Recipe disasters or not.....

I love to cook. This is a fact known in my family, they also know that I don't always follow recipes to the tee. If I have run out of an ingredient then I will subsitute something else that is similar. Sometimes this works out great, other times.... not so great. The other day I made a Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake and I ended up adding lemon curd and making up a base off the fly. It turned out brilliant! Everyone loved it. It has taken me years to get cakes right, as you need to be exact with them. Where once, my cakes looked and smelt nice but tastied funky - now they taste, look and smell fantastic. All trial and error. Once, when I had just started to bake I accidently put a plastic cake tin in the oven...... let me just say it took me HOURS to get the melted plastic off the shelf. What have some of your mistakes been and have any of them actually turned out to NOT be mistakes? Now it seems my daughter has inhertited my taste buds. Some of the baby food mixtures I make for her are crazy, but she loves them. Tell us some of your experiences in the kitchen and do your family appriecate the changes you make in your recipes.

Baked Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake

Today I used the ricotta I made last night to make Baked Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake. It was awesome!!! I made four cheesecakes in tart tins.

 Here is the recipe: 

BASE

• Melted butter
• 1 cup of desiccated coconut
• 1 cup of oats 

FILLING

• 480g (2 cups) fresh ricotta
• 110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 60ml (1/4 cup) thickened cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon curd 

1.  To make the base combine butter, coconut and oats till pliable then line a cake tin or moulds to the thickness you want. 
2. Place the ricotta, sugar, cream, eggs, lemon curd and vanilla extract in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown and just set. Remove from the oven and set aside for 30 minutes to cool slightly.

This tasted fantastic!! Highly recommended.

Adventures in cheese making!

I have always thought that making cheese would be very hard to do, but I have come across a way to make a nice riccotta style cheese that is cheap and easy to do. Now this isn't anything new, many people would have been doing this over the years but this is my first foray into cheesemaking. First off, I made my own yogurt - which I described in my previous post here  then I took a tea towel and put it over a bowl. I then poured my yogurt into the tea towel and pulled the edges together and tied it up with a rubber band. You then put it into the fridge over night in a container so that the container catches the whey. Save the whey in a jar as you can add that to preserves to extend shelf life and drinks/cooking for a healthy gut. Here is what I ended up with.

 It wasn't too sour and it had a very creamy texture - overall, I loved it! In fact, I loved it so much I made more last night. It is in the fridge doing it's thing as I type. Last night's dinner was home made pizza and I sprinkled some of my cheese onto my pizza. The cheese kept it's shape nicely and tasted fantastic.

Today I will be making a cheesecake and also raviolli filling with the cheese I made last night. The raviolli filling recipe was given to me by a friend and I can't wait to try it. I will post about both when I have done them.

Self Sufficiency

Lately I have been thinking about self sufficiency. The way the world is going, you are going to go to the supermarket and buy ten items and it is going to cost $100. Also we don't know what is going into our food. They say it is all on the labels, but who really understands everything they put onto the labels.

It is much better and healthier to start producing our own foods and growing our own vegetables before we lose these arts and become totally screwed if we need them. Kids need to understand where their food comes from and what their food is. 

So back on track, self sufficiency. As you know my brilliant readers, I have started my veggie garden again. I have capsicum, tomatoes, zucchini, sweet basil, lemon balm, brussel sprouts and potatoes all planted. I have various sproutlings coming up and I am going to start a new patch for my pumpkins. 

This week I experimented with some lemons and made lemon cordial. I don't think I put enough lemons in it though.. It was very sweet. My next project was homemade yogurt! I found a recipe here at Down To Earth. It is fairly simple and you don't need fancy jars and containers. Now, I didn't follow the recipe to the tee and my yogurt turned out a bit runnier than I usually like it. It taste nice though. I am going to make it into a cheese and also freeze a bit of it to make frozen yogurt.

What things do you do for self sufficiency? Do you have a veggie garden? make your own produce? I love to make jams and food stuffs and I can't wait to harvest my veggie garden!

Manuscripts, gardens and washing lines

My life has been busy lately. Harper Voyager put out a 2 week open window for unsolicited manuscripts. I had been half way through editing my fantasty MS but couldn't get much done on it when Little A was born. I worked so hard, staying up late in the night and editing while breastfeeding but I got it finished and submitted!! Fingers crossed, I know I have a great story I just hope they think so too. Very excited about this.

I have started my garden. I re planted my previously though dead tomatoes and my capsicum. The tomatoes and coming back and are looking great. I also planted zucchini, lemon balm, onions, all year lettuce and sweet basil. I already have sproutlings of lettuce, lemon balm and basil. Yesterday, Little A and I planted more tomatoes, brussel sprouts and potatoes. I can't wait for my garden to blossom and grow lots of vegies. Lately I have been thinking about self sufficiency and have been researching it. It is the way to go. I make my own jams and sauces - as you know from my previous blogs. Now I am going to start more preserves. Any ideas on what your favourite preserves and jams are?

