A Dusty Struggle and some Choc Fruit Squares

It has been a bit of a struggle finding things to cook for dinner out of my number 1 dusty cookbook.
Sooo much cream, sooo much butter and a few scary, heavy combo's that just scream heart attack!
Maybe a time warp back to 1984 in the heat of a West Australian summer wasn't such a great idea.
Still, we must plow on.
Whilst dinners have been a struggle, this book is very good for cakes & slices (which is not good for the self imposed post christmas, cake withdrawal programme - an attempt to fit back into clothes worn pre-christmas … which is sadly not working).
It has been far too hot here to bake anything but the kids and I have found a couple of no bake options to try.

A couple of important points before we continue:

I am not a food stylist
I am not even a great cook
I am good at eating
It is too freaking hot to do much at all

This is the first new recipe that we have tried out of 1984.

Sultanas are a fruit so these squares must be healthy, right??? - especially if you ignore the chocolate, biscuits and sugary condensed milk.

We made a couple of little changes:

No walnuts for us as my kids don't like nuts.

We substituted the sherry for orange juice and the dark choc for milk choc as that was all that was in the pantry.

It is really quite yummy.
Next time I would use a smaller tin to make it a little thicker and if the weather is cooler the chocolate on top may actually harden (although soft and gooey is quite delicious).
We will make this one again as it will make a nice treat in a lunch box.
So we'll call this a "Dusty Cookbook" success!

(not so good for the Cake Withdrawal Programme however ….)

Have you pulled out a Dusty Cookbook yet?

Jenny xx

The Year Of The Dusty Cookbook!

Now we could call this a "challenge" but I'm not one for too much pressure so lets just stick with what we have for now.

I have a few cookbooks …. 

no, that is an outright lie ….
I have a LOT of cookbooks.  

(this isn't all of them … )

I love them.  They make me feel good.

But I only use a few of them.

And some of them only get used for 1 or 2 recipes.

Shocking, I know!  These books sit on the shelf waiting …. patiently …. and maybe a little sadly …. hoping one day it might be their turn.

Meanwhile, as I ignore them, I whinge about preparing dinner and cook the same old things that will generally be eaten by most of the people that demand a feed in our house.  

I dread hearing that call every afternoon "what's for dinner?" from each child … even when they have heard me answer the previous sibling (perhaps it is a conspiracy to have me admitted ?!?!?) It drives me crackers!

I AM IN A FOOD RUT!

Is this happening at your place too??  

This is the "Year Of The Dusty Cookbook".

Why not join me - 

THE PLAN!

Yep, I was surprised too but there is a plan.

Each fortnight we choose a dusty book off the shelf (maybe your house is cleaner than mine but we'll use the term 'dusty' to describe books not often used, OK?), cook from it and share it on a blog or Facebook.
It doesn't have to be every meal or everyday (that would be madness) but a couple of newbies at least.

Tricky, eh? No rules, no pressure, no big commitment.  

Just use the books you have and share the journey.

And maybe we might find some new regular meals to feed our respective tribes along the way.

Why a fortnight? I thought it might be easier than weekly and I'm all for making things easy.  If this does prove to be simple then I might go weekly - lord knows I have enough cookbooks!

ARE YOU JOINING IN?

Go on it could be fun. 

Please leave me a comment so that I know you're in and then we can check on your progress too.

Year Of The Dusty Cookbook - Book 1

"The Australian Women's Weekly Original Cookbook" by Ellen Sinclair 1983

I am going back to the beginning - my first ever cookbook.  
I was still at high school and this was a christmas present from my parents in 1984.  I've made a few things from it over the years - mainly cakes and biscuits.  I currently use it for …. Vanilla Slice (I love a snot block!) and that is about it.
So, brace yourself kiddies, tease the fringe and grab the shoulder pads, we are about to go all retro….

Which book will you choose?
Do you have this one?
Cheers
Jenny x

Dear Blog,

Dear Blog
Hello it has been a while.
I am sorry I neglect you.
I think of you often but just can't seem to find the words…or the pics...
Our relationship is a funny thing.
It was full of bubbly, giggly love at first.
Over time (and I admit that I am at fault as I haven't put enough into our relationship) it has become tainted with a little guilt, pangs of anxiety and a lot of questioning about whether we should go on together.
After a lot of thinking, rather than pull the pin and part company maybe we should start again.

Hello my name is Jenny.

I sew a bit but tend to think more about it than do it at the moment.  Something I will try to change.
I live in Perth, Western Australia (yep, I know it used to be Melbourne - last year was a big year).
I have 3 kids - the biggest hits the teens this year, the middle plays the flute and the smallest still likes to hold my hand sometimes.
I've made a few quilts but don't have one on the go at the moment.  I'm thinking a queen size quilt for our bed with blue crosses on a white background ….  It is on my long to do list.
I am trying to teach myself to crochet.  It is a slow process but I have made some very handy dishcloths.  I tried a vest/cardigan thingy but even the Mr shook his head at that one when I finished.  It went back in the crochet bag to be dealt with later.  I didn't photograph it for you, blog, I was a little embarrassed and I didn't think you would be interested.

