3 quick ways to celebrate anything...

Hi everyone!

May is always a beautiful month. For me, it’s my birthday followed quickly the next weekend by cards from our two sons, some kind of special breakfast, a bit of a celebration at home—which I love.

So today, in honour finding fun, I’m sharing my favourite ways to celebrate at home.

It may be an unpopular view, but I love celebrating in my own home. Why? To me, restaurants are impersonal and even a little fussy. I love to be able to start in heels and switch to comfy shoes, climb into bed when the party’s done, or get on my pjs and continue into the night chatting and curled on the sofa with a cup of tea.

Have you ever tried these ideas?

1. Afternoon tea with girlfriends: iron a tablecloth, set out your prettiest china, clip some greenery from your garden or use grocery store blooms and light some candles. Make scones, add jam and cream and cups of tea. Bake a cake or make finger sandwiches and cut off the crusts. Your girlfriends will love being in your home.

2. Easy family celebration dinner: you already know what you and yours love best. Just make the same thing every time you celebrate. For our special family dinners, it’s a starter of crab cakes followed by steak on the barbecue (I have a house of BOYS!) plus salmon for me, a delicious green salad with everything in it (think feta, toasted pepitas, tomato etc), and a classic chocolate cake for dessert. My boys also love the blackberry and plum cake pictured above. Recipe here!

3. The simplest girlfriend lunch: grab a platter and arrange some salad leaves on one end. Add burrata, sliced tomato, maybe some roasted and cooled carrots on a smear of hummus, or roasted asparagus, a few slices of protein—smoked salmon, ham from the deli, salami. Place the platter in the centre of the table with large serving spoons and done. It’s pretty, easy, you can use what you have and (let’s face it-haha!) the two of you are only really there to talk, anyway! You can buy dessert or open a box of chocolates with your coffee, but I always opt for quick and hot apple turnovers—recipe below! You can pop them in the oven while you eat lunch.

I’m a fan of celebrating everything, especially with the people closest to me—family and girlfriends. And why not?

If not now, when?

What exactly are we waiting for?

To be more perfect? To be more ready? To be less busy? (Meanwhile, the days and weeks and years slide by…)

The truth is that none of us expect perfection in anyone else’s home; we just want to be invited, to be welcomed in, and to feel loved.

Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you’re inspired to try a little celebrating of your own.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

• To all the women who mother (that’s everyone!), I hope you enjoy today.

• Easy apple turnovers: buy puff pastry sheets (Aldi brand is best!). I use this recipe!

• Did you love The 10 Minute Fix? The 10 Minute Fix Journal is out now. Over 200 pages of goodness: a quick overview of 100 “fixes” from The 10 Minute Fix book, with 200 unique writing prompts and 100 practical affirmations. 6x9 inches, lined cream paper.

• You can find it here in Australia and Canada (paperback), and hardcover in America and the UK (paperback coming soon).

• Thank you for spreading the word! xo I appreciate YOU.

Do you know who really needs you?

Hi friends (and new friends). This morning I’m writing from sunny, autumnal Sydney. So many of you are rushing into spring, and the other half are cozying up like I am, getting ready for winter.

Last night I danced the night away, celebrating a special birthday with a beautiful friend. Tomorrow I turn 56. I post a yearly selfie here in my Love Our Age blog, documenting myself growing older and wiser. But like I wrote in The 10 Minute Fix, I may be 50+ but I feel 35 in my head. My soon-to-be 90 year old mum, the “original” Catherine Greer, says the same thing.

Both of us love to chase joy. It keeps us young at heart.

Still, for me, 55 was a year that surprised me with its challenges. I thought it would turn out differently than it did, and instead I struggled.

So today, in honour of turning 56, I thought I’d share this secret. It’s the #1 thing to do when we struggle or fail.

Keep going ANYWAY. (You won’t feel like it.)

Do the next right thing. (You probably won’t want to.)

Why keep going? The reason is not so you become resilient. The real reason is this.

Because your future needs you. Your past doesn’t.

Your Future Self needs you to stand strong and keep walking. She does. If you’ve hit a bump lately, maybe try thinking about your Future Self.

She’s waiting out there for you—a year older, a year into the future—and she needs you to do the courageous thing and keep going. A year from now, she’ll thank you for it.

Our age is such a gift: every year, we grow smarter and faster at knowing what’s important and true. Your Future Self needs you. Your future does, too. But your past doesn’t.

I hope you enjoy your beautiful weekend! Mine will involve birthday cake, which is always, always a treat.

Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

• Morgan Harper Nichols’ artwork is lovely. You can follow her here or purchase her new book, Peace is a Practice, here.

• Maybelline Superstay Ink Crayons are brilliant. Aussies, find them at Priceline (so sorry, whoops, you just missed the 50% off sale) or here on Amazon. Creamy, soft, really pretty.

• Do you make my family birthday cake recipe? Dark, classic Italian chocolate cake with a simple, not-too-sweet fully chocolate icing. The recipe is here, on my previous blog. It’s so worth it!

You're My Kind

Hi friends. In case no one has asked yet, how are you today?

The news is terrible, and I know we all feel it. Today, though, I’m serving up a big dose of love, inspiration and positivity.

Are you ready?

Let me tell you a story about us. This is how we showed up last night for dinner at a friend’s house prior to a Queen tribute concert.

Do you see the resemblance to Freddy Mercury’s chest??

