tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13912102995715100312024-03-13T14:40:20.610+11:00The Good Life Down UnderThe continuing adventures of Margo and Jerry.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger397125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-28652176582047469082015-07-01T18:29:00.002+10:002015-07-01T18:29:59.732+10:00First post for 2015Hard to believe! However now that study is almost done, and things are happening in the garden again I will try and post more often.<br />
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Stage 1 of the garden makeover has begun with these 2 rascals - Laverne and Shirley. Currently nearly 6 weeks old and the cutest things on 4 trotters. They have been hand reared so come when called, love to play, and Laverne in particular already loves belly rubs :-)<br />
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More garden renovation (read destruction) and porky tales to come - promise!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-4885972781359880182014-11-05T17:52:00.000+11:002014-11-05T17:52:00.335+11:00Mint overloadMy mum gave her mint plants a radical haircut, and presented me with half a black garbage bag of mint stems! Waste not, want not, so I have made (or am in the process of making):<br />
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Mint syrup (part 1), mint jelly (9 jars)<br />
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Dried mint (10 trays worth!) and about a litre of mint sauce<br />
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I guess it is lucky there is plenty of lamb in the freezer!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-90796263543926592782014-11-02T17:47:00.001+11:002014-11-02T17:47:37.635+11:00They grow up so quicklyOctober 20th - hatched within 48 hrs<br />
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October 30th - first day out of the nest, still in the same tree <br />
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November 2nd - out and about with mum and dad <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-43966453429218661342014-10-13T14:07:00.004+11:002014-10-13T14:07:53.740+11:00Fishy or fruity...or both?Nigel Slater's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/freshmackerelwithroa_92281" target="_blank">mackrel with rhubarb and sherry vinegar</a>. In a nutshell: pan fried mackerel served with oven baked rhubarb. The sherry vinegar comes into it at the end when you are rewarming the rhubarb in the pan before serving. Mine was a bit mushier than Nigel's, and didn't look pretty, but the taste combination was surprisingly good.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-45906924028196780292014-09-30T12:00:00.000+10:002014-09-30T12:00:02.042+10:00Chicken and corn soupLizzie's <a href="http://www.strayedtable.com/2014/02/27/chicken-and-fresh-corn-soup-recipe/" target="_blank">chicken and corn soup</a> - love it. Her recipe calls for fresh corn, but it also works with frozen corn, albeit with a much shorter cooking time. This is my go-to lunch when I have leftover roast or poached chicken.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-30593203745591707992014-09-28T12:00:00.000+10:002014-09-28T12:00:01.279+10:00Orchard update - sometimes things just don't work outIn July 2009 (can't believe it was so long ago!) ago we created a mini-orchard that we planned to espalier. We had 2 plum trees, 2 cherries, 2 apricots, 2 peaches, a nectarine, 2 apples, a pear and a nashi. A friend with a digger came over and drilled some nice big holes for the trees, we put in posts, strung wire, planted and looked forward to many home grown fruity adventures.<br />
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Five years (!!) down the track, the orchard experiment has been a failure. With the exception of the two plum trees, which have given us buckets of delicious plums, all the trees have failed to thrive. In fact, most still look almost as spindly as when they were planted. One of the apricots grew quite well, but gave almost no fruit. We can't say for sure why this has happened across so many of the trees - poor soil, wrong location, not enough feeding/watering (or both). However, given the peach tree in the veg patch we planted in 2008 before now has a trunk thicker than my leg (and gives the most amazing peaches), it became more and more obvious that there wasn't going to be a miraculous growth spurt.<br />
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At the same time we have been thinking about a new chicken coop up closer to the garden, so we can make better use of the new chickens in the garden (when we get some). Locating it near the berry cage (in the current orchard area) and including a gate would allow us to have the chickens roam this area in the non-fruit season to manage grass and pests. It would also put the coop closer to the house, and right nest to a tap for convenient water top-ups.<br />
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So... we made the decision to remove all of the trees, apart from the two plums. One apricot is still in the ground, as it was too big to easily remove with large pruners (yes, the trees were THAT spindly), but it will go. The posts and wires are still up, but they will be removed in the next few weeks, and I will start training the plums to be "all round" trees, rather than fan trained. We live in an orchard area so we have access to cheap, local fruit so we will just continue to support our local economy by buying what we want when it is in season, and preserving our favorites to enjoy at other times.<br />
