Julia Child - Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

I think I might give this a go - take on what Julie did in the movie Julie and Julia (see below)

I have gradually accumulated a love of cooking, especially since Cyris and I have had our own little home in the city. I would love to try Julia Childs recipes, finding any of her books in a second hand book shop will be the tricky bit.

Ever since the book above was made into a movie, the Julia Child book prices have soared and her books have been snached up by every amature cook, who like myself, have been inspired by it to take on the challenges of french cooking.

Boning a duck, or "pate de canard en croute", (a whole duck stuffed with meat in pastry) interests me, I might have to wait untill Cyris goes out however, as the smell/ taste of duck makes him sick lol It will be a challenge but a fun one. Will post pics when I have the time to do it/ the money to buy a freash duck :)

Im getting Married!!

Wow, I forgot to blog about this! Haha

Cyris proposed on 21/12/2011 at Mission Bay Beach - it was so perfect because it was simple - on bended knee at the beach at night, just us, with a beautiful silver ring with the engraving on the inside " Life is Beautiful Together".

I said yes ;)

I wasn't sure at first when I wanted to have the wedding, and I still don't know for sure, but I'm having such a fun time so far looking at dresses and Bride and Groom magazine's, getting ideas and moping over other peoples beautiful weddings!

My parents are amazing and are going to help us with the wedding costs, but I think it wont cost very much - I love to budget lol

My favourite idea so far is a 'Vintage tea party' theme for the reception, hopefully in a lovely garden setting somewhere, vintage tea sets etc and finger food everywhere, and fairy lights in the trees in the afternoon.

The ceremony will be held in a small church or chapel somewhere (smallish, as the draft guest list is already up to 130!)  A white chapel with stained glass windows would be perfect :)

I'm torn with all of the stunning wedding designs I've seen - sadly I can only pick one hehe

I have entered a competition to win a $3000 wedding dress from Astra Bridal, so fingers crossed as I wouldn't dream of spending that much on my dress if the money was coming out of my pocket!!

As unconventional as it looks for a wedding dress, I love this gown from Astra:

It kind of looks like an Alice in Wonderland inspired dress, Love It!  :)

I have two wedding magazines bursting with post-it notes at the moment, with nothing booked and no clear ideas in my mind at all, but I will keep looking and planning :) Updates to come!

xoxox

Slouching in my desk chair, slowly and unenthusiastically slicing open envelopes at work, the pile of mail at my elbow does not seem to be skrinking. Looking outside, the sky is an ashen grey, and the rain trickling down is the irritating kind that leaves a fine mist all over you - I'm not wet through but will be slightly damp all morning from my walk to work.
Opening more envelopes...
First week back to work - disappointing so far but not unbearable.
I have started reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon - started reading them when I was younger, but never really got into the second one, but now Diana has written a few more in the series and is working on another one. I needed a new series to get into, and figured this one would keep me occupied for quite a while with 6 books so far published.

This is the first book I have just finished-

"In 1946, after WWII, a young Englishwoman named Claire Beauchamp Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband, Frank.   She’s an ex-combat nurse, he’s been in the army as well, they’ve been separated for the last six years, and this is a second honeymoon; they’re getting re-acquainted with each other, thinking of starting a family.  But one day Claire goes out walking by herself, and comes across a circle of standing stones—such circles are in fact common all over northern Britain.  She walks through a cleft stone in the circle….and disappears.  Back into 1743, where the first person she meets is a gentleman in an 18th-century army officer’s uniform.  This gentleman, Jack Randall, looks just like her husband Frank—and proves to be Frank’s six-times-great-grandfather.  Unfortunately, he also proves to be a sadistic bisexual pervert, and while trying to escape from him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Highland Scots, who are also trying to get away from Black Jack Randall—though for other reasons.
In order to avoid being handed over to Captain Randall, Claire is obliged to marry one of the young clansmen.  So she finds herself trying to escape from Castle Leoch and her Scottish captors, trying to get back to her husband Frank, trying to avoid being recaptured by Captain Randall—and falling in love with Jamie Fraser, the young man she’s been forced to marry.   The story rolls on from there…"
Diana Gabaldon.

I am reading the second one now, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Best get back to work now <3

"Witch's Graveyard" found in Piombino, near Lucca in Tuscany.

MSN news reported about an unearthed "Witch's Graveyard", really interesting, have a read below:

Archaeologists have unearthed the skeletal remains of an 800-year-old woman with nails driven into her jaw in what could be a 'witch's graveyard' in Italy.
The bones found at Piombino, near Lucca in Tuscany, were surrounded by 13 nails, were not wrapped in any burial shroud and the woman was not buried in a coffin, Daily Mail reports

The nails, driven into the woman's jaw, may have been placed there to prevent her from rising from the dead.
Two years ago a female skull was found near Venice with a stone driven through its mouth, which experts said was a traditional way of preventing vampires rising from the dead.
Another female body dug up at the site was surrounded by 17 dice — 17 is an unlucky number in Italy because of its association with death.
When 17 is written in Roman numerals the letters can be easily rearranged to make the Latin word vixi which means 'I have lived' and can be considered a euphemism for 'I am dead'.
Dice were also used in a game women were been banned from playing 800 years ago.
Alfonso Forgione, an archaeologist from L'Aquila University who is leading the dig, is convinced the women were killed for practicing witchcraft.
"She was buried in bare earth, not in a coffin and she had no shroud around her either, intriguingly other nails were hammered around her to pin down her clothes," Forgione said.
"This indicates to me that it was an attempt to make sure the woman even though she was dead did not rise from the dead and unnerve the locals who were no doubt convinced she was a witch with evil powers."
However, the archaeologist remains unable to explain why the women, if they were witches, were interred in hallowed ground, as the burial site is also the site of an ancient church.
"The only possible explanation is that perhaps both women came from influential families and were not peasant class and so because of their class and connections were able to secure burial in consecrated Christian ground," Forgione said.

Favourite Quote this Week...

‎' Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon. '

First Home

Well we have done it, we have our own place!!!

Its in auckland central and perfect - two bedrooms and an amazing view. It even has a little balcony I managed to squeeze two chairs and a table onto.

Two weeks in and we are loving the city - cant wait to explore more when we have the time.

      “He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home”

I like this quote - it is very peaceful in our new place. I still miss my home with mum and dad but I can still visit them and see them as they are only 1/2 an hour away.

Very Happy xoxox

Egyptologists Find Buried Pyramids

Wow this story is amazing! I love archaeology and anchient egypt - there could be so many new things we could learn if they are able to excavate and actually find these pyramids and buildings.

The news report below:

Egyptologists have discovered up to 17 pyramids and more than 3000 other buildings buried under sand using ultra-red satellite cameras.

The cameras are able to detect the heavy-brick structures from hundreds of kilometres away from the surface of the earth, BBC documentary 'Egypt's Lost Cities' reported.

The densely packed ancient city of Tanis, north of Cairo, has been exposed by the satellites, as well as pyramids dating back about 4500 years.

So looking forward to hearing more about this!