Chocolate Pasta - interesting!

We had Mr Mel's sister, her hubby & 2 girls up for the weekend, and as usual, all visitors regardless of how many times we've had them up, want to go to either Petersons Champagne House or the Hunter Valley Chocolate Shop, which by either divine intervention, or by the work of the devil, are housed side by side in Pokolbin.

We first went into Petersons but it was bulging at the seams, and the 2 little ones weren't enjoying the crowd, so we went next door the Chocolate Shop.

Mr Mel and I have been there probably 50 times, so we know just about all their stock inside out, however on this visit I spied a product I'd either not seen or not noticed before - Chocolate Pasta!

No not chocolate in pasta shapes, but pasta with coca mixed into it, the ingredients listed are wheat, cocoa, sugar and water (from memory).

Chocolate Pasta, made by The Professors Tasty Technology.

It was easy to cook, 1 litre of water bought to the boil, add a tablespoon of sugar, add pasta, boil for 5-7 minutes.  After 5 mins it was still quite tough, so I let it go until 8, probably 9 minutes.  No rinsing, just draining. Then scooped into bowls, and topped with vanilla icecream.

The taste wasn't overly chocolatey, more pasta with a hint of cocoa, similar to a chocolate sticky rice taste (yummo with mango, but I digress!).  The texture was still a bit tough, even with more than the listed time of cooking. Mr Mel, his sister and her hubby agreed, not something they could eat alot of, and seeings I had split the 250g bag between the 4 of us, it was probably a tall ask from the get go!

So while it was an interesting concept and something I'm glad we tried, I probably wouldn't buy it again, I might try another brand, but not in a big hurry!

Till next time,

VIC v NSW - on the word front

Since moving to NSW, and specifically since meeting Mr Mel (who is a born and bred Sydneysider), I keep running into a a growing list of words/names that seem to cause some controversy in our house.

Now I'm not sure if some of these words are peculiar to my hometown of Warrnambool or to Mr Mel's home suburb in the Hills district of Sydney, some probably are, but for now, and probably evermore, they will be ammunition in our ongoing VIC v NSW battle :)

VIC - Nibble Pies

NSW - Party Pies

VIC - Fruit Boxes

NSW - Poppers

VIC - Potato Cake

NSW - Scallop

VIC - Pot - beer

NSW - Schooner

VIC - Kabana

NSW - Cabanossi

VIC - Safeway

NSW - Woolworths

VIC - Patio (sounds like pat-e-o)

NSW - Patio (sounds like paich-e-o)

Vic - Pool (sounds like pool)

NSW - Pool (sounds look peuwl)

That's all I can think of for now, I was sure I had heaps when I started this entry, but they've slipped my mind!  No doubt I'll be back to add more!

Till next time,

Can We Do It Update - Feb 2011

Wow 22 Feb already, what's going on!  Time is flying by way too quickly. So I thought before I forget for another 8 weeks, I'd better do an update on our goals:

Wedding - The big update since my last post of this style is that we got engaged on Valentines Day (yay!). We're planning a big engagement party for July 2011, and will surprise our family with a wedding!  The plans are afoot, getting our heads around the budget is the first cab off the rank!  Oh and an engagement ring, we're meeting with a jeweller who is a friend of Mr Mel's father, so hopefully a lovely (and not to pricey) ring around the corner!

Mortgage - We bought our home in July 2009, We're aiming to have our mortgage paid off in 7 years from starting out, which would make it July 2016.

Update - We're on month 20 of our mortgage, and we're on track, we've got 58.27% equity in our home. 

Other debt - Our total non mortgage debt includes a car loan (as part of mortgage package, at same interest rate), and a VISA we've since closed. Our aim is to have all of this debt paid off by mid 2015.

Update - Compared to when we started back in July 2009, we're sitting at approx 62.90% non mortgage debt gone, which is great. We have paid off the VISA, and are still happy with having our money in the offset against the mortgage, not sitting in the car, however are always reviewing. Looking like we'll have it paid off well before aim of mid 2015.

