Say what you like about the price premium and slick marketing of Apple products but at the end of the day, they tend to work the moment you take the out of those sleek boxes, charge them up and turn them on.  There’s been a technology upgrade here at SSG Manor 2.0.  My previous cheap for a reason laptop suddenly refused to even turn on after a few weeks of freezing whenever I attempted to log on and the best thing to do with it at that point was to recycle what I could of it and bid it a kinda fond farewell.

Preschooler SSG was on hand to road test keyboards and touch pads with me and I now have this shiny new laptop to take away with me on my work trip.

And it wouldn’t be Apple without the discovery that the dongles (aka plug in whatsits) have changed yet again leaving me with a rather pricy and largely redundant collection of older style whatsits.  They’re actually called USB-Cs nowadays….

There’s also been newness in the kitchen.  It’s only taken me about 5 years but I’ve finally made (some of) a recipe from Jamie’s 15 Minute meals.  I was a huge fan of the 30 minute meals series.  Each episode was mildly frantic and I loved seeing the completed meal served to Jamie and his friends as the credits rolled.  Of course I never saw how long it took to prep all the ingredients or how many people it required to clean the kitchen afterwards but it was very satisfying television.

I know my limits with complex, multiple steps simultaneously cooking which is why I only made the ‘mains’ component of the ‘Fish Tray Bake’ meal on page 170 of the book.  The Cheat’s Banoffee Pie was very tempting and it is meant to make 10 serves but it was a Tuesday night so time (and minimal clean up) was of the essence.

I was very impressed.  I often make cream based sauces for my baked fish but this tray bake was very different.  The base ingredients of salmon fillets and asparagus were jazzed up with chopped fresh lemon, tomatoes, basil, garlic pancetta and anchovies.  I didn’t have the prawns that the original recipe called for, I’ll definitely be adding them the next time I make this.

And then all you do is bake the lot.  It took around 25 minutes for mine to be properly done (I did crowd everything together in a slightly too small tray though).  There’s all kinds of flavours going on in this meal, would you expect anything less from a Jamie meal?  It’s definitely worth trying if you’ve got a family of fish lovers to feed.

We have a new bedtime favourite at our place.  ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Daywalt is genius.  The book is a collection of ‘letters’ from the disgruntled crayons belonging to a young boy.  I love it as much as Preschooler SSG does and Oliver Jeffers’ illustrations set the tone perfectly for the dramatics of each letter.  I’ve got ‘The Day the Crayons Came Home’ on my list of books to place on my next Book Depositary order.

There’s a new ‘thing’ to collect at Woolworths right now.  Marvel Superheroes discs.  Expect the parental swapping to get a bit hectic over the next few months…

We have Mother’s Day gifts sorted for my mother and aunty when they arrive.  Preschooler SSG will be giving them each one of these mugs.  They’re actually meant to be used to make microwave mug cakes and come with a spoon and a cake recipe but I bet you the ladies will be using them for their cuppas on account of their size and large, easy hold handles.  I found them this week at Woolworths for $7 each.

There’s also a soup mug version which I got for myself.

I’ve had to replace quite a few mugs this week and my other source was Kmart.  The tall mug with sipper lid above was $3 as was the massive mug in the photo below.  They’re bone china and dishwasher safe.

Crazy nights in – a mug of peppermint tea, the latest Aldi catalogue and the company of one of Preschooler SSG’s many stuffed animal friends.

It’s ANZAC Day tomorrow and I’m expecting it to be a day of quiet reflection.  I hope to be up to listen to some of the dawn service on the radio and to pause with respect and thankfulness as I do so.