lemony ideas

I love anything with lemon flavour, desserts, limonchello, quartered and juice squeezed onto fish and of course preserved lemon in Moroccon dishes. We have a never ending supply of lemons with our lovely old tree in our garden. Half a preserved lemon chopped finely is lovely stirred through a dish of chicken thigh meat (chop them into 3 bits), chunks of potatoes, pumpkin, onion and a little chopped fresh oregano (or dried oregano), spray a little olive oil over all the ingredients, season and roast at 200degrees for about 30-40 minutes, turn pieces over about 1/2 way through cooking. Delicious! Lemon tart is a real favourite of mine, I have a lovely recipe which is so easy to make and never fails to please my guests. I found it online
Lazy Mary's Lemon tart -1 large Meyer lemon cut into 8 pieces, 1 & 1/2 cups castor sugar, 1 stick of butter, 1tsp vanilla, 4 eggs, whizz in a blender and pour into a cooked tart shell, bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees until set, watch it closely and cover it with tinfoil if needed to stop it from burning- really delicious.

lemony ideas

I love anything with lemon flavour, desserts, limonchello, quartered and juice squeezed onto fish and of course preserved lemon in Moroccon dishes. We have a never ending supply of lemons with our lovely old tree in our garden. Half a preserved lemon chopped finely is lovely stirred through a dish of chicken thigh meat (chop them into 3 bits), chunks of potatoes, pumpkin, onion and a little chopped fresh oregano (or dried oregano), spray a little olive oil over all the ingredients, season and roast at 200degrees for about 30-40 minutes, turn pieces over about 1/2 way through cooking. Delicious! Lemon tart is a real favourite of mine, I have a lovely recipe which is so easy to make and never fails to please my guests. I found it online
Lazy Mary's Lemon tart -1 large Meyer lemon cut into 8 pieces, 1 & 1/2 cups castor sugar, 1 stick of butter, 1tsp vanilla, 4 eggs, whizz in a blender and pour into a cooked tart shell, bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees until set, watch it closely and cover it with tinfoil if needed to stop it from burning- really delicious.

from my garden

Because I love food I also like to grow it! Many years ago when I was a solo Mum I had a huge luxurious vegetable garden (which supplemented our meagre household income), I also had the time to spend in it! Many years later I have left a stressful corporate life behind me and can enjoy the pleasure of a vegetable garden again.  My successes are worth celebrating, my failures I find hard to handle! When I first moved to Wellington (5 years ago) I knew little about what I could grow here but the first thing I did was create a herb garden. I love vegetarian cooking so fresh herbs of all varieties are essential to have on hand. It is still flourishing, although I have to re- plant Italian parsley and coriander every year. This autumn I am going to let my parsley go to seed and see if I can grow it like a weed! The second thing I created was a compost heap, we are lucky to have 3 brick 'pits' from the old house once on the property, I can rotate the 'heaps' and can distribute the glorious stuff onto our garden when needed. I can grow silver beet (so can everyone apparently!), lettuces, broccoli, carrots, beetroot and tons of runner beans. I'm no good at zucchinis, basil, cabbages and tomatoes. In fact the tomatoes are my biggest disappointment, probably due to the lack of sun and gale force winds we have here! I have tried 3 varieties now - the latest the cherry ones. I have about 1/2 bucket of little green balls that I will need to make into pickle! Can't bear to waste them! Watch this space! We have a very old lemon tree on our property, I use a lot lemons and love to preserve 2-4 jars of lemons every year- must remember to give them a shake today, they will be ready in 6 weeks.

from my garden

Because I love food I also like to grow it! Many years ago when I was a solo Mum I had a huge luxurious vegetable garden (which supplemented our meagre household income), I also had the time to spend in it! Many years later I have left a stressful corporate life behind me and can enjoy the pleasure of a vegetable garden again.  My successes are worth celebrating, my failures I find hard to handle! When I first moved to Wellington (5 years ago) I knew little about what I could grow here but the first thing I did was create a herb garden. I love vegetarian cooking so fresh herbs of all varieties are essential to have on hand. It is still flourishing, although I have to re- plant Italian parsley and coriander every year. This autumn I am going to let my parsley go to seed and see if I can grow it like a weed! The second thing I created was a compost heap, we are lucky to have 3 brick 'pits' from the old house once on the property, I can rotate the 'heaps' and can distribute the glorious stuff onto our garden when needed. I can grow silver beet (so can everyone apparently!), lettuces, broccoli, carrots, beetroot and tons of runner beans. I'm no good at zucchinis, basil, cabbages and tomatoes. In fact the tomatoes are my biggest disappointment, probably due to the lack of sun and gale force winds we have here! I have tried 3 varieties now - the latest the cherry ones. I have about 1/2 bucket of little green balls that I will need to make into pickle! Can't bear to waste them! Watch this space! We have a very old lemon tree on our property, I use a lot lemons and love to preserve 2-4 jars of lemons every year- must remember to give them a shake today, they will be ready in 6 weeks.

