The Alphabet Continues with 'Y' - Yummy In My Tummy!

Thanks to Phillpa who suggested my letter 'y' subject - I am most definitely grateful for yummy food!

I have a love-love relationship with food.  I love the flavours that explode in my mouth; the textures tickling my tongue; the experiments and the likely or unlikely combination of ingredients and tastes that come together to compliment one another perfectly.  It's such good fun!  Another reason I have a love-love relationship with food is one I have written about before, where I talk about the food I shared with my friends and the memories built around these meals.

Today was no exception.  Phillipa and Truman came over today to see Mum and to join us for dinner.  The table was groaning under the weight of steak, sausages and several salads.  It was divine.

My apologies for the tragic photo of the spinach and strawberry salad I made.  It was that good, that it was gone nearly instantaneously!  (Or, I forgot to take one.)  The recipe can be found here, on my recipes blog (at my Phillipa's super suggestion!)

It was great to spend time with great friends and we talked a lot about yummy food.  This would probably be due to my new-found enthusiasm for making chutneys from our garden produce.

I love the idea of making my own jams, chutneys, relishes and preserves.  Not because I fancy myself to be Nigella or Martha, but because I really like the idea of using and eating all natural ingredients, it (generally) tastes better and the simple fact that it is more economical.  I really like chutneys and sauces, but I never buy them because I think they're simply too expensive and I just can't justify the cost.  There's no need to justify anything now!  I've got some bottles stored up already, ready to be relished (yes, that pun was totally intended... groan, I know.)

The latest creation - Green Tomato Chutney.  Yummier than the first chutney, if that's possible!  The recipe is here, also on my recipe blog.

Yummy food is both a panacea and a celebration in itself.  There's nothing better then watching others enjoy what you've made for them, especially when it's made naturally, (hopefully) healthily and with a big dose of love and laughter.  I'm so grateful for the many opportunities I've had to share my culinary creations with my friends and family!

Fun in the Sun

The sun has finally come out to play this week - and what a glorious week we've had!

I thought we'd enjoy a pictorial journey through summer so far...

I finally finished Ellie's handwarmers that I started ages ago.  Love the wool - hoping to make socks out of the rest (if I can remember where I put the ball of wool when I was done!)

Matt, Julia and Lily Sides (such a perfect triangle) came home to visit from Japan; Zahrina came home to visit from India - it was lovely to have some of the girls over for lunch to meet Lily and visit with old friends.

An AWESOME combination - homemade lemon curd (which I made at the beginning of the summer, with lemons from our tree - it was a bit runnier than it should have been, but still yummy) and long overdue sultana scones.  They turned out perfectly... together, such a lovely pairing of my culinary awesomeness.

Mum, Rebecca, Fiona and myself out for a leisurely lunch at Masala in Mission Bay.  Yummy in my tummy! 

Homemade tomato chutney - made on a drizzly day with tomatoes from our garden.  All the recipes I could find were for large amounts, so I made this half portion.  The recipe is on my new food and garden blog, found here.

A stunning sunset out of the upstairs hallway window.  Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

And the following day was indeed stunning, so we legged it to the beach. 

A small (tiny) sampling of the beans from our garden.  I picked two full metal bowls of beans today.  They are now safely blanched, dried and frozen for future consumption.

I really do love summer holidays! Two more weeks of this fabulousness - bring it on!

Amazing Avocado!

Phill's parents have a beautiful orchard upon which they grow avocados.  None of the Coupers are really fussed on the fabulous fruit.  This works out fairly well for me, since I love them... as does Mum! 

Usually, when we leave the orchard after a visit, we (I) stop at the top of the driveway and fill up a plastic bag with avos that have fallen off the trees.  These fruit go to waste, as they fall off the tree when they are ripe, so they won't last through packaging and shipping... so I don't feel bad taking the fruit.  Again, this works out well for me!  The thing is, my eyes are usually (much) bigger than my stomach.  I get so excited that so many lovely avos are ready and waiting to be mine, that I take too many.  I've started making and freezing large batches of guacamole, but I craved a little something sweet today... and voila - avocado whip!! 

I found this fab little recipe online - I tried it and LOVE it! I made two ramekins full, and I've already eaten one.  Is it horrible of me to hope that Mum doesn't want hers so I can have it?  I may have to whip up another batch. 

Avocado Whip

• 1 ripe avocado 
• 1/2 cup milk **
• 1/4 white sugar*
• 1/2-1 tsp vanilla extract (to taste)

Cut avocado and pit avocado.

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend up until smooth(ish).

Spoon into dishes.

Chill for at least 20 minutes (I put mine in the freezer).

Enjoy!

**I used light blue milk (which is a step down from homogenized/whole milk but not quite skim... maybe 1-2%?  I think it would be fabulous with cream or whole milk.  Then I'd definitely eat Mum's share!

*The sugar was a bit crunchy - next time, I may try it with caster sugar... but again, it didn't stop me from scarfing it down!

Little Bites of Heaven

It's been so long!  (A month actually) since I wrote.  There have been numerous blog posts floating around in my head, but life had got the better of me and "me" time (writing time) went straight to the bottom of the list.  I've also had a bit of upheaval recently and working really, really hard to see positives in it all.  Anyhow, I've found the positive and I'm back on track!  Mum arrives in two days and I can't wait!!

