Milk Jam

Initially, I struggled to see the bright side of our fridge breaking down on Sunday. Given that every Saturday evening we get our weekly delivery of organic fruit, veg, bread and milk, it was poor timing on the fridge's part to go on the blink first thing Sunday morning. And sadly, there is no chance of us replacing it with one of these.

Most of our order will last until the repair man makes his once a week visit to these parts, but it's the milk that's issue. Four litres of delicious Elgaar milk needing to be used pronto.
Nothing else for it but to cook up a batch of dulce de leche, or confiture du lait, or plain old milk jam as it's called in our house. Milk with a little sugar, salt and vanilla slowly cooked for hours, which results in a thick, caramel jammy delight. You can eat it on bread, with yoghurt, or even bake some of these. The recipe is super easy, all you need is time, a few litres of milk, and even a fridge on the blink. Which does have a bright side to it after all :: a golden sticky carmel one.

That spoon did not go straight in my mouth I can assure you.
I put the camera down first.

On a healthier note, we've been out in the garden today. I'll show you around later in the week. There's some very exciting developments!

Myrtle spurtle


A very special Mothers Market this weekend. We had two stalls. Not only did we bake our cupcakes but we also provided food for the kitchen. Phew! Exhausting, but I loved it. The best part? Using ingredients from my garden to include in the menu. The last of the pumpkins roasted. Relish made from those tomatoes. Parsley for salads.

We used all local, organic ingredients :: beetroot, greens, celeriac, potatoes, parsnips. And it's always a good sign when we sell out of everything. We now have cake regulars who come prepared with their own boxes and buy up big. "I'll have three of each please." Totally chuffed about that.

Growing your own produce. Making it into something delicious. Then selling it. And hearing the word delicious. Amazing feeling. Couldn't be happier. For all my hard work I treated myself to one of these. Not only a great name, but very useful and extremely good looking. Every kitchen should have one.

An eggspedition

It wasn't the first time the neighbour has telephoned to say there's chicken eggs in her hay shed. In fact, it's becoming an all too regular event. My girls sneaking over the fence to the dry, cosy expanse of the hay shed. To be honest, with all this rain, the conditions we provide are becoming a little damp, so I can hardly blame them for looking for a more comfortable laying spot. I'm just grateful to have such lovely neighbours who don't mind telephoning to let me know of the treasures left in the shed.
So Hugo and I set off down the lane today, climbing the locked gate into the shed to collect thirteen eggs. And we couldn't resist carefully splashing in a few puddles on the way home.
The funny thing is, I'm not really sure who is laying these eggs. As we're collecting at least four eggs a day, and I only have five hens. I've tested the eggs and they're fresh.
It's very peculiar. In fact, it's eggsstrawdinary.
Okay, I've finished with the puns. I know they're not eggsactly funny.

Some cake.

A perfectly glorious chocolate one.
I have, after months of experimenting with kilos of butter, found chocolate frosting nirvana in Martha's new book.

Look closely at its luscious, glossy chocolate peaks.
Perhaps you could come along to the market this weekend and try some on a wee cupcake.
The peeps in the test kitchen certainly loved it.

Heavy weight

My favourite bread made at home is using the no-knead method. Without a doubt. The texture is perfectly chewy and the crust perfectly thick, brown and delicious. But despite the ease of the no-knead, it takes a long a time. Because it's time that does all the work for you. A good 24 hours of watching the clock. Making a loaf means that outings and meals need to be timed around the several simple processes involved. And it makes a small loaf, all that effort could be demolished by breakfast and one sandwich packed for lunch.

But the cooking in the preheated cast iron pot is genius. So I'm experimenting using the cooking method with a traditional dough recipe. This hefty loaf took about four hours total. It's not as good as the no-knead, but with a kilo of flour and seeds, as apposed to 300g, this one should last a couple of days. And besides, when I think about it, I actually like kneading. The recipe needs perfecting, and I'll share it when I get it right. But until then, I've got to try and slice it!

I wandered lonely as a cloud*...


A trip to Coads daffodil farm yesterday. Located in a gorgeous hidden green valley that I never knew existed. There were hundreds of gorgeous daffodils and tulips in full bloom.
And a room with dozens of varieties displayed if you want to order bulbs. I went the easy option and ordered 100 mixed bulbs to be delivered in March. That's a lot of holes to dig.
But if it eventually means a field of flowers like this each spring,
it will be worth it.
* apologies to Mr Wordsworth, but I couldn't think of a better title...

