Summer sorbet

What to do when you pick 500 grams of strawberries every couple of days...............make refreshing sorbet, a great summer treat. I found this recipe while sitting at the hairdressers last Thursday in the latest ABC Delicious magazine that is full of fabulous summer food, buy a copy for yourself it's great. I've just made my second batch of this wonderful sorbet recipe, so easy and it's soooooooooooo good.

Creative update

I did it, I started creating again...............I said I would! I did some more sorting out and tidying in my studio, found a pile of knitwear that needed to be felted...............so I went and put them all in the wash and now have a pile of beautifully felted knits ready to deconstruct and repurpose. I found a knitted bag 'Peas' almost complete so I got to it and completed it and this morning it's in the wash felting away as I type. I also cooked a great dinner for the family from the best cook books ever................you only need 4 Ingredients for any of the recipes, they're Australian and so easy. They are really Dear Husbands books, the red one was one of his Fathers Day gift on Sunday. I can't remember what the recipe was called but I substituted chicken breast for chicken thighs rolled them in lite sour cream then tossed them in slivered almonds and grated Jarlsberg cheese and baked them until golden, how easy is that...............served with lots of fresh veges, no one complained!

Off to create again today..............next update tomorrow!

Yummy brown rice for lunch

This morning I picked half a dozen beautiful ripe Apollo tomatoes and a big bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley from my vege garden. I love the nutty flavour of brown rice, so I made myself a big bowl of brown rice tabbouleh for lunch. So healthy, filling and full of flavour.

This is basically how I make mine

2 cups of properly cooked brown rice
1 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
1/2 a huge tomato diced
1/2 a red onion diced finely
good splash of olive oil
good splash of lemon juice
fresh ground black pepper

Keep well in fridge for a couple of days, of course at it's best as soon as it's made.

The last days of autumn

The only good thing about cold weather is the cooking. I made my first hearty vegetable and lentil soup yesterday and it was a hit last night. This wonderful cake was also made and when the kids returned from school yesterday they could smell it so they cut nice big wedges each and enjoyed until I showed them the recipe! I noticed only one child took a piece to school today, just knowing there was something green in the cake was too much for Surfer Boy. So the moral of the story is don't tell them what's in it, just let them eat and know they wll be healthy. Maybe I should have said "don't be eating too much of that, it's not healthy", this was suggested by Maddy, and it made me laugh.

Green Tomato Cake

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg (or 2 small)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups SR flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup sultanas or raisins

1 1/4 cups of diced or blended green tomatoes

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly beat into the egg mixture, blend well. Stir in nuts, dried fruit and green tomatoes. Pour into greased ring tin and bake for 40 minutes or until tested and wooden pick comes out clean. Turn out onto rack and cool. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Nuts and seeds

You can't imagine how good these smell. I have just toasted a big pile of sesame and sunflowers seeds, almond slivers and pinenuts in Temari sauce and they are cooling in the kitchen now. These are delicious when they are eaten by the on there own or sprinkled on salads they add a bit of crunch and are really good for you.

Vanilla pecan cremes

Spent a few hours making these little delicacies for the local store who provided a wonderful jazz afternoon yesterday for Mothers Day. We were very lucky to be able to enjoy the great music from home while enjoying a lamb roast from our woodfired oven in the back garden. We also had a very yummy berry and apple crumble to finish off with. Mum loved her magazine and she even remembered some of the curious potions and lotions that were advertised. She was pleased to receive a magazine that was published so near her birth date, being born on a Saturday meant there wasn't a magazine published on the actual day. Her mum told her the nurses that day were in a hurry to finish their shift because there was a ball on in the little town of Yackandandah that evening and they all wanted to go.

Fresh biscuits and friendship

You know you have caring friends when they make contact because you haven't blogged for over a week. One left a phone message and the other an email worried that something was really wrong. I have simply had my mother in law staying and computer time was a bit thin on the ground and no time for creating much this last week or so either. All is well and I will make up for the break, I promise. I baked a batch of biscuits and sat down for an hour and a half with these two two special friends today to escape from our everyday lives for just a while and be the young girls we know we are at heart. We three are making the extra effort this year to meet up more often and partake in hot chocolates and chew over our weeks together. I hope you all make time to spend with your good friends, it can definitely make a difference when you share your ups and downs with friends.

The first batch

These are my first attempt at making Hot Cross Buns for Easter. They look ok except for the lumpy crosses. My kids hate peel so I substituted choc chips for currants and peel, and they ahd instant appeal! Bought more supplies for the weekend so if you are in the neighbourhood you just might get to try one.