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Isn’t It Ironic…

3 Comments Posted on March 13, 2015June 1, 2015 by Snoskred

…that a website called news.com.au should contain so little actual news. Seriously? Your headline article is about a shopping fail? On a day when an Australian young person exploded themselves, killing 10 people in Iraq?

That news – and if you want to read about it, click here – does not even rate being in the top 4 stories listed on the site, instead, something about private detectives paid to have sex in order to bust illegal brothels, something about a pair of pants, and Maureen McCormick is evicted from a teevee show?

Well, the last one I am a little bit sad about because I did get sucked into watching the show and I loved watching Maureen on it, however this is the last week of the show so it isn’t that big a deal. It certainly is not headline news!

But it gets even worse. Check this out.

Picture: web grab. Source – Snoskred – Life In The Country.

Web grab? Credit News Corp Australia? What the heck is up with that? So, we all can now go to any web site we like and grab a screenshot and then give credit to ourselves for taking it? I bet if I did that to a news.com.au photographer image, there would be threats of a lawsuit or something..

If the person who took the image happens upon this post, contact me with your name and I’ll give you *proper* credit.

I have long been thinking that news.com.au has jumped the shark and that it contained little news, but this is the day when I finally am giving up. I’m stating to you, out loud, that I intend to stop going there, foreverz.

Pretty please to hold me accountable on this statement. If I ever post here about news.com.au again, or link to a story on their site, I want you to slap me down hard in the comments section. SRSLY!

I don’t know how many more dress stories I can take, what with that blue or white dress last week, and now this. The only time I want to see clothes as a headline on a NEWS website would be if someone was killed by their outfit. A fashion site is a different story, of course.

So where can you get actual news now? Which sites do you go to?

Probably the only site I can think of is abc.net.au but if you have a decent news source, let me know. :)

Annoyed Snoskred, Aussie Culture, Fail Whale, In The News, Media

Night Soil

3 Comments Posted on February 27, 2015June 2, 2015 by Snoskred

Would you fertilize your garden with human poop?

Neither would I. But in some countries, this is the done thing. They even have a name for it. They call it Night Soil. I first read about night soil a few months ago while reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

Rice has to be fertilized repeatedly, which is another art. Traditionally, farmers used “night soil” (human manure) and a combination of burned compost, river mud, bean cake, and hemp and they had to be careful, because too much fertilizer, or the right amount applied at the wrong time, could be as bad as too little.

And unfortunately some of those countries are now importing foods into Australia, and we are eating these foods sometimes without being aware of it due to poor food labelling laws.. How many times have you seen something like “Packed in Australia using imported products” – imported from where?

They don’t tell us.

That picture above is from the label of my favourite salad dressing. Why do they need to import ingredients? Everything they use in this product is available right here in Australia.

How has this happened to this great country we live in? A country that grows almost everything and could supply almost everything we need without having to import one single item?

How is it, that I now cannot buy a tin of grown in Australia Champignons? I’ve tried all the supermarkets. There are no champignons grown here anymore, not that I can find.

Check the label, and you will see –

I grew up in a household where we always used champignons on our homemade pizza. I grew up eating champignons right out of the tin. I can tell you how they tasted when they were grown in Australia – like someone took a huge bunch of mushrooms and removed their essence, their flavour, and packed it into each and every champignon. I actually preferred them to fresh mushrooms.

These Chinese champignons taste like nothing. There is *no* flavour. You might as well eat the paper on the tin.

And now, several Australians have contracted hepatitis A from frozen berries.

Could this be due to night soil? Nobody knows as yet. But you better believe I’m not buying any more products which are grown overseas. Why would we allow products from countries you need to get vaccinations to visit?

And why on earth would we allow product labelling that does not tell us where the food originates from?

Go to your food pantry, right now.

And take a good look at the labels. Do you have any products which say Product of Australia? Or does everything originate from locations you personally would not travel to, let alone eat food from!

Angry Snoskred, Aussie Culture, food, potential disaster, shopping

Mesmerized

3 Comments Posted on February 20, 2015June 2, 2015 by Snoskred

I do not truck with these real housewives shows. Not into this kind of teevee at all..

That was, until Gina Liano arrived on the scene.

I find her eye makeup mesmerizing.