Yesterday when we were walking the dog by a dollar store, I got the idea that it would be super funny to wear wigs when we showed up for dinner, except the men’s ones were only meh. But they did have a chest with a great set of abs so…for $4, we added some crazy to this currently sad, sad world.

I know there is so much going on.

I realise we have to pitch in and help.

But at the same time, I know this:

In this lifetime, I want to bring the fun.

That’s why I write books, bake cookies, blog every Sunday, ‘be the party’ when I can, put on a dress, a wig, a smile.

I’m here to live through a lens of JOY.

If ever you’re tired from the news or your own circumstances, please remember: we can take a little control of our world right now, and be the joy for someone else.

Happy Sunday. I’m so glad you’re here, and so happy I get to call you friend.

Love Catherine xx

PS. Fun stuff for you…

• An ad agency I work with has a wonderful T-shirt initiative to provide relief to women in The Ukraine and celebrate International Women’s Day. $10 from every purchase goes to the UN Women Australia’s Ukraine Emergency Appeal. Go here if you’d love a You’re My Kind t-shirt (available worldwide with free postage in Sydney).

• Experimenting with eyeliner? The pencil is so, so soft on this Maybelline one in black (half price right now!) and I also like this one in Earl Grey.

• The @National_archeology Instagram account — love it! Have you heard the black sand beaches in Iceland? Listen to the shimmer-sound. Wow.

• Love history? Love Australians? The Harp in the South by Ruth Park is AMAZING. It’s an old novel (part of a trilogy) but you will be right in the heart of the Surry Hills slums with the immigrants and Catholics (now a glitzy suburb for start-ups and young-somethings-with-lattes). I would give this book a million stars.

• Queen: do you remember Bohemian Rhapsody? A little before my time, but classic!

• Amazing dancer Stargyal @afronitaaa — her t-shirt. We’re all someone’s hope.

Are you being fun?

Hi my friends, and welcome new people…again, so many of you this week! Thanks for spending a moment with me in my world, here in sunny Sydney Australia. I’m clinging to summer!

Here’s what I have for you today. A simple idea, but true.

Last night my husband and I were invited to a beautiful dinner party celebrating his birthday. I took these lovely flowers, but my friend had thought of everything. Ironed crisp linen napkins (love!), a birthday sign, card and gift, the most beautiful food and…atmosphere.

An atmosphere of FUN.

It made me think this:

Having fun is taking. Being fun is giving.

Having fun is what we want to receive. Being fun means we bring the joy.

When we attend anything at all — a zoom work meeting, an after school kid pick-up, a coffee date with a friend, an appointment, a dinner out — it’s always possible to BE FUN.

Having fun will follow.

If we’re not the joy, who will be? If we can’t appreciate the tiny good things in our lives, who will?

If you need a lift right now, consider this: be a little more fun.

Bring the fun.

It’s free, easy, and available to us every second, in every relationship.

Happy Sunday and enjoy your weekend!

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• I love the Life with Lauren instagram account.

• Sneak peek of my little flats in the photo! They’re pearl-encrusted and here. I’m wearing heels less, flats more. Are you?

• New friends, can I tell you about my books? Find them in the UK – Small Steps Are Perfect & The 10 Minute Fix , in America – Small Steps Are Perfect & The 10 Minute Fix , in Canada – Small Steps Are Perfect & The 10 Minute Fix and in Australia – Small Steps Are Perfect & The 10 Minute Fix or shop local here.

It was a not-so-silent night...

Hi friends! How are you this beautiful Sunday? Here in Sydney it’s finally hot, hot, hot — and I’m having a thousand coffees by myself as the family sleeps in after our little Christmas party last night.

Best part? The live music! A pianist, a cellist, and a violinist all crammed in the music room singing Christmas carols. It was so much fun and reminded me of my Canadian home.

Then we stayed up until 2:30am talking with our young adult sons, just the four of us by the tree amidst the mess of plates and food and presents from friends. It felt like magic—one of those family Christmas memories.

Today I’m thinking about imperfection.

When we open our homes and hearts to people, we make beautiful things (not perfect things). Yes, there could have been cleaner baseboards, and it was so hot. I had about three seconds to get dressed for my own party because I was rushing to get the food ready. My original pianist cancelled last minute and my cellist son and his talented friends stepped in.

But friends showed up to bring the cheer.

Honestly, there are presents here today that I never even saw last night…little hostess gifts under the tree and sprinkled around the house. People sang and chatted and met new people and laughed.

In my heart, here’s what I’m thinking: people are so surprisingly lovely.

This Christmas, let people love you.

Sit for a minute and soak in your good fortune, like I did last night.

Nobody wanted us perfect, or our home to be any different, or the food better or the fun more fun. People just want to be welcomed in.

Nobody wants your worry—they want your love.

Wish you were here, and I’m sending you a heart full of peace. Breathe in, enjoy, make some magic this holiday season with whatever you’ve got in your own two hands.

Catherine xx

PS.

• Ladies, these are great holiday party shoes! Flat, cute, comfy, a little surprising. Order your regular size and sparkle a little!

• And thank you for gifting my books to women who will love them. Authors can only keep writing when readers buy books, and I appreciate you. You are the friends I treasure.

Who else wants FUN this holiday season?

