Gingerbread men and ladies

I made these for Christmas and they were so much fun to decorate. Me and Georgie did all kinds of great outfits for these little guys, we almost felt mean eating them afterwards...

Here is the recipe i got from taste.com

Preparation Time

15 minutes

Cooking Time

10 minutes

Makes

20

Ingredients

• Melted butter, to grease
• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup
• 1 egg, separated
• 375g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
• 1 tbs ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Plain flour, to dust
• 150g (1 cup) pure icing sugar, sifted
• 8-10 drops red liquid food colouring
• 8-10 drops green liquid food colouring ( I just did mostly white icing, so left out the food colouring)
• Smarties, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease.

2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

3. Meanwhile, place egg white in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric beater to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Divide icing among 3 bowls. Cover 1 bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Add red colouring to 1 bowl and stir until combined. Add green colouring to remaining bowl and stir until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

4. Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough.

5. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool.

6. Place prepared icings in small plastic bags. Cut a small hole in a corner of each bag. Pipe icing over gingerbread men to decorate. Finish with Smarties.

God is not a white Man

This is really cute (slightly controversial but cute)

Sydney

On Tuesday i got back from such a lovely week away in Australia with my Dad! We got to see more family over there and i got to do some fun shopping and lots of eating out! I love holidays, and it made home even better when i arrived back. I have such a new appreciation for my wonderful husband and life here! Here are some pictures from my trip.

Japanesey Rice Paper Rolls

These are so great. I was inspired my the mini ones we get at our local sushi place Yohei in Wanaka. I guess you can really put whatever you like in them... these ones we made had in them:

Mayonaise (we used Kato, their one is pretty natural with no artificial stuff)

a little hot sauce (we used peri peri - a little more mexi than japanese but really delish)

Chicken cut into teeny strips cooked in Cajun spice

Bacon bits

Avocado

Lettuce

Soy sauce (for dipping)

Rice paper rolls (these you just soak in cold water for a couple of minutes until they're soft and then they're ready for wrapping)

Fresh ginger would also be great with these.

They are really fun to make and fun little parcels to eat! x

Wanaka Spring in Polaroid

What is better than family and home made pizza?

When we were in Cape Town last Spring one of my favourite things was to go to the Red Herring in Noordhoek and have their amazing chicken, bacon, banana, and avo pizza with lots of hot sauce on top. We have started making them here to bring back good memories! We make really thin bases out of Dan's Naan bread recipe and then cook them at max temperature in the oven (the closest we can get to a wood fired pizza oven!).

Here is the recipe:

Bases

1 t yeast

3 cups flour
2 T oil
4 T yoghurt
1 t honey
1 t salt
3/4 cup warm water

In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients, starting with flour and salt, then add oil, yoghurt and honey, lastly add yeast and warm water. Mix together and then knead into a dough on a floured bread board or bench. Leave for 15 mins to rise before rolling out.

Toppings

Tomato paste

Chilli paste

A little bit of cheese

Cooked chicken strips (sometimes we cook these in cajun seasoning first)

Cooked bacon pieces

Sliced tomato

Chopped banana

Cheese on top

Cook in oven at highest temp for about 5 mins, or until golden and ready looking, slice avocado on top of pizza and add hot sauce!

I'm sorry

I have been the slackest blogger lately, i guess it's been a busy time, and i've been a bit lazy... but it's spring now, and i am feeling more inspired, there are blossoms on the trees and it's soo green everywhere! We've been able to go outside for walks instead of being trapped indoors because of the cold, the thought of summer days makes me so happy, i am a summer person! So it with little sadness that i farewell winter, i won't miss your cold days, the layers of clothes i've had to pile on, i won't miss cabin fever from being inside a lot, and i especially won't miss my pale skin.

Xx

Joy in the mail!

So the new addition to our family arrived yesterday.... Brandon picked me up after school and told me that nothing had arrived in the post and i was a little bit disappointed, i got home and walked up our very long stairs to find flowers and a camera on the table! I love surprises like that! Today i took it to the lake to capture some of the spring beauty all around. X

Brooke you make me feel happy x

Brooke Frasers new album "Flags" comes out Next month, she is so fun. This song makes me want to dance around my house!

I officially love cookies

I am one of those people who goes through obsessive phases of things, mostly food, some phases are longer than others, years even. I also sometimes find it hard to stop once i've started, once or twice i have eaten an entire tray of these cookies by myself, before Brandon got home from work (then he doesn't have to know i made any in the first place). This recipe has evolved over the last few months and transformed into the healthiest version of a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie you can probably imagine, this in part is how i justify having so many. Here is my recipe:

1/2 cup brown sugar (i use organic raw sugar, the closer to the original form of sugar cane the better)

1 egg

180g butter

1 cup flour (i've been using buckwheat, millet, stoneground white, or a combination of these)

80g dark chocolate chopped up

1 tablespoon organic peanut butter

vanilla essence

pinch of salt

Mix brown sugar with butter well, add vanilla. Add flour and salt and continue to mix, add egg and peanut butter and then chocolate. Bake on baking paper on a tray for around 15 mins at 180 C.

