Tinkering with a Recipe

Hello!
I had a thought to make us a tart for lunch.
It only needed some diced pumpkin to be roasted to start but I added some red onion and capsicum too:

add Fetta cheese... 80g in recipe but I added half the block (100g) and could have had even more!
4 eggs beaten in milk and poured over:

fork through some carmelised onion (from a jar - easy as!).  

Didn't have any Rosemary, so used a little Sage, Thyme and Garlic sprinkle instead:

I didn't have a proper sized tart pan, so a bit of a pinch together of each corner of the puff pastry on top of some baking paper should work:

... it did, some mixture escaped but, having being caught by the baking paper, cooked into some nice crunchies underneath:

Original Recipe from: https://bakeplaysmile.com/roasted-pumpkin-caramelised-onion-feta-tart/

Was yummy with a dab of homemade chutney (courtesy of our lovely neighbour):

The best thing was having the cold leftovers later on. 
For some reason, the flavours really come through when its cold ... even hubby agreed!

Apples, Pudding, Flowers, Birds, Painting - sharing my week!

Hello there, I hope your week is going well.

All good here.  Lots of things to do this past week or so and, as I'm no good at multi-tasking anymore, I've had to go slow on my blogging... both posting and visiting,  but I'm getting there!

Hubby harvested his lovely apples last week:

and so I got stuck in and peeled lots, well, 16 to be precise: (Update!! Hubby just read this and said there's 17 apple cores ;D))

Diced and cooked ready for the freezer for future apple crumbles!

... but, after that little effort, someone started whingeing and holding her arm, looking for sympathy and making lots of whimpering sounds!
Upshot is that hubby jumped online and ordered a "Magic Peeling, Coring and Slicing Machine"  which arrived yesterday.  It's a beauty too! (That was not an advertisement ... just sharing my joy :D))

So, with all those perfect slices, we can use the Food Dehydrator to make apple snacks for later.... plus, no sore arm because it will be MD hubby who'll be turning the handle ;D) (lol, win-win as they say!)

Before getting off the subject of apples.  With the cooler weather we're experiencing in our part of the world, we're a bit partial to a steamed pudding ... here's a pic of one I made last year with my own twist of diced apples, brown sugar and cinnamon:

Thought I'd share the recipe... it's so easy and quick:

Autumn rains fell yesterday and so I had a little fun indoors photographing the one remaining Protea flower for the season.  I'd had it in a vase for a quite a while - they last for ages.

Here it is in front of the rain-drenched kitchen window:

... and on the table:

This one is a pic I took the previous season.  I always love them wet with dew or raindrops.

... and, it seems to me, that the Little Wattlebird is the perfect accessory to the Protea (notice those matching pink wattles!)

Linking to Riitta's Floral Bliss - where so many lovely bloggers share their most magnificent blooms which never cease to delight:

Physio appointment this week, and I'm sharing one of the cute little drawings Ethan does as a reminder for me to actually do the exercises!!  (Spoilt or what!)... I love that all the faces he draws have smiles, here's one of them:

While we were there, and having time to kill before the appointment, I took some pics of the lovely artwork on the walls:

By Jan Davidson in 1984
It's such a detailed ink drawing - I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Update:  I've added some closeups of Jan's drawing:

Also, this huge tapestry:

This magnificent woollen tapestry is truly mind-blowing and is in
tribute to all the people involved in the workings of the Hospital.

and finally,

I've asked no one's permission to put these pics in my blog, but have respectfully done so because I admire them very much.  They're on public display at the hospital, and I've credited each artist.

Then we had a lovely lunch  afterwards - both vegetarian meals as it happened, very delicious too.

tasty relish on the side - yummy

Some birds in trees just outside the house which we've had the pleasure to see during the past week:

The Spotted Dove sheltering in the Ti Tree from the rain

A Bower Bird enjoying a rest on the Lilly Pilly tree.

A Blue-Cheeked Rosella gorging on the Lilly Pilly fruits

"yum yum" 

Linking to Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday - where bird lovers all over the world take pride in sharing their bird discoveries every week:

I've finally finished my painting which I'd originally started some 3 years ago!

"In a Jar - Geraniums"
Watercolour and inkpen on 180gsm coarse grain paper

... and some progress pics:

at this stage I needed to hit it with the inkpen but
was so hesitant ...  kind of lost confidence for a little
while, but, here goes.........

I do that all the time, hesitate before going in with the pen!
But, once I got started it's fun!!  Gosh, it's only a painting when
all said and done ;D)

The progression!

