Valentine's Day

I have been making tiramisu this morning. We are forgoing our much loved, chocolate mousse on Valentine's Day this year, at Miss Moo Moo's request. 

About two weeks ago, she told me that she couldn't stop thinking about 'that' dessert. "You know the one Mum, the one that Nanny Marjie makes, the one you made for Christmas when I was four, the one with the cream and chocolate sprinkles"

Of course I knew. I suggested that we make it for Valentine's Day. 

If only she had been home to help, my best little kitchen helper. I used this recipe, a recipe that suggests I beat my egg yolks and sugar for 15 minutes. That's fine if you have a mixmaster, but I am still using my $20.00 hand-held, egg beaters purchased over 20 years ago, when I left home. So, with my little beater girl at school today, I got through it like this: I turned up this Dean Martin CD a little louder than normal, loud enough to hear over the egg beaters and loud enough to make the neighbours think I'm little weird. Add a strong espresso to drink as I stood at the bench and beated, and the 15 minutes seemed to fly by.

While my eggs and sugar were whipped to the perfect shade of pale white, I was dreaming about this mixer and this coffee machine. The perfect his and hers Valentine's day present's I'd say... perhaps next year!

Slow days at home

I love this weeks picture in my Country Style Diary.

Home.

Today is my only day at home this week and the first one in ages, I am looking forward to going about my home duties with pleasure. Cleaning and tiding, washing and soaking, dusting and re-arranging, baking and sewing. I hope to hang a few new pictures and at the day's end, there will be a roast in the oven and a treat for dessert.

How are you spending your day? Perhaps it is too cold and you are preferring to curl up under a warm rug with a good book.

Now there's another option!

A rainy weekend

Meet Lady Princess Ga Ga (that's the one with wings) and the Queen!

These are just a sample of the delightful dress-ups we saw in our house on the weekend. As well as: a few blanket cubbie houses, heaps of drawing, kite-making, playing in the rain with umbrellas, playing in the rain without umbrellas, and tea parties.



I made big pots of soup (some from this book) and finally got started on my softies for Christchurch.



On Sunday I picked up Nanny from the airport. It's great to have her home. We were all spoilt rotten with prezies. Thank-you Mum.



Mr Moo and I even have had a chance for an afternoon nap. I'm talking about a proper sleep, not a 20 minute Nana nap. Mr Moo slept for over two hours on Saturday afternoon and I slept for over two hours on Sunday afternoon. It was heaven.

Then when I woke up yesterday, this old movie was on TV. The kids were happy gardening in the rain with Daddy. So I settled into the lounge and stitched faces on my softies. Yes I do love a rainy weekend.

How do you like to spend your rainy weekends?

Autumn

(this photo was taken last May on a visit to New South Wales)

My favourite season has started. It took a few days, but the weather is cooling slightly.

I am looking forward to the true arrival of Autumn. Fresh mornings, chilly evenings, heartwarming casseroles, crumbles, pudding and custard. I hope to do more baking and will try my hand at bread making. I want to pull on a cardigan, drink hot chocolate and snuggle up to watch old movies.

Here are a few of the things that we have been up to since the beginning of the month:

• Taking late afternoon walks on the beach. Steel grey skies, murky green, warm water. Clusters of bluebottles washed ashore and dried by the sun. Beach combing with our collection bags. Big holes and sandcastles.

• We watched a butterfly hatch from his cocoon. He had been collected as a caterpillar from our passionfruit vine and we had been watching him closely. Then, just as we were walking out the door for school, there was great excitement. Muuuuumm! he's hatching.

• Catching up with lovely friends, drinking lots of tea.

• Eating: creamy chicken soup, spinach and barley soup, spanish cabbage soup, dragon fruit, lamb tagine and cous cous, homemade pizzas and garlic bread, pancakes with lemon and sugar and hungarian chocolate pancakes.

• Crafting and embroidering - me and the kids

• We enjoyed a blustery morning at our favourite coffee shop to celebrate Uncle JJ's birthday. Ham and swiss cheese croissants, cappuccinos and baby shortbread. Happy children climbing trees.

