~Woo Hoo...A Giveaway Win from Frog Cottage Designs~

Imagine my surprise and utter delight and much excitement during the week when I won a Giveaway over at Deb's from Frog Cottage Designs

Included in the pack was a mini charm pack by bonnie & camille who are a Mother and Daughter team from America

a cute little kit for Honky Tonk Keyring by Annie Downs of Hatched and Patched

a Fabric Pack for the Some Kind of Wonderful Needlebook......

and of course I have the book!!!

and finally an English Paper Piecing Kit of a diamond shape!!!

The Kit is by Sue Daley of Patchwork with Busy Fingers

I was lucky enough to meet Sue earlier this year at Girls Day in the Country and Nundle...

Thank you so much Deb for hosting this very generous giveaway....I just love it all

and it's even nicer that I have met you at Nundle......Dzintra xo

~Braidwood Maker's Market~

Lots of twine from Michelle at material drawer

Yarn from Helen at Waratah Fibres

 Margaret spinning......

all at Braidwood Maker's Market hosted by the gorgeous Jen from Little Finch at Braidwood

I met a delightful French lady........Isabelle from La Source

Isabelle had on display her new 'Braidwood' cards

 a tea towel I had to have......

Tags from material drawer

and OMG this made me   *S T O P*

A Hogwarts sign by Anna at swallowtail

Aren't these signs just fabulous!!!

Headbands for the little misses

 Hair accessories

the most beautiful music

and here's my beautiful sign at home

the first package I opened

all set to join my Harry Potter collection......

A great Market Jen.......just fabulous quality hand made items

Looking forward to the next one

See you then......Dzintra xo

~Cooking with JoJo's Day Programme (2), fires and a new softie~

It's pretty cold here on the South Coast this weekend

For the first time in years we don't have a real fireplace......but it's coming!!!

So I couldn't resist this DVD above of a fireplace LOL

Apparently psychologically looking at it can make you feel warmer by 10c so we're testing it out this weekend!!!

Recently I went in again to JoJo's Day Programme to do a little cooking with the gang

This time it was Chicken and Lemongrass Laksa from donna hay magazine 10th Anniversary Issue Oct/Nov 2012

Above are some of the ingredients that have been chopped and trimmed for the Laksa

Stock in along with Curry Paste, Garlic, Coconut Milk and Fish Sauce

With Snow Peas and Mint Leaves added

Rice Noodles in

and here 'tis

Lovely, tasty and oh so warming

Perfect for a day like today!!!

Meanwhile last week I had to have this cat when visiting Braidwood Maker's Market

I just loved the colours.......no wonder apparently the maker said they were colours from 1875

And this little cat is sitting right next to our 'fire'

Hope you are keeping warm, having something nice to eat and hopefully get some stitching in......Dzintra xo

I've now signed up with Bloglovin but I'm still learning it all!

~Purple Carrots~

Here's something I just couldn't resist sharing......

I was slicing Purple Carrots and noticed they looked just like Hexagons.....

I thought they were just gorgeous and cute.......and the colour was so rich

All purple and orange!!!!

I did a little research and found out that carrots used to be purple before they were bred orange...

To read more about this go over here

I love them whether they are purple or orange!!!

~An Evening with Rick Stein~and new boots~

I have been thoroughly spoilt again......

this time my Son gifted to me for my birthday a weekend at Rick Stein at Bannisters for an

~Evening with Rick Stein~

A little corner of our very generous rooms by day......the sun was shining brilliantly on this cool Winter's day......

Above pic is the Sun going down over the ocean taken from almost the same spot

The main room

This very special Event featured a long table dinner on the Sunday night hosted by Rick

Rick actually came along and greeted each table.

The evening started with Canapes and Champagne in the Garden Room followed by a 4 course meal of delectable seafood at the Rick Stein at Bannisters Restaurant

We went down to the Pool Bar and had some oysters shortly after arrival

I might mention here we ate all weekend.......

Above and below 2 of the wines for the Evening......all perfectly matched

To start we had a Salad of Lobster, Avocado, Green Beans and Foie-Gras

The texture of the Foie-Gras was as smooth as velvet

This was followed by Blue Eye Trevalla and Mussel Chowder with Celery Herb

and OMG check this out......A Meuyrette of Silver Dory with Caramelized Eschallots, Bacon and Mushrooms

Chocolate Mousse with Hazelnut Dacquoise and Raspberry Sorbet.......the Sorbet was perfectly nice and tarty!!!

Next afternoon we walked up the hill to Rick's place for a cooking demonstration from his latest book travelling and cooking his way through India

Upon entering the house we were greeted with a glass of bubbles and then offered a water bottle during the afternoon.........the Perfect Host!!!

We watched and had 3 samples of his cooking

The first one was 'My Breakfast Bhaji'
A mixture of Potatoes, Carrots, Onions and Tomatoes and various Spices
Served with a Fried Egg

followed by 'Hot Smoked Salmon Kedgeree'......Rick used Smoked Trout from the Snowy Mountains in this case

and then last but not least 'Madras Fish Curry of Snapper, Tomato and Tamarind'

And here's Rick with me and Mr Armchair signing books and menus for us

This time I bought Rick's Seafood book and the Mediterranean Escape one

After Rick's we went down the end of the road through a walking track which overlooked Mollymook Beach

Another sunset shot

Next night for dinner we had

 ~Warm Shellfish with Parsley, Chilli, Olive Oil, Garlic and Lemon Juice~

Clams, Prawns, Mussels, Oyster, Scallop, Scampi and Blue Swimmer Crab

One of the best if not the best Seafood Platter I have had......

Followed by Whole Fried Snapper with a Chilli Sauce, Crisp Basil and Cashew Nuts

Dessert 

A couple more scenes

Afterwards we met DS James

He and his Partner Danelle gave us much needed respite and had JoJo for 2 nights with them

She had a great time.......we had a great time and ate out way through the whole 2 days!!!

And I got to wear my new boots that Mr Armchair gave me for my birthday......WOO HOO!!!!

THANK YOU so much James and Danelle for this utterly delicious weekend

and Thank you Bannisters and Rick Stein for looking after us!!!

I would love to think that we will go back again another time......I'm sure we will!!!