Made For Little Ones

Hi everyone

Or anyone who may still be reading  :-)

 

I know, very long time with no blog posts

 

My reasons (excuses if you prefer) are -

 

 

• Charity knitting for Knit 4 Charites
• Gorgeous grandchildren, who are total time-wasters (Love It)  :-)
• orders for my little online shop "Made For Little Ones"
• everyday life   :-(

 

 

Now, my little shop has another online presence - Facebook. 
Look for "Made For Little Ones" or click on the link.

So, if your on Facebook, pop on over and have a little look. 
Maybe even "Like" my page and enter the competition giveaway

 

 

 

 

I'm getting ready for summer with some delicious home-made all-natural ice creams & gelato's.  Having a lot of fun experimenting.

 

Here is my first test - Strawberry & Nut Gelato  - mmmmmm

 Sorry, no photo, my computer is not co-operating
You'll have to take my word that is WAS absolutely delicious

 

mmmmmm

Hi everyone

I don't usually share recipes, but just thought you might like this one, which I found here

This was just after it came out of the oven and before it was found  :-)

Anzac Slice

1 cup SR flour

1 cup coconut

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of crushed nuts (I used dried fruit instead)

125g melted butter

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 egg

Preheat oven 180C and grease a slice tin

Mix all ingredients together. 

Press into slice tin and bake until golden (about 15-20 mins)

Could not be simplier

Hope someone else enjoys this too

PS - SR Flour is Self Raising Flour - Self-rising (or self-raising) flour is sold premixed with chemical leavening agents, usually baking powder
Golden syrup is a pale treacle.  It has an appearance similar to honey, and is often used as a substitute for people who do not eat honey. It can also be used as a substitute for corn syrup.
Molasses or dark treacle has a richer colour than golden syrup, and a stronger, slightly bitter flavour

Hope this helps Barbara

Australian Bread

Hi everyone

While browsing through one of my cook books the other day, I came across a recipe which I had not used for many, many years.  It was a favourite when camping.  And I have been making my own bread lately, so I thought I would give it a whirl last night to go with the soup I had cooking.  So I reduced the recipe to make a small loaf just for two.

This is only about 1/4 size of a normal loaf.

Crusty crust and bready style inside

We loved adding sultanas and using for a dessert like scones

Yummy with lots of butter or jam, honey, etc, etc etc

We use to make this in a heavy cast-iron camp oven (huge lidded cast iron pot)

Put in the coals of a fire

And eaten warm in about 1/2 hour

Damper was traditionally made with only flour and water (ingredients readily available to swaggies and settlers out bush) and cooked directly in the coals of a campfire.  More info can be found here

Damper recipes are endless

Add what you like

Make it a sweet, savoury or just plain

Here is a basic recipe

DAMPER

4 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp salt

100g butter, cubed

2 cups milk

Mix flour and salt together

Rub the butter through with your fingertips

Add almost all the milk and mix to soft dough, adding rest of the milk if required

At this stage add any options you would like

Knead lightly on floured board and shape into round form

Bake in a hot oven for 25-30 minutes

Yummo eaten warm

Another use for damper is a bowl for a warm dip

The damper top is cut off about 1/3 of the way down

Inside scooped/cut out, retain and cut into dippy size pieces

Mix dip (spinach/cream cheese is one of my favourites) and place in damper bowl

Heat the damper bowl and the pieces cut out in oven till warm

Break pieces off the side of damper and use to dip

No cleaning up as bowl and dip get eaten!!!!

Cake

Hi everyone

Got a tip-off from Foxs Lane the other day for a recipe

Which she found here

Knew I had to try it

Two of my favourites

Apples & Cake!!!!!!!!

Have to say it was yummo!!!!!

I halved the recipe as it seemed quite large

And there is only hubby and I to eat it

I did as the reviewers suggested and cooked it at 160C for an hour

 

Well sometimes I do share with daughters and their partners ☺

A quick photo before the last spoonfuls are gone

(broken up a bit with the apples)

And I was good

Please note

NO Ice-cream or cream

But oh they would definitely have gone down well with this while it was still warm

Such a simple, quick recipe

Definitely on my must do again, and again, and again

Culture

Some weird things may be seen around here soon

On and off

Such as this??????

10 hours and overnight in the fridge and I had this

So I whipped up this for brekkie

Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie

mmmmmm

So quick, so easy and so very yummy

I don't think the 1 litre will last long

Gosh the lengths I go to .....

