In My Kitchen

There's a lot less in my kitchen than there was a couple of weeks ago, I've had some time off work and have been on a major decluttering mission!

 

There's a batch of White Peach and Vanilla Jam made with peaches from a tree that we dug up and brought with us when we moved here 5 years ago, last year was our first crop and this year we have had around 9 kilos of wonderful peaches.

 There's a Panettone, bought half price after Christmas and just the thing to enjoy toasted for a special " on holidays" breakfast. Hop over to see Celia at figjamandlimecordial.com to see what's happening in kitchens around the world.

There are a growing number of lovely zucchinis, I do love the challenge of keeping up with them and not wasting a single one.

Peach Wine #1

Way too hot to cook anything today, the last of the white peaches from our tree, however, were sitting on the kitchen bench beginning to look decidedly overripe. After a quick internet search I decided that Peach Wine would be a good solution, no cooking, just a bit of chopping and mixing. A kilo of peaches and a kilo of raw sugar, 4 litres of boiling water all went into a sterilised bucket.

After the mixture cooled down (as much as it could on a 40 degree day) 1 tablespoon of bakers yeast a teaspoon of citric acid and a cold cup of black tea were added. It needs to sit with a lid on for a week before straining and siphoning into a glass demijohn. It,s a bit of an experiment but I have high hopes, I'll let you know how it goes!

Meal Planning

I have been doing a weekly plan for our meals for a couple of years now, I like to put it up on our Menu board so that everyone can see what I have in mind to eat for the week. Sometimes things change, for instance tomorrow will be a day of Total Fire Ban and I had planned to cook sausages over a fire in our chiminea. We've still got some ham left from Christmas so I think we'll have that with some salad. 

A fresh start...

The first day of a new year seemed like a good time to start a new blog but after much consideration , breathing life back into an old blog that I haven't posted on for over 2 years seemed like a better option. I just knew that if I had to start from scratch it might just never happen, so welcome to 2015 and welcome back to My Garden Feast!

An Easy Dinner...

This recipe is one I've adapted from an issue of Good Food some time ago, it has evolved into a super easy but elegant meal that I have been known to serve at a dinner party but also for a quick dinner after work.

I started by cutting a Red Onion and a Large Pear into wedges, I tossed these in a splash of Balsamic Vinegar and a splash of Olive Oil. These were spread onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and put into a hot oven for 20 minutes.

I tossed some Baby Spinach Leaves into a bit more Oil and Vinegar and divided the leaves between the serving plates.

In the meantime, I heated a griddle pan and cooked a well seasoned Pork Steak for each plate.

I piled the cooked Pear and Onion onto the Spinach, added a Steak to each plate and it looked and tasted fantastic!

Tarty Tuesday...Jam Tarts...

We had some really good Pot Pies last night for tea, I cooked the filling on the weekend in the slow- cooker and all I had to do was cut the tops out of some Sheets of Pastry and bung them in a hot oven, too easy!

The only dilemma was what to do with the left over bits of Pastry, I just hate to waste food! I cut out a few discs, put them into a pan and stuck them in the freezer for 10 minutes. After they were nice and cold, I stuck them in the hot oven and half cooked them.

I plopped a bit of Mixed Berry Jam into them and put them back in the oven until they looked ready.
They were lovely! Just the thing for Supper!

A bit of Weekend Baking...

I haven't been doing much baking lately but I visited my Grandmother on Sunday and thought it would be nice to take some Cake to share with her. This Cake recipe is the easiest one I know of but it's also one of the nicest!

I put into a mixing bowl 125gms Butter, 1-2 Tablespoons of Finely Shredded Lemon Rind, 1 cup of Castor Sugar, 2 Eggs, 1 and a half cups of Self-Raising Flour and 3 quarters of a cup of Natural Yoghurt.

I mixed it all on low speed until the ingredients are combined and then on medium speed for about 3 minutes, it should look paler and smooth.

I divided the mixture into 3 small tins, I love these tins, the 3 of them will take a full size cake mixture, they look really cute and can be very practical.

One for Saturnight Dessert with some Custard, one to take visiting on Sunday and one for the freezer for when I don't have time to bake...Perfect!