food. pressure cooker corned beef.

After going away for the weekend, Nate had requested I make corned beef. Something delicious to have on hand for sandwiches.

Shelley (whom we went to visit over the weekend) made her corned beef in the slow cooker. Since we are without a lot of small appliances, I had to figure out another process.

The oven was out because I'm getting used to it an wouldn't risk a $10 piece of meat in there. Pressure cooker it was. Found a basic recipes on food.com and went from there.

Pressure Cooker Corned Beef inspired by food.com
Ingredients:

guest. photographer.

Jut got back from a walk and thought I'd share these amazing photos Nate took.

Sunset, all with an iPhone.

food. sweet chili + lime chicken, chickpea salad.

We made both of these recipes these last week - another staple for dinner that quick and easy. I found the Donna Hay recipe from a magazine at my office (who knew it would be a sign that we would move to Australia.)

Don't know about Donna Hay? Check out her site: www.donnahay.com.au

Sweet Chilli + Lime Chicken from Donna Hay
Ingredients:

food. cheesefest.

CHEESE! I love cheese and I was pumped that Cheesefest was going to be the first Australian festival we attended. It was a few weeks ago, so I apologise (Like that use of s? Figured out how to switch between US English and Australia English in spell check.) for the lack of details. This post is going to mostly photos, be sure to add some of these cheeses to you next grocery shop.

 

dream. lasagna throw down.

I wasn't sure if I should have titled this post dream. or food. I had a dream about food, so...yeah.

One of Nate's questions first thing in the morning is "Did you have any crazy dreams?". He knows that I have very vivid and nutty dreams - I think the most famous, or at least the one comes out while telling everyone I have crazy dreams - involves LL Cool J. In short, Nate and I were fugitives running up a mountain, LL Cool J was the cop out to get us. WHO dreams this stuff. I hadn't heard a song of his, seen him on TV, NOTHING for years. YEARS. people.

Not sure if this is going to turn out to be a series on the blog. If I remember to grab my phone first thing in the morning and jot down some notes, I'm sure you'll read more about the nonsense I create while sleeping.

On to my last dream. My company was going to fire me unless I beat my friend's mom in a lasagna throw down. Literally, my job was on the line for lasagna. It's too bad I'm writing this so late in the day because there were some pretty good details I've already forgotten. I'm sure it was close ups of the lasagna...who doesn't love food porn at any time of the day? (If anyone from work is reading this. I make a mean lasagna, please keep me.)

If this makes you think of having some lasagna, here's a recipe you should try. It's become a favorite at our house. The red sauce is good to have on hand for any last minute carb cravings.

World's Best Lasagna from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:

garden. no bugs allowed.

I don't really have bugs to talk about in this post. Just thought it was a cute line from some garden makers I was given (thanks, Lindsay!).

The plants are still growing. Seems like the mint is going crazy. Maybe it's time for some mojitos? (Mint at week 3 --->)

If you have any tips for basil, please send them my way! One pot seems to be trying to grow. I'm pretty sure I over watered the other one.

Week 3 photos:

food. prepare a salad in advance.

I'll probably throw a few of these out there - tips for the kitchen, home, garden, etc. Just because I throw them out there doesn't mean I've tried them. Feel free to think of them as reminders for the both of us to try. Have a tip? Tweet it to me (@JenEvison) and I'll create a post about it!

Preparing a salad in advance
From: Real Simple Magazine

food. scones.

Lucy was put to the test again. This time scones were on the menu. I obviously haven't figured out what to start with and build up to when it comes to baking. I like the "close your eyes and pick something" method.

If you've already mastered scones, don't judge me. Give me tips instead.

This recipe has very few ingredients, you actually probably have them all in your pantry right now. Go ahead, make some scones. You'll make someone's day.

Scones from kitchenaid.com.au
Ingredients:

halloween. success.

Quick update on Halloween.

• Totally rocked for our living in the 'burbs!
• Over 40 witches, princesses, ninjas, goblins, ghosts, pumpkins showed up for some candy.
• We had to go buy more candy so we wouldn't run out.
• Halloween music is always a must.
• Halloween wine charms are always a must. For me, not the kids. Obviously.
• Wine for the night: Oyster Bay, Sauv Blanc
• A few kids walked away saying "I told you she was American". Not sure if that's a plus or not but I'm going to go ahead and put it on the win column.

Overall, awesome.

food. lamb, homemade tzatziki.

Of course we are going to have lamb as a staple on our menu. We live in Australia! That's a silly question.

Nate was in charge of the lamb. Super easy...salt, pepper, olive oil. BBQ. Only turn once.

I was in charge of tzatziki. Options were to buy a ready made dip (or sauce, whatever you want to call it) or to make one from scratch. Epicurious called my name on this one. It turned out pretty good. I went a bit overboard with the garlic though. Good thing Nate and I are married.

Tzatziki (Yogurt and Cucumber Salad) from Epicurious.com
Ingredients: