a recipe : : breaky cakes

We are  B I G  breakfast eaters in my home with 5 out of 7 mornings usually consisting of a cooked one - poached eggs, omelette's, bacon and fried eggs, scrambled eggs and home-made baked beans... You get the picture... 

But, every now and then the girls and I like something a little on the sweet side and that's where these super quick and easy 'Breaky Cakes' work a treat... 

 

This morning we enjoyed (from left to right) pear, muesli, and banana in our breaky cakes... The pear and muesli I simply spoon on top but the mushy banana I like to mash up and mix through.

 

For the pear cakes I simply peal and chop 1 pear and place a good couple of tablespoons of the fruit on top of my base mixture before baking.

 

For the muesli cakes I practically do the same, spoon a good couple of tablespoons on top before baking - you could even have both fruit and muesli on the 1 cake, I like to keep them separate as I have one girl who loves pear and 1 girl who just loves muesli....

 

Yum-o, look at that gorgeous muesli!! Fresh from the oven these are the perfect breaky treat! 

This muesli was a gift from the gorgeous Jane - my bag is almost empty Jane and let me tell you, it has been the most amazing Muesli I've tasted, sweet and chewy and crunchy and simply delicious all at the same time - thank you so very much... xx

If you'd like to try some of these Breaky Cake's at your place, here's the recipe.....

BREAKY CAKES

ingredients : : 125g melted butter. 1 1/2 cups of plain flour. 3/4 cups of sugar (any will do; white, brown, raw, etc). 2 Tablespoons of honey or maple syrup. 2 Tablespoons of milk. 2 eggs. Fresh fruit, dried fruit or muesli.

method : : combine melted butter, sugar, milk, honey (or maple syrup), eggs, and flour in a bowl and mix to combine well (if you are making banana cakes stir through 2 mashed bananas now!).

Spoon mixture evenly into a greased 18 hole muffin tin. Pick out a flavour you'd like, pear, apple, sultana, cranberry, apricot, peach, nectarine, muesli, etc. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of your 'flavour' on top and bake at 180'C for approx 15mins - all ovens are different but your cakes should be a lovely golden colour when cooked.   

Serve hot from the oven with a pot of fresh tea!!

Are you big breakfast eaters in your home? What's your favourite thing to eat for breaky? 

Perpetual Spinach Pesto...

I'm lucky enough to spend the day in town on a Friday with my 2 youngest children, Millie and Tobie. I use this day to run errands, post off orders for my Shop, catch up with family and friends, do my weekly shopping, attend swimming lessons with my kids, check out the local shops and just simply hang out.... 

I usually have a good 7 hours to spend in town on a Friday as I bring my eldest daughter in to attend the local Catholic school which she simply loves! As of last week I started volunteering a couple of hours of my time on a Friday morning to the School and its vegetable garden - I had a ball! I weeded and mulched and fertilized and planned, oh did I plan!! There currently isn't too much happening in the School Vegetable patch so it was great to get in there and help them out a little. I was lucky enough to be able to harvest some of their current, slightly over-grown, bounty which mainly consists of perpetual spinach (a gorgeous heirloom variety of small leafed spinach) which I in turn made into pesto to share....  

From 1 small bucket of leaves I made 3 jars of pesto - thanks to the help of my sister (who lives in town) and the use of her kitchen and a few of her pantry supplies... I am enjoying 1 jar, my sister is too as a thanks for her help and the Vice Principal and his wife are enjoying the last jar. Next week I'm hoping to make twice as much and maybe even more than that the following week. Our School Bazaar is on very soon and these jars of pesto will make for a great addition to a fund-raising stall - what do you think?? 

So, here's my recipe.....

Perpetual Spinach Pesto

Ingredients : : approx 3 large handfuls of Perpetual Spinach leaves. 2 cloves of Garlic. Olive Oil. Cashew Nuts. 2 Tablespoons of grated Parmesan Cheese. Salt and Pepper.

Method : : Wash (and spin almost dry in a food processor) all spinach leaves. Add the leaves to the food processor in batches until all are chopped and combined. Drizzle in approx 1/4 cup of good Olive Oil. Add 1/4 cups of Cashews and 2 cloves of Garlic (skin removed). Add grated Parmesan Cheese and blend to combine. Season with Salt and Pepper to taste.

Store in a jar in the fridge with a thin layer of olive oil on the top to prevent it from discolouring. 

I love this smeared on freshly toasted wedges of home-baked bread with slices of tomato. I also love it on crackers with a nice and sharp vintage cheddar. But tonight I'm enjoying my Perpetual Spinach Pesto with some gorgeous hand-made pasta (a purchase from a recent trip away)...

 

To enjoy this pesto with pasta simply stir 1-2 tablespoons of it through cooked pasta with a drizzle of the water that you cooked your pasta in.