Hello, friends…and a warm welcome to all the new people here today. It’s Catherine Greer from Small Steps Are Perfect and The 10 Minute Fix writing to you from…my side of the bed at 2:53 in the morning. Gahhhhh! Growing older and getting sleepless.

If you haven’t been asked lately, how are you? Really — how’s your world at the moment? Big plans, secret worries, feeling pretty okay, only so-so?

Here’s what I’ve been thinking this week: the holidays are coming, and we all know the truth: women make the magic.

We make it. There is never a stocking not filled by a woman (I’m pretty sure) and usually the ones with our name on it are the bedraggled slim ones, am I right? We plan the food, decide when it’s time to bring out the decorations and start the shopping, we think about the people who may need us (or need a little extra cheer).

We are women and we bring the joy.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get so busy bringing and joy-ing and starting that I forget this basic truth: I need to take care of myself while I make the holidays for everyone else. I need to make sure I’m:

• drinking enough water

• getting outside for lots of walks (I walk the dog every day, but I also need to walk MYSELF sometimes…move and feel better, move and think, move and relax)

• sleeping (hah! my midlife brain is laughing at myself right now but…yes, I need more…please send help!)

I also need to remember an important truth.

We’re here now. We have this time to live our lives and enjoy whatever we can. Sounds completely basic, I know, but sometimes I need to remind myself to be grateful for every new morning. They keep coming like gifts.

I’ve decided to have more FUN this holiday season, so I’ve been whispering this to myself. Maybe it will also help you.

When I clean all those corners before we start to decorate the house: this is the fun part!

When I’m tripping over unwrapped gifts on the floor on my closet: this is the fun part!

When I’m tired from stupid hormones and not sleeping, and wake up grumpy but my family is there to love and the dog is forever faithful, waiting for me to notice her, and I have a home to live in and grass to cut and a dishwasher to unload and floors to sweep and work to do: this is the fun part!

We’re alive. We’re here. We’re breathing. It’s another new day, another one!, and there will probably be another one tomorrow.

Just think: this is the FUN part.

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone, and thanks for being here with me.

Love, Catherine x

PS. FUN STUFF! Gorgeous red coats & poems & books & more…

• If you want to shop: this coat in red if it’s cold where you are or how about this initial necklace?

• If you want to read a beautiful poem: “The Best Time Of The Day” by American poet, Raymond Carver.

• If you want to learn how to tie a Tiffany bow.

• And if you want to get all your girlfriend & sister gifts in one fell swoop, I would be so honoured if you’d consider my books. (If you’re posting gifts in the mail, they send as a letter, which means they’re easy to mail.)

  America – Small Steps Are Perfect and The 10 Minute Fix

  Canada – Small Steps Are Perfect and The 10 Minute Fix

  Australia – Small Steps Are Perfect and The 10 Minute Fix or shop local here.

  United Kingdom – Small Steps Are Perfect and The 10 Minute Fix

Do You Ever Miss Your Younger Self?

Hi everyone and hello new friends.

Let me tell you a little story. Here I am at 34, plump baby in my arms — The Boy Who Never Slept. I spent the first eleven months of Luke’s life sleeping and waking, day and night, 40 minutes at a time like he did. I was so sleep deprived that I have photos of myself at parties and gatherings I can’t even remember attending. I’d call the Tresilian Sleep Help Hotline, they’d tell me it was a two week wait to get in for help, I’d think it was too long to wait, put the phone down and keep on keeping on.

I was an inexperienced mum and completely, utterly exhausted. Not putting my name on that waiting list was an indication just how incoherent I was. In fact, I look back on that time now as so traumatic it makes me feel PTSD about the lack of sleep. But there I was, alone in Australia, a new mum at 34, no real friends yet and no idea what to do.

It was hard. Today, I look at that younger me and think, “I wish I could help you! I know what to do now. Put your name on that sleep-help list because he still won’t be sleeping in two weeks’ time. Go to a hotel by yourself for 24 hours. Ask your husband to bottle feed the baby for a night — it will be fine for him.” But at the time, all I could do in my state of endless exhaustion was keep going.

Forward, forward, forward, trudge, trudge.

I wasn’t thinking straight, of course, but sometimes we all do this…forge ahead into a situation and keep going, instead of lifting our head above the mire and trying to take stock of the situation to change it. And sometimes we do this because, mixed in with the difficulty, there’s a lot of joy.

I was joyful here, in this photo. My baby was perfect. I was beloved. And exhausted and young and inexperienced…wow I was young.

Over to you today. Is there a time when you’d like to reach back to your younger self and gently give her some wisdom and encouragement?

Here’s the truth: we’re allowed to let go of old misunderstandings.

We can listen to ourselves.

One of my favourite free meditations of all time is Sarah Blondin’s Loving and Listening to Yourself. Sarah is a beautiful Canadian from British Columbia and you’ll love her. If you have 12 minutes to listen to this, it’s worth it. This particular mediation has 2 million downloads and honestly is so beautiful.

Loving and listening to ourselves: it’s just so important. We need to honour all the versions of ourselves we’ve ever been.

I wish I could tell this beautiful young Catherine that her baby will be 21 this week, that he’s doing two degrees in Law and Commerce, that he’s building a start-up, that he makes a mean American barbecue, that he’s an amazing cook, loves playing the cello, and personality-wise is almost an exact replica of his Dad. That it all turns out beautifully. That he even takes you for lunch at his favourite Vietnamese restaurant from time to time.

