Birthdays are fun

It's been a bit quiet around here on the blog because I've had a fun week celebrating my birthday...yay!

The boys thoroughly spoiled me and I've been in heaven with a new Bose music system which replaces an old CD/radio/tape deck I bought when I was in my early 20s...and is still going strong. Loyalty is one of my strongest points...clearly.

The new system can play CDs and has digital radio. It also came with a Bluetooth device which can pick up the tunes from our iPhones and other devices. We're so far behind the times around here...but we're getting there.

I've put the new system in the kitchen as it is quite compact - we can listen to the radio while entertaining and cooking. It's so good. There has definitely been a lack of music in the Sow's Year and 2014 is the year to change that sad fact.

I was also the happy recipient of a toy monkey. He's been swinging all over the house.You have to agree: he's pretty damn cute.

A bottle of Mumm champagne from the kids (actually it was Son #3 who insisted that I get alcohol...and my own wine glass - he's an intuitive soul) was another lovely gift and will  be enjoyed on the weekend with some friends.

Here's to another year of getting older and fun birthdays!

Five ways of keeping cool at home this summer

This post was in collaboration with The Water People 

Summer. It’s getting to that time of year where things are really start to heat up around here.

We’re pretty lucky the Sow’s Ear is a reasonably cool house but on those really hot 30+ Celsius days there’s no escaping the terrible heat. Here are a couple of tricks we use to stay chilled over the summer period.

1. Fans and air conditioning
We have a number of pedestal fans which we keep running 24/7 on those very hot days. It is a low-cost method of cooling the Sow’s Ear. We also have an air conditioner in the master bedroom which we use mostly at night to get a comfortable night’s sleep.

The split system air conditioner is quite old and is actually on its last legs…it was already here when we bought the Sow’s Ear 4 1/2 years ago but it’s just started to condense and drip water.   We’ve now put a new air conditioner on our wish list for the New Year. I’ll be looking at a Queensland-based provider similar to Vic Air (which operates in Victoria) because it might be the easier option than DIY.

2. Cotton and loose fit clothing
Only natural fibres can touch our bodies during the summer months. Even looking at clothing that is slightly synthetic makes me feel hot…and I’m known for my love of the flammable frock! During summer, fashion is a mix of cotton and linen with my uniform being sarongs and singlet tops.


3. Cold food and drinks
We have a complete menu revamp over the summer period…think lots of salads (with iceberg lettuce for the placebo effect), cold meats, ice desserts and plenty of cold beverages.  I dislike turning the oven on when it so hot, as it just heats up the house unnecessarily.  Light and easy meals always seems like the best way to go.

Also ice cold water is the best way to keep cool and hydrated – I wish I had a water filter system or ice making fridge to keep the water flowing. I’ve visited The Water People to see what types of chilled water systems they have for domestic kitchens – it’s given me food for thought…

4. Sprinkler
Since we’ve been working around the garden the last few weeks, the sprinkler is getting a fair bit of a workout. The kids often come out when I am watering the yard and cool off that way. It’s the poor man’s swimming pool! It also kills two birds with one stone – keeping the kids cool and occupied while giving the garden a good drink.

5. Finding a cool shady spot
We change how we use our house depending on the time of day. In the morning, the kitchen and deck are the coolest spots in the house. In the evenings, the front of the house is cooler and gets the afternoon breezes. We are in the fortunate position to have an area under the house which is relatively cool. It is always a few degrees cooler under there. Some days we just set up down there and tinker about during the heat of the day.

So, what do you do to stay cool over summer? 

Rangehood light replaced

We were a bit nervous that we wouldn't be able to fix the busted light on our rangehood. You can read about what happened here.

the old light fitting - the metal strip was inadvertently bent and the light would no longer lock in place.

There was a bit of a search and a very long wait for the new light fitting to be sent to us. And when it arrived, Jason exhaled with relief. There's nothing worse than a fubar lingering around the place, is there? He was able to easily replace the light - it just plugs in.

Good to have you back rangehood light!

I was able to source the light online - it is a place that just deals with appliance spare parts which I found via Google. It was very easy to order and there was no running around on our part. The link is here if anyone is interested.

