In which I ponder more books...and recipes

We celebrated Easter, and ate a traditional treat.

(Although these buns appear in the shops immediately after Christmas. I will not allow them to be eaten until Good Friday.

There are just some traditions I like to observe.)

These were prepared by my husband who has discovered the delights of working with yeast. He gets very excited to see the dough proving and loves creating delicious meals for the family.
Mind you I did it all for the first 30 odd years of the marriage, but I do really appreciate that he is now retired and so willing to         take over   I mean co opt the cooking.
Of course now he thinks he could appear on one of those reality shows, oh Lord spare me the competition. I mean cooking is hard enough without being harshly judged!

I may not watch the shows, but I do buy the books!

 Except for this one, this is where I store those precious tried and true recipes. My own cook book creation.

I artistically tear out pages from magazines and promise myself to attempt the dish one day. 

And then there are the recipes that get referred to time and time again. The pages dropped with butter and sugar. 

 I collect a few that have proved to be easy to follow and reliable.

 And of course there are the books that are all about the pictures...they seduce your eyes and are virtually impossible to recreate in real life. 
But I can still look at pretty things.

This is one that would be saved from a fire, or settled in a divorce court....should it ever come to that....which will be the twelfth of NEVER....
I bought this when I left home as my mother had the same book and there were many delicious meals made from this. 
A good cook book is one where you take more than one or two dishes from it.....and for our family this is the one.
My son has copied a few when he left home and wanted to cook his favourite "Honey Chili Chicken" yummmmmm. 

Which leaves me to ponder the whole cooking, quilting thing!
NO, don't run away, stay with me on this one. 

Do you cook like you quilt? Is it all about the recipe, collecting the ingredients, recreating the exact same dish?
Or is it about a quick glance at the pantry, or fabric stash and throwing it all out there and creating your own dish?

Is it all about traditional quilting, tried and true recipes or is it modern, new flavours, breaking rules and seeing elephants amongst the flowers (just seeing if you are still reading Ms Daisy)

I have really thought a lot about my creative side just lately. I have made a few quilts and wanted to stand out just a little, find my own groove and style. 
But time and time again I would flick through a quilt book and be off taking a recipe and recreating someone elses dish. 
I am trying to be OK with however I end up.....at the end of the day I want to be happy and fulfilled and however that occurs I will be grateful. 
I have ideas for creative quilts and now realise that without going through the basics how does one learn to go on and create your own tasty dish or quilt?

 Now on a completely different tangent. Our gum tree has burst into bloom....and now we have the beautiful parrots visiting our garden. 

 Do you see him?
Look closely................these parrots are the most wonderfully camouflaged. They have green backs and the most gloriously coloured faces and breasts. Which I discovered gives them incredible camouflage when being viewed from underneath. 

 He is there.....look just above the flowers!

 There surely you can see him now?

 The blue and orange may see to stand out here, but when you look up at a bird in a tree, the blue is the colour of the sky and the red and orange look like flowers or the old leaves which turn from green to russet. They are noisy parrots but shy. I had to sit quietly for some time and be patient. So glad I did. 

 Still actually in the flowers having a snack...see if you can spot him.

   
Then he saw me and left. 

 I found this feather and you can see how wonderful these birds are. 
Nature is just so amazing, I never cease to admire its beauty.