Peter Rabbit's Food

I'm not going to bore you with the entire menu list but I did think there were a couple tips worth mentioning if you are wanting to theme along these lines.

The fresh crunchy vegetable platters were popular starters. I managed to get a couple of mini cabbages from the girls at the growers market that I go to and this was an ideal size to put the Tzatziki dip in. Alana cut the top third off and then cut and also used a tablespoon to make a cavity big enough. We had a corn relish dip in the capsicum half.

Here she is, the gorgeous Alana, with her mini carrot cakes frosted with a cream cheese and maple syrup frosting. They were divine! But the decorations were so fabulous. She made carrots, mini peas in pods and rabbits from marzipan. They were sooo cute.

We also got the idea for these little cheesecakes from Patches Of Heaven but I worked out a recipe and will include it below because this was soooo easy and I will definitely be doing this again for other crowd catering functions. The little tubes are about 75ml and I got them and the mini spoons from a caterers supplier. This "recipe" could be adapted and changed in so many ways and I love that there is no waiting for things to set and each layer can be made and spooned in. I found using a parfait spoon was the perfect spoon for this job. This recipe uses a number of very Australian ingredients (as in the packaging style and sizing) so if you live overseas you will have to do a bit of research to find your equivalents.

Layered Mini Cheesecakes

makes 30 x 75ml tubes

1 packet of gingernut biscuits (cookies) crushed

place as the base layer in the tube

Whip together 1 packet of Philadelphia cream cheese 

and 1 tin of condensed milk

with the juice of one lemon

place a layer in the tube atop the biscuit

Roughly blend 500g of mixed frozen berries 

with a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar

and a tablespoon of grenadine

so that you have a lumpy sauceish fruity layer

don't process it too finely as it is about texture as well as flavours.

Whip 300ml of cream

Top off the layers and add a berry on top for decoration.

The idea is that the guests can dig spoon through the layers with their mini spoons and get creaminess and tart berry flavours with gooey cheesecake richness and the crunch of biscuit.

My friend Kat has also used a gingernut base with cheesecake flavoured with orange zest, elderflower concentrate and rosewater and a blueberry compote on top. She is a divine master baker but you see what I mean about adapting the recipe. You could even do a tiramisu themed layer or a tropical style with coconut and pineapple....

Lots and lots of good things to eat, most of themed around produce from Mr McGregor's garden; cucumber  sandwiches, asparagus rolls, mini quiches and chicken, celery, walnut rounds and all washed down with icy elderflower punch.

Huge thanks to the girls helping me and to all the people who surprised us with platters too!

Apple and Raspberry with Salty Cashew & Macadamia Caramel Crumble - Trad and Thermomix Versions

This was a bit of a hit last night both with the recipients and some on facebook asked for a recipe.

It is not a real recipe as such but more of a twist on a traditional apple crumble.

I am still picking Granny Smiths from the tree in the back yard and I think they are the best cooked texture for a crumble. I used raspberries from the freezer but I could just as easily used blueberries. If you are still using rhubarb from the garden, great, that will go well too.

pre-heat oven to 180C

For the crumble

5 Tabs butter

2 Tabs plain flour

5 Tabs brown sugar

1 Tabs oats optional

1 cup of salted cashew and macadamias (or use walnuts, almonds etc they all work great)

Rub the butter into the flour with fingertips till it is combined. It will be a bit more buttery that a traditional crumble mix. Add the sugar and oats chopped nuts. You should have a coarse crumby mix.

OR

Process in your food processor being careful not to over-combine.

Thermomix method - place 100g butter chopped and 50g flour and 100g brown sugar 20g oats (optional) and 150g nuts

Process on speed 4 for 4secs. Check mix and process another 2 secs if needed for coarse crumbly topping. Set aside.

For the base

6 large Granny Smith apples peeled and cored and cut into chunks

juice of one lemon

1 cup of raspberries (or blueberries or rhubarb cut into chunks)

Place the apples in a saucepan with about 80ml of water and lemon juice and cook gently till slightly softened but not collapsing or mushy. (Cook the rhubarb too if you are using it and you may want to add some sugar to taste but don't get too carried away - you want to be able to taste the rhubarb)

Thermomix method - Place apple in the thermomix with 80g of water and lemon juice

7-10min, Reverse, speed 1

In a buttered casserole/baking/pie dish

place the apple and berries

top with the crumble

Bake for about 20mins or till bubbling and slightly golden brown on top.

The butter and brown sugar cook and combine to create a caramel like flavour so you really cannot substitute and still get the same flavour. The fruit will have softened further, if you really like to bite into pieces do not pre-soften your fruit, simply place the chunks with a drizzle of juice and water straight into the baking dish. 

This should serve about 6 people or 4 if your helpings are large.

I serve with the Thermomix egg custard in the everyday cookbook but I use less flour so it's not so thick.

Ice-cream and cream are also winners.

As with any of these things and Murphy's Law, if you notice a mistake let me know so I can edit it. 

Paddocks of Inspiration

I wish I had taken the camera on our trip to Devonport but it's amazing what you can capture with a phone all the same. 

This week a work colleague and I had a day trip and the weather was perfect.

Breasting each hill, we exclaimed again and again at the vivid greens of pasture contrasting with lush chocolate volcanic soils. The paddocks have been freshly ploughed and planted with spring crops and the countryside is like a giant quilt counterpane.

