A yummy Muesli Slice ...

Jodie from Jellywares posted a recipe for a Muesli Slice which had lots of yummy things in it.  I thought I'd give it a try...

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1 cup of organic rolled oats

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This is the Nibble mix I used (instead of the sunflower/pumpkin/poppy seeds) ...

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1/2 cup of that ...

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1/2 cup dried cranberries and blueberries ... here you can use anything you like, dried apricots, pineapple, dried apple... whatever blows your hair back!

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1/2 a cup of shredded coconut and 1/2 cup brown sugar ...

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3/4 cup plain flour...

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I had this lurking in the pantry so thought I'd use it...

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Melt 1/2 cup butter and 3 good tablespoons of yummy honey ...

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Isn't my little red saucepan cute?

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Give those dry ingredients a really good mix up...

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To the butter/honey mix, add 1 teaspoon carb soda and 2 tablespoons boiling water.  The mixture should fizz and froth up.  Add this to the dry ingredients and mix well.

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You want it sticky so if its a bit wet, add a little more oats...

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Press mixture into a 18 x 25cm slice tin, lined with baking paper...

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Bake for 30 minutes at 180C until golden and it smells like honey all through your kitchen!

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Let it cool completely in the tin before slicing into bars or squares.  This is seriously good stuff!  Thanks for sharing the recipe, Jodie!  :)

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Cheers - Joolz xx

A busy weekend here...

 I am not sure how I will go with crocheting.  I quite like doing it but my little left finger aches from holding the yarn tight.  I might need to re-adjust my hold.

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 My first attempt at a round centred granny square.  Its a bit wonky but with practice I'd have it right.  It is getting used to what stitch to end the rotation into.  Once I get that sorted, it will be easy.

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 Friday night dinner - chicken tacos.  These were really good and there was enough left over for lunch Saturday - bonus!

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 Lazy Bonnie Cat!  She was all snuggly on her bed, pawing and clawing and looking sexy!  Mind the gross mess behind her - sheis the messiest eater.  If I give her scraps off lamb chops, chicken etc, she drags it out of the bowl onto the floor to eat! I have a piece of cardboard down to protect the floor but it looks gross!

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 Today I am hosting afternoon tea for my auntie and uncle, Mum and sisters.  I made a date loaf using a recipe from Gooseberry Jam (recipe here).  It is really easy and turns out a lovely loaf.

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 I made plain scones to have with raspberry jam and cream...

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 and cheese, bacon & chive scones topped with cheese.

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 An oven full of cherry shortbreads...

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 Here's the spread.  I also had tuna mornay vol au vents and there's rocky road on the table too!

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 I had a bare pot that needed something colourful in it so I went to the nursery and picked up this pretty 'Osteospermum'.  Isn't it pretty?  I hope it grows on and I can divide it up.

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 Our IGA supermarket had these lovely bunches of flowers out for $6 so I snapped one up!  Bargain!

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 Now, this is how a man stacks the cutlery in our dishwasher in our house, late on a Saturday night....

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 And this is how the lady of the house does it!  I call it Lady Logic!

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 Finally, here's a couple of funnies - I can imagine our youth of today doing this!

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And I know this face only too well - Brianna!  When I say "How do I do ------ on my phone?' this is the look I get! Haha!

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It's been a nice weekend here, all but for the windy weather, quite mild.  It was lovely to catch up with my rellies who I hadn't seen for a few years.  The house is clean and tidy, the lawns are mowed, weeds whipper-snipped, the skylights have been vacuumed of bugs, the air conditioner filters have been de-fuzzed, blown down lights have been replaced in the kitchen (all thanks, Gus) and some washing done.  Dinner is in the making (steak and salad) and its time for a wine and some TV watching before an early night, I think!

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I hope you've had a nice weekend

Cheers - Joolz

Dabbling in a bit of crochet ...

Kirby thought it would be nice if I crocheted her a granny square rug for Christmas.  I got out some wool and hopped on Youtube for a tutorial.   It all came flooding back to me... well sort of!

