Danger in the kitchen

Ok, one of those kind of afternoons... I love this mixer. It's quiet, light, easy to use and we got it from Skip Shopper's Grandparents & May made plenty of sponges with this beauty. Special . It really whizzes a storm and we have it out all the time, until now. One birthday cake too many. Smoke. Yep. Smoke coming out. Luckily, it started to smoke when the cake had finished smoking, I did have to hand mix the colours for the marbling in.

It is actually the second appliance we have blown up today. The first one made me believe that there was a power outage with the rain storm. The boys were making toasties (baked bean) after school, and then the youngest one (6yrs) decided to make one too, popped it in the breville...and futt. Yep. There was a noise. That should have been the clue, but no, I still thought that the power has just gone out. Called the neighbour on the "stuck" phone (the one attached to the wall. No, she was right, decided that she was on a different grid. Had a lovely long chat. Got off the phone, answered a phone message from Edna (95) down the road about the postman leaving my mum's mail at her house, forgot to ask her about the power, spoke to my mum (her neighbour) forgot to ask her about the power... then rang the power people. No power outage. IS THE SWITCH DOWN???? Oh, you mean that one that is switched down? (I have never seen THAT one down before - only individual ones - yikes! Must have been a biggie!) Yep. Ok, comprehendo.... Yes, I won't use the toastie anymore kind sir....promise.... Now I look at it, the wires are a little melted.....................

Nice afternoon.

Cake is cooked now.

Let's hope I can do dinner with no hitches

How to make Egg Free Crepes

This is one of our favourites that we cook nearly every Sunday morning. We sat down to eat them yesterday & I thought that it would be nice to share them with others. My sister shared the recipe with me, and now, I share it with the world. Thanks Bec! It is really easy & no fail.

Bec's Egg Free Crepes

1 & 1/2 cups milk
1 & 1/2 cups flour
1 tbs sunflower oil

Mix all together & add more milk if you need to make it a runny cream like consistency.

Pour about 1/3 cup in a hot frypan that has been sprayed with oil & when it looks like it has started to change colour and firm up, turn over & cook the other side. Voila! Crepes galore.

Just get the lemons & sugar, & maple & bacon ready to serve.

I use the old Sunbeam mixer as it is so quick, quiet & easy. I triple the recipe for our family of 3 boys & 2 adults so that there are no arguements over the last one. They last really well in the fridge or freezer if any are left over & they make great desserts (with chocolate sauce & ice-cream....).

Words and Pictures - Fragant

I love waking up on Sunday morning to the fragrant smell of coffee and waffles. Coffee is one of my favourite smells in all time, and the smell of waffles cooking in the morning is just precious. The fragrance fills the house until every corner has been saturated with waffle. Then we gobble them up covered in maple syrup, tomatoes, bacon, lemon & sugar, yogurt, or whatever we feel like, and sip our coffee. Yum.

Egg-Free Waffles:

2 Cups of flour

1&1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups milk

1 tbsp sunflower oil

Whizz this all together & then put a few tablespoons onto your waffle iron & cook until golden. Enjoy!

Thanks Pip for a great theme again this week.

tomato heaven

we have been doing a bit of thrifty buying lately with the humble tomato. Firstly on a trip to Lederderg Gorge, we found ourselves at Jeff Jone's fruit and veggie stall in Bacchus Marsh where we bought a whole box of tomatoes for $5. Yikes! I hear you cry! So I had to make sauce, as in the sauce you put on snags, chops, chips or anything you like. One batch with Red Wine Vinegar & one batch with Balsamic. It's a great sauce.

Tomato Sauce:

1 tbs cloves

2 tbs whole allspice

1 tbs black peppercorns

Tie these in a square of muslin

5 kg tomatoes chopped up roughly

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbs ground ginger

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

30g salt

600g vinegar (I experiment with different ones to get different flavour ones, apple cider, malt, red wine, etc)

Put all these into your biggest non-reactive pot & bring it to the boil. Boil it steadily for 1 hour making sure that you stir from time to time to ensure that it doesn't stick to the bottom & burn.

Add 1 kg sugar & continue to boil for another 2 hours stirring from time to time.

Take out the muslin bag & squeeze out the juices. Blend the whole pot with a stick blender, & using a funnel, pour into sterilised bottles, cap & allow to cool.

