A Nice Blue Plate

Eggplants

2011-02-05T22:33:00.000-08:00

This has been the first really successful eggplant season I have had. In the past eggplants have taken a long time to establish at the beginning of the season and have subsequently produced small, bitter fruit. But not this year- they are waist height and are producing huge, sweet fruit.
I think that 9 is possibly too many plants when they all grow and produce well.

Following is one of my favourite eggplant dishes, it is a great accompaniment to lamb or just served with rice. I also think it would be fab as a tapas style dish with toasted sourdough.

Spicy Eggplant and Tomato

1tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp ginger finely chopped
1 brown onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon tumeric and chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
500g tomatoes chopped (or 1 tin)
2 eggplants, cut into chunks
1tsp sugar

Heat oil in heavy pan, add cumin seeds and fry for a moment before adding the onion and cooking until soft. Add the ginger, tumeric, chilli and coriander and fry for a minute or so until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, eggplant and sugar. Mix well and simmer for 20 mins or so until soft. Season to taste and serve. Yum!!

Another favourite eggplant dish is ratatouille, a great recipe can be found at Cevenol Kitchen.

First Day of Kindy

2011-02-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

Lysbeth was very excited about her first day of kindy. The bus was a bit scary though and she thinks she will wait until she is a bit bigger to go on the bus.
Emmeline really wishes she could go too. Lucky she only has to wait one more year!!

Baby Leo

2011-01-21T18:21:00.000-08:00

Leo Tom, born 21-12-2010, 8lbs, 13oz.

Hard to believe he is over four weeks old already!

I thought it was about time I had another crack at a blogging comeback- let's see how it goes this time!

Comeback Time

2010-08-15T00:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I posted- think it is time to make a comeback. Here are a couple of farm photos from last weekend to get me started again.

Throwing out the nets to get yabbies. The kids call them 'yabby lobsters' and Lyssie loves eating them.

A lost lamb that needed a lift back to his paddock.

Playing

2009-11-17T23:56:00.000-08:00

Things that seemed to entertain the children today.

Lyssie found Emme's quilt and played 'mud' on it, which basically involves jumping in the mud- not exactly sure that is what my sister had in mind when she was designing and making it!

Emme couldn't believe her luck when she discovered a swing for Lambie when she pulled hard on the straps at the back of the high chair- he has had the best afternoon!

102

Homemade Presents

2009-11-11T22:47:00.001-08:00

Before I get started I just have to share today's great garden disaster! I Finally had an hour to myself in the garden so headed out to pull out some old spinch and give the bed a good dig ready for some more zucchinis. Anyway, I was digging away and then there was something on my fork that wouldn't shake off- a lovely big frog I had managed to dig up and stab right through the middle- it was a little distressing!!

I remember reading or hearing earlier this year from some great chef (but can't remember who unfortunately) about oregano being the only herb it is better to use dry then fresh. That got me thinking how it would make a nice little present for friends- and something I could actually do myself. So here is my first go. They look so pretty when you first hang them up.

Broad Beans

2009-11-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

This year I planted two varieties of broad beans. The one on the left is aquadulce and the one on the right is crimson flowered broad beans. The aqualuce was definitely a more prolific grower with a lot more pods that where quite big compared to the crimson flowered, but the crimson flowered far outweighed the aquadulce in flavour and texture and colour. Ian said they were almost edible (he has had a few for dinner lately). I think next year I will only grow the crimson flowered broad beans, although I just looked on the Digger's Club website and they won't be available till July next year.
Our favourite way to eat them
First, peel, boil and then peel beans again.
Fry off some garlic, speck and onion, add the beans with a little chicken stock and simmer till the liquid has gone. Really nice with pork chops.

New Bench, Nice Playing and a Finished Shed

2009-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

I managed to pop into our local antique shop on the weekend while Emme was asleep in the car and Lyssie and I found this fabulous little bench for the veranda for only $45!! Perfect for little girls sit and have afternoon tea or put on their shoes.

The girls were out playing after dinner last night and I came out to find this- it is so nice to see them actually playing and interacting nicely without assistance.

And finally the shed is finished! (It has been for about 10 days, but have been a bit slow to blog it.) In a few weeks we are having the sleepout and office rebuilt so I really need to get onto cleaning them out and moving them into the shed for a while.

Little Miss Three

2009-10-29T22:43:00.000-07:00

On Monday, our little Lysbeth turned 3.

Of course we had a cake.

We tried to get a photo of 5 little cousins together- bit harder than we thought it would be!

Beans

2009-10-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Lyssie has been busy shelling broad beans today. I think she might be busy tomorrow as well- there are till bucket loads out in the garden to pick.

Now we just have to work out what to do with them! Lots of dips and pasta's coming up, I am guessing lots of blanching and freezing too!!

The New Garage

2009-10-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

The beginnings of the new garage behind the house. Ian, his father and brother laid the cement pad last week.

Lyssie supervised over the fence- she really wanted to be out there with them.

This is where it was up to yesterday afternoon.

Emme in the garden, busting out of her sisters clothes from last summer- she won't be two for another 6 months.

Tomato Planting Day

2009-10-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

The kids managed to get up well before six this morning so I had plenty of time to head out to the garden and plant the tomatoes before Ian went to work. Slowly over the last month or so I have been preparing where the tomatoes will grow this year. As it is a new spot just outside the fenced vegetable area Ian voiced how he wasn't going to help as they had escaped, but as usual he helped and put up a nice sturdy fence to weave them through (he likes complaining about the size I want things, but really does enjoy being involved and the great produce we get to eat all year long).

Finally I am starting to take into account what has and hasn't worked well in the past when it comes to choosing varieties and not just putting everything in. This is what I have come up with:
-1 cherry yellow
-1 cherry orange
-2 cherry reds
- 2 Tigerella
-2 Black Russian
-1 Green Zebra
-4 Amish Paste
-5 Grosse Lisse

The Grosse Lisse, Tigerella, Black Russian and Green Zebra I have grown before successfully and all have different uses in the summer kitchen, the Amish paste is a new one I have wanted to try as I have read great things about it.

I also have some Roma tomatoes to plant but these will be done on a separate fence inside the vegetable patch. Last year the other tomatoes covered the poor Roma over, so I thought I would give it another chance without the competition.

This year I managed to grow the Grosse Lisse, Tigerella, Amish Paste and Black Russian from seed using Jiffy pots. I planted the seeds on the 20th of August- next year I think I should start them about the first of August as I think they would benefit from potting on and getting a bit bigger, hopefully they will be big enough for this year. In the photo above they are catching some sun to harden up before planting out.

This is my new tomato fence that runs along behind the vegetable garden. It now has a thick layer of pea straw along both sides of it and 18 tomatoes planted along it.

Potatoes and Artichokes

2009-10-13T21:57:00.000-07:00

My new potato bed that Ian made early in July is thriving!

Here is the potato variety in each row and when it was planted (from left to right)
-Kipfler 27/7
-Red Norland 27/7
-Delaware 27/7
-King Edward 5/8
-Sapphire 5/8
-Up-To-Date 19/8
-Royal Blue19/8
-Delaware 19/8

They have all been hilled up and mulched with pea straw with dripper hose reticulation.

Back in March I split my one big artichoke into 7 and was a bit worried about what I had done. To my surprise they have all taken and look fantastic- now all I need to do is work out when to pick them and how to prepare them! Luckily I have a friend who said she would help me out.
I think next year some of them might have to be moved as they are really cramped in, I have plans for a new vegie area in the garden so they might go in there.

Mulberry Muffins

2009-10-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

1 cup natural yoghurt
100ml canola oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Put the above in a bowl and whisk to combine.

2 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
2 heaped teaspoons baking powder, sifted
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1 1/2 cups frozen mulberries

Mix together so the berries are lightly coated.
Add the wet mix and carefully fold together. Spoon into muffin tins and top each with a good sprinkling of raw sugar. Bake in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes.

This recipe makes about 12 and is perfect for the mulberries I picked last year. Might need to try it with some white chocolate next time!

Local Show

2009-10-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy few days getting organised for our local show. Lyssie and I had our entries to prepare and I also had activities to organise for kids to do on the day (some simple craft really).