• We enjoyed an amazing lunch at our favourite restaurant for Mr Moo's birthday. Lemongrass chicken curry, whole tamarind chilli fish, jasmine rice, Thai beer, New Zealand white wine, lime and coconut panna cotta, macchiato's. We were in heaven.

This last weekend was quieter, deliberately so. We have hit the ground running with another hectic week. Teacher meetings, dentist appointments, a sports day, a crazy hair day, a day on kindy roster and dinner guests. I even hope to squeeze in a couple of play dates.

I hope you are having a lovely week.

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.

I'm grateful for...

Today I am grateful for my ability to cook and also so for my great love of cooking.

During the week, I was chatting to a friend who told me that she can't cook. Of course she can get by, she has a small family to feed. But while I spent my formidable, teenage years, learning the basics in home economic class, her teenage years were spent globetrotting around the world with other goals in mind. Homemaking, as it was taught in my country high school, was far from her mind. Until this conversation, I think I took this life skill for granted, doesn't everybody know how to cook?

Far from the school kitchens, my Mother and my Nana were, and still are, my greatest influences in how and why I cook.

Apparently, my Mum couldn't cook either, when she was first married, but with the help of the Women's Weekly Cookbooks, she soon learned. I grew up during the dinner party era. Dinner parties were hosted and exciting, new recipes were tried. As for me, I am a recipe addict and rarely cook anything twice. My Nana would call herself a good plain cook. And that's what she was. Perhaps she tried new dishes in her early cooking life, but when I knew her, as a grandmother, she had only a small and simple repertoire of recipes. We wouldn't have had it any other way. She taught me how food and cooking nurtures a family.

And in my husband's words, "food is love", Yes indeed, it is.

Go over to 'maxabella loves' for more gratitude posts.

Rum balls

We made more rum balls this afternoon. You can never have too many rum balls at Christmas time. I thought I would share my recipe with you. I know that there are some gourmet rum ball recipes out there, but this is the one I grew up with and the one I have made every Christmas since leaving home.

Rums Balls

• 8 weet-bix (crushed)

• 1 tin condensed milk

• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
• 1 cup raisins (roughly chopped)
• 2 tablespoons rum

• extra dessicated coconut for coating

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for at 2 hours. Roll into teaspoon size balls and coat in coconut.

The picture above is of Spunky Monkey's first Christmas. You can see how we start our Christmas morning, with a sweets platter and strong black coffee. In the photo there are rum balls, cherry ripe slice, panetonne and chocolate truffles.

Oh yes, I do love Christmas!

At our house....

The rain continued over the weekend, leaving us with little else to do but hang out at home.





Here's how we spent our Sunday:

• we made christmas decorations out of modelling clay
• I cooked a large pot of lentil and chickpea soup
• we made rum balls
• Mr Moo's brother came for a visit.
• we baked our first batch of christmas cookies, date and orange cookies
• we played board games
• we splashed in puddles
• at lunchtime, we broke up our home day by going to mum's for pizza
• the kids made boats and cubbie houses out of mattresses, pillows and blankets
• the kids painted their old sandpit Tonka trucks
• I sang soft christmas carols to sleepy children in their beds

But soon after bedtime, Spunky Monkey snuck out. "Please can I sleep on the lounge" (it had been turned it to a boat) There was a bit of no, please, no, please, no. pleeeese! that went on for 5 minutes before I said, "OK, but it's our secret!" Mr Moo was working in the office and would be in there all night. Miss Moo Moo was already alseep and I was heading off to bed for an early night. He was so excited and tip-toed back to his bedroom to collect his blanket and pillow, if I spoke he said, "Shhhh, Mum, we don't want anyone to hear us" I tucked him in and within minutes he was fast asleep with a little smile on his face.

Happy at the secret that we shared, I went off happily to bed too.







Go over to Buttons by Lou Lou to see what's been happening at other people's houses.



I would like to welcome my newest followers, Ruth of 'foxglove spires', Kelsa, Felicity of 'gifts of serendipity' Anushka of 'journey' and Astrid from 'red red completely red'.

Boo!

