The other 2 Recipes

Here are the other two recipes from my baking session. 1st, Sausage Pie. I even made my own short crust pastry, which has less fat than store bought flaky pastry (not that I ever really worry about that), but it is also less likely to go soggy and doesn't shrink as much. Anyway, here's the photo of the pie and the recipe.

Short Crust pastry:

1 1/2 cups flour

75g cold butter

1/4 cup cold water, with few drops of lemon juice in it.

Using a food processor, add the flour and butter, then use pulse button whilst slowly adding in the water in a slow steady stream, stopping to test every now and then. You want the particle moist enough to form a ball when pressed together, but not so moist that it forms a ball in the processor.

I used 2 lots of this pastry for the pie, as it was a double crust (base and top).

Roll out 2/3's of the pastry and ease into a 23 cm pie plate, or a deep 20cm cake tin.

Filling:

2 onions chopped

1 apple chopped

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp garlic salt

800g sausage meat

4 firm tomatoes

herbs to suit (I used a bit of thyme and a small sprinkle of mixed herbs)

3 beaten egg

Place onions and apple in food processor and process till fine. Add curry powder, salt and sausage meat and process till well mixed.

Slice the tomatoes and place 1/2 in the base of the uncooked pastry, sprinkle with herbs and pour over 1/2 the eggs. Cover with 1/2 the sausage meat and then repeat the process, reserving a little egg for the top.

Roll out remaining pastry and cover the pie, overlapping the edges, sealing them with a brush of water and then press them together firmly. Brush top with the reserved egg. Bake for approx 20 minutes at 220oC (till nicely browned), then reduce to 180oC and bake for a further 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for approx 20-30 minutes before serving.

NB, I used more meaty sausages than just sausage meat, but this did produce excess water during cooking, so would go with the regular sausage meat as suggested next time.

Blueberry Buckle - This was way yum!

175 gm butter or margarine

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

3 eggs

3 cups flours

4 tsp baking powder

dash of milk

For the top:

Cup blueberries

Tblspn coffee crystals or raw sugar

Cream butter and sugar (make it real light and fluffy), add the vanilla then beat in eggs one at a time.

Fold in the flour and baking powder, about a cup at a time. Add a dash of milk and mix through. Spread batter over the base of a greased rectangular tin. Evenly distribute the blueberries over the top, then sprinkle over the sugar. Bake at 190oC for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Can be served warm or cold. (Also good with some flaked almonds and dusted icing sugar on top).

A bit of baking

A few weeks ago I decided I was getting a bit tired of the same old food making it's way to the table. With the busy times and odd dinner times some days, I'd got down to about a dozen or so trusted easy meals and found I was repeating them each fortnight. I'd also been watching Glenna and Wendy's blogs on their baking and it got me inspired. Time for a change. I'd just bought a Woman's Day (which i hadn't done in the past few months) and that had some nice looking recipes in it. I then took down some cook books (dusting off the cobwebs..lol) and had a good look through.

Since then, in between the craziness and whilst the painted writing was drying on the tiles etc, I managed to bake 4 new things that I have never made before and so far, all have the thumbs up from Mike. The kids weren't as pleased with the pie, stating they really liked my other pies, but hey still pretty good stats if you ask me.

So, I've decided to share them (and the recipes - slightly altered to suit in some cases) with you. Let me know if you try them and how they turn out.

First was Popovers - weird name?

3 eggs

1/3 cup cheese

1 cup milk

1 cup plain flour

1/2 tspn salt

other ingredients of your choice - bacon, onion etc - I used some basil pesto, pine nuts and diced chorizo sausage.

Place muffin pan in hot oven to heat. (I used 215 oC)

Whisk eggs and mil together, then whisk in flour and salt, then stir in cheese and other ingredients.

Remove pan from oven, spray with oil and pour batter evenly into each muffin cup. Return to hot oven and bake for 25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Super yum as light dinner with a salad or a good snack.

Easy Lemon Tart

Firstly, I have to admit it is meant to be in a smaller dish and therefore a bit higher, but didn't have one, so wide and thin it was!

Into a food processor, place:

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

100gm melted butter

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup coconut

zest of 2 lemons

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 cup milk

Process till thoroughly mixed, pour into 20-23cm pan and bake at 170 oC for 45 minuets or until pie is turning dark golden on top and the filing is set. We had this hot with a bit of icecream the first night, but it was also pretty good cold when it had set a bit firmer in the fridge.

Both easy, both yum. More photos and recipes to follow.