The light fitting was a little bit on the expensive side (about $90 with postage) but it was better than the alternative which was just to leave the old light dangling! Ha! We weren't going to have that.

Anyway, it's fixed and all is right with the world again.

Five tricks for stress-free entertaining

 Sponsored by Reckitts and Benckiser

My plan over the next few months is to host a few more long lunches to enjoy the gorgeous sunny weather we’ve been experiencing.

The Sow’s Ear is a great place to entertain, ever since we renovated our kitchen and deck.  It’s been a lot easier and stress-free to host gatherings, particularly now we have a dishwasher – no more hand washing the night away when all you want to do is sleep off the meal!

lunch on the deck

Hand washing wine glasses and dishes after a big party is a thing of the past, especially with the new ergonomic dishwashers that are available to suit small spaces like the Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer series – pull out a small drawer and wash as you go! It’s one less hassle to have to worry about, even in compact apartments or small kitchens.

Anyway, here are a couple of my top tips and tricks for stress-free entertaining:

Tip 1 - Beverages and responsible drinking

Make sure you have great drinks and cocktails at the ready and lots of them. As the host, consuming a few before the event is also a must. Instant rancho-relaxo!

The worry about whether your filet mignon is cooked to perfection will be but a trifling matter to you and your tipsy friends.  Jason generally picks up our guests before lunch, so that they don’t have to drive and leave their car behind. Have a taxi telephone number pre-dialled into your phone to make sure your guests get home safely.

Jason's enjoying a martini on the deck...you only need one to feel relaxed!

Tip 2 - Simple menu planning

Planning and picking meals that are simple to prepare, yet still have the wow factor is what I strive for when entertaining. I personally don’t like cooking a whole meal, from go to whoa, in front of people.  I purposely choose meals that just require serving after it has been cooking in the oven. Think slow cooked osso bucco, delicious roasts, and baked hams - meals which basically cook themselves when all the prior preparation has been done.

Love a roast when entertaining - turkey, lamb and pork are my holy trinity of meats

Tip 3 - Preparation

Prior preparation is the key to stress-free. If you can do most of the hard work the day or night before, then do it. The day before is when I make sure the house is clean and fit for guests, all the shopping is done and dessert, like homemade ice-cream or crème brulee,  is made and refrigerated.

On the morning of the party, I generally like to have all the dirty dishes done and have an empty dishwasher ready to load as we progress through the meal.  Easy and quick, is the name of the game. It’s a good feeling when you know the dishes are being done as the last guest stumbles home.

Ha! Pretend that's me wistfully loading a DishDrawer dishwasher in my compact yet adorable kitchen!
Aren't I cute? image from here

Tip 4 - Delegate and outsource

The children and Jason are employed as unskilled labour during the lead up to a party. The kids are used as wait staff and can do jobs like clearing the table and filling the dishwasher between courses. They’re also a good resource for finishing off the left-overs.  Jason’s role is to top up drinks and he’s very good at it!

I am also of the belief that there is no shame in buying dessert or asking your guests to bring a salad or side dish to have with the meal. If you’re going to feed a crowd, sometimes it’s just easier to get your mates to lend a hand or to buy something pre-prepared.

A Greek orzo salad is a meal in itself and is one of my favourite salads for bringing along to events

Tip 5 - Cool tunes

And last but not least is to have music playing in the background. Music goes hand in hand with a great meal and it gets everyone in a good mood.  Good food, good company and good music are the perfect combination.

Have I left anything out? What do you do when you entertain? I would love to hear your tips too.

Isn’t dish washing your job?

Sponsored by Reckitts Benckiser

A few months ago I asked Son #1 to put some dirty plates in the dishwasher.  His response was along the lines of, ‘Isn’t dish washing your job? You know… you’re the mum around here.’

Well, let me tell you, that child got the ear-bashing of his life. Spilling from my mouth were phrases like: who do you think you are; where did you get this highly-developed sense of entitlement; and I’ll show you who’s mum around here…

The cheek! I should have filled the sink with suds and made him do the dishes by hand if he thought he was hardly done by.

