pretty birds + new old things

I thought I would share a few new old things I purchased recently. A pretty birdcage is something I've had my eye out for a while. I saw a few with old glass vases filled with hydrangeas in a magazine once and thought they looked so incredibly pretty. This one is in our lounge room where I have a collection of items with bird motifs - an old bamboo tea box, a warhol-esque print and an art work by Paul Miller of a lady with a blackbird on her head. The old bird post card was my next find, then the beautiful Mason jar - such a gorgeous colour! and finally - the delicate little birds bought from here. Aren't they stunning? I am so happy with them!! They come in a set of 6. So 2 have gone to live in the bird cage, another one is sitting on an old wooden sieve above the tv, one is sitting on the lip of an old bottle right next to the Peace Lily and the other two are hanging out in my little girls room. I love it when people look twice at them......wondering to themselves.....are they real?

School Lunch box idea no. 1 - Green and Gold Muffins

4th official day into School and I'm allready trying to think of new and exciting things to throw into the lunch box! Oh dear.... I had a quick scour through some recipe books and found an interesting idea from a small Tupperware magazine circa 2004. I've tweaked it a bit and I'm really happy with the end result (or should I say, the big school kid thinks they are yum too!) Also, I had to share the pic of "the big school kid" with a very funny zucchini! We had friends over on the weekend and they brought this from their vegie patch. The kids thought it was hilarious. Mr Zucchini was the life of the party!

ingredients

"Most of these things should be found in your kitchen or vegie patch ;)"

2 cobs of corn
1 small zucchini
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons mozzarella cheese
1 cup self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 egg
2 tablespoons greek style yoghurt

how to make your green and gold muffins

Pre-heat oven to 190C fan forced. grease a muffin tray very! well or use cases.

Cut corn kernals off corn and place in a microwave safe container. Place the lid loosely. Pop in the microwave for 1 minute 30seconds. Set aside.

Grate the zucchini. Set aside

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.

In a seperate bowl combine the oil, egg and yoghurt. Add this to the flour mix along with the vegies, parsley and cheese. The mix will be quite wet. Give it a thourouh stir. Spoon into your muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let stand for a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack. enjoy!

haloumi bites

 I was looking to create something savoury but I was sick of using bread as a carrier for vegetarian food. I LOVE haloumi and I love mushrooms and the last time I had gremolata, well, it was a while ago......think 2004, honeymoon, fresh seafood at Sandy Bay Tasmania......FAB!!! So I thought I would throw the 3 together and see what happened.............These even have the seal of approval from our vegetarian friend Yay!

haloumi bites

1 pack of haloumi
150g mushrooms, peeled and sliced thinly
2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
3 teaspoons lemon zest (roughly 1 small lemon)
1 small clove of garlic finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste


how to make your haloumi bites

You can prep the gremolata up to an hour before serving. Just keep it at room temperature. Throw the last 4 ingredients together (the salt and pepper being to taste - don't add too much though) Slice the haloumi into 3 large pieces and then slice these pieces into 4 pieces so you have 12 pieces that are the same size. Pop some extra virgin olive oil in a pan and place over a medium high heat. Meanwhile, grab a saucepan, pop in some extra virgin olive oil over a high heat. When hot, throw in the mushrooms and a touch of salt. Stir until cooked through. When the frypan is hot enough add the haloumi and after about 40seconds turn them over. (you can see in the pic I overdid them a little bit so keep an eye on them, they don't take any time at all!) When slightly browned on both sides, pull them out and place on your tray. Top with the drained mushrooms and then sprinkle your gremolata mixtures over each bite. Serve and enjoy!