Hello Beautiful

Hello beautiful!

Thats what I say every time I see Melbourne.

The streets of Melbourne

Everything is done so stylishly and effortlessly, from the graffiti in Hosier Lane in the CBD, woven wicker sculpture in Federation Square by Patrick Dougherty and a spot of tasteful yarn bombing just up the road, a project that was supported by the City Council.

Graffiti in Hosier Lane in the CBD

Wicker work in Federation Sqaure

Views of the City from inside the sculpture

Yarn bombing

And talking of tasteful, we indulged in a delicious slice of Chocolate Fig tart from the charming 19th Century Hopetoun Tea Rooms -  a real treat and a must if you are in the area. 

Chocolate Fig Tart

We spied some beautifully presented macaroons ...

Macaroons

and found some non homogenised milk by Jonesy's Dairy Fresh - and enjoyed scooping the cream floating in the top of the carton. Yum! Decadent top quality milk at regular prices (only $4 for 2 litres. I refuse to buy the cheap milk from Coles or Woolies)

Jonesy's non homogenised milk

By this stage we were travelling through the countryside and found a charming some charming scenes

and a fabulous shop that sold local produce and delicious home made cakes, including an intriguing Persian cake that was flavoured with cardamom. Unfortunately I was too full from lunch to indulge, but Ive found a similar recipe here.

Inside Cliffy's Emporium

Love letter from the resident jam maker - cute!

 And to top it off a National Trust plaque that reads:

"On this spot on the first day of March 1755 nothing much happened. It was a very, very peaceful day".

Polish Rose Petal Jam

If you are lucky enough to have rose bushes in your garden that flowers abundantly I have found the most marvellous and easy way to preserve the petals.

Its the Polish way of making rose petal jam which involves no cooking and is really quick.

Gather and wash your petals, put in the blender with sugar and mix until the sugar is the colour of the petals. You can mix until the petals are completely blended and smooth, or leave it chunky so that there is the occasional petal in the mix.

The batch I made is still crystallised (rather than syrupy) and perfect to sprinkle on top of fruit salad and home made yogurt. Yum!

Cooking with Flowers - part 1

Just before Christmas my roses were flowering like crazy. They're just outside my back door, and stepping into the garden I was immediately surrounded by their heavenly perfume.  It was simply delightful!

The roses were so bountiful I decided to make some Rose Petal Jam. Its really easy and I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Rose Petal Jam

60 roses (petals removed from the stalk)

1kg sugar

1 litre water

1 ts citric acid

Place the rose petals, sugar and water in a large pan and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 20 minutes

Add citric acid and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.

Whilst warm, pour the jam into sterilised jars and seal. (The easiest way is to put them through a dishwasher, or you can wash them in warm soapy water, rinse, and place upside down on a baking tray in a 150 degrees C oven for 30 minutes. The jars should be hot when the jam is ready to pour)

Makes about 6 small jars.

Whilst writing this I remembered that its not always easy to tell when the jam has set. There are a couple of ways to check this. 

1. Keep a small saucer in the freezer and when you think the jam is ready, drop a little bit on the saucer. If the drop gets a skin on it, you know the jam is ready.
2. Another trick is to use a thermometer. When the temperature reaches 105 degrees C the jam is ready.
3. Another trick is to omit the citric acid and replace with Jamsetta (available from supermarkets) this takes the guess work out of it and you get great jam, every time.

The great thing with rose petal jam, is that if it doesnt quite set you've got rose water, which you can also use in cooking.

A great recipe to use Rose Petal Jam is Rose and Almond Shortbread. I found this recipe on www.taste.com.au 

Rose and Almond Shortbread

• 
  
• 180g soft butter
• 125g (3/4 cup) icing sugar mixture, sifted
• 1 x 100g pkt almond meal
• 115g (3/4 cup) plain flour
• 45g (1/4 cup) white rice flour
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tbs rosewater essence (I use rose petal jam watered down)
• 125g (3/4 cup) icing sugar mixture, extra, to dust

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease. Use an electric beater to beat together the butter and icing sugar mixture in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the almond meal and sift over the flours and ground cloves. Stir until well combined.
2. Use your hands to roll heaped tablespoonsful of mixture into 8cm long logs. Shape into crescents and place on prepared trays, about 3cm apart. Bake in preheated oven, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 25 minutes or until cooked through and light golden. Remove from oven.
3. Lightly brush shortbreads with rosewater essence and set aside on trays for 30 minutes to cool and firm.
4. Dust shortbreads with extra icing sugar, turning to evenly coat in the sugar. Set aside for a further 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Enjoy! x

Im dreaming of a green Christmas

Christmas for me is a chance to spend time with family and loved ones. Not a commercial event where so many unwanted gifts end up gathering dust or in the trash. So last year I decided that all my Christmas pressies had to be thoughtful and environmentally friendly! 

I set myself some rules: I wanted to give gifts that would be enjoyed, but would have little impact on the environment. So I decided that hampers were the way to go. Recycled baskets from the local opshop were filled with home made jams and chutneys (using recycled glass jars collected throughout the year).  

