red delicious

Their red goodness is just starting to bloom in our vegie patch. 

Last Summer, we were knee deep in tomatoes and it looks like 

we will be once again this year. Delicious, yes! But what to do? 

It seemed a shame to turn all those sweet little reds into sauce, and 

one can only eat so much relish!  Luckily this blog had the solution

↓

oven roasted tomatoes

I bagged and froze what we couldn't eat (we ate A LOT of these as

they were just so yummy) and what was left became our wintertime

staple. So flavourful. They needed very little spice added and were
the perfect ingredient for homemade soups... pasta sauces... pizzas...
tarts... muffins... risottos...  making everything just red and delicious!

For those of you in Winter climates be sure to bookmark the recipe.
Summer will find her way northward to you soon enough... xoxox

Paella!

(vegetarian paella)

3 cups (750ml) vegetable stock

2 cups (500ml) water

pinch saffron threads

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 medium tomatoes (300g), seeded, 

chopped finely

1 medium red capsicum (200g), chopped finely

1 medium red onion (170g), chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1¾ cups (350g) arborio rice

1 cup (120g) frozen peas

1 medium zucchini (120g), chopped finely 

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Combine stock and the water in medium saucepan; bring to the boil. 

Remove from heat; stir in saffron.

Heat oil in large frying pan; cook tomato, capsicum, onion, 

garlic and paprika, stirring, until onion softens. 

Stir in rice then stock mixture; bring to the boil. 

Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, without stirring, 20 minutes.

Sprinkle peas and zucchini evenly over surface of rice; 

simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until rice is tender. 

Remove from heat; stand, covered, 5 minutes before serving. 

Serve paella sprinkled with parsley.

image and recipe courtesy The Australian Women's Weekly

nom nom nom

There was not much in the pantry last night and we 

didn't have time to do a shop after Ari's drama class.

But I had sweet potatoes.  And apples.  And lentils. 

And this recipe tastes as delicious as it sounds...

Sweet Potato, Apple and Lentil Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large leeks, white and light green parts chopped

2 tart apples, peeled cored and chopped

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¾ cup brown lentils

4 cups Massel vegetable stock 

3 cups water

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. 

Add the leeks, ginger and garlic, and sauté for 5 minutes. 

Add the apples, sweet potatoes and spices and cook for 2 minutes, 

stirring constantly. Add the lentils, vegetable stock and water. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, 

partially covered. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Puree in a blender (or use an immersion blender). 

 Serve with topped with plain yogurt or sour cream.

Image and recipe via what would cathy eat

perfect pancakes

In most of Australia, the Spring school holidays begin today. Yay!

And what a beautiful Spring day it is... the sun is shining, the birds

are singing and we are busily spring cleaning the house and studio.

We started our first day of holidays with a pancake breakfast.

This recipe makes delicious, fluffy, golden pancakes.

And it never fails me...

The best pancake recipe ever!

1 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Mix well. Melt the butter in the frypan you're going to use.

Pour melted butter over other ingredients, add milk and eggs.

Using a whisk, beat well. Add a little more butter to frypan

and place on medium heat. Wait until the frypan is warm then

using a small ladle, ladle 2 spoons of mixture into the middle

of the pan and tip to spread the mixture into a bigger a circle.

Cook over medium heat till bubbles form on the surface of the 

pancake and then, using a spatula, flip the pancake and cook 

until underside is golden brown. Serve with lemon and sugar.

And ENJOY xoxox

chocolate chaos

in the chaos of life 

it's easy and understandable 

our yearning for neatness & perfection 

Artwork by Jonathan Gray Stock (or Daddy)

...give me the beauty of imperfection...

  

i want to live 

& hear the laughter in my soul 

at the sight of 

a cross-eyed cookie-crumbled 

chocolate-smeared snot-covered 

child

words by

♥ flobberdewotsky ♥

maker's of playful children's wear

-------------------------------------------

sweet chocolate fudge sauce

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp water

3 tbsp dutch cocoa powder

3 tbsp brown sugar

1. Place ingredients in a small saucepan.

2. Heat over low heat until combined.

3. Serve over rich vanilla bean ice-cream.

4. Hear the laughter in your soul.

and ENJOY xox

when life gives you tomatoes...

