What's cooking through the round window..

Not so long ago a quick flick through the latest Delicious mag would be what inspired a new culinary adventure in the kitchen..

Yesterday I picked up a recipe idea from a slightly different source.., Thom's favourite show, Playschool!!

In between all the singing, dancing around and the pretend play, Playschool sometimes throws in the odd 'cooking' segment, you know pizza with toppings arranged to make a face.. 

In this particular episode, they made Cheesy/Vegemite Scrolls. They looked pretty yummy and really easy, so I thought we'd try a batch..

25 minutes later my happy little Vegemite was very much enjoying his tasty new snack.

I tweaked the recipe we saw a little bit, like using wholemeal flour instead of white and the result was not half bad..

Here's our version -

• 2 1/3 cups of wholemeal self raising flour
• 40g of butter, cubed
• a pinch of salt
• 200mls of milk
• 2/3 a cup of colby or mild cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons of Vegemite
• extra butter and Vegemite melted to brush on.

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Mix flour, salt and butter together in a food processor to form a fine bread crumb like texture.
3. Add milk and mix until combined.
4. Turn out dough mixture onto a well floured board and lightly knead into a ball.
5. Roll out dough to form a rectangle approximately 30 x 20cm.
6. Add a teaspoon of boiling water to the Vegemite and stir until smooth.
7. Spread the dough with the Vegemite and then sprinkle the cheese top.
8. Roll up the dough length ways to form a log.
9. Slice the log up into 2cm thick pieces and place on a tray lined with baking paper.
10. Brush scrolls with the melted butter/Vegemite and bake for 15mins or until lightly browned.

This is a good easy recipe to modify too.. Next time we might try herb and feta or aged cheddar and mustard etc. 

Who knows where this new source of inspiration will lead, decorating ideas via 'The Night Garden' perhaps..?

Have a lovely weekend!! xx

and in other news..!!

I have something rather exciting to share..

There's going to be a wee addition to our family this year. Yep, bambino number two is on the way!! 

We're all very excited!! Even Thom points to my ever expanding belly regularly, exclaiming 'Baaayyybeee'. I have no idea what he could possibly imagine that means however..

Now 17 weeks up the duff and thankfully over some pretty horrendous 'morning' sickness, I've reached that happy, slightly more energetic stage...  

I'm soo hungry too!! I've had some ferocious cravings this time... Anything pickled (I know, such a cliche), naughty quite disgusting things like chicken nuggets and really hot/sour foods, like Vindaloo and jalapenos straight from the jar.. 

I'm sure all this acid can't be good for my poor stomach, but I can't help myself! 

pickles, pickles, pickles!!

A couple of weeks ago, I couldn't stop thinking about the spicy Buffalo Wings.. 

It got so bad, I nearly convinced my husband to drive an hour and a half down the coast so I could satisfy my craving.  Luckily he brought me to my senses and suggested I try making my own..

I found this recipe on the web had a crack. They turned out quite well, maybe a tad to sticky. I would use a lot less butter next time and bake them again, basted with the sauce. Still they did the trick..

 

Anyone else with crazy cravings to share??

dear photograph

Have you seen this?? It's a site called Dear Photograph where old family photos are revisited in the locations they were originally taken, sometimes many decades later..  

This is such a sweet concept, don't you think?  Some of the comments made by the contributors are really moving too.. It's made me feel quite warm and fuzzy actually... Check it out for yourself here.

Have a lovely weekend all! xx

my January, hot, wet but not without inspiration..

Well hello and happy (much belated) new year!!

The first month of 2012 has been lovely although, pretty low key for me..

It began with a couple of blissful weeks in the mountains, soaking up the country air and catching up with family and old friends.

Christmas Day Petanque. Thongs are not obligatory in case you're wondering...

Lunch under the plane tree

My stained glass window cake turned quite well I thought..

Dad's very creative cake decorating. Cute!

