Category Archives: Food

Gingerbread houses (cont.)

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L13 and P12 are fixing the walls of the Little House on the Prairie with icing. You can see a blob of icing on the inside of the house which is my attempt at reinforcement as I picked up that piece while it was still warm and it cracked a little.

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H10 is lining the third wall of the pentagonal lighthouse with icing before attaching it to the walls A11 is holding in place. The construction phase finished yesterday and the houses are sitting on our kitchen table waiting for the last of the decorating to happen tomorrow.

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Gingerbread houses

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It has been a few years since we made a gingerbread house, although we make and decorate gingerbread cookies every year. Often we make plans and dream up elaborate ideas but then run out of time to make the house. This year we have entered a competition so the plans are coming to fruition.

L13 has teamed up with her friend P12. B7, A11 and H10 are working together and the two creations are very different. Initially each team was keeping their designs a secret, but a slip was made and discussions over heard so they shared their plans with each other. As neither house is traditional they had to come up with their own plans. L and A spent quite a while drafting and then made mock-ups with cardboard.

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Last night we mixed, rolled, cut and baked gingerberad for three hours, heading off to bed around 11pm tired but very happy with all the necessary pieces for one lighthouse and one replica of the “Little House on the Prairie”. Not only were all the pieces cut, but windows and doors also. Before baking we put white candies in the window spaces which melted to make milky white panes.

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Drop in tomorrow and hopefully I will have the next part of the process up for you to see.

An apple a day

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As summer slips away we are enjoying cooler nights, crisper mornings but warm sunny days. This pleases me as I am in no hurry for summer to end. I had to get jeans and a sweatshirt out last weekend, but I wasn’t happy about it. Signs of the season change are all around us: leaves changing colour and falling, pumpkins in the fields and road side stands and of course Halloween madness in the stores. It is also apple picking time.

img_3514crop.jpgLast year we picked apples with my parents at an orchard a fair way out of town. It was a pleasant drive and we came home with bags of Lobos. This year we chose an orchard closer to town so the group of four could all pick together. Macintosh and Empire were available . Everyone took a quarter bushel basket but I soon realised that I didn’t actually want that many apples!

On arriving home I filled the fruit bowl and made some apple sauce for supper but we hardly made a dent in the load. Apple crumble, apple pies and more apple sauce are all in the plan for the next week and of course morning, afternoon and bedtime snacks are covered also. I have never dried apples but I might look into how to go about it.

 

Birthday report#3

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I know the birthday report is running a little late but we having been busy living our life here, and not taking time to write about it! The following is an interview with the birthday girl, A11.

H: How did your birthday begin?

A11: I started the day by looking at the rearranging my sister L12 had done in the doll house. I found some streamers, and in the dining room my dolls had presents and cake.

H: What did you have for breakfast?

A11: Waffles, cream and fruit.

H: Did you open any presents?

A11: Oui.

H: And…

A11: My sister gave me some body wash, which I thought was food, some flip flops and a tshirt.

H: I see you are wearing the tshirt now, it looks very nice.

A11: Thankyou.

H: Would you like to tell us about any other presents?

A11: Next were some bubbles, then a pair of binoculars (eagerly hoped for), a bedroom setting for the dollhouse, a personalised drink bottle and bracelet and a spotty wallet.

H: Did you stay home and enjoy using your new gifts?

A11: No, I went to camp, where it was raining.

H: Did that spoil your day?

A11: Not at all, it stopped raining soon after I arrived. While at camp I went swimming, played Mafia, and other activities. Just before I lunch the girls in my group sung Happy Birthday and then I was invited to the little boys group and they sung Happy Birthday

H: What did you do after camp?

A11: I came home and used my binoculars to watch the birds in the backyard. I installed the new furniture in the doll house and moved my money into the new wallet.

H: Did you choose the birthday dinner?

A11: Yes, we had bbq chicken, potatoes and salad with ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

H: Then I guess you hopped off to bed because you were so worn out.

A11: No, actually, I didn’t. I chatted on the phone to people who had called to wish me Happy Birthday, I played the Stuart Little computer game with B6 and then watched an episode of the Cosby show to end the night.