 

Crumble over some cheese, I'm having vintage cheddar tonight because I have some on the go in the fridge at the moment, and season with pepper - now hook in!

So.....

Do you love pesto?? 

Have you made it before? 

What's your favourite kind???

Made-By-Hand : : A Blanket cont....

I'm playing along with Christina's 'Made By Hand' meme again this week.... 

I've been slowly making progress on my Xmas blanket for Tobie....

 

As much as I wanted to go with the ombre of blues I ended up sticking with my 3 original shades... 

 

And love it all the same. This is such a great project to work on when I need to unwind - sitting on the front verandah, watching the world pass me by, with my kid-lids at (and around) my feet... 

 

Tonight, I'm keeping the menu for dinner super easy - we're having 'fake-out'!! Hot Chips and Burgers... 

These are the best chips ever and so simple to make that I find myself whipping them up for my family at least once a week and they all love them, a lot!!!!

I peel (but you don't have to) and chop 3-4 large potatoes. I'm lucky enough to have some gorgeous spuds that I purchased at the latest 'Dubbo Farmer's Markets' in my pantry at the moment and they are simply dreamy and super creamy!!! But, any old spud will do! 

Line a dish with baking paper and add your chopped spuds. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and cracked pepper and add a small handful of freshly chopped Sage. Mix well and bake for 30mins in a hot oven - approx 220'C.

 

You'll end up with something that looks something like this...

 

The spuds end up super crunchy and the sage goes all crispy and yummy. These are super delicious by themselves or serve them with some salad and some protein and you're on to a winner...

And just because - today in the schoolroom we worked on tessellating patterns and I'm totally loving my Connie girls interpretation of this unit....

Her creative mind blows my mind... 

So....

What are you crushing on at the moment?

Are you a fan of 'fake-out' or do you prefer to buy the real thing?

Are your kids blowing your mind at the moment also?

I'd love to know...

The past couple of days have seen me hooking away at a simply little tutorial for the 'tapestry crochet' that I've been working on lately... I'm no expert at this craft, by any means, but after watching a few YouTube videos and reading a few how-to's I've taken what seems to make sense to me and the way that I crochet and I'm slowly putting it all together in the hope that it will make sense to you too... One thing I never came across while searching for info on this craft was a step by step on the actual process, from start to finish - so that's what I'm doing and in the next couple of days I'll pop my little tutorial up here and maybe you too may just get as hooked on 'tapestry crochet' as me...   

I love handmade goodies and this past week saw me purchasing the cutest of things from a sweet little crafter, Bec...

 

Bec's Shop 'Pretty Please' has the sweetest little girls hair accessories and I couldn't help but grab my horse loving 7 yr old some of these gorgeous pink pony hair ties (you can check Bec's Shop out here)...

 

I'm anxiously awaiting my vegetable garden to grow some more legs (so to speak) but while it does I've been busily weeding and pruning and building new things all the while enjoying abundantly flowering sage,

 

and Passion-fruit flowers setting fruit, 

 

and the first of my roses from the cuttings taken back in May...

 

I was blown away this afternoon when I stumbled across these 2 flowers amoungst my 100+ cuttings. I never expected these new rose plants to flower this year but am absolutely thrilled that they have...

And this afternoon the girls and I cooked up some yummy muesli slice packed full of gorgeous sesame, pumpkin, poppy and sunflower seeds - YUMMO!!! Perfect for morning tea breaks in the schoolroom. Yes that's right, school holidays are now over, time for this mum to dust off the 'teacher' hat and remember to breath a little as we work our way through the last Term of 2013... 

So....

Do you like 'Tapestry Crochet'??

Have you bought something handmade lately? What? Where? I'd love to know.. 

Are there any surprises in your garden?

Do you cook for your kids for school? What's their favourite recipe??

A Recipe and A Swap...

Thanks for all the interest in my yummy slice from my previous post... Here's the recipe... 

 

Jelly's Muesli Slice

ingredients : : 1 cup of organic rolled oats, 1/2 a cup of a sunflower/pumpkin seed mix, 1/4 cup of poppy seeds (sesame seeds are good too), 1/2 cup of coconut (dessicated of shredded - the choice is yours), 1/2 cup of white(or brown) sugar, 3/4 cup of organic plain flour.

Mix all these dry ingredients in a large bowl. 

Next - In a medium saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of good quality butter and approx 3 Tablespoons honey... You want to bring this mixture to the boil for approx 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and add the following; 1 teaspoon of bi-carb soda dissolved in 2 Tablespoons of boiling water. A reaction should occur and your butter mixture will froth up and become deliciously foamy. Pour your butter mixture into your dry ingredients while it is still frothing and mix well. note : : if a reaction does not occur your b-carb soda is no good!

You are aiming for a slightly sticky dough so add more oats or seeds if you think it is too wet.