We played farmers for a week too, as caretakers for my parents property. Initially a daunting task for a couple of city slickers, considering the menagerie of animals entrusted to our care, but we soon got into the swing of things.. In fact Andrew was in his element, setting off across the paddocks early each morning, on the quad bike to feed the animals and collect the eggs. I think access to the bike was definitely a motivating factor.

 Meanwhile I had a lovely time chasing Thom around the property (he's very mobile now) and hanging out in the kitchen baking bread. I rarely had my apron off...

Thom making new friends

Then it was back to the city and the heat..!

It didn't take long before we were heading for the air conditioned refuge of one of my favourite city oasis's and sources of inspiration, GOMA and The Queensland Gallery.

In my opinion, the Gallery/Library precinct at South Bank is really Brisbane's star attraction. There's always something new and interesting happening and with a lot of the exhibitions being free, it's the perfect place to grab coffee or lunch with friends and then while away the afternoon in the cool of the gallery.

It would have to be the most kid friendly gallery I've ever been to as well. Almost every major exhibition has an interactive component created especially for kids. These installations are just as fun for big kids too..

Yayoi Kusama's 'Obliteration Room' before and after..

 Photo's courtesy of GOMA

I've visited there twice in the last couple of weeks.. The first time was to see the contemporary Japanese artist with a penchant for dots, Yayoi Kusama and then I was back to see the much anticipated Matisse, Drawing Life Exhibition.

An absolute highlight is 'The Drawing Room' (and cafe), a interactive space where one could spend hours..

Easels, paper, pencils and high tech tablets are set up in front of vignettes of various beautiful objects, sculpture and even live models, all artfully arranged to bring to out the inner artist. 

photos courtesy of GOMA

Here are a couple of my attempts on the tablet.. You can email your scribbles home or to friends and then continue playing with this sketching program on your own computer. Highly addictive!!

And it's not just me that's got the drawing bug...

Thom's first 'masterpiece'. He's into dots... Very Yayoi Kusama.

And don't you just love washable markers..

Then it rained and rained and rained.., which meant only venturing out for supplies or to keep Thom & I from going stir crazy (The cabin fever was definitely beginning to set in..). 

My friends did drag me out of the house this last (very soggy) Saturday night though and I'm so glad they did! 

Thanks to a tip off on the Fun and VJs blog (which I somehow missed), they whisked me off to the book launch of Australian Modern, a local publication devoted to the best of Australian modernism. You can bye it here. 

The launch was hosted by creative director and publisher Chris Osbourne and his partner Susan at their incredibly fab house (featured on the cover).

It was really terrific night,  catching up with friends I haven't seen in years and making new ones..  I finally met Fun & VJ's gorgeous Anita in person too, looking fab in her paisley mini. A girl of many talents, Anita also did a great job editing Australian Modern. 

Everyone got in the spirit of things too, frocking up in their retro vintage best...

my mate Ange hamming it up in her mod frock...

And today, the last day of January, the sun is finally out and a coastal breeze has blown away the clouds revealing the first blue sky in what seems like ages.. 

The change in weather has me looking forward to February and what it might have in store. I've a feeling it's going to be a tad more up tempo, probably a good thing..

stained glass window cake...

This year I put my hand up to tackle one of the family Christmas cakes, previously the sole responsibility of my Mother and as Sunday was grey and drizzly here, it was perfect for a little festive baking...

We traditionally have two cakes at Christmas.., a lusciously rich fruit cake with lots of brandy and a marzipan/royal icing and the 'Stained Glass Window Cake' laden with nuggets of glace fruit and nuts, which is the one I decided to attempt (the easier of  the two).

Ingredients

3/4 cup of plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt.

3/4 cup of caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs   

1 cup of chopped dried figs

1  & 1/2 cups of whole brazil nuts

1 & 1/2 cups of whole walnuts or pecans

1/2 a cup of glacé ginger

1 cup of maraschino cherries

1 cup of dried Turkish apricots

• Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (150 for fan forced).
• Triple sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
• Add the sugar, fruit and nuts and combine.
• Whisk the eggs well and add to the bowl, along with the vanilla.
• Stir all ingredients until really well combined (it's a Christmas tradition in our family to all have a  good stir and make a wish).
• Press firmly into a greased and paper lined bar tin (approx 200 x 125mm) and level out on top.
• Bake on the centre rack for 1 & 3/4 - 2 hours or until firm.
• Allow to cool for half an hour before turning out of pan and then cool completely before removing paper.
• Once cool, wrap cake tightly in foil and cling wrap and then refrigerate.
• Slice very thinly with a sharp knife to serve and enjoy!!

