At Miss E's Birthday weekend i gave the girls a round cake and the following instructions to morph it into a butterfly Well done girls...'A' for effort, and the fun factor!11 candles...whoa we're has the time gone?!

Labels: delicious

At afternoon-tea time today...the clink-clanking of spoons in parfait glasses and J enthusing; ‘Mum these are DELICOUS!’

So have to share, and thank Kidspot!
On Fridays Kidspot are now posting no-fuss family recipes….motivation for me in what has been a “What the heck am I going to cook tonight” slump.

Last week we trialled the Zucchini Slice’ which was great. Today in the glasses…

Yogurt Parfait Yoghurt
Grapes
Strawberries, sliced
Banana, sliced

In each glass, place one tablespoon of yogurt, then top with grapes. Continue alternating a tablespoon of yogurt, then the fruit, finishing with a layer of yogurt.

Too easy to please!

Labels: delicious

…because I always need a reminder to do this!
A copy and paste from today’s ‘Sydney Morning Herald’

“…humans do better on food that's as close to its original state as possible
-As for escaping from a diet of highly processed food Michael Pollan (Author of ‘In Defense of food) advice includes:

- Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognise as food

- Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number.

- Avoid food products that make health claims (food products making health claims are in packets and more likely to be processed, he points out)

- Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle - processed foods dominate the center aisles, while fresher food is around the walls.

- Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. Pollan's advice here is to try and shop at farmer's markets whenever you can.”

What about you? How easy is it for you to eat more whole food and less processed food?

Labels: delicious

'Mola's'cake stall was a huge success. Miss E and friends cooked up a storm and made $43 selling afternoon-tea from our front veranda
One of their best sellers:

Rice Bubble Cake

125g Butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 dessert spoon honey
4&1/2-5 cups of rice bubbles

Put butter, brown sugar and honey in a pot,
Boil for 5 minutes (Turning to low once it begins to boil)
Take off the heat, add rice bubbles and press into a tray

Labels: delicious

BP nearly licked the plate clean last night, declaring it the best meal he’s had!
…just the recipe from the back of the mushroom soup can

Ingredients:
Oil
500g beef cut in thin strips
onion-chopped
2 tsp paprika
1 can mushroom soup
2 Tbsp Tomato sauce
150g button mushrooms-sliced
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp fresh parsley

Method
1.Heat oil in pan and cook beef until to brown-remove and set aside. Add onion and cook until soft then add paprika
2.Return beef to pan, add soup, sauces, stir in mushroom and bring to the boil… reduce heat and simmer for 30 or so minutes until meat is tender
3.Stir in sour cream and parsley. Serve with cooked pasta, rice or mashed potatoes…

Labels: delicious

MissE's entry.......in the cake decorating competition at the school fair today.
Theme-insects

Labels: delicious

125g butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (White works too)
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas mashed
1 tsp lemon juice
1 and 1/4 cup self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder

-Grease or line a 20cm square/round tin
-Beat butter, sugar and eggs
-Mix in the bananas and juice
-Sift in the flour and Baking Powder
-Spread evenly into tin and bake for 30-40 minutes
-Ice or simply dust with icing sugar

“Love to your taste buds from Courtney” (Our beautiful 15year old family friend)

This cake doesn’t really rise much but is SO scummy; deliciously moist and good for days to come. One piece is never enough!
BP tucking in...

Labels: delicious

Yummmm the smell wafting through the house and taste sensation of eating hot cinnamon buns fresh from the oven. Delight.

I first began the love affair when devouring these delish buns at a friends Natalie’s place years ago...made using her bread-maker. Have you got one? QUICK: find the manual that accompanies your bread-maker and hopefully find the recipe for these scrumptious buns!

Labels: delicious

Lucky we had our friend and his cousin who’s cooked hangis for Fijian dignitaries here to help!

‘Hangi’…a Maori earth oven, the food cooked underground using red hot rocks and steam

-First we (We’ll technically BP and the guys) dug a hole in our backyard
Made a fire in hole and heated rocks until white hot -Put a wire rack over the HOT rocks, then quickly laid trays of food on top…pork, lamb, chicken, potato, kumara and pumpkin -Food trays were then covered with layers of foil, wet sacks... and lastly dirtThe rocks so hot our food was pulled out only 1 and ½ hours later-cooked to perfection.DELICIOUS!
Reckon (??!) we might be able try a small one on out own next time…

Labels: delicious

Because it was too wet to go outside!

