A beautiful day! Sun + Sea + Supper

John and I went to Huskisson for a late brunch today... the water was bright blue and so beautiful, if it had been much warmer I would have been in there. Maybe I should have anyhow?

We had brunch at Pilgrims using one of our new entertainment book vouchers... very excited there's one for the south coast now, we had a beautiful breakfast looking out over Jervis bay for little more than it would have cost to make it at home, and read our favourite sections of the paper, did a little window shopping and a walk along the beach....

I love living where I do!

We stopped at the tip on the way home and picked up some iron bars to make a tripod to cook over the fire with... and some black pipe for another vege bed covering...

And my amazing husband made this for dinner... boeff bourguinonne! In the slow cooker, it was rich, delicious and tender... I made lime meringue pie with limes I picked from mum's tree when I dropped around for a cup of tea this afternoon.

We ate in front of the TV watching the movie Tintin... very enjoyable day and evening together...

Love Weekends :)

Garden update, may 2012

The garden is growing beautifully.

This bed has lettuce (with some baby broccoli planted - as the lettuce is not too far away from being munched and will make way for the broccoli to grow, We have started to pick some leaves but not whole plants, then garlic, some of which are growing strong, others didn't do so well. Onions getting bigger, beetroots as starting to plump up at the base - so excited for our home grown roast beetroot salads in winter. Carrots and parsnips also just starting to thicken....

This bed has rocket still going strong, picking basil in top left and dill bottom right, cabbages and broccoli starting to get bigger (although having to watch them carefully for catterpillers) but the stars of this bed today are the legumes, broad beans bottom left to top right (grown from my own seed) and peas the other direction. Both just over the height of the walls of the bed and looking healthy as. There are tall poles attached to each of the corners, the peas have a frame in already to start climbing up, wheras broad beans will just have twine wrapped around them as they grow as they need support but don't use it to grow, whereas peas send out little feelers that grab onto the trellis and pull themselves up...

I can almost taste them!

Have a happy day xo :)

Scrummy Muffins

Having muffins for breakfast means getting up earlier, to finish the recipe started the night before, but theres something in getting up early, seeing the sun rise. Takes 5 mins to mix and knead the dough, then you have 40 mins or so to let them rest until cooking. Lots of time that for me at least was productive time. Shower, cup of tea, quiet time, putting dishes away....

And then breakfast of an English muffin straight off the grill with butter and local honey... mmmmm

I whinged the other day that my hubby almost never picks up the camera so he insists on taking one this morning. Thanks babe.

ENGLISH MUFFINS (sourdough recipe)

The night before: combine 2 C flour, 1C water and 1C starter

Leave overnight.

In the morning put 1C starter aside to keep, mix in

1/4C milk powder

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp salt

1tsp sugar

and enough flour 1/2-1C to make a dough that sticks together.

Turn onto floured surface and knead well until smooth and no longer stickly, adding more flour if needed (for 2-3 mins.) Flour generously and roll to 1/2inch thickness. cut out with drinking glass about 7-8cm diameter. Place on parchment or silicon baking sheet sprinkled with polenta. Sprinkle more polenta on top.  (Should get about 16 muffins from this recipe)

Leave to rise, covered in a warm place at lease half an hour.

Cook muffins kind of like a pancake, in lightly greased pan - cast iron is best for this if available.

7-8mins on low-med heat (I set the timer and get other things done while waiting.

Have a happy day xo

A new member of the family - needs a new home

On Sunday I went for a drive down the road, about 20 mins to Bewong - near the famous roadhouse to pick up our new rabbit. We had two rabbits, but then discovered that on their own they were always going to stay two rabbits as they were both male - this isn't very helpful when you are hoping to develop small scale meat production. So we needed a female, and she was advertised in the paper.

Maisy is 8 weeks old and is a flemish giant x New Zealand rabbit - both larger meat breeds.

She is currently the same size as our other full size rabbits, and she has a long way to go - probably at least double the size. She was quite skittish when she arrived but within two days is much calmer, inquisitive, enjoying her greens and coming up to say hello and ask for pats when you walk past.

