Well, it's 2 weeks now until Valentines Day. I am such a romantic and love doing things for my man all year round that let hime know how much I love him. I believe in the small things making a difference. Like a note in his lunch or a favourite meal made with the table set for two (put kids to bed early) using the "good plates", or surprising him with breakky in bed for no apparent reason! So i want to feature a few inexpensive yet meaningful ways to help us say I LOVE YOU to that special someone in your life.
I was shopping at a local fruit shop recently and saw a fruit i had never heard of before. I quite often like picking up something new and always let my 3yr old choose a fruit too (keeps him involved and busy - lol).
So i took home a dapple dandy and was licking my lips to try the first bite! AND WOW! it was kind of like a plum cross a nectarine or something. Then i did some research and found that you will often find them listed as a "pluot".
"Pluot is also known as a 'Dinasour egg' which is a trademarked name for the Dapple Dandy variety. Pluots are a hybrid between plums and apricots with the majority being plum (often a ratio of 75%/25%)"
So, next time you go out to the fruit shop, pick yourself up a dapple dandy and give it a go. I am keen to try to cook with thgis fruit and think it would be amazing stewed and make a delicious jam. So i will give that a go and post it at a later time!
One of my little pleasures in life is collecting cook books. I hope to expand this collection when I move into our new place later in the year and have more space to put them. I love flipping through cookbooks with a good cuppa tea and dreaming about what will grace the dining table in the upcoming week, or planning a dinner party! They are fascinating, you can tell SO much about a time period and a culture by cookbooks. Some of my absolute essentials are by the one and only Donna Hay with her "Modern Classics" 2 volume series and "off the shelf". So easy and everything has always worked out that i have tried!
Stay tuned for some interesting cookbooks that will sure inspire you to makeover your dinner repertoire.
So I told you I was working on something sweet - hold on to your hats folks. I love to eat very healthy, but an indulgence here and there is forgivable especially when it's this silky chocolate tart! My latest indulgence is delicious chocolate shortcrust pastry. I made a chocolate tart for dessert with it and served it with a chocolate sauce slick sprinkled with crushed almonds and cashews! YUMMO!!! There are two Australian brands that sell it - The Pastry Pantry and also Careme Pastry (who also do a sour cream and vanilla bean pastry I am dying to try too).
So here's the recipe.
Pastry Shell
1. Preheat oven to 185'C.
2. Grease your tart shell with spray or butter and dust with cocoa (shaking out the excess).
3. Blind bake using rice or weights on 180'C for 10-12 mins.
4. Carefully Remove weights/ rice and bake for a further 10 mins untill it's baked to the touch.
5. Remove tart shell and cool before adding the filling.
Filling
- 225g good quality dark chocolate
- 75 mls cream
- 90 gms butter chopped
- 3 eggs
- 75 gms castor sugar
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup
1. Combine chocolate , cream and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
2.Remove bowl and set aside
3. Using an electric mixer mix eggs, sugar and golden syrup untill pale and creamy and fold into cooled chocolate mixture.
4. Pour filling into cooled tart shell and bake at 150'C for 30-35 mins or until just set.
5. Cool tart before serving.
6. You can keep in fridge for up to 4 days in airtight container (if it lasts that long).
Never fear - I do have a yummy recipe that I am waiting to 'test' cook later today (hard job-lol) so that I can post it, so more yummy's are on the way!
However, yesterday I stumbled across an absolute gem of a website - wish i had this at Christmas time. The site "madeit.com" is an online market stall of random handmade goods from very talented Australian people. I found so many things that took my breath away and Susannah Tucker has done just that! I can't wait to buy some of her work to hang in our new house! I hope you enjoy Susannah Tucker Photography as much as i did. xo
I am quite a fan of supporting good local small buisness, where would we be without it after all! A lovely lady who lives local to me runs a company that i am just in love with. As a mum with 2 boys, it can be trickey finding a good variety of clothing for boys that are both modern, boy-ish without un-nessesary skulls and cross bones - all at a good price! Well, i stumbled across Quinn Macool who do a whole bunch of cute slogans for your little boys on everything from baby onesies to jumpers and t-shirts. I have bought many shirts from them and have even had her design matching custom tees for my boys for christmas!
Have a look at their stuff for the little man in your life - i know you will be as inpressed as i was with their range, prices and the quality!
I just love finding unusual ingredients or using things in a new way. A latest discovery of mine is SUMAC. This spice comes from the berry of a plant called Rhus coriaria. The name refers to the word corium, Latin for leather, as the leaves and bark are used in the tanning process.
This shrubby tree grows wild in the Middle East and parts of Italy. The brick-red fruits are sold as dried coarsely ground or whole berries. The spice is also known as "Sicilian sumac," "sumaq" or "sumach," and other similar variations.
It has a tart and slight lemony taste and Sumac is often referred to as a "souring agent." It was once used to calm the stomach. Today sumac is considered mainly a condiment used much like salt in that it is passed in small dishes at the table.
I used it recently on some cooked chicken. I just addes some to a salt, pepper and olive oil mix and brushed the chicken with the mix and grilled it. Then served with a salad, DELICIOUS!
Here we go - I am new at this blogging thing and have been inspired to give it a go. As a stay at home Mum of two boys (3yrs and 8 months) I am busy and always have a lot of things on my plate. Confession time.....I am a bit of a 'foodie' and just LOVE cooking and for my family and am hoping to share some of my recipes here on my blog.
My daily reality is also all things baby and preschooler, so when I find little gems will share things that relate to my motherhood journey too.
So in the spirit of being a foodie and sharing some yummy recipes, here is the yummy falafel recipe that we made for dinner recentlyt from a favourite website of mine : taste. We turned them into wraps with mountain bread and homemade hommous with tabouli and salad...YUMMMO!!!
You have heard me talk about the fact that I LOVE a good cookbook before. This is one with a difference. Luckliy I am blessed with a 3 year old that pretty much likes anything I serve for dinner and loves his fruit and vegetables ("because they make me strong mummy"). However i can sympathise with many friends who have found it hard to feed their kids anything other than what seems like tomato sauce and a vegemite sandwhich!