The gorse bushes in flower (noxious weed that they are) seem more vivid and electric than I have ever seen them before. They are almost luminescent and bold.

All the dams and ponds are full adding to the checker-board vista in every valley.

I rather think my hearts reflect that feeling in the Tasmanian landscape; ploughed fields, bush copses, invading gorse, rich pastures and reflecting dams.

BUT THAT"S ENOUGH OF THOSE HEARTS......

After fasting overnight for our annual routine blood test we were revved up and ready for a big breakfast and the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm did not disappoint us (never has in al the years I've been going there) and we had a BIIIGGGG breakfast by the open fire with a beautiful pot of peppermint and raspberry tea.

And this is what they are famous for,

chocolate covered raspberries to die for.

So on we went and there was a bit of shopping at the Antique Emporium and other homewares type shops in Devonport and before we knew it it was time to meet a friend at Latrobe for lunch.

I think he was a bit disappointed with our pancake order as we were still too dated with breakfast.

Couldn't even fit a coffee in!

But you'll laugh...

you know where we had lunch.....

at the Cherry Shed in Latrobe.

Also very nice and I think these farms are very clever having an operating cafe in their off season to keep the income ticking over till it's time to sell the fruit again and they are also able to value add to their product by having the fruit preserved as ice-creams and vinegars, jams and syrups.

Really smart.

Then it was back into Latrobe for a bit more shopping and we did our bit for the Tasmanian economy, sprinkling a bit of money here and there.

I bought a couple of Xmas presents and some candles that I am going to craft to go with my new Christmas range.

But the bargain of the day has to be the Wedgwood egg coddler I bought for $5.00  !!!!

BARGAIN!

Time to head for home.

Tulip Farm

For Craig's mother's 80th birthday present, we took her along the North West Coast of Tasmania with a visit to the Tulip Farm as the highlight of the trip. The Tulip Farm is located just outside the small town of Wynyard where the pastures are lush and the soil rich red brown. To the north is Bass Straight beyond undulating cliffs. To the south beyond the checkerboard of pasture and crop fields are the blue and purple peaks of the highland mountains, their tops still lightly dusted with snow.

The sights were breathtaking, the kind that make you glad to be alive.

It was freezing! Only 7 degrees C at midday so we were very rugged up! The lighthouse in the distance shows how close the farm is to the cliff tops.

If you have ever heard of colour therapy then you will understand when I say that it felt like we were breathing in energy from the intense blocks of colour surrounding us. There were lots of visitors and I could tell they were all feeling the same way by the delight on their faces as we gazed at complete strangers with silly grins!

We had a wonderful time and a suitably memorable one for the 80yr olds birthday. Sometimes the best present you can give someone is....your time. It was a whole day of adventure and enjoyment.

We also went to Penguin hee hee! I can highly recommend the "Groovy Penguin" cafe for breakfast!

Another must see is the emporium of emporiums....Reliquaire of Latrobe, a maze of 20 rooms filled floor to ceiling with dolls, venetian masks, sciencenalia, educational toys, gifts, puzzles, puppets, costumes, cosmetics, antiques, replica Roman and Greek statuary, period restoration ware. Every week is a different theme and the staff are all dressed in costume and everyone who enters is greeted with a character bearing a silver salver of homemade fudge. This trip I bought all the little toys I need for my Christmas bon bons this year. Every year I have a colour theme for Christmas and I make the bon bons (crackers) in kind with all the toys inside following the theme. Everyone loves them and looks forward to them each year and there is lots of playtime at the table!

After Latrobe we stopped at Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm for a very late lunch. Their specialty is raspberries completely encased in rich dark chocolate. You need to pop the whole thing in your mouth at once and as you bite into it the raspberry explodes through the chocolate with intense moist memories of summer.

A blissful day was had and truly you would never think Ann is a day over 65 really!

P.S. I also found some Royal Worcester egg coddlers at the Leven Antique Centre in Ulverstone. The small were $15 and the large $25 which is very good buying for anyone looking for egg coddlers to pass down through the generations.

Remedy for Chickens

This is a big jar of medecine for the chickens.....

It's raspberries mashed into water and is a great cure for diahorrea in chooks.

The little chickens have been going nuts over the not so fabulous tomatoes and I think this is what has led to some loose motions.

So they are back on pure grain and the raspberry added to the drinking water. This fixes them within 12-24 hours and they LOVE raspberries even more than tomatoes.

Raspberry Slice

I bought a kilo (2lb) of raspberries from the Evandale market on Sunday with the intention of making jam but couldn't resist using some in a slice. I modified a date slice recipe I had which is SOooo simple and although it is a little on the crumbly side, it tastes devine and has kept it's yummy berry colours.

In a bowl mix 1 cup of Self Raising flour (all purpose flour with baking powder added), 1 cup of coconut and 1/2 cup sugar. Then fold through 1 cup of fresh raspberries so that they are dusted and evenly distributed. You don't want to go crazy here and smash them, otherwise you loose the lovely colour and raspberry lumps exploding in your mouth.
Next melt 125g of butter (1/4 pound) and add 2 tabs of milk. Mix this gently into the dry ingredients to get it evenly moist and then place into a shallow slice tin pressing it gently. My favourite tin is a wavy-edged rectangular tin 33cm x 10cm x 2.5cm with it's removable base. It looks beautiful to present, is easy to remove and cuts into really neat fingers for serving. Bake in a moderate oven for about 20-25mins. till it is lightly golden.
It's worth having a go with frozen berries too.