Hey presto - pesto!!

I have recently discovered the delights of home made pesto. Now even though I do have a few healthy basil plants growing in my garage I would much rather use herbs that are in abundance.

I have lots of wild rocket growing which whizzed up made this fantastic pesto.

Rocket pesto

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups of rocket
1/4 cup olive oil (approx)

Put everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Add oil gradually until pesto is a good texture.

I also like to make this parsley version:

Parsley pesto

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups Italian parsley
1 cup of basil mint

So easy and so tasty!

Hey presto - pesto!!

Lots and lots of cabbage

On Wellington Anniversary Day I entered my first ever A and P show with some homegrown produce. And wouldn't you know it I got first place! (Please note that even though the competition level wasn't as high as one might have expected my cabbage was still the bomb regardless).

Mega cabbage

But alas what to do with all the cabbage afterwards. After 3 meals of coleslaw there was still  ¾ of a cabbage left. My only other experience of having this much cabbage was in Form 1 when we learnt to make coleslaw in cooking class. The teacher (Mrs Watson) gathered all the leftover cabbage and made sauerkraut with it. Then for the rest of the term we used sauerkraut in other recipes. In particular I remember putting sauerkraut on pizza.

Mrs Watson had some interesting ideas about cooking (she pretty much put lemon pepper on everything) but I like that she didn't want to waste the cabbage and came up with another way to use it. Kiwi ingenuity for you (with a german twist)!

So anyway I don't have a copy of her version of sauerkraut and all the recipes I read involve quite a process of fermentation. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to such lengths considering I can't even remember what the stuff tastes like!

I wasn't kidding about the amount of cabbage

So I found this straight forward option for pickling cabbage here. It pretty much involves packing shredded cabbage into sterilized jars then putting some honey and salt and then hot water, sealing them and then leaving them in the hot water cupboard for a week.

I added some grated apple and caraway seeds to my mix. Next time I may be a little bit more adventurous.

With a bit of honey and salt on the top awaiting hot water

So apparently I can open and eat the cabbage in a weeks time or wait another 6 but if I open it between weeks 1-6 it will be quite sour. This is all a bit scientific but it has to go through 3 stages of fermentation. Interesting stuff!

Sealed and ready to be banished to the darkness

Will follow up with some notes once it has fermented!

Lots and lots of cabbage

Rhubarb Fizz

Having made Rhubarb cordial before (see here) I was most excited when I saw a recipe for Rhubarb Fizz in my favourite Good magazine.

My garden has rhubarb a plenty at the moment. They must enjoy this crazy rain/sun/rain/sun weather. I'm glad somebody does!

So here's the recipe - bloody easy if you ask me!

Rhubarb Fizz (courtesy of Good magazine)

1) Cut into small pieces about 8 stalks of Rhubarb (4 cups).
2) Cut up 1 lemon into small chunks
3) Place into a large bucket and add 1tsp white vinegar, 680g of sugar and 4½ litres of water.
4) Cover and leave for 48hrs
5) Strain and pour into bottles with screw top lids.
6) Leave for at least a week.
7) Refrigerate and then enjoy with ice in a tall glass!

NB: The recipe suggested using a bucket or plastic container with a sealed lid. Do you know how hard it is to find one of these? Anyway I improvised with a food covering/shower cap like thing. Please also note that the longer you leave your fizz the more fizzy it will get. Slowly loosen the cap each day to relieve the pressure in the bottle. Also be careful when opening - you could get a rhubarb shower instead!

A week later:


Wow! Not only is this drink naturally carbonated (definitely got a fizz to it) it tastes amazing! Kind of like a mixture between ginger beer and lemon cordial with a hint of rhubarb. Quite sweet so perhaps add lots of ice cubes to the glass. I tried it with a bit of vodka too - very palatable!

Final verdict: SUPER SIMPLE TO MAKE, TASTES GREAT!

Rhubarb Fizz

Homemade Gifts

This Christmas I decided that I would like to make some gifts for people.

Mum got this handmade gardeners scrub. Very easy to make and gets the dirt off making your hands feel moisturized afterwards.

Handmade Scrub

1. Mix equal parts rock salt, brown sugar and white sugar together in a container.
2. Drizzle over a small amount of Olive oil. Just enough to combine the ingredients. Mix together.
3. Add a squeeze of lemon juice.
4. Add essential oil if you wish. I added some lavender from my garden instead.

I spent some time sewing some dresses for my niece. The first dress (in blue) I made my own pattern for. The second (in red) I used the Sew La Tea Do pattern for the "Miss Adorable Frock". She sure looked adorable in them both!

And no gift would be complete without a homemade gift tag. Here's me and my little helper preparing our gift tags in preparation for some good ole hot glue gunning!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Giving!!

Homemade Gifts

Kingsley's Christmas Cake

Due to the popularity of this previous post here is the recipe for the infamous Christmas Cake that I used Jack Daniels in.

1½ kg mixed fruit (we add packet of glazed cherries to mix)

½ cup sherry, rum, whisky or brandy

1 granny smith apple

1 tbsp golden syrup or honey

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

250g butter

4 eggs

1½ cups plain flour

½ cup self raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

Place chopped mixed fruit in large basin, add the alcohol, peeled and coarsely grated apple, golden syrup (or honey), sugar and eggs. Mix well with wooden spoon or hand to break up any clumps of fruit. Add cooled melted butter, sifted flours and spice. Mix thoroughly.. Place in deep 23cm round or deep 20cm square cake tin lined with three sheets of greaseproof paper – bring paper 5cm above edge of tin.

