Recipes – Head in the Clouds

Minor Sloth Day

Hello!
It rained and drizzled today. Of course it did! I did washing last night so it would be ready to go on the line early!
So I put it out anyway. The breeze between the droplets actually got them almost completely dry!!
I put the fire on late this afternoon to finish off the clothes (well, really it was for me because I was chilly and a fire is so nice!)

I accidentally did a little weeding on the trip back to the house after hanging the laundry. And picked strawberries!
I was planning on a nothing day…

Best laid plans and all that… I actually really wanted to try out making rhubarb/raspberry jam.
Have to start making use of the monstrous rhubarb plant thats thriving away down in the garden.

750g of 1cm chopped rhubarb,
500g of raspberries
1 large orange. Zest and the juice – add water to the juice to make up to 225ml
900g sugar
(13g pectin but I just squeezed lemon juice in)

You cook the raspberries, rhubarb & orange zest and juice for about 30-40 minutes until everything is mush.
Then add your sugar and pectin or lemon juice and fast boil for about 10 minutes – or until you can see its ready.

I tried a bit when it was cooled off and I really really liked it!
Looking forward to brekkie tomorrow morning! Something new for my toast!

Hope you’ve had a great day too!
Cheers!

Jerky Done – Recipe

Its hard to photograph jerky in a way that looks appetising… but I will have to say it really tastes amazing. Very happy with the outcome!
I have been running about doing lots of little tasks – nothing really bloggable so will leave the jerky recipe here in case it is of interest to anyone!

I used some rump steak. Whatever you use you need to cut out fat. I am a novice at this whole jerky thing, some of you will know what to do a lot better than I do!!
Anyway, this is the marinade:

1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce (I used my home made plum-worcester sauce)
2 teaspoons ground pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder (I used several cloves of fresh garlic chopped small)
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder (I used one fresh chilli chopped small)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons honey

I mixed all this up thoroughly and put the sliced beef in to marinate overnight
Drain.
5 hours in the dehydrator at 70C seemed to do the trick

Yummo!

Muesli Bars (Recipe)

Time to make some muesli bars today.
My biggest problem on the upcoming hike is breakfast.
I am a toast and coffee girl and thats it.
I am not a morning person.
In any shape, way or form. (especially form)
So springing out of bed and dining on something different no matter what my intentions – doesn’t work.

I have decided that the easiest thing to do will be to have my coffee, then as we set out hiking in the morning I will nibble at the muesli bars while I am getting used to being awake. There will also be trail mix and a lot of my dried apple.

Anyway, today I put together a batch of muesli bars and I was thrilled how they turned out.
I used the dried apple chopped up, broke into the walnuts and crushed them up a bit and also put in chunks of my apple/raspberry leather which really gave the bars the edge!!!

Here is the recipe in case anyone wants to give it a go:

9×9″ pan, lined with baking paper criss crossed to go up all sides.
Pre heat oven at 165C (325F)

Ingredients:

2&1/2 cups oatmeal (oats)(quick oats)
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Then 1 cup of a mix of your choice of things like walnuts/almonds/raisins/dried apricots/choc chips etc
(as mentioned above I used walnuts, dried apple and bits of my apple-raspberry fruit leather)

I mixed by spoon first then by hand.
Put all into the tin and spent quite a lot of time pressing it flat
I got another piece of baking paper and used a jar and spoon to go over and over the surface to pack it down. (Don’t forget the edges!!)

It really worked well

We have had trouble with it crumbling in the past so this extra time pressing is worth it.
Put in the oven for 30 minutes. Take out and let cool completely before trying to take it out to cut it.

Happily it didn’t fall into bits this time. It cut beautifully. I was worried as it looked dry but nope… the taste test passes muster! Love it.

Pickled Beetroot

Hello!
Sorry I have hardly dropped by recently. I have just run out of time and energy come the days end! Unbelievably constantly busy at the moment!!
I just thought I would share my pickled beetroot recipe since I was asked about it recently and couldn’t find a previous post where I had shared it before.
I am really enjoying it back in my salads again!

