Writers block

I've got writters block, and can hardly think of a word to say....so here are some photos of my finished blanket I've been working on to fill the silence.

Ciao, Jan

pumpkin and brown rice soup with walnuts

Hasn't winter kicked in! I'm one of those rare breed of people who actually loves winter.  I love the change of seasons and the excuse to snuggle inside with the heater on and recharge.  Days of constant sunshine and heat wear me down...I know, strange.  But true!

I've had the slow cooker out working for me so I can do my crochet.  Yep, it's official, I'm hooked on hooking.  I've finished a pretty blanket for my daughter and am now working on connecting one for me :D  

This pumpkin soup is nothing new, but the addition of brown rice is.  I just cut up 1/2 a pumpkin and add in whatever I have on hand ~ carrots, sweet potato, potato, celery, onion and garlic.  Plop it all into the slow cooker with a cup of well rinsed brown rice  with enough chicken stock to cover and turn the dial up to high for the next 4-6 hours.  

Blend and serve with crushed walnuts and a big dollop of natural yoghurt.

This is the easiest blanket as it's just a continuous granny square.  I just love this soft pink and green wool.

Now on to crocheting up my granny rug.

I think this is going to take awhile, lucky the weathers bad, no summer sun guilt here!!

What do you do to get you through a rough winter?

Ciao, Jan.

A year ago today...and a photo a day for the month of June 2014 ~ week 4

A year ago today I started this blog.  You can see my first post here and I love seeing how the blog has progressed and as I've grown and learnt so the blog has evolved.  I haven't been quite as committed to the blog this year, I think I'm trying to live all I've learnt and sometimes getting the camera out to document meals and processes really can take away from just living, doing and being. 

But, I still enjoy the process and will be  forever grateful that I started this, at the time, sanity saving blog. Little did I know. 

Today is also the last day of the photo a day for June, here's this weeks photos.

Day 22 "growing" peas in the ground protected by empty bottles

Day 23 "in this moment" my lunch that day 

Day 24 "what June looks like" we have been having some crazy weather~winter has hit us hard in Victoria.

Day 25 "sun flare"

Day 26 "dreaming" of when my peach tree is full again

Day 27 "loving" my new hobby ~ I'm hooked

Day 28 "bed" with the electric blankie on!

Day 29 "delight"of having hot chocolate on a cold winters day

Day 30 "the end"

So that's it, the end of the June photo a day.  July's photo a day challenge has been released, you can check it out here.  As much as I've love, love, loved doing this challenge, I really want to put some energy back into the blog about food!! Although, if I'm really honest, my crochet has taken over my life! I'm almost at the end of my first project and have so many ideas of colours and granny squares.  Another example of just what you can do if you just give something a go.  I had always told myself I wasn't crafty, let alone ever see myself standing at the wool section in Spotlight agonising over them all, and, ahem, going 2 days in a row.  I only usually did this in the supermarket or when buying wine :D

Have a great week!

Ciao, Jan x

A photo a day for the month of June 2014 ~ week 3

Another great week of thinking about each day following Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge.  You can see the photos from week 1 here and week 2 here.  Here are week 3's photos

Day 15 "lovely" a lovely weekend away with friends

Day 16 "in the shadows" this was the view out the window of the bus on the way home from the city

Day 17 "peaceful" taken awhile ago at a friends place in the country

Day 18 "quirky" this is a teddy that my 88 yr old nana made for my daughter last week, he's adorable but a bit quirky

Day 19 "habit" mmm coffee

Day 20 "yay" for fresh bread just out of the oven

Day 21 "here I am" on our almost daily walk with my boy Magic

So thats it til next week :) 

Its week 26 in the 52 week money challenge, oh I've really got to get caught up!

Ciao, Jan

A photo a day for the month of June 2014 ~ week 2

I've been enjoying playing along with Fat Mum Slim in her photo a day for the month of June, you can check it out here.  Here are week 2's photos.

Day 8 "T is for ...." trying!

