Too Many Dishes

Source Images:  DSC_6458.JPG (Av: F8.0; Tv: 1/250 sec.; ISO: 1250; FL: 20.0 mm)   Processing:  Fusion F.3 (HDR; Mode 1)
Foggy, dewy start to the day!

The day started dim and foggy when I went to let the chooks out. It weirdly seemed to get darker as the day went on instead of lighter! I posted the photo to facebook and mentioned this, when a friend asked me if I had slept the whole day and mistakenly woke at dusk. I am not known for my enthusiasm for mornings so fair question! (This friend is the one who helpfully and unfailingly asks if I have wet the bed if she sees me online before 8am – nice….) πŸ˜€

So – best cheer ourselves out of the gloom by lighting a fire and baking a chocolate cake!

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Will share recipe at bottom of post – this one is a goodie!

I also made another mad chicken smash for the girls – I cooked some more of the old potatoes in a soup mix I had found out of date in the pantry, along with some noodles. I put it all on the fire to cook while I was doing other things. Why use electricity when we had the fire going anyway?

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Kettle simmering as well as the chooks afternoon tea!

I also had a pineapple to cut & slice. I bought a real one since tinned pineapples seems either impossible to find, or if you find it, its a tin at half size for double the cost!

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Fresh pineapples smells so good!

By this stage I had already done a few rounds of dishes – we don’t have a dishwasher, so I kept washing up as I was going along.

Then because I hadn’t done enough dishes, I decided to wash and de-label all these little jars

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Best place to dry them was in front of the fire – along with a few pumpkin seeds I was saving.

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Too lazy to hand wipe the jars

My idea for the little jars instead of throwing them into the recycle bin, was to fill them with seeds and make them look ‘cute’ for the market stall (If I ever get to go back again!)

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I would still need to label whats inside, but just popped some washi tape around the jar to jazz them up slightly
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Perfect for the big runner bean seeds that are too bulky for my normal seed envelopes
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Saving seeds – fireside perfect place to dry them

I also baked some of the pumpkin that I cut into the other day and later made it into soup

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Lovely baked pumpkin (Ruby-frugalness creeping in with the use of the butter paper as baking paper!)

More dishes!! Who else hand washes their dishes?? I still have some sitting there leftover from having dinner and I am in no mood to do more before bed!

I am totally hoping the weather clears tomorrow so I can escape the house and do some outdoor stuff!

My Favourite Chocolate Cake Recipe

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Ingredients:

1&1/3 cups Plain (all purpose) flour

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute a tablespoon of lemon juice and top up with milk, mix and leave for a few minutes)(That is my money-saving tip of the day) πŸ™‚

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2 eggs

125gms (4.4oz) Butter, melted, cooled.

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Chocolate Icing Ingredients

1&1/3 cups icing sugar

1&1/2 tablespoons cocoa

20g butter room temperature

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and grease & line a cake pan (20cm diameter- 6cm deep)

Sift flour, bicarb, cocoa powder into bowl, stir in sugar

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In a separate jug, combine butter, vanilla, buttermilk and beaten eggs

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Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in buttermilk mix.

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Notice lack of well…

Using electric mixer, beat until thick and creamy.

Pour into prepared cake tin

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Precarious job cooking with one hand and photographing with the other – and not spilling anything!! Bonus points to me.

Bake for 40-45 minutes

Icing.

Combine ingredients and mix in a small amount of hot water to make into smooth paste and spread on cake.

Enjoy!

PS occasional extras via my facebook page!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Lisa

A happy traveller through life! Right now living in NW Tasmania with a gorgeous Nurse-Husband, a fool of a Siamese Cat and several chickens. We love our fairly simple lifestyle of growing a lot of what we eat and enjoying the stunning surrounds of our little patch.

5 thoughts on “Too Many Dishes”

  1. I wash dishes by hand….don’t have a dishwasher! Our rig doesn’t have one but they can be installed, a small drawer type, but I’d rather have the space for storage.

    Cake looks yummy, I rarely eat sweets. I’m more of a salty person

    1. I was wondering about you in your rig!! Smart choice choosing the extra space I reckon! I don’t think I would use a dishwasher effectively really… Only on big cooking days I get a bit jaded about it!
      I just had a piece of cake! Its not very rich so alarmingly easy to scoff! I also enjoy savory snacks…

  2. Question – do you know about Goo Gone? Do you get it there? It’s the best de-sticky~ing product ever, I “drink the stuff” as my husband says, as I use it for cleaning stuff with old grease on it too.

    Mmm that cake. We’re having a pie tomorrow and it’s a thrilling thing, because I can so rarely get the other half to agreeing to get or make something like this if it’s not Christmas!

    1. I will have to look up Goo Gone. I hadn’t heard of it so not sure if it is available here. Sounds really helpful. I just soak my jars and use steel wool to scrub residue.
      Eucalyptus oil de-sticks things too which I use on occasion!
      Hope the pie turns out scrumptious!

  3. If it isn’t and we won’t get into trouble for “smuggling” it, then I’ll have to send you some. Stuff is lemony-scented-magic in a bottle!

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