On The Road Again - Tamworth And Beyond - Part 2

I promised you a Part the Second, and here it is!  I have been a busy bee on the blog this month, so just to finish it off ...  Here is a quick photo essay of our recent trip (well, recent meaning late June!)  The birthday trip for me.  We had a fabulous time, on our art gallery tour.

fab old building in Manilla NSW

I love silo art!

The Water Diviner by Fintan Magee

Mr P. checking it out, very intensely :)

'twas getting creepy out on the gravel road with the moon coming up

There were lots of crazy animals jumping out at us on this loooong drive back to our cottage.  Kangaroos and cows and feral goats and wild dogs and boar ...

Don't you just love an old-fashioned store?  In Armidale NSW

Mr P. looking serious again with The Artist's Mount by Tim Storrier
outside NERAM in Armidale NSW

a breakfast bagel at the Gallery Café aka Six Counties Café

Ebony Russell's Canyons at NERAM

I've noticed lately that placing mirrors under artworks is a bit of a thing!  And very good it is too.  We love the gallery in Armidale, and always stop there if we are passing through the town.

the start of Waterfall Way

looking down into the watery depths

beautiful waterfalls

Mr P. checking out the info.

Okay, I think it's time to stop here - for now.  I see a Part the Third coming up!  More art and food coming up next time.  See you for Part the Third in September!

Linking up with Min from Write of the Middle for her link party #WWWhimsy

Lisa's Square Scones

I'm just sliding in another interesting scone recipe for International Scone Week!  This one is like a scone-cum-shortbread; it is flat and square and buttery, with a sugar coating.  I always like to find a recipe that is new to me, and has an interesting ingredient or method.  Regular readers may remember the scones I made one year, where you beat the heck out of the dough with a rolling pin!  

This recipe is from Now & Then by Tessa Kiros.  For some reason, I always mix her up with Tess Mallos the Australian cookbook writer, sadly no longer with us.  But Tessa is alive and kicking!  And writing cookbooks, happily.  For us, I mean :=)

feeling hungry, my friends? :=)

These are very easy to make, though I was a tiny bit doubtful when I made them, as the dough seemed very dry but it all comes together beautifully when you pour on all that luscious cream!  Kinda reminded me of a recipe we made in a cooking class with Belinda Jeffery, where you add a whole bottle of cream to a bread dough!

Makes 9:

ingredients:

280g./10 oz plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbs caster sugar/white sugar

2 pinches of salt (about 1/8 tsp)

75g./2.75 oz cold butter, diced

1/2 tsp vanilla extract  (go crazy and use a whole tsp if you fancy)

200mL/7 oz pure cream

1 Tbs caster sugar (yes, another Tbs)

jam and whipped cream, to serve - Tessa suggests whipping 250mL/9 oz of cream - or you can use dollop cream, like I did!

Method:

Turn on your oven to 200C/400F to heat up

Flour, baking powder, sugar and salt go into a large mixing bowl

Whisk these ingredients together, and then work the butter into the dry mix with your fingers or a butter knife till it looks like breadcrumbs

Stir the vanilla into the milk, and pour it over the flour mixture - yep, really, don't freak out :=)

Now you gently incorporate the milk into the flour with your knife or hands - yes, it will come together!  

Keep gathering up the flour and milk till you have a lovely, roughly round dough

Now that you have a nice, round-ish ball of dough, lift it out of the bowl, and give it a final pat-down or pat-around

Shape it into a 18cm/7 inch square on your baking-paper-lined tray, squaring off the edges with a knife (says Tessa), sprinkle with the extra sugar and cut into 9 equal pieces

Separate them slightly, so they don't touch 

And bake for about 12-14 minutes till pale golden  - make sure you turn the tray around towards the end of the cooking time so they get an even bake

Take out the tray and let 'em cool for a few minutes

Then eat with jam and cream!  You know you want to!

You can keep the leftovers (?) in an airtight container for a couple of days, or freeze 'em

Notes:

I think for once I have no notes to add!  I just followed Tessa's recipe to a T!  Which makes me think of afternoon tea, when you must eat scones with jam and cream.  Which makes me think of staying in Philadelphia with our Quaker friend who sang in a choir, and moi making, baking and taking (scone-like) Chelsea Buns to one of her concerts.  They went down a treat!  All that dried fruit deliciousness ...

gather your ingredients

cut the butter into the flour

cream in, and pat into a rough dough

onto your baking tray, and shaped into an 18cm square

sprinkle on the caster sugar

and bake for 12-14 minutes at 200C/400F

oh yes please!

#ISW2024

c. Sherry M.