I have no idea what is going on half the time, or who the other people are, but if I flick past and catch Gina on screen, I am stuck like mud. I have to watch to see more of that eye make up.

The photos do it no justice. Even the youtube videos are nowhere near as good as on my tv screen. I think what it is, the thing that sucks me in, is that shade of green she uses. Seriously, watch the clip below, you can see her applying the eye makeup, plus, at the end the final shot gives you a bit of an idea of the intensity of this green eyeliner she is using.

The beyotching I have sat through, just to see more of this eye makeup. I truly cannot understand how she gets so much of that shade of green there. I’ve never even seen anything to compare to it, not even on a drag queen. And her outfits are pretty extraordinary as well.

Arena have been advertising the upcoming season pretty intensely with an ad set to one of my favourite songs, here is a short version of it –

which you can view in full here. Yes, the waving randoms on the escalator are deeply annoying, and so are the flight attendants, but all of this is richly rewarded with the synchronised walking in heels section – especially the new blonde clown on the end whose name, it appears, is GAMBLE. SRSLY! Plus, the other new chick is named Pettifleur.

The Real Housewives of Melbourne season 2 starts airing this coming Sunday at 8:30 on Arena.

Rather than be a snob about it, I’m just going to be honest with myself and admit that I like watching the eye makeup of Gina and the outfits and tune in.

Could Gina soon be Judge Gina? A pilot has been shot. And I have to tell you I would enjoy that kind of show a lot more that Real Housewives.

Aussie Culture, celebrities, Gossip, television shows

Recipe Saves

Leave a comment Posted on February 18, 2015June 1, 2015 by Snoskred

Savory Saves –

Recipe: Oven Cooked Risotto – I am totally going to perfect this recipe and I think I will use my roasting pan.

Prosciutto, Pea and Lemon Pasta – I think I would try to use not frozen peas if I were to make this, and I would likely sustitute bacon in for proscuttio. But this leads me to ask myself why can’t I just make a recipe as it is written, why must I Jamie Oliver it up every time?

Eggs Benedict Casserole – There are times when I have a lot of eggs and this recipe seems like it was made for those times.

Sweet Potato Spinach Mac and Cheese – This is a recipe I will make but I will use A2 milk in place of almond milk. I have a stash of A2 longlife UHT milk as well, in case we ever run out. Yes, I am a believer, regular milk does not love me much. :(

cauliflower cheese – I deeply love cauliflower cheese.

The Best Guacamole Recipe. – I will make this and love it, sometime soon.

Sasha and Malia Obama’s Favorite Mac and Cheese – I am a huge Michelle Obama fan, I have a somewhat irrational love for her.

Seriously the base recipe is amazing *and* it skips making a roux, which was one of the first things I mastered in the kitchen. A roux is the base for several of my recipes – however there are days (especially hot days) when I just don’t feel like making one. You can easily use this as your base for all roux-required recipes if you so desire, I have done from time to time. This recipe is so versatile. Here are a couple of quick things you can add to the simple cauliflower, milk, cheese and herbs base to make into a meal –

Chicken, Bacon, Mushrooms, Spring Onion.

Tuna, Broccoli, Leek, put some tomato slices and Parmesan on top, bake for 20 mins till top is crispy.

You can find a couple more awesome Michelle Obama recipes here –
Healthy Recipes From The White House To You – the broccoli soup is great as well especially if you add some Parmesan or blue cheese.

Coconut Lime Baked Chicken with Coconut Mango Sticky Rice – Yes to this. One day I will make this. I think this would work really well with drumsticks and wings, too.

Slow Cooker Chicken Wings – 5 Super Varieties – Speaking of chicken wings.. :)

Blood Orange Thyme Roasted Chicken – This combined with my roasting pan would = epic win, I think. :)

Sweet Saves –

Booze Baking: RumChata Cheesecake – I do not even know what Rumchata is, which may impact on my success with this recipe considering it calls for 3/4 of a cup of it.

Christmas Pear, Cinnamon & Ginger Chocolate Glazed Cheesecake – This is a recipe I am deeply unlikely to ever make for us at home, but I like to think I could make it, if people in my house ate pears. I might make it if I am going somewhere that people will eat pears. But why on earth do I save these recipes knowing I am unlikely to ever make them? WHYYYYYY?

