Tag Archives: cooking

The Magic of a Cup of Tea

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“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” 
~ Mother Teresa

There are a few things that have helped me to feel human again in the past twenty-four hours after days of being wretchedly ill. Such simple things, but they nurtured me, body and soul:

  • a long hot shower, with neem oil soap made by a friend to soothe my burning, itchy skin
  • clean sheets; fresh and soft and smelling still of sunshine
  • clean pyjamas; old favourites – warm and comfortable
  • a cup of milky tea – after a few days of no food it was bliss to sip and savour
  • vegemite on toast – just a few bites, buttery and the vegemite not too thick
  • an open window, and a gentle breeze
  • lots and lots of sleep

The clean sheets and pyjamas were waiting for me after my shower.  The tea and toast followed after I was tucked up in bed again.

It’s the simple things, always the simple things, that bring comfort, a sense of safety, and the knowledge you are loved.

What simple things can you do for yourself, or a loved one today?  Everyone benefits from care and comfort.

Thanks for all your lovely well-wishes and messages of support. Am off to see my Lyme Doctor today. I’ll be back to normal blogging tomorrow.  Much love to you ♥ xx

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Easy Easter Treats to Make

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“Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals.”  ~ Charles M. Crowe

Hooray.  After a huge 14 hours of sleep I have woken feeling revived, optimistic and ready to cook!  We have a CWA Fundraising Cake Stall in Bangalow tomorrow morning, and I am making some Easter treats to contribute.  If you’re down our way, holidaying in Byron Bay or heading off to Bluesfest, why not pop in and say hi?

I thought I’d share some of the recipes I’m making. Don’t worry if you’re not an experienced cook – these recipes are EASY, tasty and lots of fun, and there’s plenty of ways to get the kids involved too.  Giving home-made treats at Easter is a lovely heart-felt gift.

Or of course you could just eat them all yourself!

Here’s my Best Coconut Ice Recipe - a creamy concoction with the perfect texture and flavour.  This has won me many prizes at our local and State Agricultural Shows!

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I’ll also be making Homemade Rocky Road which is a simple concoction of chocolate, jellies, marshmallows and nuts – all that is required is a little melting and stirring!

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You can’t have Easter without Marshmallow Treats – some pretty eggs for the kids, and a few batches of traditional marhsmallows for the grown ups.  This marshmallow recipe is gluten-free and perfect for people who also need dairy free and chocolate free. :)

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Or you could try your hand at a few batches of sinfully good and incredibly easy Five Minute Fudge, which really does take a mere five minutes to whip up, and probably less time to devour!

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I encourage you to give these recipes a try.  Hopefully some of them will become an Easter Tradition in your household too.

Much love to you, ♥ Nicole xx

Getting My Hands on My Inheritance!

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“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

In a quiet corner of an organic cafe somewhere in Brisbane yesterday, history was made.

My mother (that’s her hands in the top of the picture above – like me she’s quite camera shy!) finally lent me the precious Family Recipe Book. Several times she stated in front of my sister and I (quite loudly I might add…) that it was only a loan, to facilitate the idea she had for a post for my blog based upon the comfort to be had by making and eating slices.

And in the grandest of gestures she actually let me take the tatty old exercise book – stuffed full of hand-written recipes, magazine clippings and scribblings on the backs of envelopes – home to the farm with me so that I may transcribe the wisdoms within its pages into a book of my own.

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I was made to promise, PROMISE, that I wouldn’t share some of the most secret recipes with you, my Bloggerverse friends. And I wouldn’t, Mum, honest.  Not with my grandmother peering down from Heaven in her imperious way. Goodness, some things – like the Heavenly Tart Recipe – are sacred.

But I am excited.  There is so much good stuff between the pages of this book that I’ve grown up with and added to over the past few decades.  My family history, and my inheritance, is the stories and recipes and memories contained here.

I look forward to sharing some of my family’s legacy with you.  And I’ll start later this week with a post dedicated to Slices, for my Mum, whose idea it was.  Just so we are clear about that…

It was Mum’s idea!  Did everyone get that? Good.

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Coconut, Ginger and Cardamom Rice Pudding Recipe – Vegan

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Because my Power Word for 2013 is HEALTH, I’ve been modifying a few of my favourite recipes.

This creamy-sweet rice pudding has the added lusciousness of Indian spices, and is entirely dairy, gluten and cane-sugar free.  And it’s vegan to boot, for those of you who are lovers of plant-based diets.

It can be eaten warm or chilled, so it’s perfect for any time of the year.

Ingredients: 1 x 400ml can of coconut cream, 1/2 cup of rice of your choice, 12 green cardamon pods, an inch of freshly grated or finely chopped ginger root, 1/3 cup of palm sugar, raw honey or maple syrup (or to taste), pinch of salt.

