“Reindeer are flight and motion and magic in moonlight beyond all recalling, made of Christmas dreams, spun from a place beyond all fearing.” ~ Anon A dear girlfriend and her young daughter dropped by a few days ago for a cuppa and a chat. It was a perfect opportunity to try out this Christmassy […]
Baked Peaches with Walnut Caramel Crumble Recipe
“One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to […]
Easy Pecan Pie Recipe
“Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest.” ~ Douglas Jerrold 1803-1857 Something very cool happened yesterday afternoon as we went for a family walk to wheel the rubbish bin (it’s a glamorous life on the farm LOL!) down our long driveway to the road. As I trailed […]
Easy Strawberry and Mulberry Teacake Recipe with Berry Compote
“You’ve got this life and while you’ve got it, you’d better kiss like you only have one moment, try to hold someone’s hand like you will never get another chance to, look into people’s eyes like they’re the last you’ll ever see, watch someone sleeping like there’s no time left, jump if you feel like […]
Fairy Bread Recipe – An easy party treat!
“You take away all the other luxuries in life, and if you can make someone smile and laugh, you have given the most special gift: happiness.”~ Brad Garrett I try to blog a recipe each week, but being a one-eyed pirate in the remote Outback has certainly proved a challenge on that front. However, I feel […]
Easy Lemon Shortbread Recipe
“Remember, ‘No one’s more important than people’! In other words, friendship is the most important thing – not career or housework, or one’s fatigue – and it needs to be tended and nurtured.” ~ Julia Child, My Life in France One of the things I treasure most about where I live is that wonderful sense of community. […]
Rustic Strawberry Tart Recipe
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” ~ Salvador Dalí Strawberry tarts – so pretty, so tasty, and so easy to make! Just before I left the farm to go to the city last week I picked a bucket of fresh strawberries. They were sweet and luscious, and Bert the dog and […]
Walnut and Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites – Fit for a Prince!
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” ~ Charles M. Schulz While the world is abuzz with excitement at the birth of the Kate and William’s new baby boy, here we are celebrating by eating macaroons and drinking tea. Welcome, Little Prince. We shall blog about you tomorrow… […]
Easy Date Loaf Recipe
“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” ~ Laurie Colwin Our farm is a social place. The pace of life is slower here, and people have time […]
No-Bake Yummy Slice Recipe
“When all else fails, take a vacation.” ~ Betty Williams It’s school holidays here in Queensland, and this it the perfect easy slice to make. In fact this recipe is so easy that the kids will have a batch of these whipped up faster than you can say “you’ll like this – it has chocolate in […]
Easy Baked Cheesecake Recipe – Gluten Free, Sugar Free
“Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!” ~ Author Unknown One of the not-fun parts of being unwell, or being on a restricted diet, is that treats seem to be harder to come by. So many desserts are crammed full of sugar, grains and fats. Or they have twenty steps, weird ingredients and […]
Nicole’s Fruit Slice Recipe
“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” ~ Tom Stoppard This week’s offering for my ‘Slice Extravaganza’ series – recipes taken from the hallowed Family Recipe Book – is known simply as ‘Nicole’s Fruit Slice’. Why? When I was a little girl it was my absolute favourite, and I never tired of it. […]
Chocolate Covered Coconut Slice Recipe
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” ~ Charles M. Schulz Chocolate and coconut is a heavenly combination, and this particular slice recipe delivers! It is quite light in texture, so it’s not rich and it’s not too sweet – a crisp biscuit base, a fluffy coconut centre and […]
Nana’s Passionfruit Slice Recipe
“Cooking is not about being the best or most perfect cook, but rather it is about sharing the table with family and friends.” ~ Skye Gyngell, My Favorite Ingredients This is an old recipe that my Nana copied out from her friend Dulcie, after a successful ‘War Wives Luncheon’ during World War Two. At least that […]
Easy Lemon Slice Recipe
“There are times when wisdom cannot be found in the chambers of parliament or the halls of academia but at the unpretentious setting of the kitchen table.” ~ E.A. Bucchianeri As promised, here is the first recipe in my ‘Slice Extravaganza’ series – the brainchild of my mother, who must be acknowledge for her great generosity […]
Simple Baked Apple Recipe
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” ~ Martin Luther Nothing says comfort food like a baked apple – easy to make and good for you too. Traditionally my Nana stuffed apples with a butter, sugar, oats and sultana or currant mixture. My […]
Nana’s Gingernut Log Recipe
A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend. ~ Unknown I have been blessed to have grown up, and grown older, with two amazing women as my grandmothers. Now both of them are gone, although I feel them around me often, and I frequently draw on […]
Easy Apple and Cinnamon Bundt Cake Recipe
I love this easy cake. It takes five minutes to make, and is a favourite for morning or afternoon tea, or as a simple warm dessert. It’s a moist, light vanilla cake with a caramel-ly soft apple topping and a mouth-watering crust of cinnamon sugar. Even if you’re not a cake maker I encourage you […]
Heavenly Blueberry Crumble Slice Recipe
It’s bucketing down here at the farm again, and there’s not much for me to do but sleep, cook or sit on the verandah sipping tea. We still have no power here after the big Australia Day Weekend Wet, but Ben has fired up the generator for a while and my biscuit tins are empty […]
Rhubarb Cream Puff Recipe
When you’re in a hurry, but still want something fabulous for dessert, this is it! There is no particular skill required, and the beauty of this recipe is that you can use any seasonal stewed fruit if you can’t get rhubarb! Ingredients to Serve Four: one bunch of rhubarb, 2 apples, sugar, one cup or 300ml […]
