Granting Wishes

With Christmas just around the corner, and my rather successful luncheon out of the way, it's time to think about that annual tradition of the 'Kriss Kringle'. Despitethe fact I really despise this time fo the year for it's blatant consumerism, my lack of religious affiliation and simply because I'm a lazy, lazy person, there are occasions when I'm capable of partaking in the whole gift giving affair (it's usually with lots of kicking and screaming and a loud "Do I have to?").

The hardest part about giving people gifts is the guessing what it is they would really like. Often times I've been known to buy something I think I might like hoping the recipient has similar interests and tastes. That's where wish lists come in the handiest. And it's online superstores like Amazon.com we have to thank for bringing these things into the forefront of the gift giving community.

What is a wish list? Well, it's a list of things you wish you could have. How simple! While you're browsing around the internet and you see things you really want, but can't yet afford, you add them to your wish list, which you can email to your family and close friends and then sit back and hope that they get the hint. These lists, however, are somewhat of the largely expensive and commercial variety, requiring you to part with medium to large sums of money depending on the gift.

The origin of the wish list is really quite easy to trace. Remember when you were a kid and you wrote letters to Santa with pages and pages of things you wanted dropped under the Christmas tree? In the same tradition of the Santa Letter, you don't always get what you want, but it doesn't mean you can't put what you didn't get this year on the list for next year. ANd you can use that list for ALL occasions requiring a present: birthdays, Easter (cuz diamand earrings make you look better than the hip expanding chocolate you'd normally get), weddings, random celebration. They are so versatile.

Back to the whole 'Kriss Kringle' affair I was mentioning earlier. Thanks to wish lists and blogging, the whole Christmas present exchange program has been made simpler. All you need to do is trowl through your friends blogs and see what's on their Christmas wish list, pick something you know you can provide and go about getting it! It's the best way to buy gifts, because it's something they want, and you don't have to hurt your brain trying to think of something they're probably not going to like.

So, go out there and start scrounging through wish lists to find the 'perfect' gift for your friends. If all else fails, you can always make them a mix tape of 'I wasn't sure what to get you for Christmas/your birthday/random celebration' songs.

Time for a Festive Feast

So Christmas has snuck up behind us yet again this year, and despite the fact that it hasn't changed since last year and I'm not at all interested in it, I thought I'd let you in on a little bit of what I've been doing to 'celebrate' it.

I've decided to gather a few friends together for a lovely Christmas themed buffet. The object of the buffet is for each guest to bring a plate of food with a festive theme (or something you would consider to be a 'once a year' dish), so that all who attend have a nice array of foods to choose from.

Now, I'm not really the kind of person who goes out of her way to celebrate events anymore. I barely even register my birthday these days (but it doesn't stop me from informing everyone of it's impending arrival). So for me to throw a Christmas themed luncheon is really quite out of character, which is why I've chosen to go for the 'bring a dish' variety.

There are many ways to look at the 'bring a dish' lunch/dinner party, and you'd be absolutely right with all of your varying thoughts. It is a big deal to prepare a buffet of food for up to 20 people on your own tight food budget, and it is also difficult to be able to efficiently cater for various diets with said budget. So, by asking people to bring a plate of food not only helps to fill the buffet table, it also allows the guest to provide for their own diet should someone else not. It is also a fabulous way to get a wonderful selection of exotic dishes to nibble at as you please, and I'm always a fan of sampling other peoples cooking.

However, saying that, I've also planned to supply a lovely compliation of foods to add to the buffet. It's only fair that I do, as I'm the one throwing the party!

Now, seeing as I live in Australia, and the weather at this time of the year is hotting at a rapid rate, I've chosen to make some yummy summer salads. Here's a list:

• Potato Salad - Potato (main ingredient), egg, spring onion, dressing.
• Coleslaw - Red and white cabbage, carrot, dressing.
• Pasta Salad - Tri-colour pasta, corn, capsicum, celery, carrot, cucumber, mushroom mayonnaise
• Greek Salad - Lettuce, tomato, fetta cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar dressing

Are you hungry yet? Well, there's one more thing I need to add to the list, and that's the spicy chicken wings. Then you have a complete smorgasboard of goodies to feast upon, and there is yet much more to come!

