home house garden design

Jade Jagger's home in Goa, India

I must say I'm just a liiiiitle bit stressed out today as I'm gearing up for a business trip to Asia (with my day job). So I'll be whirling around 4 countries in 7 days. Wooooah! In theory it sounds V exciting! In practise not so. But it's got me in the Asian mood all the same and so I thought I'd share this very exotic home of jewellery designer Jade Jagger in Goa, India, photographed by the talented Idha Lindhag. Oh how I wish I was holidaying here......!

Photographer: Jade Jagger stylist Emma Aspelin

I love the flashes of hot pink, it works so well in warm, sunny climes. I'm sure I could feel preeetty relaxed here. Oh won't you invite me to visit Jade?!

And of course I won't leave you high and dry for home inspiration next week as I will in fact report from Asia! So pop by and see me on Monday!

Have a LOVELY weekend!

Everyday Inspiration and Choir Boys

Look at these lovely black doors, architraves and transoms, in this shop in Brisbane city!

It was a 'lightning speed ' photo manouvre. I waited until the shop assistant (who was eyeing off my lingering self) went out of sight before I whipped out the iPhone. I wasn't so lucky trying to snap a picture of a Chanel frock nearby though, for a 'soon to be married' girlfriend. The security guard and I got well acquainted!

I have visions of a black and white kitchen with this very style... white walls, black doors, door frames and transoms... and these beauties hanging from the ceiling...in a row of three...

I seriously love them. If I could hang them in my shed, I would.

Somewhat industrial, somewhat traditional.

... but they might have to wait for this kitchen... and blend in beautifully with the island bench...

I know, this picture keeps on popping up in my blog... at least I won't lose it!

That's my little one... the tiny blonde one in the front row

And in other exciting news, little tacker's choir delighted the crowds last night, in the 'Queensland Youth Music Awards' final. All the parents were whinging about the $10 admission fee so I joined the choir queue and marched right on to that stage with the little ones and sat with the stage crew in the wings. Prime audience position.

We bolted, straight after their performance, as it was ridiculously late and all the boys had been on a school excursion that day, to an aboriginal educational display thingy where they all got to chuck boomerangs at each other and blow into gum leaves. They were positively feral by 9pm, even though they looked angelic in their 'whites'.

Friday. Breathe out! My poor big son has so many exams and assignments. His late study nights are getting to him... he looks like death warmed up this morning. I promise, I never worked as hard as he does... even in Uni. What is the world coming to? Even little one sat up until all hours doing his 'Integrated Studies' assignment the other night. I went to bed and asked them to turn the lights out. #motheroftheyear

Happy Friday!

Gluten & Dairy Free Cheesecake

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I have been craving cheesecake for quite sometime lately...it's been over a year since I had a piece of cheesecake since our family went Gluten and Casein Free. Cheesecake is my absolute favorite dessert!

So last week, I broke down and made a gluten and dairy free version. Not knowing how this would taste, it exceeded my expectations! Yum! Yum!

The secret ingredient is tofu. I know...don't diss it til you try it. I have never tried tofu before until now. My recommendation is to get Organic tofu. It is made from soy and always get organic when eating soy. Soy is full of pesticides. I got my organic tofu from Trader Joe's for $1.99 (16 oz). So it is very affordable. Also Tofu is a great source of protein!

The ingredients you will need for the filling is:

1 (16-ounce) package silken tofu, drained
1 cup sugar
2 (8-ounce) packages dairy-free cream cheese (I love Tofutti!)
1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

I only had 1 package of cream cheese so I cut my recipe in half.

You mix it all together with a mixer or food processor.

For the crust, I cheated. :) I used store bought Gluten and Dairy free Snickerdoodles. I could of easily made some but I was hungry and wanted cheesecake NOW! :) These are a soft cookie so I mushed them to the bottom of a greased pie pan to form the crust.

Then I poured in the cheesecake batter.

Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and cool completely before refrigerating.

I completely skipped the refrigerating part and dove right in. I didn't even allow time for a picture, but I did manage to take one of it half eaten. :)

Finish cheesecake with toppings of your choice.

I used some fresh strawberries since they were in season.

For a sweet berry topping, I mixed together some strawberries, a little sugar and a dash of vinegar. Then bring to boil in a saucepan. Very easy and yummy!

I definitely give this recipe 2 thumbs up! A simple, yummy and great alternative if you have gluten and/or dairy sensitivities. Or if you just want to try something different to your everyday diet! You will be pleasantly surprised!

AFRICAN SAFARI / AFRIKAI SZAFARI

Via Pinterest

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Since Memorial Day weekend was also Baby Girl's baptism, we decided to keep things very, very low-key on Monday so we could rest and relax after a weekend of go, go, go. I knew I wanted to make my all-time favorite potato salad but I was also in the mood for something new. Jaida made this recipe for Tomato & Cucumber Salad for the recent BBQ swap so I decided to give it a shot.

I cut the recipe in half because SP isn't really a fan of cucumbers and because I had a feeling it wouldn't keep well. I should have scaled it back even further because I was the only one who ate it and there was just too much of it. I really liked the flavor and acidity from the vinegar so I'd make it again to bring to a cookout with more people.

Tomato & Cucumber Salad
Sweet Beginnings

1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced
1/6 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 container of plum or cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
1/3 cup coarsely chopped red onion
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, vinegar, sugar and salt. Let stand at room temperature for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Add tomatoes, onion, and oil to cucumbers and toss to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.