Newly Retired

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Posted on July 25, 2019

Blog posts have been few and far between over the last 6 months as I navigated the countdown to retirement. I had previously managed to successfully combine the running of a household with full-time work but once I could see the end in sight I tended to put several things on the back burner so that I could focus on tying up as many loose ends as possible in my job as well as training my successor.

So, my last day in the office was Thursday 4th July, otherwise known as Independence Day.

I searched for a suitable retirement image but nothing sums it up better than this photo. We now have the time to explore our own backyard as well as further afield and simply enjoy being surrounded by scenery like the amazing Glasshouse Mountains.

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The past 3 weeks have been an absolute revelation. You do not have to be constantly busy. It is OK to take your time. What does not get done today will be done tomorrow. It has been a huge relief to feel the pressure fall away.

The first week of retirement coincided with school holidays so we had our granddaughters visiting for a few days and managed some outings and activities with them.

Since then I have caught up on sleep – no more 5am starts, exercised – walking each day and socialised – lunch with school friends, morning tea with cousins and several more lunches planned as well as a gallery visit.

Catching up on appointments is much easier without having to juggle them around work. Dentist, optometrist, financial planner, tax agent and so on.

On the home front, meals are prepared, rooms cleaned and washing done with the minimum of fuss. I am doing some sewing, too.

Meanwhile, we are putting the finishing touches to the plans for our next overseas trip. We leave in a little over 3 weeks and have a couple more train trips to book.

That is only a brief overview but suffice to say that I am not bored.

I plan to share more details of the day to day activities now that life is running at a much more reasonable pace.

Thank you for sticking with me during the very lean blogging periods.

A Golden Oldie

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Posted on May 5, 2019

Prompts from several different sources inspired me to make a Lemon Delicious pudding yesterday.

First, a Facebook group post encouraged members to make a post recipes for a childhood favourite food.

Second, my brother, sister and brother-in-law were coming for dinner. What better, than to share a dessert from our common childhood memories?

Third, another Facebook group discusses how our grandparents lived, including cooking and preparing food.

I had not made Lemon Delicious since 2012 when I began eating a gluten-free diet, however, I was not going to let that stop me.

I have posted the recipe for Lemon Delicious on the blog previously. See here. Unfortunately the photos have disappeared from the old post and I am unable to retrieve them.

So, here it is again – with the addition of the gluten-free option.

LEMON DELICIOUS

1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plain flour (use gluten-free flour if required)
Juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Cream the butter and sugar. Add flour, juice and rind. Mix well. Separate the eggs, add yolks and milk to mixture. Place the whites in a separate bowl and beat until stiff. Fold the beaten egg white into the mixture. Pour into an ovenproof dish. Stand the dish in a tray of water (about 2-3cm deep) and place in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is firm to touch and golden.

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The finished product is like a lemon self-saucing pudding. This can be served warm or cold with ice-cream, cream or custard.

NOTES:

As a nod to past generations, I did not use my Kitchen Aid mixer to cream the butter and sugar. I used a bowl and tablespoon – hard but satisfying work. I also beat the egg whites using a hand-held rotary beater. The results were equally as good as any I have made previously using electric appliances.

The ‘sauce’ of the pudding was somewhat thicker than other efforts and I think this was probably due to using gluten-free flour which does tend to absorb more moisture. I would probably ad the juice of another half a lemon in order to rectify this. Despite this, the pudding was extremely well-received by the dinner guests and I will definitely be making it again before too long – especially as the lemon trees are absolutely laden with fruit.

Scones? Yes, please.

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Posted on April 28, 2019

I have never had a great deal of success baking scones but when you add the requirement to be gluten-free into the mix it really becomes a challenge.

A few years ago I acquired this book and I have mastered the scones. I think the trick is the flour blend which is explained in the beginning of the book.

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I use the following to make 1kg of plain gluten-free flour and use the Kitchen Aid mixer to thoroughly blend the flours before storing in an airtight container.

340g brown rice flour
340g potato starch
200g arrowroot
120g quinoa flour

Here is the original scone recipe from the book.

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Please note that it has 900g of flour so makes a large batch. I make a half mix because that is what will fit in my mixer. I used a half mix for this batch of over 30 scones.

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As usual, I have adapted both the recipe and the method. I make savoury cheese scones to serve with homemade soup but there is no reason that you could not make sweet scones.

