When it rains - I cook

The week before the floods hit Brisbane, we were doing a lot of cooking at our house. It was unrelenting rain, so there was not much else to do. I was just clearing my camera and thought I would show you some pictures, even if it was two weeks ago.



We made baked doughnuts using this recipe. Yum. Yum. Yum!



We drunk hot chocolate, yes some days were actually cold!



I'm trying to stop cooking and eating so much pasta this year. One night we ate grilled salmon and pasta salad. OK, this is still pasta, but at least in came in a different guise. It was cold. It was salad.





Another night I cooked Filipino food. Chicken and rice porridge (Arroz Caldo), pork braised in sweet vinegar soy (Humba), braised greens and jasmine rice. So yummy on a cold, rainy night.





Nanny came over to our place and made a pavlova. Spunky Monkey was her little helper.



There were days of popcorn and the Fantastic Mr Fox. Many days in fact.



We even went out for breakfast during a thunderstorm!

Please don't forget that the Queensland Flood Appeal Auction has started and ends at midnight on Monday 24th January. A master list of other crafty auctioneers can be found here.

AND

Don't forget my Queensland Flood Appeal Dolly Drive. Perhaps you'd like to join us.

Sour Cherry Birthday Cake

On New Year's Day it was Grandpa's 75th birthday. There was a family dinner at Mr Moo's parents house and we made the cake. Miss Moo Moo had been talking about making a New Year's Eve cake all week. You see, apparently, the Wombles, make a cherry cake for their New Years Eve party. But with our day spent at the beach, we did not get around to making it, and offered to make the cake for Grandpa's birthday instead. It was delicious.

We had so much fun in the kitchen, my little helpers and I. I 'm hoping for a lot more of this family cooking in our kitchen this year. Bliss.

Christmas recipes

Here is one of the new christmas cookie recipes I tried this year. They were super yummy and I definitely will be making them again, perhaps soon. There was a request for the recipe, so here it is. It is from the Woman's Weekly "Christmas" book.

Sticky Date and Orange Cookies

makes 30

• 1 cup seedless dates (roughly chopped)
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 3/4 cups plain flour
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 100 grams butter (roughly chopped)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup icing sugar (sifted)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. In a small saucepan, combine the dates, golden syrup and water and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate soda and orange rind. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then process the mixture until almost smooth. Leave to cool. Add the flour, sugar, butter and egg to the processor and and process until the ingredients come together. Refridgerate for 30 minutes. 

Roll heaped teaspoon of the mixture into balls and flatten slightly. Place about 3 cm apart on the baking trays and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on the trays. Toss in icing sugar.

Apparently you can store these cookies in an airtight container for up to four weeks. I wouldn't know, as our cookies had no chance of lasting that long.



Here is another one of our Christmas must-have recipes. Just like the rum balls, this recipe was made by my mother for Christmas, when I was a child. About eight years ago I went digging through her old recipe drawer and found the recipe I remembered so well. I have been making it for our family Christmas's ever since.

Cherry ripe slice

makes about 24 squares

• 250 grams white chocolate (chopped)
• 1 cup glace cherries ( chopped)
• 1 x 400 gram can condensed milk
• 2 cups dessicated coconut
• 200 grams dark chocolate (chopped)
• 30 grams copha

Grease a foil lined 18 x 28 cm slice tin. In the top of a double saucepan, melt the white chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the cherries, condensed milk and coconut until well combined. Spread the mixture evenly into the tin and set aside. Put the dark chocolate and copha in a small saucepan. Stir over a gentle heat until until melted and well combined. Spread evenly over the top of the cherry mixture. Chill overnight. Cut into 5 cm squares to serve.

Christmas - the food

Isn't Christmas really all about the food and the special meals that bring families together around the one table? It is to me.



On Christmas Eve Mr Moo's parents, my Mum, my Dad and Tiya Ning came for dinner.

As always, at Christmas time, I lay the table with my Nana's tablecloth, she crocheted this special cloth over 80 years ago. Twinkle lights, candlelights, christmas carols, laughter and love.

Triple cream brie, quince paste and water crackers
Roast chicken with marsala cream gravy
Honey roasted vegetables
Steamed mixed vegetables
Double chocolate and cherry brownies with thick cream

After dinner, we each grabbed an umbrella and set off in drizzling rain to see the christmas lights in our nearby streets.



Christmas morning was an early one - 5am. We did, however manage to stall the kids until 6:30 by letting them see what was in their stockings. This meant we were able to have a coffee and a bite to eat before the wild rumpus began!

It also helped that Poppy and Tiya Ning had stayed the night. This is the sweets platter that we shared with them on Christmas morning.


(finally - we can open the presents)


(Daddy doing Miss Moo Moo's hair with christmas ribbon's and bows)



Other family came over in the morning for the annual swapping of presents. So lunch didn't get to the table until about 1:30pm. I think this is fairly typical for christmas day, isn't it?

Around our table was, Mum, Dad, Nora, us and the children. Champagne and christmas toasts started off our meal.

Double wood smoked ham (from dad's old fashioned country butcher)
Roasted pork fillet with hot apple and onion chutney
Roast chicken
Finnish baked potatoes in cream
Green bean salad
Spinach, avocado and orange salad

Baked chocolate swirl cheesecake
Coffee



Good wine was drunk, but not too much. And as usual, I could not eat dinner last night.

My fridge still seems to stacked full of food, as Dad and Nora are staying here for a few days. It's just as well really, as it appears that I have fallen into a heap. I have no intention of cooking anytime soon.

I'm am just plum tuckered out! Lucky we are in holiday mode.

Thanks Mum, for all of your help in the kitchen on Christmas day and for your super yummy cheesecake.

This weekend

This weekend:

• one Mamma's Market
• one Christmas party
• one summer storm
• three Christmas cakes baked
• six jars of tomato relish made
• six bottles of Jamie Oliver's tomato ketchup made
• two simple pasta dinners
• four loads of washing folded
• one cold and rainy day
• one Woody Allen movie
• one Carols by Candlelight
• ten glow stick bangles
• one fireworks display

and a partridge in a pear tree.

How are your Christmas preparations coming along?