Macademia nut madness

Today I had a job of separating cracked macademia nuts from their shells.  The smell, feel, and colours of them were really intense and of course sampling them straight from the shell was a must! They were a taste sensation and altogether a result totally different from buying from a shop. If only all jobs were like this!

 A few had to be hand cracked with a hammer

I decided that in order to best preserve their taste I would lightly roast some of them and add them to my homemade "Random Muesli". So named because I add whatever I have in the cupboard to a large container and shake it up - the fresh nuts will elevate it to a whole new level.

Happy weekend

Ingredients I put in my Random Muesli, include different types of oats, rolled, organic, milled; sultanas, cranberries, dried apricots, linseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, wheat bran and of course any nuts I have to hand. Put in a really large container and shake as necessary! 

Finding inspiration

As Blue says in her last post about beach sculptures, inspiration can come from anywhere - the great outdoors, books, gardens, kids and pets. This inspiration can invigorate you, give you a new perspective and stimulate the creative juices.

So when I was feeling a little bit 'end of year-ish' I had a nosy around one of my favourite places - The Skullery. They stock a range of wonderful kitchen and home items.  This tea towel caught my eye - I loved the teal colour and the butterfly (isn't it funny how quality tea towels are now really fashionable and not a bit nana-ish) .

 For Christmas I had promised one of the wee people a bedroom makeover and I could see how this teal would work beautifully as a feature wall.

 

















Out came the brushes and paint - including some amazing magnetic paint from Resene. The entire feature wall instantly became a giant magnet... the perfect place for the collection of magnetic butterflies.

With the creative juices now well and truly flowing, there's still more I want to do - stay tuned for the next stage of the makeover.

Beach Sculpture

It was such a beautiful sunny, windy day on Saturday that the Smalls and I grabbed "bread folds" (rename a sandwich and its amazing how appealing they become to the kids!) and headed out with the dog along the beach we live at. We scrambled over rocks across one bay, over a headland to the next and had a sandy beach all to ourselves.

Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, a Scottish artist who makes incredible art works in-situ in nature we made our own beach sculpture out of drift wood, shells and all sorts of interesting bits and bobs we could scavenge. After all the fun is in the creating...

Liquid gold

I have been really determined this year to have a productive and prolific vege garden. We are so lucky with our sub-tropical climate and volcanic soil that it would be a crime not to make the most of it.

I think the potatoes have already got away on me!

 

My peas reach for their climbing frame

So last weekend, when the sun came out I shot out the door wielding my patent-pending liquid gold: chicken and guinea pig poo fermented in water. Combined with more water my brew got sprinkled around liberally (while I held my nose).

 To be honest I have no idea whether it will help or hinder, but you have to try! I'll keep you posted.

Rocky has recently adopted us. He's very handy in the garden
making sure the bean seeds are well covered with soil! 



Box Envy

...........and now after a trip into town I'm wishing I had made my christmas cake in one of these beauties which I saw in The Scullery in Kerikeri! I wonder if you would still need to do all the lining with brown paper if you used one? Must make a mental note to try and acquire such a box for next year!

Layers and texture

Different coloured pebbles created this ripple effect

Layers of colour and texture in any medium can be used to create a stunning artistic effect.

I loved the ripples created in this garden path (see post of 31 October 2012) and while thinking about Blue's tasty looking Christmas Cake I had an idea...

In a glass jar I layered the dry ingredients for decadent Chocolate Coconut Truffles, alternating dark and light ingredients to create the layers.

Then I decorated the jar including instructions on wet ingredients and cooking.



Emily inspects my latest creation!


These Cookies / Cakes In A Jar make a great gift for small chefs, busy people and those annoying family members who seem to have everything. You can do this with any recipe that has dry ingredients with contrasting textures or colours.

Tip: use sterlised jars and ensure the ingredients are packed in tightly by using scrunched up foil or cooking paper. Include a suggested use by date.

Here's my Chocolate Coconut Truffle recipe: layer one packet of crushed milk arrowroot biscuits (or similar), 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, 1/2 cup dessicated coconut. Finish recipe by combining dry ingredients with 1 tin (395gms) condensed milk and optional teaspoon of rum essence. Roll into balls and chill (or scoff on the spot!)

