Wednesday, August 17, 2011

StephanieL: Domestic Goddess: Jammed

StephanieL: Domestic Goddess: Jammed

Jammed


Homemade strawberry jam in a minute. This is a blatant rip from Play School I saw recently, but my husband was so impressed I had to write it up!!

In a glass bowl or jug, put as many cut strawberries as you can afford - I like to buy from Aldi, about half the cost of Woolies or Coles! Diagram 1, shows cut strawberries for anyone living under a rock.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice, and as much sugar as you like - I think we used about 3 tablespoons for the amount of strawberries.

Put it in the microwave for a minute, stir and check consistency. If its not yet Jammed just nuke again until its ready! Diagram 2 is homemade jam and Diagram 3 is homemade jam on homemade yogurt - but that's another blog entirely...

Dont just Live. Be Alive!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Rub your tummy and pat your head

My newborn used to get pretty bad wind, especially after mummy had indulged in a pizza with garlic and onion.

The burping technique for a baby with wind is to rub and pat their back and until they burp; apparently!  I'm beginning to think it's a bit of an old wives tale, contrived just so mothers feel in some way that they are helping the natural order of things.

Think about it: - how many times have you had a big burp develop by someone wacking you on the back? some, none? Or, is it more that the positions we put the baby in are actually conducive to burping anyway? Sitting up slightly bent over for example - next time you feel like a burp, lean forward and listen to the almighty sound propel from your hole!! There is only one way to help a baby burp and its not rubbing your tummy while patting your head.

Its Infacol!!

Monday, August 8, 2011

A little bit Avo!

I had been craving a much loved meal from one of my favorite restaurants that deliver; but that's not the only reason I like restaurant; and last night I got to order it!

The dish is Chicken Avocado. It's not a 5 star dish, but it appeals to my pallet and when it's done correctly the blend of nutty avocado, creamy sauce and chicken are a win! I had my taste buds drowning in my watering mouth as I waited for the dish. Unfortunately, 7 and a half minutes later, my tastebuds were left thoroughly deflated.... not unlike after eating a family size bag of salt n vinegar chips....

The subtlety of chicken breast cries out for perfect execution of the cooking technique chosen.  When accompanied by fresh avocado, again with its light flavours the marriage between the two ingredients can only be sealed by an expert sauce. On this occasion, sadly, the bath of cream - barely salted, did not cut it. And there is the problem! If the sauce can not "cut through" the subtleness of the chicken and avocado; well then the whole dish is just a little bit 'avo"...

So with disappointment in my mouth, I was determined to right a wrong and re-do the dish myself at home. , I set off sauteeing my breast of chicken .... then adding some white wine to the pan to poach it along. Nothing worse than hard breast...

Once the chicken has finished poaching in the wine and a lovely caramel is left in the pan, I removed the chicken and rested it in foil. While I continue slugging white wine around the kitchen I remembered that I had actually opened the bottle to use in the sauce and donated some to my pan to deglaze. A bit of cream at the end and pour over the splayed avocado and chicken and Yum YUM chicken dinner!

Sometimes it really is better to cook it yourself at home...

Friday, May 27, 2011

its just soo ... Vanilla

So many people sing the praises of the most classic flavour of all, "Vanilla". But there's a reason the English lingo has adapted this word in context of describing something 'plain', 'generic' or 'boring'.  With so many other wonderful flavours available, why would anyone willingly chose Vanilla. In my mind, the only thing Vanilla has done for the culinary world is lend itself in some artifical numerical form to "Creamy Soda" soft drink. I'm sick of the pons that Masterchefians are going on with, flaunting their expert vanilla bean scraping technique. Frankly I would rather take that scraper and pierce myself in the neck with it, rather than eat vanilla....

Utterly utterly rotton to be Ginger

Homegrown ginger freshly plucked from the garden! I feel a curry is in the pipe... Which is odd because that usually happens after it's eaten...