mosaic road

Duncan Hines

I don't know this man but he does an OK cake mix. They have been on sale at my supermarket so I have purchased a few for emergencies. I would never just make a cake from a packet and eat it as I can always taste chemicals or preservatives or some such unnatural flavour. I do doctor them or put them to good use as a base for a dessert or quick mix cookies etc. Today I added an enormous amount of sour cream and strong coffee to a devils food cake mix. Very edible and successful outcome !! And as the box says it was moist and a deluxe version. How could it be otherwise when I put it with cream and little curly shavings of milk chocolate. Rest assured it was made as a gift so will not be in this house emanating temptation. Just thinking about it and it's calories is enough to force me to head out on a run.

Basil, Mint, Chives & Parsley

Yesterday in my post I mentioned snipping herbs. Well, it happened again today and this is my little mixed herb collation and they will be chopped and scissored finely for a turkey and mushroom risotto. The risotto recipe called for truffle oil. There was a distinct lack of that in the pantry so I am making up for it with happy home grown herbs.

A Little Meal in a Bowl

Possibly this looks very ordinary but was so delicious. It possibly is also more of a meal for philistines than great gourmets. The bowl contains chicken and rice with satay sauce, snipped spinach and coriander. It rapidy comes together as the chicken fillet comes from Steggles pre marinated and I even cooked it in the microwave. The brown rice come pre cooked and you follow the basic instructions and place the sachet in the microwave and heat it through. Tricky stuff so far, not ! Then comes the challenge of making your own peanut sauce. I use Jill Dupleix's - see it here. Then stir all together or serve seperately. Pick herbs from your garden and add if you so desire. Eat up !

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos

I know this looks like a dreary, plain old tree behind an equally dreary garage but when I came out onto the back deck this early morning this tree was fill of screeching cockatoos. They were sitting right out on all the top branches like a halo around the top of the tree  I tried to get the birds in the pic but the distance was too great for my ageing little point and shoot. These sulphur crested cockies are very noisy and can be a pest eating fruit and wood. They have been known to nearly eat whole weatherboard houses and can do a lot of damage.

From Garden to Mouth

I just love to be able to harvest my salad ingredients. I take my scissors and colander and return with lots of salad leaves and a couple of tomatoes most days. Now even baby spinach can be added to the list. It is such fun and so rewarding to reap what you sow. The little butter lettuce leaves just melt in my mouth, barely needing a dressing. Not a snail or grub has gone near them !  What perfect baby specimens of purely organic greenery.

 

Sausage Bake

On occasion I cook sausages. Not the plain label pork variety that are probably mainly breadcrumbs and preservatives but organic beef or lamb sausages. I rarely cook them whole but slice them up and cook them in a tomato based sauce to serve with pasta or rice. It makes a hearty meal, for sure, and when we so rarely eat meat it is a nice and enjoyable change. Last night I added big cannellini beans to my  "casserole de sausage". It was quite a chill night and a perfect meal. Ridiculous as it seems, today is the opposite of yesterday and quite a warm and still 23 C  so we will be back to eating a salad tonight.

Strawberries Galore No 2

Another big tray of strawberries in plastic punnets came my way late last week. S and I formed an assembly line and hulled the lot in one big hit. They have surprisingly frozen whole quite well. I did use up a heap making a strawberry sponge. Not a sponge cake but a sponge pudding where you pour the batter over the berries and then stir them around into it gently a bit. Very yummy !!

 

Daylight Saving Ends/Chilly Mornings

Our summer is over, the halcyon days gone. There is a distinct chill in the air in the mornings and Lucy[dog] now aged 10 is feeling the cold a bit. I did take pity on her and gave her a blankie one morning this week as it was 6 C and a bit of a shock to the system. I even put on the central heating one day mid morning - shock, horror !! I am not a winter person and I do feel doom and gloom knowing we have months of greyness, early darkness and overcoats ahead of us.

A Little Snippet to Enjoy

A Day in Hospital for S

This week my daughter S was diagnosed with a serious low iron count and spent today in Cabrini Hospital having an iron infusion. It dripped slowly over the day, intravenously, with constant monitoring of vital signs. This low iron count is the result of a serious malabsorption of fructose which has caused her multiple gastric problems for many years, even as far back as her school days. Finally we have a diagnosis and a gluten free existence must prevail. We eat very little bread so that is not a problem but now I will buy gluten free crackers and pasta for her. The fructose in wheat is really her number one enemy. My cooking and baking will undergo some transformation because of this. Eating at home is not what usually has made her sick but frequently eating out has made her most unwell . Now armed with a diagnosis she can choose wisely from menus and eat, drink and be merry like the rest of us.