It’s amazing – whenever we move to a new country I seem to forget how to cook or what I used to cook. I don’t know why but it’s as though I have to learn the art of feeding my family all over again. Go figure!

Anyway last night I was stumped … yet again but was hanging for something fairly healthy so I did what any mother would do half way through the school holidays, whilst desperately trying to maintain a little sanity – I opened a bottle of wine and logged onto google…again. I love the quick and easy recipes with few ingredients – especially when going through my re-learning stage – it just seems like less pressure and this one fits the bill perfectly.

This is what I found

Chicken in Wine Sauce

chicken pieces

Half a cup of white wine (I used most of the bottle)

2 onions – chopped

cup of chopped tomatoes (or a tin)

mushrooms

250 ml sour cream

Brown the chicken slowly in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray

we served it on brown rice!

Enjoy!

I know – things are very quiet on my front – but we are moving soon again and are back to the normal process of packing up our house. We’ve been unpacked for all of 9 months now and I’m gutted that we are having to rebox everything. Fortunately this time, we are only having to move house (the owner of our house wants it back for the World Cup!) Needless to say – I will be offline – more or less again – so that I can focus on finding a house and then moving again. Gutted, Gutted, Gutted but such is life

1. What are the main ingredients of a Cassoulet?

A slow cooked French stew/casserole made with pork sausages and beans

2. What is seasoned flour?

Flour that has been seasoned with herbs and spices – usually used for coating food ie calamari

3. Which fruit is the richest known source of the antioxidant called lycopene?

Tomatoes

4. Why is it advisable to rest steak for a couple of minutes after cooking?

So that the meat can “relax” again after cooking – and the juices redistribute through the meat

5. What is a galette?

not sure

6. What is chimichurri?

It is a spicy marinade for meat – can also be used as a dipping sauce – it’s yummy

7. Where is Polenta a staple food?

Italy

8. What is Chaîne des Rôtisseurs?

A international culinary society

9. What is a Pink Lady?

A cocktail

10. What is a sommelier?

A wine expert who works in a restaurant

Enjoy the weekend!

1. What dish is known as Jewish penicillin?

Chicken soup

2. What spices are traditionally in Ras el Hanout and what does it mean?

it’s a blend of spices from North Africa I think -isn’t it all your hot and curry style spices? It means – you’re going to suffer in the morning!

3. What is swede?

a turnip style vege

4. From which country is “pho bo” and when is it served?

It’s a Cantonese soup

5. Many in the food world believe the three great cuisines are which three?

French, Italian, Indian

6. What is a spatchcock?

when the backbone and sternum are removed from a chicken and the chicken is flattened out – also called butterfly

7. What is the difference between Vanilla essence and Vanilla extract?

Vanilla essence – it’s fake, vanilla extract has vanilla seeds and is made from the vanilla

8. What is traditionally used to thicken the sauce of Sauerbraten?

don’t know what Sauerbraten is but can I assume that it’s German/Austrian? Sauerkraut is sour cabbage so I’m too scared to even work out what Braten is and why that’s sour too.

9. Where does Malva pudding get its name?

Gee – no clue – never thought about it before

10. What are Portobello mushrooms called in their juvenile state?

mmmm – not a clue again

I’m not feeling the love for anything or anybody at the moment. 

The temperature is dropping rapidly and as you all know – I don’t do the cold very well.  It seems as though I go through a serious brain freeze whenever I get cold or get a cold (which I have too).  The weather is bad, it’s pouring with rain and winter has really set in.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) I’m not sick enough to get the full service of having my family run after me so I still have to be creative BUT I’ve lost my mojo.

Ok so I realise that I need a good healthy dinner! 

Now you have to understand that my children have been raised to eat absolutely everything…..or starve (never let it be said that I don’t give them options) but I have a son who loves vegetables and a daughter who loves salads.  Always a bit of a dilema in winter.  My husband has requested something with spinach, my daughter has requested pasta and my son has requested lots (as in lots of food – in his words….he is trying to grow) and I am looking for something healthy to make me feel better.