Actually I should have just said, ‘No, son. That’s your father’s job or it was, until we got the dishwasher!’

I don’t want him to grow up with that attitude of domestic duties being only for females. I’m not even sure how he would even think that way, especially as Jason does take on quite a few domestic chores at the Sow’s Ear?

One of Jason’s many shirtless domestic duties is hand washing the larger pots and trays and then making sure the dishwasher has a Finish tablet in it before switching it on.

Anyway, I was pretty cranky with Son #1. The man-child has never known a life BD (before dishwasher), where a sink load of washing up and a drainer full of drying up was the nightly ritual. Not that I really want to go back to that time because hand washing dishes is a time suck. Life AD (after dishwasher) is so much better.

Our older boys now have to pack and unpack the dishwasher as a daily chore, to teach them they can’t be lazy gits and that it’s men’s work. It is also an easy task they can take on at a young age.

Fisher & Paykel Dishdrawer Dishwasher series

Speaking of easy tasks, I still like the cool Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer dishwasher series. I was told the definition of luxury is the absence of difficulties, so those DishDrawer dishwashers seem very luxurious to me.

They’re a great option for smaller kitchens and apartment living, where space is at a premium – there’s no excuse to go without a dishwasher in small spaces. The DishDrawer dishwasher requires less movement to open, load and close and you don’t even need to bend. Fisher & Paykel are trying to make dish washing even easier by increasing the height of the drawer to al­low for even larger plates and platters.  

I wonder if we had one of those, whether I’d still get resistance from the boys about dish washer duty... 

So, do you agree that dish washing ought to be men’s work?

Dishwasher and kitchen design thoughts

Sponsored by Reckitts Benckiser 

Jason used to be the chief dishwasher of the family, wielding his very own dish mop. But that was back in the dark ages BD. Before Dishwasher.

Someone told us that running a dishwasher saves you the equivalent of three solid weeks every year. That’s a vacation you never knew you had!

                                                                                                                        

When we were planning our kitchen renovation, that fact made Jason’s dishpan hands tap and click with joy. There was no way in this world we were going without a dishwasher – we were going to make one fit…whether we had room for it or not!

But we are so lucky these days, because space is no longer an issue with the new range of dishwashers on the market. We’re not limited by the size of our kitchens and fortunately smaller kitchens don’t need to miss out.

If I had my time again, I would think less traditionally about our choice of dishwasher. We tend to run our dishwasher once a day like it was an event, waiting for it to be full with the day’s dishes before switching it on before we go to bed in the evening.

However, our lifestyle is changing now the children are getting older. We are eating more takeout or Jason is away or we skip lunch…which means the dishwasher is not full enough to do a wash.

It really sucks when we have to retrieve all the coffee and breakfast things to hand wash for the next morning. I sometimes wish we could do smaller loads on the run.

Fisher& Paykel 7th generation DishDrawer dishwasher

The Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer has the most practical design for doing smaller loads and can squeeze into the tightest of spots. We used a DishDrawer when holidaying in a tiny apartment and it was a breeze to use.

The Sow’s Ear’s kitchen. We have drawers everywhere including under the sink.
image from Elizabeth Santillan here 

Having drawers instead of cabinets was one of the best design decisions we made for our kitchen, as it is the most efficient use of the space. A DishDrawer would have been a natural extension of that, especially with the new wider and taller dishwashing models which are now on the market.

I like how the DishDrawer is designed so you don’t need to bend down to fill it up. Pulling out a drawer at waist height makes dishwashing more effortless. It is clever design.

There are lots of ways people are integrating dishwashers into their kitchens to better suit their lifestyle and available space. Pinterest has a plethora of inspiration images of kitchens that are handy when planning a renovation.

The symmetry of side-by-side dishwashers. Image from here

I’m envious of kitchens which have dishwashers installed on both sides of a sink. Great symmetry and so perfect for a narrow galley style kitchen! You can have one running a fast wash, while the other can do the pots – domestic bliss. Ha!

So what do you think about a dishwasher giving us three extra weeks a year? Are you a drawer person or a cabinet person? What do you like or dislike about your dishwasher (machine or person)?