Ok fill in the blank for me ☺

No, not really, alright you can, please do in your comments

I was going to say

Gosh the lengths I go to to write a post ☺

Way back here when I made Pumpkin Fruit Cake, Josiekitten made a comment about another type of cake that intriuged me.

So I went looking for a recipe here

Found one for this, which I made yesterday

So I had to try it in the name of research

I only cut a small piece

Just to taste you understand

Can you guess what it is??

Ok smarties, yes it is chocolate cake

But there is a surprise ingredient - well at least one I would never have thought to put in!!!

This cake is .....

Chocolate Beetroot Cake!!!!

So yummy, so moist, so delicious and is disappearing rapidly

Ingredients

2 eggs

3/4 cup oil - make sure its good quality, because it will affect the taste

1 cup sugar

1-1/4 cups plain flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp bicarb of soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup tinned beetroot puree, drained, reserve liquid

Method

Beat together oil, sugar & egg

Sift together dry ingredients

Mix all ingredients together with beetroot puree until smooth

Add some beetroot liquid if too dry - I did not add any

Line a round tin with baking paper

Bake at 170C/338F for 50-60 minutes

The icing I just made, cause this family insists on cakes with icing

Just as a little fount of knowledge for those overseas.

Most Australians insist on having sliced beetroot on hamburgers and salad sandwiches!!!

There was a big up-roar when a major health, fast-food chain were going to take beetroot off their ingredients!!!

Until now it was the only way I would eat it

I'm baaaccckkkk ....... well sort of

I just want to go back!!!!

I fell in love!!!!

It called to me

I felt completely and utterly "at home"

Ok, so I spent the weekend at Moss Vale in our Southern Highlands

About 2 hour drive from home

Hubby and I have been before

This trip just reconfirmed our love for the area

Our home for the weekend was "Sugar Glider" (a native animal)

more info here about the property,

but my photos are better

(me with very smug look and probably half closed eyes)

Sugar Glider

The original part of the house (the front) was built c1913

The place is tiny - dining, lounge, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom/laundry

And it was perfect for us!!!!!

The weather was perfect

Yes it was colder than we are use to, but we quickly adapted

Actually I spent Sunday in a singlet top (in the middle of the day) soaking up the sun

We had breakfast out here on Saturday morning

but Sunday and Monday was inside in the sunny dining room cause

we are a bit woosie and loved the warmth inside

Sorry about the blurry photo

It was taken after lunch on Sunday  ☺

Saturday morning we went to the local Farmers Market at Moss Vale,

sorry no photos

I was too busy taste testing

Coffee, Jam, Cheese, Bread

they came home with us

but I should have also got some

pumpkin, goats milk soap, chicken, fruit & veg

there was even some beautiful hand-woven alpaca items - so soft

Then we went to Berrima

But that's another story .......

The property is a cattle farm which has these beautiful, friendly, very quiet animals

Angus Cattle

They came up to have a chat

And there were birds !!!!!!!

Hard to get photos

Some were only about a foot flying above my head

And I was too slow to get a photo

Currawongs, Crows, Rosellas, Lorikeets, Willy Wagtails, Finches, Cockatoos

many more that I can't name

so my bird book has come out to identify them

Enough for now

you will be bored and sleepy

Pumpkin, Teapots, Weekend

Hi everyone

Pumpkin Fruit Cake

For those who asked so nicely for a slice of cake - Sorry!!!!

The cake barely lasted a day!!!!

And that was not me and hubby pigging out!!!!

Daughters dropped in and insisted on taking some for their morning tea.

So this is definitely a keeper recipe

Teapots

Forgot to mention in the post

I did think some may not have teapots,

so how about your coffeepots

or even your favourite mug/cup

Weekend

Yahoo!!!!!!

Long weekend in Australia - well in our part anyway!!!!

Queens Birthday Long Weekend

The start of the ski season down south

Hubby and I are having a extra long, long weekend

And getting a way for a few days

And yes its south

But not to the ski-fields

So I will catch back up with everyone about the middle of next week

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

Pumpkin

Hi everyone

Found myself with an excess of pumpkin and while I do eat lots of it baked, mashed, stir-fried, I wanted something sweet.

I have not tried pumpkin scones, will one day, but I like my scones fresh and warm, not long out of the oven.  What I was after, was something that would keep, to eat a little at a time.

So I started browsing the net to find options and came up with this one of Best Recipes site

The photo was very quickly taken before hubby disappeared with more slices of the cake  ☺
then  I would have had nothing to show, along with him muttering about me and my taking photos taking of weird things  ☺ ☺

An absolutely delicious, moist cake and the colour is wonderful.  It will definitely be on my keeper list

Pumpkin Fruit Cake

1 cup warm mashed pumpkin

1 cup sugar

2 cups Self Raising flour

2 eggs

125g butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup

250g dried mixed fruit

Pinch of salt

Beat pumpkin, sugar & butter for a few minutes.