So dinner tonight is going to be Pasta with chicken, mushrooms, spinach & brocolli.  Sounds good but how to combat the drama of the spinach that my daughter has decided that she doesn’t like?

Definitely go for the comfort dessert factor!

I know – Malva Pudding always does the trick in this family but they’re all on a major health kick at the moment……

So I did what everybody else does when they run out of ideas – GOOGLE and found this recipe but the question is …..

if I add some orange juice to the sauce – will it count as healthy?  My children think that chocolate is a food group because it contains milk so this could work!

Then I remembered that I’m not feeling the love for anything or anybody at the moment and decided that it was all about ME!  I want malva pudding and I was quite happy to eat it all if nobody else wanted (yeah right…..like THAT was EVER going to happen in my family

Anyway the orange juice = healthy idea stuck and let’s be honest … as decadent as Malva pudding is ………this is just pure and total extravagent debauchery.

Malva Pudding

Cake (Pudding):

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 cup milk at room temperature

Sauce:

• 1 cup whipping cream (not whipped)
• 6 ounces unsalted butter (3/4 of a cup)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/3 cup of Cointreau / Orange Liqueur

4) The pudding is meant to be swimming in sauce. However, you can pour over half the sauce, then reserve the rest in a sauceboat and serve seperately.

5) The pudding keeps for at least 5 days in the refrigerator. To reheat. place  each portion for about 20 seconds in the microwave, then let it stand for 30 seconds for the heat to even, before serving.

6) Serve with extra sauce, cream or custard

Well my feelgood comfort food and the reason for my next diet is in the oven at the moment.  It is without doubt worth every mouthful of the extra time that I am going to have to spend in the gym.  There’s a smile on my face in anticipation already

 
• 150g (5oz) caster sugar

 

• 100g (3½oz) self-raising flour

 

• 2 level tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 medium eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk

Kia Ora everybody – I’m back!  My seasons are back in order – Spring in September and not May – and all is good in my bubble. 

What a trip.  We finally managed to get the house packed up and into a container and then had a few days of visiting family and friends on our way to Heathrow.  By the time we boarded, we were absolutely shattered but relieved to be finally on our way.

We landed in Auckland on a cloudy and chilly day but were way too exhausted to care much.  Dinner that night was a Rock n Roll style pizza out of a box – was the best pizza in the world!  My son fell asleep at 5pm with the pizza still in his mouth – poor kid. 

Jetlag was fun as we were up at 2am every morning and managed to chat to family back in the UK and RSA. 

What amazed and still amazes us is how quiet the night times are here – no police sirens, ambulance sirens etc.  It really blew our brains for the first few nights but now it’s bliss.

The North Shore is very much like Cape Town in so many ways.  The people are friendly, the beaches are beautiful and clean and the fact that I seem to hear more South African accents just adds to the feeling of being home. 

We have now moved into our house which is gorgeous and overlooks the Okura Valley all the way down to the sea.  We have no furniture but we do have broadband – so at least our priorities are right

Our container should arrive at the end of October – which should be an early Christmas.  I can’t wait to get my hands on my kitchenware.  Am so excited as my husband surprised me with an early birthday present before we left the UK – a bread machine.  It’s all brand new and in the container but it’s on it’s way to me!!  The smell of fresh bread really excites me – how sad is that!

So… whilst I’m back – I’m not back completely but I am enjoying catching up on all the posts that I’ve missed in the last month and appreciating the fact that your seasons and mine match again and I don’t have to put these wonderful ideas on the back burner for 6 months

Well – D day is nearly here and its up, up and away for us.  We have a weekend of cleaning and final sorting before the shippers come in on Monday.  On Tuesday – I’ll be saying goodbye to Scotland and on Sunday – it’s goodbye to the UK and hello to our new life.

The next time I post – I will be posting from North Shore City, Auckland and will officially be a New Zealand Resident.

