from somewhere in my imagination

Behind The Scenes

I've been quiet of late.  It hasn't been intentional.  I write in my head constantly, unfortunately I either haven't had the time to sit and write or get writer's block when my fingers touch the keyboard.  I've started and retitled this post three times already, then it took me nine days to come back and finish it.  Case in point. 

I think it's partially because I have so much I want to say and also due to a fairly introspective patch I've been having lately.

I daresay the new work life mix combined with the commitment I have made to exercise and the gym have much to do with my mousey quietness too.  There is minimal time for couch sitting and even less for couch sitting with laptop open.  When we are home together as a family I want that to be family time.  That's what matters most to me.

I am here though, ticking away behind the scenes.  Thinking and planning.  Getting my ducks in a row ready to launch myself headlong into blogging again.  I have new ideas and vision for where I am steering this little ship.  I'm excited.  I am committed to sharing/writing/discussing here.  I love this little piece of me on the interwebs.

I hope you'll jump on board with me as I surge forward again.

Tatum xx

Bluescreened

On Thursday night I turned on the laptop to do a few things.

The laptop, unfortunately, had other ideas.

I was greeted with the failure to boot message, repeated attempts to repair were unsuccessful which left us resigned to the fact that our old faithful laptop had finally died.

Steven was quick to pull out two other laptops, hop on the internet and order a replacement.  He’d obviously been researching it for months.  I don’t weigh in on purchases of electronic things usually, he’s a gadget man and knows what he wants.  Me, I’ll just be happy to have left hand shift and control keys I can use again and computer speed that is faster than something powered by two aging mice.

Until the replacement has arrived and my clever husband has retrieved the unbacked up portion of our hard drive and installed a few key programs blogging might be a bit sparse.  Frustratingly I had several posts planned out, but photos and all are frozen inside the old machine for the moment.

Have a happy week, hopefully I’ll get a chance to pop by.

Tatum xx

Zucchini, Corn & Feta Fritters - NYC I'm Coming Back!

It's been a public holiday here in South Australia today.  Something about a horse race.  Not really my kind of thing but I'll take the long weekend in its honour.

I got the surprise of my life this morning when I checked my emails.  You might remember a contest I entered a few weeks ago, grand prize being sponsorship from Kellogg's to attend BlogHer in NYC in August.  As I wiped the sleep out of my eyes I had to read the email at least 3 times just to make sure I had read correctly that I had won.  Wow.  To say I'm excited is kind of an understatement.  Huge big thankyou to Kellogg's.

Grinning to myself I headed off to the gym for a PT session where my trainer was somewhat bemused by the fact I was smiling to myself the whole time.  I almost dropped and started doing burpees when he jokingly suggested it.

I have been toying with the idea of making some zucchini fritters for a while.  I wanted to try making them with feta and besan or chickpea flour (it's fairly easy to come by at the healthfood shop).  I decided to add corn so as not to scare the kids off the idea of eating them too much and away I went.

Try and get nice fresh zucchinis, they won't loose anywhere near as much water that way.  Feel free to substitute other veggies too of course, I'm thinking I'll try carrots next time but I haven't quite decided what to use instead of the corn.

To make the cooking part easier I enlisted Steven, got him to clean off the BBQ plate and we cooked them there.  So much easier that in a frying pan on the stove because you don't have the sides to contend with, it's a bigger surface and the heat tends to be much more even.  Besides, it was a perfect day for sitting outside today...I would have liked to crack a bottle of wine and while away the afternoon chatting and watching the kids play.

Zucchini, Corn & Feta Fritters with Yoghurt Sauce - Makes about 14, depending on size.

Ingredients

3 Zucchinis, grated and squeezed to remove excess water.

1 tin salt reduced corn kernels (or kernels from 2 cobs)

1/2 bunch (about 6) spring onions trimmed and finely sliced

150g feta cut into small cubes (I used danish feta)

125g besan flour

3 eggs

1/3 cup greek yoghurt

2 tsp ground cumin

To Serve

1 Cup Greek Yoghurt

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint

2 Tbs finely chopped fresh coriander

Juice of 1 lemon

Freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together

Method

Whisk together the besan flour, eggs, ground cumin and yoghurt until all ingredients are combined and a batter has formed

Tell husband you are nearly ready for the BBQ plate (or just go and do it yourself like I do about 80% of the time).

In a separate bowl mix together the grated zucchinis, drained corn, spring onions and feta.

Add the batter to the veggies and mix well.  It will probably get a bit runny around the edges but it's all good, just don't let it sit for too long.

Put a little bit of olive oil onto the BBQ plate, you won't need much, just enough to make sure the fritters don't stick.

Plonk big tablespoons (I'm talking the old sized tablespoon that your granny had) onto the plate and leave to cook until the first side is set.

Flip the fritters and cook through.

Cook in batches, keeping them warm until they are all ready.

Serve with a big dollop of yoghurt sauce and a fresh lemon for squeezing.

We had these for lunch on their own (they were demolished) but you could serve them up with a big salad for dinner.

The besan flour makes them much less stodgy than plain white flour would and it makes them extra tasty.  I know that it's gluten free too.

We've been eating an increasing number of veggie based meals lately and my grand plan is to work up to at least 3 meat free days a week.  I'm linking up with Veggie Mama for Meatless Monday...because I love her blog, it's monday and my recipe is meatless :)

Hope that you had a lovely weekend, be it long, short or normal...and tell me, what was the last fantastic surprise you got?

Tatum xx