Add syrup and beat until creamy

Add eggs, flour, fruit & salt

Pour into cake tin

Bake in moderate oven for 1-1/4 hours

Managed to sneak a slice for me now with morning tea - yummo

Lady Helsie's Cake

After reading Lady Helsie's Blog yesterday, I just had to make this .......

5 Cup Cake

Still trying to work a new oven out, so could have been a little browner in the middle.

But yummo!!!!!

I got a quick, very easy, very tasty, much needed sugar fix

I did save a little for hubby - but only a little ☺

Vegemite and insects and ideas

Hi everyone

Kate from The Garden Bell was asking about our Vegemite

Vegemite used to be Australian owned and made.  Unfortunately as you can now see it is owned by an American company - Kraft.  Quite a large number of Aussies were very upset when they heard that it was being bought by an overseas company ( me included).  It was ours and should have stayed ours.  But money won in the end like it usually does.  So for a while there a lot of Aussies black-banned Vegemite in silent defence.  Now they are trying to muck around with it and introduced "Cheesybite" - Yuk.  Can't change a great thing.  This a photo of my baby Vegemite (150g).  When my girls were little I needed the large one (400g)

Not every Aussie loves Vegemite - my hubby is one that hates it, but he does not like any spread on his toast either.

I love Vegemite on my toast, spread like this, not like in the commercials where its usually very thick and black

This is pretty well my standard breakfast and is really the only way I use Vegemite.  I remember my Nan used to make the best gravy by mixing Vegemite with the juices from the roast and maybe a bit of water.

Vegemite dates back to 1922 when a young chemist developed a spread from brewers yeast, which is naturally rich in Vitamin B

This is the ad on TV that I remember from childhood.  There is an older black & white version with children marching, which I think it is the original.

Vegemite sandwiches for school lunch is pretty standard, especially in our very hot weather.  Nothing to melt or go soggy.  Vegemite and cheese sandwiches are great too. 

As to its taste, well it is unique, I don't know of anything to compare it to.  I would not describe it as salty, but it is a savory spread.

Another Aussie came to visit yesterday

A cicada!

Did not expect to see one up here so high and no trees directly around me.  Boy are there heaps and heaps of them around at the moment with the heat and then the noise it becomes louder than any rock concert you have ever been to

Now you have seen what became of my flower-girls cardi's here.  And when I don't know what to do I reach for the stash my MIL gave me and crochet or knit things for the charity group, Knit 4 Charity.  I like doing this as it allows me to try new patterns and styles, no criticism and it is sure to fit someone.  Next month is for a Womens Refuge and they wanted some ponchos which I have never made.

Now this has given me an idea for the flower-girls.  Yeah!!!!!

Next ....

Hi everyone
Well no-one had a guess as to what the this was going to become. I did finish it the same day, but forgot to blog about it. So here it is ....... now please sssshhhhhh ......... of course its a secret ...

v

v

v

v

Hope you can work out what it is, not sure with the photo - its a Santa washcloth.

Now this is what I did Friday, I decided to do a test run with these .......

and used a recipe from the good old "Commonsense Cookery book - Basic biscuit recipe" and added a few choc bits and this is what they became ......

Now the photo was taken immediately they had cooled

- before anyone was at home

- cause by that night

- there was nothing left to take a photo of!!!!

And there was only 3 of us - ooppss. Well it was a test run, so now I know the recipe is well liked. Next time I will play with icing etc.

Now on to the next project. This one is for DD2 and is a BIG secret. She stills thinks I am not making it for her. Lovely Xmas colours, but for her they are the colours of her favourite NRL football team - South Sydney Rabbitohs. The black sort of ties it in with her partners favourite team - Penrith Panthers. So it will be a joint Xmas present for them.

I have discovered my eyes do not like dark colours. The black has become very hard for me to see stitch definition, so will probably start avoiding it from now on

We went and watched "Julie/Julia" yesterday with DH and loved it. Did not expect it to be as funny as it was. Loved the '50's fashion, especially for the women, developing from suits and skirts to the more relaxed trousers. The shoes were gorgeous!!!! Could not help noticing as she was so tall

Its raining fairly solidly here today, so a great day for sitting back and getting on with the projects running at the moment. mmmmmmmm ....... that might mean ordering for wool. Oh well!!

Have a great day - bye for now