Back to it.. spring garden 2013

So much to catch you up on, first of all - I'm home!  I've been away fora lot of the past couple of years, and I don't just mean from my blog.  My job has involved a lot of overseas travel, and whilst I have seen some great things, tasted some great things, achieved some great things and met some amazing people, I have missed my family.   That all came to end a short time ago and I started a new job in the same industry that is much more family friendly.   So I've been slowly getting back into my groove 

You might or might not remember we moved house about a year ago and I'm still unpacking boxes.. yes! So needless to say a lot of catching up to do around the house and the garden.. 

Here's some snapshots I took today:

These are our main vege patches at the moment, unfortunately they don't get as much sun as our last one (opera house), but is perfect for carrots, lettuce and cucumber which we have in there now.  Over the next month I'll be weeding this and getting it a bit more functional.  The other one, is not fit for photographs yet!

Our herbs and tomatoes now live in pots on the perimeter of the deck which does get a lot of direct sunshine.  Currently in the process of transferring things into tin ice buckets - they are colourful and aren't as heavy to move around, we started this last year - here's our thyme which is in flower and rosemary, they are now so big they need their own buckets or pots.

 We have 3 varieties of tomato on the go - these are our cherry tomatoes, but we also have black russian and Grand Lisse.

The basil pot, regular and Thai varieties don't you love the fans?  Cute right?  Each of the girls bought one of these and has staked their claim (literally) in a herb pot each.  This one is Laura's.  Eloise's has parsley and oregano (and needs to be separated also) and Olivia's is the top image, with Chives and sage.

Unfortunately, as when happens when is starts to heat up - suddenly - the coriander (cilantro) has gone to seed....

So we chopped it back today and re-sowed some of the seeds.

It's an easy job for kids to do, Olivia did the task today.

And we'll dry the majority of them in the paperbag, just keep it somewhere dry like your shed.  

I couldn't resist this shot of the bottle brush, that's the thing about being away from home, it makes you nostalgic for images like these..

 Tell me about your garden adventures! Starting or reviving a herb or vege garden? What's growing well for you at the moment?

Dead simple coconut cake with chocolate icing (egg free)

Are you all chocolated out?  I know that's not a real word (chocolated that is) but I'm sure you know what I mean!  This one is not too overpowering, and I am a huge fan of coconut - and like my lime coconut cake (which always gets rave reviews) this is lovely and moist.  The added advantage to this one is it is egg-free plus it's a great one for the kids to help on because it's a quick-mix and one bowl for your cake and one bowl for your icing... or the same bowl if you're keen and wash it up in between!

Eloise proudly advised the family that she made this all by herself and she did really, Laura made the icing, a good team effort.  I love that my girls love to bake and create in the kitchen!


Ingredients:

Cake:
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup caster sugar
250ml coconut cream

Icing:
2 cups icing mixture
2/3 cup good powdered cooking chocolate (I used Lindt)
50ml milk

Method:
Preheat oven to 190 degrees c

In a bowl, sift flour, sugar and add coconut, stir to combine.


Grease a small round tin

Add the coconut cream to the dry ingredients


Stir with a spatula or spoon to combine.

 Pour into your tin, try not to lick the bowl.  Ok, lick the bowl and the spatula if you must.

Bake for 35 minutes and then remove, leave to sit for 5-10 minutes

Turn out onto a cooling rack, at this point you will want to eat it, but you must let it cool completely before the next step.

Sift your icing sugar and powdered chocolate into a bowl.


Make a well in the centre, and add your milk, half at a time, whisk with a spoon until it comes together.


It should be stiff-ish but still pourable.  Add a little milk, but only a little bit at a time until you get your correct consistency.

Pour out half your mixture on the cake and spread just to the sides.
Then add the remainder, and spread out again, that will get a lovely even 'drip' around the edges.

 You're allowed to drool at this photo...

Great for afternoon tea or a quick take-to-friends-cake!  Not many ingredients, a good way to occupy the kids and most importantly - yummy!

