Fathers day and crafting

We had a lovely afternoon yesterday with James and Emma and a couple of James' friends, Josh and Jamie. Roast for dinner and some special cupcakes I made. My fancy icing attempt; I know, bad isn't it. Just can't keep a straight line lol. Still tasted good. I used my banana cake mixture and put in individual cups instead of in the big baking tin. Turned out great. Yum!!

Gardening - made a new garden the other day with a cute dangly banner thing to keep the birds away hopefully. It has broccoli, lettuce and silverbeet at this stage and herbs that were already there. And the markers I made from old spoons. Idea from Pinterest.

Been making molds for resin. What do you think this is, there's a hint at the top right of the photo. I'll show you tomorrow when I unmold it :)

Go away wind!!

It has gotten very windy today.
We have a busy month coming up with the Hyundai Tour Longboard competition coming to the Port Waikato 2nd and 3rd March. It is the final event of the tour and has been held in Port Waikato for the last few years. ALWAYS a good weekend ending with a fantastic party with an awesome band. Looking forward to this years. So we are fully booked in the cabins and units, just tent sites left for that weekend.

source

Then some group bookings after that scattered over the month, busy, busy busy.
And in between all that is Robs 50th.

Managed to squeeze in making some homemade tomato sauce today. YUMMO! Easy peasy to make too.

(I only had 2.5 kilos of tomatoes so I halved this recipe)
Bright Red Tomato Sauce
5 kilos tomatoes
1.3 kg brown sugar
6 tbsp salt
3 tsp ground allspice
300ml vinegar

Wash and cut up tomatoes. Put all ingredients in a pot and boil for approx 3 hours. Stir frequently. When cooked put through colander in small amounts, rubbing through till you only have the skins left. Pour into bottles that have been washed and heated. Enjoy!

Homemade Bean Salad

Bean Salad
1 tin of 4 Bean Mix (rinse)
Big handful of fresh Beans
1 Green Capsicum
Lots of fresh parsley, herbs e.g. coriander

Toss with French dressing. This time I used a new one I found at the supermarket - Eta Caramelised Onion Dressing, it was so yum!!

Another Yummy Salad

Brown Rice and Chickpea Salad

2 cups brown rice cooked
2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
2 carrots grated
2 courgettes grated
2 tomatoes diced
1 red onion diced
1/2 cup parsley chopped

Dressing
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli flakes or powder
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar

Mix dressing ingredients together. Combine salad ingredients. Add dressing to salad and gently combine.

YUM!!

Work, work, work

Work today. Preparing for another busy weekend in Campland being Waitangi Weekend. Last weekend (Auckland Anniversary Weekend) was the busiest since we've been managing the Park at the beginning of September. We were chocca full. Was great but busy. Managed to get to the beach for a couple of hours yesterday on our day off, got a little sunburnt which is unusual for me at this time of year, that usually happens at the start of summer, but hey we haven't really had a summer.
Made this yummy salad the other day. Thought it was worth sharing.

The Best Lentil Salad, Ever

Here is the recipe I found on Pinterest
It is really good. I think the dressing makes it. Has a middle eastern taste. Yum. This is how mine turned out. My ingredients other than the dressing were:
Black Lentils (from Moshims)
Red onion
Dried Cranberries
Capers
Pinenuts
Feta Cheese
Parsley and other fresh herbs from my garden

I think that was it but you can add what you like.

Birthday Month Day 15

Isn't it gorgeous. Looks old school but it's brand new from Stevens. Love that shop, has so many cool gift ideas.
Photo's a bit awful, left it too late in the day.

Just wanted to share a FISH LAKSA recipe I made yesterday. We've been getting so much fish lately, I wanted to try different ways of having it. I found some ideas on Pinterest and then made up a concoction of my own. And I have to say it was very successful. Here it is.

FISH LAKSA

Ingredients:
approx 1/2 tsp fresh ginger chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 a red onion chopped
stem of lemongrass, the white part crushed and chopped up
Peanut oil
2 dsp Curry Paste (I used red but you could use green)
3 cups boiling water
2 tsp chicken stock
Green veges
Fresh coriander
Tin of coconut cream
Fish
s & p
Noodles

Cook ginger, garlic, red onion and lemongrass in peanut oil till soft. Add curry paste and cook 30 secs. Add boiling water, chicken stock, green veges and fresh coriander. Cook 5 mins.
Add tin of coconut cream, cubed fish and s & p.
Cook till fish is cooked through. Add prawns if desired.
Serve over cooked noodles in a bowl.