Then skip shopper went to the vic market early on Saturday morning & bought another box of roma tomatoes (bigger box) for $10...that have sat waiting until last night - I couldn't be bothered doing it by myself. So last night, we got ourselves organised, 1st chopping board at one end, bucket for rotten bits, bucket with water for washing them, next chopping board to chop them up, then pot. We filled 2 huge pots - I know lust after one of those huge cauldrons. I also suddenly wanted to have music playing with people dancing around, beer and wine being drunk, children running around, food being eaten....a great tomato festival! Next year. We chopped, we cooked, we blended, we funnelled, we spilt, we put the crown seals on, I broke a bottle...not a good idea - but the red was a great red - we cleaned up, then sat down at 11pm & watch Scrubs, I had no idea that this was on at this time! Great show. I am tired, but have great bottles of tomato.

make bunches while the rain falls

I looooove fresh herbs and absolutely love to cook with them, however oregano is one that is best dried. Now is the time that it is gows tall so I like to cut bunches of the stems before they get too "leggy".

I gather about 10 stems which works out to be about right a good amount of dried oregano for a single use.

then tie them up with the string that I used from the last bunch (just loosen the knot)

And hang them to dry until I need to crunch them over the pot of bubbling pasta sauce....soup...bolognese...mmmm

Time to go sew...

breaky worth getting up for

Now, this is a mean muesli & I feel a little selfish keeping the recipe to myself, so, for lovers of fine, good food who don't mind spending a little time in the kitchen - this is worth it. My measurements are approximated as I do tend to just tip stuff in. I make it nut free due to allergies in the family, if you like nuts, just substitute the seeds with nuts - or add them in.

1.1 kg of rolled oats

1 cup of oat or wheat bran

juice of 2 oranges or equivalent juice of whatever takes your fancy

4 tablespoons of honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional, but worth it)

1/2 tsp ground cloves (optional, but worth it)

100g each of linseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds

100g each of dried apple, dried apricot, dates, sultanas (I do tend to change these every time)

Mix juice, spices & honey together & pour over oats & bran. Use your hands to thoroughly massage mixture. Spread into a large tin (I use the BIG cake tin) & pop in the oven pre-heated at 200 degrees Celsius. Every 10-15 mins you need to use an egg flipper or spoon to turn it all over, taking care with the corners to ensure that it doesn't burn. Cook until it is not too golden brown.

Whilst it is cooking, pop the sesame & linseeds on a tray & put them in the oven. When you open the oven to turn the oats, do the same with the seeds. After about 20 min, add the pumpkin & sunflower. Keep checking them & when they are golden, take them out - make sure they don't burn.

Take both out & put all ingredients together & allow to cool. Store in an airtight container. Will last for probably a number of weeks if given the chance.

Feel free to change it around with the spices, juice, fruit & seeds - you will get all different kinds of muesli to keep you going.

A taste of country

Ok, we might have left the camera at home, but we still managed to have a bunch of fun, and the images are left in our minds forever!

...and we did come home as always wondering whether living in the country would be a better life with three boys. A nice simple life - but would we miss too much of inner city Melbourne?

aussie chinese food...

I'm still thinking about those bastardised chinese recipes that our mothers and grandmothers used to cook up for us & we all covered in soy sauce and called it chow mein or just chinese food. I want to put them together with the stories that go with them. What you liked about them (or not), the recipe and whose it was, did it leave a good memory in the family, does anyone still make it? My mum used to use up all the old vegies that were just about to go off in the bottom of the drawer & chuck in heap of cabbage & mince meat. I don't think that it was ever the same, and I am not sure that as kids we ever actually liked it....except for the soy sauce...

So please, please, please - send your aussie chinese recipes, the stories behind them & the memories to megsthreads@gmail.com.

New skirts in my etsy shop with some of the market shopping bags coming later this week.

Chow mein, chop suey or kai see ming?

After a big day of driving to out to the country with three kids kicking the back of our seats fighting and moaning, we had dinner at my brother's place. My sister-in-law had made "chinese food" from her grandmother's recipe. Fantastic. Mince, cabbage, bit of this that & the other with soy sauce. Quite different from my family's chinese food. It got me to thinking about "australian chinese food", and in particular chow mein, chop suey or Kai see Ming (and any other so-named derivative) and how every family seems to have their own completely different recipe.