Print by Fleur Harris

make tomato sauce!

I made a wonderful sauce for dinner last night using some of the
tomatoes from our own garden, a red onion from the root cellar, 
rich virgin olive oil, some organic dried basil and the recipe from 
Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer's great  Tuscan Cookbook

I added a tsp of vegie stock and a tbsp of sugar to please Ari's palate.


Over home-made pasta (there's a great gnocchi recipe in the book) and 

topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese, it's simple and delicious...

and sure to please the fussiest eaters. The chew chew spoon helps too!

You cannot safely bottle the recipe due to the ph level but I plan to give 

this recipe for bottled pasta sauce a go when the next tomato crop ripens.

I found it via this post on tomatoes by the always delicious Food In Jars.

Bon Appétit 
xoxox

Sugar Plums

The last of the plums are almost gone from our beautiful trees!

We have spent this week madly picking, eating and preserving them.

We had been eagerly pouring over the home canning books with 

anticipation.  Last Summer I made a wonderful relish and some truly 

delicious jams and chutneys. And what a pantry we had last Winter!

this morning's breakfast

This year it's Onionz Limone Chutney, Asian Plum Sauce, Blood Plum 
& Vanilla Jam, Cherry-Plum Jam, Cherry-Plum & Raspberry Jam,

Apple, Plum and Onion Relish, the BEST Plum Tart (ah, Dr Oetker...

reminds me of my childhood pantry :), Plum Streudel, Upside-Down 

Cake and the most delicious German Plum Cake from a family recipe!

For those of you enjoying a Summer harvest, here's the relish recipe-

Plum Relish

2 lb cooking apples

1 lb onions

1 lb seedless raisins

3lb red plums

2 1/2 cups malt vinegar

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp each ground ginger, 

cayenne pepper and dry mustard

1 tbs salt

1 tbs allspice

1 tsp cloves

1 cup brown sugar

Wash and sterilise jars. (If you have not preserved 

fruit before, it's easy to do, but please visit this site

for more information and further safety specifics.)

Peel and core the apples, chop finely. Peel and

chop the onions. Place the apples and onion in

separate saucepans, add 1 tablespoon water to

each and simmer, covered, until soft and pulpy.

Chop the raisins, stone and chop the plums.

Place raisins, plums, apples and onions in a 

cooking pan. Add 1 1/4 cups of the vinegar,

and the ground spices and the salt to the pan. 

Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer

very gently, uncovered, stirring frequently,

for 45 minutes. Add remaining vinegar and

sugar continue cooking as before for a further 
45 minutes to 1 hour or until thickened. 

Ladle into sterilized jars and seal while hot.

Water bath jars for 20 minutes, label and store in a 

cool dark place. Should keep 12 months or more. 

So good on bread with cheese!

Recipe from Preserves and Pickles by Alison Burt 

(Octopus Books 1973)

It's plums aplenty here, but not only plums in our pantry...

this afternoon's harvest

Carrot Cake Jam and Golden Gossip Chutney are tomorrow's mission

since I've just picked this wonderful bounty of heirlooms carrots.

And there are red onions & green tomatoes ready to use too, so perhaps

a Sweet Onion Marmalade, some Caramelised Red Onion Relish and a

Good Ole' Green Tomato Chutney will be hitting the stovetop next week.

Indeed this is somewhat how our kitchen looks this Summer ↓

from the delightful Bramley Hedge's 'Autumn Story' 
image found via this lovely post

...only rather less pretty than Mr & Mrs Mouse's (and rather more messy).


I've spent the last few days (and much of 2011) madly researching the
Fine Art of Preserving via my books and the many wonderfully delicious
(and well-researched) canning blogs and sites scattered across the web.

(I've listed my favourite links in the column to the left of my blog under Kitchencraft.)

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
available here from Amazon

If you're keen to give preserving a shot, I'd advise you to refer 

to this invaluable site first, for specific guidelines and advice ↓

National Centre For Home Food Preservation (US)

and if you don't have your own fruit or veg at the ready

this site:  Pick Your Own (Australia)

can offer links to orchards in your area (there's a US site too)

plus plenty of recipes and advice on home canning & preserving.

