Emu with a Clue

Our Mothers Day

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:46:39 -0700

We had a great day yesterday. The kids were so excited to give me their gifts in the morning. As well as their purchases from the Mother's Day stall at school, they had also spent time making me "treasure maps" which were pretty funny.

I had read in a free parents magazine about a place called Belgenny Farm that was having a free open day for Mother's Day. Our kids love farms so decided to hit the freeway and take them out to this one. The farm which is now State Government owned and run is located in a historically significant area called Camden which used to be a small town south of Sydney but is now part of the wider suburban sprawl.

There were lots of people there but it wasn't uncomfortably crowded. We missed the working dogs demonstration but did get to see some sheep shearing and watch a blacksmith and wool spinners at work. We also said "hello" to some horses:

Belgenny farm - Mr Ed

and my son had a ride on a very calm donkey.

Belgenny farm - donkey ride

A highlight for the kids was handling the animals in the young animal nursery. Felt sorry for some of the animals though, ie, one kid threw a tantrum about having to leave and tried to stomp on a couple of the chickens on his way out. Fortunately my kids pretty gentle with animals.

Belgenny farm - bantam

Belgenny farm - guinea pig

Belgenny farm - sheep and goat

On the way home, we thought we would stop off and have a look at the Mt Annan Botanical Gardens not realising there was a huge Mother's Day event there. There was a covers band playing (the kids were thrilled to hear the band playing "What I like about you" when we first arrived), free massages for mums, an animal show and circus training. My daughter got to be one of the "volunteers from the audience" for the animal show which meant acting like a tree for a ring tailed possum (didn't get a photo of this) and also had a go at stilt walking:

Mt Annan - stilt walking

Mt Annan - stilt falling

We also had a walk around the gardens and had a play in the very cool playground there which included a proper flying fox (similar to one in a much less scenic park near where we live - all the kids love it). Would like to go there some other time for a picnic when it is not so crowded.

After we got home, my daughter and I had cooking lesson number two in which she learnt how to make her favourite pumpkin soup. She swore that the end product tasted even better than when I normally make it!

All in all, a fantastic Mother's Day.

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Another mother

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:06:54 -0700

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My daughter with her other Nanna, my mother in law, M. I don't have a super close relationship with her but that is mainly because she lives so far away and a pretty self-contained, private kind of person - not because of any bad feeling on either of our parts. She raised four children while working as a nurse and later, after her own kids had grown up and left home, went on to run a child care centre. She now has 6 grandchildren including my two kids.

She is having a bit of a rough time at the moment as my father in law passed away last year. He was the more outgoing one of the two of them so losing him has forced her out of herself a bit. He was always the one who called my husband the most to keep in touch. However M has recently learnt to use Skype and is calling us more often which is great.

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Vox Hunt: My Mum

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:17:07 -0700

Show us your mother.

100_0391.jpg

This is a few years old and don't think Mum likes this photo of herself very much. I think it is good though.

Mum has three children (me and my two younger brothers) but only two grandchildren who she spoils to death! She lives in a different city to us but she and I speak on the phone every day and she probably speaks to the kids at least once a week. They think she is fabulous and are always asking when we can go and visit her again.

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The DVD made it to Melbourne!

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:14:50 -0700

Just in case any of you were wondering. The rumours of police stopping mail trucks at the Victorian border were quite unfounded apparently. Mum is planning a dvd marathon with one of my brothers for Mother's Day.

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Hello, I love you!

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:50:06 -0700

Hello

This is from the card my 5yo son made me for Mother's Day. He was too proud of this effort to be able to wait until Sunday to give it to me!

I am feeling proud of him too. On Friday he got an award from his kindergarten teacher for his great participation in class discussions. My shy boy has come a long way!

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Heath Ledger portrait wins People's Choice award

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:22:59 -0700

Was going to nick over and see the Archibald exhibition at lunchtime today but saw that the entry price actually includes entry to three exhibitions so thought I might try and go next week when I can take a longer lunchbreak.

Here is the 'Heath' painting by 28yo Vincent Fantauzzo, now of Melbourne but originally from Ledger's home town of Perth:

Heath

You can read more and purchase a poster of the portrait here.

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QotD: Step into My Closet

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:09:52 -0700

How many pair of shoes do you have? Out of those pairs, how many do you wear more than a few times a year?
Submitted by fightinggale.

Purple shoes

Not sure of how many exactly but the "shoe pile" in my closet probably about 30 X 60cm. I actually wear most of them. I recently went though got rid of all the ones that were mistakes or that no longer feel comfortable etc etc. My favourites tend to be the ones purchased from the children's department (I can just fit into these). They are usually wider so more comfortable and come in funkier colours and styles than adult shoes. My favourites include some brown boots, some pink and orange sneaker type Mary Janes and the pictured purple suede ones (which are getting a bit worn out now but are so comfortable).