Mini pizza’s The kids worked the dough (Miss E had made in the bread maker) into shape, topped, cooked and devoured for lunch
Gingerbread Men…houses, stars, snakes and a kangaroo. I prepared the dough (using kidspot recipe) then the kids took over rolling and cutting out.Once cooked and cooled their creations were bought to life with icing and sprinkles before choosing one to demolish for afternoon tea

Labels: delicious

Don’t know how I found this site, but our taste-buds are luuvving it; www.exclusivelyfood.com.au ...imm-imm!

So far have made the decadent Chocolate Caramel Slice for Connect Group-a big hit AND the Lemon Meringue Pie when some friends came for dinner.

Drawling over the site now as there’s nothing excitingly sweet in the cupboards, hence feeling the NEED to whip something up to satisfy my incurable (If curable HOW?!!) sweet tooth.

Labels: delicious

Last night MissE hurried from her room overly eager for me to hear a poem from her school journal...Food For Thought
Why did I listen to my mum?
“You should eat your capsicum,
your carrots, pumpkin and broad beans,
your pickled onions and your greens.”
Encouraged to try them by my mum,
I managed to eat my capsicum,
my carrots, pumpkin and broad beans,
my pickled onions and my greens.
I wish my mum had listened to me.
I wanted egg and chips for tea.
(Trina Meldrum)

You got it...dinner tonight:
Poached eggs
-Half fill a pan with water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar, then bring to the boil
-Break an egg into a saucer and carefully slip into the pan
-Cover and simmer gently until the white is just set
-Flip onto buttered toast…(or in this case served with oven baked wedges)

Labels: delicious

for ANZAC DAY!

The origin of Anzac biscuits comes from World War I, when the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Apparently the biscuits were sent to soldiers in the war by their families.

Edmonds Cookbook’s ANZAC Biscuit Recipe:

100 g butter
1 Tablespoon golden syrup
½ cup sugar
¾ cup of coconut
¾ cup rolled oats
¾ flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon hot water

Melt butter and syrup together in a pot. Cool.
Mix sugar, coconut, oats and flour…and stir into pot
Dissolve soda in water and add in
Place rounded teaspoonful’s on greased oven tray
Bake in moderate oven for 15 minutes

Labels: delicious

Plan on making these for Good Friday...
Fresh from Kidspot who say it is "a simple recipe for delicious, fresh from the oven, go crazy with the butter, yum buns. Enjoy."

Ingredients
450g Bread Flour
285ml Milk, lukewarm
110g Currants
110g Sultanas
110g Sugar
110g Butter
15g Yeast (or equivalent Dried Yeast)
½ tsp Mixed Spice
¼ tsp Salt

Method
Pre-heat oven to 190°C (fan-forced)
Sieve flour, spice and salt into a bowl.
Rub the butter lightly into flour, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add in currants and sultanas and mix thoroughly.
Dissolve the sugar in a little of the milk and use to mix the yeast into a smooth thin paste, then add to the remaining milk.
Place in a warm place for 10 minutes, until bubbles begin to appear.
Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture to create a light dough, mixing thoroughly.
Cover and allow to stand in a warm place for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in volume.
Turn onto lightly floured board.
Punch down and knead briefly, adding the currants and sultanas, ensuring they are evenly distributed.
Divide into 12 portions.
Shape the dough into round balls, flatten slightly and place on to a greased baking tin.
Mark deeply with a cross shape on top.
Leave in a warm place for 20 minutes to allow to rise again.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 160°C (fan- forced) and cook for a further 5 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.
Dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar into 2 tablespoons boiling water until dissolved to become a sugar glaze.
Remove from the oven and immediately brush with the sugar glaze.
Allow to cool.
Makes: 12

Labels: delicious

Just made these for our car-mad little friend…whose 3rd birthday morning-tea we are going to tomorrow
You could get much more elaborate but for quick and easy:
Simply make some icing and stick biscuits together and wheels (Smarties) on

Labels: delicious

Whole-foods snacks our kids LOVE to eat:

Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs; my boys whine for these in the same voice they would for chocolate! Boil a bunch and they’ll last a far few days…perfect for lunch boxes and when hunger pangs strike

Healthy cereals: Not just for breakfast; my brothers used to come home from school and devour bowlfuls. My 7, nearly 8 year old seems have an insatiable appetite (Arrr he’s not even a teenager yet!) causing him to tuck into the cereal anytime of day too

Cheese: immm a good slice perfect for when little tummies start rumbling approaching dinner time…lots of cheesy options, one being grilling it on wholegrain toast (With vegemite too for us Down-under!)

