Mud Cake at Sydney University.

Google images.

Today's mood calls for chocolate cake.  While at university, I met some wonderful people, some still dear friends today... Food and coffee/tea drinking bound us together and there were often picnics with Nicola's wonderful quiches and chocolate cake.  Here is the chocolate cake recipe.

Mudcake:

125 g chocolate, broken

100g butter

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup hot water

1/4 cup whisky/rum

3/4cup plain flour

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/4 cup cocoa

2 eggs lightly beaten

Together, place chocolate, butter, sugar, hot water, whisky over a low heat till all liquid.  

Allow to cool slightly and then add flours and cocoa, beat in eggs till thick and smooth.

Bake in a 20cm square tin for 30-40 min (160 degrees).

Grandad.

Lovely flowers, cards, phone calls, emails, support and kind words to help us through the loss of husband E's father this week.  
He was very much ready to meet God.

Skateboard Ramp.

A day of gardening for husband E and myself.  The children used the skate ramp which husband E had built a few years ago.  He got the idea from Better Homes and Gardens.  I don't have a photo of six year old daughter (she was well and truly into it...) as she was not dressed um, appropriately for publication (ie she got too hot in her corduroy dress).

Elderflower Cordial, First Step.

(Sarah) Beeny's Restoration Nightmare has an episode, where the family are cutting Elderflower blossoms.  They intend to make cordial.  It reminded me that I had a hope to do so at some stage.  My sister in law had given me a few slips from her bush and I have a few growing now.  We tidied up a garden bed today and have planted numerous slips in the hope that they will grow and prosper.  When I see some blossoms, I will have to research how to make Elderflower cordial.  My sister in law successfully brewed cordial a year or two ago.

Holiday Reading.

I am hosting this month's bookclub and need to have books to add to the pool for borrowing.  It is nice to have read the books prior to chatting about them isn't it?

Last week, while at the lake house in front of the fire, I read two books in two days:
"Peaches for Monsieur le Cure" by Joanne Harris and "Other People's Diaries" by Kathy Webb.
Both enjoyable, both absorbed me.

I am reading "Otherland" now by Maria Tumarkin.  It looks very promising indeed.  A mother takes her teenage daughter back to the USSR, where she grew up but left to emigrate to Australia.
I do love to read books which are set in other countries.  Joanne Harris'  book was set in a village in France.  Such joy in her description of a  simple meal of peaches, cheese and chocolate.

Chicken and Vegetable Pastries.

We needed a dinner that could be eaten in shifts and which was portable.  This worked well.

500g minced chicken
2 carrots and one zucchini (both grated)
4 T Indonesian soy sauce (or use Hoisin sauce)

Mix.

5 sheets puff pastry, cut into halves.

Lay a 'sausage' of mixture in the middle of each pastry half.  Roll up and make sure that they are sealed close.
Lay on seal on baking tray.  Brush with milk.  Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

These were enjoyed by the children but a tad bland.  Next time I will use beef mince.

In Tandem.

10 year old daughter's legs are now long enough to go on the tandem bicycle.  She loves it.

A Cat in the Sun.

Noddy the cat loves the sunshine on the deck as much as we do.

Zesty

We have oranges growing in our garden.  They are a little tart, but husband E loves them.  We added the zest to a recent cake and then the juice to the icing.  10 year old daughter and her pink fingernails made this cake.  It was delicious.

Halva

I was at Woolworths last week and saw a barrel of wrapped halva amongst the fruit and veg.  I asked a kind shop assistant what it was.  He cut it open and gave me a sample.  I bought some.  It is very sweet, very delicious with a wonderful after taste.  This halva has chocolate and nuts through it.  If you heat a little in the microwave it is delicious with good icecream.
I think halva is a Greek delicacy.

Attractive Washing Up.

I thought that even the washing up looked good this day... a Japanese plate in front of old Austrailan labels on the fabric hanging down from the window.
We use the Japanese plate and my gohan bowl when we have crackers and cheese or pate.

Little Helper.

Start them young, while they are keen......

Bicycles.

We had a lovely time with bicycles up at the caravan.  This was Mrs N's.

Flowers in the House.

Birds at the Lake.

These birds were following lots of fish at the lake.

Traffics.