The Party

Elle was home from boarding school for the weekend. When I say the 'weekend' it was pretty much a week. I wish I had the same ability as her school to condense time! A weekend to me is two days. Six is pretty much a week. But hey, that's private school for you - the more you pay the less you get.

And why were they on a 'break'? That's right - The Melbourne Cup. The only place in the world, I hedge to bet, that has a public holiday on a Tuesday for a horse race. I did think it was pretty funny when the news talked about the bemused tourists never seeing anything like The Cup parade through the city, etc. What about the parade we have for the football grand final? Or Moomba? Or even how everyone goes nuts about the Australian Open - also here in Melbourne. Seriously, sport is our religion.

But back to Elle.

She asked if she and her friend could go to a party on Friday night. It was supervised, there was security and it was $5 to get in. Sounded perfectly legitimate to me. What they didn't realise was that the hosting hall wasn't in neighbouring South Yarra, but way out in Burwood. Never mind, I said, sounds fine - I'll drive you there and pick you up.

As we arrived, there were young men in hi-viz vests with night wands directing parents to the drop off point, which was all very reassuring.

The girls were very excited and said they'd text me with the pick up time.

So weren't they surprised when half way through the party, the lights were turned on, the music turned off and they were all asked to sit down on the floor and let Jesus into their hearts. Laugh!!!

In addition, they told me that during the dance, the night wands were also used to tap kissing couples on the shoulder to 'cut that out - it's offensive to others' and even those who were dancing too closely got the tap. I loved this party!

In fact having got the debrief, I have promised Elle and any of her friends that I am willing to drive them anywhere to go to more of those parties!!

The night wand - used for directing traffic and keeping teens apart!!

Paella

We had a few friends and kids over for lunch yesterday so I thought a paella would be a crowd pleaser - and it was.

There were 13 of us in total and naturally I made enough for about 23 which was fine because every one also got a take home pack and it's not bad microwaved. 

My paella pan is probably just big enough for 8-10 so I hatched the cunning plan of using my roasting pans on the barbecue, as they're the same enamel as the pan so figured that would work. I mentioned the barbecue when I was talking on the phone to Mum and she asked me if it would all fall through the grill - seriously. She also enquired if I was going to have a test run - ha! You'd think she'd know how I roll by now. Of course I'm not doing a test run, who's got time for that - and I like to live on the edge. Remember when I set fire to the rotisserie? See, that wouldn't have happened if I'd had a test run, and where's the fun in that??

Anyhoo - back to the paella. Here's what I did (I've halved the recipe but this would still feed a crowd of 10 or so)

In a large pot, heat 2.5 litres of liquid - exact mix doesn't matter that much

• 1.75 litres chicken stock
• 250ml white wine/champagne - whatever's in the fridge
• 500ml crab stock*
• a few strands of saffron (it's also mega expensive and I'm not sure it does make a huge difference so let's call that optional)

*I reckon the secret to why this paella is so good is the crab stock. I get it from the fish shop - it's really expensive - $11.50 for 500ml - but worth it. 

In a fry pan, fry off the following until soft/cooked:

• 4 chorizo sausages
• 600g diced chicken thighs
• 2 red capsicums - diced
• 2-3 brown onions diced
• 3 cloves garlic - fry with the onion
• 500g prawns* (keep aside separate from the rest).

*I used Coles frozen farmed cooked prawns tails on - they're a bit average but pretty cheap. Probably better to use fresh ones with tails and heads on if you can be bothered dealing with them. Put them aside so they don't get over cooked - or like me, chuck in the cooked one's towards the end.

Put all this in your paella dish/baking pan and add:

• 2 diced ripe tomatoes
• 4 cups medium grain rice
• 2 large teaspoons smoked paprika

Put the pan on the stove/barbecue and start adding the hot stock.

When it's almost all in - or you've lost interest - add:

• prawns
• 2 cups frozen or fresh peas
• 1kg raw mussels in shells over the top

Cover with foil or close lid of barbie and give it about 10 minutes to cook peas, warm prawns and steam mussels.

Top with a small jar of pimento strips and a bunch of roughly chopped parsley, toss around some lemon wedges and - voila!

Well, I say voila - but because I was doing two big trays I had to recruit my friend Brenda to help - which was fun - but if you'd rather not, I suggest you get it up to the point of adding the stock before the guests arrive.