(this image is from here)

"Boo" said Boo, has he popped his head up out of the jack-o-lantern, where he had been hiding.

"Oh Boo, your scared me" said Belle. " I've been looking for you everywhere. I wanted to wish you a Happy Halloween"

I think you already know, I'm a huge fan of Mandy's beautiful illustrations. This drawing captures a very beautiful kind of Halloween. I love it.

We have had our spooky pancakes this morning (filled with blood and toad poo) and I am just taking a quick tea break before heading back into the kitchen to make slime pie and mud cake.

I hope you have a very smooky All Hallow's Eve.

(Spunky Monkey has been saying smooky, instead spooky all week. Too cute! Now I am saying it too.)

Our weekend at home

A weekend at home. We didn't even leave the house, well not by car.

It was lovely.

Sandcastles, roads and tunnels in the sandpit, lots of gardening - thanks for your help mum, dress ups, craft for kids and craft for mummy, making cubbie houses from pillows and blankets, more blankets and even more blankets. Mr Moo played with his 'rusty car' (I'll tell you about this another time). We took a long walk around the neighbourhood and the kids did some serious splashing in very big and very muddy puddles. We had apple and rhubarb sponge pudding for dessert. And on Sunday night, we ate a barbecue dinner outside.





Today, however, we have driven everywhere. It was hectic, there was lateness, forgetfulness, appointment cancellations, chaos! Luckily we ended the day with a few glorious hours on the beach. I wished that I had taken my camera. It was purely magic.

Spring is here and so is the beginning of our long hot summer

Baby, it's cold outside

Drizzling rain and bleak winter weather kept our family indoors and close to home this weekend.

It was just lovely.



we ate warming , slow cooked, beef stew for dinner



we made breakfast bars



we ate pancakes with strawberries and cream for breakfast



we made ice-blocks, yes, you read right, clearly this was not my idea!



we made pumpkin pie, another, first ever. I had never even tasted it before.

But we didn't just eat. The kids did some craft, some drawing, some cutting and some glueing. Mr Moo sanded and painted some furniture and also did fix-it jobs around the house. I sorted some sewing stuff , but not all of it. I sorted some filing and papers, but not all of it. I sorted some clutter in the kids rooms, but not all of it. Just general pottering about really.

A nice end to the weekend was to discover tonight, my newest follower. Welcome Michelle. Have a look at her beautiful blog 'Hugo and Elsa'. I know you will love it.

Don't forget the biscuits

I thought I would share my anzac biscuit recipe. They have been a huge hit around here this weekend.

Anzac Biscuits
makes 24

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 125 grams unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate soda

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Prepare baking trays. In a bowl mix the oats, flour, sugar and coconut. Combine the butter, syrup and water in a small saucepan and stir over a medium heat until the butter is melted. Mix the bicarbonate soda into the syrup mixture and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix well. Place heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto a baking tray, 5 cm apart. Bake for 20 minutes or until the biscuits feel slightly firm. Leave on the tray to cool.

A good Good Friday

By now you may have realised that my favourite days are spent lazing around with family and friends and eating heaps of yummy food.
Well, Good Friday was no exception.

Mum came over for a leisurely breakfast. I made this 'puffed apple pancake' recipe from Bills "Holiday" cookbook. It set the pace a lovely lazy day.

Mr Moo went fishing (and actually caught some fish!)

My Dad and Tiya Ning arrived from the country mid morning. Dad took Spunky Monkey and Miss Moo Moo for a bushwalk while Tiya Ning and I relaxed, prepping lunch and chatting.



Lunch was an Italian-style seafood stew, a large salad and crusty sourdough bread. Some yummy New Zealand wine and chocolate tart to finish off. Devine! Needless to say we did more relaxing and chatting after lunch.

A good Good Friday.

Pancake day

(this image is from one of my favourite childhood books, "Debbie Learns to Cook")

It was lovely to start a weekday morning with pancakes. I made traditional Pancake Day pancakes, rolled up with with butter, lemon and raw sugar. Divine!

For dinner I made these feta and spinach pancakes. So, so yummy. Miss Moo Moo didn't like hers, even thought I had made her a special one without the spinach.

