Summer Mangoes

Living in the subtropics, we have a magnificent mango tree in our backyard. Sadly, the mangoes are really gross. The only thing I can do with them is make green mango chutney if they fall down at the right time, otherwise they are stringy, rotten-tasting and usually maggoty. 

But the tree next door is a different story. It was planted a few years after ours and is a Bowen. The mangoes are just scrumptious. Luckily our neighbour is a bit fussy and a bit generous; we happily take any mangoes that have scratches or damage by possums or fruit bats. I chop off the bad bits, cut up the rest and freeze it in takeaway containers. We then have delicious mango ready for ice-cream for months!

This is how we make our beautiful and healthy mango ice-cream: take two peeled and frozen bananas, chop roughly and put in the blender, food processor or Thermomix until whizzed up. Then chop up your frozen mango and whizz it in too. You may need to stir it in or add a little yoghurt or water if it won't blend properly.  Then, scoop into bowls or cones and enjoy! 

I get a lot of satisfaction from making something full of goodness from our own bananas and our neighbour's mangoes. It's FREE and the mangoes would have been thrown out if we didn't take them. I can't stand waste and I enjoy putting in that small bit of effort for a big reward. Yum yum :0)

Warning: mango ice-cream could turn you into a fruit loop...

Bread Baking Time

 I've been baking sourdough bread. Not being all that much of a sweet tooth, I'm enjoying putting my baking energy into savoury bread instead. Nothing beats steaming hot fresh bread straight out of the oven on a Winter's morning.

As you can see below, the process has been a little bit trial and error, but I think bread is pretty forgiving and usually turns out all right in the end. If nothing else, making it into toast usually fixes it, and if it's still inedible, the chooks get a treat!

My best loaf so far has been a pumpkin and pepita one. That was always my favourite from Sol Breads so I tried to emulate that. It was a very wet dough and so I just splatted it onto the baking tray, but it turned out YUM. Below is a plain wholemeal/white loaf with a few chia seeds thrown in.

 

Delicious with Nigella Lawson's "Eggs in Purgatory" or as Kees calls it, "Eggs in Poetry", now a firm favourite for Winter breakfasts.

 

Autumn Journal: Grapefruit

It's beautiful to have generous neighbours who share their homegrown fruit and vegetables - and great sense of humour - with us. Yummy grapefruit! I'm looking forward to exploring some new grapefruit recipes with these beauties.

Paleo Banana Pancakes

If you want to make some satisfying banana pikelets that are Paleo (also dairy/gluten free) just whip up a sweet scrambled egg mixture - eggs and maple syrup - then add some almond meal, dessicated coconut and chopped bananas, then fry in coconut oil. They were great and disappeared fast!

Summer

Ahh, summer. It's really hot. Sometimes I don't enjoy it, but I've decided to embrace it!

There's a lot to love, like pineapple mint sorbet....in a summertime glass ;0)

Fleshy, succulent cherries....so good!

Swimming!

And these beautiful crocuses on the footpath after a storm.

I hope you're enjoying your summer too. Or winter! xoxo

The Love Jar

There's nothing like a bit of bribery to get you out of trouble with the kids. I have to say I was feeling a bit grumpy putting up with all the bickering and whining. And my reactions probably weren't helping either....I seem to recall something about boarding school...

Anyway, why not resort to a bit of "positive reinforcement" aka "bribery"? I slapped a love heart on a jar, got out some wooden beads and explained to the beasties - sorry, children - that every time they did something loving, or used nice manners, or helped as soon as they were asked etc, I would put a bead in the jar. Their reward would be a dessert of their choice when the jar was full.

I was pretty generous with the beads; it's hard for little people to wait too long and I didn't want the interest to wane! What a change in my children! When it was almost full (about two weeks later) Alfie the Elf helped out one night and filled it to the top.

Kees had chosen the dessert, agreed upon by Jimmy and wholeheartedly supported by me: 

 raspberry ice-cream. 

I took the opportunity and got him to write out a shopping list.

We bought the ingredients, and made the ice-cream and darn, it was good!

Now we're working to fill up the jar again!

Christmas Baking

I'm no great baker but I like to do a few things for Christmas. We've been baking up lots of treats and sweating it out around the oven. It's so hot lately! Typical Christmas weather, hot and sultry with the clouds sulking and holding out on rain.