This was the first one I did - no time yesterday to get a pic! But same same.

Amercianisation

I often hear people complaining that Halloween is so American and why do we even recognising it here in Australia.

Well I for one am embracing it.

The sheer excitement it generates among the kids is just gorgeous, so where's the harm? Even businesses are getting in on the act. My Frankie won the prize at her work for dressing as an Awkward Silence. That's scary!

Our neighbours front gate.

When I was a kid we had Guy Fawkes Night, which was about the only thing I can compare it to. It was sooooo exciting. Not Christmas/birthday exciting, but getting together with other families, running around in dark with kids of all ages playing tiggy and hide and seek. Christmas is mostly family and birthdays your own peers, but Guy Fawkes Night was a free for all!

We had bonfires and fireworks of varying types - penny bangers, Catherine wheels, skyrockets. All the parents had a few (or many) drinks around the fire and Dad invariable burnt himself on one of the year's fancy new pyrotechnics. But it was all part of the fun.

And what happened? That's right, it was all deemed far too dangerous and was banned. Just like that. Party poopers.

So what have little kids got to get excited about now? Halloween!

Our front door - for the past week

And as my business partner Mandy and I tried to have a sensible conversation about our new website, she was herding six kids down the road trick and treating and I had eight under 8s at my front door that I was ladling lollies to. And did it matter? No! The kids - every one from two to teens - were out there having fun and meeting the neighbours. And for the sake a few cheap costumes (landfill, I concede) and too much sugar, it's just plain fun and what's the problem with that?

The aftermath at ur place....

Bedspreads

Did you have a bedspread when you were growing up? Maybe you have one now.

I had a jacquard one (that's when the pattern is woven into the fabric) in cream and beige as I recall. Probably terribly sophisticated back in the 1970s, but what I really hankered for was pink candlewick one, like our cleaning lady had in her spare room where we sometimes got to stay. 

So cosy, so warm, so, so.... pink!

You can tell a lot about accommodation by the bedspreads. It's one of my key criteria. In fact, these days, as I scoot around Trip Advisor, Wot If and Last Minute I'd have to say a bedspread is pretty much a deal breaker.

I think I was scarred by a nine-day shoot for a television commercial I was on a few years back. It literally took us to every corner of Australia and my client Elisa and I took great note of the bedspreads in the selection of cheap motels we briefly lay down in at the end of each hectic day. And yes, there were attempts at themes. 

Anywhere within 50km of the coast erred towards shells, tropical foliage and hibiscus flowers. Inland was more your earthy, bush colours, often reminiscent of the surrounding countryside. Either than or the hideous brown abstract patterns had been selected for their ability to hide the proverbial 'multitude of sins'. Ew. Doesn't even bear thinking about. But now that I am, I wonder how often they do get peeled off and tossed through a hot cycle?

All were polyester and probably highly flammable had they not been treated with an even more deadly chemical cocktail. All were lightly padded against the freezing nights down south and the freezing air conditioning up north. And all were in equally poor taste.

This isn't them exactly... no wait!... maybe it is?! They look frighteningly familiar! Either that or they've all blended into the one selection. What do you think? Familiar?

A Year

What's a year? 365 days. The time it takes planet earth to chug a lap around the sun? A real measure, but still arbitrary in many ways.

George died on September 30th last year. And on September 30th this year, I didn't want to dwell on it.
I didn't want to recall in painful details, the hideous decision and even more hideous process of withdrawing life support. And just because the earth was sitting in the same position it was when in happened, does that matter? Does that mean you have to be contemplative? I decided no.

It's not that I don't think of George every day and the little things about him. The fact that he took his top off every night to go to sleep - summer, winter, camping - he was just that kind of guy. Even the shape of his fingernails is very clear to me - and I hope I can maintain that detail into old age. I just didn't feel more or less pained by his loss at the 365-day mark than I did at 364 or 366.

My sister-in-law Karen sent me this photo of all the cousins on Geoff's side. I love it. You can almost see the personalities of these kids as they are now, more than 10 years later.  It was so typical of George to be holding the baby - in this case, the youngest cousin at the time, Michael. (Yes, Sass was yet to be then. Karen has suggested we Photoshop her in!)

