inner pickle

recipe for honey cakes

There's something about honey cakes that makes me feel medieval. In a good way.

Honey was the sweetener of choice in the early Middle Ages (my period) and I always imagine people sitting outside little one room houses in small villages surrounded by enormous forests, nibbling honey cakes.

Which of course they weren't as they were too busy farming or sewing or brewing or baking or praying or fighting. 

I also had one of these:

 

Duck eggs are fabulous in baking! My neighbours have a duck and gave me this. 

How better to use it up than make up a pretend medieval recipe? Perfect.

These are a cross between a scone and a biscuit. Not very sweet, just a bit crumbly. Probably excellent with mead or hippocras (spiced wine) if you have them on hand. Lovely with a cup of tea. Great in a school lunchbox. 

HONEY CAKES

Ingredients:

125 butter, melted

1 tblsp honey

1 egg (chook egg is fine, duck if you have one!)

2 cups self-raising flour

1 good tsp garam masala

2 tblsp milk

 

Method:

Stir together the melted butter, the honey, the egg and the milk until mixed well. Then sift over the flour and garam masala and mix well.

Spoon onto a greased or lined baking tray into golf ball sized balls. 

Bake on 180 deg for approx 20 mins or until golden. 

 

 

What's in your lunchbox this week?

xxx

Recipe for kids cookie-cutter cookies

or: Play with your food!

Hi!

I promised the recipe for those yummo cut-out-cookies we made last week. 

It's based on a Donna Hay recipe scrawled down from a very old Donny Hay magazine, and I love it because the dough holds its shape while the kids cut it out and the biscuits are delicious. Buttery and sweet and the perfect crumblyness. 

You don't have to press these into shapes - you can make scoop biscuits and just press down with a fork. You can roll it flat, spread with jam (or I've used Nutella) and roll up like a jam rolly and slice. Very pretty.

The raw dough freezes well - if you don't need so many biscuits, just freeze the remainder till next time.

INGREDIENTS:

250g butter, soft

¾ cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

2¼ cups plain (all-purpose) flour

METHOD:

Cream your butter and sugar. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat well. Beat in the flour until dough comes together. Knead a little bit then wrap in plastic wrap and leave in fridge for 30 mins to firm up.

Heat oven to 180 deg. C.

Roll out biscuits and put onto paper-lined biscuit trays. Bake for approx 10-12 mins or until golden. 

 

The Christmas treats are thick on the ground here - we've got edible gifts for teachers and friends all going out the door! More tomorrow!

xxx

so you think you can sew

Turns out that while I can whip up a straight seam or two, small, precise baby shoes were completely beyond me. 

Hopeless.

Not the fault of the pattern. (Yep, I was not even getting close to that.)

She did say something about a seam allowance which I may have disregarded.

At my peril.

Because I am at heart a valiant optimist I'll give these another go. After I finish all my Christmas sewing. And Ivy's feet will not go cold. 

I may have mentioned my epic failure to my friend Jo, and she left a little bag of these on my doorstep; handmade and outgrown by her smallies:

She is officially my sewing hero. 

And so to assuage my lingering sense of failure, I baked these. My first recipe from Good To The Grain. 

They're good, of course they're good, they are chocolate chunk cookies, but I was a little bit horrified at the amount of butter (250g) and sugar (2 cups) in them. I actually prefer the good old visitor biscuit, made on wholegrain flour, with the two things I learnt from this recipe:

1. don't use choc chips - break up a block of chocolate. (I may be behind the eight ball but I thought this was genius) and

2. add a good pinch of salt. Also genius. Lifted it beautifully.

Hope your day has been a fair balance of success and failure!

xxx

festive

:: Celebrating sweet small person moving from not feeding, needing to be constantly carried and very obviously utterly miserable to small sweet person with a headcold. I think she may have had a dreadful sore throat yesterday, today she's just snotty but peaceful. And feeding. (Important in a Walmsley.)

:: Writing lists of handmade Christmas gift ideas, inspired by this post over at Soulemama. I've got a few ideas: dresses or skirts for small girls, stencilled T-shirts or pyjama pants  for boys, maybe a beanie or two if I can get the damn gauge right. (I've blogged too many beanie stuff ups here already.) Pickles or jam? Caramel, chocolate hazelnut truffles or Peppermint bark? SO MUCH FUN. 

People have so much stuff they don't want, already. The whole idea of the big commercial Christmas, exchanging more stuff that no one needs makes me very uncomfortable. Short of giving everyone a goat, which is earnest but not so much fun, I'm going to put my head down and make some things. Any ideas?

:: Nibbling on honey jumbles. Recipe from here. The kids like them with the crazy egg white and sugar pink and white icing - but it's sugar that's not necessary for these soft and delicious bikkies. Love them. 

:: Bubala is celebrating her first giveaway! Go join in!

:: Celebrating fish! Squirming about the fact that fishfood is made out of fish. But celebrating anyway. 