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On the bright side, however, the rhubarb seems to be quite happy!<br />
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You win some, you lose some.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-37698161282298056142014-09-26T09:30:00.000+10:002014-09-26T09:30:01.077+10:00Breakfast babiesNo need to panic, we haven't turned cannibal! The babies I'm referring to are Dutch babies (aka dutch baby pancake, Dutch puff, German pancake or puffed pancake - but I think they are an American invention). This is another tasty discovery from Gina's blog, and has become a firm favourite at our house. Dutch babies will never win any glamour awards - although they rise spectacularly (and unevenly in my case!) they collapse as soon as they are out of the oven. To me they are a cross between a pancake and a yorkshire pudding.<br />
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They are quick and easy to make - I've managed to whip one up on a weekday morning to enjoy before heading to work. We tend to have ours with golden syrup, but berries and sugar, apples or other fruit would be a good healthy alternative as well. The added bonus is it is quite filling, and will keep you going until lunch. You can reheat leftovers in the microwave the next day, and they are almost as good.</div>
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Here are a couple of recipes to get you started - why not try one this weekend?</div>
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<li><a href="http://homejoys.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/out-of-breakfast-rut-dutch-babies.html" target="_blank">Gina's recipes for 3, 4, 5 and 6 egg versions</a></li>
<li><a href="http://joythebaker.com/2014/04/triple-berry-dutch-baby/" target="_blank">Joy the Baker's triple berry version</a></li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-50722882388318236692014-09-23T10:00:00.000+10:002014-09-23T10:00:02.690+10:00Time to get planting!I was strangely excited to start planting seeds again after a years hiatus. On the heated propagating mat inside I have peppers, tomato, eggplant and basil. I've being quite restrained this year on the tomato front - only 5 different varieties (cherry rainbow, and mortgage lifter for eating, and oxheart, principe borghese and san marzano for bottling), although I confess to going a bit OTT on eggplant varieties (little finger, snnowy and greek). My excuse is....well, other than the seed was only $3 a packet there is no excuse :-)<br />
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On the direct sowing front I have also planted out snow pea, sugar snap, beetroot, swede, lettuce mix and carrot. For the lettuce and carrot I trialed a nifty UK seed sewing device (seedsava) muma and papa Jerry gave me. I confess I have had it for a while, but really haven't put it to good use until now. However, on small seeds like carrot and lettuce it is brilliant. There are 4 different seed holders, each with a different size seed hole. Orange is the second smallest, and good for lettuce and carrot. You put the sizy you want into the base, and click so it is shut (seed holes covered so they can't fall out). Seeds go in the spoon part, then you shake them along the device until each hole is filled with seed. Then you place it on the bed where you want to sew, and simple slide the coloured section along, which opens the hole and lets some seed drop in. You do get a few seeds in each hole, but they are sewn at intervals making it easier to thin. It was easy, and I suspect there there was less wastage compared to broadcasting the seed.<br />
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I'll update you on progress as the seeds come up.<br />
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7 days later and here's the update - I hit save not publish and just realised :-). The basil and most of the tomatoes are looking good - the cherry rainbow is the forlorn punnet in blue. These seeds were just about at the end of their use by date so I'm not entirely surprised germination is almost non existent. The eggplants, chilli and capsicum are taking longer, but the first eggplants are just pushing up.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-70322998535911207882014-09-21T08:15:00.000+10:002014-09-21T08:15:00.542+10:00Recipe roundup - Nigel Slater's pork cheeksWould you believe we still have pork from our piggies? They were the gift that just keeps on giving! Apart from some chops and roast, I found the pork cheeks in the freezer, and have made<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/feb/03/nigel-slater-pigs-cheeks-recipe" target="_blank"> nigel slater's recipe</a> several times now -it is delicious. Our porkers were quite large, so one cheek actually gave us two meals.<br />
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You would probably need to order cheeks from your butcher, but this simple tasty recipe is worth that extra effort. I have made this in both the oven and in my slow cooker, with the same delicious results.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-30438441618574125632014-09-18T09:30:00.000+10:002014-09-18T09:30:00.768+10:00New adventures in sourdoughThe sourdough starter I, erm, started a few months ago is going really well, and I have spent the last few months working on improving my sourdough bread. I haven't perfected it yet, but I am getting better, with more good outcomes than failures. I use my kenwood to do most of the kneading, which saves some time and elbow grease :-)<br />
