Out with the gals

Last night I went out to dinner with the Duffy Crew. 3 of us mums who live within a few doors/streets together. We were celebrating Miranda's bday so I made a no bake chocolate ripple cake. Recipe from a friend of my sister's. I completely stuffed it up but it was still delish. We ate at Lemon Grass in Woden which has the BEST Thai food in Canberra.
The no bake cake is
2 pkts Choc ripple biscuits (cookies)
1/2 C Tia Maria
1/2 C milk
300ml cream flavoured with 1tsp coffee, 1 tbs caster sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla
Strawberries

Soak the biccies in the Tia Maria and milk and layer with strawberries and the flavoured cream.

I stuffed it up and forgot the milk for the 1st layer so just soaked the biccies in milk for the 2nd and 3rd layers. It was poetent but delish.

We also shared a bottle of champers and a 2003 cab sav from Centennial Vineyards in Bowral. SUPERB!

Back

Well you can see by the gaps between posts that the whole Duck cake just did me in. However I am back in the kicthen again so bring forth new food life.
This was a little something I threw together one night with whatever I had.
Gnochi, feta cheese, roasted sweet potato and roasted pumpkin, some browned chicken, baby spinach leaves and topped with passata, sun dried tomatoes and cheese. Bake in the oven till brown and serve. Yum.
Here's the before cooking and after cooking pics.

The cake

Here you are Blog World. The duck cake for Sam.

Biccies

One of the mums from Playgroup made every baby their own name out of shortbread. How amazing is this!!! She made about 20 for the kids.

Duck cake

I am making Sam a duck cake for his birthday as he loves ducks. Today we tested it out just so that i could assure myself it would work on the day. Sam helped me hold the bowl and licked the beater for the first time. One of those lovely moments. Here it is un-iced.
I'm using packet mix cause there's only so much a mum can do in a day.

With thanks to the yanks

I made pancakes the other day and had a craving for peanut butter and jam (Jelly to the US people). It was delicious. No I'm not pregnant. IXL make a Plum, cherry and rasberry conserve that is just divine. A smidge of that with crunchy peanut butter on a hot pancake. Hmmmmmmm.

Here is my pancake recipe.
2C plain flour
1 TBP honey
2 eggs
Milk

Add all ingredients in a bowl with enough milk to form a smooth paste. Keep adding milk liberaly and hand mixing it it to get all of the lumps out. Heat a pan and add some butter. Add some pancake mix and swirl around to flatten out the mixture. Turn once then reduce the heat in the pan. Serve with lemon and sugar, maple syrup or my stupid cravings of peanut butter and jelly.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

A friend of mine on Facebook posted that she was making spag and meatballs tonight so I just had to share my recipe. My husband's sister made something similar one night so I thought I woudl try it at home. Its now part of my staple recipe book.

Spagehtti and Spicy Meatballs
Mix mince, breadcrumbs, an egg, tomoato paste, worcester sauce and a very generous helping of tobasco sauce in a bowl. Make small meatballs and roll in plain flour. Heat oil in a pan and brown the meatballs. Remove from pan. Add 1 tin of diced tomatoes or pasatta sauce to the pan and 1 cup of beef stock. Bring to boil then let simmer. Place meatballs back in the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve of spaghetti!! DELISH!!

Baby's birthday

I made nothing on this table. I do want to celebrate the talented individuals from our Playgroup who put on this sumptuous afternoon tea. We had a collective 1st birthday party today for our babies. They had a wonderful time speading chocolate cake from top to bottoms.

Scones

I made scones yesterday morning. Some of the mums from playgroup came over and we sat around eating scones with jam and cream, playing with the bubs and drinking hot beverages till about 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a perfect way to spend the morning on a cold, wintery day.

Fruity lamb curry

My rice maker and I have a mutually beneficial relationship. I supply it with electricty and it cooks rice for me. Win/win. It's simmering away now with some frangrant Basmati rice read to be served with a tasty curry. Now for my American followers... having once visited your wonderful continent I learnt that you're not so keen on the lambs as meals. You could substitute the lamb with chicken or turkey with this and still produce a lovely winter meal. Yes it's winter in Australia at the moment and the rain is pouring down to prove it.
This recipe comes from a lass I went to uni with so it's called Teri's Lamb Curry. I later bought a 2nd hand cot off her for my baby boy a million years later. Just some mindless trivia I thought I would share with you. Every recipe has a story.

Teri's lamb curry
500g diced lamb
1 tin of diced tomatoes
2 TBS of crunchy peanut butter
1 tsp cumin
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp of Sambol Olek or any minced chilli - add to your own taste
3 TBS of fruit chutney
1 cup water

Mix together and cook in the oven on 180C for an hour and a half or slow cooker for 3 hours.
Serve with rice and pappadums.
Tastes brilliant as left overs the next day.

I've made this so many times over the last 20 years that I don't bother measuring anymore and just add the ingredients liberally. Note: this recipe is not nut free so if you're allergic to peanuts DON'T EAT IT :) Duh.

Welcome to the Mess Hall

My friend Toni suggested I start a blog about being a foodie. I love cooking. I don't claim to be a chef. Chefs create. I just cook. Cooking is my happy place. That goes without saying then that I also love to eat thus I am a big girl who could happily munch on a few caramello koalas or 4.
So I am going to photograph food, write about restaurants, share recipes and would love you to participate. The kitchen is open.