Tea Anyone?

Many many years ago when our family consisted of only two adults and two children, we would wake up on a Sunday morning and treat ourselves to a nice big  breakfast of Bacon and Eggs and sit sipping an endless pot of tea on the back deck . . .

Our Sunday mornings soon got a little more hectic with the addition of a third, fourth and fifth child and for a while there, there was no such thing as Sunday morning breakfast, come to think of it there still isn't !! 

BUT, we have started a new tradition.  To avoid the rush first thing in the morning we have started 'Doing Tea'  on the Weekends, Morning Tea or Afternoon Tea, it doesn't matter, no pressure . . . as long as it done together,  with a pot of Tea for mum and dad, 

a pot of Milo for the kids

and a batch of freshly baked Pikelets, Scones or Cake of the Day! 

I keep this recipe stapled inside my kitchen cupboard 

Pikelets

3 eggs

4 tabsp sugar

2 cups milk

3 cups sr flour

sprinkle of salt

2 tabsp melted butter

Place eggs, sugar and milk onto a bowl and whisk well together

Beat in flour and salt then add melted butter and mix to make a nice smooth batter. 

Drop dessertspoonfuls onto a hot buttered fry pan.  Turn over once bubbles start to appear on the top and cook on the other side.

Serve with a lather of butter, sprinkle of sugar and squeeze of fresh lemon juice

This batch makes up about 25 - 30 pikelets.

ENJOY !!  We do . . .

Dried Fig Jam

Five times so far this month I have purchased  Fresh Strawberries in the hope of making up a nice big Yummy batch of Strawberry Jam,  an absolute favourite in this house.  Five times this month they have been eaten before I have even thought about reaching into the  cupboard for my preserving pan!

With no Jam left in the fridge, no strawberries left in the basket and me needing to fill a desire to preserve, I remembered the dried figs sitting at the back of the cupboard. So, Dried Fig Jam it is then!! 

Dried Fig Jam Recipe

Not the childrens favourite on hot buttered toast but It does go down quite nicely served as an after dinner treat with a slices of ripe Brie and  fresh Pear . . . 

Chicken of the Week Part VI

SIZZLES, A Sizzle is a cross breed between a Silkie and a Frizzle...

I purchased these two as chicks in a pot luck pen.  I was told that some of the chicks were born with the characteristics of a Silkie and had 5 toes on each foot, other were born with normal chicken feet!!

 I decided on one with 5 toes and one with 4 toes.

It's really been amazing watching these two grow up and change along the way at first I though I had myself a Rooster but then realised she was just the four toed cross, so she would be mostly Frizzle... 

 

It is really hard to get a clear photo of these girls as their feathers keep flapping around in the wind . . .

This one is obviously carrying more Silkie, She's a beautiful thing, so pretty to look at.  Very quiet girls they are too, they keep very much to themselves, even perching on an outside limb of an evening....

Real 17th Century Madame's aren't they, with their fashionable high collars and ruffles.  

Looking for two Grand names . . .What do you think?

And as for Last weeks chooks....

Well once again so many names to choose from, it's taken me a little while to submit this post as It has been just too hard to choose a name from everyone's wonderful suggestions. But Finally . . .
For Miss Cranky Pants I just couldn't go past Mrs Tipple,
 Suzanne wrote "my grade one teacher, who was nasty as I remember, her name was Mrs Tipple.....heaven forbid if you called her Mrs Tickle by mistake, as we often did". You do come up with some fabulous names Suzanne, thank you.

And after much deliberation I decided on Hilda for the Old boiler..., thanks Christine.

Thanks to all of you who played last week, there were some really strong and interesting names amongst them, I could have chosen any of them. Next week, for the Sizzles, I'll be making it easier on myself and the names will be picked from a HAT!!

I have just realised that I have never announced the new identities of my Tin Chooks, keepers of my garden.

Please meet Tinothy & Tinele... many thanks Fiona...

I sit waiting with anticipation for some Sizzling new Names....

On My Mind...

I can not stop thinking about the Pavlova we had for our 

'If you Eat all your Dinner' treat last night, it was made with freshly laid eggs, and topped with our own sour passionfruit and freshly picked strawberries from our trip to the berry farm earlier in the week.

Half of it still sits in the fridge, I can't resist it any longer.  Is it OK to have a slice with a cuppa  for morning tea....   I think so.....  :)

BEST EVER and as always EASY . . .

Pavlova Recipe

6 large eggs,  at room temperature

(The fresher the eggs the better, as the eggs whites are firmer)

1  ¼  cups caster sugar

2 teasp cornflour

1 teasp white vinegar

1/2 teasp vanilla extract

Firstly Preheat your oven to 120°C.

Line  a baking tray with baking paper or alfoil, lightly grease and  dust with a little cornflour and put to the side.

Separate the eggs, we are using the whites only.  Be very careful not to get any yolk into the white as it will not whisk up to the proper consistency that is needed for a meringue.

The yolks can still be used for other baking, store in the fridge but do use within two days.

Beat the egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form.

Gradually add the sugar a little at a time,  beating well after each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar dissolved.

Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk until just combined.

Spoon the meringue mixture into the centre of your lined baking tray,

Shape the Pavlova into an even circle and use a spatula to smooth out the top and edges.

Bake in the oven for approx 1 ½ hours, gently touch the Pavlova, It should be dry.

Turn off oven and leave Pavlova in oven with the door slightly open until it is completely cold.

Gently transfer your Pavlova to a serving plate ready to decorate.

 Beat 300 mls of thickened cream with 1 teasp icing sugar until thick and spreadable.

Layer cream over the top of the Pavlova.

Then just add your favourite toppings.  I used Strawberries and Passionfruit today but any combination of mixed berries or tropical fruits are fine.

ENJOY!!

On my mind today with Rhonda @ Down to Earth 

Winter Wednesday

Winter means:  The start of Strawberry Season

 

  And today it was PICK YOUR OWN at our Local Strawberry Farm

  Rows and Rows and Rows of Fresh Strawberries . . . 

I don't think there could be anything better about Winter than this, but do pop on over to Hazel's place to see what other are enjoying about these lovely Winter days . . .

Twins!!

 

 

 

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