from the blue shed

the way I like a caesar

Lying (and chasing children) around rocks and docks can be thirsty work. A discussion with my brother about the perfect caesar came to the following conclusion:

herb cucumber ice cubes

• Puree one peeled/de-seeded cucumber with
• a handful of mixed fresh herbs (basil, coriander, parsley)
• once pureed, add a glug of water to make it a little more pourable and a little less intense in flavor
• pour into ice cube trays and freeze

Caesar

• rim glass with a lime followed by celery salt 
• fill glass with ice cubes. I used a mixture of my homemade cubes with plain ice.
• add 1oz of vodka, some prefer gin
• a dash of tabasco
• 3 good dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• a teaspoon of horseradish
• fill glass with that delicious clammy tomato juice - Clamato
• garnish with a stick of celery, wedge of lime and a cherry tomato. 

  
Mmm, it's a meal in a glass.

s'mores

The cottage experience isn't complete without a bonfire. This is something we did as kids every summer, but living with fire bans in hot dry Australia, my girls had yet to experience it. A few nights ago we rectified the situation, covered ourselves with bug juice, and headed into the woods to collect kindling and marshmallow sticks for their first fire. 

 
 We didn't have a traditional bonfire pit. My friend Andrika brought her beautiful stylish fire pit along for the weekend. It looked so pretty sitting at the end of the dock. I want one bad!
 
 Next new experience was of course marshmallows and S'mores. There are a few ways that I know of to make S'mores. Some people sandwich a piece of chocolate and a marshmallow between 2 Graham Crackers, wrap it in tin foil and then stick it in the coals of the fire to melt.

 

 We roasted marshmallows, many many marshmallows and sandwiched them with a piece of chocolate between 2 Graham Crackers. This didn't really melt the chocolate completely so my brother came up with the idea with then toasting the s'more on each side over the fire.
  
It doesn't matter which way you do it, just do it. You will find yourself wanting, well, s'more!

S'mores

Graham Crackers. These aren't found in Australia, but if you are keen, there is a recipe to make them here at the Angry chicken.
Large bar of chocolate.
Marshmallows.
Stick.

Enjoy!

berry crumble

A familiar thing happens every time I arrive in this part of the world, This overwhelming need to nap twice a day as well as the constant desire to pig out all day long. Truly remarkable and we have been doing just that all week, "Unbelievable, I am hungry again!". Much discussion has been revolving around the days menus. What we're eating, how often, who's cooking. Last night I made one of my favorites for dessert. I modified it slightly to accommodate the seasonal berries (and a few other bits that were in the fridge) 

There is nothing like Ontario fruit and veg in the summer.
  

Audrey's Apple crisp - modified

6-8 peeled and sliced apples
squeeze of half a lemon
3 tbl white sugar

toss together and lay in the bottom of a deep baking dish.

topping

1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup of plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 of a tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

mix all of the dry ingredients together, then, using your hands, rub in the butter.

The way I modify this recipe;

 1. Double the ingredients for the topping. Trust me, you'll wish you had more if you don't! 

2. When using berries I don't add sugar or lemon to the fruit and omit the cinnamon from the topping.
     

 Crumble with a view. 
 

sweet sixteen lunch

We headed south this weekend to celebrate our twin nieces sixteenth birthday. They wanted to celebrate with a long lunch with family and a few close friends, 37 to be exact. Very sweet I thought considering alternative sixteenth celebration possibilities. My mother and father in law hosted in their beautiful country home. My MIL being a collector and lover of all things beautiful could host a sit down dinner for about a hundred at the last minute with the amount of china, glassware and platters she has. This always makes setting the table fun. The girls wanted all white. My MIL pulled out a few different white settings, because she has that many. Dreamy.  Linen for the tables as well as linen serviettes all hand embroidered with different motifs. I dream of a cupboard of white linen one day. Maybe when I'm grown up.
  

We brought flowers from Perth that we mixed with different varieties of greenery from their lush garden.
  
   
When this family caters, no one ever goes hungry. The menu was over the top and delicious with a few unusual and delicious salads I hadn't seen before;
 

steamed asparagus
hard boiled eggs
cooked prosciutto
bread crumbs sauteed with garlic and olive oil
  

roasted pumpkin
roasted beetroot
roasted sweet potato
fresh spinach
cherry tomato
feta
dressed with olive oil, whole grain mustard and balsamic vinegar.

My favorite bit about meals with my husbands family is the dessert. On any given day there are at least 2. This celebration consisted of;

1 baked cheesecake
2 non baked cheesecakes
2 apple and Calvados cakes
panacotta with passion fruit
cooked sisters
fruit salad...