I’m really excited at the prospect of finding some traditional New Zealand recipes to share with you all and to catch up on all your posts too.

So it’s farewell for now – but in the immortal words of Arnie – “I’ll be back”

   I really need some help please. 

I am Mother Hubbard at the moment –  my fridge, freezer and cupboards are seriously empty due to the move and I am struggling to find light but healthy ideas for dinners.  It’s amazing how as my cupboards emptied – so did my brain – of ideas.

I am looking for dinners that I can make that don’t require me buying too many ingredients or ingredients that would normally have enough left over for another meal.

I am really bored of the junk food that we have been eating.  You can only eat so many hotdogs, salad rolls etc.  Unfortunately we don’t have much time at the moment to cook full meals either.

Please, please could you help me!  Any and all ideas are desperately needed – I am having visions of my children going to the neighbours and begging for variety!

Thank you

Today I managed to tick a major event off my book of things to do.  We have exactly 21 days left in Scotland (well – we would have taken off 4 minutes ago) but once again – who’s keeping track) and there is still so much to do.

I suddenly realised today – whilst helping my husband clean out the garage (so that we can fill it again with boxes) that summer holidays are over in a week’s time and I still had to finish two shirts for my darlings to have signed on their last 2 days at school.

So between going through boxes and cursing the accumulative gene that we seem to have – I had to think about pictures that are age appropriate for Angel 1 and Angel 2.  Both my children wanted skulls on their shirts but I had to quietly remind them that the heavy metal mentality of our family doesn’t stretch as far as their schools.  I could just imagine these two angelic looking children walking into school, to say goodbye, with bleeding skulls painted onto their shirts.

Thankfully the responsible mother in me kicked in!  Angel 1, who is 15 going on 25 and at the height of her intelligence (I only wish that I knew as much as she does) – finally picked a really cute picture that one of her friends had drawn – it is of all the girls in their group (5 good friends) in their true colours.  It was brilliant as all I had to do was reproduce it – so much easier!  It’s too cute, so personal and will mean so much to her in the future. 

  That’s my Angel – second from the left!

Skol – or Angel 2 – finally settled on a Lego storm trooper and it’s come out well.

 I can actually send my children to their schools with a clear mind and no real fear of Child Welfare being called to investigate.  Amazingly, although the kids here do get their shirts signed at the end of primary school – they don’t put pictures and designs on them – like we did back home. 

So a major thing has been ticked off my book of things to do.  Now if I can only get the other 7 594 623 other things done! 

So …. whilst procrastinating. ……. I was sitting here going over my old blogs and I realised that I still hadn’t posted a recipe that I promised to post, a really long time ago – back in April.  It’s another family favourite.  It really can be as strong or as “weak” as you would like/need it to be.  If I have access to it – Klippies is a good brandy for this tart – our brandies here are more like a liqueur type. 

Everytime I’ve made this for any event – everybody has asked for the recipe – so do yourself a favour and keep it handy.

COFFEE BRANDY TART

CAKE

4 Eggs

250ml Sugar

Beat together well

1ml Salt

375ml Self Raising Flour

20 ml Coffee granules

Sift together

60ml Water

5 ml Vanilla Essence

60ml Milk

Mix together

Mix milk mixture with egg mixture

Mix cake flour into the above mixture

Melt 30ml Butter and add into above mixture

Mix in slowly with a spoon

Bake in oven on 180 C for 30 minutes

SYRUP

175ml Sugar

75 ml Brandy (I usually use about 300ml - the brandy taste does cook off) 

25ml Coffee Granules

5ml Vanilla

425ml Boiling water

Bring above to the boil

Pour over cake (as soon as cake comes out of oven)

Depending on the company – you can use less brandy in the syrup and just pour some neat over the cake instead. 

TOP LAYER

1 Tin Caramel

225ml Cream

Whip cream until peaks

Beat in Caramel

Spread over cake

Crumble Flake on top