COOKING, CRAFTS AND FREEDOM: A bit on all three!

It's amazing at how many photos we have loaded on our computers. It certainly takes up the most space on my mac! I found some pictures that I wanted to share with you.

This was my first (and only) Wedding Cake order. I was so pleased with it, as were the bride and groom. It was an old fashioned heavy fruit and nut cake..... iced with Almond Fondant and then Royal Icing.

I cheated and bought the edible frangipanis - flowers that were in the bridal bouquet. I did paint the inner section with powdered yellow colouring though. 

It was a huge responsibility...... it made me feel ill that something might go wrong! But lucky for me - it was perfect! Whew!!

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Next - I wanted to show you some of my ceramic work:

One Christmas - I painted some "personalised dinner sets" for the younger members of my gift list.

I was very happy with the end results.

And the children LOVED them. It made them feel very special.

I couldn't resist doing a set for my good friend Lynn. She has three dogs and my ceramics friend and "teacher" helped with the caricatures of the three dogs. Turned out so cute!!

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Lastly, my husband and I went away one summer and drove to Melbourne with four other friends in a hire 6 seater vehicle. The main purpose was to "hit the shops" as Melbourne has fabulous outlet shopping - and huge bargains in their "warehouse direct" stores. A crazy idea but we had heaps of fun - and our men folk are fairly OK with indulging we women!!  I took this photo of yet another "BIG" Australian thing....... a little known one which I think is so cute!

The Giant Koala - on the main highway between Adelaide and Melbourne.

COOKING: Almond and Berry Slice

I love a recipe that NEVER lets me down. Something that's FOOLPROOF!  I also dislike a cake recipe which makes us "cream butter and sugar" first. It's funny - the idea that if your butter is at room temperature - that is the optimum temperature for beating......it frustrates me because in summer we cannot leave our butter "out" because it will be too soft...... and in winter the butter left out is still too hard to beat because we here in Adelaide often leave our houses without heating during the day....and only cave to switch on some form of heating at night...... when it is really cold. So it leaves a very small "window" for which our butter is good temperature for beating!!

Anyway - along came this recipe and it was instantly a big-hit with me because I do not have to use any electrical klunky appliance to make it. Old fashioned bowl and spoon (or spatula)! Wonderful!!

This recipe is also magical because the finished cake slice can be eaten at room temperature, or zap it in the microwave for 10 seconds to slightly warm..... and then serve with a dollop of thick cream and dusted icing sugar for an impressive dessert. The combination of almond and berry always impresses. Trust me - don't lose this recipe - you will refer to it again and again.

For the complete recipe CLICK HERE.

This recipe calls for a cup of almond meal......I always buy whole raw almonds and blitz them in my mini processor (and I don't bother to take the skin off either). I like the feeling that leaving the skin on is delivering more nutrients into my slice!!!

My homemade almond meal.

Icing sugar, plain flour, baking powder sifted into a bowl. Almond meal and lemon rind in there too.

Add in the butter and eggs. Make sure the butter is nice and cool after the melting process. Stir gently till combined well. Don't overwork.

Pour into lined cake pan.

Sprinkle frozen berries on top and then finish with a sprinkle of the raw sugar.

The slice after baking. This one took 40 minutes but check it after 30.

This cake is moist and delicious. Freezes well too.

Would I lie to you????

FREEDOM: Random Stuff

Hi all,

Our winter is still biting....yesterday and today there were wind and rain storms, and we received 19mm of rain in the gauge. Looking out of the home office window right now....there is bright blue sky and bright sun.....at least the solar panels are making power!!

During our local walks with our mini schnauzer, Rubie, I'm starting to see spring bulbs bursting into life. Who can resist a lilac Iris????

 Everything is so green...... but the trees still look mainly bare.

This blackbird found a little quiet time in our conifer tree outside our dining room window.

This was my very pretty pre-dinner drink when we attended an Indian Restaurant with friends last week. It was a rosewater and cardamon lassi - and it was the same colour as the knitted top I was wearing! Yes - it was yummy too!

While out walking, I spotted a mosaic house number....... NOT made by me!

I think it was simple but effective. I have two orders from family, a house number for another brand new house (husbands' cousin is building) and my sister in law has ordered a beach-themed house number. Keeps me out of trouble(!)