Gingerbread Heads – You will never believe me when I say this, but I *did* make this gingerbread. It is everything you want a gingerbread to be. I should have halved or even quartered the recipe, though. Anything that says 5 cups of flour is overkill in my house. So, There Was An Incident, which we will not go into the details of, when I tried to make it in my mixer which is not large enough for this dough. I still have two large logs of this dough which I froze. I did not decorate the results, because I am a terrible cake and cookie decorator.

key lime pie – I love Key Lime Pie. I have never made it. This year is the year, it will happen! ;)

Raspberry Chocolates – I will probably make this to take along to school one day. Though, as I have a chocolate from scratch recipe I love, I will likely stick to that one – Making Chocolate From Scratch!

Salted caramel pudding – I love Salted Caramel, so, so, SO SO much.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cups – gorgeous pics. I will make this one day.

Blueberry Pie Bars – I deeply love blueberries. I will make this!

Healthy Homemade Chocolate Paddle Pops – I love me some Milo.. :)

Fudge for all – I have made this fudge many times now, however, I just make the cookie part and skip the chocolate. Bizarre, I know, but I have to tell you this is one of my all time favourite desserts and super simple. If you make it with Anna’s Ginger Thins.. swoooooon!

Just a side note, why are so many bloggers using all caps for titles on their blog posts these days? You can do that with CSS instead, so when people like me try to copy your title, we get it in regular letters. :)

cooking, get organised, internet, Linkage, recipes

My Saves

3 Comments Posted on February 11, 2015June 1, 2015 by Snoskred

My Next Confession –

I save links, to go back to when I have more time and/or to share them here on the blog.. forgive me internet for I have saved, bookmarked, and foldered my way into one heck of a mess..

I have already confessed to you that I save recipes. I usually try to have one folder for recipes and one for other stuff but lately I have been failing to keep them separated..

Here is my present saves folder – this one scrolls down for 3 more pages past what you see here –

Yes, I like my chocolate peanut butter fudge with a side of Confessions from a Mortician. Don’t judge me, mmkay?

Even worse, here is a folder from the start of 2013!

I don’t need to tell you it is now 2015. But perhaps I need to tell *me* that. :)

Anyway I think the time has come for a clean out. So over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to post a selection of my saved links along with why I saved them, if I can recall that. This week it is NON recipe links.

10 Snoskred Saved Links

1. 5 ways I stay sane online – I saved this because I think I could use these ways to be more sane online, especially the first one, pocket, that could be super helpful to me now I will be out at school. It is essentially my saves folder made mobile.

2. Last Minute Gift – DIY Coasters – I saved this because I think I could actually make this and it would be awesome.

3. This Woman Creates Something Phenomenal Out Of A Family Photo And Wood – I saved this for the same reason as above. Love!

4. Easy Valentine Necklaces – Speaking of love, I saved this because I had never heard of this form of Mod Podge before and I deeply love the form of Mod Podge I know about, so this is a reminder to hunt down this dimensional magic.

5. 25 plus size bloggers to follow on Instagram in 2015 – I saved this because while I do not instagram, there are some people here I have not seen before and they might have blogs I can subscribe to.

6. Mötley Crüe are calling it quits. – I saved this to send to The Other Half, plus, Tommy Lee has a drumming rollercoaster? I will like to know more about this! That shiznit I got to investigate further.

And I did google that, and I found out it is the slowest rollercoaster of all time, but it does some neat tricks. I even have a video for you but I warn you of two things – the sound quality is terrible so turn it right down and/or hit mute – and there is some swearing at the end, which won’t be a problem if you did hit mute or turned the sound right down. Tommy Lee Drum Rollercoaster

7. Post Crossing – I saved this because it might be awesome.

8. Coronial Findings NSW – I saved this because these are always interesting to read and I did work experience in a Coroners Court, many years ago.

9. Emergency Department Waiting Times
– In Major NSW Public Hospitals – I saved this because handy to have just in case.

10. Boot Camp: About keyboards and key assignment for Microsoft Windows – I saved this back when I had a Mac. I think I can delete this now. But anyone reading this with a mac might find it useful.

