Tea Time Treat!

Yesterday, the kids and I were really hungry for something to have with tea, and as we need to desperately do some food shopping - well, I think we put poor Mrs Hubbard to shame!

But in saying that, we did have all the basic staples to cook up some tea time treats...so I thought, how about some butterscotch scrolls hey kids? And of course, being ALMOST 4 and 18 months old, they didn't have a clue what I was on about - I just promised them, trust in me, you'll like it! (well I HOPE)

They are perfect with a cup of tea!

30g butter, softened

2 cups self raising flour

3/4's cup whole milk

75g butter, extra, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar

cinnamon - a sprinkle

icing sugar - a dusting, to serve

1. Rub butter into the sifted flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre, add milk all at once and mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.

2. Combine extra butter, brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

3. Roll out to a rectangle 1cm thick. Spread with butter and brown sugar mix.

4. Roll up as for a Swiss roll and cut into 12 slices with a sharp serrated knife.

5. Place in 12 x ½ cup muffin pans and bake at 220°C for 10-12 minutes or until golden and cooked.

6. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

The Foodie Blogroll

I have just been added to the Foodie Blogroll , created by The Leftover Queen. The blogroll contains an ever growing list of food bloggers like myself. It is great, theres heaps of blogs for us foodies, so much to read and inspire...and you can even join the forums there and meet likeminded people!
So, if like me, you like keeping a food blog, I really encourage you to join!

Spicy Chai Latte

This is sure to put the fire in your belly!
We love to have this and drink in all it's exotic spiciness...very nice and one of my favourite drinks ( besides a good strong coffee...! )


4 tsp loose leaf black (or green) tea
2 C water
thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
6 green cardamom pods
6 black peppercorns
2 cloves
1 star anise
½ C milk
honey or sugar to taste


Place ginger, cardamom pods, peppercorns, cloves and star anise into the mortar and pestle and give them a little crush, just enough to split and crack everything. This will make the flavours infuse better.
Place spices into a little pot with the black tea leaves and the 2 cups of water, bring to the boil on a medium-high heat.
Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until highly aromatic.
Remove from heat.
Now at this stage, I will froth the milk using my coffee machines steam nozzle...but you don't have to froth the milk, still tastes just as good! Add milk to tea infusion.
Strain into two moroccan style tea cups and add sugar or honey to taste.

A Big Ol' Pot O' Soup..

Waking up this morning to grey, threatening clouds - put me in the mood for some soup...any type really, I love soup.

So I went with a minestrone type soup...very nourishing and my daughter loves it, my son though, well he is fussier so what I do for him is, blitz his up so it is a puree consistency and then I cook him up some pasta and it is poured over the top like a pasta sauce. Then, my inner peace is restored - knowing he has eaten a few veggies...ahh kids...and all I can think is, "Hey better than McDonalds!" cacca crap...

Usually, when I make soup with beans in it, I like to soak them overnight, but I always have a few cans of beans ready to go in the pantry too..so this time, I used tinned beans and also, use a tin of good quality, Italian tinned tomatoes...none of this homebrand crap..they gotta be Italian.

1 large brown onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
drizzle of good olive oil
1½ litres of vegetable stock
1 400g can diced tomatoes
1 400g can of borlotti beans
¼ C peas
½ C risoni pasta (or any other soup pasta)
sea salt flakes (mine is from the Indian Ocean in Western Australia ♥)
cracked black pepper


Prepare and chop all vegetables.



Drizzle some olive oil into your pot.

Add all the onion, garlic and veg and saute for approx. 5 minutes, until veg soften and onion goes opaque.





Add the tin of tomatoes, stirring through and then the S&P and stock.








Bring soup to the boil, and then reduce the heat until it is simmering

Allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Add peas, borlotti beans and pasta.








Cook until pasta is al dente.

Dish up...I like to serve it with a mound of freshly grated parmesan in the middle and some cute little basil leaves, the hot soup melts the parmesan into a big cheesy goo and then the aroma of the basil just leaves you begging to eat this soup!

The Wackiest Products To Keep You Cooking!

Hahaa..this link is sooo funny you HAVE to read it!

http://inventorspot.com/the_wackiest_products_to_keep_you_cooking

My new kitchen toys !!

About a month ago now, I went and bought a new Kenwood "Patissier" benchtop mixer...my Sunbeam Mixmaster just doesn't cut it anymore..it couldn't keep up with my doughy demands. I LOVE my new toy!!! And this pretty funky ice cream scoop, I just think it is the cutest thing, don't you??

Custard Yoghurt Cake

This is one very moist cake, perfect for afternoon tea!!


Give it a try, I am sure you will like it. I love the addition of custard powder as it makes the cake nice and yellow and happy :)

• 150g butter, room temperature
• 3/4 C caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 C SR flour, sifted
• 1/3 C custard powder, sifted
• 1 C plain Greek style yoghurt
• 1/3 C toasted almond flakes
  

Icing:

• 1 C icing sugar mixture, sifted
• 20g butter, softened
• 1/2 orange, juiced

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Lightly grease your cake pan.
2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
4. Fold in sifted flour and custard powder alternately with the yoghurt. Stir until mixture is just smooth.
5. Pour mixture into cake pan, smooth surface.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool in pan, turn out onto wire rack.

Make icing:

Combine icing sugar, butter and juice in a bowl and stand the bowl in a sink partially filled with warm water to assist the butter to melt. Stir until smooth and drizzle over cooled cake. Sprinkle with toasted, flaked almonds and allow to set.