Method:

Using a mortar and pestle, lightly crush the cardamom pods. You could also do this with the blade of a heavy knife. This releases the aromatic oils from the tiny seeds inside the pods.  If you are especially finicky you can pull out all the green pods, leaving just the seeds, but I never bother.  They soften up when you cook them, so you can either eat them or dig them out later.

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Tip your can of coconut cream into a large saucepan, and then use the empty can and add one and a half cans of water to the pot.

Grate your ginger and add the ginger and crushed cardamom to the pot, then bring to the boil.  Now slowly sprinkle in your rice, stirring well.  Let it boil for a minute or two and then bring your pot down to a slow simmer.  Stir every so often so it doesn’t stick on the bottom. It will take about 40 to 60 minutes for your pudding to cook, depending on how low you have your heat. (Add a little more water if needed.) Test the rice – if it is soft, and the mixture is thick and creamy, it is ready.

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Add in your sweetener, checking as you go, so you don’t add in too much. Then add a pinch of good salt and check that you are happy with the taste.

There is nothing more to be done except eat and enjoy!

Some of my favourite serving options include a spoonful of creamy coconut yogurt  (you can often find this in health food stores) over the top, and a little seasonal fruit.

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For a special occasion, layer it into a glass with some fresh or preserved fruit and a good yogurt, and top with some crushed pistachio or toasted crushed cashew nuts.

If you liked this recipe, you might want to try my:

Mandarin and Coconut Jelly Recipe

Healthy Breakfast Parfait Recipe

Here’s a sneak preview of the Breakfast Parfait, which you can use to inspire you about serving suggestions with your Coconut, Ginger and Cardamom Rice Pudding…

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Happy Birthday, Mum!

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It’s my mum’s birthday today. I can’t pop in and see her, take her flowers or make her a cake because she’s visiting with my brother down in Tasmania. (And yes, they are all safe from the fires, thank you!)

So instead I thought I’d take a moment to say thank you to my mum for some of the ways she has enriched my life.

Thank you mum for teaching me manners, and helping me understand that the feelings of others are important.  Thank you for teaching me to be considerate and compassionate.

Thank you for letting me follow you around the kitchen, for fostering my love of cooking, and for letting me make dinner – even when I did use every herb and condiment, and every pot and pan just to make one very strange-tasting dish.

Thanks for letting us spend so much time with our grandparents.  I am only now appreciating what a gift that is in my life.

Thank you for all the sacrifices you made to make sure we got a good education.

Thank you for teaching me that we should celebrate the important occasions in our lives.  In honour of this last one, here’s cake.  (BTW – You were the one who taught me how to make the chocolate leaves…)

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I hope you get to indulge in some fabulous tasty treats today. I love you.  {{{HUGS}}}

Happy Birthday Mum!

And if any of you would like to make this delicious Celebration Chocolate Mud Cake for yourself, my easy-to-follow recipe is here:

Celebration Chocolate Mud Cake Recipe

PS Don’t feel you have to wait for a special occasion to make this, because there is always something to celebrate in life!

What Real Food Looks Like…

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On Saturday morning at the crack of dawn my husband and I went into Lismore, a small country town about 25 minutes drive from our farm.  We needed to buy some hay for our weaner calves, and there was a truckload of bales for sale at the showgrounds, which is also home to the Lismore Organic Farmers’ Market each Saturday. Ben reminded me that we couldn’t stay long – we had a house full of visitors and a full day of farm work to be done!

So we only went to buy hay…

but of course I was no help loading it all with two perfectly capable, strong men at the ready, so I snuck over the market for a little bit of a look-see.  The first thing I spied was just-picked broccoli, and of course I had to put a little bit of that in my basket.

Then I helped myself to some plump red beetroot and a big bunch of rhubarb.

The ute was still only half loaded, so I crammed some assorted greens and herbs into my basket as well!

And what’s the point of greens without a tomato or two?

The ute was finally loaded but then we had to stay a little longer to have a coffee and a chat with some friends we’d bumped into. In the process I acquired a bag of  limes, an armful of pink lady apples, and some excellent lady finger bananas.

On the drive home I planned out a menu for Saturday night’s dinner, based on my haul, and here it is:

Vegan Broccoli, Cashew and Lime Soup with crusty fresh bread. (I’ll be blogging this recipe for the Vegan Virtual Potluck on November 1!)

Red Wine and Garlic Marinated Steaks with a Rustic Salad – our own organic beef, grilled and served with the simplest of salads.  (The cheese is local too – Newrybar semi-hard from the Bangalow Cheese Company.)