This is such a super quick and easy recipe, and completely fail-proof (i like).

Let's go somewhere beautiful

We've had some big changes happening lately, our family here in Wanaka are leaving in a month to go an a huge travel adventure... Brandon and i are trying our best to be so happy for them and not think about how sad it is that they're not going to be around anymore! If i was to be selfish i would like them to stay and live here with us for ever...

So Taryn, Dan, and baby Oscar, we've been thinking... maybe we can come and have Christmas with you in Cape Town, we would love that. In fact i think our whole family should meet in Cape Town this summer, that would make our hearts so happy X

ps here are some pictures from my first time in South Africa last year... i miss you Cape Town.

Click click

I've been eyeing up a new camera lately, whilst learning how to use my Nikon digital SLR i have been missing being able to just snap away any old time and capture things as they happen, i know that sounds really impatient and silly but i guess i want a camera that is small enough and easy enough to use that i can pull it out and take a shot in the moment. I've been thinking about what Chase Jarvis said about the best camera being the one you have with you, i like that. My friend Alex gave me some great advice on what is the best around in the point and shoot department. So now i just have to choose!

Boerewors

Last night we made real South African Boerewors.... It was amazing.delicious.wow. We even skyped Andre, Brandon's Dad in Wales so he could be part of the fun. For those of you who don't know what Boerewors is (you are missing out) it's a traditional Dutch sausage that is popular in South Africa. The name comes from the Afrikaans word boer (farmer) and wors (sausage) and is pronounced 'burevors'. Here are screen snap shots of our dinner. and yes that is my gorgeous husband there with a face full of burger bun.

The beard is back

Dear Brandon, you are a great husband, and even though i complain about your scratchy beard and your moustache that reminds me of a walrus sometimes, i actually really like it. I think that your beard makes you look quite handsome... lately i've seen other men around with beards (not nearly as nice as yours) i think you started a fashion.

For more pictures of bearded men go to backyardbill.

Winter flowers

Because it is so cold down here in Wanaka right now (it has been -6 in the mornings) there is nearly nothing that flowers. I so miss having flowers in the house, on Great Barrier i grew up with the house full of jasmine, daffodils, fresias, and jonquils. Today i'm going to go and buy some jonquils, maybe a camelia and bring some beauty and deliciousness into our home. X

Baking disaster

Today has not been my day... i have had an entire day of cooking disasters

1. i over toasted brandon's croissant

2. i over cooked the eggs

3. i burnt the bacon

4. i made cookies that are like small rock cakes

5. i burnt the pot for the popcorn (had i gotten as far as putting the popcorn in it would be safe to say i would have burnt that also)

6. my bread didn't rise

I think i will stay out of the kitchen for the rest of the day, unless for an emergency...

Sometimes when it's cold i dream of going somewhere like this...

I would like to be here please...

Georgie cookies

Our friend Georgina came back from Sydney for a few days and we got to hang out lots with her, we really like her, and we really really like her cookies. She is an inspirational baker, way more experimental than me which i didn't think was possible! She was teaching me to not be afraid of just throwing in whatever you feel... the next day we were finding bits of chocolate all over the kitchen, Brandon even found some on his chair (which he ate). She didn't follow a recipe as such for these but i'll get some kind of directions from her so you can try them. They are extreme chocolate, as in two whole big blocks and not much else, they are more like baked chocolate than anything else, incredible!

George just sent me the recipe:

Flour
Butter
Brown sugar
Oats
Baking powder
Lots of choc!
Condensed milk

Put a decent pour of oats..a bit more flour than oats.. Like 3 tsp of baking powder....a decent pour of sugar ..like a quarter tin of condensed milk and Maybe a quarter block of butter melted.. It should be quite heavy and wet.. If not then Put more condensed in. Bake until they are golden.

Have fun!

Garlic aioli

We have a burger bar in Wanaka called Redstar that make amazing aioli, we get it to dip our fries in and it's so addictive! I have always been an aioli fan and decided i wanted to learn how to make it at home. This is a great recipe but really tiring if you don't have an electric beater (we are yet to get one of these!) so it's a great work out for your right arm whilst you whisk! It is also helpful to have an assistant... Brandon found this quite tedious as he had to add the olive oil drop by drop to begin with and quickly lost interest in the whole thing. He did however like the finished product. Here's the recipe:

1 clove garlic

2 pinches salt (traditionally french sea salt, if you can get your hands on some)

a frew grinds black pepper

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup any other type of oil (you can do all olive if you prefer, i used a little rice bran oil)

Cut the ends off of the garlic, peel, and either chop it or put it through a garlic press. Put it in a mortar and pestle with the salt and grind it into a paste.

In a heavy mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks, lemon juice, and garlic mixture together until well combined, about a minute.

Start adding the olive oil drop by drop, whisking all the while. You can add it a bit faster as you go along, but the key to success is going very slowly at the start. When you are done adding the oil you can add salt and pepper. Makes about a cup. Store in the fridge and eat with anything that goes with aioli (kumara fries are really great with it.)

Cinnamon Twirls

I made these for Dan for his birthday, he has a thing about cinnamon swirls!

