Show Scones With Jam and Cream

These scones are my husband's absolute favourite.  He devours them whenever I make them.  They do have to be eaten on the day, and preferably once they hit the 'just cool' stage.

I made this batch for my children to enjoy as an afternoon snack.

Mmm!

I used:-
- 4 cups Self Raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 250 mls cream (you should use pouring cream, but I used the remainder of whatever I had purchased from Aldi)
- Up to 400 mls milk (add carefully)

Mix all these ingredients lightly.  I usually use a big bowl and a butter knife for really light results, but this time I used the Thermomix on a gentle mix until all ingredients were combined.

Knead lightly on a floured surface, roll until 2-3 cms thick.  Cut with scone cutters and place on tray.

Brush with a little milk and into a hot oven they go for approx 12 mins or until golden and risen.

Serve with butter hot, or with jam and cream when cooled.

I adore these with the Morello Cherry jam from Aldi.  It has just the right tartness for my liking with the sweetened cream I make.

Apricot Muffins - Easy Lunch Box Snack

Using my recipe from here: http://denleydiaries.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/apple-and-prune-theromix-muffins.html, I decided to omit the other fruit, and add a handful of dried apricots instead.

I blitzed the dried apricots in the Thermomix until they were little chunks, then added the rest of the ingredients.

This time I turned the mixture into miniature muffins so I could freeze them for school lunches.  These muffins ended up nice and crunchy on top.  Mmmmm!  There was enough mixture to make three large muffins as well.

They freeze really well, and are a fantastic thing to grab out of the freezer if you need breakfast on the go.

Thermomix Chocolate Frappes

I blame Phil for this one.  He loves the chocolate Frappes they sell at McDonalds.  Complete with creme etc.  They're a little too icy for me - very cold drinks trigger my asthma, but I do like their frappes after an hour ;D


I thought I would treat the kids to one just before they return to school (bittersweet - I enjoyed having them home these holidays).

 Mmmm don't they look delicious!

This is what I used to make them:-

• Three handfuls small ice cubes
• Drinking chocolate (I used Cadbury's, of course)
• Cream
• Milk
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar/blitzed raw sugar

How to put together:-

• If you're using raw sugar, blitz 2 tablespoons raw sugar on speed 9 for 30 seconds.  If not, omit this step
• Fill the bottom of the Thermomix up with ice cubes, until it comes level with the top of the blades.  Don't turn on yet.
• Add in milk until the ice cubes are just covered.
• Throw in your icing sugar if you're omitting step 1.
• I probably used about 1/4 cup drinking chocolate (or perhaps it was 1/3 cup...I love that stuff!).  Cocoa powder would probably work better - perhaps only 1/8 of a cup - but I didn't have any left in my pantry cupboard.
• Add about 2 tablespoons cream
• Okay, now you're ready to blitz away.  Speed 6 for 10-15 seconds.  Check that all the ice has been crushed up.
• Pour into glasses, top with whipped cream and more drinking chocolate if you wish.  Enjoy!

Serves 4 or three if hubby is absent, and a daughter has three glass fulls of the stuff!  My son and I had two glasses each.

It's like a chocolate slushy.

If you want it more icy, add more ice.


You may not want the sugar in it either.  Omit if you're unsure, you can always add it at the end and blitz for 10 seconds.


I'm going to try and melt some 'real' chocolate, then add the other ingredients once the chocolate has cooled a little, but not today.  I think my body needs a break from all the rich foods!

Saucy Tuna Pasta in the Thermomix

I can't take full credit for this recipe.  I got the basic one from my Home Science teachers back in High School.  So I guess it's a big thank you to Mrs McKenzie and Ms Johnston for giving me this recipe and teaching me how to cook so I could practice on my Dad ;D

You'll need:-

• 50 grams butter
• 50 grams plain flour
• 1/4 capsicum (de-seeded)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 small can corn (drained)
• 1 large can tuna in brine (not drained)
• pre-cooked pasta *(I added in about 4 cups of macaroni)

1. Chop capsicum on speed 4 for 4 seconds.
2. Place butter, plain flour, and milk in Thermomix.  Speed 2.5 at 90 degrees C for 5 mins.
3. Add tuna juice and cook for further 3 mins on speed 2 at 90 degrees.
4. Add tuna chunks  and mix on speed 2.5 for 30 seconds.
5. Add corn, then cook on reverse speed, 90 degrees for 6 mins on speed 1.
6. Add cooked pasta and chopped basil.  **Taste and add seasoning if you think it needs it.  Mix for 2 mins, 90 degrees on reverse at Speed 2.

