Grapefruit Glut - Marmalade

Our grapefruit tree is huge and I don't think we'll ever be able to consume everything it provides.  Heck, I made a HUGE batch of marmalade, numerous cakes, muffins and juice, and we didn't even make a dent.  We're very lucky that our grapefruit are sweet and not overly bitter or tart, you can drink the juice freshly squeezed, no water or sugar added.  I'll miss that once our tree is finished (or when the next storm hits).  In the mean time we can work our way through 19 large jars of marmalade - I made double batch of recipe below.

Marmalade
4 Grapefruit
2 Lemons
3.5L Water  (use only 6L for double batch)
Sugar

Wash then thinly slice or whizz up fruit in a food processor (don't throw away the pips - they have pectin that help the marmalade set).  Cover with water and leave for 8-10 hours.  I chopped mine in the morning and cooked it in the evening once the kids were in bed.

Once soaked simmer for 45 minutes or until soft and pulpy.

While fruit is cooking turn on oven to 120C.  Wash and rinse the jars and lids.  Put jars in the oven for 30 minutes and boil lids covered in water for 10 minutes to sterilise.

Once pulp has cooled slightly measure and add one of cup sugar for every cup of pulp.  Return to the heat and boil rapidly till mixture reaches 105C or setting point (drop a small blob on a frozen plate and put plate in the fridge for a couple of minutes.  Give the blob a gentle poke, if it has formed a skin that wrinkles it's ready).

Carefully full jars and screw on lids - trying to avoid getting jam everywhere like I do.

Basic Beauty

After a forage in my garden I returned to the kitchen with a very large handful of silverbeet and kale, for our easy quiche dinner.

I have never grown anything but plain silverbeet before - I don't think I'll go back, these 'rainbow brights' silverbeet and red kale are beautiful.  The chopped steams looked like jewels tumbling into the quiche dish, even Mr 3 was impressed.

Simple pleasures for our simple life.

How to Season Stainless Steel to make it Non-Stick

Sorry folks, this has been a long time coming.  It's been a busy week!  One of my boys was sick, I was busy building up to our Christmas BBQ lunch with family and friends and the garden is taking up a lot of time (I will post some results of my gardening efforts soon).

Well here it is; how to season your stainless steel cookware to make it non-stick - you don't have to rely on the stuff with nasty coatings and chemicals.

It's very easy, here are two methods (I use sunflower oil and they come up beautiful - but peanut and coconut are supposed to be even better).

Top of the Oven - Frypans or Pots
Clean pan/pot very well in hot soapy water, rinse well and dry.  Put onto a medium heat - when it is good and hot add a couple of tablespoons of oil.  Swirl the pan so the whole base and a good portion of the sides are covered.  Keep heating the pan till the oil smokes (you may need to turn up your heat a bit), let it smoke for a 10 seconds or so, you'll notice the oil starts to shimmer.  Remove the pan form the heat and let it cool completely.  Wipe out excess oil.

Inside the Oven - Baking Trays or Tins
Preheat oven to 180C.  Wash cookware with soapy water, rinse well and dry.  Once they are perfectly dry wipe a very generous coating of oil over the inside surfaces of the pan/trays, making sure you get into all the corners.  Put into the oven for 20 minutes or so, till the pans are smoking and heated through.  CAREFULLY bring out to cool and wipe off excess oil.

You're cookware is now ready to go.  Just remember, for the top of the oven don't cook things too high.  When I cook things like pancakes and pikelets on my stainless steel pan the element is only on quarter, for sauteing it's just under half.  Start low and work your way up to what works for you.
For inside the oven I roll my bread in oats or flour to be sure they'll turn out without any fuss - especially for a very wet sourdough.

Washing up depends on how much of a mess you've made.  For something like pancakes or eggs just wipe the pan out and for a bigger mess clean with hot water only - not soap.

Sounds too good to be true?  I thought I was too, but it works.  When you heat the stainless steel the structure opens up and the hot oil seeps in.  When it cools the oil is locked in giving you a nice smooth, non-stick coating.  If you wash your cookware with soap you'll wash the oil away - that's why you should only use hot water.

I have to admit the pan won't stay non-stick forever, it depends on how often you use it, if you use your stove top too high or burn things.  No problem though, you will just need to re-season your cookware every now and then, just scrub it out and repeat as above - you can't do that with Teflon fancy smansy Circulon can you!!

Flour, yeast, salt, water and PFOA?

Over years I have favoured non-stick cookware.  Supposedly easy to clean (for the first few uses anyway) and I thought buying upper end non stick would last longer and have less of the toxins I had started to hear about - not so.

After reading an article I dug a little deeper to into non-stick cookware and the upper end brands I was currently using - and it's not good.  I won't repeat too much of what I read, because you can look it up for yourself if you're interested, just do a search for non-stock chemicals or non stick carcinogens.

