Woolworths Make @ home ezy Classic Quiche Lorraine

Images @ Flickr

Carleen's Pastry for Pies

2 cups plain flour,
200gr butter (cold),
1 1/2 tblsp of vinegar,
Little bit of iced water.

Mix butter through flour (bread crumbs) then add vinegar and water to form dough. Lightly knead then wrap in plastic to rest in fridge.  Voila.

More images @ Flicker

Paula's Bread: Glazes for Perfect Bread

Paula's Bread: Glazes for Perfect Bread: So what is a glaze? This can affect the finished look of your bread and the taste depending on the glaze you choose. I have the details...

I used Paula's Honey Glaze on our fruit Bread loaf and it was just the most perfect choice.

See how good it turned out. Shiny and sticky just the way we wanted it to be.  I was lucky to find this awesome blog that is linked above by Paula. Here I was shown every glaze and every reason for using it and how to use it.  Great blog.

Image: Eminpee Fotography

Negative Energy Water Trap

Here we will offer you an experiment, which will help you to find out if there is a negative energy in your home or not!

Negative Energy Water Trap

Ingredients Needed:

– 2 tablespoons white vinegar

– 16 ounces filtered water

– 2 teaspoons granulated salt

Directions:

1) Add all the ingredients in a glass and mix them well

2) Keep the glass in a place you spend the majority of your time

3) The glass should stand there for 1 day

4) If the salt is rising it captures all of the negative energy in the room

5) When the salt stops, the negative energy is absorbed here, so you can continue cleansing another room.

Images @ Eminpee Fotography

PAD THAI

• 
• 
  
• INGREDIENTS
  250g Rice Noodles
  2 tspTamarind Paste
  3 tbsp Fish Sauce
  2 tsp Sugar
  1 Garlic Clove
  3 Spring Onions
• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 Egg
  200g Cooked Prawns
  75g Bean Sprouts
• Lime Wedges
  Peanuts
  
  METHOD
  
  Soak 250g of rice noodles in boiling water for 5-10 minutes until soft and drain well
• Mix together 2tsp of tamarind paste, 3 tbsp of fish sauce and 2 tsp of sugar in a small bowl
• Peel and finely chop a garlic clove and trim the ends off 3 spring onions and cut into thin slices about 1 cm long.
• Heat a wok or large or a large frying pan and pour in 2 tbsp of vegetable oil when it's really hot
• Add the garlic and spring onions and stir-fry, keeping the veg moving for about 30 seconds, just until they begin to soften
• Push the vegetables to the side of the wok and crack the an egg into the centre.  Keep stirring for 30 secs until it begins to set and resembles a broken-up omelette
• Add 200g of large cooked prawns and the 75g of beansprouts, followed by the noodles.
• Pour over the fish sauce mixture and heat it all through.
• Serve onto plates with lime wedges and sprinkle with a handful of chopped salted peanuts

Some history on Pad thai ...

The Pad Thai dish was developed during World War II when Thailand was faced with a shortage of food because of war and flooding. The Thai government promoted the use of rice noodles because they were cheap and available.  It became Thailand's national dish because it's tasty, nutritious and popular.   You can add other vegetables and chicken instead of seafood if that is all that you have available.  Just be creative. 

COMFREY OINTMENT

Homemade Comfrey Ointment Recipe

1 oz dried comfrey leaves (or 2 oz fresh leaves) finely chopped
10 oz olive oil
1 oz grated beeswax

Preparation

Add the Comfrey leaves to the olive oil in a pan and simmer, stirring constantly, for about 30 minutes. Pour the mixture into a cotton bag or square and gather up, then squeeze this mixture (wearing gloves because it is hot) into another pan.

Add the beeswax to this  strained oil mixture and stir well over a low heat until it melts. Pour to a jar and place the lid on the jar without doing it up. When the Comfrey ointment  mixture has cooled, tighten the lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

I have made this and I have used baking paper in the pan to protect the shallow frying pan and once strained into the muslin over another piece of baking paper I then used that baking paper as a funnel to pour the mixture into the clean glass jar to cool and store. 

Brice had a niggling injury to his elbow and when I used a Comfrey poultice it inflamed his arm and it took some days for that inflammation to go, however it did help the Tennis Elbow and he had some relief from the pain .. It is an over stretching of the ligaments in his arm from picking up wood the way he did. 

Then I had to make an ointment to use instead of applying the straight Comfrey leaves and I made this recipe.

You get the Beeswax from any honey person or health food shop.  Grow the Comfrey because its the staple herb for the garden, chooks love it, compost loves it and of course it has these healing properties for Bone, Joint and Ligament injuries.

Use no more than ten (10) days in a row and for no longer than 4 to 6 weeks in any 12 month period.  It is a strong mixture and should have done the job in that time.