A banana wrap: simply peel and wrap in bread hotdog style

Yogurt: We make our own using an Easiyo…often with add ins such as fresh/canned fruit or crushed almond and honey

Kumera chips: sliced sweet potato cooked, single layer on an oven tray until crunchy

Crudités platter: cut up veges, (carrots, celery, cucumber, capsicum, snap peas, broccoli, lightly steamed green beans etc) pita triangles, crackers with a flavoursome dip…

Dips: Lots of delicious pure ingredient dips where I shop and at home have given both hummus made from pureed chickpeas and a bean dip a go too

Fruit bowl: Looking gorgeous with a variety of in season fruit proves irresistible

Smoothies: Good tummy filler…We whip up a concoction of banana, milk, a splash of fruit juice and handful of berries for a nutritious shake.

•Dried fruit and nuts: A handful here and there helps hit the spot when the munchies strike

Scroggin(Trail Mix) Jumble together a combo of nuts, dried fruits, pretzels, whole-grain cereal, sunflower seeds, popcorn, banana chips, chocolate bits, in a bag/container for a handy little snack…OR Let kids make their own by setting out such ingredients for kids to mix and scoop

Frosty fruits: As said our kids can’t get enough of frozen chunks of real fruit — especially grapes. Give others a go too; orange, pineapple, peach, banana, to name a few….

Home-baking: In the last couple of years I’ve found baking relaxing…moving on though from TOO many cupcakes this year are trying add a bit more nutrition into the cake tins; baking fruit and whole-grain goodness into yummy muffins, biscuits and cakes-Not that I don’t make the others as well!

Labels: delicious

beyond vegemite sandwiches!

In my inbox from Kidspot…The three bowl approach: fill one bowl with fruit, one with treats and one with dairy (such as tubs of yoghurt or cheese). Let the kids make their own lunches by selecting one item from each bowl. Just add a sandwich, a bottle of water and lunch is ready.

Moving on from bread: try bagels, wraps, multigrain sandwich crackers, pitta bread, hot cross buns, scones or pikelets.

The surprise factor: Okay, so your kid will not budge from the Vegemite sandwich. Introduce the unexpected by cutting their Vegemite sandwich with a cookie cutter. It may well be their first step in understanding that variety is the spice of life.

The leftover lunch: Cook a little extra dinner the night before and save for lunch the next day. Roast chicken, pasta salad, quiche, homemade pizza slices and sausages are just a few examples that are delicious cold for lunch.

The lunchbox: If you use a cooler bag or a lunchbox with space for a frozen drink bottle you can send tubs of yoghurt, small containers of dip or cottage cheese mixed with pineapple pieces to school without fear of salmonella poisoning.

Perfect packaging: hard boiled eggs, small tins of baked beans or tuna and the ziplock bag are a sandwich's best friend - no spills; no soggy sandwich.

Filling fillings: banana and honey; mashed egg and mayonnaise; ham, cheese and tomato; cream cheese, tuna, cucumber and carrot.

The love note: add a little message from you to brighten their day…"

Labels: delicious

Lyn’s Blueberry Muffin recipe...perfect for morning tea with friends this morning:

Cream together:
¼ cup of soft butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg

Add:
1 ½ cups of flour
2 t Baking powder
½ cup of milk

Fold in:
1 cup of blueberries

Spoon in muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes
Delish…couldn’t resist a second!

P.S. A couple of weeks later...just used strawberries instead of blueberries, equally yum! Think it's a great basic muffin recipe you could easily chop and change. Might try peach or even chocolate chips next time...

Labels: delicious

A yummy gift idea

Back now in Auckland staying with my parents at there brand spanking new house...
which gets hooked up to the internet sometime today?!

In the meantime...some fudge at my sister in laws:
Teared these recipes out of the New Zealand Herald and just made some to give my grandparents for Christmas
Before i lose the recipe/scrunched up bit of paper...

