A new Photography Club

I have recently found a new Photography Club - quite close to where I live ;-)

Mawson Lakes Photography Club has been formed by Andreas Kiermeier, who organised the Adelaide Walk as part of the Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk 2011 (see my previous post HERE) and will be meeting the third Thursday of each month.

The weather was very kind to us for our first Photo Walk ;-)

The walkers starting off ;-)


#50 of 52 Blooms


#49 of 52 Blooms


#48 of 52 Blooms


Water Reflections


Building Reflections


Mother Duck


Model Sailboats on the Lake


The ducks don't seem to mind sharing the lake ;-)

I had a wonderful time on our walk and will definitely be joining the Mawson Lakes Photography Club.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.
Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

REVIEW: Kikkoman Soy Sauce

As part of the Test Team on Best Recipes, I have had the opportunity to taste test Kikkoman Soy Sauce.

First up came a test as a dipping sauce with spring rolls - a favourite entertainment option in our house ;-)



More recently, I made up our favourite Chicken Satay dish, using the Kikkoman Soy Sauce in the marinade





Kikkoman Soy Sauce has always been first choice in my kitchen, and it will remain so in the future too ;-)

Disclaimer:  I received a voucher to purchase Kikkoman Soy Sauce at Coles.  As yet, I have not used this voucher as I had recently purchased a new bottle from Woolworths.  The opinions stated in this taste test are my own.


Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.
Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Blooms Galore - my 52 Blooms Project

I have been remiss in not posting my recent 52 Blooms project photos


#43


#44


#45


#46


#47

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.
Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

A Weekend Away - lots of photos!

I give you fair warning now .......... lots of photos from my weekend away ;-)

I had a wonderful weekend away with some old school friends - we managed to catch up with each other via Facebook and we first got together in 2010 - see some pics HERE

In 2011, we were supposed to meet up in Sydney, but I was unable to make it - just as well, it was the weekend when Qantas was grounded - it made an impact on an awful lot of people.

This year, we met up in Victor Harbor, a lovely tourist destination here in South Australia.
We all stayed in the Victor Harbor Beachfront Caravan Park and took over several cabins and we had a ball!

The weekend started on Friday, with me catching a bus down to Victor, and meeting up with the earlybirds in their cabin.

 

Me, on the far right ;-)

We are toasting two of our former class mates who couldn't be with us ;(

They were with us in spirit :-)

Saturday morning I was up nice and early and went for a walk along one of the walking paths ....... and this is the scenery that greeted me 

 

We spent the day walking around Victor Harbor

 

and then over to Granite Island where we decided to stop and have a bite to eat and a drink or two ;-)

The Seagulls are persistent and very brazen - they will take a chip right off your plate if you are not watching

  

An awful thing happened while we were dining - Sharlene's earring fell down between the boards and onto the rocks below :(

Bent coat hanger and a wonderful staff member of the Cafe to the rescue!

Linking with 52 Photos Project 

These flowers were on Granite Island and are as big as the palm of your hand!

While I was taking a photo, a very strange bee flew right into the shot!

Saturday night we went to The Hotel Victor and had a lovely meal

The facilities at the Victor Harbor Beachfront Caravan Park were great - very clean and well maintained ;-)

I actually got to use the Luggage Tag made for me in a CraftMad swap ;-) 

 

Sunday was a day of more very friendly Seagulls LOL 

and more eating and drinking

I didn't get chance to get to the Quilt Basket as I had hoped, but even better, I got to spend my last hour in Victor Harbor wandering through The Whyte House Gallery where I got some lovely new Tilda fabrics

I came home absolutely exhausted and had blisters on the bottom of my left foot - I couldn't walk properly for days afterwards :( but it was worth it :)  Now we are talking about where to meet up next year.

I have to go now - thunder and lightning, very, very frightening ;) - I know I'm old fashioned, I always turn the computer off during a storm ;-)

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

REVIEW: Sunbeam VersaCook Multi Cooker x 5

A few weeks ago, you may remember I won a Sunbeam VersaCook Multi Cooker x 5 courtesy of A Spoonful of Sugar

I thought you would appreciate some of my initial findings on the Multi Cooker :)

I have used it twice now - once as a slow cooker, where it performed well - barring a minor miscalculation on my part with the cooking time ;-) and once as a deep fryer :(

I used the deep fryer part on Thursday .......... I am afraid I was most disappointed in the Deep Fryer operation of this device :(

First up, it uses an ENORMOUS amount of oil (over 1.5 litres) to get to the MIN mark.

I wanted to do homemade chips, and on reading the manual, it recommends cooking chips in two stages – which I liked that idea, as I used to do that anyway :)

According to the manual on page 17
First cook at 140C 7-8 mins, then second cook at 190C 7-8 mins

This is where I encountered my first 'issue' the temperatures are SET - 130, 150, 170, 190 or 210 - I cannot find how I can select 140C

Second Issue - You CANNOT select any cooking time under 10 mins - it defaults to 2 hours, and you have to click the timer down in 5 minute intervals – very time consuming and annoying as it beeps at every click! 

I have since been contacted by Sunbeam and there appears to be a misprint in my Manual in relation to the 140C :-)  Newer manuals have been corrected.

I cooked at 130 for about 8 mins - first cook was successful - it reached the stage I would normally take them out in the time suggested :) 

after letting them cool down for a bit, I selected the temperature for the second cook – 190C and selected 10 mins, thinking I will just take them out at the 7-8 minute mark.

The chips browned very quickly and after about 3 mins I took them out – they were cooked, but bordered on looking burnt ;(

Next up - was the crumbed calamari - The recommended cooking for crumbed calamari was 170C for 5-7 mins – that seemed a bit too long for me, so I cooked for 4 mins – it was OK - if there was to be a next time, I would cook at 190C for about 3-4 mins. 

I was so disappointed with the end result, I forgot to take photos :(

On first impression, I won’t be using this machine as a deep fryer – I may just stick with the oven chips :)
or even revert to my Sunbeam Multicooker Deep Fryer (DF4400) purchased previously

Having said all the above, I am a Sunbeam girl from way back .......... I am not completely deterred ................... Next item to tackle ………. Butter Chicken (CCC) using the slow cooker option ;-)

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.
Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)




Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.