Images @ Eminpee Fotography

SPRING ROLLS

Spring Rolls
500g minced pork
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 litre groundnut oil for frying
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons water
150g shredded cabbage
50g grated carrots
8 spring roll wrappers
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
Season pork with ginger and garlic and mix thoroughly. Heat mixture in a medium frying pan, stirring, until pork is cooked through and no longer pink. Set aside.
In another large frying pan heat oil to about 190 degrees C or medium high heat. While oil is heating, combine flour and water in a bowl until they form a paste. In a separate bowl combine the cabbage, carrots and reserved pork mixture. Mix all together.
Lay out one spring roll skin with a corner pointed toward you. Place about 4 to 5 tablespoons of the cabbage, carrot and pork mixture on spring roll wrapper and fold corner up over the mixture. Fold left and right corners toward the centre and continue to roll. Brush a bit of the flour paste on the final corner to help seal the spring roll.
Place spring rolls into heated oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on kitchen roll or wire rack. Put on serving plate and top with sesame seeds if desired

 You've never tasted anything until you have tasted home made spring rolls. 
My son's friends Filipino mother showed me how she makes hers and she uses half pork and half beef mince.  Delicious!

BASIC SHORTCUST PASTRY

Basic shortcrust pastry

Ingredients

 

225g plain flour
100g butter diced
pinch salt

Water
 

Method

Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in the salt, then add 2-3 tbsp water and mix to a firm dough. Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface. Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling. 

I found this easy recipe on Facebook... here is the link to heaps of excellent recipes by a lady called Maggie.  -  Maggies Quick Easy Recipes

Onesie Cake Tutorial: Easy Baby Shower Cake

Onesie Cake Tutorial: Easy Baby Shower Cake:
Learn how to make a simple, beginner-friendly onesie cake for your next baby shower or gender reveal party. No special pans, no carving, no problem!

I hope I get to make this gorgeous fun cake for my daughters baby showers... until then I will practice by making these for friends baby showers.   

A method for piping the icing if you don't have a proper icing piping bag is to use a fairly good quality sandwich bag and nip a tiny hole in the corner and twist up as a bag would and use this to pipe on your words and decoration to this or any cake.

A rectangle cake is always a great shaped cake to create a party cake from using shapes for in character cakes that will be remembered for years.

I recall making an insane soccer field on a slab sponge I ordered from the bakery because it was so large I could not bake one that size.  I took the slab home and decorated this myself.  It was a huge hit and it was so life like (and large enough for the entire team).

Rainbow Milo Balls

Jedi Skittles- image Flickr

1 can condensed milk
3 tablespoons milo
1 pkt arrowroot biscuits
1. Crush biscuits add milo & mix
2. Add condensed milk
3. Roll mixture into balls
4. Roll into hundreds & thousands.
5. Put in fridge for an hour.

YOGHURT MAKING

Fresh Homemade Yoghurt is easy to make these days.  I came across a Facebook post that showed this so I decided to blog it here at Mary's Recipe Book.

Happy Yoghurt Making....

Link to SIMPLE SAVERS POST 

Someone posted about runny skim yoghurt a few days ago, so I thought I'd show how I make thick nonfat, skim and full cream yoghurt from scratch for about $1.30/kg.

Use skim or full fat if you prefer. I've made 100's of kilos over the years. -
1 L of UHT milk (why? Fresh milk needs heating and cooling to activate proteins for yoghurt making. UHT is already heat treated and cheap) -
25g milk powder (equivalent to make 1 cup of milk) -
A few grains of frozen live culture (that's what's on the knife, other pix show packet)

Quick mix while cold and put in electric yoghurt maker for 12 - 24 hours.

This makes Greek Yoghurt - You can sweeten it, add flavours, but fruit is best added after brewing.  I make 3/4 of this recipe in a 200g Moconna jar.

I prefer to use glass as its non porous, easy to clean and conducts heat better than plastic.

Mild Yoghurt Culture - 100 litres

 $16.95 plus post from the following website. Lasts a very long time (100 batches). Check their recipes too.

http://greenlivingaustralia.com.au/yoghurt-kefir

Images from Flickr 

Sweet Potato, Zucchini & Feta Savory Muffins

Makes about 30 depending on the size of your muffin

INGREDIENTS

1 medium sweet potato, grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 medium red onion, grated
1/2 cup cheese, grated
100g feta, crumbled
1/3 cup spelt or wholemeal flour
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste.

METHOD

Combine all ingredients and spoon into  muffin trays (use silicon trays to avert sticking).
Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes and turn out to cool.

Zucchini and Bacon Slice

Ingredients

6 eggs
1 large zucchini grated
1 carrot grated
1/2 onion finely diced
1/2 cup grated cheese
300g thinly sliced bacon
Pinch of baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Beat the eggs in a large bowl then add salt, pepper and baking powder. Gently stir these ingredients together. Pour into a baking dish lined with baking paper for 25mins at 180 degrees.

This slice is great in lunch boxes. It holds its shape and holds stacks of nutrition as well.  This is one of my favorites.  I have lost count how much zucchini slice we ate while protesting in the freezing cold out side the gates of AGL's Frack farm at Gloucester NSW.   It kept us fed and happy.