I’ve been a mum for twenty-one years, and I still carry all the versions inside of me of every person I ever was.

• The five year old who had a pet deer on the farm, and dirty bare feet all summer long.

• The ten year old whose hobby was “making books” in recycled duotang folders.

• The young teacher, the grad student, the Canadian, the Aussie, the ups and downs and struggles that, of course, no one sees in photos like these.

The struggles—we all have them.

The joys—we have those, too.

All this reminds me of a favourite poem. I’ll share it with you here today, and hope that it makes you remember yourself and love yourself (all the versions of you) on this fine Sunday.

I’m thinking of you.

Love, Catherine x

To My Nine-Year-Old Self

by Helen Dunmore

You must forgive me. Don’t look so surprised,
perplexed, and eager to be gone,
balancing on your hands or on the tightrope.
You would rather run than walk, rather climb than run
rather leap from a height than anything.

I have spoiled this body we once shared.
Look at the scars, and watch the way I move,
careful of a bad back or a bruised foot.
Do you remember how, three minutes after waking
we’d jump straight out of the ground floor window
into the summer morning?

That dream we had, no doubt it’s as fresh in your mind
as the white paper to write it on.
We made a start, but something else came up –
a baby vole, or a bag of sherbet lemons –
and besides, that summer of ambition
created an ice-lolly factory, a wasp trap
and a den by the cesspit.

I’d like to say that we could be friends
but the truth is we have nothing in common
beyond a few shared years. I won’t keep you then.
Time to pick rosehips for tuppence a pound,
time to hide down scared lanes
from men in cars after girl-children,

or to lunge out over the water
on a rope that swings from that tree
long buried in housing –
but no, I shan’t cloud your morning. God knows
I have fears enough for us both –

I leave you in an ecstasy of concentration
slowly peeling a ripe scab from your knee
to taste it on your tongue.

Hello, Sunday!

It’s a chilly morning here in Sydney, after a wild day yesterday. Our family is home, doing the usual during this extended Covid time: working on a puzzle of America, making nachos for dinner (yum!), watching some Netflix, reading in bed, working on my new book…

How are you?? If it’s summer where you are, enjoy!

Every Sunday I have a little family tradition: I make dessert with dinner. These past couple of weeks, I’ve made the delicious Plum and Blackberry Cake you see above. Can you believe I didn’t take a picture of what it looks like baked? It’s just as pretty, served with some thickened cream and dusted with icing sugar.

For summertime people, plums and blackberries are fresh for you. Here in Australia, you can easily use a bag of frozen blackberries (skip the plums) and the cake is still perfect.

Can I share?

Plum & Blackberry Cake

• 4 eggs, separated

• 185 grams sugar (divided into 150 g and 35 g)

• 110 grams flour, sieved

• 80 grams melted butter

• fruit: 4 plums (I slice off the ‘cheeks’) and a punnet of blackberries (OR 3/4 bag of frozen blackberries, around 400 grams)

Preheat oven to 160C (or 325 F). Line a 22 cm cake tin with baking paper.

• Whisk egg yolks and 150g sugar until thick and pale. I use a mixer!

• In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks, add in 35g sugar and whip until smooth and triple in volume.

• Mix the egg white, flour and melted butter into the egg yolk mixture. Don’t overmix.

• Pour batter into cake tin. Place plums on top and intersperse with blackberries. Be sure to poke some blackberries into the batter with a skewer.

• Bake for 40-50 mins, depending on your oven. Check that a skewer draws out clean in the centre and the cake is golden.

• Cool until just warm, and serve dusted with icing sugar and more blackberries. I also put pouring cream in a little jug on the table so people can add it if they love it.

That’s it! Trust me, this cake is totally worth it. It may look a little tricky, but it’s not — all you’re doing is whipping egg whites and egg yolks separately, combining it all together, popping in the fruit and into the oven.

Wherever you are, I hope you have a restful weekend. We’re cozy in Sydney, and I’m longing for summer…

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Hi to the new people this week — I do send recipes I love a few times a year, so hope you’re okay with that! I’m a baker and always have been :) I find it so relaxing and creative.

• A favourite extremely short poem about plums! “This is just to say…”

• I’m thinking of getting this long black beach cover up for our pool days! Roll on, summer.

• But right now, for Aussie winter, this lounge-around-home-after-a-bath set in blue looks super cosy. That long fuzzy cardigan looks so warm! Sorry, the pic is a little vavoom, but you’ll get the idea — ha! :)

• My fun baking photos on Instagram here! I loved posting on Insta for a long time, and now I rarely do…but if you scroll my feed, you’ll find apple pie, macarons, cakes, cookies, all the things…

Happy Birthday, Honey

Hi everyone, and hello new people this week! Welcome to LoveOurAge.com … my little corner of the internet that’s all about encouragement, feeling better, getting older, trying new things and appreciating what we have.

Today is my 55th birthday, and I don’t know about you, but I love my age. Honestly, I do. I am so much smarter, wiser, and more authentic as I tuck each new year into my life.

Do you feel like the same you, but somehow better as you age?

As I grow older, I know so much more about life. I love learning and figuring out what the next stages of life could hold for me…writer, baker, candle-maker? Poet? Singer? Ukulele player—haha!? All I know is that I feel best about myself when I’m gaining skills and growing.

Today, for inspiration, I’m offering these beautiful words from Jamie Varon…in case it’s time to rethink your dreams and start something new. We can all take small steps in a new direction, explore what we love, and have a go.