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Here is my starter bubbling away on baking day.<br />
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I have become a big fan of the soft sourdough bread from <a href="http://homejoys.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/soft-sourdough-bread.html" target="_blank">Gina's blog</a> - in fact it is the bread I make most often at the moment. I love the flavour - not just the sourdough part but also the honey. The honey flavour and aroma really comes through in this bread, so it is interesting to experiment with different types of local honey.<br />
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As a soft loaf it is also good for sandwiches (and of course makes great toast). Granted you don't get that artisinal chewy crust, but I have found the recipe to be really reliable, resulting in a tasty bread with a good texture. The <a href="http://homejoys.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/oatmeal-honey-sourdough-bread.html" target="_blank">version with added oatmeal</a> is also delicious. However it is an all-day exercise due to the long rising periods required (no commercial yeast is used). Here is a recent loaf, and some rolls I made using the same recipe.<br />
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I've blogged before about Matron's <a href="http://matronofhusbandry.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/sourdough-english-muffins/" target="_blank">sourdough english muffins</a>, and I've made them a few times as well - they do freeze well (assuming there are any left!)<br />
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Have you tried baking with sourdough? Do you have a favourite recipe?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-37280442031632451782014-09-14T16:10:00.000+10:002014-09-14T16:10:02.060+10:00This year, there WILL be a gardenIf Jerry's brother and sister-in-law can resuscitate their allotment after a flood, I can dig mine out from the weeds and couch grass and get planting!<br />
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In the last month or so I have been progressively digging over the beds that have been basically ignored since before we went away for 10 weeks last winter. Let me tell you folks, it has been ugly! One a day has really been all I (and my back) could manage. In fact a couple of them took 2 days.<br />
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This picture gives you a good idea about the state of the garden - but multiply that by 14 beds...<br />
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And that same patch of garden now (from the reverse angle). All the beds have been dug over, and had a dose of manure. These beds were done about 4 weeks ago, and when I scraped back the mulch yesterday the worms were going mad. When I originally dug over the beds and added the manure there were almost no worms. These beds should be ready to plant out for the main spring/summer planting starting next month.<br />
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The beds that I want to plant first I have used purchased compost and mushroom compost, so I can plant almost straight away, but the others will have 4-8 weeks for the worms to work on the manure and other bits of home made compost.<br />
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As the new garden season has really only just started here, there isn't much to show apart from some self seeded spinach and mustard leaf, and some rocked that is going to seed for the year. However the garlic is coming along nicely.<br />
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The same can not be said for the fruit cage, which looks a mess! However, we have plans to redo this area, remove the beds on either side of the fence, and extend, so motivation is low for serious weeding at this stage.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-79042707151126548702014-05-30T10:00:00.000+10:002014-05-30T10:00:00.580+10:00DIY sultanasLast month we harvested almost 15kg of grapes. Far too many to eat, too many to just turn into jelly, and we don't drink much grape juice (unless it is the alcoholic variety!). What to do? I decided to get out the dehydrator and try making sultanas.<br />
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I craqzed the grapes briefly (dip in very hot water) to crack the skins to assist in the dehydrating process, then left them in the dehydrator for about 24 hours (some a bit longer - probably didn't craze as well). We ended up with three decent sized jars of rather tasty home made sultanas. Slightly tarter than the shop bought variety, although th egreen grapes were sweeter than the red ones. Perfect for the winter porridge season!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-35115911999703794522014-05-26T16:54:00.000+10:002014-05-26T16:54:41.452+10:00Getting back to home madeIt is well past time for me to get back into making more and buying less. I got out of the habit when overwhelmed with work+work+uni, but as the weather gets cooler and I have time before next semester I need to re-establish some good habits.<br />
