For Crying Down the Kitchen Sink, from Go-Betty's Garden.

I have decided to add something into my blog. I have a rather large vegetable garden 7.5 metres by 2.5 metres and harvest from it all year round. As this provides rather more than two sometimes 4 require I either give away the excess, bottle it, pickle it, or jam it or swap it with someone for something I havent grown. When boredom of a particular vegetable sets in I go hunting for something interesting and different to do with it.

I have decided to share some of my recipes with anyone who reads this blog. I am not an accomplished cook by any means, in fact I am considered the worst cook in my family just ask the sisters, they laugh at my cooking.

Anyway this means the recipes are not going to be gourmet, they will be easy, quick and hopefully interesting.

Todays Recipes are dedicated to Keanie Beanie and her man and his pechant for growing the gorgeous courgette.

Zucchini Chocolate Brownie which is rather too yummy and never last more than a day at home, and a yummy easy Courgette Lasagne Bake that is oh so tasty and simple to make.

Ok so you are over run with courgettes/Zucchini's or you let a couple of them get too big. Easy turn them into something like these. (If they got too big chop out the part with the seeds though cause they can be tough)

Zucchini Chocolate Brownie
(I don’t use the walnuts, Ben doesn’t like it with nuts. I also mix it all in the kitchen whizz, it’s quick and easy and very moist)
Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups fine (castor) white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (Optional)

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

Try this warm with Vanilla Ice Cream....then add 20 mins to your exercise regime lol.

Creamy Courgette Lasagne.

(Even Ben who hates courgettes went back for seconds with this one)

Ingredients
· 9 dried lasagne sheets ( I use fresh Lasagne sheets)
· 1 tbsp sunflower oil
· 1 onion , finely chopped
· 700g courgettes (about 6), coarsely grated
· 2 garlic cloves , crushed
· 250g tub ricotta
· 50g cheddar
· 350g jar tomato sauce for pasta

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Put a pan of water on to boil, then cook the lasagne sheets for about 5 mins until softened, but not cooked through. Rinse in cold water, then drizzle with a little oil to stop them sticking together.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan, then fry the onion. After 3 mins, add the courgettes and garlic and continue to fry until the courgette has softened and turned bright green. Stir in 2/3 of both the ricotta and the cheddar, then season to taste. Heat the tomato sauce in the microwave for 2 mins on High until hot.
In a large baking dish, layer up the lasagne, starting with half the courgette mix, then pasta, then tomato sauce. Repeat, top with blobs of the remaining ricotta, then scatter with the rest of the cheddar. Bake on the top shelf for about 10 mins until the pasta is tender and the cheese is golden.

Ok so that's it for todays recipes.

Please try them and let me know how you get on.

Random bits of nothing much.

I have been swimming, yes it is winter over here but I joined a sports complex that has an indoor pool, gym, sauna, indoor tennis and squash courts. I love the water you see and find it incredibly therapeutic and relaxing, and its exercise I enjoy so I keep going back for more. I am currently swimming just under 1km a night.
One good thing is Benny joined with me and comes down in the evenings and swims with me and uses the gym as well. It's kinda nice my nearly 18yr old actually likes to hang out with me in the pool and talk about his day and whats going on in Ben's world. One special thing he shared that made me quietly proud of him was that he and his best mate Cam are going to help out at an after school programme for special needs kids on a friday afternoon.
Good on them I say, the kids will enjoy the older boys and its not many 17 year olds would give up friday afternoon to do something like this. Once more through these tumultous, terrifying teenager monstor years I am reminded that inside that little monster beats a good heart.

The pic is of my window in my office at work. My plants make a cheerful mid winter display I thought. My visitors seat is right beside a large window that the sunlight streams through when its out and I have been told its nice to sit there in the sun for a few minutes and listen to my radio. I would charge but what price a little peace and happiness in a rough day? It's nice they enjoy the ambience of my office lol. I am enjoying myself in my job its so nice to enjoy getting up and coming to work for a change.

The tree pic is the Ginko Tree outside my office window, all turned golden yellow and glowing. I took this pic two weeks ago so now the tree is a forlorn looking naked branchy thing now. Not nearly as appealing.

Dynamo Guy and I are going to Australia for a week in August for a bit of a break which will be very nice and I am looking forward to it and not being tempted by any of the sales over here so I have some spending money to take with me. I am hoping to catch up with some old friends from my childhood while over there so am really looking forward to that too.

And lastly I am going to start blogging some of my fav recipes as I harvest from my large vege garden over winter. They arent flash gourmet meals but more working mum quick, easy, tasy recipes with a few pickling and bottling and jamming recipes thrown in when I need to use the excess. So watch out for my first recipe .....a yummy moist chocolate zucchinni brownie....dangerously yummo!

Messing with Macros

http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca

I dont know if the button will work but here is my Macro shot.

Just snapped while trialling the work camera before my boss takes it to a conference this week.

The Orange flower is the Kanlankoe plant and the white one is a Cyclamen, They sit on my office windowsill.

Crisp and Crunchy Autumn and the Beauty of Youth.

I love Autumn, even though it is getting colder I love the fresh brisk mornings when the air smells clean and the dew is heavy on the lawn. This morning there was an amazing sunrise. Ok I know red in the morning is a shepherds warning so it means rain is on the way but it was gorgeous, the whole sky was this glorious mash up of orange and red and pink and bruisey purple. I stood on my back deck with my cup of tea and breathed in the cool fresh morning air and it made me feel so good and alive and grateful. I love the colours of autumn and this morning they seemed to be especially vivid the green grass was ludicrisly green and the colours coming through on the trees seemed to almost glow. Natures last big display before it rests for a while and sleeps.