Hope springs eternal


School holidays down our way, and I have to admit I'm having to truly dig deep to find the energy to meet all that motherhood demands. Traveling, a busy market and a nasty bout of the flu has left me feeling exhausted and I'm finding it difficult to find the creativity and patience required to look after two active children.

Thank heavens for blogs and the inspiration I find there. Taking a leaf out of Steve's book, yesterday we headed to Hastings Pool. A gorgeous hours drive south, along meandering roads that wind through small villages and lush green orchards that meet the river's edge. In the much missed spring sunshine, it was so refreshing.
A splash about in the warm water for the little ones, a picnic lunch in the gorgeous grounds and a short walk through the forest were just what the doctor ordered.
On the way back we stopped by the seashore at Dover for afternoon tea, Molly's banana bread. And a quick reconnaissance stop to check out the new pizza place Steve mentioned, which met all of our strict pizza criteria. Can't wait to head back for a weekend lunch.
We're all feeling much better today. Finding a rhythm to our days. And looking forward to some more sunshine, once the fog lifts!

What do you do when you're feeling drained? Where do you turn for inspiration?

My creative space...

Today I'm joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kirsty's. Elsa's class has been working on a recycling theme this term, and when her teacher asked me if I knew where to source plain calico bags for the children to decorate, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for a bit of upcycling. We asked parents to donate old sheets, and we were lucky to score some gorgeous super thick vintage cotton sheets which were perfect to sew into simple shopping totes.

Three mothers set ourselves the task of sewing thirty five bags. At home I cut most of the fabric for the bags (wincing as I cut into those beautiful sheets) and about half of the seventy handles required, in preparation for a session at one mamma's place with an overlocker - one cutting, one ironing, one overlocking. We then split the bags to finish off at home which I did on my mum's not so trusty old singer. Phew! Hard work! I so admire anyone who sews for a living.
Here's Elsa's finished bag decorated with an Antarctic penguin.
Next project is inspired by Amanda's Button Flower Blanket in her lovely new book. This is a chair bag for Elsa at school, made from recycled wool blankets, it hangs on the back of her chair to store bits and pieces. These felted blue flowers are made from one of Hugo's old jumpers and I'll embroider Elsa's name along side them, hopefully sometime today in the sunshine.

Thanks so much to Kirsty for hosting and do check out more creative spaces at Kootoyoo.

Dreaming of blue skies...

The rain is pouring down again. Grey skies.
Stuck inside. School holidays.
It was only a few days ago were at the Greenwich Baths in Sydney.
...Elsa dancing in a 'new' dress...
...Hugo's toes in the sand...

sigh, dreaming of those blue skies today..

Beautiful Bundy

Twenty five people from my husbands clan descended on this beautiful hotel to celebrate my father in laws' eightieth birthday. A sprawling, largely original 1920's hotel in Bundanoon, a sweet town in New South Wales' Southern Highlands. For the little ones there was...
...plenty of space to run around...
...and walks through the village, catching lizards with lovely aunts.
And for me, this gorgeous Aga, apparently the largest coke fueled stove still operating in the southern hemisphere. The manager was kind enough to let me, an Aga groupie, (sad I know) take a peak and some photos. Taking centre stage in the massive hotel kitchen, it was just gorgeous. I'll spare you the hundreds of photos, but the kitchen was massive and divine, and I could easily imagine the thousands of meals prepared in it over the decades.

I'm nostalgically drawn to the classic Australian country hotel kitchen. My great aunt owned a huge country guest house in South Australia, and I have fond memories of sitting on the kitchen counter eating pink wafer biscuits from a big glass jar as a small child. This kitchen brought back those memories from my childhood. And hopefully this weekend created some new ones for our family.

It's been super busy here at chez Hugo and Elsa these past few weeks, so I'm pleased it's school holidays here and we can have some much needed family down time. If only it would stop bloody raining!

Testing, testing

Testing cupcake flavours. This one, vanilla cake filled with rosy rhubarb, topped with a white chocolate and sour cream ganache and pistachios. Phew - a mouthful indeed!
Come say hello and try one here.

wish you were here

We're away for a few days for a big family gathering in the Southern Highlands. Fun times with cousins. Beautiful countryside.
Sunny blue skies.
Be back soon...
...in time for a cupcake stall at the Market this Sunday...

Hugo is showing off his tough pirate pants from Cindy.
Thank you Miss!