Berry Nice Fruit Crumble Recipe
This is one of those desserts you just throw together. It’s fantastically easy and it tastes like heaven in a bowl. It comes to you courtesy of the mulberry tree in my back yard, and the amplitude of strawberries in my refrigerator. I would like to claim that I grew the strawberries too, but alas, […]
Nana’s Pikelet Recipe and a Few Good Yarns
Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things. ~Saki Pikelets are a bit of an institution round here, especially for morning or afternoon tea. For those of you not in the know, pikelets are like fluffy little pancakes – very tasty with a cup of […]
Marga’s Orange Syrup Cake Recipe
We’re picking the last of our organic oranges before the heat of summer sets in, and I know a perfect way to use some of them up: my maternal grandmother’s orange syrup cake recipe. Marga gave this recipe to me when I held my first proper dinner party – a rural affair at my college […]
Lemon Delicious Pudding Recipe
My Meyer Lemon tree is dripping with ripe fruit right now, and this pudding is a perfect way to use some of them up. The pudding is served warm, and is light enough to be enjoyed all year round. If you are lucky enough to have any left over it is also tasty eaten cold! […]
Best Easy Stewed Rhubarb Recipe
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 […]
Mandarin and Coconut Jelly with Tropical Breezes
It’s winter down here in Australia. It’s meant to be freezing. Here at the farm I have a wheelbarrow of hardwood at the back door, waiting to be fed into the fireplace. I have my warmest beanie and scarf, my big coat and my woolliest socks all sitting on my dresser. None of them are […]
Creamed Rice Pudding Recipe
“It’s lovely rice pudding for dinner again.” ~ A.A. Milne Winter has well and truly arrived Down Under. It’s freezing in Brisbane right now. (Well, as freezing as sub-tropical can be…) Puts me in the mind to eat warm foods, and there is nothing better than my Nana’s Creamed Rice Pudding, a velvety-smooth vanilla rice […]
Healthy Breakfast Parfait Recipe
I love this raw food recipe as it can be assembled ahead of time, and makes a tasty breakfast, healthy dessert or a great ‘anytime’ snack. It is a simple combination of bircher muesli and fresh seasonal fruit, but the combination of flavours is a real winner! Kids love to make and eat this dish, […]
Bread and Butter Pudding Recipe
In a recent post My ‘One Lovely Blog’ Award, I confessed that one of the fascinating facts about me is that I can make a meal out of nothing. Well, almost nothing. That talent came in handy last night when friends dropped by unexpectedly, at dinner time. Of course I invited them to stay. It’s […]
Easy Baked Custard Recipe AND a Free Kitten!
Today an old family recipe worth cherishing, and the latest instalment on life at my farm. This baked custard recipe was my grandmother’s, although my grandfather liked to boast that he perfected it! It always reminds me of the love and care he had for my grandmother – he was never a man to be […]
Cherry Ripe Slice Recipe
We’ve got a party to go to on the weekend – a neighbour’s son is turning eighteen! Like most parties in the country, people will be coming from near and far, and there will be quite a crowd to feed. I’m taking along a huge tray of of these delicious Cherry Ripe Slices and another big […]
Easy Banana Cake Recipe
This is the first cake I ever learned to bake. It has a rich banana flavour, and is a firm favourite in our household. The recipe came from my Nana’s neighbour, Mrs Mac, who showed me how to make this in her kitchen and then let me proudly take the results home with me. I […]
ANZAC Biscuits – Nana’s Traditional Recipe
Tomorrow is ANZAC DAY in Australia, so I’ve been baking up a storm. Of course, I think we may be the only country in the world where one of our most important national holidays celebrates a great war time defeat. But that’s another story, best told tomorrow. My Nana was given this recipe by her […]
Healthy Apple Crumble Recipe
Apple crumble has been a family favourite in our house for years. Now Autumn has arrived in Australia all the new season apples leave us spoilt for choice, and they taste positively delicious baked into a dessert. I’ve modified this recipe so that it is gluten-free, sugar-free and so that it can also be dairy […]
Easy Moist Boiled Fruit-Cake Recipe
With Easter coming up I shall have a houseful of people to feed. My easy Boiled Fruitcake is a wonderful treat to serve with a cup of tea, or heated as a dessert with fresh cream, custard or ice-cream. Even non-cooks can make this cake! I love this recipe because I can whip it up […]
Easy Lemonade Scone Recipe – for when friends drop by!
I call this recipe my ‘Hurry-Up Scones’. I have much fancier recipes that call for delicate hands, careful measuring and so forth. But I don’t have time for that today. The phone has rung, friends are on their way, and my cake tin is woefully empty. Hurry-Up Scones to the rescue! Here’s the basic recipe: […]
Heavenly Chocolate Brownie Recipe
This brownie recipe is so good that my neighbour’s son prefers to be paid by the tin full rather than take cash when he works in my garden! As the picture suggests it is moist, dense and fudgey. It’s a pleasure to make, using only a large saucepan and a cup. You can have it […]
Coconut and Jam Slice Recipe & Country Funerals
Our town had a funeral this week. This is the sort of funeral I don’t mind – an old lady, well-loved, dying of old age after a full life. Country funerals are always well attended, and country people are big eaters, so there needs to be plenty of food at the wake, especially for the […]
Celebration Chocolate Mudcake Recipe
It’s my friend’s 40th birthday today, and we’re having a ladies lunch in her honour. Of course we need good cake. There will be grandmas and new babies and friends coming from afar. Twenty cake-loving women, and we need enough cake leftovers to make the men happy when they join us later. Somehow it always […]