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Lots of fun things have been happening in our house!
We spent the weekend decorating the house for Christmas. We all went to the local park and picked a tree. Then we decorated it whilst drinking hot chocolates.
Andrew and Henry started putting up lights on the outside of the house (the first time we have done this). The job isn't finished because the helper kept climbing the ladder or running away.
However it all felt sort of strange, in a fun way, because it was hot! I think it was 78 degrees which is about 25 celsius. So it sort of felt like we were in Australia.
We blasted 'Joy to the world' through the speakers and we enjoyed a lamb roast dinner. Flissy especially enjoyed sucking on a slab of lamb and protested loudly when it was taken from her.
Looking forward to more Christmas festivities in the next few weeks.
Have you heard the news?
Andrew's little sister is getting married!
That means we'll be visiting Oz sometime in July 2012.
Stay tuned for dates! We can't wait to see you.
I think one of the trickiest parts of gluten free eating (apart from eating out) is baking.We have the main meals under control now with modified ingredients - the main changes being gf bread and breadcrumbs and gf soy sauce.Baking is tricky because it requires rising and certain textures to make cakes and biscuits taste AND feel good.We are checking out different recipes. Some we like and some we don't. It's just trial and error around here at the moment.
I used to say this a lot but now it is fairly rare. Am I becoming American or am I immune to the strange things around me?Not sure which but in any case check out this bizarre product.Why not just have a regular mint?
We've started eating brussel sprouts in our house. Well, some of us have. Henry is still holding out.I have a good recipe that roasts them. Then I toss them with butter, lemon juice and chopped walnuts. But something I didn't know about brussel sprouts was that they grow on a stalk!Did you know this? I just assumed they grew in the ground like little heads of cabbage. But apparently not.Hopefully they will taste fresher and sweeter cutting them straight off the stalk!
Although we have our own fantastic super-secret gf Andrews Pizza dough recipe, we are always happy to check out other gf pizzas.So we stopped in at Fuel Pizza.AWESOME!I highly recommend their gluten free pizza. The only issue we had was that the toppings and cheese didn't stick to the base very well but kept sliding off. This wasn't too big a deal and we just scooped it back on top.The cafe is called Fuel because it is in an old petrol station (gas station) complete with paraphernalia. They don't have a wood fired oven, just the regular pizza oven with the moving contraption on it. They cooked the pizzas at 390 degrees which Andrew thought was too low but the result was still good.I really liked how they put the sauce and topping very close to the edge. And the sauce was good, tending to the sweet side. I thought it was pureed tomatoes but Andrew says smashed. If you're in the Charlotte area check them out at one of their many locations! [they do regular pizza too!]
We bought a new-to-us car on Saturday.It felt kind of strange leaving the Impreza behind and driving off in a different car without handing over any money. Of course we paid for the car, we didn't steal it! [I can see K dialing the police already]I just mean because everything is electronically done we just signed some papers and walked out. Because we had a trade-in we didn't need a deposit so I guess that's why it felt strange.Our new car is a 2010 Honda Odyssey EX-L.The good parts: automatic sliding doors, automatic opening boot, space for 3 car seats + much more, turning circle is awesome.The bad parts: front wheel drive (Andrew tested this out deliberately and got one of the wheels to spin. He kept telling me about how that wouldn't happen in a Subaru as it has all wheel drive. blahblahblah), small reversing camera screen, speedometer only has certain numbers marked (ie 20, 40, 60 but not 30, 50, 70), no petrol tank indicator (ie what side is it on - actually its on the left which is annoying because 80% of cars around here have it on the left)So all up we are very happy. It is SO nice to be able to get the baby capsule in and out safely and to press a button and Henry's door opens for him to climb in. I'm loving it already. And Andrew is enjoying driving the other Subaru (Tribeca) to work. He now can fit more than 2 people in his car and have legroom! And ironically for all book lovers out there I am currently reading Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus is plotting his revenge against the suitors!
Board Tennis, a board game produced by international designer Ben Martin, made its North American debut yesterday.
Players were initially skeptical of the game but once started they declared it 'fast paced' and 'surprisingly fun'.
All inquiries for the game should be directed to the US distributor through this website.
Disclosure: This reviewer was sent a free copy of the board game but all opinions are independent.
It's that time of year for us to celebrate some half birthdays! Flissy was first up, Andrew was next and then Lucy is 5.5 tomorrow.Flissy had a gf chocolate cake, Andrew had home made chocolate pudding (left) and Lucy ... well lets just say she keeps changing her mind about what she wants.
The babymoon is waning and now I'm back into projects.First up is the repainting of the kitchen table. The table was getting pretty bad. As you can see in the before picture, before I had sanded it, the varnish was already worn off the top.Now it is a glossy red! I also got some new chair cushions from World Market.Not bad for a cheap ikea dining suite.
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Lots of fun things have been happening in our house! 