On my drive home there is a spot where liquid ambers (trees) line both sides of the road and at the moment they are all colours of amber, red, rust and yellow. Every autumn I say to myself I must stop the car and take a picture of these trees because they are something I look forward to seeing on my drive home after work before it gets too dark. They are surrounded by paddocks and hills and they are a special spot that never fails to delight, even in spring when they sprout with all kinds of lime green of new spring growth. This year I might just take that photo.

In my new job I have my own office and I look out onto a grassy area of the faculty and there is a lovely big gingko tree with its fan shaped leaves just outside the window. It's kinda a nice view I think. I even like it at recess when the students are out lounging on the grass talking and throwing or kicking a ball around. It doesnt interupt the view it adds to it. Watching them laughing, talking, holding hands and enjoying their lives before the grind of the realities of adulthood set in makes me smile, they really havent a care in the world except their next assignment or exam and their friends.

Anyway above is a picture from my office window you can see the tree and the grassy knoll as I call it and the business faculty building. Every morning I come in and open my old window (the building is over 100 years old) and let the fresh morning air in for a while. We are not supposed to have windows open as they have started the boilers up to heat the classrooms and offices around campus but I hate stuffy rooms and I love fresh air so until I get growled at by faculty maintenance I will sneak a few hours of fresh autumn air while I can because soon enough the rain will be here and it will be too cold and wet to open windows and the view will change yet again. We dont get snow here in Auckland but I wish we did, imagine that view capped with snow, it would be so pretty. The only snow I see is the man made stuff when I go to the indoor skiiing and boarding place.

Anyway as you can probably tell I am in a great place right now and I really do appreciate what I have and that I am here to enjoy it, and that I have people to share it with.

Happy Autumn to all in the southern hemisphere and to the northerners happy spring time.

The Bright Side.

On the upside of life of which I seem to be right now, about bloody time too I feel, things are moving in a good direction. The carpet went down a couple of weeks ago but I was wallowing too much to enjoy it overly much at the time whereas now I enjoy walking on that ever so spongy soft warm stuff every night when I get home. The dogs love it so much they dont sleep in their beds they drag their blankets out onto the floor and sleep there.

The weather has turned disgusting, its wet and cold and although people told me that new carpet would make a difference to the warmth of my house I didnt think it would be so marked. Loving it!

The teenager who lives in my house is being sort of reasonable right now which is always pleasant.

Seriously anyone who has kids or teens should get the Nigel Latta books about raising kids and teens, amazingly insightful in the most hilariously funny way. I now understand my teen is just like mad uncle jack and that he's really literally not right in the head and that he has a half formed walnut type of brain. Even if you dont have kids get them and read them if only to make yourself laugh.

Osama Bin Laden is dead. You took my David so you deserved to die but I will not acknowledge your life by celebrating your death you were the worst of pond scum.

I have been offered a job as assistant to the Academic Director at the Institute where I am working, more money , more stability job wise, all good.

Still blissfully happy with the Dynamo Guy who is still being the best boyfriend ever. Whats that? Nearly 8 months already. Shesh time flies.

It seems the swing is coming around to the positive side of life again thankfully.

Without Dark there is no Light.

Life's ups and downs

Hopefully I will do a better job of staying on this side for a while yet.

Free to good, kind, tolerant, understanding home...

One 17.5 year old teenager
Male,
Unable to be housetrained
Lazy
Rude
Obnoxious
Disrespectful
Potty mouthed

Is physically fit and active but only when activity involves Football or Girls.
Unfortunately this particular edition lacks some of the better qualities that others editions seem to have.
I have no manual or operating instructions and have never been able to get this particular item to function satisfactorily hence the give away.

Comes with 3x5packs of 2 minute noodle snacks.

Is there a meaning to all this, what is the purpose?

I have struggled for the last couple of weeks, struggled to understand why things happen to the people they happen to. On tuesday the week before last a friend went out with a mate on an early, 5.30 am morning cycle ride. Less than 2 km from home he hit a rock lying on the road that in the just pre dawn light he didnt see. It threw him off his bike onto his head and he died almost but not quite instantly. He was 48, married with 3 teenage daughters whom he totally utterly adored and lived for. One of the best guys I have ever had the privilidge to know.
I have struggled with Tony's death, I have ranted and raved at the universe when there are so many other people that are a total waste of space why does a guy who loves his family, lives a simple life, loves the simple things and is loved by everyone, why was it his turn? What sense is there in that?

My son is 17, he has an 8 year old half brother whom he sees when he visits his dad every second weekend and in the holidays. Although there is an age gap Ben is very protective of his little brother.
Little brother's Mum doesnt live with the dad (my ex-husband) anymore, hasnt done for a number of years but the boys spend time together with their dad regularly and Ben has always got on ok with little brothers Mum. Ben is with this dad this week and little brother is there too. They took little brother home to his mum yesterday and now comes the sucky part......little brothers Mum has terminal cancer, her pancreas and spine, and at 47 has been told she has 12 months max. She is a single mum with an 8 year old boy. Where is the sense in that? What purpose is leaving that little 8 year old boy without a Mummy going to serve?

And so I question reason and sense right now and wonder if there is a god or a higher power and if they are so benevolent why dont they interfere with our lives occasionally so that these things dont happen to the people they shouldnt happen to?
I know this sort of thing happens to people all over the world every day, I understand that, I understand terrible things happen to the least deserving of it at times and I bet they question the sense of it too.