I Love Pink

Blue is for boys and pink is for girls... well that's what they used to say anyway. The lines are a little more blurred these days though. However I unashamedly love pink. This pink velvet tea cosy, a gift from my sister is one of the favorite things in my kitchen. When I spotted this 'old school' paisley, pink, hessian oven cloth at the Hospice shop I reached for it in such a hurry I nearly toppled over myself! I was afraid someone else may nab it ahead of me! You don't see them so much now. I have since been enjoying looking at it lounging on my bench next to G's tea cosy adding to the pink-ness of the little domestic scene! The other day I added a pink plate with freshly baked Louise Cake to complete the girly look!

Last week, after much deliberation I ordered some gorgeous pink wool to knit myself a cardy. The lovely, helpful woman at our local wool shop has suggested I allow her to monitor my progress to make sure this one fits! Part of the reason I love pink so much is that certain shades of it really compliment my skin tone. It suits me! Just as well I like it so much since we have four daughters which has meant a serious amount of pink things over the years!

We took some of the pink cake around to some friends last weekend who were in the process of moving house. They have two little boys so I'm sure a dose of pink will do them good! Call me old fashioned if you like, I don't mind - I like old fashioned, especially when it comes to recipes like this one!
Louise Cake

150gms butter
1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs separated
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup raspberry jam (or plum)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup coconut

Cream butter and first measure of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks. Sift flour and baking powder together. Stir into creamed mixture. Press dough into a 20 x 30 cm sponge roll tin lined with baking paper. Spread jam over the base. In a bowl beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Mix in the second measure of sugar and coconut. Spread this meringue mixture over the jam. Bake at 180 deg C for 30 minutes or until meringue is dry and lightly coloured. Cut into squares while still warm.

Luxurious Cocoa

This little cocoa tin was amongst my Mother-in-law's sewing things that were given to me when she passed away. I keep it on a shelf in my kitchen. It reminds me of days gone by when Cocoa was much more of a luxury item than it is today. It is Rowntree Cocoa, Manufactured by Rowntree Mackintosh LTD, York, England - perhaps cocoa was imported to NZ in days gone by. It contained a mere 1/4 pound = 113gms. Our commonly used Cadbury Cocoa is a 250gm pack. On the back of this little tin it reads - 'To make cocoa. Measure out a tsp of cocoa for each cup required. Add sugar to taste. Pour on a little milk and mix to a smooth paste. Then pour on boiling milk (or milk and water).'

When I stayed at my Nana & Grandad Main's place when I was a child, they would make us hot cocoa to drink. It was a bit of a novelty to us as we had Milo at home. You certainly don't hear of it as a drink now. I checked on my Cadbury Cocoa packet, there is certainly no recipe for cocoa as a drink.

A quick visit to the Cadbury website and I learned that 'in 1884 Richard Hudson of Dunedin purchased and operated what was thought to be the first chocolate and cocoa manufacturing plant in the Southern Hemisphere.' Maybe that wee Cocoa tin originated in My Mother-in-Law's Mother's sewing basket or kitchen???
What Cocoa tales of days gone by do you 'mature' bloggers have for us?

There has certainly been a lot of debate around 'the chocolate-y-ness' of our local NZ chocolate...
A lot of our more 'modern' baking recipes have LOTS of cocoa AND cooking chocolate... very rich and luxurious!!! I am going back to some of the old-school recipes that are still chocolate-y and tasty but not so rich and hard on the stomach. This morning I made one of our family favorites - and enjoyed thinking of my darling Mother-in law and all the Peanut Brownies she must have baked over the years for her family of 10!

Peanut Brownies.

1 egg
125gms butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 dessertspns cocoa
1 cup peanuts
1/2 tsp salt

Beat butter and sugar to a cream, then add egg, flour, baking powder, peanuts and cocoa. Make into balls and bake 180 deg C for 15 minutes.

I roast my peanuts in the oven at 200 deg C first and cool them completely.

From My Kitchen Window

Sometimes as I walk past my kitchen sink bench I catch a glimpse out the window that takes my breath away! A beautiful sunset to close my day's work in the most magnificent way! The bench is clear, the oven is cold and my apron is hanging on it's peg. A moment to reflect and be awestruck and thankful.