Weight - As per other updates, my weight covers a few areas, getting healthy & fit, getting my body in the right place to conceive (and fit in a near 'normal' wedding dress!!). 

Update - Have been on the warpath since early Feb, results have been slow, but looking at joining Curves for a 5 month attack leading into our wedding!!

Business - In Feb 2010 Mr Mel gave up his job in Sydney to have a go at turning his hobby into a business. 

Update - Mr Mel's business is growing steadily, we met with our accountant recently and he was happy with progress, which was good to hear.  Looking at another part to the business in early/mid 2011, we have registered the business name and websites, but will get stuck into that again after July.

Till next time,

Friday On My Mind - 3

Gee Friday's are coming around quickly, not that I'm 100% complaining as it means another weekend is knocking on the door!

As per the past few Fridays, it's time to participate in the lovely Rhonda from the Down To Earth blog Friday Photo Feature - 'On My Mind....'

So what is on my mind this Friday?

Seeings as Mr Mel proposed on Monday, you would be correct in thinking that future wedding plans have been on our minds.

Tomorrow we are going engagement ring shopping, so On My Mind today, is engagement rings, how much to spend (or not spend), what sort, etc etc.

Mr Mel wants me to get one I love, I'm just hoping the one I love isn't too pricey!

Apparently there used to be a 'formula' for engagement rings, of 2 months of the future grooms salary.  But I just can't justify spending that sort of $ on a ring!

I was horrified when googling the question to see on some forums that $20,000-$30,000 is the norm!  Holy moley, that's a fair chunk of our mortgage!

The one we go with has to be practical to a point, I work with horses so don't want to have to take it off 5 times a day or be worried about it catching etc, so it needs to be relatively flat, if possible.

At least I delivered on my promise of no photos of horses this Friday :)

Till next time,

Mr Mel Proposed!!

What a memorable Valentine's Day, Mr Mel had booked dinner at one of our favourite restaurants Sanctuary, and on the drive there he asked if I wanted to stop quick at one of our favourite spots in the Valley, the Pokolbin Community Hall (where we had decided we would have our wedding, down the track, I know we did things out of order a bit didn't we!!)

I had been trying to remember the name of a caterer listed on the wall at the Hall to get a quote, so thought that's a great idea.

When we arrived there was a pilates group in the hall, so we wrote down the name of the caterer, and Mr Mel stood back and looking at the view, commented how perfect a spot it will be.  Then he gave me a Valentines Day card.

In the card he said some lovely stuff I won't list here (heehee), but ended the card with a PTO, on the back he'd written "I can't wait to have Valentines dinner tonight with my fiance', and I read it, looked at him and said no way!  He replied with 'Chickadee will you marry me'.  Of course I said yes  :)

Such a perfect spot to have done it, I'm so proud of him, for keeping it a secret and picking the spot of our future marriage to propose, makes me tear up thinking of it :)

So we headed off to Sanctuary newly engaged, and was greeted by a glass of champagne, and a delicious dinner, a night to remember forever!

So there you go, we're engaged!!  We're going ring shopping on Saturday!

For those interested, a link to our secret squirrel site is here  :)

Till next time,

Happy Valentines Day

Whether you do or don't believe in good old Saint Valentine from 496 AD, or whether you have or haven't been sucked in by the commercialism of the modern St Valentine's Day, personally I don't think that there is ever a bad excuse to say 'I Love You' to your special someone.

So today, on Feb 14, which you may or may not recognise as Valentine's Day, I wish you all a happy day, full of love, hugs, and all the rest.

I started Valentines Day waking up to some smooches and hugs from Mr Mel, never a bad way to wake up, regardless of the calendar date!


We're heading to one of our favourite restaurants for a 'V Day' special at Sanctuary Restuarant at Pokolbin. Shall report back soon.

Till next time,