4-5 medium beetroots sliced
3/4 cup water
1&1/2 cups vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
2 cloves (I use a half teaspoon of powdered cloves)
1 bayleaf (I skip this as I have none at the moment)
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put all in pot and boil/simmer until beetroot tender.
Store in container in fridge with liquid covering the beetroots.

I usually just cut up however many beetroot I have and then double/triple the recipe until I have enough liquid covering the beetroot.

Enjoy
Cheers!

Tea Cake Recipe

I can’t quite find in past posts if I shared the recipe for this one.

So… because I was embroiled in housework all day I thought I would just share it with you tonight instead of boring you with tales of vacuuming and window cleaning!

This is a recipe from my Great Grandmother.
Its not fancy, but its a lovely easy cake to whip up and you are more than likely to have all the ingredients on hand. And I think its ‘Tea Cake’ as in ‘Afternoon Tea’
Now I am talking about it I wish I had baked another one today!

INGREDIENTS

1/4lb butter/marg (125gm)
1.5 cups sugar (due to slight guilt I use a little less)
2 well beaten eggs
2 cups Self Raising flour (Sifted)
1 cup Full cream milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

METHOD

Cream butter and sugar
Add eggs
Add flour and milk (and vanilla) alternately and beat well

Pour into well greased round tin (I line bottom with baking paper)

Put into a ‘hot’ oven (I preheat to 200C)(392F) then turn back to 180C (356F) 5 minutes after I put the cake mixture in.
Cook for about 30-40 minutes. Just test with skewer
Butter top while warm and sprinkle with cinnamon and caster sugar!
mmmmm
Simple

Enjoy xx

Zucchini Slice Recipe

Hello! Hope Monday wasn’t/isn’t too tragic for everyone!
Well… that’s the photo I was working on yesterday. Hopefully some of you will recognise what I was trying to do.
For those who don’t know – its a wartime propaganda poster (well, my copy of. I am not quite as glamorous as the original Rosie the Riveter though!!)

Anyway… I like my new hair bandanna so I wore it today as I spring cleaned the sunroom… here is the appalling before photo (I am such a clutterer)

Too easy for me to just drop things when I am busy and in a hurry!
Anyway, its all cleared out, vacuumed, mopped and de-spidered. I don’t like sprays, but sometimes we go for a surface spray to keep them from taking over.

I spent some quality time with Merv, Kevin, Annabelle, Daisy, Gertrude, Bob and the rest of the gang in Mealworm City (ie I cleaned their box out)

They are active and happy, so I must be doing something right.

Latest beret… I lashed out on some fancy yarn. I undid half of it as the thicker wool was making it huge. Now its more kid sized. Fits on my head but not as well as the other ones.
Its pretty tho.

I had a lovely time in the garden digging potatoes. I love doing that so much! I got a good amount in one go so I can leave them alone to grow for a while longer. I ate some of these tonight.

Then more apple cucumbers, a big zucchini and a few more tomatoes!

There was a bit of discussion about what a zucchini slice was yesterday!! I didn’t realise that everyone in the world who ever grew zucchinis didn’t have this as their ‘go to’ recipe!! 😀
Anyway, its half loaf, half omlette:

This was before I cooked it. Its quite flat.. an inch or so high.

Ingredients:

375g (14oz) grated zucchini (pffft… who measures? Just keep grating)

1 large onion finely chopped

1 large carrot grated

1 cup grated cheese

3 rashers of bacon chopped

1 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup oil

5 eggs salt/pepper

Method

Combine vegetables, bacon and cheese

Add flour – stir through with some salt & pepper

Whisk oil and eggs then add to the mixture

Pour into a baking tray (well greased or lined with baking paper)

Bake at 180C (350F) until golden brown (30-40 minutes)

Serve with some fresh garden salad and enjoy!

You can add other things if you like (sun dried tomatoes??) Its pretty versatile.

Have a great day!
Cheers!

(A goodnight show!)

