birthday dessert ideas: winter

Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

The Last Day of Winter

Today has been the most extraordinary last day of winter. The sky was blue, the weather hot and sunny.

One could almost imagine that it was a summer's day, except that the sun was too low in the sky.

After lunch I lay down on the grass in my backyard, shut my eyes and soaked up the delicious sunshine.

What is the weather like in your part of the world?

Holly Berries

The variegated holly tree in our front yard is covered in vibrant red berries - which is as it should be in the middle of winter, of course.

To be true to the seasons, I should decorate the house with holly now and not at Christmas, which is in the middle of Australia's summer. In summer, holly trees have no berries at all.

And yet, like many Australians, I persist in decorating my Christmas cake with plastic holly while the sun beats down outside.

And as when all the Summer trees are seen
So bright and green,
The Holly-leaves their fadeless hues display
Less bright than they;
But when the bare and wintry woods we see,
What then so cheerful as the Holly-tree?

Robert Southey, The Holly Tree

Winter Garden: August 2013

The end of winter is such an optimistic time in the garden.

I always imagine that I will have the best summer crops ever. I seem to forget about 43 degree summer heat and scorching winds that destroy everything in their path.

Fortunately, even winter can be a productive time in the garden here in the sunny south.

At present we have hundreds of oranges waiting to be picked, our first crop of Tahitian limes, rhubarb, herbs, turnips, kale, celery and silverbeet. The broad beans are in flower and the beets are beginning to swell. There are even green capsicums on plants left in from last summer.

However, sadly there are no lettuces because the chooks escaped and ate them.

Almond Blossom

Like to an almond tree ymounted hye

On top of greene Selinis all alone,

With blossoms brave bedecked daintily;

Whose tender locks do tremble every one,

At everie little breath, that under heaven is blowne.

- Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

(bk. I, canto VII, st. 32)

My little almond tree is barely 3 feet tall, but in a taste of years to come, is a mass of glowing, white blossoms.

Such a joyful sight during these grey and rainy days.

Home Grown Winter Salad

I was really proud of the salad I made for my lunch guests today as every bit of it came from the garden.

There were rocket leaves, baby chard leaves, tiny new radishes, broccoli sprouts, green onions, garlic scapes, Italian parsley and nasturtium flowers.

Colourful and delicious.

Roses in Winter

I love how, in Adelaide,

even in the depths of winter,

somehow the roses bloom.

Food Gardener Lesson #1: Only Grow Things You Like to Eat

When I enthusiastically planted a couple of rows of turnips last autumn I was ignoring one of the fundamental rules of backyard food growing: Never plant anything that you don't like to eat.

It seemed a good idea at the time. Immersed as I was in Nella Last's war diaries, I had visions of adding crisp slices of turnip to winter stews, soups and Cornish pasties.

What I forgot is that I dislike the taste of turnips. Moreover, despite several attempts, I have been unable to inspire a love of turnips in my family.

My friend Lisa has generously taken some of the turnips, and others have been given away at the monthly food swap I attend. But what to do with the rest? I need the garden space for other things.

Yesterday afternoon I offered the turnips to my local Facebook friends, however (perhaps not surprisingly) none took up the offer.

As a last resort I might dig them up, boil them, and feed them to the chooks. Let's hope I don't end up with turnip-flavoured eggs!

This Weekend

This weekend we:

Played Monopoly in pairs and as a family
Cooked spicy peanut soup, a slow-roasted leg of lamb, and flourless orange and almond cake (again)
Dined on goulash at the Norwood Hungarian Club on Saturday night
Pruned some of the roses, mowed and weeded
Watched the chooks make a huge mess everywhere

What did you do this weekend?

A Sunny Saturday Morning

the modern child - playing games on the laptop whilst watching cartoons on the TV

my latest read

Today is a most delightful Saturday - a Saturday when there are no kids' sporting commitments to attend. While we enjoy watching the kids' games, it's also great to have a couple of weeks off in the school holidays.

It's been a quiet morning so far as my three teenagers have slept in - they appreciate slow Saturdays even more than their parents.

I'll have to get active soon though. Today is one of the few sunny Saturdays we have had lately and I promised myself that I'd do some weeding and get started on pruning the roses.

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Drying Laundry Indoors

I am constantly trying to:

Reduce my utility bills
Live more sustainably

These goals means avoiding using my electric clothes dryer whenever possible.

In the warmer months it is easy to peg out all the family's laundry on our outdoor clothesline - I think of it as my solar-powered, evaporative clothes dryer! However, in winter the days are too short and it rains too much to use the clothesline regularly.

That is when having a nice big clothes horse comes in handy. Having managed for years with a really small airer, I recently bought the biggest one I could find at my local hardware store.

Made by Hills, my new airer holds a whopping 22 metres of laundry, just perfect for our family of six. With the money saved from not using the dryer, the airer should pay for itself in no time.

Marigolds in Winter

"As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them." Henry Ward Beecher

A little shabby and past their best, a row of golden marigolds next to the parsley is one of the few bright patches in my winter garden.

Despite grey skies and frosty mornings they continue to bloom, as sunny and cheerful as ever.

Three Fruit Marmalade

Last week I made an enormous double batch of three fruit marmalade - 16 jars. This quantity should last us at least a year as well as providing gifts for any of my marmalade-loving friends.

Three fruit marmalade is probably my favourite kind of marmalade because it doesn't taste too sweet.

I modify the recipe below slightly by slicing the lemon finely and cooking it along with the orange and grapefruit. I don't juice the lemon and I don't remove the lemon skins after soaking as the recipe suggests.

For all my jam-making I re-use jars saved from other products. You can read an earlier post on saving and sterilising jars here.

This marmalade recipe comes from the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook, 1970.

Three Fruit Marmalade
1 large orange
1 large grapefruit
1 large lemon
3 1/4 pints (1.95 L) water
sugar (approx. 4 1/2 pounds/2kg sugar)

Wash fruit, slice orange and grapefruit finely; using skin, pith and flesh; discard seeds. Roll lemon well with the palm of the hand until skin is soft, halve lemon and extract juice, discard seeds. Place fruit (including the lemon halves) into large saucepan with the water, cover, bring to the boil, add lemon juice, simmer 30 minutes, cool. Pour mixture into large crockery basin, cover, stand 36 hours.

Remove lemon skins, measure fruit mixture, allow 1 cup sugar to each cup of fruit mixture, add extra 1 cup of sugar. Heat fruit mixture, add warmed sugar, stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat, boil rapidly until marmalade jells when tested on a cold saucer, approximately 30 minutes. Allow to stand 5 minutes before pouring into hot sterilised jars, seal.

Citrussy Goodness

Flourless orange and almond cake glazed with home-made marmalade

Home-grown Emperor mandarin

Lemon butter (with child scraping out the saucepan behind!)

Winter in South Australia is citrus season, and it seems just about every backyard has a glut of something.

Adding to the fruit from my own mandarin and orange trees, I have also been given grapefruit and lemons this week.

All this citrussy goodness has led to a burst of productivity. Earlier in the week I made 16 jars of three-fruit marmalade out of lemons, oranges and grapefruit, and three jars of fruit mince that included home-made candied lemon peel. Today I made a few jars of lemon butter and tonight's dessert is a flourless orange and almond cake.

It is a lovely feeling to line my cellar and pantry shelves with home-made preserves, and I feel very fortunate to live in such a bountiful part of the world.

The colours of my Christmas

Olá a todos! Espero que estejam a aproveitar bem estes raios de sol do Outono - o que eu gosto destes dias de frio, mas com sol!... Este fim-de-semana vou ajudar a Carlota a preparar a venda de Natal na sua escola - está no 4º ano, vão ter viagem de finalistas (no meu tempo não havia nada disso mas, adiante) e uma das formas de juntarem algum dinheiro é venderem algumas coisas - livros que já não queiram, objectos feitos por si, doces, etc. Temos muita coisa para preparar e, como eu adoro o espírito de Natal, já estou a imaginar uns lindos embrulhos, umas bolachinhas em caixas decoradas, tudo bonito.... :)

Já comecei a desembrulhar os enfeites de Natal. Preciso de ver a quantidade de bolas que tenho, escolher as cores, decidir o que pôr na árvore, em cima do móvel da sala, se vou usar uns galhos para pendurar alguns enfeites... vamos ver! Ando inclinada para os rosas e branco (sempre o branco) ou lilás, roxo, rosa e branco...

Aqui estão algumas das bolas de vidro... E vocês? Que cores vão usar no vosso Natal?

Hi everyone! Hope you're enjoying your weekend - we're having a cold sunny Saturday here in Porto, and I love this weather! This weekend I'll be helping out my older daughter on her Christmas sale at school. They have to raise some money for their school travel and we'll be making some pretty Christmas packages, bake some cookies, maybe sell a few old books that she doesn't read any more... I love the holiday season, so hopefully we'll manage to make beautiful things with the stuff that we have at home.