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(photo - Attic24)

She'd like something like this one by Lucy at Attic24.  I can only dream!  I think if I started it, I might get it finished in 2033!  We'll see.

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Cheers - Joolz xx

Not much happening in these parts...

  It's all been a bit mundane around here.  I tidy the house, go to work each day, come home, think of something for dinner, cook it, eat it, clean up, watch TV and go to bed.  This week we've had a chicken curry - I like to get all ingredients out so that I don't miss something.

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 I don't think I've shared this recipe yet.  It is lovely and quite easy to whip up.

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This time we enjoyed it with a simple tomato and cucumber pickle and a mint/cucumber raita.  It was altogether yummy!

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Tuesday night was Tuna Mornay in vol au vents with tossed salad...
Wednesday night I went out for dinner with our Weight Watchers group - Roast Pork.

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My sister gifted me this absolutely lovely book - choc full of delicious recipes...

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These are on my list...

Doesn't this look scrummy?

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I am making this, this weekend.  I am hosting a little afternoon tea for my Auntie and Uncle visiting from Melbourne.  They are coming over to visit my mother.

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Another yummy one - one day!

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I might make this too seeing I have raspberry jam on hand...

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Oh, I've gotta stop!

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I had my nails done yesterday - a bit rock chick, I know!  There is a tiny coloured glitter in the black polish and then they put a heavier glitter polish on my ring fingers....

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Dinner last night was a simple Carbonara pasta.  It went a bit dry just as I put it together.  I think a little of the pasta water should have gone in too, or a bit more cream.  Anyway, it was yummy with garlic bread!

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Here is the recipe (will be inserted shortly - when I get home from work!!).

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I have already been and bought a hot chook from the supermarket and we are having Easy Chicken Tacos which is a recipe from Taste.com - I blogged about it here (scroll down to end of post).

It's a good recipe as I can have it all made up ready to put on the table for when Gus gets home.  Heat the tortillas and go for it!

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 I am going to be in the kitchen tomorrow baking away - stay tuned.

Cheers- Joolz xx

Another bread recipe to try...

I found a nice new blog called My Simple Life and Regina (from Germany) had a bread recipe that I thought I would try.  I like these No Knead type breads.

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This is the dough after I had roughly mixed it - do not knead, it said!

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After the dough has risen for 1 hour, divide in half then knead lightly until smooth.  I actually halfed the mix again to get 4 rolls instead of 2.  Roll out into rectangle 25x20, then roll up.

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Place on an oven tray (I use baking paper, pleated to go in between each roll) and let rise for 45 minutes (I found it over rose) about 20 minutes.  With 10 minutes to go, heat your oven to 200C

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Bake - 30 minutes later, 4 nice crunchy French sticks.

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Cheers - Joolz xx

Raspberry Jam and Scones...

 I missed a lot of MasterChef because we were away so I was on the MC site trying to catch up and I came across Matt Preston's masterclass where he made a No Knead/Prove bread, raspberry jam and butter.  I thought, I have to give this a go.  I haven't tried the bread yet but the raspberry jam was a success!  The recipes are here

and the video of the masterclass is here

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You will need: 

1 kg frozen raspberries

800 gms caster sugar

1/4 lemon, juiced.

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 Cook the ingredients for about 30 minutes until it reaches a jam consistency.

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 Two 450gm boxes of raspberries cost me $12 and I got these 6 bottles of jam from it so not bad.

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 It is lovely and tangy but still sweet.

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 Nothing goes better with homemade jam than homemade scones!  These are my cheats version because I use this mixture from Lauke.  Just at 280 mls of water, mix gently and you have a lovely dough.  Its handy to have in the cupboard.

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 Fifteen minutes later I had golden scones...

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My mother taught me to put the scones in a colander, wrapped in a clean tea towel.  This steams them slightly and makes them softer.  I believe she was taught to make scones by her mother-in-law.

Normally, I would make my scones by rubbing in softened butter into the SR flour then adding milk...

Or have you tried Lemonade Scones?

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Cheers - Joolz xx