There's busy, very busy, then CRAZY!

That's what it has been like for me for the past couple of weeks. I'm just starting to come to the end of it now, so looking forward to some downtime. This blog post might be a bit of a marathon, but will try and keep it sort as possible while I recount the past 2 weeks.

So, it started with a surprise visit from my brother at the end of October (as per previous posts) and all the preparations (baking etc), for my sister Jo's birthday. There were also gardening jobs, cricket practice, Parent Support Group and preparations for the upcoming Plunket baby feet tiling sessions at my house.

The second week commenced with Monday and Tuesday being hugely busy with the tiling. Nearly 100 baby/toddler prints on tiles, mugs and plates. Then off to cricket practice and for me - training on how to score girls cricket. Then there was the clean up work on the Wednesday and the first load of tiles into the kiln, followed by kids after school ceramic classes, and the usual evening stuff. Thursday was shopping for supplies for the catering job Jo and I had for the Saturday, along with baking some of the items that could be stored for 2 days. Also had to pop out and do Mike's banking, pay some bills, do at least some washing and the try and tidy the kitchen a little before more baking on the Friday. Friday was more baking (brownie - yum), buying more serving trays, buying an electric knife and getting everything ready for the catering job the next day after Taryn's cricket. Cooked dinner and had just washed the mini muffin pans ready to take over to Jo's with the ingredients she needed for the baking she was going to do. I had 2 batches of brownie to go when Wendy rang to say she'd been having niggles all day and would I come over and sit with her, as Ashley was out getting ready to play at the final of battle of the bands. OF COURSE I would!!! No way she needed to ask me that one twice. I was super excited for her, especially considering how long she'd been wanting for this and the fact she was a week overdue. So a mad dash to Jo's, then on the Motorway. - On arrival at Wendy's, some plan's had changed, as the band had pulled out of the final (long story and let's not go there), so Ashley was in fact on his way home. Wendy and I sat and chatted, with the odd contraction here and there, then Ashley arrived home and things ramped up some. I wont go into detail, as it wasn't my labour and so not my place, but let's just say Wendy did an awesome job and stayed at home well past what most new mums would have I'm sure. It was really getting excited. Then it was time for them to head off to the birthing unit. I headed home. I was on such a high, but fell completely flat on the way home and had a good cry. Labour is emotional, even when it's not your own. If you are there experiencing it, you can't help but get caught up in it. Plus, I was way tired and hadn't stopped for the better part of 2 weeks. I got home just after midnight but was still totally wired, waiting on news baby had arrived, so as much as I needed sleep, I couldn't, so got another brownie done. I then went to bed around 12.45 and lay there awake wondering how Wendy was doing. baby arrived at 1.46 and Wendy txt me at about 2.45. I think I dropped off around 3.30 and was up again around 7am, totally buggered, with a big day ahead.

Saturday morning, started with cricket in Mt Roskill and we had to be there by 8am! Straight home from cricket and off to the catering job. right after that, had to go and pick up Taryn's friend Wiloh for Taryn's birthday sleepover. Then off to Gary and Tracy's for dinner (arranged by Mike). It was good not to have to cook that night, but my bed was calling me. Had 3 1/2 glasses of wine and i was toast! Slept most of Sunday, but obviously not long enough, as headed over to the birthing unit to do baby feet prints on tiles for Wendy, only to get all the way out there (Botany) and find I had left the paints behind!!!

Since then I have been busy trying to get these tiles, mugs and plates fired, staying up late at night to get another load into the kiln, (baking in between the paint drying), attending cricket practice and more scoring training, Camp Maynard meetings and letting tradesmen in at the camp during the day to get some work done. Finally today I got a short breather around 11am. I considered having a quick nap, but as I walked down the hall, I noticed that the dust bunnies were so bad, they were trying to grab my leg as I walked past, so out came the vacuum. From there I decided something scrummy for tea was in order and so made a sausage pie (first time) and it wasn't too bad. I'd change it up a bit next time, but good first attempt.

Looking forward to Monday afternoon. Tiles etc are being picked up Monday morning, so get to have a decent breather. As for tomorrow, 2 ladies will be here doing some work on their clay pieces, then if time permits I'll pop over to Wendy's to get those precious feet painted up and if that doesn't a day with her next week might be in order. I thought I would have seen much more of tiny by now, by my CRAZY schedule just hasn't allowed for that. Dang it all!

So, here's looking forward to a bit of normal.

ps. for those that are reading this saying so much for the hand sitting, I am still practicing that, but when something involves financial reward, one must say yes in these economic times. Posts and photos of baking soon.