I would REALLY love to hear from anyone who has a family recipe. If you do, could you please drop me a line on the "Contact me" button with:

1. your name
2. your memory of who made it
3. the family recipe
4. what you loved (or hated) about it
5. do you make it now
6. anything else ( special ocassion? same day each week? something fancy? other?)

I'll keep you up to date on my hunt for australian chinese food!

Gold, Pure Gold

It all began on a very rainy morning last Thursday in one of those terrible indoor playcentres last week.
I hate those places because:
a) you have to pay
b) they are noisy
c) the food is crap
d) the coffee is crap.
I love them because when it rains in Melbourne and you have a preschooler:
a) it is freezing and they still want to run around & they DO drive you nuts in the house
b) you can catch up with your own friends & they can knit or crotchet (yes, I am still obeying the osteopaths orders & twiddling my thumbs)
c) you can drink crap coffee & be warm & talk.
So it is this conundrum of Love/Hate that led me to this place in the pouring rain & also the fact that it is essential to my mental health to meet with my friends on Thursday morning as it is what I call my "Thursday Therapy Session". For those of you who are not as fortunate as I to have a weekly therapy session with like minded people, this may well be an eye opener for you. You may feel that you have been missing out on many things in life. We do solve many of lifes little problems, and sometimes, the bigger ones.
Some of the topics that were discussed and worked through were: music lessons, interview techniques, returning to work availabilities, sporting parent responsibilities, annoying babysitters, partners input into domesticities, tall story telling 4.5yr old children, until we got down to the real nitty gritty topic that is probably the most important...what to have for tea tonight. Let's face it. We are all sick and tired of thinking of another single meal to make & if someone else can think of one for us, then all the better. Finally someone said Osso Bucco and it was finalised for me and Ange, but it did somehow got us onto a funny conversation about the Gold in the freezer. It went a little something like this.
M: I don't ever label anything that goes into my freezer, because I always think that I will remember what it was, but then I forget, so then we have to have a "freezer-surprise week" which hopefully doesn't mean apple crumble for dinner.
A: I always make chicken stock and then put it in the freezer and leave it there. It stays there too long and I think that it is too good for the family
M: It's like gold, pure gold. Actually, I think I probably have some in the freezer from last year.
A: Too good for the family
M: Waiting for someone to have a baby so you can make them a soup
On the way home, Ange & I saw each other at the butcher buying the osso bucco, and the bones for the chicken stock...pure gold for the freezer...just waiting for the baby to come. Maybe I'll make a rissotto for the family this week. Or maybe just chuck the whole lot into a casserole! Surely that is not wasting such good stock - or is it? After the boys walked in the door after school & asked what smelt so good, it would be mean not to let them have the stock...

Stephanies Recipe (adapted)
bag of chicken bones
tops of 3 leeks
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs parsley
12 peppercorns
2 sprigs thyme
Bring to the boil, simmer for 4 hours, strain allow to cool, skim off fat & use within 2/3 days or freeze (but please DO use).




Oh, and it I did find that ice-cream container of stock from last year that doesn't have a date on it. Not sure whether to chuck it... I have made a promise to myself that I will from now on label all food going into the freezer. (note that beautiful tower of fresh frozen stock).





I really must go & sweep up all of those nectarine leaves that came off the tree in that storm on Friday & pop them in the compost. Please, please never put your green waste in your normal bin. It is much better for the environment for it to disposed of by the council with the green waste rather than being put with landfill and becoming part of the problem. I know that my council does a free monthly pick up of green waste, so if you don't have a compost bin, either start one up or check with your council. We only get one chance at this earth!

the beginning leg of my journey

I have finally joined the age of technology and my inner ramblings can now become web ramblings for any, or none, who may well be interested...or those who may not.

I am on a sabbatical for now from sewing as my neck and shoulder pain has become too grand and the osteopath is wondering if there is a correlation between sewing and my ridiculously painful neck and shoulders. All this has meant that I have been thrown into deep dispair & have realised that I have to do something else creative.

So, thank goodness for Etsy, I have created my own little shop and will pop my things on bit by bit and now my little blog. In writing this I have managed to almost burn a pot of soup, scream at 3 boys to clean up their room & stomp up & down the house 3 times....ahhh, where is the serenity? ...til next time, Meg