Tag Archive for food

Teaching Chocolate Tart

22/11/2011 Joh food, learn

I want to make Chocolate Tart with my Wednesday students (I have to come up with a better descriptive name for this group for next year). I want to use the recipe we used to make it in the shop, but the problem is I never used exact quantities. This is why I am not a food teacher:)… well there are other reasons such as the limited range of my cooking skills.

I have googled, but not one of the first couple of pages have a recipe that even has the same ingredients. I have found that learners are a bit particular about following recipes, I know I was. I will have to write-up the nearest approximation tonight.  I probably should have suggested something more practical like mini pizzas or hamburgers. There is nothing like chocolate tart to get disengaged people engaged though!

I’m guessing another learning experience for me tomorrow.

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Full Moon in Taurus – Friday 11th November 2011

07/11/2011 Joh astrology, family, food

Yes that’s right we have a full moon on that date 11/11/11.

It’s also Remembrance Day. Yesterday I bought a wrist band instead of the usual poppy. It’s really pretty. The past 10 years I’ve been in a school and this day has been observed with a brief ceremony. This year I’ll be working in a shop so I’ll have to remember without the usual structures.  Maybe I’ll set an alarm on my phone.

 

Taurus is a very sensual sign. All the Taurus born I’ve known are foodies. When I was at The Butchers Dog, many of our customers were Taurus, one in particular I remember fondly would even send her mum in to get food she read on the Facebook status, cause she didn’t want to miss out. I had to ask her one day and she was as I expected a Taurean. It is the one star sign I can often pick. Two of my closest people, my nana and my son are this sign. Probably not a good day to start a diet:).

Here is a post from Ruby Slipper I have read for this full moon. I will add my favourites to my delicious feed as I read them. I am posting this early as I have a busy week and want to have this done if I don’t get time.

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Full Moon in Pisces – Monday 12th September 2011

12/09/2011 Joh astrology

My natal moon is in Pisces, but it wasn’t full… just a quarter:) To give some idea of the range of Pisces, check out this link to Mystic Medusa’s fabulous Hi-Low series for Pisces.
These are the posts I’ve read about this full moon occurring here at around 7.30 tonight:

September’s full Moon, occurring on September 12, speaks about having food on the table and being able to nurture your self and others and provide for life’s necessities. The Sabian Symbol is Pisces 20: A Table Set For An Evening Meal.

Lynda Hill

This Full Moon will bring us the rewards of work we’ve done up to now! It’s a harvest time, with lots of great activity gathering what we need that we’ll be able to use in practical ways in the very near future.

Aquarius Papers

There’s a dreamy, saturated Full Moon in Pisces on September 12th. Expect an emphasis on creativity, glamour and compassion but also disappointment, escape and addiction.

Ruby Slipper

and to bring a smile

There seem to be less crazies about than most Full Moons – i think it’s because the Zap Zone of June to August was SO intense, even the people who want to go ape can’t be bothered.

Mystic Medusa

My weekend was good. The macarons were yummy, but looked nothing like they should. The nougat was a complete failure… way too runny. I need to use the thermometer next time. Asha’s party went well.

 

 

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Macarons, Friends and other Simple Pleasures

15/07/2011 Joh blogging, Business, food, friends, learn, random, reading

Yesterday Br John came for lunch. He was my mentor when I was a first year teacher 10 years ago. We haven’t caught up for probably 5 years. He has moved to another state and is a Principal there. I reckon he would be a good one because he is both human and organised. He communicates well and continues his learning. I always enjoy hanging out with him because he has interesting stories. He’s recently been travelling around Europe on a Marist brother adventure (there is probably a more serious, spiritual purpose). He had great food stories to tell me and as that is what I am most interested in right now, I enjoyed the tales of food.

I had my second attempt at making Macarons. Just before we left the shop a lovely lady came in for a visit from this business Cupcake Therapy. I am not really into cupcakes. Her sister had come in for lunch and told me they’d been to Paris to learn how to make Macarons. I was captivated. I contacted her on facebook and she brought some samples (rasberry with white chocolate filling). It is my current obsession. They are so pretty and delicious. A fortnight ago I made some for Cath for her birthday. I made about 3 batches and ended up with 6 mishapen things. I made chocolate ones because I am a fan of chocolate. I will experiment with different flavours once I get chocolate handled. The ones I made for lunch yesterday were better but don’t look anything like the amazing creations from ‘Cupcake Therapy’. Her facebook page is one of my favourites.

