotcha!

So on Saturday night we headed to Chris and Debbie's for a curry night, along with Greg and Amy and baby Lucy. Chris and Debbie, from England, share our appreciation of curry, so on a previous get together the idea of having a curry night was floated and we arranged to squeeze it in before Christmas. (Note to self - do not attempt to make lemon curd prior to the 3 curries that you have planned when you have to go to work as well). The night was a real success, not least because Chris and Debbie take their curries seriously and we had a real selection to choose from... Greg and Amy contributed a surprisingly mild Lamb Vindaloo (previous experience with a Korma Masala mix from the same producer led to some restraint being shown with the spice mix), Chris and Debbie did Kerala Lamb and a Tomato, Spinach, Chickpea and Egg dish (the eggs were cracked into and 'poached' in the curry). We contributed a Rajma (Red Kidney Bean stew), Sag (Seasoned Pureed Greens), Simla Mirch Aur Gaajar Ki Sabji (Carrots in Bell Pepper sauce), and Naan. I also made a cucumber Raita and got hold of some Mango Chutney and Lime Pickle (mmmmmmmm). Our curries were made following recipes from 'Amma's Kitchen' which I picked up years ago but haven't had the opportunity to use yet. The cookbook is good as it was put together and printed in New Zealand, and all the ingredients used can be found here. Phil made the Naan using a recipe from Sophie Gray's 'Destitute Gourmet - more stunning food from small change' cookbook, which I cannot recommend more highly for home cooking on a limited budget.
Here's a shot of the aftermath:


We didn't make it home until 2ish..sooo glad I didn't get the 6am wake up call from work the next day *grin*

- Mel

Surprisingly tasty

Following my induction into the delights of SaveMart, I went shopping the other day at the local asian supermarket with Summer. She picked up these vege treats to try and couldn't help a giggle at the promotional blurb on the packaging: they did taste good - will get some myself next visit...

Lemon curd

Lemon curd
Originally uploaded by mellopuffy

Here's a piccie of the lemon curd I made this weekend with Sue's lovely lemons (golly I love homegrown lemons - makes the anaemic lemons from the supermarket look verily poor): very easy to make using the Jo Seagar recipe (which is very similar to the Edmonds lemon honey recipe but with a little less butter), but a word of warning - it will take you a good hour to an hour and a half as you have to bring the mixture to the heat quite slowly.

you need:
4 large lemons
100g butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten

Scrub and grate the rind of the lemons, then squeeze the juice. Put the strained juice plus the lemon rind into a small saucepan (I recommend one with a pouring lip). Add the butter in wee cubes, the sugar and finally the eggs, and stir together. Heat gently over a low heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens (this will take a long time), then pour into hot sterilized jars. Allow to cool, put the lids and store in the fridge until needed (ie on your toast, or perhaps some yummy tarts or even a lemon meringue pie). Its quite important not to heat this up too quickly as then the eggs will curdle and you will have sweet lemony scrambled eggs! When the butter is melting into the mixture it does take on a strange slightly eggy look but don't worry - keep stirring and eventually the butter will melt entirely into the mix.

PS to sterilize your glass jars - heat with lids in 120C oven for 30 min or boil in water on your stove for 15 min.

Garden

Garden mosaic
Originally uploaded by mellopuffy

Egg & Bacon Pie, Salad (with radishes)

Tonight, after a long day that began at 6.30am with the shrilling of the telephone (work asking me to go in), I made Egg & Bacon Pie - 1) because its easy and 2) they served it for lunch at the hospital today so I had a hankering for it. Remarkable too, because I managed to function through a full 8 hour shift with only 3 1/2 hours sleep (we went to Phil's work Christmas party last night and got to bed at 3am), then come home and collect myself sufficiently to make this:


You probably can't see it in this photo but in the salad (2 types of lettuce, rocket and coriander) we also had these babies:

The first radishes from our garden! I think that these are Pink Beauties. They were lovely and sweet....


Finally, the salad, following our decimation: