Glazed donuts...

...that give Krispy Kreme a run for their money! 

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I bought this donut tin, went online and found a simple recipe...I wanted to bake the donuts, not fry them...

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http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/20358/baked+cinnamon+doughnuts

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I made the dough, let it rise...

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...baked them - they turned out perfectly but next time, I'd use less dough so they keep more of a circle shape (and make more of them!)...

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...then I glazed them...oh wow!

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Glaze - 2 cups icing sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 2tbsn water, colouring if you like. Mix then just thin down with a little more water until thick pouring consistency.  I glazed these straight out of the oven. 

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I can also imagine these, rolled in sugar and injected with runny jam!   I've conquered donuts!

-

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Cheers - Joolz xx

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye, Bonnie cat...

I had to have Bonnie put to sleep yesterday.  She had deteriorated overnight, could barely walk, her face paralyzed and I suspect she was nearly blind. It wasn't fair to keep going with treatment involving cortizone this coming week with no real idea if it would work or not. She had made no improvement these past 2 weeks at all.

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Goodbye to our dear Bonnie cat...she was the best mouser and a tough little cat, gone to chase birds somewhere better xxx

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She's buried down the back of our block, under a gum tree, with Monte and Clyde who have gone before her. 

xxJoolzxx

 
 

 

Squash and spinach rotolo...

I've made this dish a few times now and it really is yummy. 

http://simplyjoolz.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/squash-spinach-rotolo.html?m=1

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Unfortunately, the link which I put up on that post is now defunct but I found another one which has the recipe...
http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/squash-and-spinach-pasta-rotolo/13776/
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 I added chicken this time as I'm not a good veggo but otherwise its a lovely, warming vegetarian dish.

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I roasted pumpkin (I didn't have squash) and an onion, drizzled with olive oil, on an oven tray until tender and slightly caramelised. About half way through, I threw in 5 chicken tenderloins (also tossed in a bit of oil) so they'd cook too. Once done, allow to cool and break up the chicken into little bits  before assembling.  I also used fresh spinach instead of frozen...

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After I took this pic, I filled the gaps up with pasta sauce then topped with a bit of grated cheese...

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A nice dish if you are sick of spag bol or other pasta dishes.

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Update on Bonnie, our cat - she has made no improvement in the past week.  She actually took off on Wednesday morning and spent the night out in very cold, wet weather.  We thought she'd gone off to die, perhaps.
Anyway, she turned up last night but she is no better.  It seems her vocal chords are also affected as you can hear her breathing/purring very loud, even when she is at rest.  I have taken her to the vets and they will look at her later today.  It seems she may have either had a stroke as she has paralysis to her left side or maybe brain lesions or a worse inner ear infection than first thought.  Things do not look good...
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Joolz xx

Quiet Sunday...

With the man of the house away for most of the day, I spent a quiet day indoors. 

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I put towels out as it was really windy but I knew rain was on the way...
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 It started raining around noon, on and off, so I cross stitched for a while...

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This pattern is Dear Jane, taken from an old Civil War quilt dating back to 1863.

I'm half way through it now.  I started this back in 2010 and just pulled it out to have another go at it...

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Our autumn has been mild and I'm still getting roses from the garden...

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I gave the tables out under the pergola a wipe down and de-cobwebbed the windows then swept the pavers. Still a bit of tidying up to do but its better than it was...

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Bonnie is still under the weather.  Gus (who says he hates the cat) decided she needed some fillet steak to cheer her up! 

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This morning I tackled another sourdough loaf.  It rose really well.

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I cut it at lunch time and its a bit holier so I'm on the right track!

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Cheers - Joolz xx

Joolz's chicken pasta...

So, I was going to make this Friday night but it happened last night instead...

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(Pic from 2009)
 

http://simplyjoolz.blogspot.com.au/2009/06/our-favourite-chicken-pasta-dish.html?m=1

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All the ingredients, ready to go...

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I totally forgot to take a picture last night but this was the big leftover bowl..,

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Perfect for Sunday lunch!

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Cheers - Joolz xx

 
 

 

Outdoor fireplace...

We were meant to have a chicken pasta dish on Friday night but we got side tracked (good wine) with our new outdoor fire - it got late so we ordered a pizza.

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It really shows how often we have takeaway - I had to get on Facebook and ask the name of the newish Italian restaurant that is in our town. Its been open for over 6 months!  Anyhoo, the marinated lamb pizza was delish and we enjoyed the first of many fires in the new fireplace.  Now we just need to re-joosh the pergola area.  Here are some pics...

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April 13th...the fireplace is framed up...

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17th April...fireplaced boxed in ready for the stone tiles to go on. 

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Gus chose InfinitiStone  - a totally man-made drystone wall look...it goes on quick and the tradies had minimal cutting to do.

10.44am

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12.15pm

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1.10pm

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A view from the rear...a high, double flued chimney. The fibre cement sheeting will be painted when we can nail down our painter! 

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5pm and its all finished! 
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We have outdoor blinds that come down to enclose the whole pergola, creating an outdoor room...

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We only had a small fire first up so that the steel could temper a bit.  Next time we'll have a bigger one. 

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We are really pleased with it!

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Cheers - Joolz xx
 
 
 
 
 
 

Winners and losers...

On Friday morning I got out my Sally Sourdough Starter and fed her up.  I hope I'm not sounding like a stuck record when I post these sourdough posts, but I want to document each bake so I can compare results.

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This time, I'm following Clare's instructions that she has kindly put up on her lovely blog...

http://thelifeofclare.com.au/sourdough-bread/

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I printed out her tutorials and have made a binder especially for BREAD...

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Her starter also came from Celia's Priscilla starter at https://figjamandlimecordial.com/

 Celia has written about Priscilla's family tree and it must be great for her to see Pricilla's prodgeny.

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I planned on mixing up the dough late on Friday night so it could proof over night.  Sally was good and bubbly after a couple of feeds during the day.

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 This is 300gms of starter

600gms water

1 kg bakers flour

18gms salt

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9am this morning and Sally is up to the top of the bowl...

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My work station is prepped.  I'm going to dust the dough with semolina when shaping it...
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The dough is plopped onto the bench...
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I halved the dough and made an oblong loaf...
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...
...and 10 rolls...more on them later!
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I left the loaf to rise a bit and harden the skin...
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I've got my oven cranking on 240C...
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I slashed...but not with a lot of panache!  Bigger cuts next time, Joolz!
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I sprayed the loaf with a good lot of water, put the lid on my roaster and in she went for 20 minutes...
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She was a beautiful blonde when I took off the lid and turned her around before putting her straight back in (lif off)...
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After another 25 minutes, she came out a beautiful brunette of sorts!  :)
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I let her cool completely before cutting into her...
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Still not a big holey crumb but great anyway. Winner!
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Now, the loser part of the title.  I baked the bread rolls before the loaf and they were a total flop!  They didn't rise much more than in the picture and they resembled doughy hockey puks when they came out of the oven!  Into the bin they went!
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Oh, and I hate semolina!  I have dark blue bench tops and that shit is everywhere I look!!!
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I still have active starter leftover from yesterday so I have fed it up and will make another lot of dough tonight.  I will make it earlier and will try the flipping, folding method with the dough until I put it to bed later tonight...
Stay tuned!
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Cheers - Joolz xx