cake and elephants

It's the middle of the feijoa season and we have an abundance. We've been giving them away to neighbours and workmates (isn't everybody at this time of year?) but still have too many. If you're in the same situation you might like to use some up by making this recipe for ginger and feijoa cake. It's delicious, moist, easy to make and uses up 500 grams of feijoa pulp. It's good with lemon icing and might be even better with the addition of walnuts.

I was hoping to have a small herd of elephants made but I'm afraid there's only two. I used this free pattern.

Reading: I've just started The last hours by Minette Walters. It's set in Dorset, England in 1348 and tells how the lady of the manor and her serfs survive the plague. Lady Anne is progressive in her ideas about equality, education, religion and healthcare possibly because Walters is writing from a modern perspective. The characters are (so far) predictable. The book is unbelievable but I don't want to stop reading it.

Watching: Wild, wild country on Netflix. This is a documentary series about guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and the commune he established near the tiny, isolated town of Antelope, Oregon in the 1980s.

home and away

We've just had a wonderful week staying in Russell in the Bay of Islands. Russell is a lovely town and there's plenty to do up there.

I'd recommend

• a visit to Waitangi and the new museum

• a boat trip to Urupukapuka Island - the pohutukawa and flax were in bloom and full of bees and tui plus you often get to see dolphins in the harbour

• doing the full circle walk from Russell to Opua to Paihia. It's a bit of a stretch - 14km - but you can stop half way at Opua for lunch at the marina.

• Pompallier House - they now have a small café. You can sit on the verandah drinking coffee and eating croissant while looking out on the garden and harbour.

• swimming at Long Beach

And back home, the cornflowers are in full bloom and bringing lots of bees into the garden. And the christmas cake is fresh from the oven. It's a "blonde" fruit cake that can be made close to christmas. The recipe is Eliza's fruit cake by Annabel Langbein. It contains prunes which give it a wonderful, moist texture. Last year I spent ages decorating the cake with concentric circles of blanched almonds but this year I got lazy and simply scattered sliced almonds over the top. Have you made your cake yet?

Reading:
Tin man by Sarah Winman. This is a novel about what might have been, memories, sexual identity and love - of childhood friends Ellis and Michael and, later, of Ellis and Annie. It's a well written book but it lost me about two-thirds through. ***

Bertie's guide to life and mothers by Alexander McCall Smith (44 Scotland Street series) I found this in one of the local book exchange cupboards when I was looking for something light and quick for a holiday read. Which is exactly what I got. I like McCall Smith's #1 ladies' detective agency series but Bertie's guide was just too twee for me. **

Listening: Tiny desk concert by Cat Stevens

shortbread

A new apron for Gus - just like this one - made from her kindergarten fundraiser tea towel. It's very cute with each child's self-portrait printed on it.

And cranberry shortbread cookies. The recipe is available in Donna Hay's The christmas issue Dec/Jan 2018. Really good. I made them to take to a thanksgiving dinner at the across-the-road neighbours. A nice christmas gift too for family, friends, or neighbours.

Watching: Alias Grace on Netflix. This is based on Margaret Atwood's book of the same name. It's a fictionalised telling of the murders in 1843 of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in Canada. Grace Marks was a servant in the Kinnear household and was only sixteen when she and James McDermott were accused of the murders. ****

Have a lovely week.

sweet

An apron made from a tea towel for the grand one. 

To make an apron you'll need:

a tea towel

ribbon for the ties - I used 2cm wide cotton twill

a pair of "D" rings

Hold the tea towel up against your child to calculate the length, the width of the yoke across the top edge and the placement of the ties at the waist. Cut off any excess length and fold up and sew a narrow double hem. Draw a line on each side connecting the corner of the yoke and waist. Add a seam allowance. Cut away triangle corners and sew a narrow double hem along sides of apron. Attach side ties folding under raw edges. Double hem the tie ends. Attach the "D" rings to the end of one neck tie. Attach both neck ties. 

We had a great morning last week wearing our aprons and baking.

Ginger bread cookies

100gm butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 tbsp golden syrup

1 cup wholemeal flour or wholemeal spelt

1/2 cup plain flour

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line baking trays with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar until pale and soft. Sift and add ginger and baking soda. Add golden syrup. Gradually add flours. 

Gather the dough together using your hands and turn it out onto a well floured surface. Roll the dough out using extra flour so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and carefully place onto trays. Decorate with dried fruit - currants, glazed cherries etc. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.

lunch lady yoga

Lunch lady is an Australian quarterly made by the creators of frankie magazine and it's my favourite magazine right now. It has a parenting/family focus with a lot of fun creative ideas, recipes and great photography. That weighty looking loaf is the Feel-good banana + quinoa bread from issue #4 and it is truly delicious. It makes quite a big loaf but you can slice it up and freeze it. It toasts up really well.

And I have finally started practising yoga at home thanks to Canadian teacher Melissa West. She has free one-hour videos on youtube with beginners and intermediate classes. I started with her beginners' class 101 and I'm now working my way through the beginners series. I think it's important to find a teacher you like and Melissa is just right for me. And I feel great. I think I put off doing yoga at home because I wanted to set up a designated yoga space but, sometimes, you can't wait for things to be perfect. You just have to start.

Listening: Leon Russell and the Shelter People by Leon Russell and the Shelter People - my own tribute to Leon Russell who died on Sunday, November 13.

beginnings

Spring is happening in the garden with a few flowers in bloom - polyanthus, primula, freesia, daphne. I really like the primula. It's such a simple flower but cute with its little spot of yellow. And I love how the flower clusters branch off the stalk in layers. It reminds me of a wedding cake.

We have new across-the-road neighbours. My lovely next door neighbour organised an afternoon tea to welcome them and I baked and took these lemon and rosemary biscuits. It's one of my favourite recipes and you can find it here. Next door neighbour got out her best flowery china cups and we sat in the garden drinking tea and eating treats and getting to know each other.

passionfruit

Our passion fruit vine is doing really well this year and producing lots of fruit. It seems a shame to cook summer fruit because it's all so delicious fresh. However, passion fruit cupcakes are a simple treat and fun for children to (help) make and decorate. This recipe works every time.


Passion fruit cupcakes
75 g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/4 cup passion fruit pulp (fresh or preserved)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp self-raising flour

Beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in passion fruit, then fold in sifted flour.
Line cupcake pan with paper cases. Half fill cases with mixture and bake at 180ºC for 12-15 mins.

Ice and decorate however you want. Lemon or passion fruit icing is good.

Watching: Women he's undressed A documentary about the life of Australian costume designer and three time Oscar winner Orry Kelly.

lemon and rosemary

I took a batch of these biscuits up to Martins Bay. I've made them many times and they're really very good. And popular. Here's the recipe. I hope you get the chance to make them.

Lemon and rosemary biscuits
1 cup caster sugar
1 heaped tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 heaped tbsp finely chopped lemon zest
170g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, rosemary and lemon zest. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter, olive oil and 3/4 cup of the sugar mixture until light and fluffy.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well to combine. Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a firm ball of dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Divide the dough into about 20 balls. Roll each one in the leftover sugar mixture and place on the baking tray. Flatten firmly with your hand or the bottom of a glass. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture on top of the biscuits.
Bake for 12 minutes until lightly golden. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Reading: bonnie delicious, petite kitchen, and my darling lemon thyme.