Hot Chocolate Mix

It's still Winter, at least for a bit longer, so I thought I'd make up a hot chocolate mix for Mr P., and me of course.  This is as simple as it gets, and not really even a recipe, but you get the gist, my friends.  So here it is.  Drink up, warm up, and wrap your hands around a mug of this one!

It has been the long, cold winter here - well, by Brisbane standards.  We start to freeze when it gets to 20C and below!  I actually bought myself two faux-fur jackets this year.  And I've been wearing them most days.  The pink one I have is ... kinda hairy.  It sheds everywhere, so you'd think we had a couple of hairy cats or dogs :=)  You should see the car seat! 

me in my hairy pink jacket!

Makes about 350g./12 oz:

ingredients:

150g./5.3 oz Lindt dark chocolate (70%)

150g./5.3 oz Lindt milk chocolate

2 (or 3) Flake (30g. each) chocolate bars

2 tsp sugar - if you must :=)

2-3 tsp chilli chocolate powder (optional) or a bit of cinnamon or a dash of regular chilli powder

Method:

Snap the chocolate bars into small pieces (Lindt chocolate is very easy to snap with your fingers), then throw them into your small food processor if you have one, or just keep snapping and chopping with a knife into lovely shards

Break up the Flake bars, and stir the pieces into the chocolate

Stir in the chilli chocolate powder if using - oops, and the sugar!

Be generous when making up your hot drink - add 5 (or even 6) heaped teaspoons of this mix into a mug, and add hot milk or water

Plop some cream on top if you are feeling decadent - go on, you know you want to!

Notes:

I strongly suggest using Lindt chocolate or similar (not sponsored) as it is so very easy to break up, and it melts really well

No Flake bars?  Mmm, maybe an Aero bar (orange or mint? Yum) or some similarly light and airy bar that will break up without too much effort

Chilli choc powder?  I bought mine online from Gewurzhaus, which is a marvellous place to buy herb and spice mixtures

grab yourself some chocolate!

and zap it up

tip into a mixing bowl

nice and chunky

spoon into jars

Oops! I drank it up before the photo :=)

c. Sherry M.

Sweet Fruit Scones

Oh yes, my friends - it's International Scone Week again. Tandy from the blog Lavender & Lime took over the mantle from Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial some years ago.  Thank you Tandy for keeping this annual get-together alive and well.  

So somehow it's August again, and here we are - baking beautiful scones.  I've made three versions this time, so you'll see the two sweet ones here during Scone Week, and then I'll put up the secret, savoury version next month - hehehe ...

This recipe is from The Irish Countrywomen's Association Cookbook.  It has some great, old-fashioned dishes plus lots of new ones.  A cornucopia of tried and tested dishes in Irish family homes.

jam then cream, of course :=)

Makes around 10:

ingredients:

300g./10.5 oz plain flour

1 tsp bicarb-soda

1/4 tsp salt

65g./2.3 oz cold butter, cubed

zest of a small lemon - about 2 tsp  (optional)

55g./2 oz caster sugar

55g./2 oz sultanas, or dried fruit of your choice

25g./1 oz mixed dried citrus peel

1 egg, lightly beaten

135 mL/4.5 oz milk plus extra for glazing the tops

Method:

Turn on your oven to 180C/350F to heat up

Sift the flour, bi-carb and salt into a large mixing bowl

Now rub the cubed butter into the flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry cutter (or a butter knife), till it looks like breadcrumbs

Put the lemon zest into a small bowl with the caster sugar, and rub in well with your fingers till you have a yellowy and fragrant mix

Now add the lemony sugar, sultanas and peel into the flour mix, and stir them in

Beat the egg with the milk, make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and mix most of the liquid into the flour.  Add all the milk if your dough is not moist enough to pat into a nice round

So give the dough a bit of a knead, and pat into a round, then place it on a lightly-floured surface and shape it up (no real need for kneading, I found, nor for a rolling pin!)

Pat out the dough into a 2cm/0.75 inch thick round, then grab your scone/biscuit cutter and cut out shapes - you will get 10 or 11 scones

Brush the tops with some milk (maybe 1-2 Tbs?), and bake on a lightly-floured baking tray for about 15-18 minutes, or till golden-brown

Serve warm with (berry) jam and cream

Will last for a couple of days in an airtight container

Notes:

I made a half quantity of this recipe, but you can double the ingredients for the full amount

You can also just cut out the scones with a knife for square shapes

The recipe says to heat up the baking tray (sans flour) before the scones go into the oven, but I found that the bottoms were overcooked!  (The flour would be cast over the tray just before baking the scones.) But try this if you think it will give you better bums :=)

You can use self-raising flour alone if you like; just leave out the bi-carb of course

ingredients gathered

rub the zest into the caster sugar

stir everything into the flour mixture

pat into a 2cm round on a lightly-floured surface

onto the tray for baking at 180C for about 15 mins.

golden and delicious

jam then cream :)

Joining in with Tandy from Lavender and Lime blog #ISW2024

c. Sherry M.