Last minute bread rolls

Nothing like a bit of planning they say.  As a big advocate of meal planning I really don't love running without a meal plan but now my hubby is in charge of all things domestic (especially given I'm currently working away most of the time until end of June) he's pretty good on keeping things stocked for a number of different meals but I wanted to make something in particular, and being Easter weekend, not a lot of fresh bread around Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

So I went about trying to find myself a quick bread recipe that I could adapt to rolls but then realised I could just make a beer bread for rolls.  Beer bread isn't dense like a door stop, but it is still fairly dense, so if you want something quick and light and crusty I'm yet to find that recipe but this one is great to use for hamburgers or warm bread rolls with cheese and ham on a cold day.

The beauty about this is there's no need to wait for a rise, there's not tons of kneading and you can have bread rolls on the table in less than an hour.  Great for hamburgers right?

It was also a great opportunity for Eloise and I to enjoy some quality time baking, she loves it and is becoming quite good at executing a lot of things by herself!

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 tb caster sugar
3 tsp baking powder
50g butter, cubed
200-300ml of beer (I used lager)

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 210 degrees c

 In a food processor add flour, sugar and baking flour.

Add butter and process until breadcrumb consistency.


Gradually add the beer whilst processing, just until the dough comes together.





Pour onto a floured surface, knead until smooth, only a minute or two.


Roll into a sausage shape, and divide into 5 for large-ish rolls or 6-8 for smaller ones.


Roll each division into a flat-ish roll and place onto greased or papered baking tray.

Make a few shallow slits in the top and brush with a little milk.


Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 190 for another 10 minutes.

Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Muffin Mania: Citrus Cranberry Muffins

 

I'm mad for citrus at the moment, and I can't tell you why.  It seems odd because citrus really isn't in season, it might be because I've just returned from 2 1/2 weeks in snow and sub-zero temperatures and my body is a bit confused.  Anyways, at least citrus isn't hideously expensive at the moment and you don't need a lot of it to make this delicious stash.

Although I did make these because of my cravings, it was in part to build up my stash again for lunches.. but I will confess a few may go missing...

Makes 24

Ingredients:

1 large orange

1 medium lemon

2 small limes

1/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup golden caster sugar (or regular if you don't have it handy)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

2 1/2 cups self raising flour

2/3 cup dried cranberries/craisins

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees c

Half all the fruit, and drain the juice into a mixing bowl.  Do not throw away the peel, set aside.

In a blender, add the peels, and blend until smooth.

Add the peel back to the juice.  Add the sugar, stir well.

 

Add oil, cinnamon and egg, stir again.

Lastly add milk, flour then cranberries, stir well.

Pour into muffin/cupcake papers and bake for 15-20 minutes.

These smell so good at this point you'll be licking the bowl..

 And you'll be hungry while they bake, sorry thought I should warn you!

Freeze in ziplock bags for up to 3 months

Muffin Mania: Cheese and Salami muffins

Sometimes you just don't want to put sweet things in the lunchbox.  Some times, you don't want to put sandwiches in the lunchbox.  Sometimes you have grazers who would never eat a full sandwich anyway.  This recipe is a great solution for all the that - and hey, they're not just great for lunchboxes but for afternoon tea after school or not even for school kids!

If you have a cheese-or-savoury-lover rather than sweet give them a go - the salami doesn't need to be spicy.  Use bacon or proscuitto or something else if you don't like salami.

These freeze really well, if you want to serve warm, just heat them in the oven from frozen for about 15 minutes.. can't go wrong!

Makes 12-15 depending on size
Ingredients:
75g melted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups self raising flour
1 egg
100grams grated cheese
100grams sliced salami
pepper


Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c

Grate your cheese and to 80% of the sliced salami, dice.


Into a mixing bowl, mix melted butter, and then gradually add the buttermilk and mix together.

Add the egg, flour and pepper, stir well until all combined.

Stir through the about 80% of cheese and all of the diced salami.

Add some herbs of your choosing.  I added some thyme, but parsley or rosemary would be nice too.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases, sprinkle your reserved cheese and sliced salami on top.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Try not to eat them all before you get them in the freezer!