*You possibly could add raw pasta at step 2, but I already had some cooked leftover pasta in the fridge that had to be used up.

**I love the fact that the biggest hint for this dish from Mrs McKenzie was to add the tuna juice.  It adds its own salt to the dish, and intensifies the flavour.  I don't add any more salt but you are welcome to.

 My kids informed me it looks a little runny, but they devoured it!

I added a little Parmesan cheese to each bowl once served

You could add other herbs and veggies to this dish.  Grated carrot, zuchhini, peas etc.  My kids don't like capsicum, but they didn't even know it was in there!  Mwahahahah :D

Apple and Prune Thermomix Muffins

I love these for a quick Sunday brunch.  They're really easy to make, and are pretty much failproof.  I can even do it with my crazy new oven that I really don't like, but will have to get used to.

The recipe is here:-

• 1 apple (cored and peeled)
• 1/4 cup prunes
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

I haven't put the Thermomix 'weights' of the milk or flour as my Thermie is not as reliable with measuring as I would like. It probably has slightly dirty feet.

Method:-

1. Throw apple and prunes into Thermomix.  Blitz away until chopped to your liking (I do speed 6-7 for 5 seconds).
2. Add to Thermomix all other ingredients.  Mix on speed 3 for 10 seconds.  You may have to scrape down the sides a little after you finished mixing it, but that's fine.
3. Spoon mixture into a greased muffin pan and into a moderate oven (180 degrees C) for 10-15 mins or until golden brown.
4. Serve hot with butter.

Makes 12 muffins.

These muffins are great to freeze individually and put in school lunchboxes.

*Instead of the apple and prunes, you could drain a bottle of berries, pat dry and fold them into the mixture at the end.

Ginger Beer with Ronda

Just before Christmas, Ronda (on her Down-to-Earth blog) posted up a recipe for Ginger Beer.  I thought it was something interesting I could do.  Phil thought it was a great idea too, as he loves that kind of thing.  Not the alcoholic kind, just the home brewed drinks - Bundaberg style :D

So I started our own ginger beer plant.  I thought it was doing pretty well, until I mixed it in with the water, sugar and lemon juice, then it seemed to die.

I am currently testing whether adding a tiny bit of yeast each day, then draining some of the 'plant' into the bottle ginger beer helps.  It seems to be doing a much better job.  Obviously I don't have enough air circulating around my kitchen.  The rainy weather possibly isn't helping at all either!

Anyways, here's the link to Ronda's blog with detailed instructions.  http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-ginger-beer-from-scratch.html The comments are helpful as well, especially the bit about leaving the tops off your plastic bottles when you have them sitting on the bench full of ginger beer so that air can still circulate (doh, didn't know about that until this morning).

 Fresh Ginger and a teeny tiny little grater

 20 cups of water in a giant tub.

 My Ginger Beer plant - it needs lots of stirs during the day to get the air circulating into it.

 Pouring the first bottle

Ladles and Ginger Beer

I have a second Ginger Beer plant bubbling away happily on my bench which is looking a lot more promising than the first one.  The three bottles I have from my first batch, which I added a little bit of the second plant seem to be doing much better today.  There is definitely something happening in them now.  Just have to wait a few more days to find out if they will work.

Thermomix Churros

I woke up this morning with a craving for Churros.  I had them at Dreamworld on our family holiday and I enjoyed the one I had, although I thought it was tad dry.

After a Google search, I found a recipe I could adapt from allrecipes.com

I have varied and adapted it though, and it goes something like this...

You need:
- 1 cup water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- Oil in a deep fryer ready to be switched on.

- Plate with absorbent paper read to go.

- 1/2 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon mixed together on a plate ready to go.