It was Lyssie's first year entering in the show and I think she really enjoyed it. She entered two sections, chocolate crackles and a vase of mixed flowers. She was very excited to win first prize in the chocolate crackles section. Here they are below.

I entered 12 sections on the day but it wasn't that hard as it was mainly things that I already have and require limited preparation like jams and silverbeet.

This is what I entered

Apricot Jam- First Prize
Jam, any other variety- Equal First Prize (I entered strawberry)
Chutney- First Prize (Tomato and Chilli)
Potatoes, 6 any variety- Second Prize (they were Royal Blue)
Pumpkin, 1 only, any variety- First Prize (the variety was triamble and it was 10.1kg)
Silverbeet, 1 bunch
Collection of Vegetables, at least 3 varieties in a basket- Equal Second Prize (there was only three and they all looked pretty similar and fabulous)
Collection of herbs, at least 3 varieties in a basket- First Prize
Loaf, any variety unsliced, suitable to butter- first Prize (I made a banana and date loaf again as it won last year, will have to blog recipe as it is really quick and easy)
Biscuits 2 varieties, 3 of each kind- Second Prize (passionfruit melting moments and chocolate fleck cookies)
Rose, 1 specimen
Perennial, 1 cut

Some of our entries ready to go

My basket of mixed vegetables with silverbeet, kale, curly pink kale, asparagus, beetroot, potato, purple romamesco broccoli, leek and broad beans

My basket of herbs with rosemary, garlic chives, thyme, lavender, mint, coriander, sage, Vietnamese mint, oregano and parsley

Passionfruit melting moments and chocolate fleck cookies

Lost Kids

2009-10-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

The canola on the new block is looking pretty mint at the moment which is really satisfying after lots of hard work to prepare the paddocks- shame about the grain prices!! We tried to take some good pics with the kids yesterday which became a little difficult as the little one kept trying to make a run for it. Wouldn't take much to lose them in there.

Can you find two kids in this photo?
Can conclude from this exercise that neither of the kids have hay fever issues at this stage!

Father's Day Picnic

2009-09-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Father's Day picnic with some friends on Sunday at our favourite spot on the new block. The big kids loved playing hide-and-seek in the bush and the the edge of the canola. Emme loved the freedom of the bush and spent the afternoon rolling around in the grass and looking at trees (and eating rocky road).

Playing duck-duck-goose

Having marshmellows in sticks

Emme enjoying her rocky road

Pizza Scrolls

2009-07-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

The basic idea for these came from the latest Donna Hay Kid's Magazine. They were really quite simple and very yummy. Also a good one for the kids the help with. I didn't have any buttermilk so simply used a cup of milk with a big spoon of natural yogurt in it.

Dough

2 cups plain flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder sifted
1 tsp salt flakes
1 cup buttermilk or milk with natural yoghurt

Place dry ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. Pour in the milk and mix with a butter knife until combined. Turn out onto a floured bench and gently knead until smooth. Roll out until about a 30cm square, fill with your favourite filling and roll up tightly. Cut into about 10 even pieces and place in a lined baking dish. Bake at 190* for about 45 minutes or until cooked in the middle.

I filled mine really simply with tomato paste, bacon and a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheese. I really liked the simple dough, it was very soft and really easy to work with, but next time I think I will use a basic pizza dough and use tomato, salami, olives and some roasted peppers with cheese!!

Did have a nice pic of the kids having their pizza scrolls for lunch, but it doesn't look like Blogger wants to play the game today!

Seed Potatoes

2009-07-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

I received the seed potatoes earlier this week that I ordered from Tasmania a little while ago. Being in Western Australia it is often difficult to get tubers or bulbs from interstate for the vegie patch. I am yet to find somewhere that stocks more than one or two varieties of seed potato in WA so was very excited when I found Tasmanian Gourmet Potatoes with a huge variety list that can send to WA. I settled on 5 varieties after much deliberation.

Kipfler
Red Norland
Sapphire
Up-to-date
King Edward

After I ordered them I just happen to stumble across some Royal Blue and Delaware seed as well so I grabbed them too. So far Lyssie and I have planted the Kipfler, Red Norland and half of the Delaware as they had already started to grow. The others have been put in egg cartons on top of an old meatsafe to chit- have never worried about this before, but as it is so early in the season here I thought I would give it a shot.

This is the new garden bed for all our potatoes this year that Ian made us a month or so ago out of some more old sleepers.

New Garden Bed

2009-07-23T00:17:00.000-07:00

Here is our new garden bed, the first thing you see as you come up to our house. It is not new entirely, we have just put the sleepers around it to build it up and define it. We pulled out lots of big shrubs and were just left really with roses and agapanthus and a lovely crabapple tree. (Forgot to take a before picture!!) I want this garden to be a low maintenance garden that really just needs a good chop and some compost each year with minimal changing of plants.When I have had a chance this week I have been transplanting bits and pieces from around the garden that will hopefully do a bit better than they have been. I have moved lots of irises that have been overgrown by shrubs- I can't wait to see what colours they are, will probably have to wait for next year to find out.Ian hard at work

We are very lucky that living on a farm useful resources are easy to come by. The sleepers use to be part of old pig yards that are no longer used, the steel rod was picked up at a clearing sale and we have oodles of compost made here on the farm from the pig shelters. I acn't imagine the cost of such a project in an urban area. Just little things like saws to cut the wood and steel weren't even a thought.

A good opportunity for Lyssie to ride her bike out on the 'road'.

Marinated Olives

2009-07-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

500 grams meaty green olives (with pips)
a cup extra virgin olive oil
a few cloves sliced garlic
fresh sprigs of rosemary
splash of balsamic vinegar

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and warm through gently. Sit for a few hours at room temperature and warm again before serving.

Simple but delicious, I think the balsamic vinegar gives them a little kick and makes then stand out from other marinated olives.

Seed Raising Experiment

2009-06-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

Potting on some corriander and rocket- I think if they were planted now now the slugs would have a field day

I always grow plants that have big seeds such as pumpkin, peas, corn etc direct in the ground as well as some plants that have smaller seeds such as carrots, beetroot and radish. Plants that require to be planted out as seedlings usually end up being bought as seedlings. Over the past 5 years or so I have started many small seeded varieties including various brassicas and tomatoes in seedling punnets with only limited success- until now! I have been using jiffy pots that come as little pellets and swell when put in water- they are amazing.

Tuscan kale, curly kale and silverbeet potted on- this was taken a couple of weeks ago, they are ready for the garden now

Earlier in the year I did a little experiment as I was unsure if the extra cost of jiffy pots were really worth it. I started some kale and silverbeet in both jiffy pots and seedling punnets with a good seed raising mix. The jiffy pots germinated in half the time, developed their true leaves rapidly and were planted out into the garden weeks before the others were ready. They may be a little more expensive, but the results have spoken for themselves. I can't wait to try them out on some fun varieties of tomatoes and eggplants later in the year.

Part of my little experiment- jiffy pots definately work better for me!

Pasta

2009-06-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

My fist attempt at home made pasta- very pleased with it! Just have to work on having somewhere to dry it out of the children's way. I turned some plain sheets into cannelloni which the kids loved as well. Nice to find a simple dish that everyone will eat!

A Bush Picnic

2009-06-24T18:46:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you forget how much fun the simple things really are. When seeding finally came to an end we took the kids out to a patch of bush on our new block and had a little picnic (just piklets and coffee). They had a good wander in the bush and then helped pick some rocks that were pulled up when the paddock was seeded.

Garden Pictures- Finally!

2009-06-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Finally got outside with the camera while Emme had a nap this morning. We have had some lovely rains over the last week or two, so things are really looking nice now in the vegie patch and also around the farm. Here are a few snaps to show how the new seasons crops are coming along.

Aqualudulce broad beans at the back with garlic and a few leeks in front.

Sugar snap peas along a chicken wire frame with Asian greens, lettuces and rocket in front. Have been enjoying lots of salads and stir-fried dishes.

The artichokes I split up a couple of months ago all taken and are looking great. I have a new bed planned for outside the patch for next year- think they will need some extra space. Glad I live on a farm, don't think I would like to have my space limited!

