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.)