Third Week of December 2015

 School has ended this week and a feat in itself.  All three kids got awards this year.  Ciara picture above got Grade 8 First in Maths,  and CWA award for Academic Achievement. Owen, got Achievement in English and Math as well as his Silver Merit Pennant. Hannah got Parkes Arts Council award for Creative Arts and her Gold Merit Pennant. They have all passed and move on to the next year at the end of January.

 We celebrated by making gingerbread houses and lots of Christmas baking.

 Now for a little down time or maybe not........  Big Splash Water World came to Parkes for a week.  They had a 3 hours ticket for $20 and you could ride the 5 different blow up waterslides as much as you wanted.  The biggest slide has three slides and was 55ft tall.  Scarey!!!

We also got to go to the movies this weekend in Orange and shopping at Harris Markets that always has groceries from home that I miss getting.  We found woodear mushrooms and made this recipe:

Broccoli Shiitake Mushroom Stir Fry Noodles

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 3 bundles whole wheat noodles
• 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
• ½ medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4-5 fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• A small handful black wood ears/black fungus, soaked 2 hours
• 5 fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon Himalayan/sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (don’t add if you don’t like spicy)
• ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
• A small pinch red pepper flakes
• A few sprinkles ground pepper
• A few sprinkles white and black sesame seeds (garnish)

Instructions

1. Be sure you’ve soaked the black wood ears/black fungus in water for at least 2 hours, then have it drained well.
2. Chop the onion into medium or small sized strips. Dice the garlic into small pieces and put both of them in the frying pan with a tablespoon olive oil.
3. Turn the heat on medium high (5-6 or 6) and saute the onions for about 10 minutes. At that stage, the onions should be turning a little golden.
4. Meanwhile, remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and slice them into small pieces. Break the broccoli stalk into small florets and measure a cup, tightly packed. Get five fresh basil leaves and slice them up.
5. While the onions are cooking boil a saucepan of water and cook your desired noodles according to packet instructions. Usually by bringing it to a boil, add the noodles, let it boil for 5-10 minutes until the noodles are hot. Be sure to drain the noodles!
6. After cooking the onion for 10 minutes, add the shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, wood ears and basil.
7. Immediately after, add the sesame oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper, ginger, red pepper flakes and ground pepper. Stir and fry the vegetables for about 5 minutes.
8. Once the noodles are drained, add it into the frying pan with the veggies, stir a lot to let the flavour seep into the noodles. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.