And that perhaps is my blogging stumbling point, dear blog, keeping you interesting.
Many things here just aren't.

What if we add something new?
Keep the crafty bits as that is what we do but add something else too.

SO dear blog I have a plan!
It involves food and cookbooks. 
I think it will be fun.  
I will explain more soon.

I will spend more time with you dear Blog and work on our relationship.
Thank you for being so patient and waiting for me.

Love
Jenny

Pleats & Tucks

I love a pleat and a tuck.
I haven't made one of these aprons for a while so am happy that this one is done and looks so lovely.
It is sitting in the shop for now … although I may just pinch it for myself.

Kiddie card making and peace in the house

Today I stood in the post office and looked at the pack of 50 cards for $4.95 and was very tempted.
What a simple easy way to cover off school kid christmas cards.
Yep, easy but just not quite right at this moment in time.

Instead I headed to Riot Art & Craft.
From some pre-packed blank cards, stamp pads, stamps & stickers we had almost 3 hours of squabble free time -PRICELESS!

They laughed, stamped, stuck stickers and - good grief - even shared.
I nearly passed out from shock!

But being a mature, modern woman I know that it was a temporary moment.
Normal squabbling progamming has been restored.
Aaahh the peace was so nice.

Positivity

Even the tiniest of good things is worthy of our attention.
There is always something positive in our day.
Some days we forget to notice them.
We can become drawn into the negative and lose sight of the good things around us.
Sometimes we just get lost.

This is when I need a gentle reminder to refocus.
Take time to enjoy the good things even if they are tiny.

In our house we have what we call our "positivity cushion"
 - a little hint that there are always positive things in our world … somedays you just have to look a little harder than others.
They are there and they are worth finding (even if it just laughing at the snoring dog at my feet or loving the fact that is Friday and is lounge room picnic & movie night).

This positivity cushion has just been finished for a lovely friend who is such a strong and positive woman that she doesn't really need it - she just liked the look of the cushion so we made one for her that is exactly the same as ours.

Hoping there are lots of positive things in your day too
Cheers
Jenny

A not so grand re-opening

It has been a very long time since my little Ohjoh shop has been open.
We've had much bigger fish to fry over here so it has been packed away for almost a year.
Today, however, (insert drumroll) … I've popped a couple of things back in the shop.
Just baby steps as there is still frying of a few fish in these parts.
More bits and pieces will be added over the next week so watch this space.
Hope you're all having a lovely week. xxx

'Tis The Season (almost)

It has been a long and tough year around these parts so we have made a unanimous family decision to start our festive bits early.
We're in need of some Christmas cheer.
Normally we wait until 1st December but not this year.
Our decorations and festive bits will be up and about tomorrow - yep, halfway through November.

Today I finished a Christmas Santa sack for a nephew which will soon be in the post.
Isn't Santa a clever old chap.  He remembers each family's particular tradition.
For us it is santa sacks at the end of the bed,
For others it is stockings in the lounge room,
For some it is wrapped gifts under a tree.
Friends of ours each have a Santa chair where Santa leaves unwrapped gifts for them.
I love the little family traditions that Christmas brings - it makes it even more special.

So tomorrow we will find the decorations (hopefully), dust them off and decide how we will decorate this different house in a different part of the country.
We'll smile at all of the handmade kinder decorations that are placed on the tree every year even though kinder was years ago.
We'll remember each decoration in the box.
The kids will know who bought what and when as each year they choose one new decoration to add to the mix.
We'll laugh at the fact that ours is not a coordinated, decorated or well designed christmas but rather a mismatch of every Christmas that we have had together.
And we like it that way.

I hope there is some cheer (be it Christmas or whatever else you celebrate at this time of the year) at your place too.

Cheers
Jenny x

Art

Did you see on the news that a work of art by Francis Bacon sold for more than US$142M?

Oooh that is a lot of money for a work of art.

So, thinking about art, I thought I would share what hangs on our walls.

Our resident artist, the 7yr old, likes to make the most of any spare hooks in our house - and being a rental there are lots.

New pieces are added all the time without fanfare.  They just appear.

She is also the curator and works are often moved or re-moved depending on her mood.  

But like any good gallery visitors are only allowed to look not touch!

Do you have art in your house or a resident artist?

Almost Vintage

Well, not really but it feels like it.
I started this dress 3 or maybe even 4 summers ago and never finished it.
I have started each summer season with good intentions.  I would do a little more and then get frustrated/disappointed with it and throw it back in the depths of a cupboard somewhere.

It hasn't been the pattern - it was fine.
I think it was the fabric and maybe the gathers not being it quite the right spot but being too lazy to unpick them and do it again.
And perhaps the fact that it doesn't quite fit like it would have when I started it - something to do with eating vast quantities of cake.

Today it has been finished.
Now it will hang in the wardrobe.
But it is finished.
And I expect in a long hot WA summer it will probably see the light of day and I will wonder why I took so long to finish it.

Do you have protects like this hidden at your place?