Rhubarb Cream Puffs – squares of puff pastry stuffed with an apple-and-rhubarb compote and fresh cream from the farm down the road.

Twenty minutes of preparation when we got home (we were home by 8.30am!) and I had a delicious three course meal ready for the finishing touches that night.  Food miles – negligable. The only ingredient that wasn’t local was the pastry. And almost every ingredient had been harvested within the last 24 hours or less.

Off we went to work…

Come dinner time we were all starving after a full but satisfying day working in the river paddock, clearing regrowth and rebuilding an old rock wall.  Thank goodness meal prep was nearly done. While Ben lit the barbeque I heated soup and threw dessert together. Easy! Let me know if you want me to blog any of the recipes; this food is so simple, and it tasted like heaven. Good fresh food never takes much fancy-ing up.

Luckily we had a little rhubarb compote and cream left over, which I used on top of home-made date and ginger scones for afternoon tea the next day.  Farm life is such a chore – but my willing workers just seem to keep coming back.  Maybe it’s the good clean air, maybe it’s Ben’s singing, or maybe, just maybe, it’s the food…

Roast Carrot and Pine Nut Salad

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This is a delicious salad that can fill you up on its own, or that makes a beautiful side for other dishes.  I’ve made this with baked carrots, but you could also use baked parsnip or sweet potato for equally tasty results.

Hint:  If you are prone to nibbling on the baked vegetables prior to serving, double the quantity – or at least cook a few extra as chef snacks…

Salad Ingredients:

4 cups of mixed leaves (today I’ve used rocket, mustard greens and baby spinach because that’s what was in my garden), a handful of chopped spring onion/green shallots, 2 large tomatoes chopped into wedges (or use a handful or two of cherry tomatoes), 1/2 a red salad onion sliced into fine rings, 6 to 8 largish carrots , 2 heaped tablespoons of pinenuts

Chop the carrots into batons or wedges, coat lightly with olive or coconut oil and bake in a moderate oven for around 30 mins or until cooked to your liking.

Toast the pinenuts in a dry frypan over medium heat for one to two minutes until they are light to golden brown.  Watch them carefully as they can burn easily!

Lemon Dressing

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/4 cup virgin cold pressed olive oil, generous pinch of salt, generous pinch of raw sugar, 1/4 teaspoon dried ground ginger or 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger root.  Place in jar, add  lid and shake like crazy until emulsified.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.  Pour over salad just before serving.

If you’re looking for a higher protein content, add some fetta cheese, or some grilled haloumi (my absolute favourite with this salad!)

The salad can be served warm, with the carrots straight out of the oven, or as a cold dish once your baked vegetables have cooled.  This transports really well for picnics and other adventures too.  Enjoy!

Day 17 – Gratitude Challenge

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Image from favim.com

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” 
~ Charles M. Schulz

Yesterday, after I blogged about gratitude, I blogged about food.  I realised that I just couldn’t go 30 days without sharing one of my other great loves.

It’s so easy to be grateful for food, and the food related moments in our lives. When I look back through my own life I think of my mother, painstakingly turning cupcakes into mice and pirates and pigs for my seventh birthday party.

I think of carrying my precious home-made wedding cake balanced on my knee as I travelled by canoe from the island where our tiny plane had landed to the island of Gizo in the Solomon Islands where I got married.

I think of the amazing cup of hot chocolate I enjoyed on the terrace in Gubbio, Italy, and the incredible tappas and sangria I enjoyed on a sun-soaked afternoon in Barcelona.

The best hot chocolate of my life, as I scribbled notes for my novel at a tiny alfresco table on the terrace in Gubbio, Italy.

I think of the coffee at my favourite cafe in Byron Bay, or of scones and mugs of tea on the veranda at my farm.

Nana teaching me to make scones, Marga teaching me to make the perfect plum pudding, Mum teaching me how to make boiled fruit cake.  BBQs and dinner parties with friends. How much food, and love, and happiness are intertwined in my mind….

Food is indeed a great source of gratitude.

Counting Our Blessings and Using our Gratitude Rock

If you need a detailed reminder of our daily process, you can review it here in Day 1 of the Gratitude Challenge.

  1. List five Blessings in your journal, explaining why you are grateful for each one.
  2. Count your Blessings off on your fingers, summoning positive emotion and saying Thank You from your heart for each one.
  3. Take your health request from under your gratitude rock and affirm Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for the Gift of _____________  in my life.  Know that this gift is finding ways to express itself in your life and that you are becoming magnetic to this gift of health.  Really feel that positive energy in your heart.
  4. Tonight before you go to sleep, hold your Gratitude Rock and affirm I am richly Blessed. I have an Abundance of Good in my life. Visualise one thing you have been grateful for today. Swell that positive energy up in your heart like a beautiful golden light, and give a heart-felt Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to the Universe, then imagine a tiny shower of golden light travelling from your heart into your Gratitude Rock.
  5. Still holding your Gratitude Rock, bless your fellow travellers on this Gratitude Journey by sending them golden light, and saying Thank you.  I Bless You.  I intend for you Love, Miracles and Abundance. Know that as you are saying this for them, they are also saying this for you. Feel that connection and gratitude and know that there is real love and support for you here. Place your rock back beside your bed, and go to sleep, cocooned in this good energy.

