Having A Photo Go.

The Mudgeeraba Show is coming up on June the 23 and 24th this year. I don't have much in the way of preserves and I'm really not in the mood to kill myself cooking this year.  I have a couple of jelly preserves in the cupboard so I won't go without entering anything; however my motivation is low and I don't think I'll have the stamina to defend my grand win last year; that is; the Grand Champion Show Cook. What an honour, but boy this title doesn't come along without a good deal of work.

In this post, I'm not concentrating on food or cooking. I finally uploaded some pics taken on my European trip last year. Can you believe it? Only just now. I willingly lost myself pouring through the photos and escaped into the wonderland that is Montenegro . These pictures brought back so many memories; although I have hundreds upon hundreds.  I said to Nicka, "I want to enter some pics in the show this year". If Nicka enters I won't have a hope of winning, but hey that won't stop me. I'll enjoy the spirit of having a go, and hopefully someone will stop and admire my pictures. I need landscapes and portraits.  

I need your help. Please leave a comment and tell me which picture you like the best. I would like your opinion and please; only one picture stating the capital letter in the caption.  I'm having trouble selecting, so I'd really appreciate your help.  Thanks people from Mariana.

A - typical Montenegrin haystacks dotting the countryside.

 B - the first road nearest my Dad's home in Potrk.

C - same road

D - the countryside - I recall Nicka saying 'who needs Numinbah with hills like these'. She's right.

E - Lake Plav this side of Montenegro and the Albanian border crossing at the closest mountain

F - a soft pink sunset by the seaside in Tivat, Montenegro, my uncle lives here

Ps: take a look at what I'm up against in some of my daughter's work posted last year in Magical Montenegro. Now that's amazing photography! Oh well, I'm still havin' a go.

Extra Extra:
Note the two added photos below. Printed them off on the weekend and they both turned out so well. Much nicer than any of the above; although I was happy with "B". The water landscapes turned out quite awful actually - very pasty and washed out looking. Funny isn't it how you just can't tell till you get it in print.

G -The pic I enlarged that turned out surprisingly well in print. 

H - Stojanka in mourning over the loss of her beloved Vukica.

hiking with little legs

A few months back I promised you to teach you.
to play.
outside.

Every time I post about hiking I get so many questions, so I will try my best to answer them.
 Let me know what else you would like me to cover--feel free to leave a question in the comments-I will see if I can cover it in a future post.

Today we're going to talk about hiking (short distances) with kids.
Short=you're out for a

Honeydew Ice

"Women, melons, and cheese should be chosen by weight."

-Spanish Proverb

Goodness it's been hot here! These 80 degrees F. (27 degrees C.) days are getting to me.

I saw these loose recipe cards in a free pile at a church sale and I rescued them.

I'm glad I did, because this really hits the spot on a warm day. Not exactly a recipe, more of an idea, or a reminder. "Hey remember that you can blend fruit, add sugar and freeze and it will be delicious?" "Oh, right, I forgot, thanks for the reminder." That's sort of the conversation I had in my mind about this.

Perhaps this is as much as a recipe as Paula Deen's English Peas. There is much controversy (and humor) about the simple recipe. For me and my honeydew ice, I'll risk the mocking

Cutting up the honeydew

Call it ice, call it granita, no matter. It's a great idea for any fruit on a hot day. Especially since it's so easy. The last thing anyone wants to do in the heat is cook, or do any work for that matter.

Blending it up to a puree

I like to relax in the heat with something frozen and cold.

Pour in a shallow dish

A little alcohol involved doesn't hurt either. Imagine a shot of Midori Melon liqueur poured over this, man my mouth is just watering thinking about it. (I would indulge my craving, but alas, no Midori in the house.)

Wait an hour, scrape it up while it's still in the freezer

Or some Sprite can be poured over for a delicious slushy-ish concoction.

Wait a little longer, scrape it up some more and it's ready!

However you eat this, plain or with accoutrement's it's absolutely perfect on a hot day.

A great new book I bought for quotes from the kitchen

The quote about melons at the top of this post is from this book I recently purchased called A Commonplace Book of Cookery: A Collection of Proverbs, Anecdotes, Opinions and Obscure Facts on Food, Drink, Cooks, Cooking, Dining, Diners & Dieters, dating from ancient times to the present. It's a fantastic book filled with great food quotes, which I love since I start each of my posts with a quote. I'm really loving this book.

Quilted bowls with Fleur De lis and flower details are available at my Etsy Shop, House Of Lucien.