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Step 1: Bread. I have a new sourdough starter fermenting which should be ready to start baking with it next week. In the meantime I will get back to making bread rather than buying it.<br />
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Step 2: I will start making yoghurt using the cultures I bought. I made a batch 2 days ago, and converted about 3/4 into <a href="http://margoandjerry.blogspot.com.au/2008/09/its-cheeeeese-grommit-but-not-as-you.html" target="_blank">labna</a> (yoghurt cheese). My next experiment will be to infuse the milk with vanilla bean before making the yoghurt to see if I can come close to the flavour of 5am's very delicious (but expensive) vanilla bean yoghurt. I'll let you know how that goes.<br />
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Step 3: Get back into make some hard cheese. I think I'll start with caerphilly as it has a short maturing time, and we enjoyed it last time.<br />
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Step 4: Eat through the food we have in the pantry. We have loads of dried beans and I still have some ham bones and a hock or two so this <a href="http://www.taste.com.au/delicious/article/people/rick+steins+pub+food+and+matthew+evans+ham+hock+bean+soup,1247" target="_blank">excellent soup</a> will be getting a few runs in the next couple of weeks. The presence of dozens of jars of fruit suggests that there will be a lot of crumble made and consumed in winter :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-54051274664163501692014-04-11T11:00:00.000+10:002014-04-11T11:00:00.744+10:00Garden UpdateI've taken a semester off uni (again) - I have a lot or work on, and it was all getting a bit much. However this has meant I have had the luxury of time to get out into the garden and remember why I hate weeding, and I really hate couch grass!<br />
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However, I've cleared 3.5 beds, and have even planted some winter veg, so I am making progress. We signed up to the local CSA scheme again this year so our veg is still (very) local, but at a minimum I'm determined to have some Kale and garlic in the ground over winter. I haven't had to buy garlic for years now and I don't want to start now. It will be hard enough to go back to buying tinned tomatoes at some point in a few months when I run out of my preserved ones.<br />
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Here's how things are looking.<br />
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These will be garlic beds - one "resting" after a mammoth dig-over, the other a work in progress.<br />
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Beds I dug over last week - now planted with 3 kinds of kale and silverbeet, cauli, cabbage, spring onions, turnip, swede, sugar snap peas, rocket, lettuce and a few radish varieties (mixed, podding and daikon) <br />
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The "wild garden" beds - all a bit haphazard, but at least there are a few peppers (L) and chillies (R- jalapenos) still to pick, as well as cherry toms. <br />
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And this will give you an idea of what I still have to do....... <br />
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SIGH.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-45269449334345412602014-04-08T18:51:00.000+10:002014-04-08T18:51:01.555+10:00Is it April already?How did that happen? It doesn't feel like more than a month since I last posted...but if it's any consolation you haven't missed much!<br />
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I thought I'd get back in to the swing of things with some garden updates. After 10 weeks away last winter/spring, and uni and work over summer the garden is really in a "state" (to put it mildly). Thank goodness for berries and the peach tree so the harvest season hasn't been a complete bust. The tomatoes were an epic fail this year, other than the self seeded cherries and tommy toes, which just keep on keeping on. I have had small successes with a couple of chilli plants, the eggplants were a waste of time, but the parsley and basil varieties have been outstanding.<br />
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Many locals have reported poor tomato crops this year, probably due to the late start to summer and a few cold snaps in November. As for the rest I'm not sure why - this year I bought seedlings rather than started from seed, and it is tempting to blame that, but who knows. Berries have been the hero crops this year - around 35kg of them. However I must put in a mention for the peach tree I was going to pull out 18 months ago. I cut it right back to 3 "stump" branches, but it wasn't going to give up without a fight. It surged back, and this year we harvested 17kg of the most gorgeous peaches - some up to 350g. Needless to stay its survival is now assured.<br />
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The garlic did very well again, and I have enough bulbs to eat, as well as to plant out for the next crop. <br />
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Updated garden pics to come in the next post<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-68731850061245150522014-02-09T09:10:00.002+11:002014-02-09T09:10:35.051+11:00Stuffed eggplantOne of the nice things about buying meat from the farm is that it's really exciting to have lamb again after many month absence from the table. Last week we picked up two locally grown lamb from the butcher (cut to order), so I spent several hours packing it up using my vacuum sealer (one of the best purchases I've ever made - really protects the meat in the freezer). Needlesss to say after the long lamb drought we had chops several nights in a row!<br />