Homemade Icecream

This is the only ice cream I had as a child... it is yummy as.

Ingredients

• 2 cans Carnation (evaporated) milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons gelatin*

(*dissolved in 1/4 cup of very warm water and allow this to stand until the mixture becomes clear)

Directions

1. Beat salt, vanilla and milk at medium to fast speed until ingredients triple in amount.
2. Gradually, while still beating the  mixture add the sugar followed by the gelatine.
3. Place ice-cream mixture in a container and freeze this for several hours - remembering to stir the mixture occasionally during the freezing process.

NB. If you look around second hand shops and or garage sales you will find metal trays which in the days when fridges first happened these doubled as ice trays and ice cream trays by lifting out the metal insert.  These usually came with the refrigerator.

Very collectable if you come across these.  Any freezer proof container will do the job.  In my day we did not have plastic so it was metal or nothing.

Oven Baked Thai Chicken Balls

Image Source: Lowell Ling

Preheat oven 180C or 360F. 

Ingredients

500g  chicken mince
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce, plus extra for dipping
3 spring onions or red onion finely chopped
Coriander or Parsley chopped.

Method

Mix all the ingredients in one bowl.  If you wet your hands first this makes it easier to shape the mix into balls.

Put the  balls onto baking paper on a tray and give a quick spray with oil and then bake for at least 30 minutes till golden and cooked through.

For another recipe click on the photograph to go to Lowells flickr page for stacks of yumminess.

CHECK THIS FOR A DIPPING SAUCE!

COMEBACK SAUCE 
Try Comeback Sauce with: Onion Rings, Fries,  Sweet Potato Fries, Hamburgers, Veggies
Ingredients:
1 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Heinz ketchup
1/4 Cup Heinz Chili Sauce (not thai chili sauce)
1 Tsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tsp Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/4 Tsp Tabasco Sauce
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
 
Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and chill for a couple of hours before serving. Store covered in fridge! YOU WILL ALWAYS WANT TO HAVE THIS SAUCE IN YOUR FRIDGE - IT'S AMAZING!

25 CHINESE SLOW COOKER RECIPES!

http://www.currys.co.uk/…/crock-pot-scv400rd-slow-cooker-re…

Cooking for MENTAL WORK and CREATIVE ABILITY ... I love my slow cooker, these are the type of  recipes I haven't come across before the the Slow Cooker... Bonn Aperitif ..    Click through to the link.

http://totallythebomb.com/25-chinese-slow-cooker-recipes

Montana, sorry there is no chow mein but there are plenty of others and this one looks awesome..  Chicken Lo Mein

Here is the ingredients to wet your appetite .. click through HERE for heaps of slow cooker recipes.
 

•  2 pieces of uncooked chicken breast (1 lb) (you can choose to leave them whole or cube them  and brown in a pan first)
•  1 400 gram package of fresh Lo Mein noodles **
• 2 cups  of baby bok choy, washed and sliced
• 1  carrot, peeled and chopped or shredded into matchsticks
•  2 cloves garlic, minced
•  1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
•  salt and pepper to taste

 ** [or cook 4 ounces of dry egg or pasta noodles of your choice, lo mein, chow mein, spaghetti, vermicelli]
There are various sauces and a marinade to add to this but simple things like soy sauce etc which everyone has.

Fahrenheit to Celsius Conversions

Fahrenheit to Celsius Conversions

Click the link and convert oven temperatures ...

POTATO GEMS

It's Mashed Potato Time (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Ingredients

3 cups of mashed potatoes
2 eggs
1/3 cup Sour Cream
1  cup grated Cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese
2 tablespoons chopped Chives or Parsley
Salt and black Pepper

 

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
2. Grease non stick muffin pan with butter or oil
3. In a  mixing bowl whisk the eggs.
4. Mix in sour cream.
5. Stir in both cheeses and the chives.
6. Add mashed potato and mix through well.
7. Spoon into pan  slightly below the tops.
8. Bake 25- 35 minutes until they pull away from the side of the pan and golden in colour
9. Remove from oven leaving in the pan to cool for approx five minutes.

COB LOAF DIP

This is always a hit... I have never seen one last long anywhere.

Ingredients:

1 Cob bread loaf
500 g packet cream cheese
300 ml light cream
3 rashers bacon, cooked & chopped
chopped spring onions, to taste
2 cups grated cheese
Cut the top of the loaf  off neatly (keeping this).
Pull out the bread inside the loaf, breaking into pieces (keeping this).
Bake these in the oven until they are golden brown.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees 
Mix the cream cheese with the light cream until smooth.
Mix in bacon, spring onions & grated cheese.
Spoon mixture into the hollowed cob loaf and place the top back on top.
Wrap the loaf in aluminum foil
Bake for one to one and half hours.
Serve this on a nice tray adding the pieces of bread to the side for dipping in.