Waiting Rooms in Hospital.

Recently I have spent a good amount of time in  waiting rooms. Waiting for action, waiting for results, waiting for machines to be ready. Also in waiting rooms are people. People with suitcases, overnight bags, paper bags with their possessions in, patients in slippers, and hospital pyjamas with dressings over wounds waiting. Nurses walking fast in different coloured uniforms that denote their rank s, pushing trollies with medicines and dressings.   Cups of tea and coffee come around to relieve the waiting. Ya, breakfast is served, no salmon and roe on toast here, yoghurt and cold toast with a pat of butter and jam or vegemite.   More tea or coffee offered in plastic cups, this time lovely and hot, served by hospital volunteers.
Young and old dressed in streetchothes and home pyjamas and dressing gowns, unable to get dressed, unshaven men.
A name is called, we all look, how fortunate that wait is over for them. Patients with anticipation of good results, some already aware of theirs, some not wanting to face the reality of theirs, in the waiting room.
Doctors now doing rounds passed the waiting room. Charts in hand, an entourage of eager minds following behind  listening with intent to their senior.  Big ,soft pretty blue lazy boy chairs are moved into position. Four patients less fortunate than myself move into them. I dream about dinner that evening, a Mild beef and pumpkin red curry, a recipe I have found in a magazine.

Mild beef and Pumpkin Red Curry.   Serves 4.

3 tbsp. oil                   700g braising beef cut into cubes.

1 onion finely chopped   2 tbsp., red curry paste

165 mil coconut milk      1 1/4 cups beef stock

1kg pumpkin peeled and cut into 3cm cubes.

2 tab chopped coriander
Fish sauce and kaffir lime optional.

1.     In a bowl, mix the beef with 2tbsp of the oil until coated.
2.     Heat a large saucepan and brown the meat in batches, set aside.
3.    Add chopped onion to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until soft.
4. Return the beef to the pan, along with the curry paste and cook for 2 minutes . Add coconut milk and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer , loosely cover for an hour.
5. Season with fish sauce and finely chopped kaffir leaves.
5.    Add the chopped pumpkin and cook for 20 minutes .
6. Serve over steamed rice or mashed potato .
This is most enjoyable .  Sorry there is no pic of this, I am still learning to upload/download pictures..

Collecting Plates online.

I had found a new obsession . Old plates!!!. I was given part of an old dinner set by a friend who didn't want "the old thing", and I was so happy. At the time I had no idea who it was designed by or how old it was.   Then I decided there would be  mid Xmas Dinners in my home.  Out came the dinner, and desert plates. Piled up, very regal,  people commented on them. I was so proud.
   So, that very next week online I was perusing the Alfred Meakin

name. Wow, all the goodies to behold. So I started my little collection. Never have I spend extravagantly , only what I could afford at the time.  I saw this lovely smaller cake plate. Square in size and it took my eye. I hoped no one else would bit. No, it was mine. I waited for confirmation, off to the bank to deposit money ,and emailed to  seller my details.  I waited, and waited, and waited  and after 2weeks I emailed again asking was there a problem. Its fine, sometimes if the seller has lots to deal with it will take time.  The seller responded  saying they had "misplaced" the plate, and could they please have another couple of days.  Ok I said, that's fine. waited another week, contacted the seller suggesting a refund, and seller replied,"have posted plated today"   The phone rang in the afternoon and it was the seller to apologize saying her mum and herself were selling an uncles property together on separate sites and goods had been muddled. At last I received my plate the nest day with an extra gift inside for my patience, and everytime I use the plate I am reminded and tell the story of the missing plate.

What to put on the plate.

EVERYONES FAVOURITE MUFFINS.

1 large  cup flour                                               2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg                                                                  milk to mix

2 cups grated cheese                                          Extras:grated onion, bacon bits, Maggi stock of choice
                                                                             parsley.

Mix all ingredients together. Place in greased muffin tins and cook 10-15minutes until golden at 200oC  yum o yum

Respect our Community

                                     

                                      Thanks to Vic and Helen for their 50th Anniversary!

                                                                        

Golden Weddings -                                            

how the time has flown - the

photo board tells it all!

A carving set, a

family heirloom

shiny as if new.

The wooden handle

poised, used in turn 

by young & old.

Fruit plus Madeira cakes

sliced and shared by

folks all wished

the best as functions

come & go.

If cakes & bread

where the only thing

cut by knives how

happy we would

be! But proposed

motorways may slice

our landscape

and tear our

neighbourhood

in three!

Where will the children

play at school while

trucks pollute the air?

How can our friends

move when money

is so scarce? Consider

us, John Key, the families

who've stayed here long

enough to celebrate their

golden years and make

this community -

truly theirs!

Crockpot Chicken

Crockpots feed families and are great for those who arrive home tired and can't think what to cook.

Take 3 or 4 carrots and slice them chunky.

Slice 1 or 2 onions and a stick of celery and include some crushed garlic.

Put these in the crockpot with a tin of tomatoes,

2 teaspoons of Panch Puran (Bengali 5 spice mixture of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, brown mustard, and nigella (kalonji) in equal amounts) Don't panic if you don't have these spices!

1 teaspoon of tumeric

and half a teaspoon of chilli flakes or a whole green chilli.

Add a whole chicken or as many legs or thighs of chicken you can accommodate in your crockpot.

Cook on low for 6 hours or more. Thicken the juice if required. Serve with vegetables and rice or potatoes.

Beetroot Tart in Cornwall Park.

This picture of the beetroot tart was taken one hot, steamy Sunday afternoon in Cornwall Park, Auckland, as we listened to the delightful tunes of the Dalewool Brass Band, playing in the rotunda.
As the band is playing, it is easy for our eyes to wonder over the other people ,who have gathered to feast there eyes, ears and mouths on their favourite band and picnic food. To our right are a couple in their 80's with portable table, portable chairs and crystal glasses with white wine. The chips and dip came out and a great time was had. Meanwhile back to us, we drank fruit juice ate Marjorie's Tea Loaf and Beetroot  Tart.  I have finally found the recipe !! So here it is-

BEETROOT,WALNUT & FETA TARTS.
For 4 tarts.
1 sheet frozen flaky puff pastry                   Onion Jam {see recipe below}
1 medium tin beetroot, finely chopped          1 250 pkt walnuts chopped.
1 250 pkt, feta cheese

 ONION JAM.
1. Peel and finely chop 3 brown or red onions your choice.
2. In a pan add 2-3 tab oil, add onions and fry till brown on medium heat.
3.In a bowl mix 1/2cup brown sugar,2tab balsamic vinegar and mix together..
4. Add to onions in pan and cook to reduce about 20minutes.  Cool.
5. On a baking tray, place 1 sheet of pastry.
6. Cut pastry in half then half again so you have 4 pieces
7. score a square 1/4 inch from edge.
8. Place equal amounts of onion jam, chopped beetroot, walnuts and feta on top of pastry inside the scored edge.
9.place in oven 180ocelius,for 20minutes  yum yum

Summer

 

 

 

 

 

Summer

 

'Twenty-six degrees with a light breeze,'

the radio announcer intones.