But her temporary cage is just temporary, so we are converting large, long rabbit cage to two sections, here is the labourer creating a second door, we have already put a middle divider in, and raised the cage off the ground. makes it dryer, warmer and cleaner. Most weekends we give them some grass time which they love.

Have to wait a few months for Maisy to finish growing, and then we'll see how she goes as a mummy!

Bush Tucker Harvest

About three years ago I planted a Midyim berry plant

Daley's Fruit Nursery have this blurb about them

Have to be the morst delicious of all the Australian Bushfoods. They can vary in flavour from extremely sweet to a rather aromatic almost menthol flavour. They occur naturally on the coast, from northern NSW up to Fraser Island in QLD and were a favourite food among local Aborigines. they do best in a shady sheltered place, with well, drained soil but are very adaptable to most sites if water is available. They make a great ground cover, tube specimen or garden plant. They are attractive, growing to a maximum height of 1m and width of about 80cm. Narrow pointed leaves, 1-3cm long which are silky and red/pink when young, giving them a lovely flush of colour. They have a delicate mass of white fluffy flowers, which occur in spring and summer. They can produce fruit twice a year - jan and april. fruit is best eaten freash, seeds and all, but can be added to fruit salads, into a pie or made into a fabulous native jam.

Three fruit up close, you can see they are a light grey, speckled with blackish dots.

I have my bush planted under the apricot tree, and after I mulched the courtyard food forest it has just taken off!

Also spent the morning putting small nets over the new pears to see what they do, there were about 15 formed pears all up!

Off to babysit my gorgeous nephew now as his regular babysitter has a meeting and I am not at work. Looking forward to taking him to the park as there has been a break in the rain and the sun is shining :)

Have a happy day xx

Exciting new project... and chokes!

Very exciting to be asked to be part of a new blogging project -

can't say much yet but know it will be fun

And bless your world

and mine

For now you can see the photo shoot done to start setting up the blog....

Soup for lunch!

Made from Jerusalem Artichokes straight from the garden.

These were planted in the spot they're growing about three years ago, got a harvest the first year, then little the next, then they were mulched over with newspaper and woodchips and suddenly they made a reappearance!

They are a member of the sunflower family and you just eat the tuber - great sliced thinly in salads, pureed and mashed, or just baked.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup.

Saute One onion diced in 20-30g butter.

Add 500+g jerusalem artichokes (scrubbed and chopped roughly) and 1 litre vegetable stock

Bring to boil and simmer 15 mins or until soft. Puree and season.

Delicious!

Lots happening at the farm... all 1/8 of an acre of it :)

I am loving having a strong set of arms (belong to my husband) who is happy to dig holes, move heavy things and is currently installing my fence between the lawn area and the vege garden area. All the posts are in now, just need two more recycled hardwood rails - from my BIL who is renovating his and my sister's house and ripped out some walls.

I have been busy in the kitchen...

Sourdough english muffins for breakfast this morning...

Sundried tomato and olive sourdough loaf....

And exciting to be bottling the first produce entirely from the garden! 4 size 20 jars of yummy rhubarb. I was given the plants from a special friend who was killed in a freak car accident shortly afterward and they are very special to me. This year I divided most of the original plants and they are doing so well. I always make sure I leave two leaves and one baby leaf on each plant when I am picking it.

Sourdough loaf (you need starter from a friend or watch multitudes of youtube videos on how to grow your own.

Feed your starter with a flour/water mix the night before

Before work the next morning....

1 cup starter

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar or honey (only if going to be a fruit loaf)

I put all these in a mixer with a dough hook and then add plain flour (mix of regular and wholemeal) until dough forms a lump and comes away from the sides.
Then place dough - still a bit sticky - in an oiled bowl and turn a few times to coat in oil (stops it drying out) Put the whole bowl in a plastic shopping bag and leave all day.

When you get home from work.

Tip dough (should have about doubled in size) onto well floured bench.

For a plain loaf - knead a minute or two then put in loaf tin

for a fruit loaf - knead a minute then use fingers to spread dough out into a rectangle. Sprinkle mixed fruit (I am using sultanas/raisings and dried plums at the moment) and 1 tsp mixed spice onto the bread, then fold it over and knead the fruit through a little. Place in loaf tin.