On a cold Sunday morning.... we woke up to a smoke filled ravine reserve. This was not fog because I smelled the smoke coming into our ensuite window.

The burning house smoked badly for about two hours, and the fire brigade were there quickly. It was actually a fireman who was driving home from night duty that spotted the smoke erupting from the roof.

He stopped and smashed the front windows to begin to search for occupants. It was reported he rescued two teenagers (14, and 16). Not sure what the situation was with the "parents" - it sounded like they were not home on the Saturday night..... but were emotional and grateful to the fireman hero who spotted the smoke and raised the alarm.

The firemen were lying on the roof and shooting water into the roof space. The fence is all scribbled on.... the fences face an empty block and the back fence faces the ravine reserve..... apparently a great spot for vandals with spray cans(uuuurrrrrr!)

The aftermath. This house has been totally gutted and will be torn down and rebuilt. The shell is now boarded up in the interim while insurance things are being sorted. Just goes to show how important House Insurance is......I cannot believe that it is not a top priority for some! The loss is estimated at 300,000 dollars. A huge shock and sad time. This is the first time I have been so close to a house fire.

Thank goodness no one was hurt.

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Hey - I received this knitting book with one of my Better Homes and Gardens mags. Instead of throwing it away (I never learned to knit) - does anyone out there wish to have it???? Email me at 

rubie(dot)schnauzer(at)me(dot)com

and leave me a mailing address and I'll gladly post it internationally to whoever wants it. The designs look very nice especially the "multi-way" wrap.

Keep an eye out for my next post - it's a Berry and Almond Cake that is SO EASY yet impressive and you will make it again and again.

Have a Great Day!!

CRAFTS: Rescued Garden Bench and Mosaic House Numbers

I admit it. I look at the stuff people put out on their footpaths after they have booked a "hard refuse" collection by their council. Subtly of course. Most of it is stuff that needs to be thrown away after years of service. It also reminds me that I should be chucking some stuff out too. But I'm a bit of a closet hoarder and secretly hate to part with things.

Me being crafty...... makes my brain look at rubbish with a view of giving it "potential".... improving, restoring and giving the item the ability to shine on in another life. Don't show me old wooden furniture. I'll be ordering my long suffering husband to lug it home for me under the cover of darkness in the evening.

That's what happened to this garden bench. It was painted up in the "folk art" style with ivy leaves along the backrest and a huge rose on the seat..... all flaking and peeling and the bench wobbly and unsafe. Again, stupidly I had not taken a photograph so you can't actually see the state it was in. Duh I'm silly sometimes!

So I can only show you an "after picture". After lots of sanding (me)..... and structural repair and reinforcement (thanks hubby).... and three coats of outdoor furniture stain and varnish (me), here is the finished piece:

Not shabby now.

And the seat even has storage under its hinged lid!

I have to admit....that during the sanding process I am cursing myself for my vision of the end product ..... it is hard work and easy to become unmotivated at that stage. But I'm glad I finished it - and I wonder what the people who threw out this bit of rubbish would think of it now!! Lol!

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I recently offered to make a mosaic house number for my husband's daughter who demolished and then built a brand now house on the same plot. Unfortunately her house number is "8" on the street and curvy numbers are a bugger to mosaic...... and "8"s  are  *** ALL CURVES!!***

Anyway, I had already offered so it had to be. The step daughter wanted something very plain..... so here it is:

 Dainty and Plain.

Thank goodness I found these wonderful "jelly bean" shaped glass beads...... my solution to "curvy" problems!

Husband hung it up on the house.

And it looks good. Many people have complimented the home owner on it    :-)

Then my sister had a birthday...... and guess what - I decided to mosaic a house number for her. 

You wouldn't read about it......

Her house is NUMBER 8 too!!!! Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!

I thought browns and greens would compliment the browns of her house.

I think it compliments the lovely brick pattern really nicely.

She was delighted. I would be too.

Now - NO MORE "8"'s PLEASE!!!!

FREEDOM: Collecting our Caravan (Yay!)

I've told you before that my husband and I used to own a motorhome, and we drove "around Australia" after we both finished working. We had nowhere to store it after our return so we regretfully had to sell it. That left a big hole in our hearts.... and a lot of our independent camping was no more.

