A Little Summer Cheer

via here

I'm not normally a cocktail kinda girl, but I may have to celebrate the arrival of the weekend with a Bellini.

How can you go past peach, raspberry and chilled champagne?

God bless you Summer - you have arrived.

x

Summertime (and the need for new cutlery)

Summer may actually be here. Last night we ate our first dinner outdoors, a regular Summertime treat.

We ate one of my favourite things to cook (because it's easy and tastes good. I'm not sure I can really call it cooking, as most of the ingredients come from a jar).

Cook a big pot of spaghetti.

Drain, and stir through diced, cooked bacon, basil pesto (I used it from the jar - lazy I know), a tin of drained smoked oysters, some chopped semi-sundried tomatoes and some marinated artichoke hearts.

Eat it with a salad to get your vege hit.

Here's to many more Summertime dinners.

(And yes, I have noticed my exceptionally dated cutlery. It was a wedding present but, even so, it must be time for an upgrade. Oh federation green....you should have stayed in the nineties.)

x

Oh to bake a pie...

recipe via here

The house is a mess, the kids are sick, I'm ridiculously busy at work, and all I want to do is stay home and bake a pie.

Is that so bad?

x

recipe via here

recipe via here

recipe via here

Lemonade and Jasmine

My daughter is hooked on the domestic art of making lemonade. She made a huge batch yesterday, and it tastes summery and delicious.

Here's how...

Squeeze 1 cup of lemon juice.

Dissolve 1 cup of caster sugar in 1 cup of water in a saucepan on the stovetop.

Stir the juice into the sugar/water solution.

Add 3-4 cups of cold water and let cool in the fridge.

Serve with iceblocks and drink while relaxing (preferably in a hammock strung between two shady trees)

Another of the sights (and smells) of Summer...

My Jasmine plant is flowering, filling my little courtyard garden with delightful scents.

Can't wait for Summer to arrive.

x

Let her loose for the weekend...

recipe via here

I have lost touch recently with my inner-domestic-goddess. I plan on letting her loose for a while this weekend with some baking. These cakes are suitably girly - just what she loves.

recipe via here

recipe via here

recipe via here

Hope your domestic goddess gets a little time doing what she loves this weekend.

x

Perfect pasta...

pic, and what looks like a rather good recipe, here

Last week I went with a dear friend to a pasta making class. If you hail from these parts, you might be interested to know that it was held at Upper Crust, in West Perth, and it was fantastic. The chef was Sophie Budd, who is rather clever with the old pasta machine, and works out at Bleeno's Bistro in the Swan Valley.

We were served wine, got to taste each dish (each one was simple, with truly amazing flavours) and Sophie made it look do-able. Not a bad way to spend the evening.

First item on my Christmas List...a pasta maker.

And thanks, dear friend, for inviting me along.

x

via here

via here

Birthday Cupcakes

In honour of my baby's birthday...cupcakes. What more could a twelve year old girl-about-town want?

Happy Birthday beautiful girl.

x

pics and recipes from the fabulous Martha

Time to make plans for next weekend...

The only way to keep the weekend alive come Monday morning is to make plans for next weekend. How about a garden party?

1,2,3 via Country Living

Complete with magnificent cupcakes.

4,5 via Martha Stewart

Roll on Saturday...

Sunday is a good day to...

Sunday is a great day to bake. There is something so grounding about baking - it says 'home' like nothing else can.

My favourite chocolate cake recipe is from Donna Hay's Simple Essentials - Chocolate. It was given to me as a housewarming present when we first moved here. I just love Donna Hay. Every one of her recipes that I have used has worked brilliantly (and she appears to have a fantastically dry sense of humour - I've heard her speak on the radio a few times).

If you haven't already visited Donna's website take a look, so many lovely things to bake.

Her recipe for this Basic Chocolate Cake is below.

