Recipe of the week..

So this is the, non traditional version of the Italian dessert Tiramisu, that I am taking to Mum's for Christmas day! I'm making it for the first time and for 20 people, so I'm taking a huge risk. But if I can pull it off its sure going to be worth it by the look of the photo below!

White & Dark Chocolate Tiramisu (A chilled chocolate dessert...)

Serves: 8

Ingredients

    * 100g white chocolate

    * 250ml thick cream

    * 2 eggs

    * 2 tablespoons caster sugar

    * 500g mascarpone

    * 150ml strong coffee

    * 1 tablespoon caster sugar

    * 5 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee-flavoured liqueur

    * 24 savoiardi sponge fingers

    * 1 cup glossy chocolate sauce (recipe follows)

Method

Melt white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water; make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. As soon as it has melted, remove from heat and allow to cool a little. Whisk cream until soft peaks form, then whisk in white chocolate. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with sugar until pale, then whisk in mascarpone and gently whisk in white chocolate mixture. Mix coffee with sugar and Kalhúa in a bowl, then dip 8 savoiardi quickly into the coffee liqueur mixture for about two seconds on each side and shake off the excess. Arrange savoiardi side by side on a serving dish, spoon half of the mascarpone mixture on top, then repeat the process with another 8 savoiardi and remaining mascarpone mixture. Dip the final 8 savoiardi on the un-sugared side only and lay them, moist side down, on top of the mascarpone layer. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. Pour chocolate sauce over and serve.

Glossy Chocolate Sauce

    * 250g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa)

    * 30g butter

    * 3 teaspoons golden syrup

    * 2 tablespoons thick cream

Melt chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water; make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Stir in butter, syrup and cream, remove from heat and mix well to combine. To reheat, place in a microwave for a few seconds on medium. Makes 1 cup.

You can find this divine recipe at: Marie Claire

MENTAL NOTE'S TO SELF:

1. DO Soak the biscuits longer with more coffee and Kahlua!!
2. DO NOT Premake the Glossy Chocolate Sauce and then reheat it -result is a NON Glossy Sauce!! 
3. Try using a 50% Cocoa Chocolate instead of the 70% as its quite bitter and too rich!

La Dolce Vita..

Is Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life" 

As my previous post shows I am the lucky owner of a new car.  My parents knew we were in the market for one but didn't know what sort we had bought. So we told them on Friday night that we'd bought one and what sort it was. Instead of jumping up and down with excitement, this is what happened.....

Mum: "OH, when your father bought ME a new car I ONLY got a Honda" Followed promptly by.. "Well, I guess you WON'T be getting any more presents this year then, WILL you!?"

Me: "Yes, Mum I know I am a very lucky and spoilt girl" .. "BUT we needed to get a new car anyway, we just hadn't decided on which one"

Mum: "Why, your other car was brand new?"

Me: "Yes, it was only 4 years old, BUT it had NO rear air bags to protect Sara in case of an accident"

Why is it that when good things happen to others, instead of being happy and excited for them, people automatically get jealous?

Its not like my mother hasn't been spoilt by my father for the last 45 years of their marriage. She has lived a very charmed life, never wanting for anything, shopping at will for endless clothes and shoes. If I was in her position I would be happy that my daughter had found a man that could love, support and provide a good life for her!

Wouldn't you?

Fabulous Friday..

Over the weekend we went car shopping, the lease on my current car is up and we needed to find a car with rear & side air bags as the Mazda doesn't have them.. I'm sure Rob spoilt me just a little bit more than he planned, probably to try and cheer me up, I've been quite upset over not falling pregnant, (again), and being diagnosed with "secondary infertility" hasn't helped at all.

So this is my new car...

 

Hmm.. ME LIKEY !!!

We pick it up today so that's why today is "Fabulous Friday" !

Family time is so divine..

Yesterday was a simple day. We drove to my Mum and Dad's house in the morning, where we all played together in the garden and then fed Mum's massive Goldfish. In the afternoon, we went upstairs, read stories and listened to music, while Sara jumped on the bed till she could jump no more. We read Madeleine books at night and laughed as Miss Clavel ran fast and faster before I tucked her into bed with a million kisses.

I love days like yesterday, when peace and happiness flow around. I stop to wonder if it can ever get better than this, such simple perfection.

I'm going crazy for Coconuts!

I have been doing some research into creating an on-line (home based) business that I can do whilst running a household and managing a small, but hopefully soon to be, larger family.

So as per my previous post, "Do what you LOVE what you do" .. I am trying to find a path on which to travel that has something to do with health-fitness, babies and coconuts! 

Call me crazy, but I am in love with the smell of anything to do with coconut oil, lucky for me, it has some absolutely amazing health benefits... 

For example did you know?

Coconut oil is very effective against a variety of infections due to its anti fungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties. According to the Coconut Research Centre, coconut oil kills viruses that cause influenza, measles, hepatitis, herpes, SARS, etc. It also kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and gonorrhoea, etc. Coconut oil is also effective on fungi and yeast that cause Candida's, ringworm, athlete's foot, thrush, diaper rash, etc. 

WOW.. How useful is that!!  

