All Bran Rusks

My dearest Pretty Girl and Handsome

When I was a little girl there were some things that my daddy used to do over and over again.  Like when we were sick he used to bring us a giant coke and a giant packet of chips and put it next to our beds.  And when we were writing a test he used to say “Now, Think! Concentrate! Read the questions carefully, and good luck!”  

Some things he still likes to do today, like playing Mariah Carey really loud, really early on Christmas morning to wake us up.  (Grandpa does this over the phone if we are not actually there, but so far we have been able to protect you from this madness.) 

These things that people do over and over again can be called madness like I just said, but sometimes these things and the people who do them creep into our hearts and we come to love them even when they are terribly annoying and then we call them family traditions. 

You guys have a tradition with your daddy too.  Every morning while you are still warm from bed and adorably sleepy the three of you make your way to the lounge.  Daddy covers you with a blanket and makes you both a mug of milo, with a rusk.  You are both dunkers, and so you dunk your rusks into daddy’s coffee. (I really am not a dunker which is probably why I prefer to drink my coffee in bed where you can’t reach it.)  I love that you have lots of these kind of things to do with daddy, because it makes me very certain that when I go on my amazing adventure next week that the three of you will be just fine.

Pretty Girl, I know that you are feeling a little sad, but what I hope you remember from this trip is not that I am leaving, but that I am going to do the very thing that makes Mommy Mommy.  And I hope that me doing this will help you to learn that as you grow up and look for your place in this world, that you need to look for the very thing that will help make you you. 

Please try to remember to do your homework, and practice your trampoline routine.  Try to show good manners, I know you have them, to all those fantastic mommies who are looking after you.  Try not to tease your brother, he really doesn't like that, and pick up your towel after bathing because when you don’t it drives daddy nuts. Go and be amazing, wonderful child.

Handsome, I know that you have no clue what it going on, and that's okay.  Don’t draw on yourself, rather draw on paper.  Don’t play with Lego outside, it’s very expensive and very small and very hard to find at night.  Sisters are for loving not for annoying.   And no, you may not have chocolate for breakfast even if you ask daddy.  Rock on my little man.

Before you can say From Plate to Page, I will be back at home.  

My precious kiddos, I love you with a crazy-mad-mammas-only kind of loving. 

All my love, Mom

What you need

3 cups white sugar

3 cups (750 g) margarine

1 Lt.  (2 x 500 ml) buttermilk

1 Tbsp. vanilla essence

4 eggs

3 x 500 g self-raising flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

3 cups All Bran Flakes

1. In a large pot, melt the margarine.
2. Add the sugar and the vanilla essence and bring to a gentle boil.
3. Remove from the heat and whisk in the buttermilk.
4. Whisk in the eggs.
5. In a very large mixing bowl, place the remaining dry ingredients.
6. Add the buttermilk mix to the flour mix and bring together well until you can no longer see bits of flour.
7. Divide the mixture between two greased and lined oven trays.
8. Bake at 180˚C for about 45 minutes until baked through.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
10. Cut the rusks to size and place on baking sheets.
11. Place in a warm oven, about 70-100˚Celsius depending on your oven and allow to dry out. I usually put mine in at 70˚and leave them in overnight.
12. Seal in airtight containers.

Chicken and Leek Pie

I was still at school when my sister Miss Chocolate brought home her boyfriend from varsity.  Although we didn't know it then, this very young looking student with the big and crazy laugh was later to become my dearest B-I-L.  I have been out of school for ….coughs and clears throat….over twenty years now, so without needing to be specific, we could say that I have had a brother for twenty odd years.

As far as B-I-Ls go, I would say that I think I got one of the good ones.  Firstly, he eats his steak rare.  That is how you get into our little family, you know, by eating severely under cooked meat.  Secondly, he went along with Dear Husband’s crazy scheme to drag themselves along the Comrades Route, and although that hangs a question mark over his mental state, it also means that he is pretty much up for anything.  And that makes him a really fun uncle, and that makes my kiddo’s just adore him.

Also, if you ever find yourself stuck in a Johannesburg hotel room with just him, your husband and your sister, he will find The Hangover on the telly and make you laugh till your belly hurts.  You must understand that not only is my B-I-L generous by default and mildly smart, he is also one of the funniest people I know.  Back in the day he was a huge fan of Rowan Atkinson and Calvin and Hobbs, but lately I think he feeds his sense of humour by terrorizing his sons and publicly embarrassing his pre-teen daughter by shouting and waving at her across the school parking lot.  As you do.  