Sleeping Baby

My brother just sent through this photo of Connor sleeping on me last Wednesday and I had to share it. Yes my eyes welled up when I saw it, but happy memories!

One last visit - or maybe two!

On Friday night, we made one last visit down to mum and Dad's to see Brian, Cathie & Conner, as they were flying out the next day and Taryn had cricket all day Saturday, so it was likely Friday night would be the last time we saw them.

Managed to get in another good lot of cuddles with Connor. Then found out their flight on Saturday was at 3.40, they needed to be at the airport by 1.40 and so would be leaving mum's at 1pm Saturday. That meant that after Taryn's game finished, we could probably make it back to say good-bye, (which we did end up doing).

Taryn's game went well for a first game and they won by 6 runs. Taryn batted 5th and made 5 runs. When fielding, she played 1/2 a game as Wicket Keeper - which she enjoyed and seemed quite good at. She bowled several overs and managed to get 2 wickets by bowling the batter out. Her best friend - Wiloh - who at first practice said "I suck at bowling" also bowled a batter out and took another wicket by running the girl out. A great day was had by all. Not sure about these early Saturday morning though. 7am!!!

After cricket, we went straight to mums to catch Bri, Cathie and Conner. More quick cuddles and this time I really cuddled him tight, right into my neck and kissed him heaps. I knew I was going to miss this little man something wicked. As they left, it was hugs all round. I was determined not to cry and so held it together quite well. I made it through the whole day with my eyes welling up a little when I thought about it, but otherwise did okay. It wasn't until I was making dinner and Taryn came and gave me a hug and said "Oh Mum, you smell just like Connor", that I lost the plot - I quickly went to my room and had myself a little cry. Then I tried in vein to smell him, by sniffing the shoulder of my top, but I couldn't smell what Taryn had smelt. In fact I seemed to have little smell at all.

I woke up the next morning with a sinus infection - that explained my inability to smell and I figured it was probably better that way, cause had I smelt him on me, not sure dinner would have been finished. We will have to skype them soon so Connor keeps seeing us. Man I miss him so much already! I commented on Facebook that 10 days wasn't long enough and that maybe 10 years would be a little more acceptable!

D-Day with Miss Wendy

Today I went and spent the day with Miss Wendy. It was Tiny's due date. First off, Paula, Wendy and I went to the movies to see Julie and Julia. It was really good. We went to Sylvia Park and into cinema 9 which was in the Directors Lounge area. Small cinema, but way comfy seats, that were wide enough that you could put your legs up and curl up like you would at home. We enjoyed the movie and then (after watching all that yummy cooking) went and had some lunch.

Then it was time for a spot of shopping. We wandered through Sylvia Park stopping here and there. I bought some cookie cutters. Wendy found a pourer spout for Ashley's vodka. We then saw a neat metal tree that we thought could be used as a stencil with Glimmer Mist, so convinced Paula she needed to buy it - and we can then borrow it. lol! Then onto the Bling shop where we bought some goodies, then down to warehouse, where we all seemed to find something we were looking for. A good shopping trip, considering it was just tagged on to the end.

Wendy did amazingly well, considering we near dragged her from one end of the mall to the other at 40 weeks pregnant - still though, labour did not set in!

Home we went. Paula headed off to get tea for her troupe, but considering it was by then after 4pm, I decided no way was I tackling the traffic back to the North Shore, so asked Wendy what was for dinner, to which she replied "What ever you're cooking"-not the answer I was looking for. So instead, I sampled her fudge - big yum and a choc chip & oat cookie (I've had them before, but had to sample to ensure consistency and yes, just as good as always). Then we got out the crochet blanket, wrapped Miss Wendy up in it and I took some photos of her gorgeous 40 week belly. Some standing and a couple lying down with booties on top the belly - (1 of them is on her blog - go see, it's way cute). That was loads of fun. Finally it was time to head home to my family and let Miss Wendy have a rest from the big day out, so I said good-bye to Wendy, rubbed her tummy and told tiny I was looking forward to meeting him/her and headed home. A great Friday spent in great company.

Dinner with the Moore's

Bri, Cathie and Connor came over for dinner last night. We had vegetable bake (potato, kumara and pumpkin cooked in coconut milk, herb mix and a cheese topping), Scotch fillet steaks and salad. It was yummy. Finally opened the bottle of Calais Cab Sav 2000, that I bought in the Hunter Valley with Bri when we went to visit in September a few years back. It was good! Was great to be drinking it with him. Bri even reckoned it could have gone another few years. Bri and I were the only 2 drinking it, but we still ran out way too quickly.