Beat 375g of softened butter and one and a half cups of brown sugar in an electric mixer for 8-10 minutes. Gradually add 3 eggs and beat well. Fold through 2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and two thirds of a cup of cocoa. (Donna says to sift flour and cocoa - twice for the cocoa). Stir in three quarters of a cup of milk and bake at 160 degrees C in a lined 22cm round cake tin for one hour and ten minutes. Cool in the tin for ten minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack.

I was feeling too lazy to ice the cake, so I asked my lovely daughter to add the finishing touches. I think she did a beautiful job.

Happy Sunday x

Delicious Pastries

I am always in favour of quick baking, particularly if the end result is chocolatey-good. This recipe (I think) came from a recent Vogue Entertaining and Travel. I have a bad habit of ripping recipes out of magazines and forgetting where they have come from. If anyone can confirm/set-me-straight on the source I'd very much appreciate it.

But...I digress. I used frozen butter puff pastry for this. Once the pastry has thawed, use a biscuit cutter to cut out circles (the original recipe suggests making them larger by tracing around a saucer). Lay your circles of pastry on a lined tray and place a few squares of chocolate in the centre. Add a top circle of pastry (the same size as the bottom), and pinch the sides together with your fingers. Brush with a little beaten egg, and bake at for about twenty minutes, or until the pastry is golden and puffed. I suggest using the instructions on the pastry pack as a guide for the oven temperature.

These are great eaten straight from the oven, dusted with icing sugar, with a blob of cream on the side. Just watch out for the hot chocolate.

Mid-week baking

Every-so-often I lapse into 1950's wife mode, and feel a hefty dose of mother-guilt if my children don't have something home-cooked in their lunchbox. I have a feeling that this matters much more to me than to my children, however, it compels me to don apron and reach for the mixing bowl. During the week I don't have the time to make a leisurely afternoon of it, so I need a recipe that is easy and requires no thought. This apple bread does the trick.

Pour a small tin of pie apple into a bowl (I know I should be suggesting that you lovingly pick, peel and stew your apples, but let's be realistic - it's Wednesday). Next, add two eggs and mix with a fork. Add three quarters of a cup of brown sugar, and then stir through two cups of self-raising flour. Pour this mixture into a lined loaf tin, and bake in a moderate oven for about forty five minutes. Voila...apple bread with a small helping of virtue on the side.

In honour of one of my favourite authors...

Today is Roald Dahl Day. In honour of one of my favourite children's book authors I felt compelled to make something chocolatey with a 'Wonka-esque' twist. I have been holding onto this recipe for quite some time - a torn out page from an old Vogue Entertaining + Travel. 
Begin by melting 300g of white chocolate. Once melted, stir in one teaspoon of salt flakes, two teaspoons of chopped dried rosemary and one tablespoon of dried rose petals (I picked these up from my local market, but VE+T suggests trying Middle Eastern food stores). Once mixed together, pour onto a lined tray, and spread out to about three millimetres thick. Put it into the fridge for about an hour to set, and then break it as haphazardly-as-you-like into shards. The taste is quite remarkable, and I am in love with the beautiful colours. Happy Roald Dahl Day.

Much-Too-Much Mint

The mint in my garden is suddenly, and quite profoundly, out of control. Needing to cut it back, but not wanting to waste the mint, I have been searching for cold-weather mint recipes. So many mint recipes are for ice-creams and salads, but until Spring arrives with a little more commitment, I am unwilling to travel that road. I love this recipe for Moroccan Mint Tea, and it should prove a warm addition to these rainy Spring days. I am hoping that once my mint recovers from a vigorous cut-back, it will rise again in Summer, ready to provide me with countless opportunities to try fresh, new food and drink recipes. I have always wanted to try a Mint Julep, and it looks so easy to make that I can have it done quicker than you can say, "The Great Gatsby". Roll-on Summer...

For the Dad who loves chocolate

image via Australian Gourmet Traveller

My family and I don't really need the excuse of Father's Day to feed our chocolate habit, but it is always nice to bake in celebration. While looking for a new chocolatey treat to try, I found this recipe for Violet Chocolate Fudge. It sounds like something Roald Dahl dreamt up.