Pikelet Recipe

Just in case someone wanted to know how to make up a batch of pikelets, here is the recipe I use:

1 cup self raising flour – sifted

pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda

2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup sour milk (add a teaspoon vinegar to fresh milk or do what I do and just use normal milk!!)

1 dessert spoon of melted butter

Mix all ingredients into a smooth mixture. Dollop spoonfuls of batter on a heated non stick fry pan – flip and cook until golden

Serve hot with butter and your choice of jam etc… or just butter!
They are good cold too.

Wonderful for afternoon tea… but not so smart to eat almost a whole batch at 10pm… just so you know 😀

Zucchini Slice

Hello!
Our zucchini’s are showing no signs yet of laying down and giving up for the season.
Its when you start frantically scratching about to make something else out of them – especially when the freezer is chokkas!

Anyway – below is the zucchini slice recipe I use.
Add a nice side salad and dinner is good to go!

(All photos below courtesy of my sister, Rosemary)

ZUCCHINI SLICE

Ingredients:
375g (14oz) grated zucchini
1 large onion finely chopped
1 large carrot grated
1 cup grated cheese
3 rashers of bacon chopped
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup oil
5 eggs
salt/pepper

Method
Combine vegetables, bacon and cheese
Add flour – stir through with some salt & pepper

Whisk oil and eggs then add to the mixture
Pour into a baking tray (well greased or lined with baking paper)
Bake at 180C (350F) until golden brown (30-40 minutes)

Its a recipe you can play with a bit – adding things like sun dried tomatoes etc.
A nice easy dinner to prepare!

Cheers

Sister Visit!

So awesome to have one of my sisters back in Tasmania for a visit! I picked Rosemary up this morning and we started in style with a late cooked brekkie – with thanks to the chooks!

Photo by Rosemary – I was busy wolfing mine down to pause for a photo!

Totally hit the spot!

Jeff was sleeping off another night shift, so it was just the two of us for the afternoon. After a tour around the very neglected garden, we set off to do a walk. It was an overcast day, but pretty nice out there!

At some point I will have to get a greater collection of rock photos from down here… I love the colours & textures.

Back home we picked the first of the pumpkin and the last of the corn! Rosemary got the honour of eating the corn! 😀 I was glad there was one left to share!
We made a pumpkin soup and fresh salad

Pumpkin soup is best if you roast the pumpkin first!
I have probably blogged it down somewhere before, but anyway – its a really simple soup.
I frizzle up some onion and garlic, then add in a litre of chicken stock. A couple of medium sized potatoes and the baked pumpkin. Boil then simmer.
When the potatoes are cooked I blend the lot then add a can of coconut milk.
Done. Easy. Tasty!

Cheers!

Chop Chop

So – I got back on the bike… bottom less sore today than yesterday so that’s a bonus!!! 😛

Once recovered I got into a few of the vegetables that have been hanging about multiplying.
Have made the first step of the BBQ sauce by making a simple tomato sauce recipe. (See below) Six pounds of tomatoes. That took care of quite a few!!

Even though compared to the amount of plants I have in, not as many zucchinis as I would have thought… but enough!! So got to work and chopped them all up

Five bags for the freezer… these can be used at a later date

Then it was the chillies turn –

Anyone want to come and stay and garden? Will feed you.

The long skinny chillies make such a good font…

Anyway, enough of that – I clearly have too much time on my hands!

I did get outside for a good long time this afternoon and enjoyed some hand watering and picking more stuff!

The corn is now eaten!! I picked the capsicum as I noticed a couple had rotted!! But I was expecting them to change colour. So I tried this one in my salad tonight and it was lovely! Must be time to make up some spaghetti sauce and freeze batches of that!

Cheers!

Tomato Sauce Recipe (Ketchup)

6 lb tomatoes chopped

2lb sugar

1/2 pint white vinegar (300ml)

2 & 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

Boil all for about 2 & 1/2 hours, then ‘mooley’ (Or blend or whatever you like to do to remove seeds/skin

Re heat and thicken with cornflour if nec.
Bottle up!