So there you have it, a simple but enjoyable birthday for the Queen of Bits and Pieces

One to a Hundred

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Such uncontrolled and raucous laughter has not been heard around our dining table in a while. We have had some intense games of 1-100 in past months but none have been as loud as this one. Tonight we had the camp counselors here for dinner after their day at camp. Initially there was no sign of the rowdiness we were to see later. They were all quiet and polite; they planted themselves around A10’s doll house where they chatted and waited for the whole contingent to arrive.

Even when they were all present they stayed there and had their daily debriefing, ending with a prayer time. Next they gravitated to the kitchen, but still I saw only mild and helpful young adults chatting with each other and offering to help me. When the bbq was being consumed we began to see some enthusiastic eating from the young men, and some eagerness when I brought out the icecream sandwiches.

After dinner my suggestion of a game of 1-100 was met with blank looks. L12 and I gathered the supplies: piece of paper for everyone, a die and a pen. The rules are simple: everyone takes turns rolling the die, when anyone rolls a six they grab the pen and start writing consecutive numbers starting at one. Then next person to roll a six grabs the pen from the writer and begins (or continues) writing their own numbers. The first to one hundred is the winner.

Shouting, jungle type sounds, shrieks and groans were heard amidst much laughter. If you don’t believe me just try it. I think we saw the counselors true colours showing through! Seriously, though they are a great group and Andrew and I were happy to spend some time with them. They have committed their summer to giving many children (2 of ours this week) a safe, happy and fun packed time at camp, sharing Jesus’ love as they do.

Summer dessert

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I do not make many desserts but I do make this one numerous times during the summer. I made four last week: one for a friend’s birthday, two for a bbq and one which would have been for the bbq had I not forgotten that it was sitting in the oven and turned the oven to 375° and recooked it for half an hour before I realised it was there! It was not ruined (we have enjoyed snacking on it) but I did not know that before the bbq so I made another. As I was growing up my mother would make this for my birthday instead of a cake; it was what I wanted every year.

Pavlova

4 egg whites
1 tsp white vinegar
8 oz caster sugar ( regular white sugar in Canada)
2 tsp corn flour (corn starch)
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1. Beat the egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt.
2. Add half the sugar gradually while continuing beating. Add vinegar, corn flour, and pinch of cream of tarter, then lightly beat in remainder of sugar.
3. Pile onto cookie sheet covered in aluminium foil and make into a round shape about 1½ inches high
4. Bake in a moderate oven at 375°F for 3 minutes then, without opening the oven turn heat to 200° and cook for 1½ hours.

I open the oven door and let it cool in the oven before I take it out, cover it in whipped cream and decorate it with strawberries, kiwi fruit and manderine pieces. Grated chocolate is also good, as are raspberries.

Feasting in the tropics

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Last time I updated you about B6’s travel he was in Australia making lamingtons. He has clocked thousands of kilometres since then. In Egypt he familiarised himself with some hieroglyphs and used them to write a message in his travel journal. Then it was off to Ghana and South Africa, over the ocean to Brazil, Peru and Venezuala, a quick trip to Guatemala to see the quetzal and then down south to the Antarctic. I know that the Antarctic isn’t a country, but it was requested by the traveller so we are counting it. We were amazed by the story of Shackleton, his ship, The Endurance and his crew’s ordeal struggling to survive after the ship was crushed by pack ice.

Today he ended up in Trinidad and Tobago, a dramatic contrast to the Antarctic for sure. We read a little and browsed some pictures but he didn’t have any inspiration for his travel journal until I suggested he draw the tropical smoothie we were going to make. A picture was not the end product however, he created the whole recipe. Each ingredient was listed or drawn and then he drew diagrams for the 17 steps in his method! By this time it was lunch time so he made it. It was fabulous!

Here is his original recipe, which he named Super Banana

img_2779crop.jpg 1½ bananas, sliced
juice of 3 oranges
1 mango, peeled and cut into chunks
1 peach, peeled and cut into quarters
2 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
3 ice cubes

1. Crush ice cubes in blender
2. Add all fruit and orange juice to blender ( I have written that instruction in just eight words but I wish you could see his twelve detailed pictures of fruit being sliced, peeled and added to the blender jug)
3. Blend until smooth
4. Pour into chilled glasses
5. Enjoy

At B6’s suggestion our evening meal was from Trinidad too. We found the recipe in the back of the book I borrowed from the library and, as I happened to have almost all the ingredients I decided to give it a try. It was called Trinidad Pelau.