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Last night I'd defrosted some lamb mince thinking I'd make moussaka, but it was just too hot to turn the oven on. Smitten kitchen to the rescue! I made these <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/10/lebanese-style-stuffed-eggplant" target="_blank">stuffed eggplants</a>, and they were truly delicious. I eliminated the pine nuts (don't like 'em), used veg stock, replaced the rice with pearled spelt, and used a <a href="http://gewurzhaus.com.au/saudi_baharat" target="_blank">saudi bahara</a>t spice mix rather than allspice. Served with a dollop of plain yoghurt, and some flat leaf parsley. I made a side salad as well but we didn't need it.<br />
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I think it would be easy to modify this recipe for a vegetarian version, perhaps with mushroom.....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-56211960884222231222014-01-15T18:47:00.000+11:002014-01-15T18:47:07.597+11:00DIY liquid soap - no chemicals required!!A year or so ago I bought a bulk lot of liquid castille soap that I've been using in our reusable hand soap dispensers, but a few months ago I ran out. I prefer liquid soap for hands as it is easier in the kitchen and bathroom and doesn't leave the same mess as home made olive oil soap bars do with regular use (all that lovely glycerine gloops out). However, with increases in postage (no local suppliers) it just wasn't practical to buy more online, so I went looking for another solution.<br />
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I stumbled across this post at <a href="http://frugalberry.com/make-your-own-liquid-castile-soap/" target="_blank">The Frugal Berry</a> - in a nutshell you use a bar of Castile soap (say Dr Bronners, but of course you can use home made soap), water, a bag and some time. Seemed far to easy, but nothing venture nothing gained, so I gave it a whirl.<br />
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It worked! In a week I went from this<br />
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to this<br />
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and it really was as easy as the instructions on the blog. I did use two cakes of soap, but mine were small. In fact this was soap that didn't work so well (with calendula flower threads) so this has been a great way to use it up. It made 1L of liquid soap, and probably cost less than $5.<br />
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Liquid soap problems solved! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-91934483059129634712014-01-06T11:16:00.000+11:002014-01-15T18:52:26.094+11:00Kimchi<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhva-ztp-mAUKUDD-6c57ejFEnGKYtjfuJfvo9rZCDJNKxkaJXUZ-xP_gsySGCjh4ha91uFkrvchJkQl1dNwK-tY2htMgDbgkYe62qB7k6nm59q6ht_X-6DLk6d1k96bkdj9KEZzcBkqk/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhva-ztp-mAUKUDD-6c57ejFEnGKYtjfuJfvo9rZCDJNKxkaJXUZ-xP_gsySGCjh4ha91uFkrvchJkQl1dNwK-tY2htMgDbgkYe62qB7k6nm59q6ht_X-6DLk6d1k96bkdj9KEZzcBkqk/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a>Back from holidays and there were a few cabbages in the fridge from our veg box scheme that needed some love. Kimchi is the answer! This Korean fermented cabbage dish is super easy to make, and I like it a lot more than sauerkraut.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNY78bZKdRckdq-Wz3Ib2rGZ82Ml5AtXRHkLY3OK4VTlvXxGN4Nzt-TilTN_fsHqoPlWJgtJzCb0PZn8Opw0RhgSl9z6yl8SLs6oDoMGG6yLm6gEQRdOSXKOBUqlOz03e0lHvkKucjoc/s1600/IMG_1810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNY78bZKdRckdq-Wz3Ib2rGZ82Ml5AtXRHkLY3OK4VTlvXxGN4Nzt-TilTN_fsHqoPlWJgtJzCb0PZn8Opw0RhgSl9z6yl8SLs6oDoMGG6yLm6gEQRdOSXKOBUqlOz03e0lHvkKucjoc/s1600/IMG_1810.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a>I followed the recipe from the excellent Joy of Pickling book, but there are load <a href="http://hungrytigress.com/2009/07/kimchi/" target="_blank">online</a> too. After 12 hours in brine I added minced ginger, garlic and a Japanese 7 chilli blend to mine ( like it hot) and into the cheese fridge (a wine fridge I bought at a garage sale for $25) for 3-4 days. The cheese fridge keeps it below 20 degrees but above fridge temperature, to allow fermentation to occur. I sealed the top of the jar with a food grade plastic bag filled with more brine - this allows air to escape but keeps the contents sealed from nasties.<br />
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Once it's reached a good taste, then just seal the jar and refrigerate. It keeps for months.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-62208375788955428422014-01-03T11:05:00.000+11:002014-01-03T11:05:02.900+11:00Happy New Year<div style="text-align: left;">
Welcome to 2014 everyone. I hope you enjoyed some relaxation with family
and friends over the holiday season. We had a bit of a break in the
city and then to the coast. For Xmas Jerry gave me a swim with seals and
