Peppermint Truffles 1/4 cup thickened cream 400g good-quality chocolate, chopped (milk or dark) 1tsp peppermint essence 2x35g Peppermint Crisp bars, crushed 50g good-quality white chocolate, chopped
Combine cream and 200g milk or dark chocolate in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on medium for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds with a metal spoon, or until melted and smooth. Stir in essence. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Stir through Peppermint Crisp. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or until firm. Line a tray with baking paper. Using 2 tsp mixture at a time, roll into balls. Place on tray. Freeze until firm. Place remaining dark or milk chocolate ina heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on medium for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring with a metal spoon every 30 seconds or until melted and smooth. Using a fork, dip truffles in melted chocolate, shaking off excess. Return truffles to tray. Refrigerate until set. Place white chocolate in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on medium for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds with a metal spoon, or until melted and smooth. Spoon white chocolate into a small snap-lock-bag. Snip off one corner and pipe over truffles. Refrigerate until set.
We were so lucky yesterday to have our friends Mel and Dean and their children come over for a BBQ. Mum and Dad have had a BBQ for about 7 years and have only used it a handful of times, so now that we live close we have “borrowed” it for awhile.
It was so lovely sitting out in the sunshine sharing food and good company, Oscar just LOVES to death Jackson, Charna and Kealin, he hasn’t seen them since we moved from Deloraine over a month ago and still talks about them every day. So he was so very excited to be able to play with them for a few hours.
We love Mel and Dean, they are the kind of friends that I don’t stress about the house being clean when they come over and we can truly be ourselves around them. Charna is baby-crazy – lucky for Mel as she is due to have her baby in about 6 weeks! The kids loved swinging around in the hammock. My sweet, perfect baby girl has turned a new leaf. She is still absolutely lovely and easy to have around during the day, but for about a week now she has started waking up in the night, and I don’t mean just a little unsettled, she is like crying for hours on end. Especially worse when she is in her cot, if I put her into bed with us then she is a bit better, but still crys a lot! What to do?!!! I don’t really mind babies sleeping in our bed with us, I know that it won’t go on forever and I’m a huge advocate of doing whatever is going to get you some sleep as a parent. Hopefully she will get over her waking up at night quickly, whatever is causing it. She has had a bit of a cold, and so we are blaming that at the moment, perhaps she is finding it hard to breathe and that wakes her up. She really relies on her dummy to sleep also, I love dummies, but when she wakes up crying because it has fallen out of her mouth a few times a night I am starting to think that we need to get rid of it…I will just have to be prepared for a few nights and daytime naps of crying though and I don’t think I am ready for that yet! I remember that Oscar did exactly the same thing as a baby though, slept beautifully until about 5 months and then started to wake up and was shocking at night time for the next year! Please don’t follow in your big brother’s footsteps little one! So, after church today we were inside getting changed and having some lunch when we realised that Oscar wasn’t inside. After going on a little hunt outside, Jaron found him in the raspberry patch stuffing his face! He loves raspberries sooo much and comes out of the patch with raspberry juice dribbling down his face and onto his top! At least I know he will never starve!
In our front yard we have this beautiful BIG tree. It is perfect for hanging around in on a lovely summers day, reading or relaxing in the hammock, playing around and climbing. There is something magical about being outdoors, it soothes an upset baby, helps you to unwind and forget about adult life, and you don’t notice the 101 things that need to be done inside!
So, now that the presents have been opened I can share a few goodies I made to give away this year… This word for Eve…(I love making these words, they are so quick and fun) and some PJs for Filipa, Carli and I.
Our Christmas morning began with a little sleep-in (thanks kids! Isn’t it sad how what you used to think was an early morning is now considered a sleep-in!!?) Luckily Oscar isn’t old enough to really get Christmas yet and there is no early awakening. I am hoping that he takes after my family in this area as we never woke up early on Christmas morning, it was more like 8am whereas Jaron’s family would wake up super early!
Oscar opened his presents from Santa and we had pancakes for breakfast at our house. Ty called from his mission in Fiji so we ran over to Mum and Dad’s to have a talk to him.
Present opening began before our late lunch (in our family it is tradition to only open presents from Santa first thing in the morning and save everything else until later on in the day. We love it this way as all the excitement of present opening isn’t over in the morning and it drags out for longer!
The way we open our presents is a firm tradition also, instead of a free-for-all approach we like to hand all of the presents out and then sit in a circle and open one present at a time around the circle. This way we get to see what everyone opens and it makes us appreciate each gift a little more.
Poor little Lil…got stickered by her Dad. Oscar helped Cade give out all of the presents. We had all received gifts from Grandad and Granny in Adelaide in little bags. Cade opened his first and we were all puzzled when he found a stretch piece of netting inside. Part of the accompanying card read:
“Gifts are certainly part of this season and we wondered what we could give to you: you who have so much and live in this land of freedom and plenty. Our gift to you this year is a double gift: you will receive joy as you contemplate your feelings, knowing someone else has been blessed through you. Our Christmas present to you was to buy for a mosquito net for an older orphans home in Kenya on your behalf.”
How awesome is that? Definately one of the most thoughtful gifts I have seen in a long time. There is a lady who lives in Adelaide who goes to Kenya to build homes for the orphans through donations and fundraisers. (The orphans are adults whose children have died and have no one to look after them).
Altogether the family has contributed: 1 cow called Matilda, 3 sheep, 4 ducks, 15 laying hens, 1 bed, 1 mattress, 1 blanket and 2 mosquito nets. Our family contributed a sheep, we were all given something to remind us of our contribution. So after present opening we had a bbq lunch with yummy seafood and salads. I think we were pretty good this year, didn’t eat too much or feel disgusting but still had delicious food and a lovely day. Come to think of it…we didn’t even have dessert! Never fear, the festivities continue today, Boxing Day and rumour has it Mum has put together he delectable mango dream for dessert! YUM! Have to remember to get a photo because that one deserves a Recipe Monday feature! We might have a go on Singstar today too, Dad’s Christmas present, and test out our singing abilities.
There always has to be a booby prize present or two on Christmas Day, right? Well I always seem to be the one getting the dodgy presents! Perhaps my family is trying to tell me something…
Last year Ty got some bath bombs out of Mum’s bathroom cupboard and tied them up in a plastic supermarket bag and gave them to me!
One year Carli gave me a sponge for Christmas and another year she gave me cotton balls! She is the queen of booby prizes!
This year I opened a present from Carli and found a packet of….wait for it….
DISPOSABLE UNDIES! They are disgusting, kind of remind me of a surgical cap and are huge! Jaron was my wiling model to display them for a blog shot! So if anyone is in need of a pair or 2 of disposable undies, let me know, I’m more than willing to share…