Russian Fudge
650g (We figured that was about 3 cups and it turned out)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tin condensed milk
125g butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tablespoon Golden Syrup

1. Put the sugar and milk in a pot and bring to the boil. Add condensed milk, butter,salt and golden syrup. Boil for 30 minutes, stirring frequently
2. Take off the heat and beat with electric beaters until thick (About 5 minutes)the pour into a buttered dish and cut when set

Chocolate fudge
1/2 cup of milk
2 cups of sugar
25g of butter
2 Tbs cocoa
1 tsp vaniila extract
And to make it Christmas fudge 1/4 cup of pistachio nuts finely chopped

1.Put milk, sugar, butter and cocoa into a pot and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and add vanilla(and add ins if you want)
2.Beat with electric beater until thick then pour into a buttered dish. Cut into pieces when set

Labels: delicious

Made this Pavlova for our end of the year Connect Group dinner last night
My mum is an expert pavlova maker…her recipe as follows:

-Heat the oven to 210c
-Beat together 6 egg whites until they form a peak...ie Put the beater on and go do something else for a while!
-Gradually add 1 and1/2 cups of sugar
-2 teaspoon of vinegar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

-Dollop it onto greaseproof paper
-And!!! Turn off the oven as you put it in...
Leaving it in there overnight or for a large part of the morning or afternoon

Top with fresh whipped cream immmm and whatever else takes your fancy or you have in stock...the one in the pic sampling fresh berries and a crumbled flake

Anyway gotta fly…we’re off to Ellas dance concert…

Labels: delicious

250g butter
1 cup of icing sugar
1 cup of cornflour
2 cups of flour

1.Mix butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy
2.Add flour and cornflour gradually, until mix is too stiff to work with spoon.
3.Turn onto floured surface and knead well. If the dough is too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons more butter.
4.Roll out dough and cut with your cookie cutters.
5.Place on a greased tray and bake at 150c for 30 minutes until a pale golden

Labels: delicious

immmmm

Today 4 year old burst in the room, with great gusto announcing; “IT’S CUPCAKE DAY!!!” On Tuesday he asked if we could make cupcakes and I had said how about on Thursday when you don’t have preschool…and well kids don’t forget!

There’s probably lots of divine recipes out there (Please share if you know of any)…this is the one I’ve at hand which does the trick:

Edmonds Cupcake Recipe:
125 g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla Essence
½ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
I cup flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
¼ cup milk

Cream butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
Fold sifted flour and baking powder into mixture
Stir in milk
I then put 12 paper patties in muffin tins and spoon in the mixture evenly and
Bake at 190 c for 15 minutes

As we’re on a sweet overload after having a bowlful at the ready for ‘trick or treaters’, we decided to set the table, for a designer afternoon tea when the older two arrived home:

Cupcake creating and creations (The rest down our cake-holes!)And a spider hiding in J’s lunchbox for school tomorrowI have spiders on the brain…
When putting away washing this morning I felt something nip at me and then saw a spider! Arrrrrrrrrrr
I picked it up with a piece of paper and threw it in the garden, then more psychologically than anything felt kinda giddy…
After checking the net i identified the spider as a small huntsman…which is apparently mostly harmless…and I’m fine-phew!

Labels: delicious

Our friend has bought the following salad over on a couple of occasions, and we all go mad over it…and back for seconds and thirds!

Recently nabbed the recipe off her -which is funnily enough found on the back of ‘Changs Oriental Fried Noodle’ packs… and since made it a few times ourselves

Oriental Fried Noodle Salad

1/2 - 1 Chinese or Savoy cabbage shredded finely
6 green onions (Spring onions?!) chopped finely
100g lightly roasted slivered almonds or pinenuts
1 pkt Changs Fried Noodles

Dressing
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 tblspn soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons Sesame oil(Optional)

Combine all the dressing ingredients, stir/shake well until sugar is
dissolved.
Toss the cabbage, onions, almonds in a salad bowl. Add dressing and noodles
just before serving, mix well.

You can also add shredded bbq chicken or pork.

YUM!!!

Labels: delicious

Last night i made some Strawberry puff daddies...super easy and O SO delicious-dare I admit to eating 3 of them for breakfast this morning
And I wonder why I can’t do up my jeans!!!!