I must've cut out a hundred of these little stars. Phew!

Fruit mince pies were a big hit - especially with the flies as you can see.

A little something for my dear husband - Thermomix "Luigi's 40 Second Biscuits" made with pistachios. They did take about that without the children's "help".

The teeny stars - they took lots of time but they're so cute!

Gingerbread Houses

Our kind friend and neighbour, Nora, knows how to put on a party! After enjoying Coco's third birthday, the children all received a gingerbread house kit instead of the usual party bag. Great idea, Nora. We had a fun day building ... and eating...these yummy houses. I didn't harbour expectations of success, but they actually worked well! I think having the air conditioner on helped!

(I believe the kits were from Ikea.)

More Adventing...Christmas Wreath

Today we made a truly Australian wreath which we all love.

It is made of Bottle-Brush, whose weeping branches lent themselves beautifully to being woven.
We simply wound them around a coat-hanger we'd bent into a circle. It was very pleasant to sit outside in the breeze, under the Bottle-Brush tree, making something pretty with my boys.

I especially enjoyed watching their concentration as they persisted with threading baubles and tying knots. Jimmy created his own extension activity: decorating Matt's trailer for him.

Another lovely plant for our Australian Christmas is the Beach Cherry, a pretty little bush with gorgeous red sweet-tasting berries. Ours has been fruiting well all December and we've been enjoying the little treats hidden in its branches.

Wishing you many sweet treats!

Gingerbread

And so! To some more Adventing! This time, gingerbread.

Tamara's veeerrry sticky pepparkarkor dough became transformed through our artistry.....

into deliciously varied gingerbread people!

I think you can guess whose is whose!

Just like the wily old fox, we gobbled them up.

Then we played this fun gingerbread man game!

Hamburger Salad

My very resourceful friend, Natalie, came up with this Paleo Diet solution to fix a hamburger craving. It's a hamburger without the bun and it really is deeelicious. It's our favourite meal at the moment.

This is what we put in, in layers:

2 chopped baby cos lettuces

2 sliced tomatoes

1 sliced cucumber

1 medium tin of sliced beetroot

1 cup of bread and butter pickles

a handful of thinly sliced cheddar cheese (optional)

2 packets of Woolworths Macro Organic frozen meatballs, heated (YUMMY)

1 large onion, thinly sliced and fried

squirts of tomato sauce, mustard and olive oil

and salt and pepper if you like

I would love for you to try this salad yourself! Let me know if you do. Happy eating!

Here are some family snaps from our barbecue. xx

Springtime Strawberry Ice-Blocks

Blend one punnet of strawberries with a couple of tablespoons of strawberry jam and freeze. Mmmmmm!

Mulberry Pie!

Welcome Spring! 

And in our neck of the woods, springtime equals mulberry time! 

So here's a little story and a recipe I would like to share with you.

 We always stop off on our bikes at a local tree on the footpath, but this year, the man came out of his house and invited us in to pick as many mulberries as we could, as he couldn't keep up with them. He got us a stepladder and everything. "That man is really kind", Kees whispered to me. And he is. Thanks Jason, our new neighbourhood friend!

 This is one amazingly productive tree! We ate until we were sick, picked a huge container and barely made a dent in it. It was still loaded with ripe mulberries. And they are whoppers - check out the size of them:

After sharing our haul with friends at the beach, we took the rest home to make mulberry pie. This is a perfect pie to make with young children - really quick, easy and tactile.

Here's the recipe:

 In case you need clarification, that's 4 cups mulberries, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour. Or, tip as many mulberries as you've got into a big bowl, throw a bit of sugar and flour in and start mixing.

While you and your helpers are mixing, preheat the oven. Grease your pie dish and lay a puff pastry sheet in. I baked ours for 5 minutes but you probably don't need to.

The mixing is fun; very easy and satisfying as it turns a really wonderful rich purple colour.

Take your dishes out of the oven and spoon in the berry mixture. A very serious task for a certain little baker.

Slice your pastry into strips then arrange on top in a lattice pattern.

Your pie is ready for the oven! 

Bake on moderate for about 15 min then on low for about half an hour or until you think it seems ready. Leave to cool for a while, as it needs to set a bit. If you can wait ;0)

Then enjoy your delicious mulberry pie!

Mmmmmm. Yum.