wow factor

dry ice in a cup

Want to jazz up the presentation of a special meal?

Buy a little hunk of dry ice from a local ice house.

Put it in a bowl of water and place it on your serving tray. You’ll create wondrous, billowing white clouds!

25 Years. To Silver

We are 2 days away from our Silver Anniversary.Wow it has been an adventure. With lots of surprises

Not all of them good ones. We made lots of promises that day. We have stayed together through the highs and lows. The laughter and the tears. We have had adventures and travelled far. We have been stretched and compressed. We still have dreams and goals to reach.

We are still working on communication. We have just put together our first vision statement for us as a couple (will share that another time). We both believe romance is a special sparkle in each others eye. We have along way to grow but our love is strong and alive. I am hoping for another 25 years to enjoy this crazy little thing called love.

Your My Best Friend.

Video

The Song

 

Your My Best Friend

written by John Deacon of Queen

written for his wife, Veronica Tetzlaff Deacon

I admit I have a soft spot for the music from the band Queen. The musicality and the way words from their songs have stuck with me when most others don’t; proves it.

This song for me essentially sums up a lot of what I consider to be at the heart of romance. So listen to the song and read the words. By the way they  John & Veronica have just celebrated 38 years married.

The Words

Ooh you make me live
Whatever this world can give to me
It’s you you’re all I see
Ooh you make me live now honey
Ooh you make me live

Ooh you’re the best friend that I ever had
I’ve been with you such a long time
You’re my sunshine and I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you

Oh you’re my best friend

Ooh you make me live

Ooh I’ve been wandering round
But I still come back to you
In rain or shine
You’ve stood by me girl
I’m happy at home
You’re my best friend

Ooh you make me live
Whenever this world is cruel to me
I got you to help me forgive
Ooh you make me live now honey
Ooh you make me live

You’re the first one
When things turn out bad
You know I’ll never be lonely
You’re my only one
And I love the things
I really love the things that you do
Ooh you’re my best friend

Ooh you make me live

I’m happy at home
You’re my best friend
Oh you’re my best friend
Ooh you make me live
You’re my best friend

She’s Special

In our corner of the world we are about to celebrate Mother’s day.

Perfect time to treat your lady like she is special. Maybe she is not a mother but don’t let that stop you showing your appreciation. She might be a mother to pet or  fun Aunty or even just a future Mum. Just find time to be extra nice to her.

Our family love pancakes and we all have different toppings we like. Have fun make interesting shapes or smiley faces or try some of the the more grown up recipes below.

So I’m going to give you recipe and some topping ideas.

Basic mix:

1 C. self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
60g unsalted butter
1 c. buttermilk (can substitute milk)
2 tbsp honey
1 egg lightly beaten

Cook pancakes

You can add blueberries to the mix and then top with blueberries, strawberries and maple syrup

My favorite idea
Icecream and crushed violet crumble or crunchie bar.

Pineapple and Coconut Pancakes
1/2 c sugar cooked over low heat til dissolved and caramel colour add 2oomls light coconut milk remove from heat stir in pineapple pieces.
Add 1 tsp coconut essence to pancake mix.
Layer pancakes and pineapple mix top with flaked coconut

Banofe Pancakes
Make caramel topping  add bananas and whipped cream

Need some savoury ones

Add an extra 1/2 cup of buttermilk to mix. Cook pancakes then layer olive tapenade salami and rocket lettuce, sprinkle with grated cheese put another pancake on top and cook in sandwich press.

Salmon Pikelets

Omit the honey from the pancake recipe add 1/4 of self raising flour and 2 tbsp sugar.
Cook pikelets top with sliced smoked salmon. sour scream and chopped chives

How you Met

How did you meet your partner?

Where were you, why were you there, what were you doing?

Work out the elements that precipitated the beginning of romance.

Identify that one pivotal event that brought the two of you together.

Celebrate that event every year.

The date doesn’t have to be exact and  you can add elements of your meeting into the celebration.

Someone I know met her future husband when he spilled wine on her at wedding.

To reminisce this one. Dress up go somewhere nice a meal perhaps with a bottle of wine. Fill the glasses and entwine your arms and say, ‘Remember when I slipped and this landed in your lap. I’ll never forget how your annoyance turned to laughter when you saw how mortified I was”

I started to notice my future husband on a mission trip. We could get out some of the photos and talk about how we recognised a passion for the same things and then for each other.

Think about this one and maybe the first time you celebrate your first love you can surprise your partner but after that make it a tradition.

Just Reading

It’s been a while since I posted. Just really busy with life and work.