I hope you like them Xx

For the dough i used my breadmaker and then cooked them in the oven once i'd added all the yum stuff.

Ingredients

1 cup + 1 Tbls water
1 tsp salt
3 tsp sugar
4 cups plain flour
2 eggs
3 Tbsp of butter softened
2 1/2 tsp yeast

Filling
3 Tbsp melted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Add ingredients to breadmaker pan in order listed, put it onto the dough setting. Once the dough is ready, roll into a rectangle approx 30cm x 40cm (don't forget to put flour down on your board otherwise it could be a bit of a sticky situation). Brush dough with softened butter then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the top so it's all covered, i also added in some chopped dates for extra treatiness.

Starting with one of the ends that is longest roll dough up into a log. Once rolled cut into roughly 16 pieces. Place into greased baking tin/cake tin/something with edges (i actually used muffin tins but they got a bit cramped in there) press down gently on them, so that all their sides are touching.

Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.

Bake at 180 for about 20-25 mins. They should look golden and puffy and wonderful. Let them cool on a cooling rack and then if you like you can glaze them for extra wow.

Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1-2 Tbsp milk

Mix together until smooth, drizzle over the top! Xx

cupcakes!!

I stumbled upon these carrot pistachio citrus cupcakes on coconut and quinoa and wanted to share them with you. Brandon and i were gushing over them last night.... i'm definately going to make some on the weekend! X

I am a proud New Zealander

Can i just say that i am so happy to call New Zealand home and that i love how the Soccer World Cup has totally brought our country together... I know we didn't quite make it to the next round but who would of thought we'd get as far as we did? What a victory! We are proud of you All Whites.

Apple, banana, buckwheat pancakes

I can't believe i haven't posted these yet... they are my all time favourites! I have always loved pancakes, my mum used to make us banana fritters with really ripe bananas and give them to us dripping in honey. The bananas would go caramelised and they were all gooey and sweet. I think her secret was that she would pretty much deep fry them and used super ripe bananas. I have adapted them over the years, it would be safe to say mine are probably a little healthier than hers but they still remind me of mummy. This is one of those recipes for me that can't really go wrong and you can use lots of different things in. I really love that they are so fruity and have barely any flour.

Here you go!
3 ripe bananas
1 or 2 apples
1/2 cup milk
1 lemon
3 eggs
vanilla esssence
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tspn baking powder
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon

Mash bananas and grate apples (i leave the skin on), grate lemon rind (just the yellow) of about half the lemon, set some of the juice aside. Pour lemon juice into the milk, this turns it into buttermilk. Beat eggs until fluffy and add the fruit, buttermilk, vanilla essence and stir a little, sift in flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Fold gently until just mixed. You may need to add a little more flour flour depending on how the mixture looks, it should be quite liquidy but not tooo much, you'll know.
Cook with a little olive oil in a big pan, i usually fit about 3 or 4 in at a time.

Serve with maple syrup, berries, yogurt (or naughty cream), bacon. They are lovely! X


Luckily i got a shot of this lone pancake before my husband ate them all... he got very impatient waiting for me to take the photo while he was trying to eat it xx

Dhal and Naan

So it's officially and undeniably winter, in fact i can see it snowing now as i'm looking out our window... this morning when i was dropping Brandon off to go to the mountain our whole town was white! It is like a winter wonderland here in Wanaka and very beautiful. For some reason in winter food seems to taste better and i find myself thinking about it a lot more. I have also been thinking up and investigating lots of new recipes (comfort food) for cold winter nights. I've been wanting to learn how to make Indian Dhal and Naan bread for ages now so on the weekend we went to Taryn and Dan's for a curry night! It was so fun running in from the cold to their cozy house, music, wine, wood fire, and they even kept baby Oscar up so we could cuddle him before he went to bed. Here's how Dan and Taryn make Dhal and Naan...




















NAAN

1 t yeast
3 cups flour
2 T oil
4 T yoghurt
1 t honey
1 t salt
3/4 warm water

In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients, starting with flour and salt, then add oil, yoghurt and honey, lastly add yeast and warm water. Mix together and then knead into a dough on a floured bread board or bench. Leave for 15 mins to rise before rolling out and then bake at 200 - 220 degrees until some bits rise/bubble and it goes a nice colour. Make garlic butter and spread over top. Yum!

CURRIED RED LENTIL DAHL

They use a slow cooker for this and usually double the recipe (you can never have too much)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 -2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bay leaf
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon minced red chilli
1 cup split red lentils
3 cups bath temperature water
2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
salt
1-2 T chopped coriander, leaf (optional)

Directions
Heat the oil in a large pan.
Cook onion and garlic, stirring frequently
Add bay leaf and spices and cook, stirring continuously, for 1 to 2 minutes longer, then tip all into slow cooker.
Tip in the lentils, stir to coat with spices, then add the stock and water.
Cover and cook on high for 5 hours (Ours does it in about 3) until lentils are soft & mixture tastes smooth in your mouth. Thin with extra water if desired (will thicken on standing) and add salt to taste.

Stir in the coriander and serve.
You can serve Dahl as a meal, side dish, a dip with bread or veges or as a spread on sandwhiches or crackers. It is super dhaliscious!