Merry Christmas!

I find Christmas a very strange time of year. I like the idea of Christmas, but the reality has been quite difficult for me for several years, for lots of reasons.

But, that's just me and I know others don't feel the same, so whatever you like to celebrate at this time of year, and however you like to celebrate it is fine by me.

I hope it is everything you want it to be, and then some. I hope you get a gift that you absolutely adore.

I hope you eat all your favourite foods and spend time with all your favourite people. At the end of the day, that is all that really matters.

If you need me, I'll be over in the corner, eating trifle.

Ghost The Musical Ticket Giveaway!

The winners of the Ghost the Musical competition have been decided by our judge... They are Lisa and Kate ! Well done and have fun at the show! Thanks to everyone that entered and check back at the blog for more competitions soon!

Ghost the Musical is coming to Melbourne in February and I've got TWO double passes to giveaway!  Read on to find out how...

I'm pretty excited about seeing this show. It has some of my favourite Aussie musical theatre people in it and it's a beautiful love story. According to Instagram, Jemma Rix (and her understudy) have even been really learning how to do use a potters wheel so that when they do it on stage in that iconic scene it will look authentic!

I was telling someone at work about it and they said they had never seen the movie. Granted, they're a fair bit younger than me, but I thought once you saw Dirty Dancing you wasted no time getting down to the video (DVD?) shop and renting everything Patrick Swayze had ever been in? Just me then? OK.

For those younguns out there, or people that apparently live under a rock, here's the rundown on Ghost as told by IMDb:

After an accident leaves a young man dead, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.

What could be simpler? Look, it's your typical tragic love story. But he is a GHOST!  Which means I reckon someone has come up with some pretty great special effects, Rob Mills is going to walk through solid doors, people are going to be thrown from trains. I'm really curious as to how they are going to be able to do that on stage.

If you're curious too, you can enter via the form below for your chance to win one of the two double passes I have to give away.

These are A Reserve tickets are valued at $118 each, so that's $236 per double pass. They are for the performance on Friday February 5th 2016 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne and are non transferable. Entries close at 5pm on Sunday December 20th 2015 and the winners will be contacted via email shortly after that, you'll have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

You can enter no matter where you live, but travel to and from the theatre is up to you, so make sure you can get there on February 5th 2016 before you enter.




For all the info about Ghost the Musical and to book tickets, just go to their website by clicking HERE!

Tickets start at just $64!

Festival Theatre, Adelaide from Thursday 7 January 2016
Regent Theatre, Melbourne from Friday 5 February 2016
Theatre Royal, Sydney from Friday 18 March 2016
Crown, Perth from Saturday 21 May 2016

This Is Christmas at The Palms

I have been given tickets to see this by the good people at Cavanagh PR

Anthony Callea and his band will perform favourite Christmas classics, accompanied by spectacular dancers to celebrate and reminisce through the music that we all love, on The Palms stage at Crown Entertainment Complex!

Christmas classics and soaring ballads are a great fit for the powerful voice of Anthony Callea, whose 2013 album This Is Christmas charted in ARIA’s top 40 and featured Silent Night and Amazing Grace. The album celebrated his 10^th anniversary performance at Melbourne’s Carols by Candlelight.

Anthony Callea is a passionate supporter of charities and recently performed at The Million Dollar Lunch at the Palladium at Crown, which raised nearly $2million for the Children’s Cancer Foundation.

Book a booth or lamp-lit balcony table and enjoy the intimate atmosphere of the state-of-the-art cabaret venue as Anthony Callea and his guests add excitement to your end-of-year celebrations.

Popular performer Rhonda Burchmore’s guest appearance at This Is Christmas at The Palms comes hot on the heels of her lead role in The Production Company’s season of Jerry’s Girls in Melbourne.

Rhonda Burchmore was awarded the OAM in 2014 for her service to the performing arts and community. In 2002 and 2012 Rhonda won Female Vocal Performer of the Year at the MO Awards and ACE (Australian Club Entertainment) Awards.

Highlights in her 30 years in showbiz include lead roles in musical theatre productions Mamma Mia!, Calendar Girls and Guys & Dolls, television credits with Spicks and Specks, Hey Hey It’s Saturday and Carols by Candlelight, and the recording of five albums.

Also making a special guest appearance at This Is Christmas at The Palms is internationally acclaimed violinist Patrick Roberts, whose flamboyant style fuses contemporary with the classics.

Patrick recently played at the Palladium at Crown as opening act with Fashion Aid, and other headline shows this year have taken him across the seas to perform on cruise liners. The proceeds of Patrick’s most recent album, Vision, were donated to Vision Australia.

Reserve your seats now and see Anthony and his guests perform the Christmas classics live at This Is Christmas at The Palms.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE – THREE SHOWS ONLY

This Is Christmas at The Palms with Anthony Callea and friends

VENUE            The Palms at Crown Melbourne

ADDRESS        Crown Entertainment Complex, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank

DATE               10-12 December, 2015

TIMES              Doors/pre-show bar opens at 6.45pm, show time 7.30pm

TICKETS           Ticketmaster 136 100 or www.ticketmaster.com.au

WEBSITE         www.crownmelbourne.com.au

Baby Bok Boks!

We got our four Isa Brown Bok Bok Pussybirds almost a year ago. They have been fabulous to have around, keeping the weeds at bay and providing lots of delicious eggs.

On and off the whole time one of them has been broody. We never worried too much about it, it lasted for a couple of weeks at a time and then she'd be 'normal' again. We took the eggs out from under her, because as we have no rooster, there was no way there could be baby Bok Boks.

Chyken was chatting to a friend about it and she said that the next time she went broody we should get some eggs from her chickens where they DO have a rooster.

This is exactly what we did and for the last three weeks she has been patiently sitting on her babies. About a week ago, another of the Boks went broody in solidarity in the nesting box next door.

Yesterday (while we were away for the weekend, didn't time it very well!) five beautiful little baby Bok Boks hatched!

The other broody chook has moved into the nesting box with them and they have a strange co-parenting arrangement going on, but it seems to be working. If we get what they consider to be too close, they bite us.

They are a completely different breed to our chooks (these are little fluffy-footed bantam silkie ones), but that doesn't seem to matter to the bitey mothers.

Now, can you all pray that they all turn out to be girls? I am in love with them already and we can't have roosters in the town...

Golden Syrup Dumplings

This is the actual best dessert in the history of forever.

If you have a food processor, you can use it to rub the butter into the flour and then add the egg and milk and it's even easier.

Make the balls before dinner and then cook them while you're eating and they'll be ready at the perfect time!

 

 

 

Golden Syrup Dumplings

For the Dumplings:

1 cup SR Flour

1 Tablespoon butter
1 egg
Little bit of milk

For the Sauce:

½ cup sugar

1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup

 

Rub butter into flour until it looks like breadcrumbs

Add the egg and enough milk to make a fairly stiff dough.

Roll it into small balls and set aside.

Put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Drop the balls into the syrup, turn it down, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with cream and/or ice cream.

Nom.

 

Progress photo...

Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Ingredients:

250 grams of Butter

1 ½ cups of Icing Sugar

1 Egg, Beaten

2 ½ cups of Plain Flour

1 teaspoon of Bicarb Soda

1 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar

2 teaspoons of Vanilla

250 grams of Choc Bits

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (Celcius)

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg. 

Stir through sifted dry ingredients and choc bits.

Put teaspoons-ish sized balls of mixture on oven trays lined with non-stick paper.

Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes.

Nom.