Winter Warmers

It has been such a cold and rainy week, but the perfect weather to cook a real winter warmer.
My family loves this recipe and has become one of our winter favorites.  I thought I would share it with you.

                       

Chicken and Prosciutto Cannelloni.

50g butter  - 1/4 cup plain flour  - 2/3 cup milk - 375ml chicken stock.
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese - 400g fontina cheese grated - 1 tab spoon olive oil.
2 medium onions finely chopped - 3 clove garlic crushed -1kg chicken mince.
2 tab finely chopped fresh sage - 850g canned tomatoes - 125ml dry white wine.
70g tomato paste - 12 fresh lasagne sheets -24 slices prosciutto.

Heat butter in medium saucepan, cook flour, stirring, until four thickens and bubbles. Gradually stir in milk and stock, stirring until sauce boils and thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan and a quarter of the fontina.
Heat oil in large saucepan, cook onion and garlic, stirring until onion is soft.  Add chicken, cook until browned.  Stir in sage.  Combine chicken and cheese sauce in large bowl and cool.
Combine undrained tomatoes, wine, paste in large pan, cook and stir for 10 min.Cool then blend or process until smooth.
Cut pasta sheets and prosciutto slices in half.  Place two pieces of prosciutto on each piece of pasta, top with 1/4 cup of chicken mixture and roll to enclose.  Repeat.
Oil 2 ovenproof dishes. Pour a 1/4 of the tomato sauce into each base, place pasta rolls seam side down in each dish.  Pour remaining tomato sauce over rolls and sprinkle each dish with fontina cheese.
Bake in moderate oven for 30 min covered, then uncover, further bake 15 min till brown.

I use Robert Gordon bakeware to cook my cannelloni. I have found the Robert Gordon bakeware absolutely remarkable for baking.  They don't craze and any baked on crusts wash off very easily.

Rapt Up stocks the Robert Gordon range of bakeware which includes varying sizes and colours. The bakeware comes with a 10 year guarantee and that is recommendation enough.

Colours of Autumn

I love all the seasons in the garden, but I especially love Autumn.  The summer heat has gone, which I am sure all the plants appreciate, the roses are still gorgeous and the colours of the deciduous tree are just something else. We have had some Autumn rain that was very welcome which helps with the daily grind of watering.

The capital pear (pyrus calleryana) trees that I have many of in the garden, are the last of the ornamental pear trees to change colour and lose there leaves, along with one of my favorite plants Spirea Cantoniensis ( May Bush ).  In front of these plants I have a prostate Rosemary which falls over a wall and is in constant bloom.  It's a lovely garden bed at any time of the year but especially in the Autumn.

The roses are almost at their end but are still producing blooms that last much longer than in the Summer.  My two favorite David Austin roses are Redoute and Glamis Castle which I couldn't resist photographing.

Our back garden is still very much a work in progress.  Just recently we have added a wooden structure to connect the garden and have a walk way up to very back of the yard.  It now needs to be paved through the middle which is a job for my ever patient husband. Still to be decided what to plant over the top of the structure, but am thinking about an ornamental vine, to give even more Autumn colour to the garden.

The website www. raptup.com.au  has been extremely busy but my garden is my sanctuary and I always make time every week to be out in it. 

What a Difference a Year Makes

It's hard to believe the growth in a year. Our front garden is thriving and is such a source of joy and contentment.



Looking back at January 2011 blog, when planting began, much work has ensured throughout the year with my much loved roses being planted in June. I love David Austin roses and I chose varieties of Evelyn, Graham Thomas, Glamis Castle and Charlotte, creating a colour scheme of cream and old gold. They have all done me proud with gorgeous blooms throughout the year.





I love having fresh flowers inside and yesterday whilst unpacking a box of gorgeous vases from the Savvy group for Rapt Up, and with the roses looking so lovely, it was the perfect opportunity to make an arrangement. I gathered together some Murraya Paniculata leaves and some Glamis Castle blooms. The vase really enhanced the arrangement.

I love this range of vases and the wonderful thing is they look just as gorgeous with or without flowers.



Rapt Up also has had a year of enormous growth and just like my garden is a great source of pride and contentment.
New stock is arriving daily at the moment and I will be sure to make sure you hear of all the wonderful new items as they arrive.

Where Does the Time Go

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog. I have all great intentions, and even though writing doesn't come naturally to me, I have enjoyed writing the blogs and usually don't go out of my way to make excuses for not keeping the blog site up to date.

Since February, life just seems to be so busy. Rapt Up online business has been very busy with lots of new stock and all the extra things that new stock entails, to present it onto the website. Every time I thought today is the day I am going to write a blog, another delivery of stock arrives and then I am back to unpacking, taking photo's and entering the product onto the website.

And now it is late May and I look back at all the things that have stopped me. Our son's wedding, and we included a holiday in there as well. I organized an open house for Rapt Up, then it was Easter and Mothers Day, all very busy times for retail.

In between all of this this. I have still been cycling, gardening and cooking.

No more excuses from now on I am going to continue blogging regularly and continue to keeping you all up to date on Rapt Up and all of my other pastimes.

Return to the Gardening.

It seems so long since I have been able to recommence the gardening project.

With the Great Vic Bike ride, then busy times with Rapt Up prior to Christmas and of course Christmas and extra visitors it has been many weeks.

Husband David works away, but has a few weeks holiday over the Christmas/New Year period. With all the visitors gone, and the fact that David's time is short, it was the perfect opportunity to try and finish the front garden.

The front garden is a very formal design. David first installed borders to divide garden from paths. We then went and ordered sandstone pavers and a load of river pebbles and the paths started to take shape.