One of my past times is reading. I have an Ipad these days and download a lot of free books.

You might imagine that I read romance novels but that is not the case. Never have and only time I have read them is when someone gives me one or there is nothing else. I also don’t read woman’s magazines. My fiction of choice is Sci-fi or Fantasy. There’s plenty of romance in those books for me.

Some how I had downloaded an ebook that was definitely a romance. So I will credit this quote to the author. Surprisingly the author is male as they don’t usually create romantic fiction.

When You Went Away

by Michael Baron

“I never stopped trying to show off for Maureen. I mean, when we first started dating, I always wanted to prove to her that there was no other man in the world she could be happy with. The songs , the food, the dates, the back rubs, all of it. But even after I won her I refused to let up. I wanted her to be a hundred percent certain at all times that  she made the right decision.

She got the message

I know she got the message. But I still needed to keep delivering it.”

That in a nutshell is what this blog is all about. Keep delivering the love, don’t let up and never take it for granted.

wow

21 years and still romancing

I have been so very busy I haven’t had a chance to update lately. Really spending a lot of time helping my husband with our new business.

We have just celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary. We took time out to celebrate. First time ever I booked the secret hotel deal where you get great discount on a quality hotel, but before you book you don’t know which hotel it will be. It adds a bit of fun and mystery to the process. We had 3 nights away. First mystery hotel was 5 star and very nice. Want those hotel sheets they are so smooth.
We had a voucher for a 6 course degustation. I have to say they should think of a nicer sounding word than degustation as it is too close to disgusting. Well the meal was very delicious. A degustation for those who don’t know is small serving samples of the restaurants menu and have become very popular with the top class restaurants.

Second night was all planned a beautiful cabin on Tamborine Mountain Gold coast. It came with a meal at the award winning restaurant which was absolutely the best.

My favourite dish was Squid ink tortellini and scallops warped in parma ham.

Small hiccup in the bush. A couple of leeches latched on to me. I brushed them off and then bleed for a while. Apparently leeches are ok bugs and are used in medicine all the time. Ugg

The next day we were meant to be working, but as one of the cars was still being worked on we had to cancel the drives. We were driving the Lamborghini so it felt very special.

The lambo is part of our business

The last night of the weekend was spent in another mystery hotel 4 1/2 star still very nice.
We did one drive for customers on Sunday so it was a very relaxed day. We got back to the city in time for Sunday evening Church. So all in all a pleasant way to spend an anniversary.

Random Acts of Romance

Well I was preparing dinner tonight and came across a piece of paper with Random Acts O f Romance written on it. I must have been having a creative moment in the kitchen but not about cooking. Well would you believe I promptly lost that list.

So all I remember is the first one on this list. The rest I just made up.

Get a glue stick and write a message on a piece of paper and give your partner a bottle of glitter to shake on it to reveal your romantic message.

One for the guys. Give them some money or your credit card and tell them to buy you some sexy lingerie or clothing. Then you model it for them. (Make sure they’ve got your measurements).

Get a packet of sparklers and right messages with them when it is dark.

I was told recently by one of my readers that for guys romance is mainly about sex and their partners being sexy. Try this one at home. Wear a buttoned up coat with nothing on underneath. Let them discover what you have forgotten.

More random acts of romance coming your way soon.

visit us at rym

Did you know

Approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas.

I made my valentine a card today.

If you don’t want too be to mushy you can steal my lines

Let’s just stop

a while and

take in

something

beautiful.

Here’s  the artwork for the card I made as well.Get a nice piece of card to print it on, add chocolates. I added a massage voucher. Now you have a not too gooey but lovely card.

V Day

Now could this be a blog about romance and not talk about Valentines Day.

First the history lesson. Not sure which St Valentine is remembered so here are some possibilities.

The Legend of St. Valentine

The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

The earliest known romantic valentine verse was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife in the 15th century:

Je suis desja d’amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée

[I am already sick of love,
My very gentle Valentine]

Sounds wonderful in French.

Here is a lovely Valentine poem to think upon

Must, bid the Morn awake! 
Sad Winter now declines, 
Each bird doth choose a mate; 
This day’s Saint Valentine’s. 
For that good bishop’s sake 
Get up and let us see 
What beauty it shall be 
That Fortune us assigns. 
– Michael Drayton

Quite a few articles I read suggested that the 14th Feb was chosen because it is the the time when the birds begin to look for mates and build nests.

So if you haven’t done anything for Valentines day let me encourage you do something very romantic for your mate. I am going to sign off and make a hand crafted card with my own poem for my man.