For a savoury loaf. Do the same but use sundried tomatoes and olives (no pits) chopped roughly and I use mixed italian herb sprinkle too. Place in loaf tin.

Leave for 1-2 hrs. (I have noticed that there is a warm spot just in front of my oven... not sure why, but tins go there while oven heats up)

Bake in a hot oven 200-220'c for 30-35 mins

Should pop out of tin straight away.

(loaves can also be made freeform on a pizza stone)

delicious toasted.... just had two slices of fruit toast to prove it.

Anyone have any other interesting sourdough recipes

Hannah xo

vege garden update

Everything is growing, and currently it's raining and all the plants are loving it! In this bed all the potatoes are up and I have filled in their trench with the soil I had taken out of it. When they grow some more I'll pile up some compost and straw for the potatoes to keep growing and more of a harvest out of a small space.

In the middle I have just planted fennel, beetroot and climbing beans under the frame. On the end near us is some silverbeet from my sister which has just taken off this week, picked first leaves this morning to have on sourdough toast with poached eggs.

On the right from front to back is basil, carrots, eggplant, lettuce, okra, tomatoes and capsicum, more carrots and rocket.

The photo of the other garden didn't work but we are eating cabbage, broad beans, coriander, broccoli, celery, kale and onions.

In the very rear of this photo you can also see the great fence my hubby is putting up for me, it is to hold an antique blacksmiths vice from his great grandfather, and to seperate the vege garden from the rest of the yard. I am going to use the thickest straightest prunings to use as palings to make it look as natural as possible and will use it to grow something, maybe passionfruit? Any other suggestions...?

learning new skills

A year or two ago I bought some cake decorating equipment at a garage sale. My grandma has a history of beautiful cake decorating, equisite fine lacework and my parents wedding cake (in fact every wedding cake of my aunts and uncles) my dedication cake and other special events were all celebrated with cakes she had made.

Today I spent the morning with a friend from church learning and experimenting with how to use some of the equipment I had purchased. These are the piped butter icing cakes, a sunflower, a flower and a swirl. Then we played with fondant, and I made a rose and a carnation. Amy my friend has attended two short courses and then taught herself the rest, and is very inspiring. She was very impressed with the supplies I had bought... and it may have inspired her to start attending garage sales :)

I had one of the cakes for afternoon tea with a cup of earl gray, and it was very nice.

Then while I listened to a uni lecture, I made cassoulet - I have been wanting to make this since we ordered it on our honeymoon in july and it was delicious, both then and now. I roasted vegetables to go with it, and the sage, leeks, kale, potatoes and sweet potatoes were from my garden! And served with my sourdough bread... The proportion of food from the garden is steadily increasing...

I didn't find this recipe on any of the websites, but the place we went served the dish with an amazing crumb, reminded me of farofa from brasil. The chef told me it was almond meal and sage in olive oil.

My version of sage crumb
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup almond meal
1 clove garlic crushed
small bunch sage leaves finely chopped
s and p
2 tbsp olive oil

Lightly cook garlic in oil then add other ingredients, turning to coat crumb with oil and prevent burning. Ready when fragrant and lightly brown. Serve generously sprinkled over cassoulet

Speaking of the garden, yesterday I visited a gardening friend and came away with a plum tree sucker I had been wanting ever since eating the fruit of one of the other trees, a fig tree, warrigal greens, leeks, carrot seedlings, mint, currant bushes, turnips, and land cress. Everything seems to be growing well, and the bunnies are enjoying the pepino leaves she picked for them.

Kim Chee - a first experiment in fermenting.

Femented foods are very healthy for us, and were the original way of preserving food, as well as brine/salt preserving and drying.

Examples of some fermented foods are wine, vinegar, kombucha, tofu, miso, saurkraut, pickles.

Kim chee is the asian version of saurkraut and is really easy to make. I've had a recipe for ages and this week made my first batch. I got this recipe from Kendra Jane, who blogs at A sonoma Garden

She has the most beautiful photos and lots of posts with recipes and ideas.

