A bounty of fresh goodies

I made the trip to our local fruit market yesterday, something which I have not done in quite some time as quite often it can be very hit and miss as to the quality of the produce they have. However, an advertisement in the local paper advertising some extremely good specials made me curious and decided the specials were too good to not go and have just a tiny peek.

I arrived to a place bursting with people who had decided to check out the specials as well. There were the usual rude people pushing in, and trying to protect the current pile of produce they were rummaging through in fear that you would come and gather all the 'good ones' before they could. The queues at the cash registers were halfway up each aisle... however, it was all worth it as I collected quite a bounty!

I spent a grand total of $32.50, however, the amount of fresh produce I purchased for this amount is amazing, considering the fact that fruit and vegetables purchased in the 'stupidmarkets' (aka supermarkets for those of you sitting at home scratching your heads) would have been at least triple the price I paid. I'd hate to think how much it would have cost if I'd bought them at the stupidmarket instead. But then, in all honesty, I probably would not have bought anywhere near as much because of the cost, and then my family would have missed out on all the lovely fresh produce.

So, for $32.50, here is what I bought... (there was also a 10kg bag of washed potatoes which I forgot to put in the picture!)

• 1 dozen eggs - $1.99
• 500g mushrooms - $3.20 ($6.99kg)
• 3 lemons - $0.27 ($0.49kg)
• 10kg washed potatoes - $4.99 (83 potatoes... yes I counted them!)
• Lettuce - $0.89
• 11 apples - $0.81 ($0.49kg)
• 3 corn cobs - $2.00
• 9 garlic cloves - $2.49
• 5 florets of brocolli - $2.26 ($1.50kg)
• Rockmelon - $0.99
• Bunch of spring onions - $1.29
• Half a watermelon - $2.27 (0.99kg)
• 12 carrots - $1.94 ($0.99kg)
• 1.4kg seedless grapes - $2.80 ($1.99kg)
• 8 tomatoes - $0.47 ($0.99kg)
• 6 plums - $0.72 ($0.99kg)
• 3 onions - $0.51 ($1.49kg)
• 2 green capsicums - $0.97 ($1.49kg)
• 3 zucchini - $1.65 ($1.99kg)

Not a bad days shopping, and definately made it worthwhile making the effort to check out the fruit market again. Think I'll have to get back into the habit of making the trip down there in future!

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, bake... WE CAN!

I've invited some friends around tomorrow so we can have a baking day together. What better way to pass the day than cooking up a storm with some good friends whilst sharing some laughs, some gossip, and relaxing afterwards to enjoy some of our freshly baked masterpieces with a nice cuppa!

I'll even get to show off my gorgeous new cake stand and put it to good use!

Best of all, because we'll all choose different things to make, and it will all be shared out at the end, we each end up a much more exciting bounty of  goodies at the end instead of just a single batch of biscuits.

Now I just need to get my thinking cap on to work out what naughty treats to make! Time to pull out my cook books and try and find something new and fabulous to create instead of the usual things, which although yummy, tend to become a bit boring to make over and over again.

Who knows, I may even learn some wonderful new recipes from my friends :)

"Pizza, pizza, I love to eat the pizza"

Last night, as I began organising dinner, Ebony announced that she wanted to help me. As this was the first time she had ever asked to help with cooking , I took full advantage of the moment! I decided to make pizza as it would be something simple which she could help lots with.


I had a child sized apron and chefs hat in the kitchen drawer which she asked to put on. She looked so cute!


The first pizza we made was one with bacon, mushrooms, tomato and cheese. She had lots of fun sprinkling the toppings on, although she tended to just sprinkle them in one area so I had to help her to spread them out a bit.

The second pizza we made was a dessert pizza. We smothered this pizza with lots of nutella and then covered it with chocolate chips! Ebony had a great time making this pizza... especially when it came to licking the spatula clean that was covered in nutella! And I'm sure there were quite a few chocolate chips that never made it onto the pizza!

Once we had finished making the pizzas, she set the dinner table ready for everyone to sit down and eat the pizzas she had helped to make! She was so pleased with herself! 


I really enjoyed spending this time with her. It turned what would normally be a rather uninteresting job for me into a fun experience which I could share with my little girl.