The reason I am thinking of my B-I-L today is because I am making Chicken and Leek Pie.  Even though my B-I-L is quite the amateur kitchen enthusiast, coming into his own around Christmas time when he is known to send mince pies and a particularly drunk trifle to the table, there was a time when this poor man just wanted a pie; cooked in his own kitchen, by his own wife.

But his wife did no oblige.  Not once, for many many years.  And to this day no one really knows why.

Miss Chocolate finally relented and has since produced many a pie and I think the matter has now been settled, but every time I make a pie it makes me think of my two crazy lovelies so very far away, who always used to pull faces in photographs and who have thankfully stopped moving house almost every six months, but still eat chocolate (for her) and cookies (for him) every night after dinner.

B-I-L is just my way of saying my “Brother Is a Legend!”  What do you say to making him a pie?

What you need

1 good sized whole chicken
½ tsp. peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3-4 thyme sprigs
1 onion, halved
1 celery stick
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsps. olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 leeks, well washed and thinly sliced
¼ cup butter
¼ cup plain flour
Salt, pepper and nutmeg to season
4 Tbsps. chopped fresh parsley
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 box store bought puff pastry (I use this)
1 Beaten egg, for glazing

1. Begin by cooking the chicken in a manner that yields a good chicken broth.
2. Place the chicken in a large pot.  
3. Pour in enough water to just cover the chicken and then add the peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, onion and celery. 
4. Add the salt and bring to the boil.
5. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour until tender, skimming any white boil froth off the surface. 
6. Remove the chicken and allow to cool, reserve and strain 2 cups of the broth.
7. Strip the meat off the chicken and discard any skin, fat and bones.
8. Shred or cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.   
9. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan and fry the onions and the leeks until softened. 
10. Season well and add to the chicken.
11. In a saucepan make a sauce by melting the butter and then adding the flour. 
12. Stir until it forms a paste and cook out the flour over low heat.
13. Add some of the broth and stir until the mixture is thick and smooth. 
14. Add the rest of the broth.
15. Simmer until thickened and season well.
16. Add enough of this sauce to the chicken to coat it well and then leave to cool.
17. Stir in the parsley and the lemon juice.
18. Very lightly roll out the pastry to just a little bit larger than your pie dish.  
19. Place the cooled pie filling into your pie dish.
20. Brush the edge of the dish with water and place the pastry over the top, sticking the edges to the pie dish.
21. Decorate as you wish.
22. Make a hole in the lid center with the tip of the knife, to allow steam to escape as the pie bakes. 
23. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg.
24. Chill the pie for 15 minutes to set the pastry. 
25. Bake in a preheated oven at 190˚ for 30 - 35 minutes until the pastry is crisp, puffed up and deep golden brown.

In twelve itsy bitsy days we will be en route to London, England.  And that is all I am going to say about that.

Amish Cinnamon Bread

I am being ever so disciplined lately about my work schedule.

I have been blessed with a lot of work and to get through it I decided I had better put a little bit more structure into my morning.  But, because work and I are friends, and because we share a mutual understanding of who is the boss, I have noticed a little ritual creeping into the first half hour at my desk.

Firstly, I donate some time to catching up on social media.  You can judge all you want, but it doesn’t mean it’s not happening!  Once Facebook and Twitter have been scouted, I head over to my blog roll and trawl my favourites.  Currently I follow about 25 blogs so you understand that this can take some time.  Finally, if there is still some time left I head on over to Pinterest to swoon and faint over some online pretty.  I have to set the clock here because the kiddos could go hungry at dinner time if I allowed my pinning to go unchecked.

One such session led me to finding this recipe for Amish cinnamon bread.  I love cinnamon.  I love baked goods.  And I most definitely love baked goods with cinnamon.  So finding this recipe was a no brainer, I had to try it.  One of my favourite memories of being in the USA is the smell of cinnamon buns.  It greets you when you get off the concourse, when you go to the mall and when you wake up in Evergreen Colorado; your uncle is baking the pop tin version complete with frosting.  Oh my Yum!

So I took the recipe and added a cinnamon bun type frosting and the result let me tell you will leave you giddy.  You can find similar recipes on Pinterest here and here.  This is the one I chose, I am giving it to you exactly as I made it.