English spinach, corriander and cabbages with Tuscan kale behind. I can see an eggplant on the left- must get round to removing them to put in the onions.

This is the outside fence that had the tomatoes were on, they have been replaced with a podding pea that grows to about 80cm high. It is called Lincoln and I got it from Vilmorin. It says the pods grow to 11 cm!! It is covered in some bird wire to keep them from stealing my seeds, some have already been replanted.

There is still oodles to do the keep the produce coming in, but I am happy with how much we are producing ourselves. Best I go and get something done while the kids are quiet.

Produce Update

2009-06-02T00:04:00.001-07:00

I started making lists a couple of days ago of what is growing and what is currently producing in the garden at present. It was a bit all over the place on paper, so hopefully this will be more succinct and help me get my head around where I am up to and what to do next.

Things we are currently eating from the garden

pumpkins- a huge mound on the veranda to get through and give away
potatoes- a few weeks left, haven't bought any for months
2 tomatoes left!
leeks
lettuce and rocket- enough for a couple of salads a week
stir-fry greens
silverbeet and Tuscan kale
beetroot
rhubarb
sugar-snap peas
carrots
parsnips
zucchini- the romanesco zucchini I planted late are holding on well and still producing nice, crisp little courgettes
English spinach
the usual perennial herbs eg. rosemary, sage, lemongrass,chives, mint etc
annual herbs- parsley, corriander

Things growing in the garden that are not yet producing

spring onions
curly leaf kale
broccoli and green sprouting broccoli
cabbage
broad beans (aquadulce and crimson)- have seen one flower
podding peas
garlic
celery
plus perrenials like strawberries, artichoke, asparagus etc

Things that need to be done this week (hopefully)

reseed some of the podding peas as the birds have somehow got through the mesh and eaten them in the ground!!!
remove capsicums and eggplants and replace with onions
measure up beds outside veg patch so I can let Ian know how big I want the posts to go around them (don't think that will happen for a while)
work out way of eliminating weeds from the path- maybe boiling water (sorry worms) and bags of sawdust?
take photos of garden to at least make the blog look interesting!!

If I get those done I can start working on some of the outside beds. Here is Lyssie and the 'Boys', not long after shearing. They are right next to the house, so as I hang out washing the kids wander over and talk to them. You have to be careful not to get too close as one gave Emme a nip on the fingers a few weeks ago!

The Last Quinces

2009-05-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

These are the last of the quinces- isn't the colour just divine! They were poached in a light sugar syrup with a little lemon and a vanilla bean. They taste just amazing. I can't wait for quince season to start year so I can try some more recipes.

Lunch Group

2009-05-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

I am lucky enough to be part of a group of 8 ladies that get together every second month and have lunch. Not just any lunch anywhere, we take turns in hosting the lunch. The host prepares the whole lunch and chooses recipes that are new to her. They could be from a latest cooking magazine, new cookbook or just something they have always wanted to try, and copies of the recipes are made for everyone.

Last Friday it was my turn. It was so much fun all getting together. It was even raining, so as we are all partners in broad acre cropping enterprises, we could all have a drink and toast the first rain of the season. Whilst our husbands were off preparing machinery and seeding with their packed lunches of sandwiches, we enjoyed the menu below.

warm garlic and rosemary olives with parmesan

crispbread

prosciutto and stracchino rolls

zucchini, raisin and pine nit crostini

quince paste with a selection of cheeses

baked meatballs with tomato and tamarind sauce

pilaf with currants and cashews

mint sambal

spinach raita

tiramisu ice-cream cake

coffee, tea and chocolates

Everything worked well. Most of the recipes came from the April and May issues of Delicious and the olives were from a Donna Hay magazine.Everything I will definitely make again except the olives, they were ok but I have a better recipe for a similar dish. Next time I will have to take pictures.

Quince Paste and Chocolate Cake

2009-05-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

I did manage to get around to making my first ever batch of quince paste a last weekend and I must say I am pleased with the results. I followed Stephanie Alexander's recipe in her book The Cook's Companion. It made a huge batch and only took two hours of stirring not the 3 1/2 I thought it would. Doesn't look that fab in theses photos, looked much better when it was all chopped up. Will test it out of family this weekend.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Mix the following together in a large bowl:
3 cups plain flour, sifted
2 cups caster sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp salt

In a jug whisk the following together vigorously:
2 cups cold water
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla essence

Pour the liquid mix over the dry mix and combine thoroughly. Pour into a greased and lined lamington tin (approx 20cm by 30cm) and bake at about 170* for about an hour- depending on your oven.

Birthday Girl

2009-05-07T00:13:00.001-07:00

It is Emmeline's first birthday on Saturday so we had a nice morning tea with a few friends over to help celebrate today as the next few days will be a bit busy.

Emme appeared to enjoy the cake. If I haven't already, I will blog the cake recipe as it is an eggless chocolate cake that is really easy, surprisingly fluffy and moist, and only requires staples that are usually in the cupboard. We have some good friends who are anafelactic to egg, so this recipe is the one I tend to use most these days when we have kids around. `

Ice-cream and Quinces

2009-04-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I drove home from a nice day shopping with the girls and visiting their Nan I was listening to Drive on the ABC (yes, I feel like my mother, no offence Mum, you should be glad I am slowly morphing into you) and heard about Peters ice-cream being sold on and that it will no longer be produced in Western Australia. I am not sure if there is a 'mainstream' locally (meaning Perth) produced ice-cream available? I know there are several small gourmet ice-cream producers, but they are still several hundred kilometres away and only available in the city. I think it is time to investigate ice-cream makers as I will not be purchasing ice-cream that is made in the eastern states and I certainly won't be going without ice-cream!!

The quinces on my tree are nearly ready- only amount 8 big ones thanks to the 28 parrots, so when I saw some for sale yesterday in AVEG (a fruit and veg shop that focuses on locally produced stock and only stocks Western Australian produce) I snaffled up a couple of kilograms. I am unsure what to do with them, I think I will have to a least have a crack at quince paste and maybe some slow baking. Need to go and organise myself as it looks like quince paste will tie me to the stove for a while.

Ready for the Cool

2009-04-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

We are really enjoying the mild autumn weather this week, for shearing, playing and outside jobs. Lyssie and I have cleaned out the wood box and disposed of the enormous amount of spiders and filled it ready for when the cooler weather comes. This morning we collected sticks down the driveway while Emme had a nap. Ian has cleaned out the plate at the top of the fire so we are ready to go when the cold hits.

Quiche and Playing

2009-04-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness lovely autumn weather has arrived and the girls can finally play outside without worrying about the sun too much. Emme really loves being outside doing fun things like eating stones and chasing moths. This morning I found her eating compost out of the wheelbarrow as I refilled an old laundry trough to replant some mint.

Impossible Quiche

1 onion, chopped
2 rashers bacon, chopped
1 cup of grated cheese
salt and pepper
1/2 cup self raising flour

Mix the above together in a bowl until everything is coated in flour.

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tbsp melted butter

Whisk together in a jug then pour over flour mixture and combine well. Pour into a greased quiche dish and bake for about 45 minutes at 200*.

Works well with other bits added such as corn, asparagus, grated zucchini, spinach, parsley, tomato slices on top, or anything else you have on hand.

Wonder Woman

2009-04-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Yarding sheep ready for shearing

We have a busy couple of days coming up with happenings on the farm. We are shearing at the moment and on Monday will be pregnancy scanning 2500 ewes as well- a lot of sheep coming in and out of the yards over only a few hours. So I thought I had better get organised today so at least we would have good food to keep us going.

This is what a good morning in the kitchen produced

bread
chocolate cake- big one, hald will go in freezer
pumpkin, zucchini and bacon soup- some in little containers in freezer for small children
impossible quiche- will write out recipe when I have a little more time as it is really versatile and simple
batch of spag bog sauce for the kids- little containers in the freezer as well
lamb and pumpkin curry for tomorrow night

The stove at 11.00am

Still have to make an apple and rhubarb crumble and custard to take out tonight and ice the cake. Had better go and get organised as we need to be out of the house and ready by 4.45pm!!

