Back

Hi friends - we are sorry for taking such a long blogging break.  We have missed you all.  As you know we had to move our Chez q headquaters as our landlords wanted to come back to their little house.  Out of all the houses mum has lived in, she thinks she has loved that one the most.  It felt like home and we were all comfy and cosy there.  So for her it has been pretty tough

With only a small amount of time mum had to find somewhere affordable that was close to her work and I could move into.  She didn't expect it to be so tough out there, but it was pretty rotten.  Prices have risen like crazy and mum looked at lots of places.  Even the viewings have become crazy with thirty people showing up, and only getting a minute or two to look around.  

So the house we are in is pretty simple.  It is a small two bedroom flat with a young chap living in the flat above.  As a nervous nelly it has taken me all week to get used to noises coming from upstairs.  On the first night we were here I howled all night - all nine hours of the night.  For the rest of the week, I have only woken up with the birdies and howled from about 4.30am. I also spent the first three days hiding in mums bed under the duvet. So this afternoon , the mum gave up and let me go outside, and I spent about 4 hours exploring.  I did come back in at dinner time and mum is going to let me use the catdoor now, and see if that makes me happier.

So welcome to the new Chez Q and we hope we can catch up with you all soon.

Chez Q

It has been a bit restless here at Chez Q lately.  You see the mumster and I have to move digs.  The landlords are wanting to move back in, so we have to move out.   We have so loved living here, the house has been perfect for us.  Mum thinks we have found somewhere for us to go, but we are in the process of sorting that out.  In the meantime, mum has been cleaning and tidying and today the men from the charity shop came and took lots of the books and things.  We have also been busy selling the big things we can't take with us, as no-one we knows has any storage space.  Busy busy.

So, if we skip the odd day or two we are sure you will all understand.  We'll try to keep you updated on all the things going on.

Chez Q Caturday

Mum has to tell you that she took this photo last weekend when we had some sunshines.  Unfortunately, we have had lots of rain today so no outside time for me or mum.

 She did get up early to watch the boat races, how disappointing it was.  Never mind, there is always tomorrow!!  How good of mum to be up at 8am on all of her days off.

She did lots of tidying upp today and pottering around the house.  In the mid afternoon she went to meet up with her besties for a bit of a nibble and a drink.  One friend came back to watch up a movie on the DVD.  Except mum couldn't get the DVD player to work - silly mum.  Never mind, the girls got to catch up and have a bit of a chitchat.  I was even brave and came to say hello to the visitor and did not run away.

Hope you are all having a great Caturday.

Sunday Carrot & Corriander Soup at Chez Q

 Our friend Leanne wanted the recipe for mums Carrot and Coriander soup.  So mum decided she would cook it for Sunday lunch and take some photos.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

1 tablespoon oil - we use canola oil
I/2 tespoon ground coriander seed
1 Medium onion
4 or 5 average carrots.
1 average potato.
6 cups of stock or stock/water mix
1/2 bunch of coriander/cilantro

 Mum chops up all the veg first.  No need to peel the carrots, just scrub and chop.  You do need to peel the potato, then  chop.   The first thing to do, is to heat the oil in a big pot, add the 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander and the chopped onion.  Cook on a medium heat for a couple of minutes to soften the onions, but not brown them.

 Add the six cups of water and we use two chicken stock tubs.  I would be quite happy to use 1L of pre made stock and then the same again of water.  Whatever you have on hand.  Then add the carrots and potato and season with salt and pepper.  Cook on a medium heat for about 40 minutes til the carrots and potato have softened.  Add more water if a lot has evaporated.

Then I add a 1/2 bunch of coriander, washed and chopped roughly.  I then use my stick blender to get it to the consistency I like.  The addition of potato to this soup made it lovely and thick, but you can easily leave it out.

 Serve with crusty bread - yummmmy.  This should serve four, and gives me plenty to take to work for lunch during the week.  The cost is about $5 for all that soup, so makes it fit in with our budgetising plan.  It took about 10 minutes chopping and prep time, and 40 minutes cooking.  While it was cooking, I did other stuff, as it was just cooking away by itself.

I'm getting to be a good photo bomber and try to get into all of mums photos.   I came to up to sniff her lunch, although I don't like much people food, but mum did give me a bit of her roll with butter, that I licked and then left.

Enjoy!!