Rascal Flatts - I Won't Let Go

This song was on the Oprah Farewell show last night. Enjoy...
(turn off my mixpod by clicking the ll button)

Devilled Sausages and Marbled Choc Cookies...

The mercury has dropped in our part of South Australia, it was 12C when I left work at 4pm yesterday so I thought something nice and warming for dinner was in order. Devilled sausages, peas and mashed potatoes.
~

I use a few flavour bases in my cooking - I know they have added salt and sometimes artificial favourings but they really do make nice, quick meals... I browned some sausages and one onion, cut the snags into 4-5 pieces each, sliced up 2 carrots and one green apple and added these to the casserole dish with the packet of mix, 2T tomato sauce and 1.5 cups of water. Gave it a stir and popped it into the oven. I gave it about an hour at 180C then backed it down to 150C for another half hour until we were ready to eat.
~

The sauce thickens up nicely and then you are ready to go. A hot, crusty bread roll completed the meal.
~

~

I found this recipe for Marbled Chocolate Cookies at What's for dinner Mum? by Lisha. As you know, I am a sucker for a good cookie recipe, especially if it involves chocolate.
~

It made a big batch and yes, they are really goooood! I did us a slightly different method to make the cookie dough as I believe you get a crunchier cookie by creaming the butter, sour cream and sugars first then adding the dry ingredients. Give them a go, they are worth it!
~
It's 8.30am and it's 11.2C outside at the moment. A windy, rainy day for sure. I must locate my brolly (umbrella) and get out my winter coat for when I have to do the banking etc this afternoon. Winter has really kicked in and we had lots of heavy rain overnight so I think we will have a good winter season which will keep the farmers happy.
~
Enjoy your day, stay warm (or cool) depending on where you are in this world.
(Oh, and my thoughts and prayers are with those people who suffered that horrendous tornado in Joplin, US yesterday. So tragic.)

The Longest Lunch...

We attended a 'Longest Lunch' fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service yesterday. The theme for the lunch, provided by a team of local chefs from the region, was Foraged and Found.
A small amount of goods were auctioned and $2,700 raised from those plus the lunch tickets so it was a very successful fundraiser and will now be an annual event on the Coonawarra calendar.
~

Wild mushrooms in a duck reduction with warragul greens and spinach puree
~

Bouliabaisse of mussells, prawns, crayfish, calamari & schnapper
~

Bolar roast Wagyu beef with a verde of native watercress & parsley, olive puree and steamed fennell served with heirloom purple & orange carrots, Mundulla Crytall potatoes and Hollafresh herb & mesclun salad, dressed with Padthaway estate olive oil
~

Pear & Quince with Muntries sponge with pistachios and apple, apple juice blancmange, brandy snap and quince syrup. Our wines were a sparkling from Katnook Estate, Bowen Chardonnay, Pinot Noir from David Herbert, Mt Gambier and a Patrick T Jessie Semillon.
Burp!
~

Dinner last night was a small serve of Nachos with this chilli sauce.
~

Breakfast this morning was a Egg & Bacon Muffin.
~
Have pottered all day, washed, ironed and put away. Can't wait for bedtime. Hope you've had a nice Sunday.
~
Cheers - Joolz

NZ's most favourite Chocolate cake...

Ann from Eight Acres of Eden recently posted about this famous and favourite chocolate cake recipe so I decided to give it a go last night.
~
The recipe can be found by registering with the Destitute Gourmet which is a great recipe site. Once in, on the Home page, Click on Cupcakes in the left hand margin, then open Newsletter Spring '09 and it's listed under 'Dana's chocolate cupcakes'.
It makes a really nice moist cupcake and I can't wait to try a full sized cake. Thank you, Ann!
(PS: The recipe just says Flour, but I used SR Flour because I had no Plain flour and I used baking powder and they worked perfectly.)

~

I made these for Brianna's b/friend Madalene's 17th Birthday today! They will share them with friends at school at recess time. Happy Birthday, Madds!
~
Cheers - Joolz
~
Added to say :- This mix made 25 cup cakes of which Brianna took 18 to school, Brianna and I ate one each and 3 went to work yesterday. That leaves 2 left and one does have my name on it - I will enjoy it later today! It is a lot less fattening if you give them away... J

Cool weather and Meat Loaf...

I took this pic a few weeks ago, early in the morning. We had rain coming through but the sun was out making this tree look really ghostly...
~

So last night, I made Marie's meat loaf. I used 500gms of lean beef mince and I squeezed the meat out of 5 plain pork sausages to get the right mix of meat.
~

I glazed it throughout the cooking process...
~

... and voila! A very nicely glazed, tasty meat loaf. Next time I would make double the glaze and put half in a saucepan and cook if off so there was more sauce to have with it.
~

I forgot to take the picture until I was already into my meal - whoops! A nice tasty meal with left overs for lunch today (I like the meatloaf drizzled with balsamic vinegar... actually I like anything drizzled with balsamic vinegar)!
~
Off to work again today (ho hum),
Cheers - Joolz

Red sky in the morning...

... is a shepherd's warning - so the saying goes. Looks like it's going to be a grey sky, cold, still day. Our autumn is fading into winter. I have my heating set to come on at 4pm so the house is warm when Bri and I get home then.
~

I am trying this Meat Loaf recipe from Marie at 'A Year from Oak Cottage' Recipe site. Marie is a wonderful cook and I have tried many of her yummy things. Meatloaf recipe is here.

~
I will let you know how it goes. The cold weather means belly warming meals so I am always on the look out for something hearty.
~
Enjoy your day, whatever you may be doing
~
Cheers - Joolz

70th Birthday...

Brianna and her friends dressed up for a 'P' Party 18th Birthday. They went at Prisoners!
~

Here we have Pikachu and a Punk!
~

On Sunday, we celebrated my m-i-l's 70th birthday.
~

We had marinated mushrooms and prawn kebabs on the barbecue...
~

and these most magnificent steaks (thank you, Stephano!) and yummy salads and twice baked pototoes and homemade bread rolls ... and some lovely wines.
~

All her grand-kids were there...
~

I made a Cappucino cake with Marscapone cheese coffee frosting for the birthday girl ...
Marg had a wonderful day!
~
Needless to say, I was rather pooped by Sunday night and Monday was a very long day!
~
Cheers - Joolz