She must be bored this summer!

Auckland's volcanic cones blaze brown,

nearby playing fields almost bare and

mowing lawns creates clouds of dust.

Water tanks only dribble and stop in rural spots

and farmers have to sell hungry stock.

 

But, in Cornwall Park we blister, some with

crystal glasses full of wine; we take tea

in china cups, a slice of cake mixed through

with chippy chocolate, all listening to the band

who play dressed in black - on this the hottest

Sunday at 2 o'clock!

 

Home to water celery, silverbeet, herbs and peppers.

Cucumber plant has done its dash - so have I

with water rates still rising.

My supermarket hosts peaches, nectarines and plums

plus courgettes. And, like a soldier's polished army boots

aubergines beg to meet with mozzarella, toms and basil green.

But, I have got a recipe for a spicy dish, cooked on top,

in a wok - for who wants to face the oven's heat when

inside our home the sun's warmth is trapped!



 

 

Take 1 large eggplant or 2 sm. ones. Cube and soaked for a while in salted water.
Turn on electric or gas ring to threequarters hot and in your woklike saucepan put in
2 tablespoons of oil.
Sprinkle in 1 teaspn tumeric, half a teaspn. of cumin seeds and a few chilli flakes.
Watch them carefully else they'll burn.
Next put in 1 sliced onion, 2 sliced sticks of celery, 3 cloves of garlic or a teaspn of minced garlic and sitr.
When heated through put in 1 or 2 sliced courgettes, one sliced red pepper, stir.
Rinse the eggplant and add to the wok. Stir so the tumeric colours everything.
Chop herbs - coriander, basil, parsley - whatever you've got in your garden- and add to wok.
Tip in a tin of Italian tomatoes. Stir and cover and turn down the heat.
Stir every now and again until eggplant and courgettes are cooked.
Serve with brown rice. Enough for 3 -4 people.

The rest of Christmas Mince Tarts.

Well who knows , the hidden forces going on that decide the blog is finished and publishes it before I have finished. Her is the rest of the pastry part.

Roll sweet short pastry until its 3mm thick. Mini -muffin pans make lovely little pies. For these you will need to cut 6cm rounds and press them gently into non-stick sprayed pans. Drop a heaped teaspoon of fruit mince into each one, then finish by placing a star , or other shape  of pastry on top before baking at 180oC for 10-12minutes or until the pastry begins to brown. If you want slightly larger pies in patty tins you'll need an 8-9cm cutter.  enjoy

Christmas Mince Pies

It has been a long time since I posted, I apologize, no real excuse except life did get in the way!!! Now I have semi-retired there will be more posting from myself and my friend. 

TEATOWELS

Teatowels

Teatowels are king,
rectangles silently serving
even while a dishwasher hums.
They hastily protect my fingers
when the oven door's hot;
they save Grandpa's shirt
from the occasional drop
and wipe down a bench
when unexpected visitors hit.

They're useful as gifts and
I love receiving mine.
They tell stories on linen
of cities and castles divine.
They blaze abroad flags,
insert Gingerbread  recipes
making funds for Starship
to heal our sick kids.  That

linen dries best, some $2 shop
ones are rather small and
inferior quality cloth.
They hang there in the kitchen
whatever their type, day after
day being thrown about,
wrapping up scones to take
for a morning tea, an apron
tucked in trouser elastic or
flung over the shoulder
pretending to be Master Chef!

This simplest of kitchen tools
can guide you by a London Tube map
or be hung out to dry by a neighbour
as an SOS.  In short, this rectangle
of useful material must have had
a woman inventor - surely famous?
Wish that name were mine!

Starship Gingerbread Friends
with thanks to Ruby Seeto for recipe and for
raising funds for Starship Children's Hospital.

40g butter
half a cup of honey
third a cup of brown sugar
one tablespoon  lemon juice
one tsp ground cinnamon
one and a half tsp ground ginger
half a tsp each of ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice
and baking soda
2 cups of flour

Preheat oven 170c
Melt butter in saucepan and add everything except flour and baking powder.
Mix togehter and gently heat to soften honey if needed.
Shift in flour and baking soda and gradually mix to form a dough.
Wrap in cling film and refrigerate 30mins until firm.
On a lightly floured surface roll dough 5mm thick.
Cut ginerbread men shapes with a cookie cutter.
Place on a tray and bake til lightly brown.  About 5 - 10mins depending on size.
Allow to cool then ice and decorate with your favourite icing.
Enjoy!

To buy a teatowel go to www.wallacecotton.com
I gather there's a few left to be bought to raise funds for Starship Children's Hospital.
Thank you!

It was 2.15am when I was woken with the shrill ringing of the landline reverberating through the house!.I could hear my son moving about in his room racing to answer before the noise abated. I was there at his side ,unable to work out if it was for me or him. He was asking all kinds of questions and shouting, at which I decided who it was , so quietly departed and got into some clothes. He came to tell me the girlfriend who was known in some circles as Blondie, was being held against her will in a motel room in the centre of town. After a heated discussion, we left the house in pursuit of the motel. This yound lady was a stripper and had another occupation as well, and I was aware where she was and what she was doing. Son drive to a strip club, in a well known part of town, told me to get out and get the key out of the meter box down the side of the building. Well there were some very colourful people about at that time of night, and I was aprenhensive , but no do it I was told. With the key in my hand off we went down the hill to the motel. What was the plan i asked. He would just go and grab her out of the room and bring her to the car and home. Ok, said I. If the plan all falls apart and you are not back in 1/2 hour I will sit on the horn to asttract attention. Off he strode anxious as to what he would find. He was back in 10minutes, by himself. He said he couldnt put the key in the door, because he knew what he would find behind the door. So back to the strip club, key in metre box, and home to my bed. Yes she rang at 11am asking to be picked up like nothing had happened. They had a long talk and he decided that that was the end of his relationship with the stripper they called Blondie.


HERE IS A RECIPE FOR ZEBRA PUDDING FROM CASSELL'S NEW DICTIONARY OF COOKERY (1904)

BUTTER A BASIN, SHAKE CRUMBS ALL OVER IT, THEN PUT A THICK LAYER IF FINE CRUMBS ON THE BOTTOM, THEN A LAYER OF ANY KIND OF JAM, THEN MORE CRUMBS, AND SO ON IN LAYERS TILL THE BASIN IS FULL. OVER ALL POUR A CUSTARD JUST SUFFICIENT TO SLIGHTLY MOISTEN THE WHOLE. COVER WITH BUTTERED PAPER, AND STEAM FOR 3/4 HOUR. DIFFERENT SORTS OF JAM OR MARMALADE MAY BE USED. NOT A PUDDING WE WOULD MAKE TODAY BUT VERY INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THEY COOKED AND PUT INGREDIENTS TOGETHER.
. .