- Piping bag or plastic tubey thing that I have in my pictures below.

Method:-

1. Into the Thermomix goes your water, sugar, salt and vegetable oil.
2. 100 degrees C for 5 mins on gentle mix speed.
3. Let it cool to 80 degrees (whilst waiting, turn your deep fryer on and set the temperature so the oil will reach 190 degrees by the time you're ready to pipe). Add your plain flour and baking powder to the liquid in the Thermomix.
4. Mix on gentle mix for 1 min, then turn up to speed 4 for 20 seconds.
5. Mixture can now be piped into a piping bag, then pipe the mixture carefully into the hot oil in the deep fryer.
6. Fry until golden brown.
7. Take out and place on absorbent paper, then roll whilst still hot in sugar and cinnamon.

Serves 4 (or two very hungry children).

 Frying away happily. They smell good!  I piped two at a time.  I thought they would stick together if I piped more than that in.



 The mixture is really sticky.  I had already taken 3/4 of it out by this point.  It's a good thing Thermomixes can self clean (well, mostly...)



 My piping 'Thing'  I didn't put a nozzle on it, I was too lazy but I think I will the next time.



 Cinnamon sugar

Yum!

The only thing I would change is to pipe them a little smaller (with a nozzle on my piping 'thing').  The inside was probably a little too moist but still nice.  The outside was really crunchy and delicious.  It was a big hit with the kids who informed my they looked like "doughnut sausages" then promptly devoured them.

I'm going to have to make another batch on the weekend so Phil can enjoy some too!

Oh and no, this didn't end up being breakfast ;D  It was an afternoon snack.

Food Storage in a Jar

I made sand art Brownies in a jar many years ago as gifts, but the thought didn't occur to me then that you can store other things like that as actual 'food storage'.  The majority of your ingredients are all in that jar, so it makes life really easy if you are living off your food storage, or makes life fun if you are cooking with the kids and all you have to do is simply tip the jar upside down and give it a good whack (or two...depending on how tightly packed the ingredients are).

I stumbled across this site, which has loads of helpful and varied recipes from soup mixes to sweet baking (like biscuits and brownie recipes):-

http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/giftsinajarrecipes.html

They make a great gift as well:-

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/10/22/homemade-gift-series-6-meals-in-a-jar/

Don't forget to include the instructions on your jars.  They're kind of helpful! ;D

Holiday Cooking Fun with the Kiddos - shortbread biscuits with passionfruit icing

During my Summer cleaning rounds, I re-discovered a giant container filled with cookie cutters that I hadn't used.  I have a feeling my husband purchased them from Aldi many years ago because they looked great.  And they do!  So I put them in a basket and whipped up a batch of simple shortbread.

 A rather large assortment of cookie cutters

 The trouble is choosing which cutters to use

 Rolling out the shortbread

 More rolling.  Easier to roll if you put the dough between layers of baking paper, as it is a really soft dough.

 Baked!  They smelled delicious.  I think half the dough got eaten raw!

Decorated with passionfruit icing.  Phil came home and devoured the teddy bears :D

The recipe is:-

250 grams butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups plain flour

1. Beat butter, vanilla essence and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Stir in sifted flour, mix to a soft dough.
3. Roll out, cut out shapes etc.  Bake biscuits in moderate oven for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on trays
4. Decorate with passionfruit icing

My recipe for passionfruit icing is really easy.  Just passionfruit pulp with icing sugar.  Throw the pulp in the mix master and keep adding icing sugar until it looks like stiff egg whites.  Then it won't drip off the biscuits. Use it up quickly because it will set. 

Freezable Lunchbox Snacks

I love being able to stock my freezer door with some easy-to-grab snacks that I can throw in lunch boxes in the morning.

Portions of the following are easy to individually wrap, freeze and grab:-

• Muffins
• Cupcakes
• Focaccia
• Slices
• Brownies/Blondies
• Sandwiches

Today I made a chocolate brownie and parmesan herb focaccia for lunchboxes tomorrow as we were running low on freezer items.  They made for a great after school snack this afternoon, then they were sliced up, wrapped and into the freezer they went.