A load of cow manure was ordered and it was my job to distribute it among the garden beds. Not my ideal job, especially on the hot days that we were enduring, but the paver were too heavy for me to handle. By the end of the day though, we had both worked hard and the paths were finished and so were the garden beds.



Next job for David was the watering system, which he had mostly set up last time he was out in the garden so the job was completed.



The infrastructure is now complete and now the fun part of planting will commence. The plants are ordered and I will have great enjoyment in this task.

The Great Victorian Bike Ride - Day 8

Day 8 - Yea - Eildon - 64km.

Much warmer riding conditions today and a slight wind. It was a bit hard to get out of bed this morning, although none of us were sore after yesterday. Only 64kms today.

We have now realized why it is only 64kms today. We started climbing straight away with gradual hills to the gorgeous small town of Alexandra, where we had our lunch stop. Alexandra is nestled in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and for us to arrive at Eildon we have to negotiate some of the Great Dividing Range. Why did we think 64kms was going to be a quick ride?

The pain started very soon after leaving Alexandra as we climbed up and up. I can assure you that a reasonable amount of walking was needed, even by our boys in the group. Once again the sag wagon was working overtime, but once again none of us succumbed.



The warbies ( we are right behind you) were also busy helping out with jammed brakes and just moral support with handing out jelly beans for extra energy, anything for a distraction from the screaming leg muscles.



At last we reached the top and the views of Lake Eildon were magnificent. It was worth it ( I think )



Then the wonderful downhill run into Eildan. We crossed the Lake Wall and into the very pretty campsite around the Lake. Would you believe no rain in sight.



It was our last night on the ride and we decided we needed to celebrate. We all went into the village of Eildon for a meal and sat around and enjoyed the entertainment that was provided.

It is hard to believe that we have been riding for 8 days, you forget about all what is happening in the outside world. For me I have just about forgotten that I own an online business that is very busy with the Christmas rush. Thank heavens for my girls that have taken control for me, I know Raptup is in good hands.

Sales over Christmas time

Having an online store has meant that I have a really amazing opportunity to attend gift fairs and I loved having my shop in town. But, 21 years is a long time in retail. The freedom I have now has really allowed me to build my business in a different way. Rapt Up has always been my 'baby' and I love seeing it develop now at a new level.

The one thing I do miss is the Christmas Sales. I do have a sale online, but I guess what I miss is the atmosphere. However, I do love the free time to cycle.....

It's funny that the Christmas sales are beginning earlier and earlier. Can you imagine the Boxing Day Sales? Maybe I'm showing my age, but I do remember when stores would only be open certain hours and closed weekends. Now, with the amazing technology that keeps evolving, we can literally shop 24/7.

It's rather a privilege to have the luxury of shopping all day or night. I must admit, after I finish 'work', I do sit and have a browse online. I love the cycling shop Wiggle. This is part of the reason really that I decided to operate Rapt Up fully online.

At Last the RACV Great Victoria Bike Ride

WOW!! What a week I have had on the RACV Great Victorian Bike. It would have to be one of the best weeks in my life. Aptly named " A week in another world " it was certainly that. From the moment you climb on your bike, you forget everything else that is going on in the world (even a change of state government) that we were blissfully unaware of for a few days.

Bicycle Victoria in conjunction with the major sponsor RACV, need congratulating for conducting such a wonderful event. The logistics of moving close to 5000 people everyday was absolutely amazing.

Each campsite had semitrailers of showers and toilets. Huge canvas marquees were set up for eating and entertainment, and over 15,000 meals were served everyday. The evening meal was always a hot meal and considering the weather it was incredible how it all ran so smoothly.

Approx 650 volunteers were on hand to ensure all bike riders had a fun and safe ride. From serving food, driving luggage transports to directing traffic and a 101 other different tasks. They were always cheerful and for the 9 days I didn't hear one cross word anywhere. Just plenty of cheerful banter and laughing.

7pm each night there was a briefing on the next days ride in Cafe de Canvas. The Good Oil newspaper was delivered to us all prior the the briefing. The newspaper was great, filled with useful information for the next day's ride, meal menu's, weather reports ( more rain ) and fun stories heard along the route. We all eagerly looked for it each evening.



I was one of a group of 8 riders from Mildura associated with Peter Mills Body Business gym. We travelled together to Yarrawonga on Friday and did the precamping option on an oval at Yarrawonga. Might I say that night was one of our only dry nights. We had a great group, four of the men were on road bikes and rest of us were on mountain bikes. We named the road bike boys the forward party as they were at the destination way ahead of us. They would have the tents all set up and our luggage found, which was great as we often arrived in rain. We had a lot of laughs and I am sure that we have all created a bond from riding the Great Vic together.



The timing for me doing the ride wasn't the best, having to leave my online gift shop business RaptUp at such a busy time of the year. The shop was left in very capable hands though, with Vanessa and Nicky attending to all the day to day orders etc. I am very lucky to have them as it means I can do my outside activities without worrying about the shop.

Over the next few weeks, follow my progress as I relate to you the fun and frivolity of 9 days on the road.

Rapt Up is completely online

After 21 years in my retail store in Mildura (Vic), the transition to run my gift store online is complete. After an exhaustive 10 days of moving into a new home, closing the shop and creating a workspace at home, I'm pleased to let you know that it is business as usual...just all online. www.raptup.com.au

New stock that has been all personally selected, is arriving continuously. The biggest problem I have is where to store everything now!

I must say, the thing I love most about working from home is I can be around Millie and Diesel - my two delightful dogs. Millie in particular, loves being indoors with me. Her favourite spot is on the couch near the TV. Millie is an aging 13 year old, blind, black poodle!