manningroad

A Good Old Standby

An honest to goodness chocolate cake never fails to please. We all have our favourite recipe and lots of us are still making the same chokky cake that our mums and grandmas made. We may have tweaked the recipe to bring it into the 21st century  or we might just make it like it was made for us in our childhood. This is one food that barely anyone I know doesn't enjoy and it vanishes fast in this household especially if I have had those few extra moments to ice it.

Supreme Comfort Food

Yes, I'm talking mashed pototo !! I can never serve it often enough in this household and really if you do live on a tight budget it is very friendly on the wallet. Yesterday I made a 'supreme' version. It was a  casserole version, made ahead of time, loaded with extras - 2 cheeses in it, cheese on top and dotted throughout with diced green pepper and crispy bacon bits. Needless to say, no leftovers.

Luscious & Lemony

This was one of my 'best evers" and they are few and far between. I made it late last night. I think seeing so many lemons sitting in my fruit bowl was the catalyst for my late night baking. I hope the pics show the moreish success of my Texas Lemon Sheet cake.

Discovering Buckwheat

My experience to date with buckwheat has been  limited to buying Aunt Jemina's Buckwheat pancake mix. For some unknown reason I saw a big bag of roasted buckwheat recently in a gourmet green grocer and purchased it. I did a bit of googling and discovered the word buckwheat is a bit of a misnomer as it is not a wheat and is actually gluten free and perfect for coeliacs. So some experimentation is about to take place in my kitchen. I am hoping/presuming that if I process up the raw buckwheat from the bag it will be become buckwheat  flour and I can make pancakes like Aunt Jemina. I will also make a porridge with it  for breakfast and try it in savoury form like couscous. Another fact I discovered is that it is also known as kasha.

An Outstanding Zuppa

I caved today and made the first soup of the year and it was divine. It was probably more stew than soup by the time we ate it needing a fork rather than a spoon. As there are leftovers I will add extra stock tomorrow, sort of rehydrating it, to get the full zuppa experience. I will eat it with a spoon ! Into my pot went lots of carrots, lots of whole tomatoes from the garden, beans, macaroni, basil, onions, stock and tiny slices of some gourmet beef & sweet potato sausages. I simmered it for an age, adding the pasta at the end. The wafting smell was so enticing even the patient was tempted to sample a tiny serve.

Fresh Fruit Cake

I think on finding this recipe that I have hit upon the perfect cake for my family's cake eating needs. It is easy and quick, it involves the foor processer and uses 2 cups of fresh fruit - any type, so you can  make and enjoy endless variations. The 2 cups of fruit is sandwhiched between two layers of basic butter cake batter, then into the oven for about 35 - 40 minutes. I trialled this recipe yesterday using diced, par cooked apple and the result was fabulous. I loved seeing the shiny jewels of apple in the photo above  !!

Let Sleepy Dogs Lie !!

Our dogs sleep in the family lounge area in their own comfy dog beds. They head there of their own accord at about 1/4 to 9, knowing that at nine-ish I start to shut the house up. Today my girls were wishing they could have the dogs in their beds at night, wishing they could sleep snuggled up to their beloved pets.Then we found these pics online and had a laugh knowing for certain that would be what would happen here !!

Wisdom Teeth, Removal of ...

S is the patient this week after having 4 impacted wisdom teeth out. Her diet has consisted of sloppy foods and the blender has worked overtime. The above photo was a strawberry yoghurt shake which was greatly enjoyed. Other post operative delicacies have included melted ice cream, vitamized rice pudding, thin, runny custard and the salty broth from around Maggi noodles. 

Valentine's Gifts

Not for me !!! But my 2 girls were on the receiving end ! A gorgeous pink box of beautifully handmade and frosted cupcakes was left on the doorstep for S. Sadly for her she was in no way able to appreciate them or even sample one as she had her 4 inpacted wisdom teeth out less than 24 hours prior to their arrival !! So for her, Valentines Day and cupcakes were a low priority !! A, on the other hand, went to a beautiful 5 course dinner and was given an exquisite box of chocolates from a specialist chocolatier, almost too pretty to eat.

A Little Bit of Night Music

Click here for some fabulous puppetry and music on a little you tube clip  !!!