up and at it

5am Monday 6 August 2012-08-06

I have woken early with the feeling I am getting a cold so I have broken out the Vicks and thought I might spend the time before the household wakes catching up with emails and the weekly menu planning.

Food at the moment is ruled by what is in the freezer.  I am trying to get to the bottom of the old chest freezer in the barn which is sucking the power. There really isn’t much left but it is always the things that one is sick of that linger in the bottom.  There are only so many beef casseroles one can eat in a week and then the rest goes back into the freezer to be used as pie filling, which just seems to make the problem linger longer.

Busy weekend which is unusual. Yesterday we had lunch with a nephew of the husband.  He and his charming wife live on 11 acres in Whitford and we have been meaning to see how their project was advancing.  We all moved to the country at about the same time and when we meet at family do’s our conversations are punctuated with the problems of the small life ‘styler’ and the issues around drainage and vegetable gardens.

Sally greeted us with the most superb lemon muffins and lots of farming talk.  I was so impressed by her huge vegetable garden and the size of the vegetables.  She tells me that the secret is in the horse manure and saving the best seed from the year before.  I have been hesitant to use it as the risk of weed in a raised garden is too great but looking at her progress in such a short time I think I am prepared to take the risk. Sally’s calendular are the size of dinner plates and her cavolo nero is as high as an elephants eye.

I was inspired and really want to extend the garden with the help of the next door neighbour and a little boundary alteration. M has agreed to the moving of the fence and now a plan needs to be formed.

The visit to Whitford was followed by a visit to a friend who was celebrating his 50 birthday; before pick up the grand-daughter later in the afternoon.  It was nice to catch up with old friends and enjoy a wonderful antipasti spread with a glass o champagne.  The antipasti idea was a great one and there were platters brimming with wonderful cheeses and other goodies.  I think this approach made for a very relaxed hostess and very happy guests.  It was some-what amusing when the host launched his little remote helicopter which promptly flew onto the roof and a small child had to be hoisted on top of shoulders to retrieve it.

Sunday dinner is always something easy so it was cauliflower/macaroni cheese which is always a winner in our house.  I had read that by adding cauliflower to the macaroni you could cut the calorie count by a third. Add a large teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the cheese sauce for extra oomph.

on line again

My life has changed.  I have retired. It is such a relief and my life seems so wonderful.  

I have doing the house work which is a bit of a stretch for me as I have always had help in the house.  So I looked up how to clean the bath  on You tube and  I have that under control.  But the shower has me baffled.   When I was cleaning I decided that I would rather clean the loo than do the job I previously did.

So, it has taken six weeks to recover and  to begin to sleep through the night and to begin to eat with out throwing up. 'Burn out' is a terrible thing!

So, I have been baking and cooking and the family motto (now) is ' if  cant make it we don't have it'. The bread making has improved.  When we lived in the Bay of Islands it was the same motto and my bread making was  much worse. The children asked that for their birthday present that they could have  plain white sliced bread.  I think that the family holds their breath in case I start to make soap again. 

A few weeks ago I had lunch with a friend and we had the most wonderful soup.  I was stunned and I must admit that I wondered if she had made it.  But with persuasion the recipe was provided and this soup has become the constant in our family. I am sure that she wouldn't mid my sharing the recipe with you although I have modified it a little 

Moroccan soup

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion

1 tsp each paprika, turmeric and ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

800-1kg peeled and chopped pumpkin

4 carrots peeled and chopped

6 cups chicken stock

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped coriander

Fry onion and spices gently for 5 minutes and add carrots and pumpkin and cook for 10 minutes and add stock and tomatoes. Simmer for 20-25 minutes.  Add fresh coriander and purée in the blender in batches until smooth.  Check for seasoning. Thin with a little more stock if required and garnish with crème fraiche.

I recently had a chance to resurrect a curry which was taught to me by a friend of my ex husband. I cooked it for 60 at the Takapuna office as they were throwing a party to thank the partners of the social workers. What great idea as the long suffering partners are the unsung hero's of CYF.

It is called Dougal's curry.  This curry is quite unique because it is stir fried and is a one pot dinner if needs be.

Dougal's curry

1 kg cross cut blade cut thinly across the grain

2 medium onions

2 carrots

4 small potatoes

1 tbsp mild curry powder

1 tsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

Stir fry the beef in a very hot pan in batches in half the oil.  sauté onions, carrots and potatoes in the other half of the oil with the curry power, brown sugar and tomato paste.  Add the beef back into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

The step-son in law and his family moved house last week and morning tea was called for.  Besides the necessary sandwiches and asparagus rolls I made white chocolate and raspberry muffins and cheese scones.

White chocolate and raspberry muffins

2 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

160 gms melted butter

1/2 cup white chocolate melts

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

Combine  beaten egg, milk and melted butter.  Add to dry ingredients.  Bake for 20-25 minutes at 190c.

I have gone back to making a menu for the week with the help of the grand daughter and making a list for the super marked which we stick to.  As a result our food bill has been reduced drastically and our organisation has increased.  The grand daughter looks at the menu each morning and remindes me what I have to have ready when she gets back from school