Not to mention the two ice cream cakes for the birthday girls. Did I mention there were only 37 of us? Laden with containers of extra meat potatoes and salad. 2 pieces of cheesecake, a piece of apple cake and a couple of cooked sisters, the aforementioned sweet stuff being my dinner, we headed home. A lovely celebration for two lovely girls. 

making lemonade

Some unusual activities for a winters day. Shorts to the park and an afternoon of making lemonade while listening to the sounds of The Beach Boys.
      
Lemon cordial

2 cups lemon juice
2 cups sugar
2 cups boiling water
 

Mix all three ingredients together until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate.
To drink mix 1/2 cordial with half water.
 
A fun activity to enjoy with the kids. Would also be rather enjoyable with a little vodka. You know, once the children are in bed. Just sayin'.

cupcake invites

In a few short weeks, some of our friends are moving back to Sweden for a couple of years. Very sad for us but exciting for them. The eldest child is one of Piper's best friends. She wanted to invite her and her little brother over for a farewell tea party.
A rainy day today home from school saw us baking cupcakes which quickly turned into cute edible invites.
  
Vanilla cake /  10 Cupcakes

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup plain flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350/175. Grease pan or line muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time then stir in vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Combine the two.
4. Add milk and mix altogether until smooth.
5. Bake cake for 30 - 35 minutes or cupcakes for 15-20 min. Or until cake springs back to the touch.

black bean soup

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups dried black beans
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
1 large can of whole peeled tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt to taste

 
Boil black beans until soft in approx. 10 cups of water. Drain.
Sweat onions, garlic and celery in olive oil in a large pot.
Chop whole peeled tomatoes and add to pot with remaining ingredients.
Simmer over med heat for an hour.
Remove half of the soup and blend in a food processor to make a thick broth.
Pour back into pot and simmer if necessary to thicken.
  
Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, salsa and tortillas. Salsa from a jar is very acceptable and makes this an easy to make from your pantry recipe. Alternatively you can make this fresh salsa for a cool crunch:

Salsa

tomatoes
celery
yellow pepper
red onion
coriander
juice from one lime
 
This is my all time favorite soup. Enjoy.
 

mellow yellow hummus

We are craving sunshine, fresh vegetables, garlic and a good nights rest after a week, and counting, of housebound sickness.
        
mellow yellow hummus

• 1 cup fresh chickpeas
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons
• 4 tbsp of water (if needed)

Place pre-soaked chickpeas, peeled garlic olive oil and lemon juice into food processor and blend till smooth. Add salt to taste.
 
The original recipe was nothing like this. My first attempt was comparable to yellow builders sand. After a few culinary disasters this week, the glass pot lid exploding into my ready to serve bolognese that had been simmering all day being the most noteworthy, I refused to throw it away. A bit of a tweak and now I can say I have my own hummus recipe. Enjoy.

what's that you say, no meat??

Believe it or not, I have found a delicious vegetarian substitute (yes, I am one of THOSE people) for Spaghetti Bolognese.
  
I tried this for the first time a few years ago and have finally got around to making it myself. My meat lovin' husband (known to eat only meat with meat sauce when hanging out with his mates) even thinks it's delicious. This Lentil Bolognese recipe can be found here at Group Recipes.
I started the recipe from 'Preparing Bolognese' and used lentils I had soaked in plain water. I finely diced the celery, grated the carrot and sauteed with the onion. This just seemed simpler and less chunky for the children. Enjoy!

Pssst. Some of you may have noticed that I have have been shifting the furniture around so to speak. I have found so many new blogs lately with both amazing content and layout, I'm just trying to keep up! Anywho. I have added a little 'join the blue shed' section on the right hand side. Do you see it? It would be great if you joined in. I would love to see your faces there. Go on, you know you want to. 

egg-cellent banana muffins

Do you have an obscene amount of chocolate still lying around, and feel that throwing it out is a crime? Then this recipe is for you;

Banana Bread (Well, that is the original recipe)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (I just use 2 whole bananas)
1 1/4 cup sifted all purpose flour
3/4 tsp bi-carb soda
1/2 tsp salt

• pre heat oven to 350/175
• cream together butter and sugar
• add eggs one at a time
• stir in bananas
• sift together dry ingredients
• add to wet mixture
• pour into greased pan (IF you are making a loaf)
• bake for 30-35 min (when making muffins, the time will vary)

 
We thought what better way to disguise (and not waste) the last of the eggs than to encase them in some wholesome muffins, surely this transforms the nutritional value?
   
I was expecting the muffins to have an oozy chocolate center when I broke it open. The kids however found me quite magical that I managed to put a whole egg in the center of the muffin.
 
Well, I think with three posts in the last 24 hours, I definitely have my fix. The domestic duties call (boring!)