CHEESE SCONES

400ml warm milk
40g psyllium husk

450g gluten-free flour blend (see recipe above)
8 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

2 eggs
20ml apple cider vinegar

130g butter

Combine milk and psyllium and set aside. Combine dry ingredients and cheese. Grate/shred the cold butter into the flour mixture. Add the eggs and vinegar to the psyllium mixture then add to the flour mixture. Combine until you have a soft dough. I use the Kitchen Aid stand mixer for this but can be done by hand.

Lightly knead and shape to a rectangle of the desired height. Use a knife dipped in flour to cut the pieces and then arrange on a baking tray or two. Be sure to allow enough space between the scones for even cooking. Brush with milk and bake at 180C for about 15-17 minutes.

Whilst this is far from a ‘traditional’ scone recipe, it does provide a very acceptable gluten-free alternative which most people who do not have any gluten retrictions are more than happy to eat.

Winner – Chicken Dinner

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Posted on April 25, 2019

I made satay chicken for dinner tonight. It was simple, tasty and here is the recipe.

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This is my adaptation of one I found on Best Recipes.

Satay Chicken (serves 2)

1 chicken breast fillet (cut into bite-sized pieces)
1 onion (finely diced)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1 tablespoon peanut paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce/tamari
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 cup water

Lightly fry the onion and garlic, then add the chicken pieces. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the water. Combine thoroughly and then add the water, mix well and simmer gently for about 15 minutes until sauce is reduced and thickened.

Serve with rice and accompaniments as desired.

A Month Later

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Posted on April 21, 2019

It is just over a month since my last blog post on 19th March. The following 2 weeks were somewhat frenetic with work and also getting ready to head off on holidays to Mauritius on 1st April. If you missed that bit of detail you can catch up with the travel news and photos on my other blog, Somewhere, Anywhere.

We arrived home yesterday morning after a 36 hour stopover in Singapore. It was also my birthday. Unlike my milestone birthday last year, this year was fairly low-key. We had dinner with my sister, brother-in-law, brother and mother last night. It was lovely to catch up with them and to have someone else make dinner for me.

The weather has cooled down somewhat in the few weeks we have been away. However, heavy showers of rain are making it a challenge to do the inevitable pile of washing that we brought home.

Cooler weather also meant that I can consider meals other than the inevitable salads. Today we did some shopping to restock some necessities – fruit and vegetables as well as milk, cheese and Vegemite. I spent $30 at the greengrocer, including a cauliflower for $4. This is the upper limit of what I will pay for a cauliflower but it is still good value. With the addition of stock powder, an onion, salt, pepper and smoky paprika I made a pot of hearty cauliflower soup. That $4 cauliflower made 4 generous dinner serves plus 4 smaller serves suitable for lunches. 8 meals for about $4.50 seems like pretty good value to me!

Cauliflower Soup

1 full cauliflower (medium)
1 large onion, diced
2 teaspoons stock powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon smoky paprika

Lightly fry the onion in a large saucepan/stockpot. Remove the outside leaves and separate the florets from the stalk. Finely slice the leaves and stalk and add to the pot. Continue to fry for about 5 minutes. Add the roughly chopped cauliflower florets, seasonings and enough water to just cover the vegetables. Cover and simmer for at least an hour and add extra water if required. Blend until smooth and serve.

Tonight we had a big bowl of soup and some buckwheat pancakes on the side.

The remaining soup has been portioned up and is ready to go in the freezer.

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And the rain is pouring down – again!!

Progress

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Posted on March 19, 2019

Well, the bedroom is painted and the new flooring laid.

Tonight we reassembled the bed frame, replaced the mattress and made the bed. Now I am ready to sleep in it.

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Here is a closer view of the new floor.

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After much discussion and debate prior to making our decision, we are very happy with the finished product. It will be much easier to keep clean.

The chest of drawers, cedar box and my dressing table will be put back on the weekend when we have more time.

One Simple Change

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Posted on March 18, 2019

A few days after Christmas we ordered a new lounge suite. This had been on the agenda for quite some time and we finally found the time to search out what we wanted on the internet and then went to see (and sit in) it in real life.The delivery time was expected to be 10 – 12 weeks but we asked if we could make a bit longer so that it would be delivered after our holidays in April.

One of the reasons we were looking at an extended delivery time was because we knew that there were a few other jobs that we wanted to do before we had a new lounge suite in the living room.

The main priority was to have the vinyl flooring in the lounge, dining room, kitchen, hallway and study re-surfaced. This had not been done since the flooring was first laid about 10 years ago and was well overdue. The main problem is that since it comprises such a major area of the house it is a challenge to move all of the furniture out of the way. This seemed like the perfect time.