I believe the best is yet to come…and I’m here Down Under cheering for you! If you write a book, let me know because I’m gonna buy it. If you make an album like my friend Katie Rushing in America, I’m gonna get it. Start a business? Tell me…I’m there. I believe in you, even when it’s tricky to believe in yourself, or when you’re trying something new.

Thank you for enjoying what I bring to the table. Thank you, too, for supporting and sharing The 10 Minute Fix. That book is becoming the little engine that could: it’s chugging its way into women’s hearts around the globe and cheering them on with some encouragement and love. I so appreciate you gifting it and telling your friends about it. Your support means the world to me—thank you.

Here’s to another 55 fabulous years! Let’s love our age together…and dream big and small, at the same time.

Catherine xx

PS.

• This is the cake I make for every family birthday. You’ll never find a better traditional, moist, delicious chocolate cake. You’re welcome! The secret? Coffee and olive oil.

• Let’s kitchen dance to an amazing song from 1962 (I was born in 1966): Solomon Burke’s Cry To Me. You’ll love it. Happy Birthday to me!

• Yellow roses from my Canadian mama…if you know, you know! #the10minutefix #chapter64 Giving the roses a hug because Covid, but wish I were hugging you instead, Mum.

Those Gluten-free Italian Almond Biscuits!

Ahhhh, ricciarelli!

These gluten free, easy-to-make almond biscuits are unbelievable. Last Sunday I promised you the recipe, so here goes. If you’ve got vegans in your home, then you’ll need to find a replacement for the egg white.

Ricciarelli

• 300 grams (3 cups) almond meal

• 250 grams (1 cup, heaping) icing sugar

• 2 egg whites

• zest of one lemon — important!

Mix all ingredients together. The dough will be sticky. Form into chunky rectangles and roll in icing sugar. Bake at 180C (or 350F) for around 10-12 minutes.

So quick, so easy, truly delicious.

Enjoy your Sunday, my friends. And hello to all the new people here this week! (You’re receiving this email newsletter because you found me via my book, The 10 Minute Fix! I’m Catherine Greer…author, baker, mum, wife, lover of little dogs, soul sister.)

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• Do you need a little chuckle? I laughed until I cried at the reviews for this handbag. Seriously worth reading. Here’s a sample below…you’ll cry-laugh, too. (It’s sold out, my friends. Truly.)

I'm dreaming of a white (sandy beach) Christmas...

My friends, we can’t have beaches this year it seems, but we have our dreams.

It’s the year of finding new ways to celebrate.

Doing a lot with a little.

Making a list of tiny joys.

I hope you and yours are okay, that you find a way to talk or zoom or be together, that you have some happy memories of people you’ve lost this year. I hope Christmas isn’t lonely, that the lights still make you remember all the magic of the season.

I wish you falling snow or sunshine, seafood or turkey, all the simple treats you love.

Love. Lots of it, over and over.

My family of four will celebrate together as I take a blogging break from now until the New Year. I appreciate you being here, and I’m grateful that you spend your time reading and thinking right along with me, as real or virtual friends.

Have a happy, safe, fun holiday. I’ll see you on the other side in 2021.

Love Catherine x

PS. A couple of Christmas traditions I never miss:

• Watching Miracle on 34th Street, filmed in 1947—a classic and way better than It’s a Wonderful Life. Here’s the old-fashioned trailer for the film!

• And this: Christmas Camp Out. Every year for the past two decades, my husband and the boys camp out in front of the tree on December 23. For years it involved treats and hot chocolate — with new matching Christmas pjs. This year, it will probably involve pjs, politics and scotch. They grow up, the pjs get bigger, but some traditions remain the same. We always read a Christmas story written in 1892. It’s SO FUNNY and charming, and could have been written five years ago. It’s called Christmas Every Day by American writer Willian Dean Howells. (Here it is, read by actors.) You can download the story here.

If you're a woman who makes the magic...

Oh, hello tired lady.

Are you the one who makes the Christmas magic? The one who figures out who loves what, shops for it, hides it, wraps it, and places it with love under the tree?

The one who makes sure that the holiday treats are in the cupboard…the peanut butter balls, the gingerbread houses to gift, the special cookies, the chocolates you all love? Turkey, ham, cranberry sauce?

Are you the one who remembers, remembers, remembers and decorates so everything sparkles and then tries to make the magic happen in the hearts of the people you love?

My sister, Rena, did this:

Made 10,00000000000000 gingerbread cookies to give away. Her gingerbread recipe is the best — healthy, fresh, delicious.

I use it every year to make simple gingerbread houses (just so so so much better than the kits you find in the shops, or the ones you buy for $80 at the bakery.)

But oh, my friends, sometimes we get a little tired of being magic-makers.

So today I’m here to remind myself (and you) of this: the best Christmas memories are made when the magic-makers RELAX.

When I chill the crap out.

When I hug my crazy, frenzied merry-making brain and say to myself, “You’ve done enough, Catherine. It’s okay if nothing is sparkly or fun today.”

It’s okay if my people are grumpy.

It’s okay if the gift is disappointing, if the teens are not into family games night, if the turkey is dry.

When I RELAX, when I settle in to being with my family and letting things be, then the true magic happens. It gives everyone else space to step up and help. My family gets to be with the more fun version of me — the one who puts on fancy earrings and sits down on the sofa. It gives me the chance to breathe and find my own joy in this beautiful, sparkly season.