During the day if I look beyond a few rooftops, my window affords me views of rolling hills, hedges and trees.... cattle grazing and the occasional tractor slowly making it's way across my horizon. And it changes all the time through the various seasons and different days weather. We live 'in town' but I love that we still have an outlook. One of the first things my Darling Man assesses a property by is 'outlook' - it must have one for it to rate in his books! Fair enough too, I have come to appreciate the importance of it more and more as time goes by. It is a wonderful thing to be able to 'look beyond' both in the physical and in the spiritual realm as well. Hope is kept alive by being able to look beyond our present circumstances to a brighter future. Meanwhile I am very content with every daily blessing as well as the magnificent glimpses of heaven's beauty that my Creator paints in the sky for me to view from my kitchen window!

To Knit or Not to Knit

For the first time in what seems like an eternal summer, I have found myself reaching for a cardy! The end of February signals the 'calendar' end of summer. As soon as my days open and close with a 'hint of chill' I start thinking of knitting. Not just the woolen 'colour play' of 'hot water bottle cover art' but a serious 'cardy' or 'man jersey' project.

Then I remember what happened this time last year and I feel a little nervous caution creep in... 'do I really want to go there again?', I ask myself! You see what happened is this. It took me ages to decide on a pattern 'cause I'm pretty fussy about style and fit. Then I carefully selected a beautiful, soft, pearly-grey, fluffy mohair. I knitted with care and precision a pattern that was manageable for my skill level with a bit of challenge thrown in. I launched out on the strength of the fact that our lovely, local knitting shop owner promised to rescue me if I got stuck. The project gave me hours of mesmerizing pleasure. Some of that related to the anticipation of actually wearing this gorgeous, fluffy garment!
However toward the end stages I became painfully aware of the fact that it wasn't going to fit me. I finished it off artfully with a selection of shell buttons of subtly different shades, that I had collected over many years. I tried it on and y e s, i t f i t t e d but not in a way that I am most comfortable with. Naturally I was deeply disappointed. I cried when I saw my Darling Man's beautifully sympathetic face! He had personally witnessed the hours that had gone into it.

Then something lovely happened. One of our gorgeous girls popped in to say 'hi'. I instantly knew what to do. I said, 'Try this on darling'. She was flabbergasted because she too knew of the dedication to my 'cardy' project. Reluctantly she obeyed and it fitted her beautifully - as if it were made for her. Without hesitation I gave my cardy away. It went to a good home!
So will I or won't I? That's the big question. Despite last years disappointment I feel the weather cooling, I hear the cicada's late summer song and I still feel a strong pull towards our local wool shop to find a pattern and put some wool away to begin a new cardy. This time I will rigorously check my tension to make sure it's a 'keeper'.

Sunbathing

While our tomatoes sun themselves on our kitchen windowsill I am scratching at a couple of wee patches of peeling skin from my recent sunbathing efforts! Tomatoes have been a bit slow to come on this summer but we are now starting to stash a few so that I can make some relish. I adore a daub of relish with a meaty, home-kill sausage! I did my first relish making last summer and am quite converted to the concept. This is what I wrote this time last year before I had started up my blog....

18 February 2009. Today I made Tomato Relish! Quite momentous for me - my first attempt at 'preserves'. Although my Darling Man and I did bottle some beetroot out of our garden a few months ago. He really likes beetroot and cheese sandwiches.

To prepare myself to 'do something' with the mounting pile of tomatoes for our garden - I read up every recipe for tomato relish in my possession. Deciding it all looked quite manageable I set about making a combination of three of the most appealing and workable recipes. It seems to have turned out rather tasty. The big test will be when my Darling Man comes home and slops some on a cracker and cheese. I was rather heavy-handed with the mustard, curry powder and cayenne pepper so it is quite a 'perky' brew! He will like that. On the jars I have slapped some of the cute 'Cecily' labels that Dean & Erica gave me for Christmas.

The photo doesn't really record the momentous occasion truthfully - it's a set up photo shot taken after all the clean up. In actual fact, I ended up with relish splodges in lots of different places all around my kitchen, by the time I juggled the sterile jars, heavy pot and HOT, sticky relish!!! All things considered I am encouraged and keen to have a go at Plum Jam next.

Re-reading what I wrote last year confirms to me that we ARE having such a different tomato season this year. Last year we had a 'mounting pile' - this year I am counting to see if I have enough for the recipe... that is after we've eaten some fresh in salads and on crackers and sandwiches!

