strawberry jam

Today I made strawberry jam.

Strawberries were 66c a punnet (250g) at our local fruit and veg this week so I bought 6 punnets to make strawberry jam.
It actually only makes 1 1/2 - 2 cups of jam.
6 punnets don't go a long way.
But it is still fun to make.
The recipe I have is very simple.

Strawberry Jam
1.5 kg strawberries
2 C sugar
juice 1 lemon

Hull strawberries and then wash them,

place them into a saucepan and sprinkle over 1C sugar,

cook until sugar softens slightly, then add the rest of the sugar, warmed.

Add lemon juice and boil until jam jells when tested, usually about 1 hour.

Bottle while hot in warm sterilised jars, seal when cold.


To test jam place a small amount of jam on a cold saucer or plate that has been in the fridge or freezer. Leave for about 1 minute. push your finger through the jam if it wrinkles on the surface it is cooked and ready for bottling. this is what is meant by the term jells.

To sterilise jars wash them thoroughly in hot water and then place in an oven on a low heat for 5-10 minutes.

a take on a sausage sandwich

We don't always eat gourmet meals around here, a lot of our meals are very simple- a roast, meat and veg or meat and salad.
Last night was one of those nights.
We had our healthier version of a sausage sandwich- a classic Australian BBQ dish
We had sausages, buns, and coleslaw with grated cheese, cooked onions, mustard and sauces for tea.
The cabbage and carrot for the coleslaw came fresh from the garden.
B2 also added, grated zucchini, capsicum and red onion.

wedding anniversary

To celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary we had a lovely three course meal with the children.

We stared with a prawn cocktail with a twist.
I made a mango and avocado salsa (chopped mango and avocado, coriander, mint with lime zest and lime juice, brown sugar and sweet chilli sauce) and a lime mayonnaise (mayonaisse, sour cream, lime juice and zest) to go with it and some chopped Asian style lettuce from our garden on the bottom of the dish.


Then for the main we had our favourite harrissa lamb cutlets.
Dessert was reminiscent of our wedding cake (pictured below) we had a Croquembouche.


(I would really like to make one of these one day).


So I made profiteroles and filled them with a custard cream and served them with macerated strawberries and chocolate fudge sauce. YUMM!!

It was a lovely family meal and we thought the children should be involved after the weekend.

apple turnovers

We love these for breakfast, morning tea or dessert.
They are quick and easy to make.
I usually use frozen puff pastry and tinned pie apple.
But I have made them with my own pastry and stewed apples.

Apple Turnovers

Large tin Pie Apple (425g)
Sultanas (optional)
Cinnamon (optional)

6 sheets puff pastry (makes 24)
Icing sugar
Whipped cream or ice cream to serve

1. Cut pastry sheets into four squares, place a spoonful of pie apple on each, sprinkle with cinnamon and sultanas if you want to, or you can mix it all into a bowl and just spoon from there.
2. Fold over pastry square to make a triangle and press edge with a fork.
3. Put on an oven tray with baking paper and bake at 220C until cooked 10-15 minutes (I use my fan bake option on my oven which heats top and bottom evenly which is great for pastry, if you don't have this you may need to turn them over to brown the other side)
4. Cool on wire rack for 5-10 minutes and sprinkle with icing sugar.
5. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
(NB the cream in the photo had cocoa powder added to it for some chocolate scones I made the day before)

This is the pattern left by the icing sugar after I sprinkled them the other day, I thought it looked cool!

french food

We visited France last week.

So dined in Paris on Tuesday night!
We enjoyed an entrée of Deep Fried Camembert with Cranberry Jelly courtesy of B1.

A Spinach Quiche from B2 and a lovely salad by B3 were the main

and I successfully pulled off Creme Caramels for dessert!

We used lovely greens from the garden for the salad and our never ending supply of silverbeet for the quiche- it is so satisfying to cook with vegetables from your own garden- I just need to remember to use the cabbage!

thursday night's tea

This is one of our home-grown chickens.

Last night I roasted it and served it with mashed potato, coleslaw, corn on the cob and gravy.

I couldn't work out why this looked strange when I took the photo- like I had forgotten something- can you guess?

The gravy!

I poured it on and ate this delicious tea- another one of my favourites- like a take-away without all the nasties!

The cabbage, carrot, and chicken were all home-grown. YUMMO!!

Tonight's tea is Thai fish cakes another favourite- what a great week of super yummy meals we've had.

wednesday night's tea

On Wednesday night we enjoyed a scrumptious tea.
I cooked my favourite lamb cutlets (which are affordable when you buy a whole lamb).
I always do something with lamb cutlets because they are such a special cut of meat.
This time I crumbed them.
I have found an easy short cut.
Mix breadcrumbs with melted butter, grated parmesan or some other hard cheese, and chopped parsley together in a bowl.
Press onto each side of the cutlet and grill under the griller in your oven.
This was accompanied by boiled potatoes tossed in butter and parsley, green beans lightly cooked so they are still green and crisp and honeyed carrots.
So simple yet so delicious.

Strawberries are cheap at the moment so we had strawberries and cream for dessert.
We don't often have dessert but who can resist strawberries and cream?
I quartered the strawberries sprinkled them with sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar- it might sound strange but it really brings out the sweetness. After they had marinated about 1/2 an hour I added some chopped fresh mint and served them with whipped cream MMMMM!!!!

muesli bars

Yesterday for morning tea B2 made muesli slice.
This is a really easy recipe and is also very easy to adapt with whatever dried fruit or nuts you like or have.
This is really yummy with chopped dried apricots, macadamia nuts and white choc chips.
Although I usually add just whatever I can find in the pantry at the time.

Muesli Slice

Ingredients:
2 C rolled oats
3/4 C raisins or sultanas
3/4 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C Choc chips
1/2 C chopped dates
1 tin Condensed Milk (395g)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl adding the condensed milk last.
Pour into a 20x30cm shallow pan lined with baking paper, press down with the back of a spoon or a wet hand.
Bake for 30-35 minutes at 160C
remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes and slice into bars or squares.

scotch eggs

B1 and B2 made scotch eggs the other night for tea. They were delicious and easy to make.

Simply boil the eggs we did 16, and had a couple left over for lunch the next day.
Cool the hard boiled eggs and peel.
Wrap them in some sausage mince (1kg) that you have added flavouring to -we usually add some curry powder and tomato sauce, but you can use any herbs, spices or sauce just don't make the mince too runny. Put them in muffin pans and cook at 180C for about 20 minutes or until the mince is cooked through.
They are great with salad, you can eat them hot or cold and are also yummy the next day.
Good also for a picnic lunch.

german cooking

We travelled to Germany last week so enjoyed cooking and eating a meal.

It is quite enjoyable with B1, B2, B3 and myself all cooking together.
I give one dish to each child to cook and we all help where needed.


B1 made the apple strudel for dessert.


B2 made the hot potato salad.


B3 made the carrot salad.


I made the cucumber and dill salad.
And we all pitched in to do the mustard pork chops.


The meal was very yummy.
The sauce on the pork was very rich and we felt very full after the main meal so the kids cleaned up the kitchen, put the dishwasher on and washed the big stuff up before we had dessert.
We have been having so much fun visiting all these countries we are off to France this week.

deep fryer

This is one of my favourite things: My deep fryer.
I bought it last year and is great to make home made fish and chips in.
I also use it when deep frying other things, although I try not to deep fry too often.
It also saves us money on take-away.
When desperate deep fried chips come in handy.