Usually I use make Cherry Blondies, but I didn't have enough white chocolate, and couldn't open the jar of Morella Cherries I had (doh!), so a chocolate cakey brownie it became.

Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients

100 grams butter
180 grams white chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1 cup pitted cherries
Icing sugar, to dust

Prepare a slice pan - I am not into my brownies looking really pretty on the crust, so I throw baking paper in a baking dish.  Less mess.  Easy!

1. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat.  Set aside to cool for 5 mins.
2. Add sugar, eggs and flours to pan.  Stir to combine.
3. Spread into prepared slice pan.  Press cherries into mixture
4. Bake for 30 mins or until edges are firm and top golden in a 180 degree C oven.
5. Cool in pan. Dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Cake Pops. What ARE they exactly?

I think they're an American-ish sort of a thing.  We have cupcakes here, and mini muffins, but I'm hearing more and more people talking about making cake pops.

What are they?

I like to bake, these things can't be that hard to make, surely?

I did a search.  This site has a crafty Mum who loves to make all things miniature cakey: http://craftsmumship.com/tag/cake-pops/

She made these:-

Isn't Lorelei clever!!

Apparently there are cake pop makers, just like donut or cupcake makers.  I have a mini donut maker, but I consider my oven and muffin moulds to be my cupcake maker.  I can't imagine using one of these things to make cake pops though?

Cake pop maker

So it looks to me like there are two different ways of making these:-

1. Make up a cake batter and use the cake pop maker to bake the cakes into a mini circle.  They're 'stickable' once they have cooled (insert stick), then dip into coating.

2. You have a pre-made cake, cool it, crumble it up and mix a little liquid or icing, then form into balls, stick with a skewer, cool again and dip or cover with whatever you like.

I've made mini Christmas puddings complete with icing.  These may frustrate me more.  At least the puddings don't have to balance on a stick!

However I do have a son obsessed with Lego.  I think these may be just the thing to cheer him up on his next birthday ;D

More detailed instructions here: http://www.livinglocurto.com/2010/06/lego-cake-pops/

Chocolate Chunk Mud Cake

I have made this cake a few times, and it comes out differently each time.  Once my Thermomix didn't have 'clean feet' so it didn't measure out the butter properly.  Too much butter in a mud cake isn't a good thing, it turns out.

Another time it ended up being a bad cake because my son burnt it.  Long story.  It wasn't worth eating.  And that's saying something folks!

The other three times it has been DIVINE!!!

The cake batter was certainly edible enough.  I wasn't sure if there was even going to be a cake.

I freaked out a little when I pulled it from the oven.

You see, mud cakes like to collapse on me.  Maybe it's because I don't like turning the oven down quite so low and having to wait 2 hours for them to cook because I want to eat them NOW.  I admit, I was worried about this one.  I didn't want to overcook it, but it was gooey.  I took it out of the oven and the middle sank.  I waited for it to cool - just cool enough to smother Betty Crocker Frosting on it, had a piece and it was okay.

Put it in the fridge overnight, and that's where the magic happens.  I had forgotten, that's what I did with the first one as well.  YUM...the cake just merges together in all its chocolatiness and ends up tasting like the perfect mud cake, even if it didn't look cafe worthy.  I think that means it has 'set'.  I should write that on my recipe.

See the collapsed middle?  That's 300 grams of good quality chocolate in that cake.  It tastes much better than it looks from this angle.

Served up with some fresh strawberries, and I'm in Heaven!

*Sigh* Someone has to eat all that mud cake now!

Here's the recipe, from the Thermomix Forum (http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=3583.0):-


"This is a recipe I found in a magazine - I think it was a Food Ideas one but not sure.


Ingredients

- 200g butter
- 300g cooking chocolate - good quality
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 20g cocoa
- 1 tspn vanilla extract
- 200g castor sugar
- 3 eggs - at room temperature
- 120g SR flour


Method

Preheat oven to 160C. Grease a 20 cm round cake pan and line it with baking paper.


Place butter, 200g of chopped chocolate and hot water into TM bowl. Melt for 5 mins at 37C on Speed 1.


Add cocoa to warm chocolate mixture and stir for 5 secs on Speed 4. Add vanilla, castor sugar and eggs. Mix for 10 secs on Speed 4.


