Heirloom Vegies & More....

I haven't really got a specific topic for today's post. 

Just a bit of catch up on what's been happening around the place.

I haven't really written a lot about our vegie garden of late but it has been taking off in leaps in bounds.

I have really enjoyed tending to my little patch and have enjoyed the rewards of my labour with some delicious produce. I forgot to take a picture of where the garden looks like at the moment.... I will next time.

One thing I have really loved is being able to plant different varieties of vegetables that you wouldn't normally get in the supermarket. Such as these golden beetroot (above) and the purple & yellow carrots (below.)

They really make eating vegies a little bit more interesting! Plus these little beauties are full of many health benefits! Did you know that purple carrots were grown up to 5000 years ago in the area now known as Afghanistan and in the 1500's the Dutchies developed the orange carrot to nationalize there favourite vegie. (Orange is the Dutchies National Colour)

I recently ordered a number of heirloom seeds to plant in spring and this time I went all out. Think striped beetroot, white beetroot,  white carrots, yellow carrots, yellow cherry tomatoes, black tomatoes and MORE

!

source

I found the seeds online at an Australian site called Lost Seeds. It is a business that is dedicated to preserving heirloom varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs that date back for centuries. They haven't been genetically modified and messed with. They are true blue original! So if your planning a vegie patch or have one already why not think about ordering your own selection of heirloom seeds to plant this spring! Imagine serving a whtie carrot to your kids? They probably think you've gone nuts!

I have been Op Shopping again and picked up this cutest little teacup set. I picked up some other items that I didn't get to photograph such as a rustic enamel plate, bread tin and a cast iron fry pan! I have to say since getting into food photography the Op Shops have been a great place for me to find props, servingware, tins etc. that just give that extra point of interest.

Hopefully the weather is good this weekend to spend some time outside! I am getting cabin fever during these winter months! What do you do to keep sane in winter?

Chai Cupcakes.....

   Who loves a good cupcake?? I do! What about a Chai cupcake? Oh yes please!Read my last post on my Simply Teashop Blog and print the recipe!  Exciting things are happening around here! Will share some news soon!  

Tasty Tuesday & Ultimate Home Cook Challenge

I know I haven't really posted much about food on this blog since I started it last year, but for those who know me food is a big part of my life. You could say in the blog world I have two personalities.... DIY project/renovator and on the other hand, avid baker and cook. I write another blog called The Simply Teashop Blog which I showcase delicious baked goods that compliment the range of Tea's that my Online Tea Store (by the same name) sells.

After a bit of thought I have decided I will probably discontinue with my Simply Teashop blog and post the recipes here instead... as it's all become a bit too much work to write two! So starting today Tasty Tuesday will become a permanent fixture here at the Diaries Of A Whimsical Wife.

Hope you don't mind??

Nothing else will change really just that you will get some great recipes in the process!

You might also notice I have added a page in the menu above called the "Whimsical Bakehouse" this page showcases all the recipes that I have baked and photographed in my other blog. You can click on the picture and be transported to that recipe. 

 Moving onto the recipe at hand.... I stumbled across a competition in Woolworths Good Taste Magazine - July Edition calling for people to take the Ultimate Home Cook Challenge sponsored by San Remo Pasta.

What this challenge required was for you to cook a recipe using 5 base ingredients they set plus any extra's you wish to add.

 

The five basic ingredients were: Your choice of San Remo Pasta, Smoked Fish or Cured Meat, Baby Rocket, Egg & Parmesan Cheese.

My mind started twirling in all directions with ideas of what I would whip up with these ingredients! Would you believe it was all I thought about on one of my morning runs - it made the time pass quickly! 

I decided on Saturday that I would enter this competition and give the challenge a go! 

Entries closed today so I had a limited time window to figure out what I was going to cook, cook it and photograph it before today!

So that's what I did yesterday... grabbed my five basic ingredients plus a few special extra's, cooked me little heart out, plated with love  and photographed with what skill I had acquired over the last few months photographing my Simply Tea Blog recipes.

And this is what I came up with.....

