Devon Sandwiches

Did you ever get Devon Sandwiches in your lunchbox when you were growing up?
You may also know this meat product as Luncheon  or Veal German. 

It's a real family favourite around here, it's cheap, it's tasty and it lasts forever....God knows what it's made with though, you always hear all these awful stories about what goes in it, not to mention all the preservatives.

Here's a nice homemade version of Devon, it's a much healthier alternative, it's quite simple and it's fun to make.  

If your not a fan of the commercially made product then you must try this sometime, I'm sure you'll be impressed.  

Homemade Devon Sausage

1/2 cup chopped onion

 1 x tab chopped capsicum

2 x tab butter

2 x eggs, beaten

1/3 cup tomato juice 

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 teasp salt

1/4 teasp dry mustard

750gm minced beef

250gm minced pork

Cook the onion and capsicum in butter until soft but not brown.  Combine with all the other ingredients in a food processor until well mixed and mushy.

Set out a sheet of tin foil and roll the mixture into a sausage, secure the ends. 

Bake at 180 degrees for approx 1 1/2 hours.  Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.  

When cooled, store in the fridge, slice as needed.  Can be eaten like a meatloaf with a fresh crisp salad or steamed veggies or enjoyed at it's best on a freshly made sandwich.  Like any standard cooked meat, it will only keep in the fridge for a couple of days, but it does freeze well.  Sliced or left whole.
Also a handy little sausage to take all wrapped up to a picnic...

Devon Cheese & Tomato toasties...

My all time favourite, Devon and Tomato sauce.....

Sew Recycled

Lately, and I mean mostly Late at Night, I have been finding much pleasure getting to know my new Sewing Machine.  Being a new Hobby for me unfortunately I don't have a huge stash of fabrics to play with, but I have been quite surprised with what I have found around the home to re-purpose. 

A huge array of fabrics just sitting in my wardrobe, a few old favourites that have been out grown, outworn or out dated stuffed into the Rag Box and stored away in the hand me downs box,all just waiting to be picked up and put to good use.

An old and 'way too small for me' blouse, 

now a new Library Book Bag....

Did I really ever fit into that?

A favourite t-shirt that ended up with a paint stain on the front. I couldn't remove the paint so I just took off the whole front!

 The back has made a very handy little drawstring bag.

Another favourite dress becomes a toy bag...

A hand me down top a little too stretched for any more wear...

  becomes a handy size purse bag for my wool and  maybe a little crochet needle bag to go with it...

 And old, hardly ever worn t-shirts

 become T-shirt Bags.

My daughter tells me she's not wearing these anymore, so I told her I would put them to good use...

" Mum" she says, "we're not that Poor,. We don't have to turn our old clothes into Bags! How embarrassing!!" 

 NO, we don't my dear, But aren't they cute, and it is so much fun and I think I'm really clever and come on, lets give one to your friends for Christmas....."Oh MUM!!!"

She's slowly getting it, she does love the idea of it, even though she thinks I'm a little bit nuts, I'm sure she'll come round and she'll be packing them full of clothes for the next sleepover.  

For a quick an easy t-shirt/blouse bag

JUST stitch up the bottom. . . and cut off the sleeves. . . 

A Giants Garden

This is not what I expected when I planted my Button Squash seeds a few months ago...

 

Nowhere on the packet did it say they were Giants Buttons....!

 

I'm thinking it's my new miracle grow fertiliser.... Sheep's poops! Everything in the garden is so productive, these little squash went form normal size to oversize in just a couple of days, and they are totally the Sweetest Squash I have ever tasted! 

Nothing in comparison to last years crop.

YUM!

How to Preserve Husbands

Husbands, like peaches, will not keep all year round unless they are well preserved.  First select him carefully: be sure he is not too green, neither should he be overripe. He might look very tempting and mellow in the market but if he is too old he will not stand the test of the preserving process, but will expose his hard stoney heart.

Husbands grown in the tropics of pleasure look very fine, but are usually insipid. The home grown are the best!  Select your husband, if possible, from a family tree growing on the sunny side of the Church – you will be sure he has a sound heart.  Unsound husbands, like unsound peaches, often have to be sorrowfully cast away.  Having selected your husband, you should have a clear, steady, cheery fire of love – your preserving pan, (The Home) must be clean and neat.  Give him plenty of sweetness, much sugar is needed – vinegar is never used in sweet preserves.  If you think he demands a little spice, use it with caution.  Do not keep stirring him up, neither should you keep poking him with sharp points to see if he is done – it will spoil his good looks. 
 If you follow this recipe, love will be preserved.....

My Hubby
There were always certain qualities that were important to me and in my mind and heart I always carried an image, a fantasy, a wish I guess, of a wonderful person I could love totally...  My Husband has given me what I always wished for, fun and laughter, concern and understanding, a trustworthy friend, a lover to cherish,  a partner in everything I do, a dependable, caring and supportive father for our children, he's a good provider and a great handyman around the Home.  The backbone of our family, I would be completely lost without him.
Sometimes I think I stir him up just a little too much, but I have learnt that if add a little bit of extra sugar, a dash of patience and a pound of understanding at the end of the day, it seems to keep everything blending quite nicely in our little preserving pan...  

Have you preserved your Husband yet? 
 Maybe you have had him salted and cured or perhaps sugar coated, is he pickled, soaked up with Brandy or Rum...

 Maybe you've Smoked him!!

The above preserving recipe is just one of my many favourite recipes from the Wheatland’s  70^th  Jubilee Recipe Book  1913 – 1983.

 I just love old style country cookbooks,  I have quite a collection in my cupboard, mostly from the local country areas where either myself or my husband grew up. 

This Wheatland’s recipe book was snatched from passed onto me from my mother. Wheatlands is a very small rural area in the South Burnett district, Queensland, near where my family grew up.  It is like a bible to me. It is  full of great old fashioned recipes, 

and I found this particular preserve is the wonderful 

Handy Hints section.

There is no author attached to this particular piece above nor the other kind words of wisdom and random sayings scattered throughout the pages, but I would like to acknowledge the Wheatland P&C association and Jubilee committee and all the cooks who kindly donated their time and favourite recipes for this special edition back in 1983.
Well done Ladies...

The Great Cabbage Harvest

I'm very proud of my little Cabbage Patch but I'm not a real lover of Cabbage,  I don't mind it boiled up occasionally with a little dob of butter and sprinkle of salt & pepper especially with a Corned Beef dinner.  

I also do the 'Chinese Mince' dish, with heaps of cabbage and rice and I can think of a great use for the leaves in about 4 months time...

but other than that... 

What do you do with Cabbage?

A new tradition...

With much pressure from a growing group of little GOBLINS that call themselves the children, 

I decided to bring Halloween into our house this year. 

Because we live out in the sticks, and "always miss out on everything" (referring to trick or treat in the street), I thought there is no reason why we still can't have a bit of SPOOKY Fun! 

 So with the littlest one in bed, we all enjoyed a feast of Dinner in a Pumpkin, Vampires blood to wash it down and Eyeballs and Worms in Jelly to finish it off, a few Spooky decorations and it was a Halloween we'll all be talking about forever....especially the cobwebs that got tangled up on everyone's plate, Yugck ! 

 I think this one is here to stay, so we'll make some fun of it, join the other half of the world, and get down and get spooky next year again...