I already started to unpacking my Christmas ornaments. I need to see how many I have, choose the colours that I'm using and loving this year, plan on what I'm decorating the sideboard with - maybe I'll use some branches to hang a few baubles... This year I'm thinking of a pink and white decor (always white) or maybe add some lilac and purple as well...

Here are some photos of the glass baubles...

And what about you? What colours will you be using for Christmas?

It's Starting to Feel Like Spring

Days like today, where the sun shines and the breezes are balmy, can easily deceive us into thinking that spring has arrived early. The garden is certainly acting as if spring has sprung.

Yet before I start planting with too much enthusiasm I have to remind myself that freezing, wet weather could be just around the corner.

the beginning of rhubarb

rocket in flower

just emerging peas

chillis left on the plant since last summer

broadbeans

Tiny Footpath Garden

Not far from here is a row of tiny cottages where very elderly people live.

These little houses are very close to the road and have pocket handkerchief-sized front yards. Yet despite the age and frailty of the residents, they have the most amazing gardens. Some grow roses or dahlias or other flowers, and others grow the most beautiful vegetables. All are immaculately and lovingly tended. Each summer, one very elderly gentleman grows the largest and earliest tomatoes that I have ever seen.

Many of the tiny gardens have been extended into the even tinier nature strips. As I passed yesterday afternoon I saw the miniature winter vegetable garden below. From what I could tell, the gardener was growing broccoli, cabbages, lettuce and green onions. And all in a space of about 2 metres by 50 centimetres.

Whenever I wish I had more space in my own garden I think about these inspiring elderly gardeners. It goes to show, you really don't need much space to grow a productive and delicious garden.

Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

As I pondered what to make my guests for dessert tonight, the obvious answer was "something with oranges".

You see, here in South Australia it is orange season, and my orange tree is laden with fruit. I think it's wonderful that winter, when we are beset with sniffles and need extra doses of Vitamin C, is citrus season.

I hope the guests like them as much as we did when we ate a few for afternoon tea!

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes; fewer if you use larger tins.

Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

Cakes

1 1/2 C self-raising flour

2/3 C sugar

125g (4 oz) butter

3 eggs

zest of one orange

1/4 C freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to moderate (180 degrees C or about 160 C fan forced). Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers or grease if you aren't using them. Beat all ingredients with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes, or until pale and creamy. Spoon into tins then bake for about 20 minutes. Cool on racks before icing.

Frosting

2 Tbsp (40ml) freshly squeezed orange juice

250g (8 oz) unsalted butter

3 C icing (confectioner's) sugar

Beat butter and juice with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add sugar and continue to beat until pale and fluffy. Pipe or spread onto cool cakes.

Cheerful Fruit

Despite grey skies, winter in Adelaide produces the most cheerful, golden and orange fruit.

The persimmons, oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruit shown here were all picked in my neighbourhood.

The perfect antidote for winter ills.

In Which Life Gets Away from Me

Every day this week I have planned to sit down and write a blog post and every day it hasn't happened.

Sometimes it's because I leave it until too late on these wintry days to get a good photo of whatever it is that I plan to write about. On other days the kids need the computer for homework and by the time they have finished I'm too tired to use the computer myself.

In any case, life is going on pretty much as usual at our red house. We are approaching the winter school holidays and everyone is tired and needing a break. The vegie garden is in a winter lull, not helped at all by the chooks that keep trying to dig up worms in there, despite all our attempts to keep them out. They are incredibly destructive little beasts!

And I am still enjoying riding my bike to and from work (although not as flirtatiously as the girl in the photo above!)

Harvesting Horseradish

A few days ago I harvested the horseradish in my garden.

The part of horseradish that you eat is the roots, and they are ready when the plant begins to die off in late autumn. Any little bits of root left in the ground will shoot again in spring.

You need to wash the roots carefully then peel them and grind them up, either in a food processor or mortar and pestle. Watch out, though; the fumes are extremely pungent!

To keep the ground horseradish, mix with a little vinegar or lemon juice and a pinch of salt, then store in the refrigerator in a jar.

Horseradish sauce is a traditional accompaniment to roast beef.

Horseradish Sauce

Horseradish

1tsp flour

1tsp mustard

150ml cream*

1tsp vinegar

salt and pepper

Grate a horseradish root finely and mix with flour, a pinch of salt and pepper, and mustard. Stir in cream and vinegar.

*some recipes recommend whipped cream