Fresh bread and a jar of tomatoes ready for the spag bog for the kids. Are just about out of fresh tomatoes so have just started to use the bottled tomatoes, definately pleased with my first effort at bottling my own tomatoes

Poppa's Birthday

2009-04-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we headed to the coast for a big family birthday lunch for Poppa's 70th.
It was lovely to catch up with everyone and see all the kids play together out side in Nan's beautiful garden.

Emme really enjoyed the birthday cake!

Lyssie is showing potential to become a great country lady by mucking in and helping Nan with the washing up.

Simple Apple Cake

2009-04-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

It has certainly been quite a while since I have managed to blog! Thought it was about time to get back into it. There has been quite a bit happening here with taking on a new farm and just the children in general, it has been hard to find 5 minutes to sit, write and reflect. I will try to make time more regularly. I will hopefully start to feel a bit more motivated too as the seasons are changing in the garden and there is once again a lot happening.

I finally used a new Bundt pan I bought a while ago on special. I think Bundt pans could become an obsession, I have three now and I can see room for many more in my house. There is certainly one for every occasion. It was really easy to prepare and cooked a simple apple cake perfectly. I used the Quick Apple Cake recipe from Stephanie Alexander's Cooks Companion. It makes a nice pudding cake with a hint of brandy or rum, might be nice with a bit of spice next time.

The Girls

2009-03-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Emme had her car seat turned around this week and she is pretty happy to see what is going on. Here she is on a farm tour with her lamb.

Lyssie has been helping as usual! Just spooning a zucchini slice into the dish ready for baking.

One Variety Just Wasn't Enough!

2009-03-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

As usual I planted too many pumpkins, I admit that. Pumpkins are a great thing to have too many of as they store well and you never really have a glut that has to be used or preserved all at once. It is great to be able to give them away and know that somewhere they are making a great pumpkin soup or even a pumpkin swiss roll (haven't tried yet but on my list of things to do).

My first pumpkin, a Queensland Blue (I think)

This year I have planted a variety of pumpkins from several sources.

Firstly a packet of Pumpkin's Old Favourites Mixed (Erica Vale brand) that I picked up earlier last year somewhere and thought they looked interesting. They include Queensland Blue, Jarrahdale, Butternut, Gramma and Jap & Paw Paw. I can really only see Queensland Blues and Jarrahdale pumpkins growing, so I am not sure what happened to the rest.

Secondly I planted 6 triamble seeds from The Digger's Club. I grew them last year and they were by far the best producing pumpkin I have ever seen. They have the added advantage of storing for up to two years.

Last of all I planted a punnet of Japanese pumpkins that I saw and just couldn't resist before christmas. Really didn't need them, but did have a great little spot full of compost and easy to add on to the retic so I knew it wouldn't be much more work. They do need a little work at the moment though as the asparagus seems to have disappeared under them!

Lyssie- 2 years and 4 months

In training for feeding the chooks and collecting the eggs

Do you think the pumpkins are taking over?

2009-03-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

Summer Rice with Basil

2009-02-25T17:30:00.000-08:00

I have adapted this recipe from Jill Dupleix in Good Cooking the New Essentials. We probably have it once a week in summer, often with barbecued lamb chops or spicy lamb kebabs on the side.

an onion or leek, finely sliced (whatever is in the garden and ready)
1tbsp butter
1tbsp olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup diced ripe tomatoes (often halved cherry tomatoes)
1 cup diced small zucchini
salt and pepper to taste
handful basil leaves, ripped
fresh parmesan
(sometimes a handful of pinenuts to finish it off)

Gently fry off leek in butter and oil in a heavy based pan. Add rice and stir until coated and hot. Pour in the wine and stir until almost absorbed. Add a little stock at a time and continue stirring on and off (as you would for any risotto). Add zucchini about half way through and a minute before the end the tomato. When just cooked (just a little bite to the rice) stir through a handful of parmesan and the basil. Cover and sit for a couple of minutes. Serve with a light sprinkle of extra cheese, basil and some pinenuts.

Roast Cherry Tomato Spaghetti

2009-02-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

Cherry tomatoes are winners for many reasons. They can be grown in all gardens as there are many that are suited to pots. They tend to be the first to fruit and in my experience continue right through to the first frost (although they do look a bit straggly by then). Little monsters love to eat them as they play outside.

This pasta is simple but ultra delicious and quick to make when you are pressed for time. A great weekend lunch or dinner and perfect with a rocket salad on the side.

500g cherry tomatoes
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
pinch of chilli flakes (to taste)
good spalsh olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper
500g spagetti
fresh basil

Preheat oven to 200*. In a roasting pan mix together the cherry tomatoes, garlic, chilli, oil, and vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 20 minutes or so until soft. Meanwhile cook spaghetti according to directions, drain well and return to warm pot. Pour over cherry tomato mixture and toss well. Sprinkle with basil and season again if necessary.

Some cherry tomatoes washed and ready to go. I am trying freezing cherry tomatoes after reading a post In My Kitchen Garden. Hopefully they will freshen up winter pastas.

Tomato Sauce for Pasta

2009-02-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Last year I discovered a great fresh tomato sauce recipe in Stephanie Alexander's The Cooks Companion. I have adapted it a little to suit me. I make 2kg batches at a time and freeze it 250ml and 500ml containers for use later in the year. It is perfect with gnocchi or cannelloni and makes a great soup if you add a cup of homemade chicken stock and some nice sourdough bread ripped up. Also perfect for little monsters who like plain pasta with tomato sauce.

2kg ripe tomatoes, quartered
4 onions, sliced
8 cloves garlic, sliced
good splash of olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh oregano
fresh basil

In a large roasting dish tumble tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, salt pepper and olive oil together well. Cover tightly and roast for about 2 hours on 180* or until tomatoes have collapsed and onions look soft. Pour into a large pot and gently puree with a hand blender- don't overdo it or the sauce will lose it's texture. Mix through some finely chopped basil and check seasoning for taste.

Finally a Successful Tomato Season

2009-02-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

I am really pleased with how the tomatoes have grown this year. I put a lot of effort into a new area for them and have grown them along a bit of ringlock fence. Everyday for the first couple of months they were in I went out and helped weave them in and out through the wire to help support them and as they grew wider I used old stocking to tie them up. The one thing I would do differently for next year is more pruning- I think you need to be a little ruthless with the pruning as they grow.

I seem to be picking about 2kg of tomatoes a day, lots of cherry ones, heaps of tigerella and black Russian and a few huge (up to 400g each) grosse lisse. I pick them just as they start to turn and bring them into the kitchen to finish off, otherwise bugs seem to get to them.

I am going to try and share a great tomato recipe each day this week starting with a classic Australian Tomato Sauce today.

Last year I stumbled across a couple of packets of Saucestta produced by Fowler's Vacola and snapped them up as I have several old Flowler's Vacola bottling books that often mention Saucesetta in old recipes. I decided to make the tomato sauce recipe which is on the back of the packet and in the lastest Vacola book Secrets of Successful Preserving. I was a bit nervous as when you open the saucesetta it is a funny smelling powdery substance with no specific ingredients on the packet- but somehow the tomato sauce actually turned out quite well. Lyssie liked it which is a bonus as she likes dipping things- maybe it will assist with vegetable eating!

Tomato Sauce

3kg tomatoes, chopped
3 large onions, chopped
1.5 kg apples, peeled and chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp Saucesetta
4 1/4 cups white vinegar

Place all ingedients in a large stock pot and stir well. bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for an hour and a half. Push through a sieve, return to the pan and simmer again until the desired consistency is reached. Bottle and process. This amount made exactly 7 size 20 bottles.

Nigella's Pancake Mix

2009-02-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was watching Nigella's Express program on the ABC and saw where she had made her own pancake mix that you just add egg, milk and a little melted butter to. I was quite taken by the idea and after a quick search on the web I found the exact recipe here. Lyssie and I made some (she is a big fan) and they work well as piklets or pancakes, so they make an easy Sunday breakfast or a quick morning tea for the hungry two year olds, also a great birthday present for hungry blokes who claim they can't cook!

Holidays

2009-02-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

We have been back from a week in Albany for nearly a week now- Gemma reminded me it was about time I updated my blog. It is nice to be back home and get back into routine. Things are much more manageable when the monsters sleep at the right times!