One of the things I really like about Macarons is that it’s delicious way to use egg white. I use the yolk to make mayonaisse and chocolate/lemon tart. I’ve never been a fan of pavlova or other egg white type dishes. Macaron’s are going to take a lot more practise. I have no clue with a piping bag. They tasted great and I don’t think I would ever create the kind of product with glaze and all the beauty of professional ones, but I would prefer them to look a bit more similar. When I do manage something near decent I will take a photo:) Which leads me to my next simple pleasure…

I have been inspired by Jen from Semantically Driven to start taking a photo a day. I haven’t really taken many photo’s lately. I take them of the kids, but I used to always take my camera with me and I enjoyed it. I am going to publish them on tumblr. I have also been watching a few You Tube photo a day clips and thinking that could make an interesting alternative to journalling for students who don’t like writing. I don’t like taking photos of myself… but teenagers seem to be comfortable with it. I will just take photos of random things that take my eye, still I think they will contain hidden memories.

We shopped today because we have a catering job to do tomorrow night. Two friends are engaged and we are catering for the celebration. I love shopping with Darin. We have a lot of fun and even amuse others. An older woman in the market couldn’t stop giggling when he asked me which box I wanted to carry and I said the lightest one. It really tickled her. I enjoyed being out in the sunshine today. We went to Morwell cause we had to go to a couple of places there. We ended up back here for all the things we forgot on the first trip:). I popped into the Art Gallery whilst I was there and looked in the window of the Contemporary Art Space. I felt quite uplifted by it. We went on a walk this afternoon and went ‘window shopping’ in all the homeware and electrical shops on the highway. We got great service cause we were the only people in the shops. We were approached by many sales people. I looked around at all the heavily discounted stuff and thought ‘What’s going to happen to all this stuff if no one comes back to buy it?’ Where have all the shoppers gone?

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I Confess

08/06/2011 Joh food, work

Tonight as I updated The Butchers Dog facebook page, I felt compelled to drive back to work, with my PJ’s under my jeans and jumper and get another peice of Jelly Slice and Cheesecake. So I did. I feel better now that’s off my chest and in my stomach. I had soup for dinner, so it’s not that indulgent:).

I have actually lost 5kgs since Christmas. I believe that substituting takeaways and the school canteen food with real food has made the difference. When I am busy I buy lots of take away food. I know it’s not healthy and not a great decision but lack of time and hunger leads me there every time. Even though our food is really yummy, it’s made from fresh ingredients like vegetables, meat and dairy products. It obviously does make a difference. I probably don’t eat as much because it’s pretty satisfying as well. Somehow fried food and disolveable bread doesn’t seem to satisfy me as long.

I worked at my old school today. I enjoy being there as a CRT. It’s great to catch up with past students and get to know the new ones I haven’t taught before. I actually gave a little ‘facebook’ lecture today to an English class. I have noticed that some past students who are on facebook are writing status’s that are not very pleasant reflections of who they are. Whilst I know them and know they are not really nasty people or inappropriate in real life, I am concerned that potential employers won’t. On the weekend we were having breakfast at a local restaurant and the owner mentioned that he only uses facebook to check out potential employees. I know I’ve told some of these students before about this kind of thing, but we all probably need reminding frequently. I love facebook because it allows me to keep up to date with people I don’t get to see very often. It’s a quick way to stay in touch. I am still concerned about the lack of education about maintaining an effective online reputation for young people. It’s great most students at my old school have laptops to use. All year 7′s, 10′s, 11′s and 12′s have laptops now. I just hope they are being used in ways that prepare them for their future, not damage it. There is so much potential available to learn with technology.

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All Quiet except for the coughs

22/05/2011 Joh Business, food, health

When I first started teaching I would get a cold every school holidays. This weekend I think I experienced the same thing. It feels like I save it up for when I have time to have a cold. So I’ve been coughing and resting and reading. I was just saying to someone recently that it is much healthier to work in the food industry than in a school, cause I hadn’t been sick at all since I started. I put it down to the continual hand washing we do. I’ve done a couple of CRT days recently and a couple of my friends have had colds, so it got me in the end!