Preserving is a most rewarding and delicious endeavour

& really quite easy once you understand the methods involved.

xoxox

The Online Market

I did a lot of Christmas shopping online this year... mostly at
Etsy (for handmade and vintage) and Amazon (for books)↓

If you still need to find a few gifts, Amazon offers super-fast shipping 

(you can still make it!) and you won't have to combat the crowds.

It seems that Santa is going shopping there too this year.  I believe 

that he may be bringing Ari one of these wonderful pop-up books...

(click on images to view details)

We love, love, love the ones we already have.

And they are so brilliantly constructed
...sure to become Modern Classics.

Last year, I was often in and out of this little shop, so most
of the presents I gifted were local, sustainable and handmade.

And the previous year I handmade almost every gift I gave. 

So in keeping with tradition, this year I'm also giving homemade 

jams, chutneys, pickles, sauces, fruit pastes and biscuits.

We've had an abundance of fruit in the garden, so the pantry is a well 

stocked little store at the moment. And I love making festive baked goods. 

If you fancy making some home baked goodies yourself, 

this gingerbread recipe NEVER FAILS to delight the taste buds.

And here's a wonderfully easy recipe for Apple and Pear Jam. Enjoy xo

Apple and Pear

...a perfect combination in my opinion.

A range of fingerless gloves will be available 
soon in both shops here and here...

and here's a pear-fect recipe if you're heading into Autumn:

Apple and Pear Jam

1 1/2 lb pears

1 1/2 lb apples

3 lb sugar

1 cup water

2 lemons

vanilla extract

Place a saucer in the freezer  (you will need this  later to test the 

jam as it approaches boiling point) and wash jars and lids in warm 

soppy water and place upright on an oven tray.  Set oven to 100℃.

1. Peel, core and chop the apples and the pears.

2. Place the apples in saucepan with water and lemon juice.

3. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until apples 

soften. Add the pears. Bring to the boil again, reduce to a 

simmer and continue cooking until the fruit resembles a pulp.  

4. Add the sugar and bring to the boil again. Reduce to a 

simmer, add the vanilla extract to taste and continue 

to cook until it reaches the setting point. 

To test for the setting point remove the saucer from the freezer and place a little of the 

jam onto it. Allow it to cool for a minute or two. Then test it for thickness. Remember 

it will become thicker as it sets so you want it to still be slightly runny, but not overly.

5. Remove the pot from from heat, remove the jars from 

the oven and ladle the jam into the hot jars. Screw 

the lids on immediately, but not too tightly.

6. Process in a hot water bath for 15-20 minutes.

Positively delicious! Enjoy xo

sweet treats

Oh how we love the cupcakes at  Caffe é Torta

...so yummy!

And here's a peek at some home-made treats...

One-off pieces like these will be available from:-

{ raised by the wolves }

(click here)

when it opens!

Here are some more delectable edibles...

...jam hearts and gingerbread men 

spotted at a bakery in Williamstown,

and one little bunny...

♥ made with love ♥

and in our kitchen :0

Do you fancy something sweet now?

well, here's the bunny recipe:-

old fashioned gingerbread

(it always works a treat!)

125 g butter, softened

1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed 

brown sugar

1 egg yolk

2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour

1 tsp bicarb soda

3 tsps ground ginger

2 tsps cinnamon

2 tsps nutmeg

2 tsps cardamom

1/2 cup golden syrup

1. Preheat oven to 180ºc.  Grease and flour oven trays.

2. Beat butter, sugar and egg yolk with electric mixer  

until smooth.  Sift in dry ingredients and syrup in two

batches.  Mix to form a soft dough.                            

3. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth.  

4. Roll out a piece of dough 5mm thick and cut out 

shapes using cookie cutters dipped in flour. Use 

a spatula to place cut cookies onto trays, leaving a 

little space between the cookies (they will spread).

5. Bake cookie shapes for about 10-15 minutes, then

cool on trays and while warm, lift onto wire racks.

6. Once cool, ice with melted chocolate and sprinkles.

Should make about 24 biscuits... store in an airtight tin, and enjoy!