creations from my fridge

I always feel very proud of myself when taking whatever is in the cupboards and making a fabulous meal. My mother was really good at it,I have many happy memories of her creations with left overs! Today it was a pasta and vege fritatta for lunch, not your usual one but one made from spiral pasta, silver beet, spinach, onion, bits of bacon, zuchinni and fresh eggs we have collected from looking after the neighbours chooks. It was baked in a cake tin and if I say so myself absolutely delicious sliced neatly onto a plate decorated with a roasted tomato and fresh basil (said neighbour left for me!) To be fair I had to adjust a recipe I had on file (I didn't have all the ingredients), but it was so yummy and healthy I have created a new recipe.

Pasta and Vegetable Bake

¾ cup of spiral pasta

2 tsp olive oil

4 slices bacon (you could use ham – but don’t fry it)

1 medium onion

1 medium zucchini

2 cups rinsed silverbeet (stalks removed) and/or spinach

½ cup frozen or canned corn

1/3 c grated parmesan cheese (I use a Microplane zester/grater, if haven’t got one buy one!)

4 medium eggs

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. Spray a square cake tin (I used a round one) with oil. If you only have a spring-form one make sure there is tinfoil on the rack – it will leak all over your oven! You could also line the sides and base with baking paper.

Cook the pasta in salted water until just tender, drain

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the bacon and cook stirring for 5 mins, remove and drain on paper towel, set to one side. Add the onion to the same pan, cook 3-5 minutes until soft, stirring so it does not burn, add the zucchini and cook for 3 minutes, add the corn (if frozen) spinach/silver beet and cook until wilted. Place all the vegetables into a bowl with the pasta and parmesan cheese and stir to combine. Spoon into the greased cake tin. Lightly beat the eggs in the bowl, add the cooked bacon, season with salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the pasta mixture. Bake about 30 minutes or until set and golden. Serve the frittata cut into squares.

I put the bacon into the eggs as it sits on top and forms more of a crispy layer to the frittata.

creations from my fridge

I always feel very proud of myself when taking whatever is in the cupboards and making a fabulous meal. My mother was really good at it,I have many happy memories of her creations with left overs! Today it was a pasta and vege fritatta for lunch, not your usual one but one made from spiral pasta, silver beet, spinach, onion, bits of bacon, zuchinni and fresh eggs we have collected from looking after the neighbours chooks. It was baked in a cake tin and if I say so myself absolutely delicious sliced neatly onto a plate decorated with a roasted tomato and fresh basil (said neighbour left for me!) To be fair I had to adjust a recipe I had on file (I didn't have all the ingredients), but it was so yummy and healthy I have created a new recipe.

Pasta and Vegetable Bake

¾ cup of spiral pasta

2 tsp olive oil

4 slices bacon (you could use ham – but don’t fry it)

1 medium onion

1 medium zucchini

2 cups rinsed silverbeet (stalks removed) and/or spinach

½ cup frozen or canned corn

1/3 c grated parmesan cheese (I use a Microplane zester/grater, if haven’t got one buy one!)

4 medium eggs

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. Spray a square cake tin (I used a round one) with oil. If you only have a spring-form one make sure there is tinfoil on the rack – it will leak all over your oven! You could also line the sides and base with baking paper.

Cook the pasta in salted water until just tender, drain

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the bacon and cook stirring for 5 mins, remove and drain on paper towel, set to one side. Add the onion to the same pan, cook 3-5 minutes until soft, stirring so it does not burn, add the zucchini and cook for 3 minutes, add the corn (if frozen) spinach/silver beet and cook until wilted. Place all the vegetables into a bowl with the pasta and parmesan cheese and stir to combine. Spoon into the greased cake tin. Lightly beat the eggs in the bowl, add the cooked bacon, season with salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the pasta mixture. Bake about 30 minutes or until set and golden. Serve the frittata cut into squares.

I put the bacon into the eggs as it sits on top and forms more of a crispy layer to the frittata.

day one

Well, I have started a blog and I know at least one person who will read it! My blog will be about things I love and things that mean the most to me - family, friends, and the world about me and people who inspire and interest me. Also, what makes me laugh, smile and take note. That pretty much covers it!

day one

Well, I have started a blog and I know at least one person who will read it! My blog will be about things I love and things that mean the most to me - family, friends, and the world about me and people who inspire and interest me. Also, what makes me laugh, smile and take note. That pretty much covers it!