I have finished our business plan too. We had made a good start on it much earlier, but left a few bits out. I needed to send it to someone tomorrow so I had to go over it and fix a few things up. There is a good template for business plans on the government site: Business Victoria. It was quite useful with excel spreadsheets included. There are other templates too, so if you are starting a business I would recommend it.

Darin cooked me an amazing dinner last night after I’d slept all day. I felt quite spoilt. I ate it and went back to sleep on the couch.

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Blogging Holiday

13/04/2011 Joh blogging, family, gratitude, home

I’m having a bit of a break from blogging because I don’t have my laptop right now, so my time online is minimal. I expect it will be back before Easter, so it won’t be for long. I’m spending very little time online right now, just checking email, making payments for the business, updating ‘The Butchers Dog’ facebook page and the bare minimum really. I’m using my phone to check all my email accounts and feeds and when I get online I only follow up the important things. I am reading heaps more and my house is in much better order than it’s been for a while.

We are having Darin’s children overnight tonight because they are on school holidays and it’s an opportunity for us to spend more time with them. That is one of the primary purposes of creating our business, so it’s great that we can take it up. Asha is also coming for dinner. We are having Roast Pork!

 I have this little snippet of time when the house is quiet and Darin’s laptop is free. I’m not complaining though, he’s very generous with his laptop and not on it half as much as I used to spend on mine. I think that will change now that I’ve had this break. It’s helped me to become aware of some of the time I waste online doing unecessary but time filling things.

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Full Moon in Virgo – Sunday 20th March 2011

19/03/2011 Joh astrology, family, gratitude, home, love

The moon will be full in Virgo early tomorrow morning. I think I have caught the Virgo love of cleanliness in a small way as I totally vacuumed and dusted my bedroom today and changed my sheets. I felt compelled!  My room is now this pristine space waiting for me to sleep tonight. I have thought about how good it will be throughout the day! I also had a long bath, ridding myself of rough skin, hair etc last night whilst Darin was collecting the kids. I think I have been Virgo Tripping.

So some of you may have read about this moon being a ‘super full moon’. Eric Frances: Full Moon in Virgo:Turning a Corner explains some of the finer points of the time, astrologically.Lynda Hill’s: Secret Knowledge from a Ancient Scroll: March’s Virgo Full Moon has some great quotes about knowledge and is a grounding and reassuring read. I joked with a past student who asked me if the world was coming to an end recently. I told him that no, I didn’t think the world was coming to an end so yes, he would still need to decide what he would do with the rest of his life. He smiled and said that I could read his mind. It is a strange time right now with so many opinions and predictions being thrown around, most of them based on fear. We all respond in our own ways. I try to keep my focus to what I CAN do in my own life. Live!

We have the kids this weekend and visited the local school fete. Most of the time spent there, was lining up which was a little dull. They were really good though and I hope they enjoyed the rides once they got there. I got to see some past students playing in a band, which is was great. Darin is now cooking up a feast and J(9) is creating a chocolate self saucing pudding. My contribution was going to the shop for ice-cream:-). I love these ‘family’ weekends.

 

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Shopping and Eating

12/02/2011 Joh Business, food, gratitude, health

Today has been pleasant! We drove to Brunswick to shop for some extra pots and things we needed for ‘The Butchers Dog’. We went to Cedars which is like a massive supermarket of kitchen stuff. The public can shop there too but as a business you get a discount at the register which I liked as well. I loved it. I did plenty of fantasy shopping as well as buying the things we needed. Can’t wait to go to work on Monday to use them all.

We went to Brunswick St and had a kebab. Finally Darin said they were as good as the ones in Sydney. There have been a lot of disappointing kebabs over the past two years so it was somewhat of a special occasion. We strolled down the street and did some window shopping, checked out the Artist Market in Rose Street. I could have spent a lot of money there if I’d had any:-). Darin offered to take the pots back, but I would prefer the pots to be honest.

I’ve just polished off a place of all three of our deserts that were leftovers. Normally I take slices around to the businesses around us, but I just wanted to go home yesterday. It was sticky hot. So I’ve just enjoyed lemon and chocolate tart and white chocolate cheesecake. They were yummy as! Darin’s about to make me steak and salad for dinner so that’s a healthy balance.

I have been drinking coconut water every day since we got it in the shop. I haven’t put on any weight so perhaps it does work, cause this week I’ve had so many lamb ribs, prawn cutlets and calamari rings. I’ve also eaten heaps of coleslaw and potato salad cause they are good too. It’s heaven for me to be surrounded with all this great food.