But, what I liked the most was its fantastic skin care benefits: 

Coconut oil is excellent massage oil for the skin as well. It acts as an effective moisturizer on all types of skins including dry skin. The benefit of coconut oil on the skin is comparable to that of mineral oil. Further, unlike mineral oil, there is no chance of having any adverse side effects on the skin with the application of coconut oil. Coconut oil therefore is a safe solution for preventing dryness and flaking of skin. It also delays wrinkles, and sagging of skin which normally become prominent with age. Coconut oil also helps in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections. Therefore coconut oil forms the basic ingredient of various body care products such as soaps, lotions, creams, etc., used for skin care. 

I have two personal experiences with Coconut Oil based products; 

1. I used an "INECTO" Coconut Oil based moisturising creme & lotion whilst away in Noosa last year,
2. I found a "Beachcomber Budd's Pure Coconut Oil" whist away in Hawaii earlier this year that I used as a hot oil in my hair and in the bath to soften my skin after swimming in the ocean and basking in the sun  all day.  

I know that with both of these products my tan lasted longer, my skin had never felt softer and my hair was shinier. As I suffer from hereditary dry scaly skin anyway, (thanks to my mum), I was thrilled to find something that took away the horrid dryness.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates on my new adventure.... 

Simple quote

In my search for a home based career today I stumbled across this beautifully simple little quote... 

"Do what you LOVE what you do..."   Etsy

It's as simple as that :)

And yet my search continues ......... 

The verdict is in..

After months and months and months of heartache and disappointment, I finally know what we both need to do to have another baby. 

We've completed the obligatory and procedural tests to confirm the underlying "secondary infertility" issues and it seems that we do indeed need some help. I won't go into the finer details but needless to say, I really wish I'd called my Obstetrician, questioned our situation and begun these tests a whole lot earlier!

On January 17th our journey with Monash IVF will begin. 

This conjures up a myriad of emotions and I cant explain whether I am excited or scared, but the thought of NOT being able to have any more babies at all is absolutely devastating to me. 

At this stage I have made a choice to only tell my Mum, Dad and best friend, (who is having an IVF baby), why we are starting IVF. I can trust them implicitly to not tell any one else until we know what our chances are like. I am not at all ashamed or embarrassed about IVF, I just don't feel that my mother-in-law could keep it to herself long enough to be trusted.

What is IVF?   

IVF treatment involves the collection of eggs from the woman, sperm from the man, placing the egg with the sperm in a culture dish in a controlled environment in the laboratory, to create an embryo outside the body.  The resulting embryo is then placed back into the woman’s uterus in a procedure called the embryo transfer.

If more than 2 embryos develop, the remaining or surplus embryos can be stored by freezing for transfer in subsequent cycles. Replacing thawed embryos in subsequent cycles, therefore, is a much less demanding treatment.

The sequence of steps for an IVF Treatment Cycle:

1. Suppression of own hormones using nasal spray ( & contraceptive pill)
2. Follicle growth (stimulation by injections)
3. Ovulation timing (based on blood tests and ultrasound scan)
4. Collecting the eggs from the follicles using the ultrasound scanning machine
5. Collection and preparation of sperm
6. Insemination of eggs with sperm
7. Assessment of fertilisation
8. Embryo transfer to the uterus
9. Embryo freezing
10. Pregnancy blood test
11. If pregnancy is confirmed, further blood tests and an ultrasound will be required. 

Please, Please cross your finger and toes and pray that this works for us, as I couldn't bare not to be able to feel more mummy love from a newborn bubba!

If you are having any issues falling pregnant, contact your GP or OB ! Don't waste any time at all !!

Resources:

Melbourne IVF

Monash IVF 

Blonde moment..

For those of you that know me, you will know that I can be just a little absent minded at times. I'm not sure what it is, whether I'm just so tired I can no longer focus on anything other than the things my brain now does on auto pilot like running a household, cooking, cleaning, washing, shopping and constantly keeping a small child happy, clean, warm, fed and YES most importantly entertained!  If its not under than banner ... Then its too bad...!

I know I used to blame being pregnant for this lack of brain power or concentration, but as I am not pregnant - What do I blame?  Have I become so lazy of mind since becoming a mum that I just switch off?

I'm not a physically lazy person at all, I'm always on the go, I rarely sit still.....

(writer pauses for a moment to think.....)

HA HA.. I just had the biggest belly laugh at myself. I had forgotten the point of this story, which just proves my absentmindedness... Thankfully I remembered ....

The point:  

I walked out of the house the other morning with my handbag and Sara both packed for a shopping trip to our local Westfield Shopping Town, I had a list a mile long of a million things I needed to do before lunch. 

We got to the garage and I opened the door with the buzzer, (that was in my handbag since yesterday as the garage had flooded and I'd taken it inside the house with me), I went to open Sara's door to lock her into the car seat, but the door is locked.. BUGGER...I start searching though my handbag for my car keys.... Uhmm ... NO KEYS!!!! Crap!

THINK.... What do I do?? 

Do I call a locksmith to come out, and at what cost? 

Is there a window open, can I break into my own home?? 

All the while I have an impatient child at my heels saying... "Mummy" .. "Mummy" .. "Mummy"

Discover the tiny Laundry window is open a fraction enough for me to get to the fly wire and knock it inside onto the floor... I wind the window out, unscrew window, (with a screwdriver from the garage that I was able to open), place baby safely inside, now its my turn. Not so easy when you have to squeeze in between the laundry trough and the dryer that's mounted on the wall above it! 

BUT.. SUCCESS!!! We're IN!!! 

Keys collected.... Doors and windows all shut so no one else can do what I did!!!! 

Alarm system NOW ACTIVATED ... SAFE AS HOUSES!!