Press into a lined slice tin and bake at 180'C for approx 30mins - let your nose tell you when it's ready... It will smell heavenly sweet and look deliciously golden brown when cooked. Allow this slice to cool completely before cutting. I think this slice tastes better the older it gets!

Sometimes I cut back the butter and add dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries or apricots... Sometimes I add nuts too.. The possibilities are endless with this slice which I love!!!

Enjoy!!!!

Also, for those needing a little crafty pick-me-up why not enter my 'Spring Washer Swap'!!! Sign-Up's close at the end of the month and you can enter here...

Here's some more FREE washer pattern inspiration for those joining in!!!

Washer's pictured left to right, top to bottom; Log Cabin, Scallops, Firestar, Fluffy Meringue, Grandma's Kitchen, Easy Crochet, Sunburst, Dishtowel, Shell Cloth. 

ENJOY!!!!

Homemade Dressing

Although we are in desperate need of some good soaking rain here at the moment our veggie patch is still producing prolific amounts of delicious produce which I am grateful for each and every day.

 

This afternoon amongst my harvest was the first of many cabbages.

This is a 'Savoy' variety and has taken me approx 15 weeks to grow it from seed to plate. I water my cabbage patch every second day and fertilizer it weekly with some kind of organic matter be it sheep, chook, or horse poop, sometimes even seaweed solution...

 

I have peas planted on one side of my cabbage patch and broccoli on the other. These have helped keep any of those nasty pests away and has eliminated the need for spraying - YAY!!!  

I love raw cabbage and for dinner tonight am making one of my favourite salads - Coleslaw!!!

I don't care too much for the commercially made dressings so for as long as I can remember I've made my own... It's super easy, only takes a couple of ingredients and is really worth a try - trust me!!!

Homemade Coleslaw Dressing

 

2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons of sugar

1/2 cup of mayonnaise (I like to make my own but store bought is fine too just make sure it's a deliciously creamy one)

 

Put all ingredients into a jar and shake well for 10 seconds. Chop up some cabbage, grate up some carrot, slice up some sweet onions and why not even add a few slithers of fresh radish for a Summer-y kick. Stir through the dressing 10 minutes before serving and I promise you won't be disappointed in the least!!!

 

We love this Coleslaw on fresh buns with grilled chicken or sausages - Yum-o!!! But served on the side with a gorgeous green salad and a good piece of protein is also just as divine...

 

Enjoy... :)

Homemade Cordial....

We were gifted 2 big 20kg bags full of citrus fruit from the neighbours about a week ago so we've been cooking, juicing and eating some of the most delicious Mandarins and Lemons I've ever tasted - thank you Hanson Family!!!!

One of my favourite things to make with fresh citrus juice is Cordial... 

We've made lemon cordial, mandarin cordial and even a lemon mandarin cordial combo (my fav!!!)...

To make my version of 'Cordial' I start with a sugar syrup. To make a basic sugar syrup I bring 1 cup of water to the boil then add 1 cup of sugar - stir until all of the sugar is dissolved (about 2 mins).

While my water is boiling for the sugar syrup I start juicing up approx 15 pieces of citrus fruit...

I then add the hot sugar syrup to my juice, gradually tasting as I go until I'm happy with the sweetness (sometimes I use all of the syrup and sometimes I don't - depends on the fruit)...

15 pieces of fruit mixed with desired amount of sugar syrup will usually fill up a 600ml sauce bottle... I mix the cordial up at a rate of 1 part cordial to 4 parts water... I find this Cordial lasts really well for approx 2 weeks in the fridge (it doesn't last any longer then that in my house - we drink it all)...

Because I love this Cordial in the heat of Summer the best I've juiced and frozen enough citrus fruit to make about 5 litres of Cordial - all I'll have to do is make my sugar syrup when our thirst for Citrus Cordial hits in Summer...

Do you make home-made Cordial??? What's your fav recipe?? 

On My Table....

My cumquat tree is ladden with fruit and has been for a good 3 months.... A favourite way of preserving this bitter little mini mandarine looking fruit is to turn them into sweet little citrus balls of golden deliciousness....

Preserved Cumquats are super easy to make and take no time at all... They taste delicious served on a plater with some good Blue Cheese, spooned over ice-cream or custard and the syrup is delicious poured over a freshly baked buter cake....

Here's how I preserve my Cumquarts..... Simmer 1kg of cumquats in a pot of water for 15mins, drain. Make up a sugar syrup while the fruit drains like so; mix 1 cup of water with 600g of sugar and bring to the boil. Add the drained fruit to the sugar syrup and simmer for 20mins. Using tongs, stack the cumquats in sterelized jars until full, then top up jars with the syrup. These need to be stored in a dark cupboard or they will discolour. Preserved fruit will last for 6-12 months. I get 4x250ml size jars from 1kg of fruit.