(That's Matilda introducing her beloved billy goats to the fish. Billy goats, from Gran, a set of three to tell the story with, are travelling with her everywhere presently. Today they were in her 'precious jewels' box, and are now in bed. Dedicated billy goats.)

Are you feeling at all festive yet? (Er, October's not too early is it?!)

xxx

school holiday picnicing

One of the things I love most about the school holidays is that not rushing out of the house, hanging out, lets have a picnic kinda feeling. 

 

It doesn't even need to be out of town. An urban park will do me fine. Look at these fantastic old trees!

 

An afternoon picnic MUST be accompanied by snacks. 

Snacks are very important. 

We like these:

Kamut crunch

and messed-with Anzacs

These biscuits are essentially this recipe, but with treacle instead of golden syrup (ran out) and oatbran instead of oats (really should go grocery shopping, shouldn't I.) 

The kamut crunch is my own evil invention. Such a smackerel. 

Kamut is a relative of durum wheat. I buy an organic one, so I can kid myself this is a healthy snack. 

Er, you decide.

KAMUT CRUNCH

Ingredients:

90g butter

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tbsp honey

4 cups kamut

Set oven to 150°C.

Melt the butter, sugar and the honey together on the stove until a bit frothy. Add the kamut and stir up well. Dump out into a greased and lined slice tin, don't pack down. 

Cook in the oven for about 10 mins. When you pull it out, break it up with a fork. 

When it cools it'll be more stuck together, break up, or sneak a whole nice chunky bit if no one's looking and reminding you you're s'posed to be eating superfoods and all things wholesome and un-sugary. Bugger that. This stuff is delicious. 

And life's too short to have a picnic with just fruit and raw almonds.

xxx

P.S. I will post the recipes for the superfoods post yesterday but I just need to try them again first! (And write down the ingredients I use!)

It was one thing to chuck up a draft recipe when I first started this blog and a couple of poeple might make it, now there's more than three of you following along, I want to not completely fudge it!

xxx

Recipe for homemade wheat crackers!

I've been planning to figure out how to make homemade crackers for ages and have never gotten around to it. 

I found some great wholewheat organic flour last week and figured it was time to give it a go. 

I gave it a bit of thought. We didn't want them to rise, right, so plain flour, no yeast. No egg. No sugar. What about rolling out plain old flour and water? 

Here is my first batch:

Kinda cracker like, but they puffed up. Must prick them with a fork. Also: pretty darn tasteless.

Next batch:

The addition of salt and seeds improved them, but they're still too thick. 

Take number three:

You know, I don't want to sound big-headed but they're pretty darn good.

Really good!

In fact, Adam has declared that they might be the best thing I've ever made up, like, ever. 

The chunky salt on top (of the second batch) was too, um, salty, so I put the salt in the third batch and they taste much better. 

Here's how to make them:

Homemade wheat crackers

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plain wholewheat (wholemeal) flour

¾ cup water

½ tsp salt (dissolved in the water)

METHOD

Mix the flour and the salty water together to form a dough. Give it a bit of a knead, it needs to feel smooth. Roll it out as thin as you can. Cut it into rectangles or use a biscuit cutter for round crackers. Dab the top of the crackers with wet fingers and sprinkle with seeds (adds flavour, the water makes them stick.) Prick with a fork and bake on 180°C for approx 15 mins and watch them closely. As soon as they begin to brown, pull them out. 

That's it. Cracking crackers on your plate. Made from scratch. So you know exactly what's in them.

HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?!

Next: gotta figure out rice crackers.

xxx

smartie cookies

Smarties! What kid does not love a smartie, I ask you? I never thought I'd be the kind of parent rewarding kids with coloured chocolate buttons, but there you go. I do. Two smarties have big pull in this house. And you know what: they no longer have artificial colours or flavours in them!

I know. They're still Smarties, i.e. pure sugar. But if you're going to give kids a treat, it's great that at least it's not carcinogenic, right?

I was going to make these bikkies for Henry's party but we had visitor biscuits instead (which apparently I have not blogged in their nude form, note to self;) and gingerbread men (as well as cupcakes, chocolate birthday cake, vegetarian 'sausage' rolls, spinach and leek quiche and fresh popped popcorn. And watermelon. And kamut & puffed rice crackles. I admit it. I used the kids birthday party as an excuse to cook up a kitchen-full. Happiness in a cake tin. Then took the remainders to a friend's house on Tuesday before I ate it all.)

Anyway Henry's best friend was coming for afternoon tea and a play today. Cookie tray at the ready, I tried out something a little bit new.

SMARTIE COOKIES

(or biscuits if you're my Mum and hate the Americanisation of biscuits and patty cakes)

INGREDIENTS

125g butter, melted

2 tblsp raw sugar

1 egg

2 cups self raising flour

½ cup rice flour

2 tblsp milk

Smarties to decorate

METHOD

Mix melted butter and sugar then add egg. Stir through flours and add milk last. It'll be kind of crumbly so knead with your hands until it comes together. Wrap in cling film and put into fridge for 15 minutes.