Christmas Cake Smells

Making Christmas cake is not a tradition for me, but I thought I would give it a go this year. I like the thought of it sitting in the cupboard and having to feed it with appropriate booze til eating time.

The fruit sat on in the kitchen soaking up the rum for a day or two longer than  necessary as I struggled to make sure I was round for the lengthy cooking time (3 1/2 hours!) but yesterday the planets aligned and I had a morning in the kitchen. I took the recipe from Nigella Lawson's "Domestic Goddess" (similar to this one here) and after a quick bit of crafty wrapping with brown paper to prevent burning it was soon wafting a christmassy spicy smell through the house. Surprisingly simple really.

Making the use of the oven being on I also whipped up a lemon sponge which the kids gave a big thumbs up to -  ahhhhh domestic bliss!?

Some gifts stink!

I haven't had a stinker for a while ... but I have been thinking about things I can do with the incredible fragrant and abundant citrus fruit in my part of the world. Tangy oranges and grapefruit, vivid green kiwifruit and crisp red apples. No wonder my friends call it the Garden of Eden.

Taking advantage of this wonderful produce, I made a fruit pot pourri - a Xmas gift for a friend living in Ireland. Creating an uplifting smell throughout the whole house, I fan baked slices of orange, kiwifruit and fresh ginger along with lavender flowers from my garden. A few drops of essential oil (I used mandarin) and a shake of Orris Root (to enhance the scent) and hey presto - a gift that stinks!!!

To make the gift uniquely New Zealand, I included a kauri bowl to put the pot pourri in (a lucky find in the local op-shop).

Fragrant, frugal and heaps of fun - give it a go!

Showing Off

Last weekend we went for a day out at the Waimate North P&I Show, which was celebrating it's 170th year. The sun came out and there was a fantastic variety of things to see and do....                                                  

Animals on their best behaviour (or not!) in the show ring, sheep dog trials (how do they get such control over their dogs and why can't I achieve that with our K9?), an amazing gourmet food marquee filled with local growers and producers, stalls and rides and traditional crafts like weaving.

And then the ingenuity and skill of exhibitors was truly gobsmacking. The exhibits were housed in  a wonderful old building with an impressive roof of open rafters, the perfect setting for an old and venerable show!

Which left me thinking - what are we going to enter for next year?!

Good hair days

A snippet from my life:

I like to think that 'good hair days' do carry through whatever you have on that day.

 

So to guarantee some sunshine, family harmony and no unexpected bills, after my morning shower I got out my old cosmetic purse of velcro curlers.

And so begins the game: each velcro curler is like a wee jack russell desperately clinging to it's chew toy (the cosmetic purse). As much as you pull, the dog pulls back - usually with a small snarl thrown in just to freak you out. And it's not long before all the dogs get together fighting over the toy.

With one hand delicately twirling sections of hair I use my free hand to wrestle the curlers apart and prize them out - all the time trying to suck in my belly so cruelly exposed in the mirror and dab at the sweat running down my face.

No wonder I need a coffee every morning!

Aprons and Things

Spurred into action by the School Sunday Funday Gala, I spent a lot of last weekend baking and icing cakes for the Cake Stall. Then in a fit of madness I got pedaling on my sewing machine (well it's electric really, I only bring the hand powered one out for high days and holidays) and made a couple of aprons for myself and missy to brighten us up as we did our bit.

Then just when you would think I was totally "caked out", this morning I found myself on the internet ordering this book of Vintage Cakes by the fabulous Jane Brocket, justified on the basis that it will have lots of scrumptious recipes to make for edible Christmas gifts....

Making gifts from gifts

 

I was just turning my mind to thoughts of gifts and the approaching silly season when I was rescued by our local school gala. Nothing like a distraction for a good cause!

 

There's always a bit of work involved with fundraising, but sometimes there's an unexpected upside. After the weary parents staggered out the school gates followed by bouncing hyperactive kids I was handed a surplus tub of sliced tomatoes:

"Can you do something with these?"

A quick surf on the net revealed this tasty recipe for Tomato Kasundi. I just need to make some Christmas-y cards to put on the jars and I have my first gifts.