Pasta  Nests With Poached Egg, Pumpkin, Pinenuts & Honey Balsamic Tar

{Download & Print Recipe}

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 x Free Range Eggs
400g Pumpkin, Cubed

2 Punnets Cherry Tomatoes

3 Tbsp Pine Nuts

4 Slices Prosciutto

½ Cup Finely Grated Parmesan

1 Pkt Baby Rocket

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

4 Nests San Remo Vermicelli Egg Pasta

2 Tbsp Chives, finely chopped

Salt/Pepper

Honey Balsamic Tar

5 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

3 Tbsp Honey

Preheat oven to 200 Degrees.

Place diced pumpkin on a non stick tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil and roast. When pumpkin is half cooked add cherry tomatoes and prosciutto. Keep a close eye so that they don’t overcook.

In a pan add the pine nuts and roast until brown. Remove and set aside.

In the same pan add balsamic & honey and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes until thick and syrupy. Set aside ready for serving.

Fill two sauce pans half with water and add a pinch of salt to one and a tablespoon of vinegar to another. Bring to the boil and add the Vermicelli pasta to the one with salt. Meanwhile add the eggs to the vinegar water and poach for three and half minutes, remove and drain on paper towel.

Drain pasta and add back to the sauce pan. Drizzle with olive oil and add grated parmesan cheese, and the chives. Mix well.

Set serving plates out and make a nest with the pasta and place the poached egg on top.

Sprinkle rocket leaves, pine nuts, pumpkin, cherry tomatoes around the nest. Drizzle with honey balsamic tar and garnish with chives.

Enjoy!

I entered my recipe into the competition late yesterday afternoon. You can view it in the gallery here. I received an email today from the deputy editior of  Woolworths Australian Good Taste Magazine letting me know that my recipe has randomly being selected with the possibilty of maybe printing it in September's Issue. Wohoo. Fingers crossed that they will.... will keep you posted!

What would you make with those five ingredients???

Decorating With $2 - Part III

I have been meaning to finish this series off for the last month... but I have been lazy and lethargic to complete the final piece in this series... A Fowlers Vacola preserving jar. Can you believe these sell for $20 a pop on ebay! I got a bargain!

For those who haven't read the previous posts on this series you can find the first two here:

Part 1 - Wire Basket

Part 2 - Terracotta Pots

Anyway I got my butt into gear this week and cleaned up the old jar. A bit of detergent and elbow grease did wonders on this little beauty. I wondered what I was going to do with jar at first - remembering that I didn't want to spend any money to decorate it. I had to use what I already had in my craft/DIY/bits & bobs collection. I remembered a gift that friends of ours had given us from their trip to France recently.

I was so excited to receive this little package of goodies - french vegetable seeds - cornichons (baby cucumbers), pumpkin and round zucchini's, French inscribed pastry scraper & some french wine labels.
 I decided to use one of the french wine labels on the Vacola bottle to jazz it up - simple but classic! So here is how she turned out!

She's all bright and sparkly now all done up ready to show off her new look!!

Makes me feel all frenchified! (If that's a word). So I tell you it is easy to decorate your home on a budget..... simple steps such as picking up classic pieces at garage sales for next to nothing and using things that you have around the home or stashed away to revive your "finds" into something usable!

If your stuck for idea's on what to do with items you want to do up... simply GOOGLE for ideas, browse Pinterest for inspiration, read blogs and somewhere along the line you'll have a light bulb moment! "Ah huh" you'll say and off you go on your adventure of creating something magnificent on next to nothing!

I picked up these gorgeous mini perfume bottles at our local junk shop for $2.50. Bargain! I love the french words and labels on them. Perfect accessory to complete my french bottle collection don't ya say?

Our lavender bushes are flowering profusely at the moment and I thought a bunch of lavender tied together with jute string would add a nice touch to the display! I will leave them like this as they will eventually dry out by themselves... perfect  no fuss arrangement!

Hmmm what's next on my to do list..........? Oh yeah that's right still got my slipcover's to complete! Yay!

Frosty Morning.....

 Nipping morning here at the Whimsical House.... We have been waiting all winter for the first frost to hit our place and I am surprised that it has taken this far in winter to hit! This morning as we woke up I noticed the ground covered in a thin layer of "snow frost" we decided after breakfast to run outside like kids to look around the "frosty" yard.