I'm still adding items to my Etsy shop. It was my plan to get the banner up at my shop, finish those type of details then announce it here and say something like, "O.K.! It's perfect! Everyone go look at my shiny new Etsy Shop! Maybe that day will come, but for now I'm still working on it. By the time I'm done I'll have well over 100 items and I'll have a beautiful banner. But I still invite you to visit. I am really proud of the items I offer, they are wonderful vintage housewares. I do free gift wrapping with fabulous ribbon, (I actually enjoy gift wrapping and I sort of collect beautiful ribbon.) And I'm happy to enclose a message from the sender to the recipient. I make it easy to send a gift to someone you love. (Or don't love, that's o.k. too.)






Honeydew Ice

This can be made with any fruit, really. Recently I've done this with strawberries (I strain it to remove the seeds after blended,) papaya (with lots of lime juice) cantelope and pineapple.  basically if I have fruit in the fridge, I blend it and freeze it in this manner. I just taste it after blending and add sweetner to taste.


Ingredients

One honeydew melon- seeds removed and cubed

1/3- 2/3 rds a cup (80 ml - 160 ml) of Honey - or you can use sugar if you prefer- the amount will be determined by your taste as well as how sweet your fruit is.

Juice of one lime

Shots of Midori Melon liqueur- Optional

Sprite- Optional

Directions

Blend the honeydew melon cubes in a blender till it's very pureed, a few minutes. Add the lime juice and honey (or sugar) (start with the lesser amount, then taste it and see if it's sweet enough for your taste, if not add more till it's as sweet as you like,) Blend well again.

Pour into a shallow container (I used a 9x13 pan) and place in the freezer.

After about an hour in the freezer, scrape it with a fork. 30 minutes later scrape it again. Keep scraping at 30 minute intervals until it's as frozen as you want it. Scoop it up in bowls and serve.

Alternately, scoop it up into wine glasses or another type of glass and pour either a shot of Midori, melon liqueur (or whatever kind of liqueur you choose)  over it, or you can pour sprite over it for a sophisticated kind of slushy.

If it gets too hard in the freezer, just set it out on the counter to thaw for 10 minutes or until it's soft enough to scoop.

the come back

I woke up this morning, and knew today was the day.
It had been nine months since I was able to do it without stopping.
Fear and doubt had been standing in my way,
too high to climb, too large to go around.

I have mentioned before that my Lyme hit hard last fall.
What it affected most was my ability to run.
It was torture. 
Something I once loved so much, became nearly impossible.
My lungs

Strawberry rhubarb pie

Rabarber är en av de få frukter/grönsaker (ja, vad är det egentligen?) som får mig att tänka på min barndom. Jag vill minnas att nästan alla i grannskapet hade rabarber i grönsakslandet. Ingen verkade veta vad tusan de skulle göra med dem, så man man fick gå och plocka lite som man ville. Oftast åt man dem precis som de var, men allra helst doppade man stjälken i en påse med socker så att de blev helt täckta med socker. Ju mer socker desto bättre var antagligen mitt motto på den tiden. Hade jag fått äta det direkt ur påsen hade jag garanterat gjort det. Så är det iallafall inte längre.
Jag har helt ärligt inte ätit rabarber på flera år. Varför har jag faktiskt ingen aning om eftersom jag tycker det är så himla gott, särskilt tillsammans med jordgubbar!

Nu till receptet.. degen till pajskalet räcker antagligen till två små pajer om man kavlar den riktigt tunt, men eftersom jag älskar pajskal (och för att jag bara har en form) så blev det bara en. Du får gärna prova att göra två, men glöm då inte att dubbla mängden fyllning! Pajen blev en aning.. hmm.. blöt också, men antagligen för att jag inte orkade vänta tills den var helt sval. Det spelade dock ingen roll eftersom den var så himla god tillsammans med en skopa vaniljglass.
Recept följer efter bilderna!



In English:
Rhubarb is one of those fruits/vegetables (or whatever it is) that brings back childhood memories. Growing up, I remember everyone had rhubarb in their garden (or at least it seemed that way to me). No one really used them for anything, so kids in the neighborhood were invited to harvest. We usually enjoyed the stalks as they were, but sometimes they were so sour we had to dip them in a bag of sugar, completely covering them with sugar. The more sugar the better was probably my motto back then. It's not anymore. Anyway, I haven't eaten rhubarb in years. Why that is puzzles me. I love this stuff, especially paired with strawberries.

About this recipe.. the dough for the crust would probably be enough for two pies, but as I love pie crust (and I only have one small springform) I only made one. But you can make two if you want to. Remember to double the amount of filling if you do!
And it did turn out a little wet, but probably because I couldn't keep my hands off it long enough to let it cool. That didn't matter to me though as it tasted soo good together with some vanilla ice cream.