Day 9 "we live here"

Day 10 "flying"

Day 11 "in the beginning"

Day 12 "pastel"

Day 13 "simply"

Day 14 "cross"

Looking forward to next weeks inspiration :D

Ciao, Jan

Rhubarb and ginger cupcakes

A few months ago, I finally got up the nerve to ring up Foxtel after searching for Foxtel deals here and put the consumer squeeze on them to upgrade my dodgy old cluncker Austar set top box for a shiny new Foxtel one that recorded and series linked programs for you with a glorious press of a button.  I'm happy to say they came to the party :) Due to hubby being a shift worker, we have had pay tv for over 15 years and we love it.  He gets to watch his fill of doco's and big strong tough guy make it shows and I get to O.D. on cooking shows, it's perfect!  Over the past few months though I have noticed I have stopped watching my usual cheffy gurus and swapped them with baking shows and am hanging off their every word.  I've even been looking at ebay deals here for baking sheets and the best price on piping bags, I really am developing a new love affair.  I saw this recipe for Rhubarb and ginger cupcakes while watching one of these cooking shows, Baking Mad with Eric Lamlard and straight away I book marked it on the laptop as a definite bake make!  For those of you who don't know who Eric is, he is a French Patissiere with a following akin to Jamie or Nigella in the baking world with a beautiful accent to boot.  

I have tweeked the original recipe of this, wouldn't you know it, and have used Rhubarb and Raspberry jam from Lana's garden for her rhubarb coulis in the cake and icing.  I've also used brown sugar instead of the light muscovado sugar in Eric's recipe.

Rhubarb and Ginger Cupcakes  Makes 12
250g unsalted butter at room temperature
170g brown sugar
3 eggs
125ml milk
225g self raising flour, sifted
2 - 3 tsp ground ginger, sifted

For the icing
2 tbspn Lana's rhubarb coulis plus 8 tspn for centre of cupcake
75g butter
150g icing sugar

• Preheat the oven to 180c.  Line a cupcake/muffin tin with paper cases.
• With an electric beater, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time and then slowly drizzle in the milk.  Gently mix in the flour and ginger til combined. *I add flour with each egg addition as it stops the mixture curdling.
• Spoon,pipe or use an icecream scoop to put the batter into the paper cases.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cupcake comes out clean.
• Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
• For the topping, in a large bowl, cream the butter with a hand held electric beater on medium speed.  Blend in the sugar, a quarter at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the rhubarb coulis or add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and continue mixing until light and fluffy.  Keep the frosting covered until ready to decorate the cupcakes.
• Using a melon baller or a 2cm wide cutter, cut out 1cm into the centre of each cupcake to make a hole for the rhubarb coulis to go.  Spoon the jam into the holes, return the removed piece of cake and pipe the frosting on the top.

• Eat them!

Ciao, Jan.

making stock

Making stock isn't rocket science but it will save you both time and money in the kitchen.  If you have a local butcher, if you ask nicely, you might even get your bones for free.  I made around 4 litres of chicken stock for around a dollar that's far cheaper than the liquid stocks available ~ it would be around $12 for the supermarket variety.

Leave it for a day when you are home for awhile and let it bubble away doing the work for you.

Chicken stock

4-6 chicken carcasses or a big load of chicken necks

2 carrots roughly chopped

3 stalks of celery and the butt end roughly chopped

3 brown onions, skin and all, roughly chopped

2-3 dried bay leaves

small bunch of fresh thyme or rosemary

10 peppercorns 

• Place all ingredients into a good sized large saucepan. Cover them with water.  For a darker stock, you can roast the bones first if you have time.
• Bring to the boil and allow to simmer away for 4 hours or so.  
• Skim off any skum/fat/impurities that rise to the surface.
• Strain and place into zip lock bags or containers into the freezer or of course use straight away

This basic recipe I will be using for my slow cooker which will be getting a strong workout this winter.  I've created a 'slow cooker' side bar which I'll be adding to over the coming weeks.  I get asked a lot for! slow cooker recipes and advice on how to use them, so I'll get cracking.  For those of you who are scared of them or haven't dusted your old crockpot off in awhile, get them out.  Just think of them exactly the same as a casserole dish sitting in a low oven, they need time and do all the work for you.  

Ciao, Jan.

P.S. It's week 24 of the 52 week money challenge :D