~Cook Up for my Dad~

It's been ages since I've done a Cook Up

This time I did one last night for my dear Dad/mīļš Papiņš

 who is no longer here on Earth with us

It just felt the right thing to do and complete with a Birthday Cake to boot

But first, and very important...which Apron to use

Just this week I received this apron from Trish who recently went over to Provence, France

I already had bought one from there but of course I needed another lol

I also used a Tea Towel with Provence embroidered on it that I purchased whilst over there

Thanks so much Trish......much appreciated!!!

I chose the brown one to use on this Cook Up

My Menu from donna hay magazine Issue 87 Jun/July 2016

(this is why I needed the Quince Paste Annette (no blog))!

Pork and Sauerkraut Meatballs with Quince Glaze 

Savoy Colcannon

Marble Chai Bundt Cake with Maple Syrup

Mr Armchair set the Wine scene

Adding Sauerkraut to the Meatballs gave a real depth of flavour

Next time I'd like to double the Glaze......it was delicious

I'm a bit like Manu Fieldel (French Chef in Australia) and love my Glazes/Sauces lol

The Meatballs here with the Colcannon

Colcannon (Irish: cál ceannann, meaning "white-headed cabbage") is a traditional Irish dish mainly consisting of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage. It is also the name of a song about the dish.

(from Wikipedia)

In this dish I used Savoy Cabbage, Leek and Pure Jersey Cream from Tilba

And here is part of the verse.......

Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?

With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.........

(Wikipedia)

It was very delicious.......together a lovely tasty combination

I ground up Spices for Chai Tea to put into the Cake

And here 'tis

Happy Birthday mils Papins/loving Dad

And to top it off.......Warm Maple Syrup

Also ideal to have with some Cream, Custard or even Ice Cream if you so wish

Recipe for Marble Chai Bundt Cake with Maple Syrup over here

And to keep it all real

Mr Armchair as I sat down took a photo

no make up, no hair neatly done lol!!!!

Lab Apptit......Bon Appetit

Dzintra xo

~Celebrating The Chookshed's Birthday~

Whoohoooo the Chookshed's 4th Birthday and hosted by Chookyblue

All welcome to join in for a day or whatever you can manage

Just go over here and let Donna know

First of all wear something that I feel nice in and don on the Stitching Apron as I always seem to get threads all over me

From assorted Fat Quarters I had here is my Quilt Past Times

This is where it was left off at the last Chookshed Birthday Celebration

Four more Fat 1/4's and I hope to  have borders on this weekend

Slight distraction though as Mr Armchair has just brought up some Happy Hour and a glass of Rose

but I will get this done lol

I hope to also do another block in my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Quilt

and finish cutting my Farm Girl Vintage.......phew!!!

Wonder how far I will get!!!

Happy Sewing everyone and a very Happy Birthday to the Chookshed

 A Cheers to you all,  Dzintra xo

~January~

Phew here I am back on the blog and January is nearly over

New Year's Day I like to start a new project so why not make it a big one lol

I thought I would do Anni Downs' My Favourite Things Quilt

The Fat 1/8th bundle is the actual My Favourite Things Fabric and the others are the beiges I will be using

I made a simple Quiche and we thought we would open some Christmas Wine.....French of course

I admired my Bookmark brought home from Riga, Latvia 

The little brooch is the colours of the Latvian Flag......maroon and white
Such a history with this Flag

I made a start on the quilt

I opened up a gift to myself of an apron that I bought in Roussillon on Provence, France

I received this beautiful Tagine at Christmas time
Thank You Danelle

I made a Pear and Almond Tart.......recipe from Manu Feildel's book, Manu's French Kitchen
Mmmmm delicious

My Sister came to visit

and we drove around River Cottage country at Tilba

We checked out a new Cafe/Restaurant at the Mariner, all with a boat view

Took a beach walk

Started some colouring in

Did some quick pickling of cucumbers

And took them to my mate Asta's, a fellow Baltic and enjoyed them with some good ol' Black Rye Bread

Had the little Grandies here for a week

and took another beach walk.