Mike decided to let off a few fireworks (yeah lets not even go there about the fact he let them off on the deck! He said it was wet, so would be fine, which it seemed to be, but still!!!) and so Connor had his first cracker night. He was amazed at them. I half expected him to cry or be frightened, but no, he just looked on with wonder. I took loads of photos and a short video of him with the crackling firework - watch the eye movement as he blinks his way through it. Still no tears though.

Taryn (who is not at all like a clucky preteen, in fact has little interest in babies full stop), finally asked for a cuddle, so I grabbed the opportunity to snap some photos of them together. The two of them then sat down and watch Spongebob Squarepants together. It was way cute.

All round a great night. Can't believe this week has gone so fast and that they are leaving tomorrow, it has come around all too quickly. I think I really am going to have to get motivated and get some stuff on trademe to sell off and make enough money for spending and supporting myself for a week, so that I can get to Sydney to spend some time with them soon. I already have enough points for a free flight, so that's my goal for the new year (once it's not so hot in Sydney) - save some $$.

No Connor fix tonight!

Phoned to go over and get a good dose, but Bri, Cathie and Connor were heading out to Jo's for dinner, so it would have to wait till tomorrow. Then decided to head out to the movies with mum. We saw couples retreat. It was light hearted fun. First time I've had to pay for the movies for a while, as we have always used vouchers from fly Buys. Boy it's expensive to go to the movies!

Dropped mum home afterwards and as the lights were on got excited about the possibility of a late night cuddle before going home, but wasn't to be, as Connor was fast asleep in bed. Bri advised they were heading down to Mitch's around lunch tomorrow. Mum and I were going to be gardening, so said I'd pick her up in the morning and try and get in a cuddle at the same time. made plans for Bri, Cathie and Connor to come to dinner on Thursday night - Yeah, more cuddles!

Connor Withdrawals

For the past 2 days, have had so much going on (and had also made a decision that I wouldn't invade mum's house every day while Bri, Cathie and Connor were here), that I am now having Connor withdrawals. I need a fix, will try and get over to see him tonight.

Cricket Girl

Taryn signed up to play cricket this year and despite only ever playing in inter-school tournaments previously, shows some good natural skill at the game. Their season kicked off today with a 6-a-side tournament at Melville Park in Epsom.

We had to be up at 7am (despite having been at my sister Jo's 40th party the night before) to get on the road by 7.30 to avoid any delays with the 2 lanes on the bridge being closed for the Auckland Marathon. Little did we know however, that not only were 2 lanes on the bridge closed, but so was Onewa Rd, which I had headed down for a quick entry onto the motorway. So I took the detour thinking I could go down Sylvan Ave - No! that was closed too. Ok, on at Northcote - ah No! That too was closed, after which, the detour signs promptly disappeared??? So, round the corner to Barry's Point Rd - closed!!! I knew then, there was no way I was going to make it on time - freaking out! Made a call to let them know. Finally managed to get onto the motorway after travelling through Takapuna to Esmonde Road. We were late, but didn't miss the start of any games, just the Managers (of which I am one) briefing! But it all turned out fine in the end.

Taryn's team were the winners in their grade. A great morning's fun. Unfortunately, no photo's, as I forgot the camera at home and Mike who was going to bring it for me, also forgot - must have something to do with that late night/early morning after Jo's party.

Sweet and Juicy

That's what this strawberry from my plant was. And, as you can see, there are more on the way to mouths very, very soon.

This picture doesn't show it very clearly, but one of the strawberries has a hammer head end. Instead of starting wide at the stem, it starts narrow and goes out at each side on the other end - weird, but I'm sure it will taste just fine!

Baking for the Birthday

Friday and Saturday I did some baking for Jo's 40th birthday party. 32 chocolate brownie squares and 48 tart cases (ready to make mini lemon meringue tarts and banoffee pies) - yum!

I thought whilst I was at it, might as well do some baking for the family, so made a large batch of 60 fudgey bite biscuits and with the left over sweet short pastry from the tart cases, I also made Mike some soaked fruit (Christmas cake fruit soak in rum, brandy and Marsala wine) tartlets.

My kitchen smelt absolutely divine. Here's what my bench looked like 1/2 way through and a picture of the finished cookies (recipe to follow). I didn't get a chance to get any pics of the tarts once completed, as the evening just flew on by and the tarts were eaten in a flash!