If all you do today is these five steps, know that is enough.

If you’d enjoy working with an additional challenge, here it is!

Gratitude Feast

Today, treat yourself to a favourite food.  It might be a trip down memory lane to a favourite meal from your childhood, a visit to a cafe or restaurant, or a dish you keep for special occasions or visitors. You might even ask your mum or your grandmother to bake something for you!

Banana-Nutella Pancakes in Thailand. Mmmmm….

As you eat your food savour it with all of your senses.  Really pay attention to how it smells; how it looks on the plate; the texture, temperature and taste on your tongue.  Enjoy each mouthful.  Take time to appreciate not just the food but the surroundings, and the company if you have any.  Allow yourself to take pleasure from your meal.

When you have eaten, say Thank You to the person or people who have prepared and served your food. Say Thank You to the farmers and all the unseen helpers who have helped bring this meal to you.  And remember – Thank You to the Universe for the abundance that is all around you.

I sincerely hope you enjoy today’s challenge.  Bless ♥ xx

Fairy Tea Party – won’t you join us?

Best Easy Stewed Rhubarb Recipe

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Stewed Rhubarb served with Baked Custard. Delish!

As much as I am grateful for gratitude (and my 30 Day Gratitude Challenge) I am also currently very grateful for rhubarb – and I don’t think I can last another 2 weeks without some sort of food post.  So here it is – Blissful Best Rhubarb!

Ingredients: fresh rhubarb, raw sugar, lemon

Method:  Wash rhubarb stems and remove ends and leaves. Cut into inch-long chunks. Weigh your finished amount.  Throw rhubarb into a saucepan and add 20% of the weight of the rhubarb in raw sugar to the pot as well.  Then add a sqeeze of fresh lemon.

Now stir over low heat, and then cover.  Remove lid and stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick – don’t have your heat up too high or it will!

The rhubarb will cook down in its own juices, and that will take ten to fifteen minutes depending on how much you have, and how hot your pot is!

Finish with another small squeeze of lemon. The rhubarb will now be soft, with a few large chunks left, and that lovely sweet/tart pink stringy goodness.

Serve with fresh cream, ice-cream or my favourite – baked custard.  If you’re lucky enough to have left-overs this will brighten up any breakfast cereal and also goes well with yoghurt.  Enjoy!

PS  - Here’s my delicious baked custard recipe here

Things to be thankful for…

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“The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles”

This morning I’m counting my Blessings. Such a simple thing to do, and it always makes me feel richer. I like to count them off on my fingers – a tangible act, and a way of really anchoring their truth in my life. Blessings to me are always the simple things in life, and often the things we take for granted.  Even on the worst of days we can find something to be grateful for.  Counting blessings gets my attention OFF the things I don’t want, and back on the things I do. It’s an instant mood lifter that keeps things in perspective for me. It never takes much to find something that’s a blessing.

Today I am grateful for:

1. The sound of rain on the roof as I go to sleep, and rain as I wake up.

2. The warmth of the fire, and the sweet smell of woodsmoke in the cold winter air. (I’m also grateful for my husband, who chops the wood and loads the wheelbarrow, and stokes the fire for me!)

3. Chai tea, enough for two, sipped from big bowls, with just a dusting of cinnamon.

4. My Meyer Lemon tree, and its abundance of luscious fruit. And the fresh Lemon Curd I can spread on my morning toast!

5. The Byron Bay Farmers’ Markets, and the dedication of our local growers to grow or make the best seasonal fresh produce.

6. My Kindle, and being able to snuggle under the doona while it’s raining outside, sipping chai and reading books.

7. My dogs, Charlie and Bert, for their love and companionship.

8. Writing. It is my greatest love, and the thing that wakes me up in the middle of the night, brimful of ideas. I am also grateful for my Sisters, who keep me loved up, supported and connected in this often lonely game.

9. Black Tourmaline  which grounds and nurtures, and feels wonderful to have tucked up within my aura.

10. Trees. My little farmhouse is cradled by hundred year old trees who whisper their secrets, one to another, and add an incredible energy to this place and to me.

How about you? What do you have to be thankful for today? Go on – count them off on your fingers! Wishing you many Blessings, Nicole xx