Normally one can get around this corner but not with the tide last weekend....

Hope your January was a good one

Till next time.....Dzintra

~OPAM December~ One Project A Month

My last 2 OPAM's for the year

Connor's Storybook Quilt......front

and back.

Some owl fabric with markings on for an apron that JoJo saw last year and loved

Nice'n easy........just cut out and follow instructions

I added some bias binding to top, bottom and sides and did a fancy stitch along the bib and the hem

And here's the model herself showing off her apron!!!

And loving it!!!

Thank you Sweet Peg and Kris for hosting OPAM for another year

It's been great and still motivates me!!!

******************

It's been a wonderful year for me with my unforgettable trip to Paris and Latvija

Thank you so much to my very generous Son for this

I have loved every minute of it!!!

I'm thinking I might start up another blog solely for the trip as there are so many fabulous photos.

I just didn't get to blogging this trip much at all.......only twice

And so to 2016

how quickly are the years flying by!!!

I wish you all a very Happy and Safe New Year

with Good Health, lots of laughter and Happy Times!!!

Thank you for all your visits and comments throughout the year

It's been such a joy receiving them and makes blogging a really lovely experience

To you all I say

HAPPY NEW YEAR

love Dzintra xo

~2014~The Ones That Got Away

 Boy 2014 certainly whizzed by in a flash

Welcome 2015 and let's hope it's a peaceful year all round the world especially in light of what has been going on

I thought I would do my annual post on pics that were going to be made into blog posts but  just didn't make it

First pic is of lucerne bales for a small vegetable garden that I thought we would start up

Mr Armchair built the garden 4 storeys high out of railway sleepers

One reason is I'm tall and don't bend so well and the other is our Labrador Mimi who loves to 'garden'

Not long into it and this is what it looked like

And to keep Mr Armchair busy in February I needed a new bookcase and thought this corner was perfect

And it is........only trouble is the books keep 'growing'

In March JoJo was out with her group and she bought Mimi a collar

Only thing is it's for a puppy and Mimi is a big, boofy Labrador 

Such a sweet thought on JoJo's part

At Easter time in April I coloured some eggs in vine leaves and onion skins..........a Latvian tradition

this being the result

The egg can then be polished up with some bacon rind

In May we went to see a Miss Fisher exhibition

Miss Fisher......played by Essie Davis........ is a glamorous Lady Detective and the series is set in the 1920's in Melbourne

Read more about the series here

One of my favourite TV shows

In June I entered a giveaway by Jennifer Chiaverini and won this book The Master Quilter

One of her best I think

It was even autographed for me

To win I had to enter a question asking which character I would most like to meet out of the Elm Creek Series

My answer was Anna (the cook) so that I could cook with her for the patchworkers and then sit down and do some sewing with everybody later

I think there were about 800 entries so not bad

 In July at around 5pm there was a massive storm and I took some quick pics coming home

The colours were just stunning

In August we went out for JoJo's birthday breakfast and this is the view 

In September I bought an apron off my Friend Miss Vicki and decided to wear it whilst sewing as I get a heap of threads all over my clothes.......especially the black ones

In October I got to meet Monica McInerney who recognised my name from comments I had made to her Face book page

Such a lovely lady

 In November one evening I spilled frozen peas all over the floor (not very exciting I know)

but the next night the garlic I had fell down and landed looking like a triangle so I just had to photo it

And of course Mimi came in and cleaned up the peas

She didn't even know they were frozen as she doesn't eat she vacuums lol

Before we knew it it was Christmas again

 JoJo's programme had a Christmas get together and she was so proud that she cut the sausage and spiked it together with a tomato and a toothpick

And oh my goodness was this ever good

A Paleo Chocolate Blueberry Cake

I even made my own Nut Butter (cashews) and Paleo Chocolate

Recipe found at The Merry Maker Sisters

And to cap off New Year's Eve a pic taken off the television of the Fireworks on Sydney Harbour 

Happy 2015 everyone.........let's make it a good one

Love Dzintra