 I took my camera out and snapped a few photo's of the frosty wonderland.... it was kind of magical! Lol! The hose was even frozen solid!

Our frosted cabbage leaves

It was like a twinkling ice land sparkling in the sunlight.....Ok it was pretty cool but maybe not so airy fairy though!

I loved getting the little ice particles on the plants they really come up a treat once the sun started shining.

Crazy thing though it was the coldest morning we have had so far and we decided to let our fire go out the night before so we could clean it out.... hmmmm a little chilly getting ready this morning!

I don't know if it's normal for lavendar to be flowering in winter but I thought it was pretty all the same......

What's your favourite thing about winter mornings???? Love to know....

Slipcover Inspirations.....

For those who are embarking on a slipcover project or needs some inspiration for a slipcover project I have found some gorgeous inspiration on Pinterest. My slipcovers are coming along slowly. I have now finished the ottomans and chair cushions and are about to embark on the tedious and daunting task of the chairs themselves... Wish me luck cos I think I am going to need it!

In the mean time here is some gorgeous slipcover projects using canvas drop cloths! Enjoy

Source: missmustardseed.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: missmustardseed.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Miss Mustard Seed has been my inspiration and "saviour" of sorts when it comes to slipcovers. She has done countless slipcover projects and her tutorials have helped me a lot when I started doing my chairs.

Source: cotedetexas.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: countryliving.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: isabellaandmaxrooms.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Slipcovers are a great way to jazz up dining room chairs!

Source: dearlillieblog.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Love love love this ottomon cover by Dear Lillie

Source: marthastewart.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Slipcovered headboard anyone?

Source: simplychicslipcovers.com via Melissa on Pinterest

The more wacky ideas..... slipcovered light shade anyone???

Have a great weekend...........

One year on.....

I'm sorry but I have been a little quiet lately on the blog front! I have been a busy little bee behind the scenes getting back into my slipcovers for my wing back chairs.

I am currently up to doing the seat cushions on my wing back chairs...progress is coming along nicely and there has been no major melt downs so far......! There have been a "few" slight incidents though such as pinning the piping round the whole seat cushion only to realise when I got to the end I was 2cm short in my measurements and had to unpin and re-sew a whole new lot of piping! As my husband says - measure twice cut once! How true!

Looking back at some of my previous entries of last year I realised that we have now officially lived here for a year now! We moved into the the "whimsical" house (still need a name.... suggestions people?) in late June last year. So in commemoration of that event I thought I would show you the before & afters of what the last year has brought in the way of renovations/transformations to the house! Enjoy!

 Kitchen

Before we moved in....

Dining Room

Before we moved in......

Family Room

Before Moving In.....

One of my favourite finds this year was this gorgeous old wooden box with rusty metal trim. We use it to store our firewood in it!

Lounge Room

Still have to hang more pictures on the walls in the lounge!

Love, love, love my $20 Bargain mirror from target!

Main Bedroom

Before moving in.....

After moving in...... Yep they're a pile of clothes to be hung! Read the story here

I have grand plans for this bedroom... it's going to get a major transformation "one day" soon hopefully. I want to change the doona cover, pillows and add one of these on the roof above the bed.....

Guest Bedroom

Before moving in....

Another of my favourite finds was this cute towel rack that I picked up at a garage sale for $10. It's on my "project" list to do up... when spring comes!

Laundry

Before moving in.....

Well as you can see by the before and afters.... not a lot has happened in the laundry. It's still in it's "original" state at the moment and will be for while longer! This little story is to be continued....

Study/Bedroom

There is another bedroom but i forgot to take an after photo so i won't bother adding it in this post.

The Yard

Backyard Before (Jan 2010)

After (June 2011) - Looking at this picture... it actually looks messier! Lol

Back of House - Jan 2011

June 2011

The back of the house has been a bit of work in progress over the past year. We have created our rustic path and herb garden and are in the process of getting ready to build a deck.

Orchard - Before (Jan 2010)

After - June 2011

New additions to the yard....

Our Vegie Patch.....

Read about our vegie patch construction here.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour and I know there is many more projects to come for the Whimsical Wife! Keep your eyes open and stay tuned in the months to come!