An out-of-the-ordinary weekend, actually, for me – it involved a lot of going out, which is anathema to my winter hibernation sensibilities. But with great interests come great out-of-doorsing, and so I found myself wandering the frosty streets with more frequency than usual. And it was awesome.
The weekend for me actually started Thursday night, when there was a school Events Team meeting at the local pub to sort out what still needs to be done for our big fundraiser event in August. This meeting also required a debrief at Howler with my mum friend and fellow school councillor, Tash. The debrief also required a bag of chips + wine.
Biggie had a class party the next day that had requested “healthy snacks” to share so I baked an apple cake (this recipe here, subbed sugar with raw sugar and white flour with wholemeal spelt) and it went down a treat.
Bright and early after school drop off on Friday I headed into the city for a gallery + dumpling date with my cousin, Shaun.
Cute dumpling, no? And he’s single, fellas – get @ him!
We went to Shanghai Dumpling House on Tattersall’s Lane in Chinatown which is cheap as chips (20 veg dumplings for $9.90) and so damn delicious. Even their cheap wine is pretty decent and it’s $3.50 a glass.
Made it to school on time for Friday afternoon assembly, then divided the kids up across different play dates. Went home to put the pizza dough on and left the girls to their own devices while I pottered around in the kitchen and did some weekend-ready tidying.
Retrieved the youngest from her play date armed with maple-and-smoked-sea-salt doughnuts that my other school dad friend just, you know, casually whipped up in his kitchen mid play-date.
The rest of my Friday night was spent obsessively creating the world’s best 90s YouTube playlist, but sadly had to quit after 88 songs as sleep decided it was more important. It remains a work in progress and requests will be taken.
Saturday dawned fresh and cold, so we turned the lounge into a nest of blankets and pillows and the girls watched cartoons while I tackled the giant reading pile perched precariously on the arm of the couch.
The littles requested French toast for breakfast, with hot chocolate chasers. 
And then spent the entire day lost in their Sylvanian Families-LOL Doll-Lego Land as per usual while I kept reading and ambling around.
Saturday night I met up with another cousin who’s just moved to Melbourne for dinner at Kao Thai on Sydney Rd and a Guinness or two at the nearby Brunswick Green, perched in their cosy velour armchairs in rooms dotted with kitsch and candles. V. good. Except for dinner, sadly – I always rave about how Kao is the best Thai in Brunswick, but was really disappointed by with this visit. Always terrible when you talk something up so hard to someone new and then you’re left looking like a twat! And hungry. I hate being left hungry.
Sunday I fell down a rabbit hole of Irish farm blogs as I went in search of recipes. I fully read the entire Farmette blog, bookmarking plenty of Imen’s recipes and plotting my escape to the Emerald Isle. Farm blogs are my FAVOURITE (bonus points if you homeschool), so Sunday was a 10/10 in terms of pleasantness.
I ended up in the kitchen that afternoon making The Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Sheet Cake for school lunches this week, and the most spectacular loaf of Irish brown bread for general consumption (and consume it I did. With loads of salted butter).
Cannot recommend this recipe enough. I’ve made countless loaves of soda bread and damper in my time but have only attempted the wheaten version once and it was an unmitigated disaster. Frightened me right off. Oh but success was had this sunny Sunday and all was right with the world.
Dinner for the grown ups was nachos in front of the State of Origin (but before actual play because it’s taken Very Seriously in this house and stomachs are forgotten as soon as kick-off is kicked off). I had eaten basically a kilo of brown bread so wasn’t terribly hungry but I find it incredibly difficult to ignore a cheesy, crispy corn chip topped with spicy chipotle black beans. Basically impossible.
As impossible to resist as this sheet of chocolate icing was a to a small person in my house. I found the cake had been investigated when it came time to cut it after dinner. too cute.
Apologies, as this post was meant to be up yesterday but I volunteered my popcorn-making skills (my tallying up and change-making skills leave much to be desired) when I heard the school canteen was in need of a helper yesterday morning. When I got home it was straight into cooking for a recipe for The Organic Place next week and before I knew it, Monday was over. So is June, almost. How we’re halfway through 2018, I’ll never know.
Til next time!
I bloody love these updates – never apologise for yourself! I now need cake…
I read this while stirring pasta for dinner and quaffing a usually verboten glass of wine on a Tuesday night. Cheers!
you AND the ants need my cake! I found them devouring what was left of it this morning, much to my chagrin. I’d much prefer you have it! You’ve left me desirous of a vino myself, so I’m about to hunt through the cupboards for a drop! Thanks heaps for hanging out here!