"Mum, I don't like this. You know, you really shouldn't have pancakes when it is not breakfast "

So there you have it, it looks like you will only be seeing pancakes for breakfast around here from now on.

Birthday Cake

Because Mr Moo’s birthday was on Tuesday and we were away, we decided to stretch out the birthday celebrations (as all good birthdays should) and make his birthday cake on Saturday.

A discussion with the kids lead to the following cake suggestions:
• a dragon cake
• a prince cake
• red and black like the prince in Sleeping Beauty
• love hearts
• definitely chocolate

As I was short on time, I settled for the, definitely chocolate option, and cooked the chocolate birthday cake from this book.

Party food

When asked what kind of food Spunky monkey wanted at his party he said:

• A Toad cake
• Chocolate cupcakes
• A big bowl of gummi bears



No problem, well except for the cake. I thought I was making a Toad cake until Saturday morning when I was informed that "No mum, I said a Frog cake, it has to be green". So a frog cake it was!

I thought I would share some of the other party food we enjoyed.



Sausage rolls

for the filling:
• 500 grams beef mince (or half beef and half pork)
• 1 onion (finely diced)
• 2 rashers bacon (finely diced)
• 2 carrots (peeled and sliced)
• 2 zucchinis (sliced)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tables. parsley (finely diced)
• 1 egg
• 2 tables. worcestershire sauce
• 2 tables. tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste

for the pastry:
• 3-4 sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry
• 1 egg (beaten)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a small frypan gently saute the onion and bacon. Meanwhile in saucepan, cook the carrot and zucchini until tender, puree and allow to cool. Put all of the filling ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Cut each puff pastry sheet in half. Divide the mixture between the sheets, placing the mixture down the middle of each pastry portion. Roll to enclose, with the pastry seam underneath. Cut to the required length (I do party size) and place onto a greased tray. Brush with the egg and bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve with tomato ketchup.



Honey soy chicken wings

• 1.5 kilo. chicken wings

for the marinade:
• 2 tables. honey
• 2 tables. light soy sauce
• 2 tables. dark soy sauce
• 2 tables. sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tables. tomato ketchup
• 2 tables. sesame seeds

Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and marinate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the chicken wings on a greased tray and cook for 45 minutes.

Happy New Year

Candles, lanterns and twinkle lights. Delicious Sri Lankan Fish Curry made together with love. Yummy local chardonnay, given as a gift. Melody Gardot. Soft summer showers of rain cooling the air. The kids at grandma's for a sleepover. What a lovely night. We danced our way into the new year listening to a fabulous new jazz cd, with a new years kiss to the sound of nearby fireworks and a sudden downpour of rain. With a start like this, I just know this is going to be a very good year.

Then this morning after a sleep in, 7:30am instead of the usual 4:30/5am wake up, Mr Moo surprised me with this breakfast. Totally delectable scrambled eggs, the last of the xmas ham, rocket from the garden and Danish feta sprinkled over the top.



We quickly slipped into holiday mode for the rest of the day, swimming and resting with the day ending with a last minute bbq at our place for Mr Moo Dad’s birthday. A house full of happiness, Moet and chocolate cake, the perfect end to a lovely start to the year.

Happy 74th Birthday Ian!

T'was was the night before Christmas

Actually, it was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Christmas eve. I was having trouble finding the joy of the season.

But then I looked around...


The stockings were hung on the cabinet with care.



Preparations were underway for Christmas Eve dinner with Mr Moo's parents and brother.



Beautiful new red and green christmas birds were on display.



The presents were all wrapped.



And the last Santa had been placed on our Christmas countdown calender.

It was the perfect Christmas Eve, good company, beautiful, well behaved children and yummy food. Roast chicken with marsala cream gravy and roast vegetables, followed by bread and butter pudding made from croissants with chocolate. The Christmas indulgence had begun.

It was then and there that I decided that I would start the new year looking at things a little more closely. Beauty and joy are all around us and I think, well I know, I haven't been taking notice lately. So with my only new years resolution : I intend to live more consciously. Wish me luck :)