I have also had to start using my washing line. Yes, I know people are like WTH you don't use your wahsing line. To clear up the air, when I was growing up we never had one due to dad cutting it down because he was always hitting his head on it. My dryer belt broke and so for now, it is line drying. I am quite enjoying it as I can get more stuff washed and dried than I could with the dryer. I just need my towels to be softer and I will be happy as larry. Any helpful tips would be fantastic! 

Little A's first tooth

Little A got her first tooth on Thursday!!! So excited :D It is small but sharp. She has had a hard week this week.

Firstly, she was feeling crabby (due to tooth) then it was immunisation time where the nursed fuffed about till poor Little A was hysterical. I wasn't happy about that. Usually, the nurse gives her the Rota Virus then I hold her down and they jab her in one leg and then quickly flip her over and they jab her in the other leg. The whole process takes about two minutes. Not this time - the nurse spent at least 2 minutes doing the Rota Virus then another 2 minutes doing the jabs. Little A was not happy! SHe calmed down after, but was still very unsettled for the rest of the day. 

Not only that but later that night, I got gastro from what I think was the Rota Virus. I somehow touched it and it got into my system. That was not a fun night - doctor had to come out at 12:30 am to give me a shot to stop spewing. 

On Thursday we found her tooth :D I was so happy and she looked so proud of herself. Then on Friday her walker that my mum bought her arrived. I had to pick it up on Saturday, with the help of my awesome neighbour. Little A LOVES it so much. She laughs and giggles whenever she is in it!

For something that had no screws, it was a pain to put together. The legs of the thing were very tight and you couldn't bend them properly to fit them into the holes. I got there in the end with the help of my other awesome neighbour. 

Safety for Kids

Lately I have been wondering what I need to do to make my house more safer for Little A. She is 7 months tomorrow and will be moving around on her own soon enough. I look around the house and all I can see are things that can hurt her if she fell. I not only have to worry about the stuff I have to pick up off the floor, but also the things can pull down on herself. Having a child can be so very stressful but so worth it. I will be moving a lot of things soon and buying some saftey gates for the house.I was thinking of safety gating the area where the tv is in the lounge so she can't pull it down.  Little A has been sitting up by herself and staying up. She wobbles but catches herself. Time is flying by so fast. I put a pillow behind her just in case she falls backward and I can't catch her fast enough. 

When we are in the kitchen, Little A is always strapped into her pram. I am always careful not to let her near my cups (which she has a fasination for).

What are some of the things you have done to make your home kid safe? Any suggestions you can give me? I feel we should be making a safer world for kids without surrounding them in cotten wool.

I am participating in the National Kidsafe Day Bloggers Competition to support and promote child safety, along with the added bonus of chances to win prizes. All opinions are my own and not those of Kidsafe. To find out more or to enter the competition, please visit www.kidsafeday.com.au

Lemon Syrup Cakes - Kate Bracks

I borrowed Kate Bracks recipe book ' The Sweet Life' the other day and there are some fantastic recipes in it! The one I made yesterday was the Lemon Syrup Cakes. They were soooo nice!!!! I have nearly polished them all off. The recipe was so easy and I had all the ingrediants in my cupboard apart from the lemons, which I got from my neighbours tree (with permission). They didn't take long to cook either which was fantastic.

I added some Vanilla Essence to the mix, that is the only change I made in this recipe.

Kate Bracks - Lemon Syrup Cakes - Published by Random House Australia

Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

Makes -10

Cakes:

125g Butter, at room temperature, chopped

165g (3/4 cup) Caster Sugar

Finely grated Zest of 1 Lemon

2 Eggs

185g (1 1/4 Cup) Self-Raising Flour

Pinch of Salt

80ml (1/3 Cup) Fresh Lemon Juice

2 Drops of Vanilla Essence

Syrup:

80ml (1/3 Cup) Fresh Lemon Juice

110 (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar

1 Tsp Lemon Zest (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Cel. Grease or fill muffin trays with paper muffin cases.
2. Cream together butter, sugar and zest until pale. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour and salt, then add lemon juice.
3. Fill muffin tins/cases and bake for 20-25 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
4. To make the syrup, combine lemon juice, zest (if you're using) and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat without boiling until sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to a simmer for 1 minute.
5. When cakes come out of the oven, loosen the from tin/cases. Prick them all over with a skewer and spoon the syrup evenly all over the cakes. You may not use all the syrup.
6. Allow the cakes to cool for 5-10 minutes in tin then transfer to a wire rack. 

In the notes of Kate Bracks book she says that these cakes are best eaten on the day they are made, but are still pretty good 2-3 days later. You can also make these with other zesty flavours, just change the zest and juice. 

These were sooo tasty and I highly recommend them.

Battling Illness

These last two weeks have been hard. Not only did Little A get sick, but she passed it onto me as well. Finally, we are both just about over being sick. It must have been the flu because it has hung around a bit with a horrible cough and snotty nose. Little A was a champ though, if she felt how I felt then I have great respect for my baby. She hardly cried and was still her happy smiley self for most of her sickness. 

        (Little A, the first day of her being sick)


One of Little A nanna's went to the show this year and brought back a showbag for her. It was awesome! There is a sippy cup that Little A loves to drink from. She holds it herself and everything. Little A is progressing so fast now each day!