And a special bonus link –

Who’s Laying, Who’s Not – for anyone who keeps chickens or is considering keeping chickens this is worth reading, especially the last two paragraphs.

Next week – Recipe links. I might post more than 10, because I have a lot of them. :)

About Snoskred, get organised, internet, Linkage

Here we go again..

5 Comments Posted on February 6, 2015June 2, 2015 by Snoskred

Please to explain how Bill Shorten is even an option on this poll, news.com.au. Bill Shorten is not a member of the Liberal Party and even if he were to get ALL THE VOTES there is no possible way he can become the leader of it! You might as well put Ronald McDonald on the form as well..

Look, there is zero doubt that Australia adores Malcolm Turnbull. The guy says what he thinks and it has cost him dearly at times, rather famously costing him the leadership back in 2009. He will always be known to Q&A viewers as That Guy Who Wore The Leather Jacket That Time.

The Australian Media are all in a tizzy, they love this kind of stuff *so* much. And it will run 24/7 until Tuesday, I’m certain.

Do the public love it? Having worked at the past few elections I have heard many comments from people who are forced to show up and vote, and the general theme is, I’d rather not have to vote for any of these idiots.

I had a few people tell me they’d prefer to “blow all those bastards up” which is a very Australian statement. Non-Australians might not understand how that can be an Australian statement, but this was a catchphrase here for many years thanks to The Kingswood Country. AKA – “Somebody/someone should blow [current object of annoyance] up!”

Some people advise they would prefer to urinate on them than vote for them. I’m deeply appreciative that these people are willing to express their apparent fondness for golden showers with a random like me handing out their voting papers, but the germophobe within me says, ew.

I also deeply enjoyed the drawings of genitalia on the ballot papers, though I did not understand why people drew such small penises on such a large canvas. Were these self portraits? Use the whole ballot, peoples, it is enormous. Have a look at the size of the largest ballot here – Australia’s Compulsory Voting System; Is It Good or Bad?.

In general people were vastly unhappy with all the uncertainty around Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party, so they are unlikely to be huge fans of these same issues in the Liberal Party.

With that said, the last federal election was a very clear middle finger to the Labor Party and I suspect the only reason the Liberals got in is due to the fact that they were not Labor. EG I’m voting for these people because they are not THOSE people. Nobody seemed to like Tony Abbott then, and nobody seems to like him now.

For what it is worth – there is an upcoming election in NSW and they are looking for staff if you live in NSW and you want to give it a try, click here for more. I’ve worked elections a few times and have enjoyed it enormously. :)

Aussie Culture, bitches, elections, politics, work

Wax Melts Sample

4 Comments Posted on January 19, 2015June 1, 2015 by Snoskred

Snoskred received a free sample which any PINCHme member could receive as long as they answered the survey questions and qualified for the sample.

So let me say right up front.. Nobody is paying me to write any of this, though I guess that will become somewhat self evident as you read on.

PINCHme had a survey you could fill in to see if you would qualify for a “secret sample” – so I filled it in, and I got an email telling me I qualified and I would receive a sample of Glade Wax Melts.

So they were aware, from my answers to this survey, that I burn wax melts regularly, and that I have never bought their wax melts before. I looked at them when they first came out and there was a special pack with the burner but they were all sold out when I went to get one. I had picked them up and smelled them, and there were a couple of flavours I would be likely to purchase.

I was extremely excited about this sample because I am a wax melts girl. I love those things. Here are some of the Yankee Candle ones I brought back from Hawaii last trip..

I am now able to source the Yankee Candle melts here, though at double the US price. You can buy them too – most Spotlight stores now stock them. I’m here to tell you from a lot of testing these personally, they smell amazing, the scent lasts a long, long time, and there is a huge range of scents to choose from. The candles are awesome as well but not at all cheap.

I also brought back a bunch of Essenza candle melts and a bunch of Better Homes and Gardens wax melts. And even though I have been using them regularly I still have quite a few of these left.

With all that said, I like to mix it up and have as many different scents to choose from as possible – because who knows if I will be in the mood for Red Delicious or Black Coconut or Spiced Rum Cake.

So here was a chance for a new company I do not usually buy product from to win my regular wax melts business. They were sending me a sample! YAY! I was very excited.. but day after day went by, and no sample appeared. The date for me to give feedback on the sample was getting closer and I was starting to think I might not be able to leave any feedback this time. Then I got an email advising me there was a delay with the sample and it will arrive sometime in January.