Work and then rest, my friends. Plan and then celebrate. Let’s be present as our present to the people we love.

Here’s to happy holidays!

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Rena’s gingerbread recipe is easy and the best. It’s here for you :) Enjoy….from her Canadian house to yours.

An old-fashioned favourite...

Well, hello!

So many of you asked for this little recipe from the 80s so here we go today. Yes, there’s ham, grated cheddar, butter and flour, eggs and jalapenos. What more could you ask for?

Ready? Set up your hand mixer! Preheat your oven to 200C (400 F).

• 1 cup water

• 1/3 cup butter

• I cup plain flour

• 4 eggs

• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar

• 1 cup finely chopped ham or crisp bacon

• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

• 10 finely chopped jalapenos (optional)

In a saucepan, combine water and butter and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in flour.

You are supposed to drop in eggs one at a time and beat FOREVER until your arm is sore but NO. Grab a hand mixer, crack those eggs in one after another and mix the whole thing using the mixer. It works just the same. I pause to think of all those cooks in the 1980s beating things forever with a wooden spoon.

Someone should have told them to rebel. :)

Add in the ham (or bacon), mustard, cheese and jalapenos. Mix it all together with the hand mixer.

I use a piping bag to drop on a cookie sheet (with baking paper). You can also use a spoon.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm. You can also freeze them and reheat in a 200C oven for 5 minutes.

My husband loves these. I’m 50-50. :)

Happy Thanksgiving if you’re in America. Happy Friday here in Australia. Happy Thursday everywhere else.

I hope you and yours are safe, that you’re feeling well and doing okay.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Today I’m whipping off to IKEA with a girlfriend to buy wrapping paper. Did you know IKEA and Costco have the best Christmas wrapping paper ever? Love this one and this one.

Nutcrackers are marching, tree's going up!

And I’m giving you a wave this morning. How’s your weekend going?

Like so many other people, I decided this year that Christmas was going to start early and stay for a long time. If a virus can do it, Christmas can, too — so there.

And that brings me to a principle I wrote about in The 10 Minute Fix. When life hands me something rotten, I respond with a tiny, good thing I can control.

Covid. Early Christmas.

We’re going all out around here this holiday season—not with the expense, but with the joy. I’m hauling out every decoration we own and re-appreciating it. I’m planning to make my husband’s favourite 1980s appetiser for tree decorating this afternoon: Ham & Cheese Puffs. (Even that name makes me laugh because it’s so 80s). Here they are — what do you think?

My friends, I’ve collected nutcrackers for 25 years and there’s a special reason why. It’s because my life was in the toilet.

I had literally imploded everything in my world through a combination of stupidity, passion, a thoroughly broken heart, a cowardly man and my own immaturity. And pride. And love.

True story.

But I had a girlfriend who appeared to be a lot like Olivia Newton John at the beginning of Grease—kind of perfect and shiny. I was more like Olivia at the end, or at least that’s how it all appeared to the world about the two of us.

Anyway, this beautiful friend collected nutcrackers.

I felt like if I could somehow emulate some part of her life, I could be a shiny Olivia Newton John too. I’m laughing at my young self, but honestly…I bought a nutcracker.

Fast forward a few years.

Life gave me some lucky breaks after all that misery. I married an officer and a gentleman, immigrated to Australia from Canada, had two beautiful kids…and collected a lot more nutcrackers.

Then I just started to like them. I loved how our little boys loved them, too.

Every year when we bring them out we make each other happy.

The skateboarding teens who slept over last night walked into the living room at 11pm after feasting on nachos and collectively said wow.

Now I’m heading way down memory lane, but the lesson for myself is this.

I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

I don’t hate my past and I’m not ashamed of it. I love the young woman who made all those big mistakes. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and was a champion for trying, failing, trying, learning. She held her head up and kept working at a job when every man around her fell apart like a baby. She did the only thing you can ever do—she kept going.

My sweet Olivia Newton John friend (the nutcracker inspirer!) is still a friend, 30 years later.

And my beautiful family has our own nutcrackers.

We’re doing okay. I’m doing okay. I’ve learned so much and come so far.

And as for you and yours, I hope you’re okay, too. I hope you can do the little fix from my book: if life is crappy right now, lob something really good back at it. It can be a tiny thing—anything you have control over—to make yourself feel a little better. And please, keep going.

Whew! Time to make breakfast for all those teens.

Happy Sunday, and I really truly am sending all of you love.

Catherine x

PS.

• Thanks for listening! I feel like we’ve had coffee together this morning at my kitchen table. Oh, look…where there are TWO MORE nutcrackers! Ha!

...and we made magic at home!

Today is our 23rd wedding anniversary…and last night, we made magic at home.

One son was hiking with a 25kg pack and the other was at the skate park with his crew, good teens that we feed and let sleepover on the regular who have their own labelled toothbrushes here. (Teen tip: love their friends. Really love them. It’s so important!) We knew we’d be in for evening pick-ups, so we decided to make a magical anniversary celebration at home.

And it was beautiful.

I asked my husband to hang the lights. It took 15 minutes of us grumbling at each other as we untangled them but … WORTH IT.

And because I’d rather cook for us than sit in a restaurant, I made his favourite (simple) meal.