The mood struck today to make a Spinach Pie.... We love these in our house, especially when they're made with home-made Ricotta....

So while a fresh batch of Ricotta hung from the kitchen tap, draining, I went out to the garden and picked a big bunch of coloured chard (similar to silverbeet)....

 After only 10mins hanging my Ricotta was ready,

fresh and creamy and tasting better than anything you'll every buy in the Shop's!!!!

So armed with freshly picked coloured chard, home-made cheese and a few other ingredients I made a Spinach Pie for lunch (which we finished off for tea)....

Here's my recipe....

Spinach Pie

Big bunch of Coloured Chard/Spinach/Silverbeet, chopped.

1 onion diced

3 eggs

200g Ricotta

1/2 cups of Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Freshly Ground Nutmeg

And that's it!!!!

Heat the spinach in a pan until it is a 1/3 of its harvested size, put aside.

Saute onions, put aside.

Mix all other ingredients together in a large bowl, add the Spinach and onion, mix well.

Spoon mixute into a loaf style dish and bake at 190'C for 45mins.

If you feel like a little bit of a crunch use 10 sheets of buttered filo as a base for your pie.

This is great served cold with salad or even sliced thinly and used as a meat substitute on a salad sandwich for lunch is delicious!!! 

What have you been making today???

Butter!!!!

I love BUTTER!!! I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant or if it's just because everything that's cooked with butter seems to take on a whole new life - and it's a deliciously amazing new life at that...

My latest sweet butter-y creation is this shortbread jam filled slice - YUM-MO!!!

 

This slice has the crunchiest, melt in your mouth texture that won't let you stop at just 1 piece - it must be that gooey, sweet, fruity centre that keeps me coming back for piece after piece - no, that's the pregnancy, LOL!!!

Jam Filled Shortbread Slice

1 cup of butter (I use salt that is salted for this recipe, I like the flavour it gives), 2 1/2 cups of plain flour, 1 cup of icing sugar, about 1/2 a jar of home-made jam (I used nectarine recipe here).

Process all ingredients, except that jam, in a food processor until a dough is formed this should only take about a minute (it will start to roll around like a ball in the bowl when it's ready). 

Press half of the mixture into a standard slice tray, spread the jam over the top. You are now going to crumble the remaining dough mixture over the top of the jam.

Bake in an over at 180'C for about 30mins or until the edges are well browned and the house smells of sweet warm cookies...

Slice into pieces once cooled and enjoy with a fresh pot of your favourite tea.... 

What's you're favourite 'butter' recipe? Are you a 'sweet' or 'savoury' kind a girl???

Seasonal

Last week we were gifted 2 big boxes full of the sweetest home-grown Nectarines I think I've ever tasted (thanks Hansen family) so what were we to do with this yummy, juicy, extra ripe seasonal fruit apart from eat it??? Make Jam of coarse....  

 

Having never made Nectarine Jam before, and a lack of being able to find a recipe in my trusty old preserving book, I decided to 'wing it'.....

 

My girls started by removing the seeds from the fruit and slicing the flesh, thinly, until they had enough to fill a 4 litre pot. I then placed the pot full of sliced fruit on the stove over a low heat for approx an hour (do not add any water or your jam will be too runny) - the flesh will be all nice and gooey like baby food after this time.

 

We then added 4 cups of sugar to our baby food goo and bought it to a simmer. Because Nectarines have a very low pectin level we had to simmer our mixture for approx 2 hours before the 'setting' stage was reached. A good way of telling if you've reached this 'setting' stage is to have a small plate handy in the freezer, place a teaspoon of your hot mixture onto the cold plate and freeze for a couple of minutes. If, when removed from the freezer, your mixture wrinkles and separates when your finger is run through it than your jam has reached the 'setting' stage - remove it from the heat and bottle it. If the mixture doesn't wrinkle simmer for a further 10 mins and repeat....

 

We've also got an abundance of passionfruit here on the farm at the moment so I tried my hand at some passionfruit syrup, so far so good it's a hit with the whole family!!!!

 

For our syrup we took 2 cups of fresh passionfruit pulp, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water and bought it all to a rapid boil for 10 mins.

 

While it was still hot we poured it into some sterilized jars....

 

And then I couldn't help but pour it all over a butter cake that we'd made the day before and fill it full of cream - so delicious!!!!!

 

I'm still knitting away happily and have been dying to share this shawl with you all...

 

The pattern is Sand and Sea from the Coastal Knits book and the yarn I've used is Malabrigo (lace for the green and sock from the edging)

 

What can I say.... I simply loved making this shawl. There was just enough detail to keep me interested the whole way through and I even learnt something new - picking up wraps from a purl side. I can see another one of these simple lightweight Summer shawls whipped up very very soon....

 

And thanks to my little Millie, it's being modelled just beautifully..... :)

{{{{Big Hugs}}}}
Jodie