A Belated Telecast

Camel races in Muscat, Oman. photo found in old, torn Nat. Geographic thanks to issue May 1995.


In October last-
my brother organised lunch,
I gobbled muesli, the sun
in his conservatory lit the pages
of the Mail on Sunday.
A brief shadow passed, I asked
for scissors to bring home
a cutting - someone had left
a legacy that anyone could
cook up in their kitchen and
this is it!

Serves 4 'The Hotpot'
800grams neck of lamb
800grams thinly sliced potatoes
Large onion, chopped.
One & a half cups of water
3 tbls cooking oil
1 tbls flour
1 bay leaf
Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Brown the meat in a pan of very hot oil, then set aside. Fry the onion until softened. Sprinkle the flour into the pan with the onion and stir to soak up the fat. Turn off the heat and add the water while stirring to prevent lumps forming. Add a dash of seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. Mix the onion, meat and stock tog. and stir in a bay leaf. Alternate layers of the meat and onion mix with the sliced potato in an ovenproof dish. The top layer should be potato. Cover and bake at 325F/180c or gas mark 3 for two hours. Remove cover and continue to bake until the top lay of potato has browned.

Fictitiously served in a popular pub
in a round, brown pot
with an ale, froth on the top,
by a barmaid at lunchtime, 'cos
the English traditionally have dinner
'round twelve o'clock!
The lady in question had a tight smile,
a listening ear, and a curt reply.
Her wavy brown hair never, ever faded.
She performed at eight,
a singer in the forties
'she'd been through the war, you know'.
Her surname mirrored a highway robber
by the name of Dick, but her real name
was Betty Driver, admired by the cast
and fans alike, incredibly at ninety one
she still played her role. By now,
you'll have guessed, Betty Turpin,
'Mrs. Hotpot', mother of 'our Gordon'
off Coronation Street has died. After
forty two years of asking from behind
the bar, 'What would you like?'

Meows Journey in Christchurch

In Christchurch ,there is a big fat black cat with a tuft of white on her chest called Meow. She lived with her Dad in the inner city of {Now known as the red zone},Christchurch and on the 22nd February this year all that changed.
This earthquake rocked the ground,shattered lives,scared people , frightened cats and dogs and destroyed buildings ,lives and families forever.
Meow and her dad stayed in their red zoned inner city flat for a few days after the quake,their flat being given the tempory ok structually. One night the police came knocking on the door saying they had 2hours to collect personal belongings and leave.The block of flats over the road were really unstable due to constant earthquakes.
Meow hid, she didnt want to go someplace she didnt know . Her dad stayed in the suburbs with my friend in his 2bedroom flat .Meows dad was there every night to fed her and the security checked up on the flats twice a day. One night meow wasnt that fast and her dad captured her and took her to the suburbs to live. Meow wanted her old home , so one quiet night she cllimbed out the 2centermetre open bathroom window and left. That put her dad, my friend and myself into sadness. Meows dad was really worried,returning to their home in the red zone to lay cat biscuits. The police and security guards were also looking after the animals that had lost their homes. Meow was gone for a week,when I phoned my friend and asked for meows description to place an ad on a popular trading post on computer. Then one night at 10pm, my txting machine tapped a message out to me, yes meow had been found!!!.She had walked 5km in the opposite direction of her inner city home,but had found a home with people who were putting food down. Wonderful people who had looked on line and identified her. Thanks to that family, Meow and her dad are happily reunited. This story is true with no connections to the childrens book Quaky Cat.

RECIPE.
AMERICAN BROWNIE.
250grams butter 4eggs
1/2 cup cocoa 1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon B.P.
1tea vanilla essence.
METHOD.
Melt butter in a saucepan that will hold all ingredients.
Mix in cocoa, remove from heat and stir in sugar.
Add eggs,and beat well using a wooden spoon.
Sift flour and B.P. into mixture, add essence and mix to combine.
Pour into a sponge roll tin that has been greased.
Bake at 180o for 25-30minutes or until mixture springs back.
Cut into squares when warm and enjoy.

Very English!

A Cotswold Tuesday

Cobblestones burnished by hundreds of soles
country air zoned into commercial roles
Matrons of Moreton tie on your pinnies
roll up your sleeves, imported verses homegrown!

Cotton nighties down from those freshly killed chooks
teatowel verses, well read Maeve Binchy books.
Coachload of tourists, all spoilt for choice
those dawdlers ripe, stallholders bait your hooks.

Roundness of apples, next to womb shaped pears
mellow Michaelmas daises scan the fare
ancient and modern, Morton market is hot
like mature cheddar, stone houses protectively stare.

Kedgeree
I've tasted two versions of this dish since I've been in England visiting family and am determined to make it once I get home to NZ!

It's thought that it was orginally an Indian recipe that the British adapted and bought home with them. Popular as an Victorian breakfast as it used leftovers when they didn't have fridges. Am all for using leftovers so here goes:-

A cupful of cooked rice
A couple of fillets of haddock or any tasty fish
4 eggs
one chopped onion
parsley or coriander
2 teaspoons of curry paste or powder
chilli if wanted.
last night's leftover peas
cream or yoghurt to stir in.

Gently fry the onion in some olive oil, add chilli if using, stir in curry paste/powder and peas.
Boil the fish (if not cooked) with the eggs for 6 mins.
Drain and flake the fish, you'll be able to remove bones.
Shell the eggs and quarter them.
Add rice to onion mixture and fish and eggs and stir in cream and yoghurt.
Serve immediately.

1960s Mince Chow Mein

APRONS. something the women of today hardly ever wear. I found this in a mag and thought it worth printing. Thanks to McCalls pattern from the 1950s.
I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandmas apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons use less fabric to make. But along with that, it served as a pot holder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs,fussy chicks,and sometimes half hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow,bent over a hot wood stove. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegies. After the peas were shelled,it carried out the hulls. In the fall, it was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected visitors drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds!.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch,waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come home for dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I dont think I ever caught anything from an apron-but love....

CHOW MEIN MADE WITH MINCE FROM THE 1960S.
1LB mince lightly browned in 4oz butter . Add 1/2 cabbage finely chopped, a handful of beans frozen or fresh, 2 cut up onions, 1 dessertspoon of curry powder, 1tablespoon sugar. 1 pkt chicken noodle soup,, 2tablespoons rice, 1dessretspoon soy sauce, and 2 1/2 cups water. simmer for 20 minutes . enjoy.

Reading is Sweet

When is a camel not a camel?
When it's a mobile library.
Ask Joanna Lumley at
Book Aid International
who distribute books in Africa
among itinerant people
searching for pasture
to graze their stock.
Health books for women,
stories for children
new skills read
to escape poverty.

Closer to home -
when is a carrot cake not a carrot cake?
When it's baked without sugar!
Happened at school in our block.
Crime committed by me but colleagues
still ate it and wanted me to try again!