• A cheese platter (first, not last…I know, I know, but this is what we like.) Burrata and the most delicious aged cheddar from Harris Farm.

• Crab cakes! They’re my husband’s favourite and so very easy to make. Let me know if you want the recipe? Takes 10 minutes and two tins of crab meat. I crazy-poured that sauce on the side by mistake but they still look delicious.

Then I panfried two pieces of trout, which we like better than salmon, and roasted asparagus in olive oil for ten minutes in a hot oven. We ate two (whoops!) Lindt chocolate bars for dessert with fresh blueberries.

In between, we talked about important things, and eventually I got cold so I slid on fuzzy pyjama bottoms with my dress.

And that is what you can do when you make magic at home.

Oh, my friends, we’ve been lucky to weather it all so far. And though you might be imagining ease and glamour and beauty and fun — that is not the real story. It’s just what you’re seeing in the photo of this magical night.

There’s been love, and effort, fights and forgiveness, trying again, years of talking, give, take and struggle, money issues, unemployment, health scares and huge fear and worries about all of it.

We’re all the same in our hearts. Life is 50-50 for everyone. Me and you.

But if you have a chance to make a magical night at home, I urge you to give it a try. If you’re COVID-struggling right now, it’s beautiful and inexpensive. You can use what you have to make what you love. Light a hundred tea lights on your table — make a simple meal you enjoy.

And if you’re doing well right now, a magical night at home can be so much fun! Just try it for FUN. Surprise someone: a partner, a friend. Start in a dress and end up wearing your PJ bottoms underneath when it gets cold, and talk until the stars come out.

Life is for living.

Let’s all remember that, no matter where we are on the road to home.

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• My freshwater pearl earrings are a treat from Zjoosh. You can find them here.

This Is True...

A little story for you this morning, before we jump in the car and whiz to the beach to celebrate our son turning 20!

Over the years I’ve come to know my cousin-by- marriage, Adele. Her beautiful bracelet is in this photo, above. She’s game for adventure and upbeat, spontaneous, fun and she laughs all the time. She’s also smart as a whip.

And her life looks charmed from the outside — as does mine, and maybe yours does, too. And really if we have clean water and fresh air, we are all privileged and blessed.

But there are things, right?

The things we don’t share.

Because here’s the truth: nobody rides for free.

Nobody. Whether we are healthy, with job security and loads of dough or alone and unwell with a bad diagnosis…we’re all in this same boat.

Life.

Nobody rides for free (even if it looks like we do).

I wrote it on a sticky note to remind myself that we are ALL in this together, and no matter where we’re at, there are mountains to climb. Rejection, sadness, worries, relationships that aren’t close or are close-to-broken, health scares, loss of a beautiful activity we loved, fear.

But this is true, too: we can always choose to listen to each other, and give what we have to give: our time, our love, our resources, our gluten-free chocolate brownies…

Let’s do this, my friends — let’s be here for each other on this wild and beautiful ride.

Let’s assume zero about each other. Let’s remember, nobody rides for free.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Thank you, Adele, for gifting me this beautiful faux pearl bracelet (above). She literally TOOK IT OFF HER ARM and handed it to me when I admired it. I’m trying to be a person like that!

• And our eldest son at 1 and 3. Now he’s a man and so like his Dad. Love that look on my husband’s face…and me, at 34. I feel smarter but also somehow just the same….

Easy Scalloped Potatoes For Sunday

Hello, everyone. Fires in our beloved Pacific Northwest and the west coast, the anniversary of September 11, masks everywhere…I’m so sorry all of this is happening.

I’m a helper and from our home here in Australia, what I can give you is this: the best, easiest classic recipe for scalloped potatoes.

A few weeks ago I bought a mandolin, my first ever (because I was always too afraid a kid would slice his finger) and wow, it’s a game changer for slicing potatoes.

Don’t bother peeling — just wash the potatoes, slice, slice a white onion thinly and you’re set.

The secret?

A loooooong cooking time to ensure the potatoes are tender. Start with 40 mins at 350F / 180C but keep checking with a knife. Also: cream. That’s another secret!

• 5 potatoes, thinly sliced. (Peel if you prefer, but I never do.)

• 1 onion, sliced

• 1.5 cups of heavy cream whisked together with 2 teaspoons chicken stock powder

• 1 cup grated cheddar

• Salt to taste

Heat the oven to 180C / 350F.

• Oil a baking dish and layer with potato, then some onion rings, potato and on it goes. Finish with potato on top.

• Pour over the cream mixture.

• Sprinkle with cheese.

• Bake for 40 minutes plus. Check for tender potatoes.

Some things in life really are easy.

Good thing, too, especially when life is handing us some challenges in 2020.

I hope you love these — I don’t make them often, but when I do my husband has seconds (or maybe even thirds).

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• I’ve been working quite a lot in the corporate world lately, and can’t wait to get back to some writing soon…I have a great concept for my first novel for adults and I’m super excited to test the idea with you!

• Next week, I’ll be blogging from my favourite beach in the world — yay! We’re celebrating our first son turning 20 with a weekend getaway. People always say the years fly by, but for me…I was there for every second and they didn’t fly. The years waltzed or jitterbugged: from the worn out knees on my jeans to endless endless endless batches of cookies, washing all those school uniforms, Sunday dinners, rowing driving before 5am, all of it. A long and beautiful family waltz…and I’m grateful!

