Dream home

The essentials:

A rangehood. I didn't realise how much of a wonderful invention this is til I moved into a flat with my husband where the oven was place under our raised cupboards. We have zero ventilation, which makes the kitchen very steamy unless I open the window which works but sucks if you have to do it in winter..

Log burner. A log burner is awesome in and of itself. It doesn't
require gas nor electricity, and having lived through a 2 week
power cut they're bloody useful things. But, this is my honest opinion, before there were tv, I rechon this is what people used to watch in the evenings. And the only 'people' who maintain this ancient trend are pets. And I confirm this as a witness having watched my family pets contentedly star at what we called 'fire tv'. Plus theres nothing so therapeutic as having a wicked stacked firewood pile and being allowed to be a pyromaniac when building a fire.

Bath with clawed feet.
Steven probably wants a more modern jacuzzi type bath with jets, but thats his desire and this is mine. Old fashioned but classy - totally me. I like how the back tilts so you're in a sitting up position in a deep bath, plus I know if I were in that bath Id feel like a pampered Austen princess. A bathtub Mrs Darcy would approve of!




Bookshelves!!

I want books to be the main visual focus and form of entertainment in my home not a TV. A plain shelf is not good enough, it has to be the floor to ceiling one with the movable ladder like this one and more space to put books. And the cherry on top would be a special comfy reading chair. Or even better would be a book youpull that rotates the shelf and reveals a secret little hideaway room (that resembles the Griffindor common room in Harry Potter).




Vege & Fruit Garden
That lady in the hat, happily focused at working in her garden - thats me in the future..








Chickens

Dunno whose kids this is, but it depicted something I like - The idea of raising kids who are brave and intelligent enough to hold a chicken (something I have yet to do!) Plus their such cool useful animals. If you keep them in a 2m x 2m contained area area they will dig and compost a ready made garden for you! Then you can move their coop to another spot for them to dig and poop on. And of course you can fatten them up, kill em and eat em, or if they become too much of a beloved pet you can just use their eggs. One thing I also feel very strongly about is educating children on where their food comes from. And if my children regularly witnessed and partook in the respectful killing of an animal that had a fantastic life outside, they would respect the animal and their food more. People think thats old fashioned, but really modern Italian children witness that sort of thing everyday and they have a fantastic food culture.

Treehouse
I don't EVER want to see my kids playing war games on a stupid gaming console or computer inside. I want them playing war games outside. As a little girl, I was never interested in feminised play houses. My grandfather built my brother and I a treehouse at our family bach and my brother and I also frequented a local reserve and built several treehouses and 'huts' and we spent hours playing around and hanging out and exploring. Even if we never live in luxury or have a big house, a tree house affords more room for kids (who make the most mess) and would help a little house be tidier and bigger.

Homemade Ketchup

Im gonna try and make homemade ketchup using the recipe from Jamie Oliver which can be read here:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/homemade-tomato-ketchup

OR can be viewed here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJTA0L5dN2g



I'll write back to see if its actually a decent recipe or if I changed anything about it

Vegetarian Enchiladas

nb: This recipe was taken and amended from
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Black-Bean-Veggie-Enchiladas

1 onion
1/2 green capsicum
2 tsp oil
1 garlic clove, diced
large handful of spinach, chopped finely
1 cup of corn
1 can of mixed beans, drained
1 packet of taco seasoning (35g)
grated cheese for sprinkling

1 can of chopped tomatoes
1Tbsp of cornflour
salt and pepper (seasoning)
1 tsp garlic powder 1 Tbsp parsley (dried)

4 tortilla wraps, warmed
(1 cup of flour,1/3 cup of milk, 2 Tbsp of oil & flour for rolling).

• (Sauce)In a small saucepan, poor in can of tomatoes and using a stick blender, mulch the tomatoes so it resembles a thick sauce.
  
• With a whisk, mix in the corn flour, seasoning, parsley and garlic powder. Set aside.
  
• Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
  

• (Tortillas) In a medium bowl mix flour, milk and oil together with a bread knife, then using hands knead into a ball and cut into quarters.
  
• Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough portion on a floured surface getting the tortillas as thin and as circular as possible without ripping it.
  
• On a medium heat, place each tortilla on a large frying pan (no greasing required), and flip over once bubbles appear. You want them very lightly toasted and still whitish in colour.

• (Bean mix) In a medium saucepan, on medium heat, saute onions with oil, then add rest of bean mix ingredients and heat through.
  
• Heat up the tomato sauce at a medium heat, til it begins to lightly bubble, stirring occasionally, then turn off heat.
  
• Spoon mixture onto tortillas, wrap & place in a greased rectangular oven dish. Pour over tomato sauce and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.