You will need:
Puff pastry
Strawberry jam
Icing sugar and a dollop of butter to make icing
Fresh whipped cream (Humming a immm as I type that)
Strawberries

Simple:
Heat the oven to 220 c
Cut the puff pastry into squares, rectangles, whatever you want, and place on a lightly greased tray
Pop into the oven for approx 10 minutes

Once out and cooled abit:
Make icing adding some jam for a pink colour and berry flavour
Then cut each puff through the middle
And lastly spoon in some fresh cream and sliced strawberry

Yum! Enjoy…and if you’re anything like me (A piggy!) you won’t be able to stop at one!

Labels: delicious

I know for all the Kiwis this will be like “Dahhhh!”….but for the rest of the world just had to tell you about the NZ Edmonds Cookbook
Yep NZ’s no. 1 cookbook and the grubbiest in my collection

Labels: delicious

Earlier on this year at the boy’s rugby camp we hoed into Adrian’s ‘just right’ pancakes for breakfast….

He used to work at ‘Pancake Palace when he was a student so knows a thing or two!

Asking him how it’s done his secret was in the:
-Self-raising flour and
-Leaving the dough just mixed in but STILL lumpy

Yeah I noticed when he was slaving over the oven that his mixture looked really lumpy.
I’ve normally way over-mixed …and consequently produced (Up until meeting Adrian) very flat and rubbery specimens of pancakes!

Taking his advice and transferring it to our existing recipe though my pancakes have improved untold for the better-Whahoo!

I now use self-raising flour
Don’t stir and stir,
Put the mix in the pan and tilt it in every direction to spread it out
And ‘Whalaa’ fantastic pancakes… that my family devour in next to no time!

Labels: delicious

It began as a fluke using ingredients we had in stock…and repeated many times since!

Ingredients:
Basically just lots of veggies: carrots, zucchinis, celery, green peppers etc
Chicken; cooked from scratch or from the chicken shop
Chicken stock; cube or liquid
Mixed herbs, just the dried ones from a packet
And normally a can, or two of mushroom soup depending on the size of the brew
Water
Salt and lots of cracked pepper-YUM!

To disguise some of the veggie content I normally blend half of them up in our milkshake maker and then tip back in…. the kids none the wiser sipping spoonfuls into their mouths

Great on a cold winter’s day with buttered crusty bread…cosy!

Labels: delicious

Chocolate Brownies for Debbie –we got chatting about baking last week while our kids swam
Debbie and family were our wonderful neighbours at our last place
BP made a little gate in the fence bordering our houses and the kids would play between yards for hours and hours (Can you come be our neighbours again!)…
Often Deb would send treats through the fence…
And Man we’d JUMP the fence at an invite to one of their yummy BBQ’ Yahoo!

COCONUT CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
From the NZ Edmonds Cookbook (Which I must tell you about another day) and doubled for our house:

250g butter
½ cup of cocoa
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
Vanilla Essence
1 cup coconut
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Heat oven to 180 c
Get a pot and melt the butter on a low heat
Add cocoa and stir over low heat for 1-2 minutes
Remove from the heat and stir in sugar,
Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition
Beat in vanilla and coconut
Sift and stir in flour and Baking Powder
Pour in greased, shallow 20x30cm cake tin
Bake for 30-35 minutes (It’s done in 20 in our oven)
You then really really MUST (because it’s now in the instructions!) lick the spoon and scrape the pot…can’t miss out on any of life’s pleasures-
When done and cooled a bit…cut into bars, triangles or squares and sieve icing sugar on top

Labels: delicious

July 2nd 2006

Yum when mum was here last week she made ‘Good old fashioned Casserole’, at my request.
I loved it as a kid with potatoes in their jackets….so warm and cosy
She just emailed through the recipe, thinking it funny I’d want to post up such a simple tasting, old, old favourite…

Beef Casserole:

Cubed/Sliced beef
1 large onion
3 medium carrots
Tablespoon of tomato sauce (chilli sauce if preferred)
Tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 Tbsp flour
1 beef stock (crumbled)
Seasoning

Place meat in casserole dish, add chopped onion and carrots. Shake flour over meat and then add sauces, herbs, stock and seasoning. Add water, only just covering the meat and cook for 2 and ½ hours at 180 degrees.

For abit more something...pour some wine over too when covering with water-Yum!

Labels: delicious

J; “How cool, chocolate for dinner!”

