Cuteness overload with these two this afternoon.
xx Em
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Posted with Blogsy
Monday, July 13, 2015
Coffee Kisses
Last day of school hols and we're housebound. This poor Mumma has finally succumbed to the boys virus and my lungs are on fire. We had hoped to go for a wintery picnic at the Botanic Gardens today but...cest la vie!
So, I thought I'd do another foodie post from the weekend.
This time...Coffee Kisses.
I altered this recipe from Taste. I used only brown sugar because I'd run out of icing sugar and I omitted the chocolate filling because I wasn't in the mood for anything overly sweet. Turned out a treat.
Ingredients
100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
250g butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon coffee essence
265g (1 & 3/4 cups) plain flour, sifted
50g (1/3 cup) cornflour, sifted
Directions
Preheat oven to 160C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Beat brown sugar, coffee essence and butter in a bowl until pale and creamy. Fold in combined flour and cornflour. Mix to form a soft dough. Use floured hands to roll a teaspoon of mixture into balls. Place on prepared tray. Flatten slightly with a lightly floured fork. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until pale golden. Cool biscuits on trays.
Perfectly easy and quick to make.
Enjoy xx Em
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Tuna Mornay Pies
It's been a busy weekend in the kitchen.
I whipped up some tuna mornay pies this afternoon and they were so good I thought I'd share the recipe. Actually, I didn't follow a recipe, I just threw it together and hoped for the best. So...here goes.
Ingredients
Two sheets of readymade shortcrust pastry
185g tin of dolphin safe tuna in spring water.
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Plain Flour
2 cups Milk
1/2 cup Parmesan & Mozzerella
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper
2 Sweet Potato
Butter
Cream
Black Pepper
1 cup Mozzerella extra
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.
Spray muffin tin with oil and line the bottom of each hole with a circle of baking paper (I cut them slightly larger than the base).
To make the mornay, heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes or until melted and foaming. Add flour. Cook, stirring with a whisk until mixture bubbles. Remove pan from heat. Slowly add milk, 1/4 cup at a time, whisking constantly to prevent lumps forming. Return to heat and stir regularly until sauce thickens. Add cheese, mustard and salt & pepper to taste. When cheese has melted into the sauce add the tuna. Set aside.
Steam sweet potato and mash with a bit of butter, seasoning and splash of cream.
Cut large circles of pastry, four per sheet, then shape two more circles from the leftover scraps of pastry. I used 7cm muffin holes so I cut 11cm circles of pastry to ensure nice high sides to the pies. Mould each circle of pastry into the muffin holes and make a couple of cuts in the bases to allow air to escape.
Place in the oven for approx 10 mins to blind bake. Remove from oven and use the back of a teaspoon to press pastry cases back into shape if any have air pockets.
Fill the cases with the tuna mornay, top with sweet potato and a sprinkling of Mozzerella. Place back into the oven until cheese is golden brown.
Fab for lunch boxes or dinner with a side salad.
Enjoy!
xx Em
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Comforting Crumble
All the kitchens along Brambly Hedge were warm and busy.
Hot soups, punches and puddings bubbled, and in the ovens pies browned and sizzled.
Clover and Catkin helped Mrs Apple string crabapples to roast over the fire. The boys had to sit and watch because they ate too many.
"It's not that I mind, dears, but we must have SOME left for the punch!"
Brambly Hedge Winter Story ~ Jill Barklem
xx Em
Dexman
It wouldn't be winter without at least one trip to the ER with Jack.
Both boys came down with a lurgie on the weekend, dashing our plans to visit friends in the Blue Mountains on Monday. I was drowning my disappointment in a glass of red and some dark chocolate on Sunday night when the unmistakable bark of croup rang out from Jack's room and he stumbled out in a panic, not able to breathe. Normally I would manage it at home but we'd run out of ventolin, making a late night trip to the hospital an annoying necessity.
It was a long night and he was a real little trouper...finally discharged at 5am, pumped full of Dexamethasone and ventolin. I'm amazed that we got home in one piece. Between the pea soup fog, the kangaroos bounding out onto the road and my extreme fatigue after an all nighter in emergency...the drive home was intense to say the least. We were both asleep by six and Jack was awake again at seven. Husband came to the rescue and took the day off work to let me catch a few more hours sleep. Good Husband!
The Jackman has since morphed into Dexman...faster than a speeding bullet, crazier than wiley coyote and blasting everyone around him with his killer cough and accordion wheeze.
Sleeping at night is for sissies but crashing on the couch during the day is totes cool.
Our week of catching up with dear friends has become a week of boardgames, art & craft and movie marathons at home, interspersed with doses of ventolin, neurofen and Mummy cuddles.
Hoping that this feverish little guy perks up in the next few days.
xx Em
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Two Winters
Winter school hols are upon us. We've been keeping busy this week with play dates and playgrounds. It was an icy nine degrees today and drizzling rain, but that didn't deter us from going on a little adventure.
First stop...coffee and macarons at 4th Seed.
Then on to Queanbeyan Station to catch a fast train...
...just over an hour north to Goulburn.
We had enough time for a little stroll to the boys favourite park and duck into Roses cafe for a spot of afternoon tea before heading back to the station to catch another train home. It didn't matter that a cold wind blew and the rain was like ice...Harry and Jack were happy exploring and I was happy snapping the gorgeous architecture of the old court house.
A simple day trip that filled little boys hearts to the brim with joy.
"In reality, Little Ones, there are two winters. One made for kids; the other for adults. The one made for adults is always too cold and always too long. The one made for kids is always perfect. A kid winter is an endless and wild snow carnival where all the rides are free."
― Carew Papritz, The Legacy Letters: His Wife, His Children, His Final Gift.
xx Em
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