1 head Napa cabbage, cored and shredded

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 cup carrots, grated

1/2 cup daidon radish, grated

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes

1 tablespoon sea salt

4 tablespoons whey* (or use additional 1 T salt instead)

Place vegetables, ginger, red chili flakes, salt and whey in a bowl and pound it with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer to release juices. (See picture of my kimchee mid mashing)

Place them in two quart sized glass jars and press down firmly until all the juices come up to the top and cover the vegetables. The top of the vegetables should be at least an inch from the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days at which time you can put it in the fridge or cold storage.

I only made a half quantity, and was very relaxed with the amounts of different vegetables. I don't think it will really matter. It's sitting on my kitchen bench fermenting away, and tomorrow it will be ready to taste and then refrigerate!

Kendra jane explains that you can get whey by draining a quart of yogurt (make sure it contains the good bacteria-we use Pavels) through a clean dishtowel for a few hours. If you do this overnight you’ll end up with more than 4 tablespoons, but it will keep in the fridge for up to 6 months. And you’ll also end up with yogurt cheese as a by product, which is delicious and makes a great alternative to cream cheese

I have also in the past gotten whey from making ricotta cheese which I have posted about here.

I also use the whey in my breadmaking, it adds extra protein which is good for the bread dough and for you!

I'll let you know how it tastes tomorrow! Ps, the onions, garlic and daikon radish were all from my garden!

A day at the beach

This past Saturday (prior to the trip to the mountain in my last post) Vani my housemate, SJ my back fence neighbour's housemate and I went out to Huskisson, on the shores of Jervis Bay. Yet again I am reminded that I live in one of the most beautiful corners of the world.

Vani and I at Husky

(all the photos today were taken on my phone - I was surprised at the quality)

Me, Vani and SJ

Looking south towards Vincentia across the rock pools

Looking out into the bay - point perpendicular a faint outline in the background as the sun begins to set behind us.

Toby's Estate coffee from supply, some fish and chips by the water, and a walk along the beach - what more could you ask for of a weekend.

Homemade Ricotta - simply

Cheesemaking has always been on my list of things to do, and yet seemed scary with thermometers, tools, special things to add that you had to buy from victoria.....

When I saw this simple recipe for making ricotta on a blog that I follow (and forgive me because I can't even remember which one) I knew I had no more excuses. It looked too easy to stuff up.

1. Get milk. put it in a clean pot and heat. As soon as it starts to froth (but before it boils) cut off the heat if using gas, or take off the heat if electric.

2. Add one tablespoon of acid (either lemon juice or vinegar) per one litre of milk. Stir.

Within seconds this was what I saw in the pot. The curds (clumps of cheese) and whey (liquid) had separated and it looked a bit like off milk. funny that.

3. Get a strainer and line with cheesecloth, or if you're doing this after a meeting at 10pm at night and only the supermarket is open - a couple of chux type cloths.

This is what mine looked like before I poured the stuff in.

4. use a pot or bowl to collect the liquid that pours off. It's still very good for you. I used some that night to make up some bread and froze the rest for another batch in place of water.

5. Tie up the cloth around a wooden spoon so the mixture drains. Allegedly the more whey that is drained off, the longer it will last.

And this is the end result - Ricotta Cheese! I did it, and it was delicious. I put it in the yummy ricotta pancakes from Stephanie Alexander's kitchen garden book. Went down a treat.

If you've got some milk that's nearing the use by date. You know what to do!

B is for Bread

I have been wanting to start baking my own bread for a while, but the whole hours of work and kneading was not the most appealing thing in the world.

So when I came across the idea of no-knead bread with next to no effort involved, just a bit of time to do all the work, I had to give it a go. I found this website to be the most helpful, as it explains the why not just the how.

Basically put 3 cups plain flour, (I have been using 2 cups no-name and one cup of wholemeal organic flour) 1.5-2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp dried yeast in a bowl and mix. Now add 1.5 cups water and mix (I find I have to add just a bit more water to make it all come together. It should be sticky to touch, with no dry bits of flour left.

Cover this with gladwrap and leave overnight (I do the first step before going to bed at night, it takes less than 5 mins)

Optional step - in the morning get a spoon and beat the mixture down before covering again. Last loaf I made I forgot to do this and it had no discernable impact on the loaf.