What really worries me is being a bread baker, I frequently have my oven set at max for chewy artisan style crusts.  This is exactly the kind of thing that can release carcinogens like PFOA from non-stick cookware.  With my upper end non-stock loaf pans showing signs of ware with bits of coating coming off I've decided to retire them - and never go back.

That's I am excited that these beauties arrived today from Amazon - my Christmas present.  They are 18/8 stainless steel with no coating that will peel away and the are punched and molded with no rolled edges or folds, so they'll be a breeze to clean.  Best of all, I will never have to spend another penny replacing peeled and very anti-non-stick tins.  And I can use them for anything else you'd put in a large loaf pan, a roast chock, banana bread, date loaf, lemon loaf, meat loaf.....
Another thing, have you put oil on a non stick pan and found a sticky coating left on after baking, which is impossible to remove - unless you got a wool scrubber out - which you can't use on non-stick?  Well no issues with that here, I can give these a good scrub if I need to with no worries - except the flawless polish, but that doesn't bother me, these are going to be some very hard working pans.  They were not cheap but I think our health is worth it and they are a lifetime investment.

I'm off the wash and season my new pans and get some bread made (I'll explain how to season your stainless steel next time - I need to get baking).

And if you're wondering why I need six, it's so I can bake 2 batches of bread right after one another and cut down baking to every 6 to 7 days, which will save power and time (which I don't seem to have a lot of at the moment with an 18 month old explorer/adventurer)

Tackling the House and Sea of Toys

With 2 tired kids happy playing I thought it was a good time to have a sit down.  But as I walked the to lounge I stood on a toy and nearly tripped on another.  I stopped and looked around.  There was a layer of toys throughout our entire lounge, dining and sunroom.  On walking down the hall with a mere handful of toys I had collected I found more toys, discarded clothes and books.  Reaching each of the boys rooms I with the now armload of things to put away I found more books, toys and clothes, some that were very far from their homes.

Right!  Something has to be done about this!  I decided to put into action an clean up method I had read about.  Instead of focusing on just one room, scrubbing every corner and walking into the next room feeling like you've got a bit of Deja Vu, you tackle your entire house in steps, I started by just doing 3 jobs and some of number 4 before it was dinner time.


ONE - Put everything away
Grab your biggest washing basket and a rubbish sack then starting in a room at one end of the house put away everything you can in that one room.  Anything that doesn't belong in that room goes in the rubbish sack  or washing basket.  Move on to the next room with the basket and rubbish sack and repeat, putting away anything in the basket that belongs in that room.  I found it easier to tip the washing basket out and sort out what I needed to put away in that room (faster than digging around in the basket).  Strip the beds as you go and throw any other washing you find into the doorway.  Once you get to the end of the house you will probably have a few things in your basket, work your way back to were to started and empty the basket.  Pick up the washing into your now empty basket and deliver it to the laundry, put a load on while you're there.
Using a rubbish sack worked well for me on a Friday, which is rubbish day, so taking the sack outside gave us the new rubbish bin liner we needed - another job done.

TWO - Dust
 Start in one corner of your house and systematically work your way around with a duster.  Dust all of the window sills, tops of doors and windows, light fittings, cobwebs from corners, shelves, light switches, top of curtains and rails, picture frames, the tops of skirting boards, everything.  I don't actually have a duster (I think they just shift the dust around) so I use the little brush attached to the end of my vacuum.

THREE - Vacuum and Clean the Floors
Go around with your vacuum over your now clear floors, finishing each room by going around the edges with the 'wand' attachment - a favourite place for pet hair to collect at our house.  Then take a hot mop to the hard floors (I use a steam mop with a few drops of teatree and lemon oil on the 'slipper' thingy - no nasty chemicals and lovely clean smell).
For something extra, in one or two rooms move all the furniture away from the walls and clean underneath it, each week do a different room.

FOUR - Clean Surfaces, Sinks and Toilet (and Windows if you have time)
I don't worry about the kitchen bench at this stage - it gets a wipe over with hot soapy dishwater every time I do the dishes.  Dish liquid and hot water does an amazing job, I fill the bathroom sink with hot water and a squirt of liquid and use this to clean the sink, surrounding area and any other surfaces.  Repeat this with any other areas with a sink - like the laundry.
Half fill a bucket with the same stuff then work your way around the house wiping down windowsills, shelves, furniture - anything that needs it.  Just make sure you wring out your cloth really well each time you rise it so you're not sloshing to much water everywhere.  Refresh both the cloth and water every now and then.  If you want to make sure surfaces are extra clean go around with a spray bottle filled with white vinegar and a cloth and use like you would a nasty chemical cleaner.
Now for the toilet.  Give it a good scrub then sprinkle baking soda all over the bowl and a throw a good couple of tablespoons into the water.  Use your vinegar spray to wet the baking soda in the bowl and pour a half cup or so into the water - fizzy toilet fun.  Now spray the rest of the toilet with vinegar and leave for 15 minutes.  I grab a wad of loo paper to wipe everything down and flush it and all the soda down the loo.
If it needs doing, clean the windows.  Grab some newspaper, screw up half into balls, dampen and put into a bucket.  Clean the windows with the damp paper and polish dry with the dry stuff.  Take the used paper out to your compost heap, breaking it up a bit - it'll love it. Why not hang out that load from number one while you're outside.

