We have great friends......

We've been lucky enough to catch up with quite a few of our friends in the past couple of weeks.  We always look forward to the time that we spend with our friends.  It is all too easy to settle into our life at home and almost become anti-social!  We need friends to exchange and challenge our thoughts and ideas.  We have also become friends with a couple who have taught us to play Backgammon.  It is a game that I have always wanted to learn and so far Philip and I are loving it!

Last week we had lunch with one of Philips cousins and her husband.  They were holidaying in Port.  For 40 years I have been exchanging christmas cards with cousin Sandra without ever having met her.  It was strange meeting her after all these years but we got along like a "house on fire".

Peter, Sandra, myself and Philip

Last weekend we drove to Cairns to have a bbq dinner with another group of friends.  It's always great to catch up with this crowd.  The men all went to boarding school together, more than forty years ago, and us women just love getting together for a good old chin wag over a glass of wine!

Yesterday we had another friend and her kids come to visit us.  Katrina was Kurt's first "real" girlfriend and she has remained in contact with us all these years.  She and her husband are both specialists working at the Cairns Base Hospital and lead very busy lives.  They have four children with just 18 months separating them!  The kids could be a handful I'd imagine but thank goodness they have parents with great parenting skills and they are amazing kids.  They all introduced themselves to us.....even the youngest at just two and half years of age!  Unfortunately it was a wet miserable day but we did manage to find a mini break in the weather to take them for a drive around the property.  They loved to see the cattle, as most kids do when they visit.

Such a beautiful person inside and out.

Jackson and Hudson

I made fruit ice-creams that went down a treat with young and old

We've had the opportunity to eat out a couple of times over the past two weeks and we had the good.....

Scotch Eggs, Crispy Kale, Creamy Mushrooms and Bacon.  Breakfast at Coco Mojo Clifton Beach

and not so good......

And the winner of the worst burger ever......The "Donald Trump" Burger. It was about as good as it's namesake.....

Well that's a wrap folks.  Today is our 40th Wedding Anniversary and I will give you a full and thorough report on my next post.

xx Judi

Its all about the food this week.....

I've prepared and cooked some pretty interesting meals this week.  Some have been out of my comfort zone but everyone of them were so tasty and full of flavour that I just had to share.  But before I get into that I just want to point out something.
All of these recipes fall under the healthy eating  banner that include lots of nuts and grains and the use of good fats and oils.  But I just want to point out to my readers (all three of you!) that usually if the food falls under the "super food" category it is very high in calories.  Just for an example 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or olive oil is a staggering 120 calories.  Also seeds and nuts, although healthy, are extremely high in calories.
This will not worry a lot of you but for those wanting to watch their weight, MODERATION is the key with these recipes.  My husband and I fail miserably with this.  If it's in front of us we will eat it until we are almost bursting at the sides.  The way to overcome this is to plate up the meal rather than placing the dishes in front of you.
Now to the recipes.  The first one is Slow Roasted Shoulder of Lamb (recipe is HERE) with Maple Roasted Pumpkin and Freekeh Salad (recipe is HERE)

Remember, you will need to marinate your lamb the day before and it will definitely need the 5 hours of slow cooking.  The end result is well worth the preparation! The salad is straightforward although I didn't need to use all the dressing as it makes a large quantity.

The next recipe I want to share is Meatloaf in Smoky Tomato Sauce (the recipe is HERE).

It's very hard to take a photograph of meatloaf and make it look attractive but I can assure you that it is very full of flavour.  Do use smoked paprika because it is the flavour bomb.  I served it on a bed of pureed cauliflower but if you prefer mashed potato by all means go with that.

The next recipe was out of my comfort zone because I have not had much experience with cooking squid but as it turns out is quite easy!  This recipe is from Maggie Beers Recipe for Life cookbook.  If you don't have it I recommend you look for it at your favourite bookshop.  It is well worth it.

I had one extra squid tube so I cut it into triangles and scored it heavily in a criss cross shape.  I then tossed it in a bowl with salted rice flour and then heated up my wok with a good amount of rice bran oil and deep fried the calamari with one sliced chilli, one sliced red onion and a handful of basil leaves.  Yummm.

I also replaced the black barley with black rice as per Maggie's suggestion.  It was a lovely choice.  The whole dish was wholesome, extremely filling and very delicious.  Also, because I had half a pomegranate leftover I wacked those seeds over the salad.  

That's it for this week my friends.  Happy cooking!

A new pool amongst other things......

Back in November last year we started discussions with a local pool builder to build an infinity edge pool.  When I look back at those original plans I am dumb struck that we have changed the plans so much!  Originally it was an "unground" pool with an adjoining rotunda on one side and a pergola on the other.  It was such a simple plan....
Now we have decided to build a mirror image of the exisiting rotunda on the other corner of the house and have the pool "above ground" at verandah height!  It is such a big change from the original idea but it is going to look fantastic.  We have also bitten the bullet and decided to heat the pool so that we can use it year round.
So this week, four months after our first discussion, the pool building has commenced.  The contractor is now up to the cement pouring stage but I guess we will be guided by the weather as to when that will happen.  When the pool is complete the builder will come in and build the rotunda and butt it right up to the pools edge.

Measuring it out

Breaking ground

Form work commences

The tiles we have chosen for the infinity edge

Ready for the cement

I've had a nice week of impromptu surprises from my husband.  First was a trip to the Combined Club in Port for sundowners.  I love sitting on the deck and watching all the reef day trippers making their way back to the Marina. I counted eight different boat companies and this is not even the tourist season!

The next thing my husband surprised me with was lunch at Salsa Restaurant.  This is a locals favourite and has a well deserved reputation for the food that the chefs prepare.  We feasted on Duck Liver Pate and Cerviche for entree and for mains Slow Roasted Duck and Red Claw Linguine.  I declined dessert and opted for an Espresso Martini but Philip chose the Brûlée that was to die for....yes I snuck in a couple of spoonfuls!

Watermelon and Lynchee Margarita was my chosen Aperitif 

I surprised even myself on Friday evening by throwing together some "pot luck" ingredients to make up a delicious bruschetta to go with our sundowners (just me not Philip).  I tossed together some roasted tomatoes (freezer) with a small tin of tuna, capers, herbs, red wine vinegar and a little lemon zest.  Yummo.  The bread I used was a sourdough loaf that I had made a couple of days ago. 

And before I sign off, can we please talk about this mornings sunrise.  It was fabulous and I dearly wish that I was walking along the beach to experience it's beauty.  

I love where I live.