This is just one way in which you can celebrate the festive season, and I'm sure there are plenty of ideas floating thorugh your head already for ways to make this year's Christmas a gourmet smash. I know I'm already planning what I'm going to do for Easter....

That First Cup of Coffee in the Morning: A monkey's Ritual

This is a recent article I posted on my other blog, I thought it would make a good first entry into the guide.

Yet another morning has come my way, a little earlier than usual: infants have their way of intervening your well practiced skill of extended sleep. So, up and out of bed I get, and once I've fed and changed the baby, before I do anything else I head to the kitchen and towards the pantry where the bitter gold is kept.

My morning coffee ritual is somewhat different to most people I know. Many simply grab a jar of their favourite instant brand, while others open up a vacuum bag of pre ground coffee beans. At Ward Lodge however, we're dedicated to our coffee. That is not to say we have a plantation in the backyard, though if you saw it (the backyard) you'd never tell either way. No, we have two separate rituals when it comes to preparing our wake up juice. For now, I'll just let you inside my personal ritual.

When I go to the pantry, I grab my jar of Bushells Turkish Coffee. A delicious pulverised coffee of Arabic nature. Next, I stretch down for the container of raw sugar. These items are then placed upon the kitchen bench, while I hunt out my coffee scoup and briki. For reference, a briki is pretty much a milk warmer with a fancy name. Once I've tracked down my two most important utensils (the cup comes later), I scoup up two scoups of coffee and dump it into the briki and follow that up with a single scoup of sugar. Water is poured over the top (approximately enough to fill my Vittoria Coffee thermal mug).

Over to the stove I toddle with my briki in hand. Light the flame (for those of us with gas. If it's an electric stove, then whatever is done to make it hot) and put the briki on the flame (or element). I have a tendency to wander away from the stove for a little too long when I'm doing this, and often have to clean up the spillage, but the idea is to watch for it to start boiling and then remove it from the heat. I boil it three times, as part of my personal ritual. I prefer the flavour of a triple boiled Turkish brew. Once boiled I pour it directly into my cup and allow it to settle and cool enough to begin drinking.

One thing to note about this coffee is the 'mud' or 'sediment' that settles at the bottom of the cup. I'm not a very big fan of this stuff, but I know a couple of people who like to stir it up and drink it. I say very loudly: ICK!

Well, that's my morning coffee ritual.

Introduction

Welcome to The Amateurs Guide to Everything You Never Wanted to do or Know. The premise behind this project is to simply write about things I've done and describe them to you. Think of me as that annoying person who's always telling you about their holidays, or the most intimate details of their 'romantic' evening with some random stranger, only with less annoyance (hopefully). I like to think of this 'guide' like a tourist map of some exotic foreign city outlining all the best things to visit, the difference here being the lack of exotic location and possibly of fun and exciting things to see and do.

To give you an idea of what I plan to put forth for your reading (dis)pleasure, I give you the following list:

• Making Coffee - From preparing the raw materials to what utensils to use.
• Taking Fotos - From old skool cameras to mobile fones.
• Reviews of cds - Broadway to the Hollywood Bowl
• Movie Reviews - If I've seen it, I'll tell you about it.
• Babies - What I know and What I don't

I'm not even going to come close to actually making believe I know much about anything I'm writing about. I'm merely a hobbyist, an amateur who likes to document a few things I find interesting and share it with people. You don't even have to know or like it. What you have to do is choose whether or not to read it. I leave that decision completely up to you. If you do choose to read and don't like what you see, please do not abuse me. If you happen to disagree with something I have written, please refrain from making abusive comments. These are my documentations of the way I performed something. It will not always be in line with other peoples thoughts and ideals.

Thankyou for taking the time to peruse my catelogue of randomness. I hope you enjoy yourself.

til next....
~Kits~