So now there is furniture and contents of shelves and cupboards stacked almost anywhere I can find a space.

The guest bedroom

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The front entry

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The floors are not the only area in need of some maintenance. The kitchen ceiling was in poor condition and was GMan’s list of jobs. He had already noted that since the living areas of the house are open plan that he would repaint all of the ceilings.

Of course, you paint the ceiling before refinishing the floors.

The kitchen and front entry were done a couple of weeks ago. You can read about it here. The lounge and dining room are currently being painted.

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Our bedroom has been completely emptied and GMan repainted the walls today. The photo is before the painting. Tomorrow the carpet will be replaced with vinyl flooring which will be much easier to keep clean, especially since we live on acreage in a semi-rural area.

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The bed frame has been dismantled and is in the study.

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We are sleeping on the mattress on the floor in my sewing room for a couple of nights.

Once the bedroom flooring is done and that room can be reassembled things will improve a bit. The next step will be to arrange for the resealing of the other flooring.

Moving furniture is almost as much of an impetus to declutter as moving house. We will not necessarily be putting everything back where it came from as we have realised that times have changed and some things that were essentials 10 years ago do not necessarily have a place here anymore. There is no rush so we will carefully consider everything as we reassemble various rooms.

There will be ‘after’ photos in due course.

Wardrobe Audit – Another Month

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Posted on March 12, 2019

I am a bit slow on reviewing my wardrobe this month but here goes.

2019 is now 10 weeks old and I have worn all of my summer clothes apart from one sleeveless top. I like it and it is an identical style to two others so there is no good reason for not wearing it. Anyway, we still have plenty of hot weather ahead so it will definitely get an airing.

There have been some milder days so I have even worn some of my jeans, 3/4 sleeve shirts, boleros and a cardigan.

The following photos show what remains on the backward-facing hangers.

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The sleeveless top is at the extreme right hand end. The remainder are mostly jackets, long-sleeve and 3/4 sleeve tops and shirts as well as a trenchcoat. The exception are two dresses – an emerald green lace frock and a black sheath. These are rarely worn but serve a purpose and deserve their place in my wardrobe.

There are some 3/4 sleeve tops and cardigans folded in the drawers which have not been worn either.

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The lower hanging rail is almost devoid of clothes as I have now worn all six of my skirts, three pairs of cropped trousers and three pairs of jeans. All that remains are my green jeans, good black dress trousers and two pairs of fitted trousers (black and charcoal) that I only really wear with my knee-high boots so they are definitely winter attire.

The exercise of turning the hangers has been a useful one for me. I am confident that everything I own will be worn during the course of the year, with the exception of the two special occasion dresses. I am happy that I generally have enough, but not too many. clothes.

I bought three items in January from the local recycle boutique but nothing since. I am sewing a couple of new sleeveless shirts so they will probably be added during the next month.

Have you tried turning your hangers backwards in order to see what you actually wear?

Bright and Shiny

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Posted on March 3, 2019

One of the things that has needed doing for some time is repainting the ceiling in kitchen. We had originally painted with regular ceiling paint which is a matt finish. Unfortunately, we did not take into account the fact that we live in an area of very high humidity as well as the steam that is generated in a kitchen. There is an efficient exhaust fan but this is not enough to keep the incessant mould at bay.

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It is much better and will be easier to clean because GMan has used a semi-gloss paint. While this is not necessarily recommended for ceilings, we have had previous success as it was used in the bathroom almost 10 years ago and it is still immaculate. A quick wipe over with cloth dampened with a spray of diluted clove oil removes any trace of mould. I have done this about 3 times in 9 years.

We have decided that several sections of the house would benefit from a fresh coat of paint. Next on the list is the front entry. First coat of the ceiling is done with another coat tomorrow. The walls also need doing.

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There are several other maintenance projects on the ‘to do’ list and it is quite a new experience for us. Not actually painting etc but the fact that we have been in this house long enough to need to be redoing painting that we did 10 -12 years ago.

Busy?

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Posted on March 1, 2019

Well, it is over 3 weeks since my last blog post so you are probably thinking that my excuse will be that I have been busy.

While I did not trumpet any New Year’s resolutions for 2019, I made a decision that I would not tell myself or anyone else about how busy I was. I have recently become aware of some of the negative connotations of the word ‘busy’, and therefore, I have made a conscious decision to remove it from my vocabulary and thoughts as much as possible.

So, what of the past 3 weeks? I have simply been otherwise occupied and not writing.

Cooking, sewing and generally keeping home and hearth together.

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