Try out this Carrot Cake as carrots are sweet.
Cook in a ring time on 180C for 30 - 40 mins
then serve with a travel book to escape.

Shift 2 cups of SR flour into a large bowl
add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup walnuts
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
3/4 cup crushed pineapple.

Lightly beat 3 eggs with 1/2 cup oil in a separate bowl.
Add to flour mixture and beat until combined and bake
as instructed above. Share!

My oldest son and myself are off on a road trip to visit his children we haven't seen for a very long time. Will they remember good stuff that we remember like this tale I shall tell me son on the way. Oldest son was 2 when we were invited to a farm run by a farm hand my husband had befriended. I never liked this person, there was always something in the back of my mind that never sat right. So we hopped in our old car and found the farm which was in a remote part of Upper Hutt. WE looked at the cows, and on our way back to the farmhouse the chickens and hens caught my sons eye. Never having seen a chicken before, he was delighted with the fluffy balls chirping in his fathers hand. In the background Mr Rooster was wailing and letting everyone know he was in charge of the yard. Then Mr Rooster decided to fly over to us and hitch a ride on my sons small shaky shoulder!Son was horrified,and screamed and cried for all he was worth, to no avail. The farmhand laughed and laughed,I was distraught with worry, trying to remove this cling on off my child.Mr Rooster flapped and crowed and just like that he was off, quite happy with himself.My son never went near this man whenever he visited our home, and after a short time was transferred out of the area much to my delight. It took some time for my boy to get over his encounter with the rooster. That was 30years ago and son is fine. I had been writing to a man in prison in America for a short time and we were talking about nicknames, and he told me a very similar story that had happened to himself as a small child on a farm in Georgia,and was called rooster in prison. A very small world we live in. here's A GREAT PUDDING FOR COLD NIGHTS . PEACH ROLL UPS.
SERVES 4-6
3-4 TABLESPOONS BUTTER 1/2 CUP ORANGE JUICE
1TEASPOON GRATED ORANGE RIND 1/2 CUP SUGAR
2CUPS SELF RAISING FLOUR 1/4 TEASPOON SALT
3OZ{75GMS}BUTTER 1/2CUP MILK
1/4CUP BROWN SUGAR 1 TEASPOON CINNAMON
1 LARGE CAN SLICED PEACHES DRAINED CREAM FOR SERVING.

METHOD. MIX FIRST 4 INGREDIENTS IN A SAUCEPAN. SIMMER FOR 5 MINUTES THEN POUR HALF MIXTURE INTO BUTTERED OVENPROOF DISH.
SIFT FLOUR AND SALT IN A BOWL. rub IN SECOND MEASURE OF BUTTER AND ADD MILK TO MAKE A SOFT DOUGH. roll OUT ABOUT 12"SQUARE. brush WITH A LITTLE MELTED BUTTER AND SPRINKLE WITH BROWN SUGAR AND CINNAMON.
ARRANGE DRAINED PEACHES ON THIS AND ROLL UP LIKE A JAM ROLL. CUT INTO 9 SLICES AND ARRANGE RINGS CUT SIDE DOWN, IN SYRUP IN DISH. POUR REMAINING SYRUP OVER DOUGH.
BAKE AT 400oF[200c] FOR 25-30 MINUTES OR UNTIL CRISPY AND GOLDEN BROWN ON TOP .
SERVE WITH REMAINING SYRUP AND WHIPPED CREAM. GREAT TASTE.

Sponge Bob's Stay at Home Holiday

A fistful of spiders
has just been let loose,
their web broken,
the flies killed.

New curtains sewn -
nets of sprigged exotics
wave to the neighbours,
death to the spiders.

Doorsteps washed,
screens brushed and wiped.
Footprints eradicated
fingermarks depleted.

Pantry reconstituted
rusty tins examined,
OK rice risotto and lentils
used by date foreign language binned.

A fist full of spiders
crystal ball gazing -
an army of ants lobbied
sweet revenge on my kitchen sink bench!

Sue's Mum's Spongy Pud. (As made for us while we watched one evening before the first course was served in Sue's art deco kitchen - no spiders!)
4ozs SR flour
4ozs sugar
4ozs butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 eggs

So easy - just mix everything together then whip through rhubarb and apple or ginger and peaches or whatever fruit is handy. Bake for 30 to 40mins at 180c Sometimes the batter takes abit of cooking in the middle, so watch your Spongy Pud doesn't burn on it's top. Really yummy and the neighbours like it too!

Wahine Day Tomato Soup

As we woke up to the wind howling through the house, I thought my husband would not be able to get to work. We lived 20 miles from Wellington, and worked in the area, but the wind and rain were something I had never seen. My husband left for work, soon to return, to ask for food and hot drinks. The contracting team he worked for was to go out and clear roads around the Lower Hutt area, so the rescue teams could get through and save people off a sinking interislander ferry. This was so hard to believe because in the short 4 hours since the sinking, the weather had calmed down and the sun was trying to come out. I had 2 very small babies and was trying very hard to keep them entertained inside, but the carpet square in the middle of the lounge floor kept dancing and lifting with the wind from under the floorboards. Although the power was intermittent, the coverage on T.V. showed the story as it unfolded. Requests were made for volunteers to help with the survivors and hot soup and blankets were also being asked for. The coast line where the survivors had drifted to with the tide was rough, rocky and isolated and many who survived had badly cut feet from climbing out of lifeboats or rescue boats onto sharp rocks and gravel. That day will stay with me, and every 10th April I send happy thoughts to those 50+ people who lost their lives, and to the families who survived that terrible day. Recently I travelled on the interislander and was very emotional as we passed Barretts Reef and I moved to the other side of the boat to see the distance the people had been swept to with the tide. The coastline was sooo far away.

Here is a recipe that would have been great for that day, and I make now and again to bottle when the beefsteak tomatoes are plentiful.

TOMATO SOUP. TO BOTTLE
14lb Tomatoes. 7 onions
7 cloves garlic 3 sticks celery
12 sprigs parsley 3 tablespoons salt
2-3 tablespons pepper 1 1/2 cups sugar.

METHOD.

Cut tomatoes into quarters, dice onion and peel garlic and cut celery sticks into cubes. Put all ingredients into a heavy based preserving pan, and gently boil till soft, about 1/2 hour. Place in blender, in batches, to make into a smoothish soup. I have a manual machine with a handle I have had for years, that spits out the skin and pips, but a blender would work just as well. Mix together 250grams melted butter and 6-8 tablespoons flour to a smooth paste. Return soup mix to pan, and add butter and flour paste to thicken. Sterilize jars and use overflow method and seal. Enjoy this with hot vogel toast or crumpets.

Upside Down Together

Christmas is over
cards in a rubberband.
The trees are either fallen
or crushed in their box.
Trifle for breakfast
piles on the weight
but fridge leftovers
are keeping wallets safe!