Some pics of the girls in the park at Denmark.

The bounty I returned home to! Finally some tomatoes and eggplant. I will try to do a garden update this weekend as there is lots going on.

Fruit and a Friendly Snake

2009-01-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

January has been hectic and relaxing at the same time somehow? We have been coming and going a lot but that has meant lots of time with family that we don't often spend a lot of time with- the girls have been loving it. While we have been at home in between it has been just that, at home, no playgroup, no meetings and very minimal shopping. It is nice just to have time at home.

Over the last couple of weeks the fruit trees have been ripening and this year it has been a good harvest. We have had plenty of plums and this week a great crop of apricots to harvest. Lots have been eaten fresh and some have been bottled for later. This year I did some of the plums with rhubarb- really yummy with quite a heavy sugar syrup. I did some plain apricots yesterday and will probably do more next week. I have lots more of the smaller size 20 Vacola jars this year thanks to my dad who picked up a few boxes for only $10 at a clearing sale last year- a real bargain!!

Yesterday we had our first snake in the yard for the summer, luckily it was a carpet snake. We usually get one each year, I think it may be the same one. This is a picture of it a few years ago heading under the netting and into the aprioct tree, couldn't get one yesterday as I had to run inside with Lyssie- I tend to panic a bit. I was just glad it wasn't in the apricot tree when I was picking apricots yesterday!

Menu Planning

2009-01-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

I have always had a vague idea in my head as to what we would eat from week to week, but I have never sat down and really nutted it out before. I simply made a list of the fresh produce we have this week and things that need to be used in the fridge and freezer. From that I made a list of the possible dishes we could have. Then each day, depending on how I was feeling I picked one. It wasn't exactly rocket science, but was quite rewarding as it meant less shopping and less waste.

This is how our week went
Sunday- pea, mint and zucchini risotto with lamb kebabs
Monday- BBQ Tandoori lamb with boiled baby potatoes and sauteed zucchini
Tuesday- pasta with fresh pesto and procuitto
Wednesday- cous cous salad with zucchini, cherry tomatoes, basil pesto and spring onions (to take out to share)
Thursday- Apricot chicken curry with carrots, zucchini and mashed potato
Friday- Spicy lamb kebabs with yoghurt dip and stuffed baby gem squash
Saturday- Vegetable curry (onion, potato, zucchini, carrot, pumpkin) thanks to a great Stephanie Alexander recipe from The Cooks Companion (think this one will be a regular as anything can be added depending on what is in season or leftover in the fridge)

Will certainly be sitting down later to nut things out for this week- only up until Friday as we will be heading to the coast for a few days with all my family- yay!

A batch of pesto ready for the freezer

The first of the mulberries from a lonely tree near an old shell of a mud brick home on the other side of the farm picked on New Years Day, managed to get back yesterday without the kids and pick 5 litres to freeze for later, hopefully will have time next week to pick another batch

My first two loaves from a great book my sister gave me for Christmas, it is called Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day- we have been eating it for a week now and it is fabulous!

Little Gem Squash with Cous Cous Stuffing

2009-01-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

Little Gem Squash with Cous Cous Stuffing

4-6 little gem squash or other zucchini
olive oil
small onion, diced
clove garlic, chopped
small zucchini
chopped quite small
1/2 red capsicum chopped quite small
1/2 cup cous cous
1/2 cube Massel chicken stock
fresh basil and oregano, chopped
100g feta, crumbled

Prepare squash- cut off tops and scoop out flesh. Steam until just tender.

Fry off onion and garlic gently in olive oil, when soft add capsicum and zucchini, continue to cook until they too soften, season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile add cous cous to half a cup of boiling water with stock and allow to sit for 3-4 minutes. Fluff cous cous and add to onion mixture with the feta and chopped herbs. Stuff into little gem squash and cook in the oven for 15 minutes on about 180*.

Growing Challenge Update 4

2008-12-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

Well it has certainly been a while since I blogged. Things have been quite hectic with harvest and Christmas and children. Emme is 7 1/2 months and has decided to crawl, sit on her bottom, on her knees and pull herself to standing all in the last couple of weeks. Thankfully she is a lot happier now she can move!

Anyway, back to the update. Nothing at all has been planted as it is quite hot now and I don't have enough time to care for little seeds or seedlings.

Maintenance

really just watering and weeding
have cut up old stockings and have been using them to help keep the tomatoes staked

Harvesting

lots of zucchini
brown onions
spring onions
silverbeet
lettuce- only 1 left
enough basil to make pesto once a week
carrots
rhubarb
potatoes
the first bean from the scarlet runner beans
plums

Observations

pumpkins are running well and the first of the fruit is starting to set
eggplant, capsicums, mini rockmelons and beans are flowering well
cucumbers don't look fantastic- probably won't get many this year
tomatoes actually look really healthy and pretty much disease free at the moment (last year the wilt was revolting), lots of staking, pruning and love seems to be working, green tomatoes are forming now, bit later than usual with the cool November and December
leeks are really fattening up

Little gem squash that I think I got from The Digger's Club, they are on quite a long vine, I haven't grown them before so must go and look up exactly when to harvest

One side on the vegetable patch

The tomatoes just outside the vegetable patch with a some self-sown zucchini in the foreground and the Japanese pumpkins behind, just infront of the asparagus patch. All a bit droopy with the midday heat.

My aim for this week is to really try and menu plan and see if I can cut out some of the 90km round trips to the closest large town I seem to do quite often (usually once a week or 10 days, there is a shop 10km down the road but it is quite limiting and their fresh is a little to my fresh so I tend to only buy dairy and the real necessities there). Shouldn't be too hard now the summer vegies have really taken off.

Our Weekend

2008-12-08T03:02:00.000-08:00

With Ian finally out harvesting the girls and I had a quietish weekend.

Emme is up on her knees- not quite crawling or sitting but very close, still manages to get everywhere by rolling and wiggling, found her stuck under the TV shelf earlier.

Lyssie had her first real header ride on the weekend- she loved it! Lucky our header is equipped with an extra seat and seatbelt to keep her out of trouble.

Lyssie helped with some shortbread stars, she did a good job but I really had to try hard not to redo the ones that weren't perfect. She is really enjoying 'helping' now.

Rhubarb Vanilla Mincemeat

2008-11-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas cooking and with Lyssie away at Mum and Dad's for a few days now is the perfect time to start and prepare for the upcoming festive period.

I never use to be a fan of fruit mince pies at Christmas, but I have discovered that they don't have to be heavy and gluggy like I remember. I really like Nigella Lawson's take on them in Feast. This morning I made Nigella's Rhubarb Vanilla Mincemeat and bottled it ready for use closer to Christmas and also for next winter. It really is delicious- the vanilla works surprisingly well. It is suggested by Nigella that it may also be nice mixed through a sharp apple crumble, I will definatley be trying that when we find ourselves with excess apples.

This is definatly a recipe I would recommend to others, very simple but really tasty.

Fresh rhubarb awaiting the pot!

The fruitmince quietly stewing away- I love the colours

Bottles and ready for storing- shame all the colous have gone. Strawberry and brandy sauce in the background.

Growing Challenge Update Photos

2008-11-25T22:59:00.000-08:00

I had a quick feel under the potatoes today and found these! Should be quite a few in there I think. Ian will be happy as he is quite a potato fan.

One of the potato spots- my potatoes have never been this vigorous before- think all the rain may have something to do with it! They are grown in layers of straight pig compost and straw all rotting together.

Triamble pumpkins just starting to run

Some sows of carrots which I thinned out a little today, some are much bigger than others as I had to replant most of the rows when they mysteriously disappeared. Baby leeks and spring onions behind. The bare patch in the corner is ready for the second planting of corn that will go in next week.

Half of the garlic harvest on the veranda to dry. Probably picked a fraction early but seems to be drying well. Glad it was harvested before the big rains is it would have done it a bit of damage I think. Last year I left the garlic in the ground a bit too long and some of it rotted. We have been using it this week and it is really zingy!

