Red hot summer on it’s way

We had a short visit to the city on the weekend. Mr FH’s mate was having a dinner at the casino to celebrate his 60th birthday and we had the pleasure of attending. It was so lovely to have the opportunity to dress up a little. I took these photos (on my phone, after a few champagnes!!) of our meals. Mr FH had the Black Angus steak with mushroom ravioli and I had the barramundi (the safest option I thought seeing I still have only a temporary front tooth!!) and it was beautiful. I forgot to take snaps of the entree – Mr FH had pumpkin soup and I had spinach tortellini – yummy…..I love Italian food!! Our dessert was a cherry ripe cheesecake. We had such a fun night and didn’t get to bed until nearly 3. These late night take a little more getting over than they used to!!!



While in the city I made a quick trip to Target as our second little granddaughter turns 2 on Friday and I just wanted some extras to go with her birthday present. I quickly was drawn to the homewares department and was so taken by the great display of picnic ware and china they have ready for summer entertaining.  Not long now and we will be enjoying lots of outdoor wining and dining!! I have never liked summer too much until we bought the beachhouse and now I really enjoy it. With our pool at the back and the beach at the front of the house life is pretty good. Much nicer than the long hot days on the farm where the risk of fire is always on my mind.










I really love the white china with the hearts!!!! The blue and green glasses are just gorgeous- all melamine so perfect for using near the pool. How good would these last plates in the black and orange be for a Halloween table!!!
Have a lovely week. I have all of my grandies coming to stay this week….not all at once thankfully so life will be busy!

Suzy

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Lemoncello

We have had a couple of sunny days now that spring is here - more rain is needed but I'm loving the warmer days.  I had quite a bit of gardening to catch up on (you know, those pots that come home from the nursery and get watered every now and again!!) so today was the day. After I was finished (that's me finished, not the garden!!) I decided it was time for some light refreshments.

 Have you ever had Lemoncello???  You don't know what you are missing...

I have this beautiful shrub in the corner of the garden (I can't remember it's name) which is flowering madly so I cut off some branches and placed them in this green water pitcher.

Some tangy cheese - this is called Trilogy (it has Summer Herbs, Vintage Cheddar and Sun-dried Tomatoes) along with some crackers and some Pear Paste make quite a tasting plate.

Yum, how good does this look...

And now for the lemoncello. I made it a while ago and have had it in the fridge. I made the label for the bottle on the computer just to jazz things up a little.

As you can see the sun is starting to peek through to warm things up a little.

I love purple and green together and when I saw these pretty glasses at Ikea I just had to bring them home with me.

Please join me for a small drink in the sunshine. I usually add soda water to a small nip of Lemoncello to make a really refreshing long drink.

LEMONCELLO

Peel 8 lemons and infuse peel with 1 ltr of Vodka or Gin (I left mine for about 48 hrs).

Boil together 1 ltr water and 1 kg sugar for 2 minutes.

Strain off lemons and mix liquids together when cool.

Enjoy

Suzy

I'm joining TablescapeThursday@BetweenNapsonthePorch and

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Sunday morning breakfast

Finally after a couple of months getting our beach house organised for us to just go and relax in Mr FH and I were able to start to be holiday-makers last weekend. Trust me I have really enjoyed getting furniture and decorating but now is the time to sit back and enjoy. Last Sunday morning the weather was great so we decided to go to a great little cafe called MOKA - isn't that a great name? - for breakfast.

 How cool is this?  Can you see the refection in the glass??

Could I tempt you with a hot chocolate?

Or how about a steaming flat white? You can see in the background Mr FH is checking the footy results in the paper!!

 Yummy, yummy bacon and eggs with tomato on the side...one of my favourite meals.

This is the view looking out the door from where we were seated......doesn't look much like winter does it?

 I wish I could say that they were our bikes but no we arrived another way..

I wish I could say that we came on one of these too but no.. we came in our trusty farm ute (a small truck) as we had furniture to move.  Never mind I can dream. 

Have a lovely weekend,

Suzy

PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

 

I'm joining Foodie Friday with this post.

Sweet Chilli Chicken

Now that the days are getting shorter and the weather colder I have pulled out my favourite appliance - the slow cooker!! For a girl who isn't that fond of cooking (I only cook cos I like to eat!) this is the best invention ever. Yesterday I worked an extra day so before I went in the morning I prepared (only takes a minute) dinner for last night.

I love coming home from work and opening the door and I can smell my dinner cooking. It gives me time for a quick visit to blogland before dinner needs to be served.

This is my Sweet Chilli Chicken (actually not mine, I got it out of a recipe book but I feel it's mine because I have shared it sooo much with friends and family).

You can't get any easier than this........

SWEET CHILLI CHICKEN

8 chicken legs - roll these in flour and place in slow cooker.

Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of tomato sauce

2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce

2 tablespoons of apricot jam

Put the lid on and cook for 6-7 hours on low.

Stir occasionally.

(I sometimes thicken mine a bit with cornflour and water if it's too juicy but it needs quite a bit of juice to soak into the rice.)

Serve on a bed of rice.

DELICIOUS

Once you have made this it will become a family favourite.

Suzy

I'm joining Foodie Friday with this recipe.
and Show & Tell @MyRomanticHome