And eventually, arrive it did.

And then I wondered why they even bothered to send me this stingy one little wax cube.

Glade, you are asking me to spend $8.99 for 6 wax cubes on an ongoing basis, while sending me one, tiny, little cube.

I think, perhaps not.

Samples are a great chance for company and consumer to try each other out, see if maybe a relationship can develop. I took the time to fill in the sample and qualify for you that I am a potential customer, and then you scrimp on the sample you sent me? Stingy much?

For your future reference, Glade. Fairy sent me 3x dishwasher tablets. Pantene sent me enough shampoo and conditioner for 5 washes. If you are going to send out samples, I think 2-3 squares in different scents is the minimum you should aim for.

Sephy you ought to get this – Better Homes and Gardens Wax Warmer Starter Set, Woodland Deer – next time you are at Walmart, if you can’t find an Essenza kit at Costco.

Here are some closer views of the Yankee wax melts.

aromatherapy, PINCHme, reviews, shopping, Snoskred hearts

Those Girls

9 Comments Posted on January 17, 2015June 2, 2015 by Snoskred

Just a couple of weeks ago I was at Aldi. This poor guy was trying to load the skinny but long boxes Aldi uses to hold the coffee pods into those large box containers they use to hold all their empty boxes. The boxes fell on the floor and I said to the guy – don’t pick them up, I’ll get them – I could see a perfect use for them at my place. You’ll remember the Chicken Merge – I used baked bean trays from Aldi to hold the treats. These long boxes are better suited to the task.

Todays treat – baby spinach and rocket, apple, tomato, tuna.

Chickens like to scratch with their feet when they are eating. With the wider baked bean boxes I used, two things would tend to happen – they would tip the whole box onto its side, or they would get in it and scratch around in there.

These long skinny boxes are perfect for chicken treats. I now bring a minimum of 3x those home each time we visit, Because they are long, there is room for all the girls to check out the treats without anyone having to get pecked. Because they are not very wide, the chicken scratch the ground and then eat the treats, and there isn’t much room for the chickens to get inside them or tip them up onto their side.

You can see how perfectly the girls arrange themselves around these thin, long boxes.

It always amazes me how much chicken behaviour is learned from other chickens.

These new girls did not have the foggiest idea where to lay an egg. When they first merged with the older girls, you would find their eggs on the ground, just randomly. Now, they lay in the laying boxes.

They did not make the Egg Song, ever. They were not very vocal at all. Now, they’re joining in with the egg song, and they are trumpeting and bagerking and making all the chicken noises.

They had tried to dustbathe but were not especially great at it, mostly because they did not grasp what the kitty litter tray full of sand was actually for. They also struggled to make dirt holes in the grass. Now, they are in a yard where everything is dirt, which by the way is exactly how chickens like it, and they spend a good couple of hours a day dust bathing with their new chicken friends.

Lizzy, Mary and Kitty get to share a treat box.

Speaking of chicken friends, how are they going together? Because they have so much space, this merging process is a lot longer than it would usually be. The three newbies still sleep out on the roost in the run at night.

During the day, White Sussex is Queen of the Castle, with the three new girls slotting in just under her, then the game hens, then Redcomb and Rosie are at the bottom of the pack.

Rosie Rosecomb

Redcomb and the two other game hens got a bit confused with all the rain in December – their bodies thought it was winter again, and they went off the lay and moulted as a surprise to themselves, especially as they had only moulted a few months before. They are looking a bit ratty at the moment as the feathers slowly grow back in.

Chickens, country life, shopping, yay

Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Therapy Tin

4 Comments Posted on January 16, 2015June 2, 2015 by Snoskred

I bought myself this gorgeous tin full of fragranced hand creams a while back and I have not posted about it. How remiss of me! ;) The reason I am mentioning it now is because I found the musical Christmas tin with 12 hand therapy creams is presently on sale for $55.30.

I have been using this hand cream for several months now and it is far and away the best hand cream I have ever used. I think it is a decent deal at that price tag, especially when you get a keepsake tin as well and 5 tubes of 25g would normally cost you around $50, here you are getting 12 tubes for just $5 more. I’m not so sure on the musical tin thing. But they have some other good specials as well, including 25g of various flavoured hand creams for just $7.