dolphins - it was EXCELLENT.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-10068539184014152592013-12-18T10:00:00.000+11:002013-12-18T10:00:02.884+11:00SpeltottoHugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg Everyday cookbook is one of my favourites. Even Jerry has been known to compliment a meat free meal made from it's pages (no small feat). Several of his recipes call for pearled spelt, but I have never been able to track any down. Pearled spelt is dehulled, but then goes though an extra process to scratch the surface of the grain to facilitate water absorption (and therefore dramatically reduce cooking time as well).<br />
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Recently one of my net-buddies has started an online food store, <a href="http://www.mindfultrader.com.au/" target="_blank">The Mindful Trader</a>*, and she invited customers and potential customers to request items we would like to see stocked in the store. Sensing the opportunity to set a challenge, I nominated pearled spelt. Lo and behold a few weeks later a supplier was found and it was in stock. I placed an order.<br />
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My first cooking with pearled spelt attempt was <a href="http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/swede-speltotto/" target="_blank">Speltotto</a> - like risotto but, you guess it, with spelt. I've linked to the swede version of the recipe, but I made my speltotto with kale. Basically follow the recipe, but ignore the swede part, and in the last 2-3 minutes of cooking add shredded kale. I served with a few slices of poached chicken breast, loads of cracked black pepper and some grated chilli peccorino. Heaven. Honestly folks this leaves regular risotto for dead. The spelt has a lovely nutty/wholegrainy flavour, and retains a good grain texture as well - no glugginess. It also reheated brilliantly the following day.<br />
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Jerry was as verbose in his praise as it is possible for him to be about a meal with very little meat. He agreed it was much tastier than regular risotto, and said he would be happy to eat a lot more speltotto in future. Once the weather cools down a bit I am keen to try a version with roasted root vegies. I suspect it will be equally delish.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*Disclaimer: Although I know the owner of the Mindful Trader, I haven't been asked to write this post, nor have I received any benefit (financial or otherwise) for doing so. I just really like pearled spelt :-)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-39901509191039091662013-12-15T19:08:00.003+11:002013-12-15T19:08:47.018+11:00Berry bonanzaYep, it's berry season again, and it's going to be a cracker!<br />
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So far we have picked 10kg of berries (raspberries, brambleberries, loganberries), plus just over 2kg of redcurrants. Blackcurrants will be picked before Xmas. I've frozen some berries, but today to sheer volume decreed that jam making was in order.<br />
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Out with my jam bible - Marguerite Patten's the basic basics series book on jams, jellies and chutneys. I spied a variation in the loganberry jam section for loganberry and cherry jam. That sounded pretty good, and I happened to have a kilo of cherries in the fridge. <br />
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Half an hour later 2kg of fruit and sugar became 10 jars of jam (I made a double batch). Looking forward to trying it once it has set (it tasted pretty good warm!). It has an amazing colour.<br />
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Recipe from Marguerite Patten's the basic basics series book on jams, jellies and chutneys<br />
<ul>
<li>450g loganberries</li>
<li>450g cherries (weight when pitted)</li>
<li>900g sugar</li>
<li>2 tablespoons water </li>
<li>1 tablespoon lemon juice </li>
</ul>
Put the loganberries and water in a pan and warm on a lowish heat until the juice just starting to run. Add the cherries and heat until the fruit is soft. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir over low heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Turn up the heat, and boil until setting point reached. Leave to stand a few minutes and stir to distribute fruit. Put into jars and process as per your normal method.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-37274835540980184372013-11-23T11:00:00.000+11:002013-11-23T11:00:09.110+11:00Dining spanish style....and longing for salads!Spain isn't the best holiday destination for vegetarians....there is a decided lack of salad or vegetable offerings However, as Jerry's favourite things are meat, cheese and potatoes he was in heaven - although after two weeks of green-free eating even he was feeling nostalgic for some vegetables or salad. Here's a sample of some of our holiday meals.<br />
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Apple stuffed with beef and lamb mince - I must try this now we are home as it was delicious. I followed it with cheese and quince paste at Origens in Gracia. We ate here twice and really enjoyed the food, wine and service.<br />
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Tapas for lunch in Barcelona ...again :-)<br />
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Tapas Madrid style - croquetas, meats and ceviche, followed by mojitos. But not just any mojito, I ordered the regular one, but we also tried the watermelon and (award winning) banana version. The banana one was the hands down winner. Amazing<br />
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The best chocolate pastry of the whole trip (and I tried a LOT in at least 4 countries!) in Madrid<br />