What you need

1 cup (250g) butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Cinnamon sugar mixture

Mix 2/3 cup sugar with 2 tsp. cinnamon

Maple Frosting

2 cups icing sugar

½- ¾ cup milk

3 Tbsps. (45g) melted butter

2 tsp. maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla essence

1. Cream together the butter and the sugar.
2. Add eggs and beat well.
3. Add the buttermilk, flour and bicarb.
4. Mix to a thick batter.
5. Spoon half of the mixture into the bottom of two lined bread tins.
6. Sprinkle half of the sugar onto the batter and twirl into the batter using a knife.
7. Spoon the remaining batter onto the top of each layer and repeat twirling with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
8. Bake at 180˚C for about 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer test comes out clean.
9. Cool for at least ten minutes before lifting out of the tin.
10. To make the maple frosting, place the icing sugar, melted butter, maple syrup and vanilla essence into a bowl. 
11. Whisk in enough of the milk to make a pourable, but not too runny icing.
12. Drizzle over the loaves.
13. Allow to set slightly before slicing (if you are able to wait that long!)

The recipe makes two loaves and the original said that they freeze well.  So, I don’t think that it is too much of a stretch to assume it meant for you to eat one and freeze one.  I have no experience with the freezing part, and in fact struggle to think where these loaves would last long enough in my house to warrant the application.  I can’t therefor vouch for the freezing part, but if freezing is something you find yourself doing I would suggest freezing before you add the frosting.

I just said freeze / ing like six times. Funny!

Enjoy your weekend y’all.

Irish Colcannon

A little while ago I told you that I had a feeling that 2013 was going to be a very promising year and that I had some awfully big news to tell.  Well, it’s now April and I am still standing by that feeling.  Today, the big big big super exciting news is just under a month away, and I am beginning to feel so excited I could literally pop or is it burst?  Either way I am jump up and down in your pajamas kind of excited folks.

Here is why.  In the first week of May, Photogirl and I are heading off to Dublin, Ireland to take part in the amazingly wonderful Plate to Page 2013 Food Photography and Writing Workshop.  We will be away from home, our we-will- hold- the- fort- hubbies, and our precious kiddos for ten glorious days.

Could. You. Not. Just. Faint??? 

You must go the website, to read all about what is in store for us on this course.  We are truly expectant to be taught so much.  But, even if you are not interested in this at all please do it anyway if only to see the dazzling venue where we will be hosted.

Book-ending this wonderful Ireland experience is a full day of shopping in London, a visit to my wee cousins and now brace yourself, not one but two you are so very spoilt days exploring Paris, said to be one of the most breathtaking cities in the world.

Could. You. Not. Just. Faint??? 

I am beyond excited.   I have to give a shout out to Monsieur R who has so generously gifted our flights to Heathrow as well as an “oh my word” one night treat in a classy London hotel.  Without your help this trip would quite simply not have been possible.  Thank you.  I find myself completely lost for words.

My mind is a whirl of wondering at the moment.  For instance, how close to an Irishman do you have to stand to have the luck of the Irish rub off on you? What are the best things to see and do in Dublin?  Is Zara having a sale?  Is H&M and Top Shop close to our hotel?  How many pairs of shoes are too many for a ten day trip?  How do you say “please can you take a photograph of me in front of the Eiffel Tower” in French?  It’s a wonder I am sleeping at all.

To get into the Irish swing of things, I made my little clan Irish colcannon for dinner.  Let me just say that these mashed potatoes are without a doubt the most delicious, calorific mashed potatoes you will ever eat.  Ever. 

We ate ours with new season carrots and pork bangers, but I guess that with a just a glass of Guinness you would be good to go to.  

Eaten cold the next day, of which I obviously have no experience, it is like a yummy potato salad.  I think.

500 g green or white cabbage

500 g potatoes

1 bunch spring onions, sliced

180 ml cream

Salt and black pepper

½ cup melted butter

1. Wash the cabbage and cut it into thin strips.
2. Cook the cabbage in salted water until wilted but still with a tender bite.
3. Leave to drain well.
4. Boil the potatoes in their skins until soft.
5. Peel and mash the potatoes.
6. Fry the spring onions and the cabbage in 1 tbsp. butter for a few minutes until fragrant and softened.
7. Pour over the cream and while stirring heat until the cream begins to thicken a little.
8. Pour the creamed cabbage mixture over the potatoes and mix well.
9. Season to taste.
10. Just before serving, make a little well in the center of the colcannon and pour in the butter.

There may be more blessed gals around, but at the moment I think probably not.  

Have a good weekend pomegranate days friends, please don't forget to like our Facebook page.