Red Chilli Sauce

'Some like it hot, some like it hot' ... as the song goes.  And yes Mr P. especially loves it hot.  I too am not averse to some heat in the kitchen.  So here we have a quick, hot chilli sauce (you can make it less so if you wish) that you can use straightaway or have in the fridge to spice up your dinners.  

This recipe is from the cookbook by Tessa Kiros titled Now & Then.  I am looking forward to making more of her recipes.  There's cherry pie, and fish with lemons and oranges, and square scones ... I love that it's a pretty book too!

a small but potent condiment

Makes one (very) small bottle/jar - about 60-70 mL

ingredients:

5 small (fresh) red chillies or 5 dried chillies, chopped into pieces

1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped

2 Tbs lime juice

2-3 tsp light brown sugar

1.5 tsp fish sauce

Method:

Remove some or all of the seeds from the fresh chillies if you wish

If using dried chillies, place them into a small bowl, tip enough hot water over to cover them, bung on a small plate to keep them submersed, and leave to plump up for about 30 minutes

Drain, and remove seeds if you wish

You can either chop the chillies and garlic together so it forms a bit of a paste, or chuck them into your food processor - and blitz away

Once it's chopped/blitzed enough for your liking, place into a small bowl, and add in the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce

Give it a stir and a taste, and either add more sugar or more fish sauce if needed

Tip into a wee jar or bottle, and bung into the fridge - should be fine for a couple of weeks (maybe more!)

Notes:

I kept all the seeds in, and it is delightfully hot!  Tessa says to use bird's eye chillies, but use what you fancy

You will need a small food processor if not chopping by hand, as a large one just won't hit the spot!  (Blades too big)

Tessa says the recipe makes 80 mL, but I only got about 60!  (So about 2 fl ounces)

ingredients gathered

soaking the chillies in hot water for 30 minutes

keep 'em down!

whizz them up with the garlic clove

add in the rest of the ingredients and stir well

pour/spoon into the wee bottle

seal, and into the fridge it goes

(Joining in with Min from her blog Write of the Middle for the weekly link  #WWWhimsy)

c. Sherry M.

In My Kitchen - August 2024

Here I was thinking August 1st was ... weeks away, but no, it is now!  What the?!  So anyway, time for another In My Kitchen already.  A fair bit has been happening in my kitchen lately - food gifts, pickling, baking and so on.  The kitchen is my happy place I have to say.  I bet it's yours too.  And I even like a lovely kitchen when travelling - see below :=)

here's the kitchen in the Potter's Shed where we stayed on our roadtrip

This kitchen was a bit quirky I have to say.  It looked fabulous and had wonderful vintage appliances like an old Kookaburra gas stove (not actually plumbed (?) in), but was a bit ...mm ... useless.  Witness the cute fridge that only held a sandwich, so to speak.  But cute!  Well, sorry, it's not even in the photo - hehehe.  And the tall water filter on the left (with a sign saying 'make sure you leave it filled when you go') - if I were the height of a basketball player, maybe.

But on to my kitchen shenanigans over the last month!

In My Kitchen:

and up first - my curveball! another amazing sculpture-cum-vase (cum mug?)
from our mate Nat of Austin Flowers

a lovely gift hamper from overnight (well, 6 nights!) guests

dried apricots from a South Australian farm, and flowers from a dinner guest

I accidentally bought 400g. of dried red chillies!

that hot sauce is ... hot!

cute little ceramics from our guests

still not quite sure how this works :=)

and I put up some pickled cukes!

I made strawberry muffins for the fundraiser

Four houses in our suburb burned down to the ground a few weeks ago.  A heartbreaking accident.  A fundraiser was organised, with a bake sale, so I baked some muffins for it!  Such a tragedy, but at least no-one was killed.

handmade spoons by our mate Chainsaw Newton!

The one on the left is made from a cricket willow bat, and the other is local red cedar.  See how he has kept the shape of a cricket bat - sort of.  I love them!

I made preserved lemons with lemons from our friends' garden

Our Tassie friends from Hobart came up recently bearing organic lemons from their tree.  So I put them up with rock salt, mountain pepperberries, bay leaves and mustard seeds.  They went pink!

another gift from our Tassie mates

and I made chicken soup for us and for our neighbour

Well, I could go on but I'd better stop now :=)  Join us s'il vous plaît.

c. Sherry M.

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