Sift in flour and stir on for 1.30 mins on Speed 2.


Pour half the mixture into prepared cake pan. Chop remaining chocolate and sprinkle half over the batter. Top with rest of the batter and chopped chocolate.


Bake cake for 55 to 60 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre has moist crumbs clinging".


Note: I found my Thermomix doesn't like to measure butter properly, so I used 170 grams of butter instead.

It took about an hour and a half before I gave up and pulled the cake out of the oven.

Easy Pasta Salad

This one's a really easy salad.  Here's what you need:-

Easy Pasta Salad

- Cooked spiral or large shell pasta
- Bacon (cook under the grill so it is cooked and crispy)
- A small can of corn kernels, or half a large can, drained
- Baby spinach or other herbs from the garden
- Creamy dressing (see below)

1. Throw your cooked pasta into your salad bowl
2. Add corn kernels
3. Chop up your herbs/spinach/celery/whatever green stuff takes your fancy over the pasta.  I use scissors.  Much easier!
4. Chop up your bacon into bite sized chunks over the pasta.

Add creamy dressing and mix to coat evenly.

You could add sundried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, black pitted olives, marinated chicken (see http://denleydiaries.blogspot.com/2011/08/marinated-chicken.html) , capsicum, mushrooms...anything you like really.

Creamy Dressing

Whisk together the following:-
- 4 splodgy large tablespoons of S& W Whole Egg Mayonnaise
- 1 squirt American Mustard
- A sprinkle of salt
- A splash of Aristocrat Spiced Gherkin juice (yup, you read that correctly)
- A sprinkling of Dill

Quick taste test to ensure balance of flavours, then mix through pasta salad.

I put this dressing on my potato salad.  I could eat the dressing alone, but I don't think anyone else would appreciate that. ;D

Tuna, Potato and Cheese Patties

I had written 'Tuna Croquettes' up on my Dinner Planner, but I couldn't find my croquette recipe, so I made my own up.  Hubby (not a tuna lover) had second helpings, so they must have been pretty good.  I think he might have even snuck in a third helping too.

They were rather good, even if I say so myself.

My recipe:-

• 4 large potatoes
• 1 can drained sandwich tuna
• 1/4 cup shredded tasty cheese
• 2 tablespoons herbs (chives, parsley, whatever you want to include)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg (lightly beaten and set aside in a bowl)
• Breadcrumbs (lightly salted if you wish, and set aside in another bowl)
• Oil for pan frying.

1. Peel and cut your potatoes into chunks.  Microwave until 'mashworthy' (however you do your mashed potato should work - I just put mine in a microwave steamer with a little water down the bottom and zap for 10 mins.  Then I left them in there while I taught music lessons for 1 1/2 hours).
2. Mash your potatoes, if you haven't already done so.  Add in your drained tuna, shredded/grated cheese and chopped herbs.  I put a little salt in at this point.  There is already some in the tuna brine and cheese, so if you don't want added salt, leave it out.
3. Scoop spoonfuls of the mixture into your hands.  I have read that wet hands is better to do this, but I didn't bother.  Mine were just fine!  Flatten the mixture out into patties.
4. Roll the patties in the egg mixture, then into the breadcrumbs to coat.
5. Pan fry away until golden on both sides.
6. Makes between 15-20 patties, depending on the size of them.

My 'Team' decided they wanted sweet chilli sauce with these.  I am the exception.  Nothing remotely chilli for me please :D

I didn't cook them all last night as we had to run out.  I put the leftover mixture in the fridge to see if they would be okay to cook today.  The refrigerated mixture was as easy to work with as it was last night.  I didn't mash my potatoes quite to the consistency of absolutely no lumps.  They were workable but not overdone.  They were really easy to coat and didn't fall apart.  I'm not sure if it depends on the type of potato you use - mine were the standard brushed Aldi potatoes.

Marinated Chicken

I can't even remember how long I have been making this, but is a an easy, fail-proof recipe that my family loves!