Growing Challenge Update 3

2008-11-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have updated the challenge, not a huge amount to report- mainly lots of rain, 2 inches in the last week! It is good for the garden, but not really helpful when we should be harvesting canola, wheat, barley and oats- all of which will not be worth significantly less. The rain also has consequences for the sheep as it ruins the dry feed so they have to be fed grain and fly strike is a constant problem.

Anyway back to the very well watered garden!

Planted since last update on the 9th

3 punnets o9f basil (need plenty to make a years supply of pesto)
punnet of lettuce
punnet of silverbeet (didn't actually need it as I have found many self-seeded silverbeets popping up with this rain)
Ned Kelly passionfruit- a present from my mother-in-law
2 rosemary plants that I had dug up and had in the greenhouse waiting for a good spot

Maintenance

pulled out rest of the pansies that boardered the path in the vegie patch
lots of weeding (al least it is easy with the rain)
continued to put pea straw around- nearly all done
harvested 40 bulbs of garlic-thankfully before the big rains
gave most of the vegie patch a dose of seaweed fertiliser to give them a boost- they look like they could really do with a few nice warm sunny days
continue to help train tomatoes up, some through a ringlock fence and some with stocking tie

Harvesting at the moment

English spinach
garlic- all gone
rhubarb
a couple of potatoes
onions
strawberries
the usual herbs

Thunder is getting a bit close again, will post photos later, had better unplug computer!

Strawberry Jam

2008-11-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks have been really busy and with Emme still getting up 5 times a night I haven't had a chance to achieve much. The last 3 nights have been quite manageble- especially last night she only woke up at 11.30 and 3.30- it was like a dream come true! So finally managed to achieve something.

Last year was the first year I have ever made strawberry jam- I still can't get over how easy it is (and how delicious). I admit that my strawberry jam is really quite runny- but that is actually how I like it, I don't like jam that doesn't spread itself.

This morning was jam making morning- well it only took an hour or so (as long as you are prepared it really doesn't take long). I washed, cut and weighed the fruit last night so today I just had to prepare the jars while the jam was cooking. Ian took the kids for a drive so I didn't have to worry about them.

I wish I could say that all the fruit came from my garden, but I can't as the slugs and earwigs really seem to love strawberries! Below the fruit I picked yesterday, I made it up to 2kg with some seconds my mother-in-law picked up last week from a local grower in her area.

Simple Strawberry Jam

2kg strawberries, halved if big (I like jam with texture)
2kg sugar
juice of a lemon or two

Put the strawberries in a large, heavy based pan with the lemon and gently cook for 15 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Add the sugar slowly as you stir to dissolve it, then let it boil for 15 minutes stirring a few times. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then pour into prepared jars and seal.

I always store my strawberry jam in the fridge as I'm not sure how long it will last as it is quite runny.

Growing Challenge Update 2

2008-11-09T02:26:00.000-08:00

There is lots of planting and maintenance happening in the garden but not a lot of harvesting as we really are in between seasons at the moment. All the winter produce has now finished and I am awaiting some summer vegies to get a move on! We have had a couple of quite cool weeks so things are really quite slow.

For harvesting at present

rhubarb
garlic all needs to be pulled this week
still asparagus, although probably for not much longer
English Spinach
Strawberries (there would be bucket fulls if it wasn't for the bugs)
lots of herbs although the coriander has now finished and won't be replanted until the end of summer

Planted over the last week

2 punnets of leeks
1 punnet of spring onions
1 punnet of basil into old laundry troughs
6 Japanese pumpkins (don't really need them, but couldn't resist grabbing a punnet and having a go as I haven't grown them before)
3 zucchini I raised in the greenhouse
row of climbing beans

Maintenance this week

Pulled out the rest of the silverbeet (all gone to seed) and gave to the pet lambs who loved them
pulled out rest of climbing peas and moved frame to put climbing beans on
finished putting pea strew around tomatoes, eggplant and capsicum, Ian brough more down from the shed so there is more to go around this week
potted more baby asparagus seedlings
gave most of the vegie garden and pots a good dose of seaweed solution

'The Boys' waiting for another wheelbarrow load of scraps from the garden
Henry, Alex, Charles, Lawrence and Bruce

Asparagus, Asparagus Everywhere!

2008-11-07T02:11:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up asparagus always seemed to be a really fancy and exotic vegetable. Living in rural Western Australia we never saw fresh asparagus and it wasn't until my late teens that I actually ate fresh asparagus. My mum always had a tin of asparagus in the pantry and often put it in quiches. I was never a fan of the tinned variety but was quite quickly hooked on it fresh.

Before growing asparagus I always imagined it would be a difficult plant to grow as I didn't know of many people with their own asparagus patches- how wrong I was! It really doesn't need a lot of loving care, just some good compost, bit of straw and a deep water once or twice a week and with a bit of luck it should continue producing for 20 years! Some of mine has been in for 4 years and this year we have been getting a nice bunch every second day. Asparagus seems to grow from seed quite easily and has self seeded itself all through the compost heap which is next to the asparagus patch. They are popping up everywhere and Lyssie and I have been potting them for friends this week. When I say they are popping up everywhere, I mean everywhere. That is everywhere I have moved compost, in the corn, in the lettuce, pots of basil and even under the orange tree, all over the garden.

Some of the asparagus Lyssie has helped me pot- 2 year olds are such help in the garden, especially when they insist that they wear the gloves, use the spade and hold all the pots!

A baby asparagus popping up in some lettuces growing in an old laundry trough

A two year old asparagus plant under the orange tree (and a few weeds!)

Growing Challenge Update 1

2008-10-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

We have had quite a lot of rain over the last week which has been just lovely for the garden and to finish off the crops on the farm, so much so that we are ready for it to stop now and dry out ready for harvest. It has been great weather for the seeds I have planted to get going.

Potatoes in front, just mounded more pea straw up around their stems, scarlet runner beans on left down fenceline, little corn seedlings where it looks bare then onions behind

Here is a quick update on the seeds in the vege patch

all the corn are up and happy- waire cages are now off
most of the pumpkins and zucchinis are up and their first real leaf is forming
some of the Minnesota Rockmelons are up
2 out of 3 varieties of cucumber are up- Chinese snake and Lebanese mini muncher are up, still waiting on sweet and striped to appear
Scarlet runner beans are up- I am surprised at how big their leaves are!

In the greenhouse

something has eaten the Tuscan kale
the spinach is developing real leaves
the corn and zucchinis are ready to be planted out
the butternut pumpkins are a bit slow- I had a dig in the toilet roll pots and they are beginning to germinate

I have never been one to save my own seeds except for maybe a pumpkin here or there, but this year I did try and grow my own chillies with some seeds off another chilli- and to my surprise it actually worked! I have just pricked out some little baby two leaf chilli plants into a punnet. There are still a lot more left. If they grow like I imagine the will make great Christmas presents.

The chilli seeds germinating

Seedlings that have just been pricked out and out into a punnet, English spinach in front of them

The rain has kept the fruit trees looking fresh. The old plum and apricot have been netted as we have quite a parrot problem here. Would like to do the quince this weekend and the two little apple trees, a pink lady and Granny Smith. They are tiny- not even as tall as me which is annoying as they have been in nearly 4 years! At least they are covered in fruit, not sure if it should be thinned out or not?

Pastry

2008-10-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

Finally I have found a pastry that is actually relatively easy and not too time consuming! After trying many versions of 'classic' butter and flour style shortcrust pastry for quiches and pies I was beginning to think that I really wasn't cut out for making pastry. But I had one more crack and decided to make Maggie Beer's sour cream pastry. It is surprisingly easy to work with and forgiving!

Ready for tart making, fresh eggs, asparagus and the very last of the leeks

I made a version of Maggie's Asparagus and Leek T art as we are getting a nice bunch of asparagus a day at the moment and it is just divine! It is such a treat to nibble of fresh asparagus as you wander around the garden, even Lyssie has a go. The tart worked out really well, although I did swap the 12 egg yolks for 6 whole eggs and the two and a half cups of cream for one cup.

My little helper. Every time I walk even remotely towards the kitchen Lyssie is following me with her chair to stand on. Here she is ready to help, snotty hay fever nose and all! Not sure why she needed a beanie as it has been a bit warm this week!

Growing Challenge

2008-10-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Time to join the Growing Challenge!

