Scarfs
Two ways to make a crocheted ruffled or spiral scarf I was wandering around Spotlight when I noticed that the wool section had a lot of specials. It has been years since I have knitted anything and longer since I have crocheted but I was inspired so I bought wool that looked interesting and then […]
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YOGHURT, LABNE
Labneh This is a cheese made from yoghurt. I use low fat plain Greek yoghurt that I buy in 2 kg buckets. To me this is the perfect spread – low fat and good protein = no guilt. It can be used on vita weet biscuits cruskits or Mountain bread as a base for some […]
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CHICKEN AND HALLOUMI
Tender slow cooked chicken I saw Heston Blumenthal comparing chicken cooked according to the instructions on the bag and his version. the stringy, dried out roasted version looked very familiar, and is probably why I never roast a whole chook. The secret is in brining the chicken to get as much moisture into it as […]
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PICKLE SALADS
Cucumbers are another vegetable that I didn’t like much until I grew my own. These are salads that are delicious, keep well and can be served with just about anything. Oriental Pickle Salad Pickling liquid Mix together, boil 1 minute and cool: 6 tbs rice wine vinegar 6 tbs caster sugar 6 tbs water salt […]
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CARROTS WITH CUMMIN
This year our carrots were tasty. I have never liked carrots much, and certainly not raw carrots. The carrots I grew converted me to eating raw carrots. Carrots from the fruit shop are so cheap it never seemed worthwhile actually growing them. This, coupled with my previous lack of success at growing anything that didn’t […]
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SLOW ROASTED PORK
Tender Pork Today I cooked a big lump of pork on the bone. I have no idea what cut it was but it looked like it was a slice off the leg. There was meat on both sides and rind around the edge. I looked like it would be a good cut to be able […]
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CITRUS BUTTERS – lemon / lime / tangelo
We grow lots of different types of citrus trees, partly because they grow easily, have few bugs and are easy to manage and partly because I just love fresh citrus straight from the tree. You do not get mandarines or tangelos or indeed any citrus from shops that have that tang that comes from a […]
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COD KEDGEREE
Dead easy, quick and reasonably cheap. It also looks good, with the fresh tomato, parsley, egg slices and lemon quarters in the tumeric coloured rice. Start all of these things off at the same time. They will be ready to combine once the rice is cooked. Ingredients 4 cups rice cooked in rice cooker 1 […]
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ANZAC BISCUITS
I have a few very reliable and easy to make biscuit recipes – It is not something that I cook very often because they would be eaten and none of us need to eat more food than we do already. The main stays are Anzac biscuits, mothers biscuits and gingerbread men. I also have some […]
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QUINOA SALADS
Quinoa is a very versatile base for a salad, tastes great, good texture and goes with anything that you want to add to it. It is also very good for you, and can be frozen after cooking – I haven’t tried it yet but I am guessing that if the cooked quinoa is made with […]
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Microsoft Access – Code Snippets
This post is just for me. I do occassional work on some Access databases, not as much as I used to do, and now I find that I can’t quite remember how to get the results I need. I have decided that I will copy bits of code into this blog so I can easily […]
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WHITE CHOCOLATE – CHRISTMAS ROCKY ROAD
I love to make things to go with coffee. These can usually be made weeks before and stored in the freezer, the main problem that I then have is remembering to get them out. Serving straight from the freezer is ok as it is usually so hot on Christmas day that icy cold deserts go […]
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NASTURTIUM CAPERS
There are plants that I have to have in my garden. I think that they are mostly plants that were in gardens that I knew as a child. I don’t know why I remember particular plants. The list of my child hood memories includes May Bush, Alyssum, Rose of Sharon, Port Wine Magnolia and of […]
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GARLIC PRAWNS
Prawns are my absloute favourite food. If given a choice I will opt for fresh school prawns, on buttered soft white bread, with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt flakes with a bottle of good white wine eaten on a beach or on our back verandah as the best way to […]
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SPRING PLANTING
2011 1st week of September: Time to clean out the beds that had remnant Summer crops. I had left things that looked like they still had some potential to produce something. I had pruned the eggplants and capsicum thinking that I could encourage them to produce new growth and get an early start on the […]
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ZUCCHINI FRITTERS
This is very easy, tasty and mainly zucchini. It has surprising ingredients and they work well together. It is important to not let the mixture sit or the zucchini loses its liquid and the mix becomes stodgy. Ingredients – use the following propotions 1 egg 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 1/2 cup flour 1/2 tsp baking […]
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Turnips
Growing Turnips This year I planted turnips in the garlic bed, just to fill the space at the end of the row and because I had never eaten turnips – except in stews, and bought in those prepacked soup mix packs from Woolworths, the ones that have a couple each of carrots, celery, a potato, […]
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SLOW COOKED BEEF – cooked to perfection
After a fair bit of research I have come up with a couple of ways to get great steak and the perfect Surf and Turf. A good lump of beef is sometimes just what you need at the end of a tough day. The secret to a beautifully cooked piece of meat is firstly in […]
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TABBOULEH AND TABBOULEH WITH CAULIFLOWER RICE
I grow lots of parsley. It is easy to grow, can be used in lots of recipes and tabbouleh is a great stand by salad with most of the ingredients able to be found in the fridge. Many years ago when I was teaching at a “multi-cultural” school I was introduced to Lebanese food by […]
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HUMMUS – raw carrot, cauliflower, carrot & cauliflower
These are all versions of hummus, or at least what I call hummus, which is anything which has tahini in it. I have been making hummus and other single ingredient salads or vegetable dishes such as mushroom pate or russian carrot salad, not as a dip but as a side to have with our salads and dinners. […]
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SPINACH AND CHICKEN RISOTTO
I love the pressure cooker and have used it for baked cheese cakes, hurrying up the cooking of a lamb roast, silverside, massoman curries, any number of casseroles, ribs, potatoes for mash and roasting, Christmas cakes, the list is endless. But it takes, a fair bit of courage to get started, a sense of adventure […]
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Pickled Radish Salad
I have a carrot and cucumber pickle recipe that is similar to this one. The radishes have a bit of a foul smell when sliced up but this dissipates after a while. I poured off some of the liquid before serving and this helped with the smell. Ingredients 1 bunch […]
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TOMATOES dried and pesto
Growing Tomatoes 2010 – I tried heirloom varieties so had a mix of size, colour and shape but not a huge crop. Lesson for 2010: Grow at least three times as many next time – they taste so good that they get eaten faster than they grow. I love dried tomatoes. I have a dehydrator […]
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Basil Pesto
BASIL PESTO 2012 – I have had a fantastic success with basil this year – shows that it likes being watered. I grew a punnet of mixed basil – don’t know what most of it is but we enjoyed fresh basil right through the season. I planted it beside the tomatoes as it is supposed […]
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