In the cupboard

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Last week Group of four did double duty: a morning field trip and an afternoon unit. When B6 realised this in the morning he declared, “Yay, no school today!” That’s what you think, my boy.

In the morning we headed off to a food bank in our city, the Kanata Food Cupboard, where we were given a tour and description of all the activities that go on there. We were also able to help sort three large collection bins that come in from local supermarkets and make up snack bags for school kids.

The food cupboard is staffed by 500 volunteers, some of whom had come in for an extra morning so that we could see them in action and have some guidance while we were working. We helped sort food into categories, some one else checked the use by date on every item sorted and then the items were shelved ready for another group to make family food packages. It was another reminder to all of us how richly blessed we are to always have enough food and often plenty to spare.

We then spent the afternoon looking at different components of fitness, breaking it down into muscle strength, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and endurance. We tried to emphasize the importance of setting personal goals rather than comparing yourself to others but our arm wrestling activity did bring the competitive side out in a few of us!

Lamingtons

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As promised B6 and I made an Australian food mentioned in Possum Magic. Lamingtons are blocks of butter cake or sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut. The cake is less likely to crumble if made a day ahead so I did that the night before. Making Lamingtons can be a fairly messy activity. I left B6 whisking the chocolate icing at one stage and came back to find it splattered on the wall. This just reminded me of the Lamington drives I participated in as a teen.

Our youth group did Lamington drives as fundraisers. We would collect orders for boxes of a dozen lamingtons and then gather on a Saturday to spend the day making them. The cake part was purchased from a bakery or supplier, then we mixed up the icing and rolled hundreds of squares of cake in icing, then in coconut. You can imagine what our church hall looked like at the end.

We have shared our lamingtons with a few friends and their responses were enthusiastic. If you would like to make them here is the recipe we followed:

Lamingtons

img_2462crop.jpg 125g (4oz) butter
¾ cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
pinch salt
½ cup milk

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Fold in sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Spoon into a greased and greased paper lined 18cmx28cm lamington tin (squares tin). Bake in moderate oven 30 to 40 minutes. Allow to stand in the tin for a few minutes before turning out on to cake cooler. It is best to make the cake the day before you want to cut and ice the lamingtons, as fresh cake will usually crumble. Cut the cake into squares about 4x5cm. Dip in chocolate icing, then toss in coconut. Place on grease proof paper while icing sets.

Chocolate icing for lamingtons: Sift 500g icing sugar and 1/3 cup cocoa into a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons melted butter to ½ cup warmed milk. Add sufficient milk mixture to icing sugar mixture to make a smooth consistency; beat well.

img_2465crop.jpgIt is quite a messy process rolling the lamingtons in chocolate icing. We used skewers to hold the pieces of cake and roll them in the icing. We also put our bowl of icing in a larger dish of hot water to keep it from setting too quickly. I didn’t pour all the icing into the bowl at the beginning because after a while it thickens and gets bits of coconut and cake floating in it. At the end you have some chocolate icing with cake and coconut in it so you can’t really use it for anything else. You also have some coconut with globs of icing in it so you can’t really use it for anything else. So you have to just eat it, really, don’t you?

Possum Magic

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possum_cover.gifWhen I was teaching in Australian schools all those years ago Possum Magic was a classic, I’m sure it still is. I owned a Big Book version which I kept in the class room to read to the class. Today B6 and I read the big copy and enjoyed it very much. He knows many Australian animals but probably not as many as the girls did at his age. I think it made it a little more fun to read as he recognised some and puzzled over others.

Possum Magic is about Grandma Poss and Hush, her little grand-daughter. Grandma Poss has some basic magic skills, enough to make Hush invisible but not enough to change her back when the novelty wears off. She has a hunch that the magical remedy involves food.

In order to become visible Grandma and Hush set off around Australia in search of quintessential Aussie cuisine. B6 knew many of the foods mentioned (because we make them) but not all. He had never heard of a Mintie and wasn’t clear on what a mornay was either. Tomorrow we are going to make one of the foods which restored some of Hush’s visibility so I’ll let you know how that goes.

Julie Vivas’ watercolour pictures are beautiful. The rainbow serpent in particular caught our eyes, especially in the big book version as it takes up the whole double page spread. B6 recognised the famous landmarks dotted through the pages and was entertained by the whole book. It hasn’t changed his opinion of Vegemite though, it must be the Canadian coming out in him.