I am located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia and fall into zone 4. I have been an avid vegetable gardener for 4 years and find the whole process very rewarding. I get most of my seeds and a lot of my ideas from The Digger's Club and their associated books.

Something new I have tried recently is the idea of raising seeds in toilet rolls which I have seen in a few blogs lately including Towards Sustainability. I really like the idea of reducing the transplant shock as many times I want to plant things before their roots are developed enough to withstand being moving out of a container.

Two weeks ago I planted
4 into corn (unsure of variety)
4 into Tuscan kale- haven't grown before
2 into blackjack zucchini
2 into Lebanese zucchini
2 into trombocino zucchini
4 into butternut pumpkin
4 into Spinch Winter Queen (these were into an old punnet as I had run out of toilet rolls)

So far the corn are popping through, the Tuscan kale and spinach are up and the blackjack zucchini are just about up. Hopefully the other's aren't far behind.

I have planted other zucchini seeds into the vege garden, so the ones above I will use as back up and the fill in spaces- you can never have enough zucchini plants (although my husband disagrees- he gets a bit over eating them in summer- not me, they are my favourite).

Above is 4 rows of corn that were planted on the 12 of October- most have popped through now. They have wire over the rows as in the past I have had trouble with birds getting the seeds. When they get a little bigger they can come off.

The aim for this week is to start the war against slugs! They are everywhere!

Sunday's Goals

2008-10-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

I managed a couple of things ! Mainly the cooking (always seems to get done before anything else).
Things completed

pickled beetroot- yum (only 1 more batch still in the veg patch)
made quiches
made banana loaf (Lyssie loves it)
did actually vacuum- moved some furniture round first and tried to give the living area a bit more play space- bit over constantly treading on various toys and play mats and tripping over the rocker
packed away some of Lyssie's toys- she hasn't noticed yet or found them
went for a walk

Still haven't cleaned the stove or blogged or joined the growing challenge- hopefully I will now as long as no one wakes up!

Goals

2008-10-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

I have recently been inspired to set myself some goals (from here). Before I can set any long term goals it would be best to get through each day! So here are my goals for today.

pickle beetroot
make mini quiches for Lyssie's dinner tonight
make banana and date laof
vacuum living areas
Blog about a fantastic lunch last week
join the growing challenge
clean the stove (after I have finished cooking)
take the girls for a good walk
when Lyssie is asleep tonight, pack away and hide some of her toys for a few weeks (then they will be like new ones)

Not quite sure how I will go as it is 1.00pm already and I have only just managed to blog this. Best be off to bring in the washing and do all the day to day things that aren't goals before I can really get started!! Will report back in tonight- hopefully!

Local Show

2008-10-13T04:43:00.000-07:00

On Saturday it was our local agricultural show. It is by no means a 'big' show, but it is quite a local event. For the first time I managed to get organised and enter some things I have grown and made. I was pretty pleased with how I went, but I must admit that in a couple of sections I was the only entrant!

Here is how I went
Plum Jam- first (out of two)
Pickles (I put in a jar of beetroot relish)- first (out of one)
Loaf, unsliced suitable the butter (I made a banana and date loaf)- first (out of two)
Bearded iris- first (out of about 8)
3 pansies distinct- didn't get a place, I thought they wanted three the same, but it was actually 3 different, something I have learnt for next year
Pumpkin- first (out of two)
Bunch of spring onions- second (out of two)
Bunch of silverbeet- first (out of four)
Basket of herbs- second (out of two and the first place was really quite good)
Basket of vegetables- first (out of one) this did manage to win best exhibit in the home industries section so I was quite happy with that

Silverbeet relaxing in the bath before their big day on show

Best exhibit in Home Industries- included silverbeet, kale, beetroot, asparagus, snow peas, crimson broad beans and artichoke

Everyday Sourdough

2008-10-10T04:18:00.000-07:00

This is not quite traditional but certainly tastes great and is simple to do any day of the week. This recipe makes quite a decent sized loaf and I always do the hard work in the bread machine.

Sourdough Starter

125g white baker's flour
1 tsp dry yeast
125ml tepid water

Mix together quite well in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.

Sourdough starter after ready to go into bread machine

Sourdough Bread

280ml tepid water
sourdough starter mix (above)
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup natural yoghurt
600g white baker's flour
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast

Put all the sourdough bread ingredients in the bread maker and put through the dough cycle- an hour and a half in my machine.

Prepare an average sized mixing bowl by lining it with a clean tea towel and dusting with a generous amount of flour (enough to stop the dough sticking). Turn completed dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a ball. Place smooth side down in the bowl, cover with the excess tea towel and stand for about 45 minutes (or until doubled in size).

Preheat oven to 210*. Prepare a flat oven tray (I always line with baking paper). Place a dish of boiling water in the bottom of the oven to create steam.

Fold the tea towel back and place the tray over it, flip it and carefully remove the bowl and the tea towel. Place 3 or 4 cuts across the top each way with a sharp knife. Bake for 20 minutes at 210*, then reduce to 180* for a further 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Ready for the oven

Homemade Presents

2008-10-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

It seems like a long way off, but Christmas is less than 3 months away. I decided it was time to think about presents so this week I have done a lot of reading and researching and got some great ideas from 'Blog World'. As I am really not a crafty person (never been praised for being persistent so never really became skilled at anything crafty) it took a while to find something that suited me. Finally I found the perfect homemade present- cake mixes in a jar. What a simple, yet practical idea that suits me perfectly. After reading a lot of recipes it became clear that it would be easy to adapt the idea of having dry ingredients in a jar and simply adding a couple of basic wet ingredients. This is what I came up with. Might try to adapt this cookie one this week if I have time.

Rich Chocolate Walnut Brownies
This mix fits perfectly into a size 31 Vacola preserving jar

For the cake mix:
2/3 cup self-raising flour, sifted
2/3 cup cocoa, sifted
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix together in a large bowl, put in jar and seal. (Did try to make it look pretty with layers, but unless there is no air at all the layers will move around a bit and look a bit sloppy. Also with the choc chips and walnut layers the finer ingredients move through them.)

Instructions to go on gift

Preheat oven to 160* and line a square cake tin with baking paper. Tip all dry ingredients into a bowl and make a well in the centre. In the well add 1 teaspoon on vanilla essence, 4 eggs and 330g melted butter and mix well. Pour into cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until just cooked.

No picture of the finished product I'm afraid, was quite rich and yummy, Lyssie and Ian were both pretty happy with the result!

A Nice Spring Day

2008-09-29T04:56:00.000-07:00

With a good drop of rain last week and the sun shining today, things have really started to move in the garden. There is still an abundance of broccoli, celery, English spinach, silverbeet, spring onions and beetroot while the asparagus, peas and rhubarb and now ready to pick. The broad beans are a little slow and I can see the first of the artichokes bursting out. I am really looking forward to the garlic maturing as last seasons is long gone and I can't find any Australian garlic at any nearby supermarkets.

We have been away to Albany for the weekend to catch up with friends and celebrate a 30th and a 60th which was really lovely. I love Albany on the weekend as they have a fantastic farmer's market every Saturday morning. I managed to pick up lots of goodies including leeks, apples, oranges, free range chicken, local milk, lettuce, jerulasum artichokes (not quite sure what to do with them?) and some potted herbs. While in Albs Lyssie and I snuck down to the nursery without baby Emme and picked up all our Summer seedlings. It is a bit early to put them in so they will have to wait in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks. I got a bit overexcited with the tomatoes I think.

Dinner tonight was a risotto cake. Had to get the cake cover out as it cooled as the blowflys have returned with the warmer weather. When I make a risotto cake I just put in whatever is in season and needs to be used. Here is a basic recipe.