Roll out to about ½ cm thickness and cut with cookie/biscuit cutter. Decorate with smarties and bake in moderate oven (180°C) for 10 mins or until golden. Makes 24.

 

The rice flour makes these light and a bit short. Soft and delicious.

Tip: This kind of biscuit mix freezes really well. If you don't need the whole batch, freeze half by rolling into a log and wrapping in cling film. Rather than defrost it when you're ready to bake the next batch, just slice ½ cm rounds and bake from frozen. Too easy.

And if you can look at that photo without sniggering you're more of a grownup than I am.

xxx

what do you do to feel normal?

If the world is slightly outta whack, even in the best way possible, what do you do to feel grounded? Have a bath? Glass of wine? 

My house, while mostly entirely lovable, does not have a bathtub.

And my pregnancy disinclination for wine is still hanging around. 

So I bake.

We have lots of lovely visitors at present, and I cannot resist a bit of kitchen experimenting!

And so we have:

OATMEAL CHOC CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:

125g butter, melted

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup rolled oats

1½ cup self-raising wholemeal flour

1 tblsp wheatgerm

½ cup desiccated coconut

¼ cup orange juice

½ cup chocolate chips

Method:

Melt the butter and add the sugar. Add the egg. Stir through the oats, flour, wheatgerm and coconut. Add the OJ and then the choc chips. 

Bake on cookie trays for approx 12 mins on 180°C. Makes 24 (I think. I didn't actually count them.)

Titbit for the day (I apologise, dreadful, I know) - it takes approximately twice as long to type a post one handed if you blog while breast feeding.

(I did apologise!)

xxx

recipe for homemade arrowroot biscuits

More make-it-from-scratch insanity...

Arrowroot biscuits!

My kids don't eat a whole lot of Arnotts' Milk Arrowroots (unlike rice crackers, the absence of which has left a bit of a gap in our snacking,) but I love them (and so does Tilly) and I thought it might be fun to see if I could reproduce them. 

I read the ingredients label: wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil, condensed milk, salt, baking powder, arrowroot flour. 

My first attempt I used 125g softened butter (being uncomfortable cooking with vegetable oil) mixed with 0.5 cup sugar, 1.5 cups self-raising flour, 0.5 cup arrowroot flour and then 0.5 cup condensed milk. 

Terribly dangerous using less than a full tin of condensed milk in any recipe, I say. Just too tempting to dip in that spoon...*gargle in back of throat a la Homer Simpson*

But I digress.

I baked these for 15 mins on 160°. Here they are:

They were very yummy, a very shortbread-like, buttery biscuit (read: 'cookie' by the way, if you're in the U.S.) but they didn't really taste like Arrowroots. 

The kids loved them. I made these yesterday which makes making another batch today sound insane except we visited a friend after school today (with four children) and took them with us. Goneski! 

Went back into the fray today (with Tilly's help) and made the ones in the photo at the top. 

These rock. They actually taste like arrowroot biscuits but are softer and obviously homemade. Pretty happy!

Homemade Arrowroot Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

2 cups wheat flour (self-raising)

1 cup icing sugar (or confectioners)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup condensed milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

1 egg

METHOD

Mix all dry ingredients together well, then stir in condensed milk and oil into well in the centre of dry mix. Stir well and when bound together, knead until smooth. Roll out at about half a centimetre thick and cut with round cutter. Bake at 150° for about 15 mins or until pale golden.

Enjoy with a cup of tea! And a three year old who cannot believe her luck: bikkies two days in a row. This is living. 

xxx

The Gingerbread Man

Gingerbread people. 

I make these solely to see Tilly gleefully chomp their heads off. Too funny for words. (Henry: I don't eat biscuits.) Your loss, H-Bomb. 

It's a messy business.

Hats optional.

They look kinda naked without buttons. Not a current in the house. 

You don't have quite enough biscuit in your hair, Henry. Let me fix that.

The best bit.

Gingerbread men

(adapted from a recipe by Nadia French)

Makes 20. Depending how much goes on the floor and whether you're prepared to retrieve it for baking.

Ingredients:

125g butter,soft

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup golden syrup

1 egg yolk

2.5 cups plain flour

1 dessertspoon fresh ginger (I use the stuff in the jar)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp bicarb soda

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line 2 baking trays with paper.

Beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add golden syrup and egg yolk and combine. Stir in flour, ginger, spices and bicarb soda. Turn onto floured surface and knead till smooth. Wrap in cling wrap and put in fridge for 30 mins till firm.

Take out, roll out and go crazy with the people shape cutters. Bake in oven for about 10 mins or until brown. Remove and transfer to wire racks to cool. 

Tear heads off with gusto and enjoy with a cup of tea. 

Edible craft. You have to love it.

xxx