I love this cake because beside from being really yummy (especially if you're  a nut fan like me), when sliced it really does remind you of stained glass. Making this cake turned out to be pretty easy too...

Now it will sit in the fridge (untouched) until Christmas. I will be strong...

Summer treats..

One of my fondest memories of this time of year, as a child, would have to be Mum coming back from the markets laden with Summer stone fruit.., mangoes, nectarines, plums, apricots and the most exciting, a whole box of glossy black cherries. Yum!!

I ate them by the kilo with red stained fingers, wore them as earrings and (if we lived in a cooler climate) would be responsible for an orchard of cherry trees in the back yard from all the discarded pips...

Since then, the first bite of a new season cherry and I instantly think of Summer Holidays and Christmas... Thom tasted his very first cherries when we shared this bowl yesterday and is definitely a fan!

I wonder if they will evoke similar memories for him when he's all grown up..?

I know.., it's been awhile

Hello slacko here...

Up until the past few days, the weather has been pretty much perfect, so I've been looking for any excuse to get out and enjoy it, ignoring the indoor stuff I should be doing like study, filing and tackling the mountain of laundry. This has also meant zero blogging...

When I have been spending time inside, I'm in the kitchen.  Inspired by a big basket of home grown goodies I received from the Cloudlake veggie patch, I've been cooking up a storm...

A classic winter staple Rhubarb.., always good with a little crumble and vanilla ice-cream. This time, on Mum's advice, I slow roasted it with orange juice, lots of honey and a little butter, Yum! It's made a great twist to the morning drop of porridge too..








These pretty Winter jonquils, that line the driveway at Cloudlake, sit on our dining table, making the house smell sweet..
They're doing a stellar job camouflaging the remaining odours of last night's pan seared salmon too. Another winter favourite, we had ours with a kind of salsa verde, creamy mashed potato and beans. So good but man, sooo stinky!

I've never cooked with Warrigal Greens before and had no idea how versatile they are. I used mine in place of spinach and served them as a simple side dish, blanched then tossed with lemon and olive oil and topped with with feta and pine nuts. They made a terrific accompaniment to these delicious filo pastries from my new Turkish cookbook.

A new favourite thing.. drying herbs to store.  No wastage and they look lovely hanging in bunches above the kitchen bench.

Next up, the big bowl of lemons. Lemon curd or preserved or both..!! And some study I suppose...

my father, the collector (of useful stuff)

When I was little, a favourite activity was making the tip (dump) run with my Dad.

This usually meant loading up the trailer, after a weekend working on the house, an 1880's cottage, only to reload the trailer with a hoard of new found 'treasure'. Old sash windows, doors, door knobs, the odd chair... If Dad thought it was worth salvaging, it was coming home with us.

This habit wasn't exclusive to visits to the tip. Dad was always bringing home some little (or not so little) find from an antique/record/junk store or gallery he just happened to be passing..

And now decades later, my parents home and a couple of sheds are chock full of a very eclectic and pretty fascinating collection of stuff..

I should add, Dad is no mad hoarder.., although those that know him would agree he's a tad eccentric, he's very discerning and every piece has been acquired to be useful, as well as beautiful and/or interesting.

This applies particularly to one of his most extensive and perhaps most cherished collections, his gardening tools. Actually, he's become quite well known for this collection, having had it featured on Gardening Australia and in Country Style.

Now ABC Collectors has done a piece on it too, in their latest magazine! Here are a couple of photos from the article, I wanted to share.

Another great thing about this collection is.., next time I'm in need of a hedge trimmer/Korean weeding hoe/pitchfork, I know just who to call...