Parks full of picnics,
footballs, family groups.
Sunhats, Afghan caps,
shawled headed women,
prayer gazebos under trees,
Pacific Island organised fine mats.

Chocolates are melting,
strawberries, cherries shared.
The wind takes hats off
a new decade arising
New Year greetings text'd
from around the world.

Upside down cake

25g butter melted with 1/4 cup of brown sugar - spread this in bottom of cake tin which has been lined with baking paper.
Drain a tin of fruit salad. Spread the fruit over butter and sugar.

1 and 1/2 cups of SR Flour sifted in a bowl
3/4 cup sugar added
1 cup coconut added
1 cup milk added
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla or almond essence added
Only mix lightly else mixture will be tough.

Spread mixture over fruit in tin and bake 30 - 35mins at 180c.
Turn out and serve as cake or warm with icecream.

My old Home.

As a child I lived in a 2 bedroom house with my parents and older sister. This house was situated in an older suburb and was down a long driveway, and backed onto a reserve that had band practices and marching girls. I think I was about 4-5 years old. My parents moved away to a bigger city and only returned to buy their home when they were near retiring age. Many years later after my Dad passed away , I was visiting my mum and suggested we have a drive passed the old home. I found the street, and the church I used to go to Sunday School at, and the big impressive Catholic Church where as a naughty child I ran into with two of my friends and blessed myself with the holy water. I have since asked forgiveness for that act.!! I decided to drive up the drive and take a look at the house, and much to my surprise, the house was up on blocks ready for removal. On hearing the car approach, a Young man asked what he could do to help us. I explained about living there as a child, I was then in my 40's, and he asked my mum if she would like to go inside to have one last look. So we did and I could remember where the sideboard used to stand and the small black wall clock in the hall. It was a great time for my mum to see the house, and they were removing it to make way for a set of units to be built on the site. It was of course so much smaller to me than I remembered it to be . Then on the last election day, 2008, I was working in a polling booth near the airport, doing special votes , and this woman approached from my old town and when I looked at her address I realized she lived in one of the units that was built 15yrs ago on the very section I once lived. I told her this and she then told her husband. What a very small world we live in, because on election day there were 3 other people this couple could have gone to do have their special vote. So here is my mums chicken pie.

RITAS CHICKEN PIE.

1 unstuffed chicken {its easier} skin off, bones out, shredded into edible pieces.

WHITE SAUCE.
1 packet of white sauce
or make one
2 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons butter
milk to mix 1/2 teaspoon mustard mild
1/2 cup cheese 1 FINELY CHOPPED ONION.

TO MAKE A ROUX SAUCE.
melt butter gently in a pot, I cook 1 finely chopped onion in the butter until it is transparent. Then remove the onion and add the flour gently mixing until its a paste. Cook for 1 minute, then gently add milk to make a pouring consistency, add cheese and stir again, Put aside.
TOPPING.
2-3 cups fresh breadcrumbs, I use grain bread nicer texture. Rosemary or oregano
2-3 tablespoons melted butter approx.
Mix breadcrumbs with the butter till its a consistency of stuffing. This is the pie topping.

Add chicken and onion to the cheese sauce and place in a pie dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and dot with 6-8 nobs of butter. Brown top under the grill, watching all the time as this can catch and burn. Serve with mashed potato or kumera mash and peas.

Single Serving or More?

Single Serving or More?

I sit, a mono-linguist at a Pasifika course for T.A.’s.
I learn a Samoan song, warm up with pump boogie,
deliver a five minute monologue, share a writing
task on the Cook Islands with bi-linguals.

We’re stuck with a middle-class school system, but
we cater for multicultural kids – think Polynesian,
suckling pigs, lines of dancers, populous communities.
Think big, food is high on the list!

Gran’s home-grown vege and her chicken eggs tasted best,
but were recipes of the past tediously monotonous?
Monosyllables of beef, pork or lamb? Immigrant
cooking is woking along – food courts zing with
flurries of spices, magazines colourfully test, taste
and prescribe. The monopoly of grandma’s school
kitchen has gone, our generation digested
multinational rations and moved on!


Enough for Two in Small Wok!

Put on half or a whole cup of rice to boil in rice cooker or saucepan.(Are you feeding a man or a mouse?)
Halfway through cooking add 2 teaspoons of tumeric.

In a little oil gently fry a chopped onion and 4 cloves of sliced garlic.
Add a quarter of finely shredded cabbage, half a packet of Mung Beans
and half a chopped red capsicum.
Stir frequently.
Add 1 and a half tablespoons of minced ginger
And when almost cooked 2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce.

Serve on the yummy looking yellow rice and enjoy.

The maid on the Country Estate

During an Aquasize class where the tongues get a better workout than the body, I was talking to an elegant astute, Englishwoman who had been "in service" in England in the 1950's. I had no idea servants were still "in service" , thinking all that had come to an end at the turn of the century. This lady had been a young girl in the 1950's and had the position of housemaid, to a Lord and Lady on a country Estate. The maid lived in as her home was a distance away, and had rostered visits home to see family. We talked as we walked around the pool this way then backwards, about having to retrieve the newspaper after it had been read by one member of the family,and whisked away to have the pages IRONED before the next set of eyes were upon the pages. As we moved in a crab walk around the swirling water of the pool,we talked about how it was her job to iron the bedsheets each day so the beds were fresh to get into at night. Imagine doing that today, I ask you!!!.The beds were changed weekly. There was a dance in the town on Saturday nights at the local hall, and this lady had a scare one night, with dogs barking and chasing her home. The Lord heard about this and from that time on he sent her in the car with the driver and she was picked up after. There was no opportunity for romance while this was happening, but what wonderful, caring people and employers they were. She told me that a pudding on the menu was SPOTTED DICK so here it is ,
SPOTTED DICK
butter for greasing the bowl.
300g / 10oz plain flour 15ml / 1tbsp baking powder
150g/ 5oz shredded suet 75g / 3oz caster sugar
100g / 4oz currants
finely grated zest of 2 lemons 200ml/ 7fl oz milk
Grease a pudding basin. Prepare a steamer or half fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil.
Mix the dry ingredients with the currants and lemon zest. Add most of the milk,
until the mixture is of a soft, dropping consistency.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared basin, cover with greased paper and foil and secure with string.
Put the pudding into the steamer or saucepan on an upturned saucer, in the boiling water. The water should come halfway up the sides of the basin. Cover the pan and steam the pudding for 1 hour.
Serve the pudding with lashings of custard and cream. Yum yum.

The 100 year old January 2009

A century, like a roar at a cricket match
deserves a well cut lawn, club sandwiches
threatening a curl, chocolate cake, kept in the
fridge, til the big moment arrives for the
sun wants it just as bad.