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Wild scenes in JB Hi Fi!

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:58:07 -0700

Was just in there buying something send to my mum in Victoria and you should have seen the queue snaking around the store, mostly with people clutching onto a certain banned-in-Victoria dvd box set (selling for $44.99 at all good dvd outlets). One woman had about HALF A DOZEN copies in her hand! Lots of express post parcels arriving in Victoria tomorrow I would imagine!

Guess what my mum is getting for Mothers Day! She can't wait!

CD face

Someone on another board said somethign about police stopping mail trucks at the border but that would be ridiculous! Nevertheless I did take the precaution of not putting my real name in the senders box on the satchel. Would hate to blow my $44.99!

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Women nag. Men remind.

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:10:34 -0700

A scientific study has shown that nagging men does work Going to send this link to my husband now!

WOMEN who feel they are wasting their breath nagging their other halves should persevere because experts say that nagging does work.

The mental exhaustion produced by a constant stream of questions or orders leaves men open to persuasion, research has shown.
In other words, it leaves most males too tired to resist.
Other tips on getting your way included not hesitating when making your pitch ums and ahs sound less convincing not giving too many choices and meeting face to face, New Scientist reported.
Flattery also helps you get your way, as does mirroring the body language of the person being persuaded.
Overwhelmingly, studies show people are more likely to do what is being asked if their mental reserves are low.
In one experiment, US researchers tried to persuade a group of students to agree to one month's summer holiday instead of three.
Half the students came to the study fresh, while the other half given a mentally-draining task beforehand were more willing to give up two months of holiday.
New Scientist said: "Avoid engaging in argument or doing battle with sales people when your mental batteries are low. Or, if you are trying to be persuasive, strike when your target is low on mental energy."
Another tip is not to ask for too much as the more reasons people are asked to support an idea, the less value they ascribe to each.

I do wonder about the stereotype of women being the naggers of the world though. My husband much worse than me. He probably wouldn't consider it nagging though. Reminds me of a quote that a colleague used to have pasted above her computer:

Women nag. Men remind.

emuface.jpg

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Re-heating leftovers

nobody@vox.com(Emu with a Clue) — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:44:21 -0700

As a working mum who cooks in bulk on the weekend, I found this advice was pretty helpful:

Is it safe to re-heat leftovers?

Paula Goodyer
May 8, 2008

We might know better than to let raw meat rub shoulders with raw broccoli on the chopping board but we're not always so cluey about leftovers. The pasta sauce you made on Monday might smell OK on Thursday but is it still safe to eat? Cooking meals ahead on weekends to eat through the week might get you a gold star for efficiency but what is their shelf life in the fridge?

The fact that more of our food is prepared in advance - and that we're eating out more - is blamed for the growth in cases of food poisoning in Australia. Still, according to figures from the Food Safety Information Council, you could be in safer hands in your own kitchen. The guess is that it's probably only 12 to 20 per cent of the 5 million or so cases occurring in Australia each year that are caused by home cooks, often because food has been kept at the wrong temperature or reheated incorrectly.

One problem about knowing if food is still safe to eat is that you can't always rely on your nose: last week's milk might smell and taste really off but may not be harmful, while a four-day-old still-fragrant curry might be brewing enough bugs to make you ill.

The first rule about leftovers is don't let them hang around on the stovetop while you linger over dessert or empty the dishwasher. As soon as food has stopped steaming, get it into the fridge, says Lydia Buchtmann from Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Her own system is to decant any leftovers into plastic containers at the same time as she's serving dinner and put them in the fridge.

If there's a lot of leftover food to put away - or you're cooking in advance - it's best to divide it into small portions to cool rather than putting large quantities of soup or a casserole into one big container, she says. The idea is to speed up the cooling process so that bacteria have less chance to grow. This is also important with pasta and rice - foods that might seem less dodgy than others but which can harbour the sneaky Bacillus cereus that can produce a toxin, especially in foods that are cooled slowly. Because this toxin is heat-resistant, it's not destroyed by reheating. Don't count on cold to knock it dead - it can keep growing in the fridge.

Cooking ahead for the week? Buchtmann's advice is to freeze meals unless they're to be eaten in two to three days. When you reheat them they should be served really hot all the way through (at least 75 degrees).

Can you reheat dishes a third time? It's probably not a problem if they've previously been refrigerated promptly, Buchtmann says - but dividing dishes into small portions means you're less likely to need a third reheating.

What about reheating leftover takeaway? The safest approach, she says, is only if the food has been refrigerated as soon as it has stopped steaming.

Cooking for the week ahead

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