L-R: Back - Eliza, Eleanor, Jazzy, George & Michael, Timothy, James. Front - Stephanie, Claire, Jack.  2003

So to repeat the poignant text of my friend Annie from Paris, a year after Jazzy died - time goes quickly, times goes slowly.

How right she is.

Show Bags.

I was at uni with a guy nicknamed Show Bags - very appealing on the outside but in reality, full of crap.

So one of the many advantages of running your own business is flexibility. We had a client who had a presence at The Royal Melbourne Show so Mandy and I decided to take the kids and check it out.

It had been quite some time since Mandy had been to The Show, so she was surprised to see a small baby in a pram drinking chocolate milk from her baby bottle. I raised her when I saw two small children in a double stroller in The Show Bag Pavilion with Coke in their baby bottles. Classy.

Being the super nerdy dag that I am, I love the Craft & Cooking Pavilion. All the quilts and knitted bits, woodwork and decorated cakes. Some are incredible, many are hideous, but I'm dazzled never the less. So much so that after the kids had watched the biscuit decorating demonstration and I was still immersed in the preserves, I got the tap on the shoulder from Mands - we were out of there.

A tea cosy titled: Fifty Shades of Earl Grey.

It's no cheap outing with rides costing between $7 and $13 each!  So I was pleased to see Sass (aka Quinoa) get a driver for her dodgem' car. Why drive yourself when you can have a professional (aka the Carnie) do it for you?? Oh that's right - because you can't reach the accelerator.

The girls also had a go at reading the Channel 7 news....which was not only kinda cool because they immediately text you a link to the video - but it's FREE!!! Yes, really.

"Elle & Sass. Seven News."

Sugar stash as of this morning.

So back to the show bags. As a general observation, there seems to be an inverse correlation between household income and expenditure on show bags. There are dozens of $24 Kmart strollers weighed down with $240-worth of complete and utter rubbish.
The girls were allowed two each. Elle went straight for the magazine/beauty ones with make up, fast tan, bags and other things she'll actually use.

You won't recognise a brand -
it's all made up names - probably from China

The choice for Sass was slim - landfill (ie cheap crap that I will need to sneakily dispose of in the coming 12 months) or sugar (she's lost a heap of baby teeth lately and I didn't like that idea either.) We settled for one of each. But two weeks later, the sugar stash is still ludicrously large and I'm finding tell-tale wrappers everywhere.

So do you do The Show? What's your fave? And do you choose landfill or sugar for the kids' show bags?

Adelaide: The Wrap (Up).

Although Mum and Dad were happy to drive to Adelaide, once they got there they parked their car at the hotel and drove no more until it was home time. Geoff and I were keen to explore, especially the wineries, so we discussed our options. I could drive our hire car and he could drive their car - nup - that didn't sound like fun. So in the end, I booked a tour. No one needed to drive.

The mini bus pulled up at our hotel at the appointed time and our smooth and dulcet toned guide, slash, driver (he'd had a career in radio in a former life and had the perfectly blow-dried hair to prove it) was waiting to shake my hand and introduce himself before we got on the bus. 'Hi,' I said and tried to whip my hand away to join Mum, Dad and everyone else on the bus. But Adrian's gentle shake became a vice like grip that prevented my getaway as he explained he really did need to see the Visa card I'd booked with.... if I'd be so kind.

After that somewhat rocky start, we were away!

Adrian remembered the names of all 24 guests aboard his bus and liked to refer to us all individually and single people out for special questions. It was kinda odd but kinda fun at the same time as we certainly got to know everyone else fast. Our day included a city tour, a sprint up to Mt Barker, into Hahndorf for a bite of lunch, back to town to drop of those that had (rudely) only booked a half day tour then off to the Barossa. A lot to pack into a tour but you quickly realise everything is pretty close by in Adelaide.

The architecture in the city is also quite beautiful and they've done a great job of blending the old and new. It may have stood out too because I was a bit underwhelmed with Perth's (sorry Lara and Di). We saw them applying copper to the sport stadium redevelopment and it looks incredible. They've extended their convention centre and it's hard to believe that the original was built it the 80s and was the first purpose built convention centre in Australia. Who said they were all backwards in Adelaide?

And check out their new Medical Reseach building! It's still under construction but it's amazing.

So, there you go peeps - Adelaide - not such a bad place after all!