We decided to do something about it..... so just after the new year - we put a deposit down on a brand new A'van and chose the options we wanted. We have two options for storage - it can go into our garage (when we finish making room for it amongst the "stuff") or it can sit on the other side of our double carport next to our car. Bliss.

We've had to wait 6 months for the delivery of our new baby.... and we went to the dealership  yesterday to collect it.

Here it is...... with our furry baby's face looking out of the door at me!

We took our mini schnauzer, Rubie, with us because the managers of the dealership have a beautiful dog, Wooki (a Lagotto Romagnolo), and we thought they would get along really well.....which they did. We were relieved that Rubie was comfortable in the van.....and she can be a little skittish about things she is not familiar with. To our relief, she was fine. Whew!

I could only take a few candid snaps of the inside...... we chose the model with the full kitchen at the front and a U shape dinette at the back which converts to a double bed.

We upgraded the bottom windows to large ones on the front and back.....this adds great ventilation and lots of light.

Double gas hobs and sink.

We fitted ducted heating and cooling (I'm not known for "roughing it"!!) the air vents are the round black circles you can see. There is another one pointing towards the bed area which is not in the shot.

I'm sorry I didn't get to picture the rear dining/sleeping area..... I'll do that soon I promise.

We will return to the dealership in about a week and collect our full annex which is not quite ready yet.

Wooki was enjoying mucking about with Rubie while we were having the orientation tour of how everything works. Wooki just had a fur-cut the day before....he normally is a lot fuzzier with tight curls like little dreadlocks!

My husband says I can now "play-house" in my van like I used to in the motorhome. I've bought a micro/convention oven, new (handle-less) pots and pans, porta-loo, pop up port-loo tent (!), and assorted other bits and pieces for the van. I've bought the "grippa" cupboard lining to help with the slips and slides - so I've got stuff to do!

We will look at driving down the coast and booking into a caravan park for a couple of nights so we can try it all out once we get the annex.

It feels so good to have a recreational vehicle again !!!!!!!! YAY!

COOKING: Pressure Cooker Pea and Ham Soup

Hey all,

We are freezing our "you know whats off" here in my neck of the woods. I'm not complaining, as you know from from my previous post - I'm a cold lover.

I also love the goodies that come with cold weather, like this:

Pea and Ham Soup.

The other wonderful thing I did this winter is purchase my very first Pressure Cooker. Now I admit it was a big move.....and it scared me.....I had visions of explosions and burning pot contents plastering to the ceiling. Turns out this is impossible given the modern designs of the cooking pots! Who knew!!

Anyway - I have usually made this soup the long way - on the stove top over 2 1/2 to 3 hours. 

If you wish to have a copy of the this recipe CLICK HERE.

Here are the steps:

Buy a bag of 500g dried green split peas and a ham hock. Get your pressure cooker ready.

Remove the ham from packaging and make some lengthwise slits to the bone around the hock.

Dice two potatoes, one brown onion, 2 celery ribs (I used parsley stalks). You will also need 2 teaspoons dried thyme, 2 teaspoons vegetable stock, salt and pepper. I also added two teaspoons of minced garlic from a jar for extra flavour.

Put the ham hock into the pressure cooker and pour in water to the half way mark. Add the vegetable stock powder and a good grind of pepper. Close lid and bring to high pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Then when you open the lid it will look like this:

If you see any obvious fat coming away from the meat, feel free to remove and discard.

Add in the peas, potatoes, onion, celery, thyme and garlic. Make sure your liquid level is not above halfway of the pot. If it is remove and keep (you may like to add this later). Close pot and bring back to high pressure and cook for 25 minutes.

When you open the pot it will look like this and smell like heaven.

Remove the ham hock carefully with tongs and set aside to cool a little. Chop it when you are able to handle it.

Get your stick mixer/blender into the pot and whiz until smooth. You may need to add more water (or reserved liquid from before) if it seems too thick.

Add the chopped ham. Add another big grind of black pepper. Mix together and taste. Adjust flavour with extra stock powder, salt and pepper.

ENJOY!!  Decorate with little shredded parsley if you wish. Serve with a bread roll or crusty bread in front of the fireplace (if you have one).

Instant warmth from the inside!!