Don’t be alarmed we feed them up on veggies for lunch…and then later this afternoon headed to “Max Brenner Chocolate bar” at the recommendation of a friend
Although delicious for the money we forked out it hardly touched the sides of our small tribe…
So we decided to make a pit stop to supermarket on the way home and reproduce our own chocolate fondue concoction…

Ingredients:
A block of chocolate
Grapes
Dried apricots
Strawberries
And gave the cubed banana bread and marshmallows they also had a miss this time round (Although very yummy too)

We don’t have a fondue set so put the chocolate in a bowl and then sat the bowl in hot water until it melted
Threw out the picnic rug in front of the fire and all gathered around with forks ready to dip in-Yum!
And all agreed it was just as good, if not better!

Labels: delicious

"Crunchy munchy honey cakes they're great to eat and they're fun to bake,
in your hand or on a plate, crunchy munchy honey cakes!"

My four were hyped to be making 'Crunchy munchy honey cakes';having ALL been fan's of the Wiggles at some time or another.

Found the official recipe here on The wiggles website
Wondered if the mixture looked a bit dry and crumbly...but we rolled them up, flattened them out and they cooked up "Great to eat"...have had a few!

Ingredients:
3 cups muesli flakes
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup coconut
125 grams butter
2 teaspoons honey
3 tablespoons milk

Method:
Combine muesli flakes, sugar, coconut and sifted flour in a bowl and mix well.
Heat butter, honey and milk. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well.
Roll into balls the size of walnuts and place on a greased baking tray.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160 - 180 degrees C (300 - 350 degrees F)
for 15 - 20 mins or until golden brown.
Cool on trays.

YUM-BPs cooking too...smelling his chicken noodle soup as i write immmm
Later BP and i are off to a Trivia Night at the rugby club which I'm looking forward to

Soups ready
Speak to you soon...

Labels: delicious

May 17th 2006

STICKY DATE PUDDING…………… from Stephanie Alexander..

You need
170g Dates, pitted
1 teaspoon Bicarb soda
60g Butter
170g Caster sugar
2 Eggs
170g Self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla essence
300ml Boiling water
18cm square tin

Sauce
150g Brown sugar
150ml Cream
1 Vanilla bean
50g Butter

·Preheat the oven to about 180
·Grease the cake tin
·Chop up the dates
·Then mix dates and bicarb soda in a bowl
·Pour 300ml boiling water over dates and leave to stand
·In another bowl throw in the soft butter, sugar and eggs and beat them till they are creamed
·Fold in the flour ever so gently and then
·stir in dates and add vanilla.
·Pour into a cake tin
·And toss in the oven at 180 for about 30 - 40 minutes.

Now for the sauce …make it just before serving the pudding so it’s gorgeous, sticky, hot and delicious:
·Throw the sugar, cream, and butter in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
·Simmer for about 5 minutes
·Cut the pudding into big chunky servings and pour over the hot sticky sauce.

Labels: delicious

May 8th 2006

Yum! Warm comfort food for a chilly night

Got the main idea for this risotto from the instruction book accompanying our rice cooker…then chopped and changed ingredients depending on the contents of our fridge

Ingredients:
1-2 Tablespoons each of both butter and olive oil
1 onion
200 grams/1 cup-ish of ingredients you have at the ready: mushroom, bacon, chopped up sausages, cooked chicken corn…etc
2 1/2 cups Arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

What to do?
Place butter and oil in rice cooker bowl and press switch down to cook for a few minutes
Stir in onion and meat/veges, and cook for a bit
Add rice and stock
Then put on the lid and cook until rice cooker switches to “On/warm”
Gently fold in cheese and parsley
Replace the lid and stand for 10 minutes on “warm”

Tonight:
"Quick!" the ‘Strictly Ballroom’ DVD we hired last week is due back tomorrow...
…had wanted to show the kids Paul Mercario; a judge on ‘Dancing with the Stars’in this classic 1992 Australian film...
Seen it?
Remember dowdy Fran transforming and dancing with Scott Hastings in the Pan Pacifics?!