Jordgubb- & rabarberpaj
1 liten paj, cirka 12 cm i diameter
Pajskal:
2 1/2 dl mjöl
En nypa salt
75 gram kallt smör
3 msk kallt vatten

Fyllning:
250 gram blandade jordgubbar och rabarber,
hackade i mindre bitar
3 msk socker
1 msk citronjuice
Skal från 1/2 citron
2 msk majsstärkelse

1 äggula
1 msk mjölk
2 tsk farin/muscovadosocker


1. Blanda mjöl och salt i en skål. Skär smöret i mindre bitar och nyp sedan ihop det med mjölet. Tillsätt vattnet och arbeta degen så att den precis går ihop. Knåda inte för mycket! Lägg degen i plastfolie och låt vila en timme eller mer i kylen.
2. Värm ugnen till 200 C. Ta ut degen ur kylskåpet och låt den ligga i rumstemperatur i några minuter innan du kavlar ut den till cirka 4-5 mm tjocklek (spara en bit till ovansidan!). Lägg den utkavlade degen i springformen. Ställ in formen i kylen medan du förbereder fyllningen.
3. Blanda hackade jordgubbar, rabarber, socker, citronjuice och -skal samt majsstärkelse i en skål. Häll fyllningen i det kalla pajskalet. Kavla ut resterande deg och skär ut tunna remsor som du sedan lägger i ett korgmönster ovanpå fyllningen. Vispa äggulan lätt tillsammans med mjölken och pensla sedan pajen med äggblandningen. Strössla lite farinsocker ovanpå.
4. Grädda i mitten av ugnen i 45-50 minuter. Låt svalna och servera sedan tillsammans med vaniljglass eller vispad grädde.

Penguin Oreos ♥

Oreo cookies are fun and nostalgic. ♥

But what makes an Oreo cookie more fun than your average Oreo cookie?

When you turn it into a penguin.

and then turn it into a double stuffed wonder-by stacking an oreo that is also now a penguin on top of a cupcake.  Doesn't it make you feel double stuffed in that wonderful warm fuzzy happy kind of way? ♥

I like to triple or quadruple the the Oreo love.

By baking Oreos stacked on top of each other inside of a cupcake.

With (yes) a layer of peanut butter sandwiched in between each oreo.

 

Your tastebuds have decided to crash the blissful party that waits for you inside of a cupcake. 

 

You could just eat the Penguin Oreos by themselves.

It'd be like they are swimming in the cold arctic glaciers when you are dipping them in your tall glass of milk.♥ Maybe Oreo should sell these, boxed up in pretty packages at Christmas.

And for dessert..Penguin Cake Pops. ♥

Glistening with an edible arctic sparkle!

It's definitely a penguin party.

A few things you'll need to create your own Oreo penguins:

Oreo Cookies

Black Fondant

White Fondant

Orange Fondant (or orange starburst candy)

A Heart Shaped Fondant Cutter

A Small Circular Fondant Cutter (about the size of an Oreo)

Black Edible Ink Marker

Instructions:

1.  Roll out your three fondant colors to be about 1/8" thick.

2. Use your circular cutter (either a fondant cutter or cookie cutter) to cut out the black base of the penguin's face. You can skip this part if you want the bottom "black" layer of the penguin to be just the oreo.

3.  Coat the underside of the black fondant circle with frosting. Now you can stick your black fondant circle to the Oreo cookie.

4.  Use a heart shaped fondant/cookie cutter to cut out the white penguin face.  Coat the bottom of the white face with frosting and stick this to the black base of the penguin's face.

5.  Now you can make little triangles out of your orange fondant for the beak. I made these by hand, using an exacto knife.  You can also soften Starburst candies in the microwave for a few seconds and shape them into triangular beaks.  Again, use frosting as your "glue" to attach the beaks to the penguin face.

6.  Draw the eyes on with a black edible ink marker.

7.  I used a mini teardrop shaped fondant cutter to make the wings. Use frosting as your glue to attach the wings to the body. ♥

Now you have made your own penguin masterpiece! 

motherly

me and mine. mother's day 2012.



A mother. 

I have one. 

You do too.

I am one. 

Maybe you are too.....

We may have similarities, 

and differences. 

I have two children. 

Maybe you have four. 

or ten. 

or one on the way.

Do you have teenagers? 

Babies?

or inbetweens?

all of the above.

Maybe you drive a minivan. 

Maybe you walk.

You may dress your kids in all the latest trends.