Gazebos attempt to reflect mid-afternoon
light, hot sounds rise from the young folk,
who, in an interval, delight. Flowers
border the party, pretty in pink, and Peter
the chief speech maker is up on his feet.
The local reporter’s turned up and the
100 year old is not letting on – nothing
incriminating will be told today, her
version of events is ok.

Wine into water would probably suffice
with fresh lemon to revive, though the
bottled beer is nice. In and out of her
time warped house we trundle, clinking
glasses and circulating plates with an
assortment of slices.

The scorer of a century has had enough
of the singing birthday cake knife, delivered
bouquets and some folk she forgot she should
recognize. Considerate carers wheel her
back: so she survives.

Sugar, minus tongs, sits squarely forlorn
atop a discarded box. In a huge pot, Jenny
makes tea and photographer Yuki pours it
black, refreshing the day with a sugar lump;
plop, in a porcelain cup!

Celebrate January, summer in New Zealand with

Claire's Lemon Slice.

100g melted butter.
Half a can sweetened condensed milk
250g packet of plain biscuits
1 cup desiccated coconut
Lemon rind

Crush the biscuits (plastic bag and a rolling pin is fine)
and add the rest of the ingredients. Turn the mixture into
a square lined tin or swiss roll tin, but we can't seem to find
them anymore in the North Island. The mixture should be about 1cm thick.
Make the Icing by mixing 1 cup of icing sugar, 2 teaspoons of softened butter, a little juice of an orange/orange juice and extra lemon rind to decorate.
When you've spread the icing on the base put in the fridge and cut into squares
when cool.
Very sweet and morish!

Old Friends are like a good curry.

Isn't wonderful to meet up with old friends and talk on ,eat and visit old places that were once familiar to us. This happened at a beach where my friends and myself, along with others, lived in a motor camp. The rent was affordable and the accommodation was varied depending on the amount of money one decided to pay for rent. Some lived in one room with bunk beds, there were 3 bedroom flats with large living quarters, and there were small 2 bedroom concrete flats that were awful to say the least. We were all happy and had many good laughs and many children shared visits to the beach all year around. Myself and the couple I met have written at Xmas in cards and have visited a couple of times in 30years, but this time we decided to revisit the old familiars surroundings that were home to us. There is now a supermarket where the motor camp was, and the face of the beach has changed, but not the memories. One of the people who lived at the camp was a keen fisherman, and parked his car on the beach while out fishing. Of course you all know what happened, yes , the tide came in and the car was swamped. This bloke had it towed out and cleaned it out and to our amazement drove off in it one day. Such was the character of the ecclectic group that lived there. My friends invited some others to dinner with myself and made the most amazing curried food that I had ever eaten!! Probably the only ever orginal curried food!!!!!! So I asked mt friend for a recipe after 30years and here it is and I hope you enjoy it.

MARAMMA'S POTATO CURRY.
400gms potatoes, peeled ,washed and cut. 1 onion chopped
3 tablespoons oil 3 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon garam masala 1 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablespoon lemon juice salt to taste
METHOD.
1. Cut potatos into large pieces.
2. Heat oil in medium saucepan , fry chopped onion, mustard and cumin seeds.When onion is just turning brown add garlic and tumeric and fry 1 minute, then add potato and salt to taste.
3. Mix together and make sure all the spices and potato are mixed well.
4. Turn the heat to low, put lid on and stir every 5 to 10 minutes and cook for 30 minutes.
5. If potatoes are sticking to the pan add 2 or 3 tablespoons water.
6. You can now add some fresh corriander leaves and 1 chilli.

New Zealand Wedding

Highs and Lows

Em and Al

They’re a couple, a bride and a groom united
two of them made into one.
They achieved this by doing everything twice!
Two father figures, one a brother, one an uncle.
Two aisles to walk down in a beautiful long dress.
Two services, one in London, one in New Zealand.
Two ministers, one a woman, one a man.
Two service sheets with vows uttered twice.

Two decorated tiered cakes, one made by church friends,
one bought down the road.
Two afternoon teas, one at their London church and one at
the bride’s old College.
Two families, one in England, one in N.Z. with
overlap of travelling companions and friends.
A twice worn Las Vegas bought dress and a suit with
a bowler hat and a polished cane.
Twice dedicated rings, twice blessed like me -
mother of the bride.
Two relaxed smiles, nothing between 12 thousand miles!



Well, there's nothing like a family wedding for a high, but
when they've all gone home you feel like a flat pancake for a while!

Here's a Korean recipe for a pancake, called Pa Jon.

Sift one cup of flour and a pinch of salt
with 1 teaspoon of cumin and a quarter teaspoon
(I added this cos my fellow blogger says I'm a
sprinkler)
of cayenne pepper.
Beat an egg in a cup and fill up with water
Add another half cup of water
I whipped this up in my blender but a bowl
will do.
Carefully mix in half a finely chopped onion and half of a
red/green pepper thinly sliced.

Heat a large frying pan with oil and cook the pancakes
on both sides until golden. Makes 3 to 4 pancakes depending
how thick you like them. Evidently in Korea they cut them
like we would a pizza. Enjoy!

The Old Amber Jug.

In the late 60's my Mum worked at the Dairy Laboratory in Upper Hutt, Wellington , with a young scientist who claimed my Mum as his own!!. They had a great friendship, him being the son my parents never had. Eventually he married ,and his new bride inherited all her Mums china that had been stored in a barn ,in wooden fruit boxes with hay and years of grime. Her Mum and Dad had died in a car accident when she was small,and had been brought up by her farming Uncle and Aunt.
The young man and his wife divorced some years later and because my Mum had been good to them,she was given two of the boxes of china, in which was a large amber jug made of depression glass, . The loveliest thing I had seen . This was the start of my many years of collecting amber and green glass.
Fast forward 40 years!!!. I adopted a 2yr old tabby cat and while exploring her new home decided for no reason that I can explain, thought she would like to sit up on the wall shelves with my glass. Well we know that didn't work, and down fell the cat, glass and shelves in that order. The amber jug and many other pieces in
pieces.
I have been browsing a popular buying site and to my amazement there was an Amber Jug, just like the one I had lost, so on ent my bid and I crossed my fingers. I watched each day and at the end of 5 long days, I WON. So the story
has gone full circle.I now have a start to a new collection.
Here is a recipe to go in the jug I used to make for my boys for pudding with peaches.
CHOCOLATE CUSTARD
1 pint{500mls} milk 3 heaped tablespoons cocoa
3 heaped tablespoons sugar 3 heaped tablespoons cornflour.
METHOD.
PLace milk in saucepan, and bring to boil. MIx together the cocoa, sugar and cornflour with a little milk. Add to milk and stir, and add 2 drops vanilla essence. Delicious hot or cold with stewed fruit or puddings of any description.

Collectors Buttons

Buttons and Recipes

Collectors’ Items – Recipes and Buttons!

Buttons are like recipes,
each a different taste or colour.
Each tie thread or hunger
from breast to torso to face
the world their way on.

