Another Solar Return

It was my 34th birthday on Friday! I had a lovely day; spent some quiet time with Littletree, enjoyed my delicious Indonesian breakfast, and then went to lie on the beach and watch the storms rolling over Lombok in the distance while sipping iced drinks.

One of the best things about Gili Air is that while the volcano on Lombok draws in lots of clouds and storms – we can often hear the thunder and see the lightning from here, but right where we are, it’s sunny and gorgeous, and we get the cool breezes pushed out by the storms. Makes for very pretty sunsets too!

In the afternoon I sat with my friends and had birthday cake – it was a delicious rich chocolate brownie with ice cream and whipped cream. Yum! and not at all like the “cake” I had last year.

Then we all ambled over to a beachside bar for dinner and cocktails, and lots of laughs…

And, of course, I was treated to a gorgeous birthday sunset

Party!

We held the party for Littletree’s birthday yesterday, so we had about a dozen tween kids running amok around the place (about half of whom ended up sleeping over)! I survived, and all I got was this t-shirt pile of dishes.

The kids all had an awesome time

Making a mess, playing on the trampoline

Swimming and kayaking in the creek

I made (at Littletree’s request) a very elaborate Red Velvet Cake (all natural, organic, coloured with beetroots, and iced with raw-butter cream-cheese frosting – I’ll make a post about the cake separately, with a recipe)

The cake was a huge success

Littletree got lots of lovely presents

And got to spend time with lots of her best friends (actually, half of the home school group came!)

Of course, the five girls who slept over stayed up till midnight giggling, but thankfully, the kids’ room is at the other end of the house from mine, so I wasn’t disturbed in the slightest :-P

Happy Birthday Littletree

Sunday was Littletree’s 10th birthday, and since she was still tired and jetlagged from her trip, we planned to have a quiet day doing whatever she wants, and save the big birthday party for next weekend.

She didn’t know it, but I went in together with my parents to get her a trampoline; quite a fancy one. I woke her up with snuggles in the morning

and brought her out to the balcony to greet the sunrise… and see…

Trampoline!

Then we went for a swim in the creek

And a trip into town to play Ingress while learning about local landmarks.

Littletree hacked many portals

Then we went wandering around the shopping mall, because Littletree needed new shorts (she just keeps getting bigger!) and we stopped for morning tea, and then had sushi for lunch

Followed by Littletree’s favourite; Indian take-away for dinner with a video.

Then we snuggled up together and read stories. Littletree said it was her best birthday ever. :)

Welcome Home Littletree

Littletree is home again, after her visit with her family. She had a good time, but she’s super happy to be home again.

First thing she did (after talking our faces off about her adventures) was dive into the creek to freshen up.

So great to be home in our rain forest again!

Then Littletree wanted a bowl of her favourite: my home made noodle soup, with roasted turkey

She had gifts; amba for me (it’s a kind of spicy mango pickle sauce that I’m incredibly partial to), and Bamba for the indentured person our visitor.

Bamba is kind of sort of like cheetos, but made from peanuts, and it tastes like peanut butter. I do not like it.

Of course, as a welcome home, I made a very fancy roast dinner for Littletree

And we had a quiet evening of snuggling up, followed by a lazy day going around the neighbourhood playing Ingress.

Of course, tomorrow is Littletree’s birthday (though the party won’t be till next weekend), and we have a special day planned… She doesn’t know it yet, but we got her a very big surprise present (and somehow managed to keep it hidden for two days)!

Tiramisu Divine

Littletree and I decided to make a surprise for Aquacat’s 44 1/4 birthday – Tiramisu with fresh organic whipped raw cream and my home made coffee and orange liqueurs.

First squeeze 1/2 cup of orange juice... well, squeeze all the oranges, and take out 1/2 cup for the tiramisu, and serve the rest to Aquacat while she’s having a lie-in.

 

Then brew 2 cups of strong coffee and mix with the OJ, set aside to cool.

Slightly whip 300ml cream (well, slightly less than 300ml cream, because the container wasn't completely full).

Separate 3 eggs, beat the yolks together with 1/3 cup caster sugar till it's pale and thick, then whip in the cream and 250g Mascarpone cheese. (Yes, I use an original 1967 SwiftWhip hand beater for this, because I'm just that cool)

Whisk the egg whites till they are forming soft peaks, and then gently fold into the cream mixture.

Now take out the coffee and OJ - pour in a healthy shot of coffee liqueur and orange liqueur (about 1/4 cup of each). Quality control is important here, make sure the liqueurs are good all the way to the bottom of the bottle (adult supervision is vital for this step; kidlets aren’t allowed).

Then soak in Savoiardi sponge biscuits - let them soak up loads of the liquid and then line the base of a serving bowl or deep tray with them.

Then you layer - a layer of soaked savoiardi; a layer of cream mixture. rinse repeat. Well, don't actually rinse. You should get three layers, finishing off with cream mixture.

I grate chocolate slivers onto the top, but you could top with anything - a dusting of cocoa, chocolate-coated coffee beans... or just dunk your face right into it.

Cover and leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours, and then...

NOM!

Aquacat was ecstatic

And the taste… mmmmmmmmmm

Three-Three

Happy Birthday to Me! I’m thirty three :)

Littletree plotted behind my back to organise, with the help of AquaCat, a surprise party for me at the local beach bar where we hang out. They somehow managed to conspire that I would be kept busy at home for the morning, and then got a massage in the afternoon, so when I finally arrived at the beach, our sala was all decorated and beautiful. Everyone jumped out and yelled Surprise!

I’ve never had a surprise party before! Littletree was so excited

AquaCat played music for us all

And people bought me fancy cocktails

As the sun set I played some guitar and talked with friends while the kids played on the beach

We had an awesome feast – barbecued barracuda and all manner of delectable treats

And then the big surprise – they had organised a birthday cake!

I was somewhat dubious, given my experience with birthday cakes in South East Asia, but it was the perfect touch to a wonderful party

And of course, the kids loved it, frothy, sickly icing and all!

Yay! So now it’s only 364 days till my birthday!

For the love of e.colI

Littletree got some of the sought-after plush microbes that she wanted for her birthday.
She's so excited about them; she got an e.coli and a platelet.
So; it begins. Now she wants the whole set... And a proper microbiology lab.

(also, this is my first test-post from my new phone, so we'll see if this works!)