Seriously Good Coleslaw (not kidding)

My friends: you need this coleslaw recipe.

You need it even if you don’t like coleslaw. Trust me on this!

Why?

Fresh lime juice (or lemon, but lime is better), cilantro, a tiny bit of honey, jalapenos, good quality mayo and a whole lotta love.

This is PERFECT with fish tacos — I’ll share those another time. But the coleslaw is everything good. It’s hard to take a pretty picture of coleslaw, but this is the finished product and it’s WONDERFUL.

Please give it a go!

Seriously Good Coleslaw

• 1/2 head purple cabbage (yes, you need this. Please don’t use prepackaged shredded cabbage)

• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, washed and chopped

• 1 small red onion, minced

For the dressing, combine with a whisk:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 4 Tablespoons lime or lemon juice (lime is BEST and fresh is BEST)

• 2 Tablespoons honey

• 4 minced jalapenos (pickled ones in a jar)

The rest is easy!

• Grate the purple cabbage in a bowl. Yes, yes, yes, you have to buy the head / half-head and grate it, guys. If you cheat and shred it or use the prepackaged shredded cabbage mixture it’s just NOT GOOD. I warned you, and you’ll see…it doesn’t taste great. Just don’t, okay?? Get the grater out. It’s not that hard.

• Mix in the chopped cilantro and minced red onion.

• Pour on the dressing and mix through the cabbage.

Maybe it doesn’t sound or look sensational, but honestly this Coleslaw is fabulous with fish tacos, any kind of roasted meat or chicken, great in a taco, fantastic on its own as a salad.

HAPPY FRIDAY! I know things are tricky out there in so many ways, so here I am with a quick selfie hug from my study to say…bring your wow, not theirs to Friday.

“Your wow, not theirs.”

— Merilyn Beretta

Love this idea! I’m older AND lovelier, more fun, more myself. I hope you are, too.

Let’s LOVE our age,

Catherine x

PS.

• To everyone one of you who showed your love & support by buying copies of the The 10 Minute Fix for your sisters and mothers and friends….I want to thank you with my whole heart!

• It makes a sweet gift, and so easy to post as a letter — it’s slim enough! Available in Canada, America, the UK, and Australia at Beachside Bookshop and online at Booktopia or Amazon Australia.

I'm changing. Here's how.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about COVID and all the changes it’s brought. In our house it means that two of us now work from home. We’ve always cooked our meals and rarely ever do take-away, so that hasn’t changed. And we love our own company, so we don’t feel too isolated.

But there’s this: I don’t want to shop anymore.

Do you?

In Sydney, shops are open but people are cautious. I’m sorry that retailers are having a hard time, here and around the world. I wonder if all of us are feeling grateful for what we do have, unwilling to venture out, and focused on more important things.

I’ve never been a shopper as entertainment since I’ve been married and a mum. There are so many other pursuits I want to do with my time, and all of them involve learning. Being in the mall isn’t fun for me.

That makes me think of a tiny, important message in The 10 Minute Fix: do you know what YOU find fun?

It’s Friday and we’re all heading into the weekend. Can you be intentional about adding a little of your kind of fun into your weekend?

Like last week, I’m really tempted to do this again:

Celebrating life always feels fun to me!

Gathering my family and putting on some music, tea, sparkling water or drinks, a special plate of food and good conversation — that’s my fun. Can you plan to do some of yours?

Walking. Sitting down at the piano. Grabbing your ukulele. Kitchen dancing. Waking up to see the sunrise. Preparing an old favourite family recipe. Zooming a relative from far away. Beach walk or sending a card in the post to a friend. Using the good dishes for afternoon tea. Fun earrings!

No matter what, we are so lucky.

Enjoy your weekend!

Love Catherine x

PS. Recipe is here if you missed it (more hints and tips than ‘recipe’ but worth a read if you want perfect strawberries). And little Grace…our cute Aussie 4 year old who needs a wheelchair, we’re helping her get there! Check out Grace’s page here. Thank you!

Fleur de Sel Caramels

Hello! Today, my friends, I’m spilling all my best secrets on my blog, starting with this: absolutely to-die-for Fleur de Sel Caramels — salted caramels!

A tiny bit fiddly, and you need to make them with love, but ooooo la la, they make a beautiful gift. I hear this a lot: “Will you make your Fleur de Sel Caramels as my birthday present?”

Let’s get started!

You’ll need a trip to the shops to get these key tools:

You’ll also need butter and heavy cream and white sugar. You can substitute any salt (I sometimes use pink Himalayan) but sea salt flakes make it special, and a box will make many, many batches of caramels.

Trust me: these are worth it! Recipe below…

And here’s the pep talk: you will NEVER REGRET learning to make these caramels and everyone loves them. So special for a holiday or as a gift, or if you want someone to adore you!

Also — you have to take the pan off the heat at 248 degrees F on the candy thermometer or the caramels will be too hard / overcooked or too soft / unset. So yes, you need one.

Some things are a little hard, right?

But hard things are usually WORTH IT.

Sending love and encouragement to you all today, whatever you’re facing or celebrating. I’m truly thinking of you.

Love Catherine x

PS. Need to feel a little (or a lot) better? A 10 Minute Fix update is coming next week! I love this book, and love that it’s floating around the world, helping women feel more like themselves. Available in Canada, America, the UK, and Australia at Beachside Bookshop and online at Booktopia or Amazon Australia.