Here's what you need:-

1. Some olive oil (not the extra virgin type, just the 'normal' kind)
2. Chicken salt and/or chicken seasoning.  I usually add in a little salt you buy from chicken shops for chips as well, but I decided to be good today and go easy on the salt.
3. Sage.  Either fresh or dried is fine.
4. Chicken. Breast or thigh fillets.

Splosh some olive oil, chicken seasoning and the sage into a bowl.  Mix away.

Add in your chicken.  Depending on how you want the end result to be, you can either cut the chicken into strips, or have it in bite-sized chunks.  I want to eat ours with veggies on the side, so I did strips.  Put it in the fridge until you need to use it.  I leave mine in for 3-4 hours to get the marinade going all the way through.

When you cook it, put the flavoured oil in as well.  Obviously don't save the oil because it has raw chicken juice in it!

Pan fry it until it is golden brown.  It cooks in its own oils and ends up YUMMY.  On to absorbent paper and you're done.

You can put the marinated chicken on sandwiches or burgers.  It can be BBQ'd. I put it in an Italian Pasta Salad I make.  You can probably even marinate wings or drumsticks and pop them in the oven with foil over the baking tray to avoid oil splattering everywhere.

Enjoy! 

Herb and Parmesan Cheese Toast

This is fresh out of my garden, and what I like to blitz into near oblivion to serve up in my Parmesan Cheese and Herb Toast (if you count spinach as a herb!  I grabbed whatever the bunnies hadn't gotten to.)

I had a craving for the stuff they serve you at Sizzler.  It is golden and crunchy on top, but super soft inside...you get the picture.

So this is what I decided to do:-

- Baked my own loaf of bread (LOVE my bread maker!)
- Picked some greens from the garden - see above.  You can also use sage, oregano or chives.
- Throw the above greenery into my Thermomix (use a food processor if you have one, or chop chop chop away!
- Once the greens are pulverised blitzed, add 125 grams of butter and grated Parmesan cheese - I threw in the entire contents of a snack sized sandwich bag of frozen grated Parmesan cheese.

Note: If your food processor can handle butter cold and hard, go ahead and throw it in.  Most like the butter at room temperature though.  My Thermomix crushes ice easily, so no dramas there.

- Blitz until it looks like greenish butter and smells cheesy.
- Layer on thickly on fresh bread and grill until golden and crunchy.

YUM!

The verdict?  It is WAY better than what they serve at Sizzler!!

And sorry, I couldn't take pictures of the finished product.  It got eaten way too fast.

Pantry/Shelf Stable Recipes

I'm not sure what led me to this site, but it's absolutely fantastic as far as food storage is concerned.  We do some things differently here in Australia, but there are lots of gems to be found in the Foodstoragemadeeasy.net site.

Jodie and Julie have compiled a recipe book titled 'Shelf Stable Recipes' that readers have contributed, using ingredients in their pantry/storage cupboard.  I have a lot of the tinned ingredients in mine, so I printed up and bound a copy to keep in my kitchen and refer to.

The direct link to the recipe book is here: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/fsme/docs/SHELF-STABLE-RECIPE-BOOK.pdf

Honey uses and recipes

Honey is a very handy thing to have in your cupboard, not only for cooking and baking, but it can be used in first aid as well. This site has some useful information on using honey to treat minor cuts etc as it is a natural antibiotic: http://www.truehealth.org/ahealt03.html


I have some interesting recipes using honey. Remember not to feed honey or anything containing honey to infants under 1 year old due to 'botulism'.


Oriental Turkey and Rice
4 cups cooked turkey, diced
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 cups cooked rice (2/3 cup dry - 2 cups cooked)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup prepared mustard
4 tablespoons turkey drippings


Method:

1. Spread diced cooked turkey in a shallow pan, season with salt and pepper.
2. Mix honey, prepared mustard, curry powder and turkey drippings.
3. Blend in turkey. Bake in moderate oven (180 degrees C) for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Spoon over cooked rice.

Makes approx 8 servings.

You can use chicken as well. Use as a marinade for uncooked chicken pieces (omit the turkey drippings). Chicken will require approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake.

