Wednesday 21 June 2017

Cooking for the Day

The day began with a nutritious omelette filled with leftover roasted veg and spinach and ended, feet up and smiling, with a bowl of warm dessert. Time spent in our kitchen often yields much homemade goodness. So it was today ...

A healthy way to start the day with eggs and veggies.
(Just add toast!)

Crunchy, little biscuits for morning and afternoon snacks.
(The smell of them baking wafted through the whole house!)

The beginnings of a flavourful stew that simmered slowly & became dinner.
(And it will be tomorrow night's dinner too;)

  Winter Apple Crumble and homemade Salted Caramel Ice-cream for dessert.
(Perfect partners, these two!)

To be honest, I managed to produce a fair amount of washing up in the process of all this cooking but, and it's an important BUT, I like knowing what's in our food. In this food, there are wholesome ingredients, not fake ingredients. I know what's in it because I made it. Nothing about it was fast. Indeed the stew bubbled along all day and the ice-cream mixture had to be whisked, twice! There is time and effort and love in this food. And, and it's an important AND, it was a delicious day. Well worth the washing up!

I hope you have a delicious day too!
Meg

20 comments:

  1. You really can't beat home cooking. Healthier, yummier, cosy, fulfilling, cheaper, satisfying.
    I find I have a lot of washing up and time spent in the kitchen however it gives so much back and I thoroughly enjoy it too.
    Love the look of your salted caramel ice cream.
    Kylie

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    1. I think home cooking gives a lot back too, Kylie, and I am grateful that I have the space in my life to spend days like this one. Not all my days are like this but then there's the freezer stash and leftovers for the busy times when I can't potter in the kitchen. The salted caramel icecream was made by my son a(with very minimal help from me) using our Thermomix. It could just as easily be made on the stovetop...with a little more stirring at the custard stage. Meg:)

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  2. Oh YUM!
    That Apple Crumble and home made ice cream sounds delicious!!! I've still never made ice cream from scratch, I will one day!!

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    1. My mother used to make homemade icecream when we were girls and lived on a rural property. She would get the milk and cream from my Aunt and Uncle who lived a few farms away and had a dairy. She would set it in cake tins, one of which was heart shaped and the one that would be given to the three of us girls. The taste of that icecream was an "uncatchable memory" for a long, long time until I started making our own. Now, I can get close to that taste that takes me back to a very old kitchen in a run down Queenslander set above a rolling hill and a creek. We make our icecream now in our Thermomix but before I got this appliance, I made it on the stovetop. It takes longer on the stovetop but it's not hard as long as you remember to keep stirring so the "custard" doesn't stick to the saucepan. Meg:)

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  3. Mmm, salted caramel ice cream!!! Is it difficult to make?

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    1. We make it in the Thermomix, Fiona. It's a modified version of their recipe for Creamy Traditional Ice Cream. The only difference is that I have significantly reduced the sugar to only 40g instead of 150g and use coconut sugar for that caramel flavour. Then we add a pinch or two of pink rock salt. It's not a very sweet icecream but I quite like the flavour. Meg:)

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  4. It all looks delicious Meg, especially the dessert.

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    1. I made an apple crumble about a week or so ago, Jan, and then got some more Granny Smith apples on special so thought I should make another. Any excuse for pudding really! Meg:)

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  5. Looks like a productive cooking day...which is always fun.

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    1. It was that kind of day ... today, it's different. Dinner tonight will leftovers, stew with maybe a mashed potato topping and leftover apple crumble. Meg:)

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  6. I've always wanted to make this creamy vanilla ice cream recipe. http://thelifeofclare.com.au/vanilla-ice-cream/

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  7. Well I did intend to do some cooking today, Meg. However, the call from my sister's neighbour to say my sister needed to go to the hospital changed all those plans and I ended up being away from 10am till 4pm. So no cooking was done unfortunately. Your day was very productive and you made some yummy things.

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    1. I hope your sister is alright, Chel, that she's feeling better. Meg:)

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  8. A wonderful and productive day Meg, with enough food to last a few days. That ice-cream looks amazing!

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    1. Hi, Sally. It's good to spend time in the kitchen cooking batches that last a few days. Means that there's always food in the freezer for times when I don't feel like cooking. Meg:)

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  9. All looks good but the biscuits look especially tasty! I bake cakes but never think to make biscuits. Must try them!
    Eloise

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    1. Hi Eloise, I make biscuits often for my son's morning teas at school. These particular biscuits are quite nice and are easy to make. Meg:)

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  10. Yum Meg! What delicious looking food you're cooking there. It's such a bonus when there's a good cook in the family. xx

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    1. Thanks, Rhonda. It was a delicious day! I learnt how to cook from my Mum and it was my job, many a night, to cook the main meal if Mum was late coming home from work. I still cook many of those things today. Growing the garden has had me searching for different ways to cook the veg we harvest too. Meg:)

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  11. The biscuits look lovely. I make quite a few cakes but never think to make biscuits. Will give it a try. Eloise

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