The Yeast doing all the work

The following evening I heat up my baking dish - a rectangular cast iron casserole dish in a very hot oven, around 250 degrees celcius. It must be a dish with a lid. Initially I used two smaller dishes, hence the two loaves below, but now am just using one larger one, it's about 4 litres in size I'm guessing.

While that heats, I shake flour over the dough in the bowl, use a wooden spoon to pull it away from the sides and then tip it out onto a floured piece of baking paper. I roll it around a little to ensure that the whole loaf is floured and then when the dish is hot I flop the lot into it, cover and leave in the oven 30 mins.

Using the lid creates a steam like effect, that gives you a loaf like a bread artisan would make. After 30 mins take the lid off and cook for a further 15-20 mins at the same heat. Tip it out onto a wooden board, and listen to the crust crackle as it cools. It will be hard to wait, but if you can leave it for at least an hour it will be the best loaf you've ever eaten. Delicious plain, toasted, with oil and dukkah....oh the possibilities.

Loaves just out of the oven. (Can you hear them crackle)

Just looking at them is making me hungry, oh and the fact that it's lunch time

And this is the inside of a loaf. We have a woodfired sourdough place that sells loaves which don't taste much different to these for 6-7 dollars a piece. I reckon this one costs under a dollar and takes about 15 mins maximum time to make (plus 24 hours where you are not involved.)

I gave Allison some last night, and she said it was amazing. So amazing that she doesn't want the recipe, she just wants me to make it for her. Anyhow, hope some of you try it out. It really is failsafe. Well so far at least, and i'm on my third loaf and more coming!

Warning! Giant Strawberry!

Actually it's just a normal sized strawberry. The title should actually be miniature apricot. Yesterday I picked, and ate my first and only apricot that grew on my tree!
It was tiny, but it was delicious, and I hope next year to have a bigger crop, but it couldn't get much more delicious.

I also ate my first blueberry off my bushes, but I neglected to take a photo of that. Just thought I'd share as it was very exciting. It fell off in my hand, and I was afraid I'd knocked it but then thought it looked quite yellow and tasted it to see.... It was ripe (hence the already bitten into nature of the poor thing.

Goodbye Grandies

my little sister J and my grandparents

For those who read this blog regularly you will know that my Grandparents have been holidaying nearby this year, which has meant that we have been able to spend time with them visiting and having them for dinner.

They go home tomorrow which is sad, but they're probably over us and our crazy lives, and grandpa needs to take his tomato seedlings home and plant them out. (He couldn't leave them in Canberra in case they didn't survive so he brought them on holidays and they were moved in and out of their cabin depending on how hot or rainy it was.

Them going isn't too said though, as I'll see them on Sunday as we are going to Canberra to see cirque de soleil. My other grandmother is coming as well and it should be a great day. I've got a packed weekend, back fence neighbours for dinner tonight, garage saleing, wedding and a 21st tomorrow, canberra Sunday and monday morning an interview with the newspaper for the permaculture group.

See you next week...

Hannah

This Morning

I love my mornings, it is my productive time. This morning I got up, read for a few minutes then made fresh lasagne sheets with my pasta maker all organic and lovely yellow colour. I chopped up the leeks and eggplants and capsicum ready for cooking tonight as well and covered them.

I then made my breakfast, homemade muesli with organic natural yoghurt and preserved quinces (heaven in a jar) and took it into my front garden to eat while I read part of a chapter from The Purpose Driven Life. I try and read this book regularly as it challenges me where I am becoming complacent in my faith and my relationship with God. Today it was on authentic worship - more than music. Worship is about being a living sacrifice. Living in a way that says I believe in a God who loves me. Living in community, Living creatively, Living fully.

Then I cleaned up a bit, got ready for work and fed my chookies and watered the pots. And raced to work as time got away from me.

100 foot salad

Took this photo as a joke, but really like it.

This salad is almost all from my garden (Beetroot from a friend's garden and potato was bought)

But the ingredients that didn't travel were...

Lettuce (two varieties)

rocket

celery

broad beans

mint

dill

coriander

chives

mizuna

eggs

And it really was delicious, and lasted well, I had the leftovers for lunch today (two days later) and still crisp and fresh and yummy.