To avoid a late night (School cross country tomorrow) we threw down a rug beside the fire and picnicked on our risotto while watching it

Labels: delicious

April 22nd 2006

So much to say, so little time to write…
Our 6 year old turns 7 tomorrow and we’re having a pirate party here to celebrate

Just finished a quick and easy cake...definitely my style as I’m not particularly given to details and intricacies…want it done NOW and fast!
Hence: a slab of cake cut randomly around the edges and iced to become an island,a few of the kids pirate toys plonked on it…and 'whalah' (How do you spell that?) i was done! Pirate party report to follow…

Labels: delicious

Our boy turns 4 today! What a great lil, lad!!!

On Saturday he’s having a party with his little friends at a local family hotel with a playground so tonight I said I’d cook him his favourite dinner and nearly fell over when he (My fussiest eater ) said pumpkin soup!...on a hot balmy day too!

My quick and easy, no frills yet very tasty
PUMPKIN SOUP
Goes kind of like this:

*Put in a pot, boil and simmer some:
Onions, butternut pumpkin, salt, cracked pepper and fresh coriander (If there’s any in the house)… in chicken stock and some water if needed
*Put a portion of it (If you still want some chunk in your soup) or it all (For smooth) in a milkshake maker/food processor and blend
*Reheat and serve

Labels: delicious

February 16th 2006

Ha,ha… this is supposed to be little girls at a slumber party, snug as a bug under their duvets

One of my dad’s nicknames for me is ‘Bulldozer Bec’ as I tend to charge at things... cake decoration seems to be tackled in similar fashion!!!(Check out some of the lips)
YET I can see how those with a more intricate touch could make a master piece of this basic idea:

Under the covers: mini chocolate rolls lined up and iced with different colours and pattern.
Pillow: position a large marshmallow at the head of each blanketed bundle
Little faces: From another chocolate roll, slice circles, ice, give each a face, and then lay to rest on the pillow

Labels: delicious

November 2005

Dishing out some dirt…the kids will love this one:

-Chocolate mousse; made OR bought (A choc instant pudding would do the trick too)
-A packet of Oreos with chocolate (Not white) cream in the middle,
-Some lolly worms or snakes!

Simple:
Put the mousse at the bottom of a pie dish, individual plates or a new bucket!
Crush the Oreo’s…and layer on top of the mousse for a nice plot of dirt…
Lay worms (And other creepy crawlies?) to rest on the surface or hidden beneath
Yum! I remember the days; a garden feast of dirt and worms … DELICIOUS

Labels: delicious

September 2005

The gals at church asked for this one:

300grams of plain biscuits
½ cup of coconut
1 cup of walnuts (Optional)
250grams of butter
1 & ¼ cups of sugar
1/3 cup of cocoa
1 egg (Lightly beaten)
Chocolate or chocolate icing to top

-Put biscuits in a bag and bash them (!!) with a rolling pin
-mix in coconut (And nuts)
-In a separate pot stir together the butter, sugar and cocoa until butter is melted and sugar dissolved
-Remove from heat and whisk in the egg
-Combine with biscuit mix and then press into a 10x30cm dish
-Refrigerate; and with melted chocolate or chocolate icing

Labels: delicious

September 2006

My mum used to make this recipe when we had guests coming over…it’s good!!

1 Chicken (medium - large)
1 Onion
4 tsp Tomato Sauce
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 can of mushrooms in butter sauce
4 slices of Ham
1and a half cups of chicken stock


*Brown the chicken on all sides in butter/oil in pan and place in Casserole dish.
*Sauté the onion and add tomato sauce. Stir lightly and then add chicken stock and mixed herbs.
* Pour liquid over chicken and cook in medium oven (180) for one and a half hours.
*When cooked, cut chicken and place in serving dish. Pour the liquid into a saucepan adding the ham and mushrooms.
* Bring to the boil, thicken with corn flour and pour back over the chicken!

Labels: delicious

2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1cm root ginger
1 carrot
11/2 cups cooked chicken
3 cups chicken stock
400grams tomatoes and juice
1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce
500grams thin noodles

*Chop and sauté garlic, onion and carrot and ginger
*Add chicken and stock
*Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes
*Add the noodles and cook for 5 more minutes

Labels: delicious

August 2005

Homemade Heaven…

2 cups of brown sugar
4 tablespoons of butter
11/2 cups of cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla Essence

Easy: bring all the ingredients to the boil, stirring occasionally. Turn down and simmer for a few minutes and then cool until warm…serve over ice-cream, banana cake or what ever you fancy… immmmmm! Lately we’ve had it as a topping over banana split-yum!

Labels: delicious