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Meat and potatoes, Madrid style<br />
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Relaxing at Alhambra in Granada with tapas: eggplant and honey, and more croquetas</div>
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More Granada tapas, and finally churros and chocolate...not the healthiest breakfast :-) </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-33685926679358012162013-11-20T10:00:00.000+11:002013-11-20T10:00:05.688+11:00Yes, I still have a garden!But it is going to be a lot smaller this year, as we were away until October so missed the main tomato/chilli/eggplant/capsicum seedling raising months. I did buy some plants at a local charity market, but not as many as I would normally grow from seed. It feels really weird to only have one bed of tomato plants!<br />
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I will probably only have about half of the beds in production this year for several reasons<br />
<ul>
<li>work plus study means I have to scale back my garden ambitions</li>
<li>it will take a few more months to weed and rejuvenate some of the other beds</li>
<li>we are planning to move a few things around in the autumn, and redo the fruit cage so I'm deliberately not doing anything with some of the beds</li>
</ul>
To fill in the gap we're getting a weekly organic veg box again this year from a local CSA (community supported agriculture) family farm about 10k away. Can't argue with those food miles!<br />
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This overgrown mess is what almost all the beds looked like when we came back from holidays...although the garlic beds were looking in better shape!<br />
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New plantings - eggplant, chilli and capsicum, and lettuce and basil, with a few sugar snap pea seeds that hopefully will germinate soon.<br />
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The tomato cages are back in use again. This year I have planted tommy toe, black russian, mortgage lifter, another beefsteak variety, and two paste type tomatoes whose exotic names I can't remember!<br />
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Cucumber, herbs and a zucchini. On the right is the red table grape - this is the best it has ever looked in 5 years, and it has loads of fruit on it.<br />
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In spite of some curly leaf (I wasn't around to spray in time), the veg patch yellow peach tree is laden with fruit. Lovely! The other white peach in the mini-orchard is far less impressive. To the right are the raspberries and brambleberries - both promise to give us a good few months of berry delights.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-79958717601838603282013-11-17T12:00:00.000+11:002013-11-17T12:00:01.568+11:00Train foodWhile in Europe we took trains everywhere - far more relaxing and scenic (thanks to <a href="http://www.seat61.com/" target="_blank">the man in seat 61 website</a> for excellent train travel advice). The train from Paris to Barcelona was particularly enjoyable. We left Paris on a Sunday afternoon, so in the morning we went to the local market and bought a fabulous rotisserie free range chicken done with some magic herb mix, baguette (of course), tomatoes and lettuce. A couple of bottles of wine and there's a perfect late lunch / early dinner while watching the scenery whiz by.<br />
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The next train trip long enough for a meal was from Madrid to Granada, a 4 hour trip arriving after 9.30pm so it made sense to pay the extra 20 euro to go first class and get a meal. Menu card and drinks card below. Dinner included an apperitif (cava for me) and a 250ml bottle of wine and three courses plus gazpacho. I wasn't hungry when I finished, and I've certainly had worse meals on airlines. The the little bottles of oil and vinegar for the salad that came around separately was a nice touch.</div>
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The most amazing thing about this train trip is that about half way to Granada the train goes from the main high speed line to a regional line - which has a different gauge. No mucking about changing trains though - the train goes through a shed where the undercarriage is adjusted, pop on a new engine and off you go, at an albeit more sedate pace!</div>
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I also travelled form Paris to Munich and back on theTGV to see friends - The smoked salmon blini was a bit much to stomach at 9am, but no complaints about the rest of brekkie (croissant, yoghurt and muesli, bread). Dinner on the way back was washed down with a light rose - menu below. This meal was particularly good, again consumed at 300+kph.<br />
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I really wish our trains were half...or even a quarter this good!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391210299571510031.post-73267367090353247422013-11-14T10:00:00.000+11:002013-11-14T10:00:07.537+11:00Brunch of champions Literally...well, my german isn't fabulous but it translated into something like super healthy and yummy :-)<br />
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If you happen to be in Fürstenfeldbruck (near Munich) then I recommend the restaurant, <a href="http://www.vierwasser.de/" target="_blank">Vierwasser</a> (water view, I'm guessing!) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0