Sharon's Version of Tomato Relish

12 medium tomatoes
6 onions
600mls malt vinegar
500gms sugar
1 Tblspn salt
1/2 Tblspn mustard powder
1/2 Tblspn curry powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
crushed garlic to taste

Cut up tomatoes and onions, cover with vinegar and stand for one hour. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Then add all other ingredients. Stir well and boil for one hour. Stir occasionally. Thicken with 3 Tblspns of flour mixed to a paste with some vinegar. Bottle and seal.

Nectar

Nectarines are in season - 'run down your chin' juicy and sweet. I decided that they may go well in a muffin with a bit of strong Vanilla Essence, a few threads of shredded coconut and a sprinkling of chopped white chocolate.

Cafe muffins can often be disappointing - sometimes stodgy or too LARGE like a doorstop or so sweet that the only thing you can taste is the chocolate and not the fruit. I think an excellent muffin is light, and the flavors are individually recognisable and yet combined they enhance the overall 'muffin experience'. I am happy to report that my mornings muffin making was quite satisfactory. The nectarine tasted like it was lightly poached but kept its shape and flavor. The coconut was just a 'hint flavor' and the odd sweet burst of white chocolate and vanilla brought in a little sweet relief.

The cotton/linen serviette is part of a previously un-opened, 'as new' boxed set I picked up recently from a second hand shop. It has a reasonable sized table cloth to match. I love the colours!

The fruit muffin recipe I use is a basic one that allows you to use your own combination of fruit-y, sweet-y flavors. I've tried a few different combination's. I'm sure you have some of your own up your sleeve.

Carey-Lee & Israel's Fruit Muffins

100 gms butter
1 cup milk
4 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1 egg
1 cup of any fruit
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup choc chips (optional)

Melt butter, add egg and beat well. Add milk, fruit and sugar - mix well. Add flour, baking powder and chocolate. Stir but don't over-mix. Cook at 200 deg C for 15 minutes.

My muffins pictured had a generous cup of chopped, fresh nectarine, 1/4 cup of shredded coconut and 1/4 cup chopped white chocolate. I also sprinkled a little coconut on each muffin before putting them in the oven which toasted up a treat!

A Stitch in Time

You never know what you may be called upon to do when you are looking after children. My Darling Man had to re-stitch Barbie's boob tube - a mending job that would normally fall to me but since I was busy teaching the other two children to knit - my hands were full! I must say, by the way, that I am extremely jealous that he is still able to thread a needle without the aid of glasses! He did a fine repair job and Barbie was soon up and running again. Well, back 'in the game' anyway. Littl-ey toddled off quite happily to resume her play.




The knitting lessons required a slightly longer term commitment - we had several goes at it while our nephew and nieces were with us. We also had a lot of fun in amongst the frustrations. I love the whole concept of the passing on of skills. My Mum is a fabulous knitter - she was originally taught by her aunt. Our own daughter knits cute little jerseys and things for her work-mates babies. She was first taught by my Mum when she was about 4 yrs old. We all have to start somewhere. I am thankful for my Mum's patience in teaching me to knit as well. My niece had a head start because one of her other aunties had already covered the basics with her in a previous school holiday.


My nephew was heartily encouraged for his efforts when we spoke of it at the school office the next day - someone commented that 'back in the day in Scotland knitting was a craft strictly for the men!' Apparently during the Renaissance, men were the only ones who could join knitting guilds, while women took care of spinning.







1855 Shepherd knitting while watching his flock!
HISTORY OF KNITTING

Anyway, both my stitching students did very well and are on their way to knitting their first 'peggy square'.
And I love that my bloke-sy, grunty, Darling Man is happy to do things that might normally be designated as 'woman's work'.

Cobbers

My Dad and his 'cobbers' are pictured here at Dad's 21st Birthday party! When we were children one of those 'cobbers' used to send us a sackful of sweetcorn in late summer all the way from Sunny Gisborne. I think they traveled on the NZ Road Services bus! We would munch away at the sweet, juicy kernels with melted butter dripping down our little chins. To this day I always think of 'Uncle Keith' whenever I eat corn on the cob! He also used to send us lumpy sacks of pumpkins. Beautiful, deep orange, dry but sweet pumpkin that Mum would roast to perfection - YUM! The other 'cobber' drove trucks for Refrigerated Freight Liners and we would look out for him whenever we traveled the Napier-Taupo Road to visit our Nana, and our aunties, uncles and cousins. Dad would say, 'Hey, I wonder if that is Uncle Charlie?'