 

Handmade cards, decorated with beaded snowflakes (which could be reused as Christmas ornaments) labeled each basket, and exotic fruit added a touch of colour. Each basket included a hand printed linen tea towel (by yours truly). Although I didnt make the wine (thats another project on my growing list of things to do!) at least it was in recyclable glass bottles.

Ginger dipped in dark chocolate, and other delicacies  were wrapped in grease proof paper and tied with string.

Happily all the contents of my Christmas baskets were biodegradable.

This year my Christmas presents will be handmade again, and I am working within another theme. Its so much fun, but I cant give away any more.... shhhh its a secret until Christmas day x

Green Walnut Liquor & Winter Sunshine

At the beginning of this year I decided to make some green walnut liquor. I had been inspired by an Italian interior designer I met whilst I was working in London who told me the process involved in making it. It involved picking the green fruit on a certain day of the year (St Johns Day June 24, the equivalent to our December 24), the fermentation process which required moving the fruit steeped in liquor so that it sat on a window sill that got the morning light, and then moved to another window sill to absorb the afternoon light. This was to be done for 40 nights and 40 days - before adding a sugar syrup and setting it to rest for 6 months.

I could just envisage a jar of the green walnut liquor sitting on a window sill in Tuscany and was romanced by the idea. Plus the liquor is so fragrant and exotic, I simply had to try making some. Mum just happens to have a walnut tree in her back yard which provides the most beautiful dappled shade in summer.

Picking the green walnuts using one of my recycled plastic bag crochet baskets to gather the fruit.

The green walnuts soaking in vodka with cinnamon and lemon.

After 40 days and 40 nights the walnuts turn black.

The finished liquor.

Making the most of the sunshine in my kitchen (and a partially restored cabinet - rescued from the side of the road).

My kitchen gets the most glorious sunshine on winter days, so I decided to make the most of its warmth yesterday by finishing the green walnut liquor which had been languishing, neglected on the top of my fridge for a number of months. It tastes pretty good already, Im looking forward to sharing it with friends and family.

Well, thats one project Ive finished which I can cross of my list. You'll be pleased to know that Ive almost finished the thrice knitted jumper - it just needs to be sewn together.

If you would like the recipe for green walnut liquor click here for an article which was published earlier this year in the Canberra Times Food and Wine section. It also has a recipe for Cherry Plum jam which is also incredibly delicious.

Enjoy! x

My first house warming presents

Whilst wandering past the shop front of a local antiques dealer this delightful light blue set of kitchen scales caught my eye.

Perfect for jam making AND the perfect colour for my kitchen I couldn't resist and bought them using a house warming cash gift.

They are pictured here helping with their first recipe - quince jam. The fruit was also gifted to me following my reputation as a jam maker :)

Yummmm

Autumn Harvest and Half Hearted Days

Today whilst I was driving home something red in the trees caught my eye. I slowed down to check it out and to my delight it was a wild apple tree growing by the side of the road.

It must've been serendipitous because only moments before I was thinking I should make some chutney with some old apples I had in the fridge which were perfect for jamming, but too floury to eat.

I couldn't resist temptation and I picked a basket full of the delightful tiny fruit.

Amazingly the majority were unspoilt by bugs and insects. They look like they could be Gala apples- although Im not terribly good with apple varieties. They are sweet and tart to eat.

And so cute and photogenic!

Anyway they inspired me to get cooking. Last week a friend of mine was telling me about Apple Butter she used to eat with fried biscuits (like a scone, apparently its an American thing) so I was curious to see how you make it.

I found a recipe which looked pretty easy to make and got started. I choose it because I didn't have an apple peeler and the idea of peeling each of the tiny apples was pretty unappealing....

So I cut and cooked the apples in a water and vinegar solution and they were starting to soften nicely. The next stage of the recipe called for the boiled apples to be passed through a sieve - this sounded too hard to me - so I just blended them together and then added the sugar and spices....... It wasn't until the end of the cooking that I realised that straining the mixture gives it the 'buttery' texture. Because I was in a half hearted mood I had just made thick apple sauce! Its still yummy though and now I want to make the recipe properly.

In my searching I also found a recipe for making the apple sauce in the slow cooker or crock pot which takes about 12 hours. This looks like another easy recipe :) I am a big fan of this cooking device and so tomorrow morning I will be embarking on Apple Butter #2.

Im also hoping to make a Bengal Chutney - its main ingredient is also apples. I used to make this one all the time when I sold jams and chutneys for pocket money when I was studying at Art School. I cant find my original recipe (its stashed somewhere safe) but I found a similar one on the web.

You can click on the links below to each of the recipes I am referring to :

• Apple Butter
• Apple Butter cooked in the slow cooker
• Bengal Chutney

Whilst delighting in my discover of a windfall of apples it reminded me of a movement which I heard about in London where people were sharing fruits off neglected trees in urban environments. I found a page where someone was starting to document all the trees in London called Urban Forager - a fantastic idea! I don't like to see food go to waste, which got me started dabbling with the alchemy of preserving fruit in the first place.

With a little further research, I found an article in the Sydney Morning Herald similar concept undertaken by a Sydney sider.

Hmmmm. I could be onto something here.... there's heaps of old fruit trees near where I live.

Food for Thought - as they say!