FIVE - Finish Up
Go round and make the beds, straighten pillows, do the dishes (giving the kitchen a good wipe down with the hot water), fold any washing (I always seem to have a basketful waiting for me) and put another load on if you've got it.

Now you can relax and enjoy your clean and tidy home.  With my 2 boys at my feet we managed to get steps one, two and three done in just under 2 hours.  Then for number four we just gave the bathroom sink and toilet wipe down and scrub.  Next time it will be faster as I hadn't dusted for ages.

If you're expecting friends and you're in a hurry just do steps one, three, a bit of four then five.  Heck, even doing number one while the kids are in the bath each evening makes for a less clutter and a more relaxed home.

Gingerbread

This recipe is easy, reasonably quick and super yummy!  The biscuits come out quite firm and crunchy so is a good base for a gingerbread house.  I've tried quite a few recipes and this is by far my favourite.

Gingerbread

3T Golden Syrup
75g Caster Sugar
1T Water
1t Cinnamon
1t Mixed Spice
2t Ground Ginger
75g Butter
1/2 t Baking Soda
225g Plain Flour

Turn oven on to 180C bake (or 170C fan bake).  Gently stir and melt syrup, sugar, water and spices together then bring to the boil.  After boiling for 2 minutes add the butter.  Once the butter is melted and well stirred into the syrup add the baking soda (this will make the mixture turn pale and foam slightly).  Remove from heat and stir in flour.  When cool enough to handle push dough together into a ball, gently roll out to about 4mm thick (if you push too hard the surface will crack), cut and place on ungreased baking sheet (use baking paper if the surface of your baking sheet isn't that great).  Bake for 7-10 minuets (a little longer if you're making large house pieces), until the edges are just begining to brown and underside is golden.  Cool on the tray for a few minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  Decorate with royal icing.

Royal Icing

1 Egg White
250g Icing Sugar
Vinalle Essence

Beat egg white to soft peaks then gradually add the icing sugar till the mixture reaches a spreadable consistency.  Stir in a few drops on vanilla.  Add food colouring if you like.

6 and 7 Years - Blue Cheese Sauce and Steak

7 years ago (and one day) I met the love of my life.

After writing nearly a novel online to each other via a dating site we agreed to met at a book store cafe in Auckland city for a coffee followed by lunch.

For the 2 weeks prior we had been sending each other pop quizzes to find out more about each other.  For our first date we left our last set of questions unanswered so we had something to talk about over our nervous first coffee. I can remember sitting, sipping on my chai latte, waiting, nervous, excited!  After what seemed forever (which was only quarter of my latte) he arrived.  Tall, brown haired, blue eyed and handsome.  I wriggled out from out behind the table and we broke the ice as planned with a hug, the kind of hug you give a friend when you meet.  Hear racing and n-n-nervous I returned to my seat while he ordered a coffee.  Soon nerves and pop quizzes were forgotten, conversation and laughs flowed as we drank and decided to explore the city.  Our coffee was followed by bumping knees in an arcade, a sushi lunch at an Asian Food Hall, admiring the huge yachts at the waterfront and taking a look around the then reasonably new Britomart Train Station.  The afternoon quickly disappeared and we decided to get dinner at a ramen noodle bar.  A flask of warm sake and a couple of big bowls of miso noodle soup later we decided to see a movie before parting ways.

Twelve hours after our first date began I was delivered safety home, we agreed that we had both had a fantastic time and we'd like to see each other again.  We have never looked back, 3 months later we talked of getting engaged and 364 days after our first date we wed.  Six years later I am sharing my life with my best friend, we have 2 amazing little boys, a home in the country with animals and a big garden, things we dreamed of together when we fell in love.  Simple pleasures are what fill our lives, and I couldn't be happier.


Blue Cheese Sauce and Steak - Anniversary Dinner

2T Butter
2 Medium Onions, sliced
1T Four
1C Milk
1/2C Blue Cheese, Crumbled

2 Steaks (we had home kill scotch fillet)
Oil
Salt and Pepper



Put a pan on med-low heat and melt the butter (put another pan on medium for the steak).  Add the onions to the butter and cook gently for 10 or so minutes until golden (stir only every minute or so)).  Meanwhile oil and season your steak and cook in another pan.
Once the onions are golden (your steak should be cooked and  resting by now) add the flour to the onions and after another minute add the milk.  Stir continuously until the sauce has thickened then add the blue cheese, continue stirring until it has melted.  Serve steak over the blue cheese sauce.  We had ours with fresh salad from the garden, home made pasta tossed with pesto.

This sauce is amazing for something so simple - and if you love blue cheese like I do this is drool worthy stuff.