The really special thing is that these three men here pictured all went to school together and are still friends to this day! They and their wives still get together about every 6 months for a weekend in some interesting place. They have now all moved on from their hardest days of toil to more appropriate retirement activities, although Mum and Dad did pass one of Uncle Keith's lovely pumpkins onto us recently so he is still involved in farming to some extent. Uncle Charlie painstakingly restores old cars into purring things of beauty. And my own lovely Dad (far right) is no longer organising runs for Fonterra Tanker Drivers but now drives City Buses in Rotorua. I feel very proud of my parents and their ability to maintain long term friendships. I also admire their friendliness towards and genuine interest in new acquaintances. They have set us a good example to follow.

All reminiscing aside.... sweet corn is in season - we eat it as often as we can while it's fresh with lots of butter and salt. AND I'm sneaking a bunch of cobs fully clothed in their husks and silky tassels into our freezer to microwave and add to winter soups later on!

Quiet Mornings

When my Darling Man is catching some zzz's after Night Shift I need to do quiet things so that he can get the best possible sleep. A lot of my most favorite things are 'quiet things'. Knitting being one of them. Sometimes it is a seriously addictive pass-time. Since it's all about the colour for me I find I simply can't put it down! I think to myself - 'I will just do the next colour and see what it will look like...' then 'just the next colour to see how that works in... ' and on it goes. Before I know it I have almost made a hot-water-bottle cover in one quiet morning. Other things I do quietly are reading, crosswords, writing, blogging, painting my toenails.... catching up on my weekend magazines. It's all very pleasant to while away some hours quietly until such a time as my Darling Man emerges from his slumber!

Loving Cambridge

About once a month I accompany my friend on a pleasant little jaunt to Cambridge. We ducked into the main street, triangular cafe to order our coffee and a tasty morsel and tucked ourselves up in the 'corner snug' to enjoy a catch up on life's ups and downs and happenings. The company of a good friend over coffee was a most enjoyable beginning to my lovely time in Cambridge. We meandered up the street and poked our noses in a few shops and the odd dressing room to try on as well. I tried on this gorgeous wee frock from the sale rack at OobyRyn. It was nice on but didn't quite 'grab me' enough to buy it. I have since read that Robyn Brooks, Ooby Ryn's fashion designer also does award winning millinery by special order. So if you are ever in need of a hat....

My friend duly went off to her appointment and I was left to my own devices for an hour or so. I love a wander and a fossick in Cambridge - especially in their Second Hand shops! I usually do the rounds while I'm there...
I scored big time! Some cute vintage fabric. Another New Zealand made '70's Coffee mug for my collection. A dainty silver oblong cake plate with a cute handle which I will endow with some suitably dainty baking one day... watch this space! A nice little paisley, silky top that fitted me just fine. I like dear old paisley patterns! A piece of expensive looking upholstery fabric in gorgeous colours to make cushions for my retro chair for a mere two bucks! I usually pop into Kate Fitzpatrick's to drool over their fancy domestic wares. I splashed out a cute wee tea cosy card for my niece's Birthday! Feeling chuffed with my purchases I took a walk up toward the Town Hall to find a now much needed toilet! Back in the days they used to call it 'spending a penny', in Cambridge it costs you 50 cents - money well spent in my opinion!
The architecture and gardens within the town limits are quite beautiful and seemed to look particularly stunning bathed in summer sunshine. I then remembered the HertiageGallery I love to look around there - the artwork is varied and interesting. One day if I come into some money I might just head in there and buy something. Meantime I am happy to enjoy a visual feast of art appreciation for a moment or two and dream about what I would buy if I could!
Yep I love Cambridge - its a special place. My grandparents used to live there so I think about them too and remember quite clearly our browsings in Wright's bookshop and coming away with a colouring book and a new set of un-spoilt, shiny crayons! On other visits to Cambridge with my friend I have spent time thumbing through their lovely books. The town's gift shops are divine too!

I have heard that the Cambridge Farmers Market which is held weekly on a Saturday is well worth checking out as well....

Lovely, lovely - so many things to see and do in a quaint little rural town where most things are within easy walking distance for a happy wanderer!