Olive oil
3 spring onions (or an onion or leek, just happen to have lots of spring onions at present)
2 rashers bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup arborio rice
2 cups chicken stock
a couple of cups of vegetables- usually two or the following, roasted pumpkin, broccoli, asparagus, English spinach, peas, mushroom etc
half a cup of finely grated parmesan cheese
3 eggs
Fresh herbs chopped- whatever you have and like eg basil, parsely, chives etc
pinenuts and a sprinkling of parmesan to top
salt and pepper to taste

Gently fry off the spring onion, garlic and bacon in the olive oil. Stir in the rice and then the stock, cover and simmer 10 mins or so until the rice is softish, but still with a little crunch. Turn off the heat and add vegies of your choice (today I used asparagus and English spinach) and stir through with cheese. Let it sit for 5 mins or so and then transfer to a mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 180* and lightly grease a 23 cm springform cake tin with olive oil and line with baking paper. Stir through the eggs and herbs (today it was Italian parsely and chives), season to taste and transfer to the baking tin. Smooth the top and sprinkle with extra cheese and pine nuts. Bake for 40 mins or until top is gloden.

Frosty Nights

2008-09-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

We have had a couple of really nasty frosts this week that could have been quite destructive for the asparagus patch. Some of the asparagus has been in for 3 seasons now so it has become quite productive. There are lots of babies in that have self seeded themselves and also some new purple asparagus planted last year from the Digger's Club. The purple and green look really pretty coming up together. Thankfully to avoid frost damage Ian rigged up a cover we can put over at night. He wishes he could do this for his 'big vegetable patch'.

The asparagus is planted in a raised bed made out of old hardwood sleepers. It use to be used as the compost heap when Ian's parents lived here so it is full of wonderful rich, moist compost that drains well, perfect for asparagus.

Potatoes thawing out and going to mush!

The frost is s real pain at this time of year as you start to prepare for summer. Usually frost intolerant summer vegies can't go in until at least the middle of October. A couple of years ago we had a frost as late as the 3rd or 4th of November- that set back the tomatoes and unfortunately the wheat as well!

Mmmm Pig's Bum

2008-09-22T04:54:00.000-07:00

The remnants of a delicious Sunday night dinner- perfect for the freezing windy day it was. Home grown roast pork on a bed of sliced onion with rosemary and thyme, roasted pumpkin, sauteed silverbeet with spring onions and pine nuts and steamed broccoli. All beside the onion were home grown.

A scrumptious Pig's Bum (rhubarb steamed sponge pudding really) thanks to Nigella Lawson from her book How To Eat. Definately need to double to recipe- then it is fits perfectly into my pudding tin. I was going to make a 'real' custard last night as we have a lot of eggs at the moment, but didn' quite get to it. So we had our family favourite 'Nina's Custard', amazingly simple and always a winner. Not usually one for product endorsement, but it must be made using Nurses Full Cream Custard Powder.

Nina's Custard

2 tbsp Nurses custard powder
2tbsp Nurses cornflour
1 egg
spalsh of milk
2tbsp white sugar
1tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered milk
4 cups water

Mix the milk powder, vanilla, sugar and water in a saucepan and heat gently. In a small bowl mix the custard powder, cornflour and eggs to a smooth paste- use the spalsh of milk to assist. When the milk mixture is warm, slowly pour in the egg mix and whisk gently over a medium heat until thick. Mum always turns it off after the first bubble appears. If you are leaving it to cool don't cover the pan or the condensing water will drip on the custard and ruin the consistency. Also, if you cover the pan it won't form the fabulous skin that many prominent cooks tell you how to avoid! (I love the skin that forms on custard.)

Pumpkins

2008-09-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of the girls ready for a walk a couple of weeks ago. This is what I wish we had managed a bit more of this week, but with windy, showery weather for the past 8 days really prevented us leaving the house at all. We all tend to get a little tetchy when we can't get outside (especially me). Thankfully Ian did take the girls for a drive this afternoon so I could get out into the garden.

So, had lot of time to cook this week. We are down to our last 4 pumpkins so I thought I would get stuck into one of them. They are a variety called Triamble from The Digger's Club. By far the best growing and healthiest looking pumpkin variety I have grown and a really heavy fruiter. I will definately be growing them again this year. We seem to have had pumpkin in everything this week from muffins and fruit cake to lasagne and risotto.

A few tried and tested pumpkin recipes.

Pumpkin, Zucchini and Bacon Soup

about 1 1/2 kg pumpkin, peeled and cubed
2 rashers bacon, trimmed and chopped
1 large brown onion, chopped
1 large zucchini, chopped
chicken stock to cover
sprinkling of nutmeg
tsp sugar

In a large pan add pumpkin, bacon, onion and zucchini to a little olive oil and gently fry until all heated through. Add stock to just cover (not too much or with the zucchini it will become too watery). Gently simmer until all ingredients are soft. Wizz in a blender or using a hand blender (less washing up), add the nutmeg and sugar and season will salt and pepper.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
makes about 10

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sultanans
1/2 tsp each cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
1 cup mashed pumpkin
2 cups SR flour
cinnamon and raw sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 180* and prepare muffin tins. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix through pumpkin and sultanans. Fold through spices and flour until just combined. Spoon into prepared pans. Sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon and raw sugar and bake for about 20 minutes.

Windy Weekend

2008-09-15T04:34:00.000-07:00

I look foward to the weekend all week long so Ian can look after the girls and I can get out into the garden, but is was so windy last weekend it was a mission not to get blown away feeding the chooks, so not a lot of gardening was done at all. It did give me some time to do some cooking which was nice.

For lunch on Sunday I made rosemary and Parmesan foccacia that I found the inspiration from here and a simple broccoli soup to help with the great broccoli glut. I always thought that broccoli soup was quite bland, but have discovered if you use good home made chicken stock and stir through very finely shaved parmesan that the end, it is actually really yummy.

I finally had time to make a beetoot and apple relish. It makes a great replacement for plain old beetroot in any sandwich or wrap.

Beetroot and Apple Relish

900g beetroot, peeled and grated
400g apples, peeled and grated
1 large red onion finely chopped
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine vinegar
pinch of dries chilli if you like a bit of a kick in it (Ido)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything in a large heavy pot. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring every couple of minutes. Cook on moderate heat for a about 45 mins or until reduces and a nice syrupy consistency. Carefully fill and seal prepared bottles. Mmmm yum.

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

2008-09-11T04:18:00.000-07:00

I love my vegetable patch for inspiration. (Even though not that much has been done since Emme was born 4 months ago- and probably for a few months before that!)

Beetroot, spring onions, broccoli and crimson broad beans

This is a fabulous recipe that makes two 23cm round cakes, perfect for keeping one in the freezer for later. They are relatively light in texture, so it is well worth going for the rich chocolate ganache style icing. The recipe originally came from the ABC somewhere, I had a search earlier and couldn't find a link. This is my version.

Fresh beetroot ready for boiling

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups castar sugar
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp salt
2 tsp bicarb soda
400- 600g beetroot (up to you how 'beetrooty' you want it to be)
200g dark chocolate
40g chopped butter
2 tbsp cream

Cook (boil), peel and blend beetroot and allow to cool.
Prepare two round 23cm cake tins by greasing sides and lining base with baking paper.
Whisk eggs is a large bowl. Whisk in oil, vanilla and sugar one at a time. Fold in flour, cocoa, salt and bicarb followed by beetroot.
Pour evenly into tins and bake at 180* for about 50 minutes. Allow to cool completely before icing with ganache.
To make ganache, melt butter and choclate gently in bowl over simmering water. Remove from heat and stir until smooth, stir in the cream and ice.

Lyssie

Sick

2008-09-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

What can I say, I am certainly a bit over kids and husbands with illnesses related to the common cold!

This morning Ian and Emme had to go to the doctor, last Monday it was Lyssie. Ian has lots of tablets for a bad sinus infection (has been in bed for two days with a migrane), luckily Emme's cough and cold are only viral so she doesn't need to take anything. So the kids have been generally grumpy and sick of being inside. Luckily the sun was out this afternoon and Lyssie helped me get the wood with her wheelbarrow. I am amazed at how well she can manage it now.

Hopefully I will manage to get out into the garden or have time to cook something more adventurous than steak and salad soon as that is what I made the blog for!

Father's Day

2008-09-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

Just at the end of a lovely Father's Day weekend away visiting my sister and her family. We had fabulous food all weekend and thankfully no indigestion like last time we were all together (my sister and I were both quite pregnant and paid the price for eating nice rich food)!

Kate, Emme and Gracey.

Ian and Lyssie getting ready for a special Father's Day lunch- doesn't she look like an angel!