Buttons are fancy bridal white
subtle mother of pearl,
black with brassy anchor
or Edwardian jewel insert.
Crocheted rose or woollen
satin stitched, a leaf, plastic
moulded or silver filigree – a
button is a fashion fastening
one size fits all isn’t said, nor
is unisex!

Harris Tweed leather woven,
a romantic heart enameled
or tiny whites line a work
shirt, or duffle coat toggles,
keeping out the cold.
Summer corn yellow, puffs
of popcorn patterns, marbled
Oriental, teal and terracotta.
Baby pinks and mauves, royal
blue, designer black, an amber
jewel shines through.

Tapestry threaded, chocolate
twirls, beaded and laced they
sit rounded, expectant, thumbed,
twinkling or dull, hoping not to
come loose and lie forgotten
down a sofa, or worse, down a drain
or loo! Decorative and useful, just
like recipes, what tales they could
tell, especially from a camel
coat’s point of view!


Finally I've managed to create a good
pumpkin soup in my slow cooker:-

1/2 a small pumpkin or 1 buttercup
cut up small and peeled.
1 carrot, peeled and cut up lengthwise smallish.
1 onion peeled and diced with 4 cloves garlic
cook these for 3mins in the microwave
2 handfuls of red lentils
teaspn. cumin
teaspn. tumeric
and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper
salt
Put everything in slow cooker and
almost cover with hot water.
Cook for 5/6 hours on low and when
tender and slightly cooled, blend, yummy.

pressure cooker pea soup

Many years ago as in many families, my Mum and Dad had friends my sister and I called Uncle and Auntie. I just loved this one couple in particular as they would live outragously and just do things that my parents were to conservitive to do!.Uncle and Aunt were running the fish shop at the bottom of Queen Street in Auckland City and worked extremly hard and long hours. The off beat thing about this was they were renting a magnificent mansion opposite a prestegious boys school and many good memories I have of thathome.On this occasion There was there sons 21st birthdayheld at this palacious home and as a young child I can still see their daughter and myself sliding down the very grand bannister that was on the very wide curvacious staircase. We were standing on the landing watching and listening to the singing and fun and there was my Mother with the crystal drop off the very expensive chandaleir on the bridge of her nose balancing it while she sang something that was from a young Elvis Presley!!! I have no doubt someone would have had to stand on a chair to be able to retrieve this beautiful object for my mother to use in such a fashion. Thanks Mum for that memory and for the wonderful pea soup receipe. PRESSURE COOKER PEA SOUP.
3 OR 4 SMOKED MEAT BONES 2 CUPS DRIED GREEN PEAS.
2 grated carrots. 1 diced onion and 2 cloves garlic if preferre
cover with water to 1/2 up the pressure cooker.
METHOD.
PLACE ALL INGREDIENTS IN PRESSURE COOKER, PUT ON LID,BRING UP TO PRESSURE AND PUT ON WEIGHTS. BRING TO PRESSURE AGAIN AND COOK FOR 30MINUTES. TAKE COOKER OFF HEAT AND REDUCE PRESSURE SLOWLY. TAKE OFF WEIGHT AND LID AND ADD CHOPPED PARSLEY IF DESIRED.

Suspicious Mint Jelly

A girl in my class
asked,'What's suspicious' Miss?
'Well,' I began, 'I was chopping vege
for my evening meal at my bench
when a man shouted 'Help!' over the fence.
He leapt across and banged on the glass,and
as I opened the door just a tad
he told me through the screen
he was being chased by a man who was bad!
I offered to dial 111, but apparently
that was over the edge,
so I directed him to the neighbours by the hedge.
They were brilliant and let him phone his girl
who came round pretty smartly as if he were a pearl.
He shook my neighbour's hand and said he'd
learnt his lesson today, but what lesson
I wondered 'suspiciously', then I forgot him
as I wandered back to my nutrious kitchen!

Mint Jelly
3lbs of apples
5 cups water
2and 1/2 cups white vinegar
A Big bunch of mint from the garden
2 drops of green colouring
sugar.
Cut apples into chunks and place in a large saucepan with water and vinegar. Finely chop mint to give 4 to 5 tablespoons and reserve. Place remainer of bunch in the pan.
Boil and simmer until apples are soft. Strain through a muslin bag or sieve.
2 cups of sugar to 2 and 1/2 cups juice. Add chopped mint and colouring.
Boil rapidly until set. Sterilize jam jars in warm oven then pour in mint jelly and seal. Great on lamb or salad or in your sandwiches for lunch.

DEPUTY PIZZAS

PUSHING MY PRAM HOME WITH A BABY INSIDE, AND A TODDLER ON THE SEAT, I PASSED A SHOP WITH A VERY LARGE SIGH OUTSIDE ADVERTISING A LUNCHEON THE FOLLOWING WEEK WITH AN OPPOSITION PARTY'S DEPUTY LEADERS WIFE. NOW AT THE TIME, THIS POLICITION WAS A VERY COLOURFUL MAN IN MANY WAYS , SO MY FRIEND AND I DECIDED TO ATTEND. DRESSED IN OUR BEST CLOTHES,IT WAS THE MID 60'S, WE TOOK OUR CHILDREN AND ENJOYED A VERY ENTERTAINING AFTERNOON WITH THIS CHARMING LADY AND LOTS OF BLUE RINSE BRIGADE FOLLOWERS. IT DID TAKE SOME TIME FOR OUR FAMILIES TO BELIEVE WE WERE CHEEKY ENOUGH TO ATTEND THIS LUNCHEON AS WE WERE MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSING POLITICAL PARTY!!!. SO IT WAS IN THAT TIME THAT PIZZAS WERE MADE AND EATEN IN ITALY. HERE ARE 2 RECEIPES I HAVE USED AND FOUND VERY STAPLE. ENJOY.

EMMAS PIZZA BASE.
2CUPS SELF RAISING FLOUR, OR 2CUPS PLAIN FLOUR AND 3TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER
1/2CUP GRATED CHEESE
1/2TEASPOON BASIL
1/2TEASPOON MARGARINE
1/4TEASPOON MILK.
METHOD.
MIX ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER IN A BOWL AND LINE A PIZZA TRAY, OR A SWISS ROLL TIN. COVER WITH YOUR FAVORITE TOPPING AND BAKE 200OC FOR 12-25 MINUTES.

TOPPING #1.
1 LARGE TIN SPAGETTI IN TOMATO SAUCE.
1 FINELY CHOPPED ONION
2 RASHERS CHOPPED BACON
2 TOMATOES CHOPPED.
2 CUPS CHEESE.
OPTIONS, PINAPPLE, SALAMI,APRICOTS.