My keepsake tin with a rainbow floral and fruit theme on the outside measures 27cm by 37cm. Open it up, and the rainbow theme continues.

Let us take a closer look at the scented hand creams contained inside.

In this row we have – Pomegranate, Argan & Grapeseed – Tarocco Orange, Eucalyptus & Sage – Somerset Meadow – Citron Honey & Coriander – my favourite scent on this row is the Citron Honey & Coriander.

In this row we have – Lily – Avocado, Olive and Basil – La Source – Himalayan Blue – with Avocado, Olive and Basil being my favourite scent on this row.

Finally – Lavender – Iris – Evelyn Rose – Rosewater – with Lavender being my favourite here.

About the hand cream –

They are not kidding when they say ultra moisturising. For me that is a good thing because I wash my hands more often than a human should. Also, a tiny little dab of this cream goes a long way. I usually use a dab about half the size of a 5 cent coin. It absorbs into the skin super fast and does not leave a sticky residue. It feels quite silky and it stays feeling silky for longer than you would expect.

The scent is intense when first applied – for example the lavender smells like you just took dried lavender and smooshed it with your palms. What I really enjoy about it is that the scent changes over time and you get different hits from the various notes. When you open the tube and smell it, the scent you first smell is not necessarily the scent you will get once you apply the cream.

Some of the scents I am not a huge fan of, though none of them are unbearable to me. My least favourite is the Pomegranate, Argan & Grapeseed. There’s a note in there I don’t like. If you have a Crabtree and Evelyn store near you I would strongly recommend you drop in and try the creams to find which scent is your favourite before purchasing.

If you are willing to take a gamble and risk having a tube or few you don’t love the scent of, the tin of different scents is good. My experience has been you really need to trial each fragrance separately. Id suggest choosing one tube each day for 12 days and apply it 2-3 times across the day.

I bought mine online without having tried it and the only hand cream I have ever used that I like as much as than this one is the Hemp Hand Protector from The Body Shop. However the Hemp cream tends to be a little sticky and takes longer to absorb, and if I use that then I can’t type or touch things for at least 5 minutes, so I mostly save that cream for bedtime.

These little tubes are perfect for me while working at the computer and I’ll even use up the scents I don’t like as much just because the cream is so good. Because there are so many different scents, I like to mix it up and not use the same one each day. And though I have been using these regularly for some months now, these tubes show no signs of my using them. It is almost like a magic trick.

You can find a slightly different version of my gorgeous rainbow tin here –
Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Therapy Tin.

I should mention that I also purchased some biscuits which were amazeballs but I bought them for The Other Half so I only got to eat one. They were not cheap, nor did they taste it. He loves a shortbread and they had an orange one.

I purchased my own products and I am reviewing this product here because I love it. If ever I do a review where the products are supplied to me, I hope you all know I would disclose that very clearly at the top of the post, plus whatever I say will always be my own thoughts and opinions. :)

reviews, shopping, Snoskred hearts, yay

Favourite 2014 Fashion Moment

Leave a comment Posted on January 7, 2015June 1, 2015 by Snoskred

Lupita Nyong’o at the BAFTA awards. If you click on that link you can see it from a few different angles. It also changes colour a little under different lights..

It is a fabulous colour – and you’ll note that it fits in with my blog color scheme so I might be a bit biased – that has always been a favourite shade of green for me. The gold belt, the gold wrist cuffs.. it was such a fashion moment in a year of massive Lupita fashion moments, plus she picked up an Oscar.

There was the stunning red cape dress, the gorgeous blue Gucci which competed with the green goddess number for my favourite Lupita look in 2014.

The Fug Girls have a great post put together with many Lupita fashion moments from 2014, both good and bad. Mostly Lupita (or her stylist) picks weird shoes that don’t really go, so the better outfits are mostly the floor length gowns, except this KILLA outfit she wore on Letterman which contained Coat Porn, to boot.

FYI – seems We’re not quite done with 2014 yet here on the blog. A few posts about the place have inspired me to post a thing or two about 2014 things I saw, watched, read, or did.

About Snoskred, Fashion, Happy Snoskred, yay