Honey Bee Ambrosia
4 medium oranges
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1 medium banana
1/4 cup honey

Method:
1. Pare oranges. Cut crosswise into thin slices and place in serving bowl.
2. Peel bananas and cut thin slices into the bowl with the oranges.
3. Toss fruits. Blend orange juice and honey and pour over fruits.
4. Sprinkle with coconut. Serve.

And an absolute favourite of my family's. Taken from the Australian Women's Weekly 'Sweet Old-Fashioned Favourites'

Honey Joys
100g butter
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 Tablespoon honey
4 cups (120g) Corn Flakes

1. Combine butter, sugar and honey in large pan. Stir over low heat, without boiling until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil. Remove from heat.
2. Add corn flakes to honey mixture. Stir gently to combine.
3. Spoon into patty cases in a muffin tray (or similar) and bake in moderate oven about 10 minutes.

Makes 24.

Honey Butter Sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey

Method:
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add honey and lemon juice. Stir. Use it to glaze chicken after it has baked for 30 mins (or use a little on veggies).

Week 8 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

$10 challenge

Store 2 kgs powdered milk

$20 challenge

Store 3 kgs powdered milk and 1 kg custard powder

Yes folks, we're storing powdered milk again. The reason for that is most emergency situations where you would have to use powdered milk would generally mean that you can't get fresh milk easily. Sadly we've seen that happen in flooded and storm damaged areas. Especially if you have younger mouths to feed, it's a good idea to store milk powder for the calcium benefit.

The custard powder is a way to use up some of that milk powder and to add variety to your food storage. It's great as a snack or a dessert.

You can use your milk powder for bread baking, in cakes and other baking, potato bakes, hot chocolate/coffee, rice pudding and well...there's 381 recipes with milk powder alone here: http://www.cooksunited.co.uk/rs/s0/milk+powder/recipes.html

I was given a hot chocolate mix using powdered milk that you can keep in a big screw lid jar and use as you go along, or seal in smaller foil pouches for 72 hour kits. Here it is:-

Mary's Hot Chocolate Mix

2 kg powdered milk (skim or regular - doesn't matter)

500 grams coffee whitener

810 gram tin Nesquick (or the equivalent)

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

To make up the drink: to 1/3 cup chocolate mix add 2/3 cup hot water.

Enjoy!

I have no idea who Mary is. This recipe was given to me by the wonderful lady to helped start me on my journey with my food storage. Sadly she passed away last week and I've been a bit of a stunned mullet since. I had some questions I wanted to ask her about food storage. I know she had some she wanted to ask me about music too . I'm sure we'll meet up again at some point.

Something I learned - did you know custard powder is an explosive? Apparently, all fine dusts are (sugar, flour etc). I informed my husband, who shrugged his shoulders and said yes, he knew that. My son piped up "That's cool. Mum doesn't need to use Molotov Cocktails any more, she can use custard powder". Yeah - 'cause I use Molotov Cocktails every day! (sarcasm intended).

Here's some interesting information on custard powder: http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/custardpowder

Australia Day - Damper

How more Australian can you get than having Damper on Australia Day? (and a BBQ and swim in the pool in the sweltering sun).

I taught my son how to make damper, with a little help from my Thermomix.

The Australian Women's Weekly gives this history of Damper:-

In the early colonial days of Australia, there was no yeast, and the first
settlers lacked the knowledge to make a substitute, so they made damper; an
unleavened bread cooked in the ashes of a camp fire or open fireplace.
Traditionally, damper consists of flour an water and a good pinch of salt.

My recipe has been altered a little to make it a little more palatable and has butter and milk. You could add salt as well if you wish, but I use salted butter therefore don't see the need for extra salt.

Ingredients:

3 cups self-raising flour
30 grams butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup water (approximately)

Method:
Rub butter into flour to resemble breadcrumbs.

Make well in centre of flour, add milk and enough water to make a soft, sticky dough. Use a butter knife to mix for best results.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Shape into a mound.

Place on greased (or baking paper-lined) oven tray. Cut a cross through the dough about 1 cm deep. Brush with a little extra milk or water, then dust with a little extra flour.

Bake in a moderately hot oven for 20-30 minutes or until damper sounds hollow when tapped.

Break open and serve with golden syrup, honey, butter or jam.