Bonus Upate

The correct ice cream making bowl has arrived........

.....and the wrong bowl has been returned......This time I checked the fit before I thought about anything else. Looking at the shape, the difference was so immediately obvious.........

I have ingredients and will give it a test run soon - and yes, the company deserves a good mark for their customer service.......

Sue xxxx

When is a Bonus not Quite a Bonus?

The final piece of the mixer deal arrived during the week so it washed and prepared ready for use, ice cream ingredients purchased and a plan put into action. All good in theory.......

So confident was I that I had even purchased waffle cones.......

With time on my hands Friday, and enough energy to test it out, I set about making the custard as per the test recipe, cooled it down and went about setting up the machine for action when we discovered it was too small for my mixer and didn't fit at all.........

This meant time on the phone with the company concerned and the response by the young man who took the call couldn't have been more helpful.

Within a short time he discovered that the error was in the warehouse (someone had simply picked up the wrong box - everything else was correct). He provided me with an authority to return number, a reply paid number so it could be returned at no cost to me and reordered the correct bowl for my mixer - so as long as it arrives soon they will get an A+ for customer service.........

All of this was well and good, however, it left me with custard that needed to be churned into ice cream........which also meant digging into the kitchen archives......

Lots of memories here.......

This left me with a dense ice cream which is overly rich and probably inedible - except perhaps in tiny quantities........the whisk on the mixer may have been a better choice but I was worn out by then......

At least the bread turned out well........

Passionfruit butter from the week before - ultra sweet.......something else to use sparingly.....perhaps as a steamed pudding?

Roxie seeing the New Year in............

......and otherwise keeping us amused......

Sue xxxx

A Couple of Treats

This post is so long overdue that both Christmas and New Year celebrations have come and gone so belated greetings on both counts. (In the middle of the renovations life had to make a necessary deviation  from the projected course which has required ongoing medical treatment and changed the order of things for a while longer.....)

So, even though I have been throughly spoilt with a wonderful new living space and kitchen, I felt a few more treats were in order to complete the renovation on the one hand and to bolster the soul a little on the other........

Since I wasn't able to shop in person I turned to online shopping - a potentially dangerous occupation when still in bed.

We have talked about pink bags before in an earlier post, so imagine how thrilled I was to discover that my order from my favourite kitchen supplier came in a pink box instead......it seemed entirely appropriate.

One overly large, pink box......

Fortunately the packaging material is fully biodegradeable and can be hosed away on the garden or in the compost.......

Inside, some new champagne glasses and tumblers to toast the future, some commercial quality cooking pans for the cakes I intend to bake and a silicone mat to drain said glasses and more to use as heat pads........

And to feed the mind, a couple of treats from my other favourite online shopping destination.........

A couple of sample pages......

A very interesting take on Art Quilt making - also involving the use of Haiku poetry and will hopefully lead to a piece  of work someday.......

And another idea to fill the gaps when a little new inspiration or a restful interlude is needed.......and the scraps around the house are threatening to overtake every nook and cranny.........

Making fabric from scraps.........

Another decision needing to be made - what to do when a faithful friend, after 39 years of hard labour, packs it it when mixing the dough for this walnut foccacia?

Back to the 'shops' to seek another bargain - and what a beauty. With a model runout the bonuses kept coming and seemed way too good to pass up - even though spending should have long ceased by this point.........

And just to round off this post so it doesn't drag out to the next New Year, meet Roxie, adopted a month ago and settling in nicely. More about her soon.

If there is still anyone out there reading this, thanks, hopefully not so long til next time,
Sue xxxx

Calling it Finished!

There is still furniture to be moved out of the garage and boxes to unpack but we are up and running...........

Back to more normal programming soon.......

Sue xxxx

Tantalisingly Close

Getting oh so close to the finishing line..........

Farewell and thanks!

First camp kitchen

Second camp kitchen......until the carpet had to come up......

My garage - stage 1

.......where the fridge still resides.......along with more boxes of ovens, cooktop and dishwasher......

Current camp kitchen - and yes, we watch this TV over the top of the table.....but despite all this we are still eating proper meals........

Most painting done......

Lights we can turn on........

And floating cork flooring laid......

A couple of chairs to practise using our new space.......

Hmm - don't ask!

By next weekend we hope to be using the space - I'll let you know.....

Sue xxxx