My portable card table desk with a view.

Linking to Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday - a welcoming spot for everyone, whether you paint, create or not... have a look by clicking on this image:

Tofu ... Terrible or Tasty?

For many years we've tried to like tofu.
It's a good form of protein, high in calcium and low in cholesterol.
However, we just couldn't stand the blandness and texture of it.

We described it as Terrible.

Recently, we decided to have another go.

Firstly, with paper towels,  I pressed excess water out of a small section (we're starting small) of Firm Tofu (not silken).
Then, using the suggestions of a Supermarket Tofu Tester to "slice it thinly" I did so;  and then went a step further.  I cut the thin slices even smaller and marinaded them as I prepared the rest of the meal:

That's a teaspoon in the photo so you can see how
small the pieces are.

Marinade:

Approx 1 Tablespoon each of the following:

~ crushed garlic, 

~ crushed ginger, 

~ oyster sauce,
~ sweet chilli sauce, and

~ Ketjap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

~ Stir fry vegies in some oil, until nearly cooked.

(This is not a high heat stir fry - I like to just shuffle

them around at a low simmer).

~ Then add the marinaded tofu and stir through for a 

couple of minutes until everything is heated.

That's all the cooking the tofu needed and, by the time 

it was heated through, the marinade had mixed with

the vegies, imparting its flavour. No other sauces 

or flavourings were needed.

I'd prepared some "Wokka shelf fresh noodles" (cover
with boiling water for a couple of mins and strain)
separately and served them beside the stir fry.  

Since making that dish, I now throw in the noodles at the
same time as the marinaded tofu and they all heated
extremely well together. 

Our verdict .... Tasty... very Tasty - who'd have thought!.

The key (for us) is definitely in disguising the tofu by cutting it very thinly and small, and letting it soak up some flavour by way of a marinade ;-)

My next tofu venture is to try out Shaheen's Mushroom Tofu Loaf (she's also a believer in disguise !).

This post updated because I'd left sweet chilli out of the marinade!

................................................................................................................

Some more goss to share
over on the sidebar!

That Scrumdiddlyumptious Mud Pie Cake recipe, and more party pics

The Op Shops did a good trade with everyone looking for gear to wear to our granddaughter C's 80's theme birthday party. The smell of hairspray heavy in the air and the compilation music tapes ... er, disks or whatever they use nowadays, playing,  we oldies retired to the front room and left the youngies to it.  Of course, when Dad brought the pizzas and fried chicken home, it was on for young and old!  

Time for the cake, a Pac-Man cake no less!  Our clever daughter, G, had put it all together with a minimum of fuss. Oh, it tasted so good too.   

C was thrilled with her Pac-Man cake

 Here's the recipe:

G's Scrumdiddlyumptious Mud Pie Cake  

Ingredients:

250g butter

200g dark chocolate

2 cups caster sugar

1_1/3  cups water

1 teaspoon instant coffee

¾ cup Plain Flour

¾ cup S.R. Flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Icing:

125g butter

¾ cup icing sugar

125g white chocolate

Method

1. In large saucepan, add the first 5 ingredients.

2. Melt together over a low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter and chocolate are melted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Sift Plain Flour, S.R. Flour and cocoa powder into the saucepan with the cooled liquid:

4. Stir it all together: 

..... then blend with a handmixer in the saucepan.

5. Add the eggs and mix gently:

6. Pour mixture into greased 20cm cake tin and bake at 150 degr celsius (302 deg fahrenheit) for 1¾ hours. 

Check the cake, it may not need this much time (depends on the oven).

 Icing:

1. Cream butter and icing sugar then add melted white chocolate.
2. Spread over the cooled cake.

This makes enough icing to cover the sides and top of one big cake. 

Well on its way to becoming a Pac-Man

G says that this cake is best made at least one day before eating… preferably two! 

I say that, as well as it being a thoroughly delicious rich and dense mud cake, the icing is nice and smooth and not sickly sweet tasting.

CAKE!!!  did someone say CAKE!!!

George Bear happily reports that his Mummy
was feeling a lot better and enjoyed the party
food too!

"I personally don't care for parties - all those
feet just scare me"

"I was doing fine until that last pizza!"

[s n o r e]

"aw pleeze Grandma, will you stop
taking my photo.  I'm tired"

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

I just have to add this final bit. The morning after her party, C, and two of her friends who slept over, got themselves up early and reported to the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal headquarters as doorknock volunteers.  

They raised several hundred dollars.  

Well done - you rock!