Cousins

My brother always copies me. I had a baby. So he had a baby. So I had another one. Aren't they divine?

Then he had one of these.

I will never have one of these. I think he might have won this round.

Blackberry Madness

Anyone have a Blackberry for work? I lusted after one of these babies for the longest time. And then I got one and it was definitely the most treasured thing I had ever owned – sorry boys, just keeping it real. Apart from looking very important next to a decaf skim latte, it revolutionised my life. I experienced the joy of an empty Inbox on a Monday morning and had the luxury of mentally preparing for the challenges for the week ahead. But like all obsessive relationships, things began to turn sour. I realised I was working 90 hours a week. People knew I was ‘on-line’ so they started sending me inane emails – ‘sorry to bother you at home, my break’s not til 11.00 but I really need to go to the loo …’ Catastrophes I could do nothing about played on my mind all weekend, robbing me of my former blissful ignorance. I would cry myself to sleep at night as the emails rolled in. I was in Blackberry Hell. My Assistant had become my Master.

And then we went on holidays and I had no reception. I had a nervous breakdown. But the world didn’t stop and nothing bad happened. So I made Blackberry rules :

- Only check once a night
- Set Auto-Off for 10pm
- Only check twice a day on weekends
- Stupid emails get ignored
- Really stupid emails get a sarcastic reply (with a smiley face to take the sting out).

My Blackberry and I made a truce, but I missed the heady romance of the early days. Then I discovered a feature they don’t put in the Handbook and I need to share it:

1. Make a cup of tea – blackberry if you have it.
2. While the kettle boils, glance at your Blackberry and loud enough for everyone to hear, exclaim ‘Oh no’ or something to that effect, but more dramatic.
3. Ask your husband to keep an eye on the kids because something has ‘come up’ at work (trust me, he won’t ask what. He doesn’t care).
4. Take your tea and your Blackberry (and maybe a cookie) outside and shut the door.
5. Drink your tea and play Sudoku in peace for half an hour.
I call this Blackberry Bliss. And yes, I am in love again.

Next up ... how obsessed can one person be with their iPhone? Yes, I have one of each. Be afraid.

Chocolate Crackles

Because we just had our school fair, I have been only been making kid-friendly, sellable items all week and have some fun recipes to share over the coming weeks. To start off my bake-sale-o-rama, what could be better than the humble chocolate crackle?

I am a huge fan of foods that remind me of being a kid. There is comfort in knowing that life changes, but yumminess doesn't. Some foods are totally acceptable to eat throughout your life and some foods should probably be left alone after your 10th birthday. Like these chocolate crackles. That's why I'm so glad I have kids now. I have an excuse to make (and eat) these all the time. Now all I need is an Atari 64 and some episodes of Wonder Woman and I can pretend that it's 1980 again and I don't have bathrooms to clean.

Chocolate Crackles
4 cups Coco Pops
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup dessicated coconut
2 tbsp cocoa
250g Copha

Stir all the dry ingredients together. Melt the Copha slowly in a small saucepan and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir it all together and divide between 24 patty cases. Refrigerate until firm. Eat. Swoon. Eat again.

I have been finding that at kids parties, these are usually eaten first, by all the adults. As perfect as they are in their pure (huh?) form, I have taken to making an adults version as well. Just add a handful of crushed peanuts, a handful of mini marshmallows and some chopped glace cherries to the dry ingredients. If you really want to go all out, you can add about 150g of dark chocolate while you're melting the Copha - you'll need to work fast with the mixing and filling the cases as the chocolate set quickly. These are like a rocky road chocolate crackle and just so good.

The other reason I love making these is that it means there's half a box of Coco Pops left - also best left in childhood. But who's going to let them go to waste? Not me. And I would never let my kids eat them for breakfast.

Just Like any Other Monday ...

So today was just like any other Monday. Except it wasn't. Every Monday, I go to work and the boys go to school. We're all pretty happy about that. I think. Today was no different ... except ... we had our school fair on the weekend and I spent a heap of time in the kids' environment. Apart from the odd birthday party, I never see their friends, haven't met most of the parents, miss the playdates etc. Even though I was aware that they had a little life (well, most of their life actually) away from me, I didn't realise it might be an issue for me.
When they were in daycare, I was involved in every little detail. The centre was in my building, I saw their teachers every day, had coffee with the mum's before work, was involved in every social activity and had the hour's drive home to catch up the news of the day. Now? Nothing. By the time I get home from work, homework is done, playdates are over, they're fed, bathed, pyjama'd and not too interested in talking about their day. I can count on one hand the times I've seen Fletch in his school uniform all year. Tragic, yes?
So anyway, today I felt a little different when I left for work. I'm suddenly properly aware of what I'm missing.
Like this :

And this :

This is something I'm really going to have to think about. Soon.

Second Attempt

So I'm back. I started this blog years ago and posted religiously, and cried religiously that nobody was reading. I ignored the fact that I absolutely kept the blog a secret from anyone I knew and also didn't link back if I ever commented on someone else's blog. I don't know where I thought readers were going to come from!
Anyway, I linked a recipe post onto Tasty Kitchen one day, and it got mentioned in the comments of PW's main blog on best Tasty Kitchen recipes and I got visitors ... and comments! And I freaked out. And removed my posts. And went on a blog break. I'm a weirdo. This also happens to me if I diet. As long as nobody notices, I'm fine. The second someone says 'have you lost weight?', I gain 5 kgs on the spot and the diet ends.
Not sure what I'm going for now. Maybe it's going to be just for me. Maybe I'll dip my toes into the blogosphere. We'll see.