But this post is not about my mum, or about being kicked out of our house, or packing... it's about Little Bites of Heaven.  Since I read Megan's post about mini chocolate and caramel tarts "... or little bites of heaven" as she likes to call them, I have been obsessed.  Poor Phillip has heard me nattering on since June about needing mini-muffin tins.  No, no, no, regular muffin tins simply would not do.  I need mini-muffin tins.  I asked Louisa to borrow Mum's the next time she went down to Katikati (I cleared it with my mum-in-law, not to worry) but to no avail, she brought back the regular ones (she said she couldn't find the mini ones.)  I harrumphed and carried on checking out mini-muffin tins when we were out shopping.

Then... Nana asked what we wanted for Christmas.  We needed a roasting dish and as I stared off into space (as I tend to do) Phill reminded me about the mini-muffin tins.  So, as I tend to do once a desire has been fulfilled, I promptly put it out of my mind.  It's quite amazing really.  Anyhow, on Christmas Day, there I was peering at the curiously wrapped packet with my name on it; I wondered idly what it was, but then got caught up in others opening their goodies.  I peeled the paper back from my package, and there they were!  My tins!  (That's what's great about me - I can tell you the gift I really want, but then I forget that I told you I wanted it, so it's still a surprise for me.)

So very yummy!

So yesterday, I baked.  I'm into the easy baking.  These required a bit of work.  But it was so worth it!  If you have a bit of a sweet tooth and have the patience to bake, it's definitely worth a trip over to the Lovely Megan's blog to find the recipe (if you click on recipes in the tags, you'll find it there.)  My chocolate seized up and just wouldn't melt.  I suggest a double boiler (I used my metal bowl on top of a small saucepan - make sure the water doesn't boil and it's just simmering) instead of the microwave (which is what I had done in the first place to make it seize up) A dribble of vegetable oil did the trick and they hardened up just fine when I refrigerated them.  Megan's recipe calls for dark chocolate - I used milk chocolate, as Phill doesn't like dark chocolate.  I have a sneaking suspicion they'd be even better with dark chocolate, as the bitterness would balance out the sweetness of the caramel.  (Of course, then there would be none left on the plate to take a photo of, since I already love them and I'm mad about dark chocolate.) 

I suppose I have to mention that the plate was full yesterday... and Phill only had three... I'm just not sure WHERE the rest went!

Thank you, Megan for posting this delicious, divine and delectable recipe!!

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times... 'F' reappears...

Smiles of ladies on holidays, with over a week left to relax!

The best potatoes ever and some scrummy dinner & our desserts!

A couple of days later, I met The Girls (Ladies Who Lunch) at Prego for lunch (and because I was feeling poorly, I managed to thoroughly disorient myself and walk the wrong direction and couldn't find the restaurant.  Imagine the number of Nerd Points I won when I turned back to find my way to the restaurant, only to realise that I was parked almost directly across the road.  Yes, I am very clever.)  We try to meet every holidays for a catch up over some tasty Italian fare.  It has become somewhat of a tradition, and I look forward to seeing my fabulous girlfriends, as well as the scrummy lunch.  We can't always all make it, but our friends who are unable to make it are always toasted and close to our hearts and thoughts.  

That was all in the first week!

The second week started with a Chai & Chat event in JK that we organised to promote one of our events for Education Week.  As I was still feeling poorly, I wasn't as enthusiastic as I wanted to be for the event.  I was looking forward to it, but feeling like death put a bit of a damper on things.  I was so pleasantly surprised!  There weren't as many of us as we had hoped, but the few of us had such a great time playing games, eating Doritos and pizza.  The best thing was, I got to know some members of the Auckland Jamat.  Good times.  

Miriam's birthday rolled around a couple of days later, so she graciously invited us over for lunch and to celebrate the birthdays of Alana, Bridie and of course, her own.  We all brought a bit for lunch and we were once again blessed with a magnificent spread of food!  I have to say (although I didn't have any) - she made a lovely bacon & egg pie that Phill got to enjoy.  Yet another excellent afternoon spent with excellent company. 

Phillipa, Alana, Sarah, Fiona, Rebecca, Miriam & The Beautiful Birthday Bag

Believe it or not, there's still more... On Saturday, Phill and I made our way to the supermarket.  He (being the awesome guy that he is) thought that we could get a small stuffed turkey roast for Sunday dinner to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.  Upon seeing that a small rolled turkey was $30, I shifted my attention to the whole turkeys in the compartment next door.  I mistakenly assumed that they weren't that expensive.  One thing led to another, phone calls were made to invite Rebecca, Louisa, her friend Kat and Vince over for dinner and it transpired that we had an $80 bird for Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was a bit of a culinary adventure, and I shall spare you the details but I'll just say... the turkey was AWESOME.  A great deal of thanks was given.  I loved starting a new tradition with my family and injecting a bit of Canadiana in our lives!

A very big bird, meant to feed 12-13.  There were 6 of us.

A large pile of turkey (there was more on the bird that we couldn't be bothered to get off) and an equally large pile of stuffing. 

Because we had an abundance of turkey left over (surprise, surprise), I made Wayne a birthday pie since he arrived in Auckland on his birthday.  It was my first attempt at a pie.  I'll be honest (& humble)... it was really good!!  It goes without saying that it was great to have Wayne here for a few days too. 

No pie tastes better than a personalised birthday pie!

 So much yummy goodness... and now, it is obvious why I've had to go back to the gym and have a personal trainer (who I have been cursing all week.)  But it was worth every minute, every yummy mouthful and every single memory and laugh that went with each and every bite.