What to do with stone fruit...

Boy did we get a lot of stone fruit yesterday. There is no way we're going to be able to eat that much before the fruit goes downhill, so I got stuck into preserving and jam making.

Preserves:-
I sterilised jars, put some chopped stone fruit in them (plums had skin removed) and topped the jars right up to the top with a light sugar syrup (1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water). Into the oven (100 degrees C) for 45 mins to cook the fruit a little, and to seal the jars. Cool on a wooden cutting board - so the jars don't break being placed on something cold, then I labelled them with the contents and the date once the jars were cool.

7 out of the 8 jars sealed. The one that didn't seal we put in the fridge to be used up when we're craving mangoes again ;D
Jam:-
I followed a simple recipe today to make jam. I used peaches, mangoes and apples.

- Wash, peel and remove stones from fruit, then weigh the chopped fruit.
- Cook it gently in a very large saucepan until it begins to bubble.
- Add the sugar. Most recipes recommend you use the same weight in sugar as fruit, but I only use half.
- Boil the fruit rapidly, stirring constantly for five minutes, but not on full heat otherwise the jam at the bottom of the pan may burn.
- Add the jam setta and boil for another five minutes.
- Pour immediately into sterilised glass jars and seal with an air tight covering.

Note: If you are making jam with non-citrus fruit you should add the juice of one lemon after adding the sugar.

One child did a taste test and LOVED it. Said child could eat an entire jar if allowed.

A great food day trip

We were going to head to Bilpin yesterday and do some fruit picking, but I had limited cash, it was going to cost far too much in petrol, and it was going to take an hour and a half to get there, and the same back. We weren't sure if the fruit was going to be great once we got there.

To cut a long story short, we decided to head Dural way and track down some road side stalls and see what we could find.

I had $100 in cash, $20 of which went to Darling Hubby for petrol. We ended up spending under $60 on fruit and veggies, and I have just over $20 left over. Because it was a shorter drive, we didn't have to buy lunch either :D

This is what you get for $60:-

(Watermelon, navel oranges, strawberries, lemons, corn, white nectarines, plums, mango butter, roma tomatoes, peaches, 2 boxes of mangoes - yes TWO! and a cucumber)

You can probably get more for your dollar at the market, but the markets aren't as picturesque as a drive to Rural Dural.

Peach Lemonade

"Moving to the country, going to eat me a lot of peaches"...

Ingredients:

• 2 peaches peeled and cubed
• 4 C water
• 1 C sugar
• 3/4 C Fresh Lemon Juice

Preparation:

Bring the peaches, sugar, and water to a boil, and then simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool, then strain through a sieve, pressing to extract as much juice as possible. Stir in the lemon juice, and serve in tall glasses over ice.

You can reduce the amount of sugar in this and add more lemon if you wish.

Adding ginger beer to this concoction after it has cooled would be FANTASTIC :D

Miniature Gingerbread Houses

Usually I make gingerbread men to take to our neighbours, but this year I obviously wanted to feel under a little more pressure, and decided to make miniature gingerbread houses instead.

They are soooo cute!

My gingerbread recipe is:-
125g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in golden syrup and egg yolk. Stir in dry ingredients (flour, ginger and soda bicarb).
2. Press into a ball, knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Refrigerate for 30 mins.
3. Roll dough between sheets of greaseproof paper. Cut gingerbread shapes from dough. Place shapes about 3cm apart on lightly greased oven trays.
4. Bake in moderately hot oven (180 degrees Celsius) for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on trays.

Royal Icing:
1 egg white
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
food colouring (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. You may need more icing sugar, as it needs to be quite stiff if you want to use this on mini gingerbread houses.

Here's the link to the pattern for the miniature gingerbread houses: http://images.transcontinentalmedia.com/canadianliving/food/gingerbreadcutouts.pdf

It suggests doing these as a gingerbread house party. What a great idea!
(the image is from the Canadian Living gingerbread house party suggestion)

Christmas Trifle

This looks so pretty, depending on how you throw it together.

85g packet red jelly
85g packet yellow jelly
85g packet green jelly
250g packet French rollettes, sliced
2 cups mixed berries (blueberries, chopped strawberries, raspberries etc)
600 mls ready made custard (or make your own)
300 mls cream, whipped.

1. Prepare each jelly according to packet directions. Pour into shallow trays lined with greaseproof paper. Refrigerate until set.
2. Assemble the trifle by arranging the slices of rollettes around the sides of 1 large serving dish (or individual dishes if you prefer).
3. Fill centre with berries and some chopped mixed jelly.
4. Pour over cool custard. Top with cream. Decorate with remaining chopped jelly. Refrigerate until required.

I took my end of year frustration out on some more clinkers (popped them in a snap lock bag and whacked them with a rolling pin), and threw them crushed on top for good measure. This trifle was for a Ward christmas party, and boy did it disappear fast! Just a word of warning, if you do want clinkers on top, put them on at the last minute so they don't go soggy. You probably don't want to assemble the entire trifle until an hour or two prior to serving anyway.

Apricot Flummery

Mmmm we used to have a green version of this when we were growing up, and nicknamed it "Snails guts". Of course this one isn't green, and is a Summertime favourite here.

8 apricots, peeled, halved and seeded (or a 425g tin, drained - reserve the juice)
2 x 85g packets orange jelly
375ml can evaporated milk
85g packet lemon jelly
1/2 cup apricot nectar (or half cup of the juice from the tin)

1. Arrange apricots in mould. Reserve some to chop to add into mixture later.
2. Prepare one orange jelly according to directions, but use only 1/2 cup hot water to dissolve the crystals. Stir in 1/2 cup cold water. This will make a firm jelly. Pour over apricots in bottom of mould. Allow to set until tacky.
3. Beat evaporated milk in a large bowl until thick. Dissolve remaining jelly in apricot juice/nectar over low heat. Allow to cool slightly. Beat dissolved jelly into evaporated milk. Fold in reserved chopped apricots. Pour into mould. Refrigerate until set.

Christmas Tree Bark

Another very simple, yet effective table decoration that people can nibble away at:-

2 x 180g blocks good quality cooking chocolate (white, milk or dark).
Lollies (ie crushed clinkers, crushed candy canes, M&Ms etc.

To break up the clinkers, I placed them in a large snap lock bag, sealed it up, and took out all my pent up frustrations on the bag with a rolling pin. Works wonders ;D

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on a MEDIUM-HIGH setting until melted (only use a metal spoon, and don't put the metal spoon in the microwave)
2. Add in your lollies, mix.
3. Spread out on a BIG piece of greaseproof paper. Leave until set.

You may have to refrigerate this, depending on what chocolate you use, and what the weather is like.