TOPPING #2. BUTTER CHICKEN PIZZA
ABOUT 1 CUP HUMMUS
ABOUT 2CUPS BUTTER CHICKEN MIXTURE, TINNED OR THE RECEIPE ON THIS BLOG SPOT.
2-3 HANDFULS SPINICH LEAVES
CHICKEN VERY FINELY CHOPPED NOT BIG CHUNKS. ABOUT 2CUPS
1CUP GRATED CHEESE OF YOUR CHOICE.
METHOD.
SPREAD THE BASE WITH THE HUMMUS.
SPREAD CAREFULLY THE BUTTER CHICKEN MIXTURE ON TOP.IF USING SEPARATE CHICKEN ADD NOW.
SCATTER OVER THE SPINICH LEAVES.
SPRINKLE ON THE CHEESE.
BAKE AT 200CFOR 12-15 MINUTES UNTIL GOLDEN AND ENJOY.

Caramel Crusted Rhubarb Pudding or Everest Crumbles

Not sure what to do now Sir Ed. is dead.
Recipes seem too small a mountain to climb
though passion reigns in tv cooks’ eyes,
pushing complicated versions of once
humble pies.

A giant of a man, Sir Ed., gangling strength
combined with foolscap pads of meticulous
planning
like a recipe for climbing a mountain, then,
when the weather turns foul, and your
designer cake refuses to resemble
the picture and crumbles,
Ed, wouldn’t have turned a hair, but
gone forward to plan B or Z.

Which of course is how all domestic cooks
worth their salt feed their families.
It’s called ingenuity – OR -
making do with what you’ve got!

This crumble was given to me by Karen and is delicious
and if you haven't got rhubarb in your garden yet,
contact Pat's husband Reg!

3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 white or brown sugar
100 grams melted butter
4 cups sliced rhubarb

Sift flour and baking powder tog. Add oats and sugar and mix in butter. Sprinkle over raw rhubarb.

Topping
3/4 brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup of boiling water.

Combine sugar and cornflour, sprinkle over crumble then pour boiling water over the mixture. Bake for 1/2 hour on 180c Serve with icecream or yoghurt.

Big ooops.

Obviously I had eaten to much boiled Christmas Cake, laced with alchol, because I forgot to mention to put CHEESE on top of the ingredients before rolling up and cutting the mixture , in MARKS ROLLUPS. So it should now read in the ingredients,CHEESE. Sorry about that. happy rolling and cooking.

Marks Rollups.

T'was the week before Christmas and the Christmas Fairy waited patiently to be placed high upon the tree. My 2yr old Grandaughter, who was amazed by all the preparations both at her home and at Nanas, picked up the 8"doll like Fairy and placed it under her arm and walked off into the other room. She placed the Fairy on the floor, adjusted other things she had collected and picked up the Fairy and placed it high on her shoulder just like a baby, and off out the door home. We did retrieve the Fairy and she is on the top of the tree watching over us all.
Heres a New Year receipe for all" the bring a plate BBQ'S."
MARKS ROLLUPS.
2 sheets puff pastry.
Leftover ham
tomatoes finely sliced
1 onion finely sliced
Tomato paste.
Maybe a small amount of pinapple
Any thing else your tastebuds desire.
METHOD.
Roll out pastry on a floured board into a retangle shape
Spread with tomato paste, the other ingredients, just like a pizza.
Now here is the fun part. Roll the retangle from one long end to the other.
Cool. Now you should have a sausage shape.
Take a sharpe knife and cut 2-3inch slices and place CUT SIDE DOWN on an oven tray.
Cook for approx 15 minutes in a hot oven 200c let cool and off you go. Remember to turn off the oven!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

A Throw Together for Busy Teacher Aides

English Speakers of Other Languages

It’s school day, powdery red flowers
sprinkle as blackbirds cavort
in the feifoa trees outside
my kitchen window.

South Auckland white vans reverse
out of their driveways on a
still sunny morning. The wild
October winds have retreated
and fireworks will spit
on November the fifth.

In the Rainbow Reading Room
(1/2 of the lunchroom in Block F)
files are being sorted. Students arrive -
some eager to learn, some tired from
a part time job or a behaviour problem
that’s doing them no favours
and some have to learn English,
though Polynesia surrounds them.
The tapes and CD’s spread the same words
as the books and reading commences,
writing is pushed and words shyly said.

And me, well the bell goes when least expected
I eat fruit at break and a sandwich at lunch, and
drink soup the days Miss Ani comes and sorts
out the kitchen dishing out wise words to students
and teacher aides alike as she bustles about.

And as an after thought, the child from next door
realigns the magnetic poetry words on my fridge –
his/grace/approach/my/messy/experiment/open/
hear/life/feel/joy/ and some words upside down,
but that’s to be expected from an ESOL child.

Now for the Recipe for Teacher Aides who need a nap after school!

Throw 3 skinned chicken thighs in an oven proof dish.
Plus 1/2 a chopped onion
1 tin of Mexican tomatoes or similar, depending on what kind of day you've had.
1 tin of chick peas
Bake in oven on 180 for 1 and 1/2 hours and serve with broccoli. Enjoy.

Butter Chicken

My middle son returned home frequently between finding a new abode, and on one of these occasions, found out I had become more experimental in the kitchen. This son was a meat and 3 veg like his Dad had been and he found it difficult to convert to spaghetti Polonaise,Lasagna, Butter chicken, and stir fries. He soon found out that it was easier for him to adjust to the meals than to cook for himself ,with his then limited knowledge. This was 15 years ago, and I will have to admit he made a superb spaghetti polonaise, even if I do say so myself!!!!!. BUTTER CHICKEN. INGREDIENTS: 2 chicken breasts
50gbutter
1 large onion finely chopped
1 large clove garlic , crushed
1teaspoon each:chilli powder,turmeric,cumin,ground ginger, nutmeg.
1/2teaspoon pepper ,1/2 salt.
1/2 cup cream
2tablespoons tomato paste.
1/2teaspoon garam masala.
METHOD: Skin chicken breasts, and slice each into strips, or cubes whichever you prefer. Coat each piece in combined chilli powder, turmeric,nutmeg,ginger,salt pepper and cumin. Melt butter in saucepan, add onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add chicken, stirring until golden. Add tomato paste and garam masala.Stir in cream, then simmer gently for approx 10minutes. Serve with your choice of rice.

Chickpea and Mushroom Pie

Sorry guys pressed the wrong button, here's the recipe!

Preheat oven 350F/160c
Gently cooked half an onion in oil with a finely sliced carrot or two.
Add 225gms of sliced mushrooms and continue cooking.
Stir in a tablespoon of brown flour and cook for further minute.
Add a cup and half of water/ with a stock cube if you want.
with 2 teaspoon of soy sauce
a tin of pasta sauce or tin of diced tomatoes.
Cook for 3 mins.
Add a tin of drained chickpeas, mix.
Put in an ovenproof dish.
Topping
Mixed 2 - 3 tablespoons of grated cheese
with 2 tablespoons of ground almonds
abit of grated lemon rind
and 1 tablespoon of coconut.
I added breadcrumbs, but think it disguised the taste!
Spread topping over mixture and bake for 20mins.