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Solar Eclipse in Capricorn – Tuesday 4th January 2010

03/01/2011 Joh astrology, Business, family, food, friends, gratitude, home, learn, love, relationships, work

This eclipse is a new moon, so perfect for setting intentions for the future. I have abandoned New Years Day as my first day of new action for a few years now and prefer to make my fresh starts on Chinese New Year and new moons. I use New Years to reflect on the past year. Capricorn is ambitious and so am I this year. I have my ascendent, mars and venus in this sign, as well as Darin having his sun and ascendent, so we have plenty of this energy to work with here:-).

Some horoscopes I’ve been reading for the eclipse:

Kim Falconer
Lynda Hill
Robert Wilkinson :Aquarius Papers
Jan Spiller

This eclipse has good timing. I have intentions for this year and I expect to have a very different lifestyle, if the last few weeks are any indication. The rhythm of my days has changed. I have more freedom even though I spend more time working. It doesn’t feel like work due to the environment. I make choices about what needs to be done and how and when I do it. I feel more creative than I have for a while and it’s resulting in changes in lots of areas.

Many of my intentions are for my home and family for this year. I love home. Last year we completed the laundry and integrated our belongings. When two adults with children merge in a home together everything changes. Our first year together there were still many comings and goings of people and things. We moved house for a short period, we moved back here and then Tom moved to Hamilton Island. It’s probably taken me all this year to pack up his stuff, and it’s not mission accomplished. We intend to rearrange the bedrooms. I want to create spaces for our 5 children where they can feel they belong and have some personal space. It seems like a bit of a challenge, but as they are rarely all here at the same time, we will find a way. This house is amazing really and there are plenty of spaces for everything. I have plenty of other improvement projects to complete around the home.

We had some great family times this year with the offspring as well as our parents and extended family. I want this to continue. It’s been amazing feeding people with Darin to confidently cook. Having Christmas day lunch for my family here was one of the greatest gifts he gave me this year. He makes everything go smoothly and calmly, leaving only enjoyment of delicious food in a relaxed environment.

Darin and I will experience some interesting times working together I expect. We get along pretty well but can both fire up and express ourselves at times also. I need to create time alone for myself as he does somewhere in our week. We have been playing with different ways to do that.

Along the same lines I’ve enjoyed having friends here to eat, drink and stay. I hope to continue and make time to share laughter and stories with all my friends. I have some amazing people in my life and an afternoon spent with a friend can refresh like a holiday.

I want to make soap like frogdancer. She is an inspiration! I use aromatherapy daily in numerous ways, so to make soap would be another extension of that. I find essential oils so supportive to my health and enjoyment of life.

I want to write my blog about the things that are meaningful to me. The filters that I have for my expression have changed. I no longer feel the ‘Catholic School Teacher’ role has to be catered to, which is incredibly freeing, particularly when it rubs up against so much of my personal integrity.

I will be immersed in learning about food this year and will apply some of my past business knowledge and discover how well it applies to this business. I have already discovered many differences between Interior Decorating/Soft furnishings and Food Industries. There are some things that still apply though:-) thank goodness.

I have a volunteer mission this year to work for Lifeline. I want to do their training and be able to serve the community in this way. I was actually thinking about becoming an adolescent counsellor when I first wanted a career change. I just dread the thought of any further University study. I find that institution irrelevant to how I like to learn. It’s too theoretic and disconnected.

We are reopening ‘The Butchers Dog’ on the 10th of January. Traralgon is very quiet at this time of the year. Many businesses take time out and there aren’t as many people around. We are working on the things we discovered in our first weeks. Some time out and reviewing how we went has been helpful in recognising things to change. I have been amazed at how many people have given us advice about what to do. I must admit I have been distracted by it at times and this little time out has allowed Darin and I to get clearer again about what our intentions for the business are and to refocus our vision. When you start there are many things you don’t know, and our little beginning has revealed those things. The alterations that we are making will improve what we do when we return.

There are plenty of hopes for the future like making a vege garden, reading a novel each week, going to more live concerts and performances, using the car less and walking more, going to Hamilton Island to visit Tom (aka have a cheap holiday), taking more photos and world peace starting with me and more, but this will do for now.
I wish for love and abundance for all of us.

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