Bake in middle of slow oven (around 130°C) for 3½ hours or until cooked when tested. Remove from oven and brush evenly with about 2 tbsp of extra alcohol, cover tightly with tinfoil, leaving greaseproof intact. Can be refridgerated in plastic food wrap for a least 6 months.

ENJOY! (we have had this made for us this year to eat on Christmas day - holding out big time!!)

Kingsley's Christmas Cake

Homemade Yoghurt

So I've been an owner of an Easiyo yoghurt maker for quite a number of years now and go through fads of using it. One of the pro's was that it was better for the environment for me to make my own yoghurt than to purchase something in a plastic container (which up until recently was non-recyclable in Wellington, NZ).

However the cost of a sachet (over $3) and the convenience of buying many different flavours already made at the same price made me less ecologically savvy and more focused on how much money I had in my pocket (selfish I know!)

Then from reading many different blogs about sustainability and frugality I kept reading about how people make their own yoghurt from milk or milk powder and I thought - I can do that! So I have found a recipe that has worked for me and it created this delicious thick yoghurt featured below with boysenberries.

Homemade Yoghurt

• 2 Cups of Whole milk powder
• 2 Tablespoons of natural yoghurt (I used a previous batch of Easiyo Greek Style)
• Cold water (close to room temperature)

1. Put ingredients into the Easiyo jar.
2. Use a whisk to mix together.
3. Top up with cold water and put the lid on.
4. Fill the Easiyo maker with boiling water up to the top of the baffle. 
5. Place jar into the yoghurt maker and top up with boiling water.
6. Put the lid on and leave for 8-12hrs 
7. Remove jar and refrigerate.

Result = thick creamy yoghurt for around $1.50!

Homemade Yoghurt

Gingerbeer

I got the bug! The Gingerbeer bug that is!

At the Karori Normal School Fair a couple of weeks ago I purchased a gingerbeer bug and began to feed it (2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of ginger every day).

The gingerbeer itself was pretty simple to make. I simply drained liquid from the bug into a bowl, added 2 cups of hot water that had had 2 cups of sugar dissolved in it and then the juice of 2 lemons and 12 cups of cold water. Mixed it up and then put it into bottles which had 3 raisins in the bottle.

The instructions suggested I put the bottles in a sunny spot for a week (oh but where is the sun?) and then in a week's time put it in the fridge and then it's ready to drink.

I did a little bit of googling and found several different recipes for gingerbeer with most suggesting that you put the bottles outside incase they explode (good tip!).

I can't wait to try the fruits (rhizomes??) of my labour this weekend!

Gingerbeer

Hot Chilli Sauce!

When I was growing up I was fortunate to live across the road from a chinese lady who used to make me prawn toasts and fried rice for my birthday every year. She also made this amazing chilli sauce which was so hot you could only put a few drops on your food.

I made contact with her son last year to get the recipe and found out that she had passed away about 6 years ago. While I was deeply saddened by this I was pleased to find out that her youngest son had collected all her recipes from her while she was ill. This was good thinking on his part as she kept her recipes in her head.

So I made her chilli sauce this week as my own personal tribute to her. It isn't as hot as hers', most likely because I used a combination of asian fire and jalapeno chilli's (homegrown of course!!). My favourite way to have it was mixed in cooked cabbage - so guess what's for dinner!!

Here is the recipe, I made a smaller batch which made a very large jars worth - very easy to make and tastes delicious!


Chilli Sauce
Ice cream container of chillis.
6-7 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed.
Cut top of chillis and mince in food processor. Add Garlic and the juice of 8 lemons.
In a large pot, add 4 cans of tomato sauce, bring to the boil.
Once boiled, add the chilli mix.
Add 1 cup of sugar and 3-4 teaspoons of salt.
Bring to the boil and let it boil for 5-7 minutes and then remove from heat and cool.

Hot Chilli Sauce!

Rhubarb! Rhubarb!

I have discovered the refreshing taste of Rhubarb cordial.

A very simple recipe that requires some rhubarb, sugar and water. Mix it with soda and wallah! A very tasty summer drink.

The best part of this recipe was that the fruit pulp that was left over was super sweet and excellent on muesli for my breakfeast.

Ingredients

	1½	cups rhubarb, roughly chopped
	1	cup sugar
	1½	cups water
	~	Sparkling water
	~	Ice

Steps

1. Place rhubarb, sugar, and 1½ cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the syrup is bright pink.
2. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Strain syrup into a large jar.
3. To make each soda, measure ¼ cup rhubarb syrup into a glass. Add enough sparkling water to fill the glass ⅔ full. Stir to mix, then add ice.

Rhubarb! Rhubarb!

DIY Washing Powder and Hand Soap

 My friend Kath is a self-confessed greenie and has been reading Wendyl Nissen's "A Home Companion" which has lots of ideas on how to live like your Nana used to live.

I have been called a Nana many times, mainly by my Partner and mainly because of my incessant need to make jams and preserves. And I am ok with this! I have embraced my Nana-like qualities!! So making some recipes from this book is right up there with my values.

The washing powder was rather easy and extremely cheap to make. I bought a bag of baking soda for about $5, a box of washing soda crystals for $4 (both from Moore Wilson's) and a box of sunlight soap (6 pack) for about $3. I already had some essential oil. So here it is:

Washing Powder
1) Mix 3 cups of baking soda and 3 cups of washing crystals together.
2) Grate in 1 bar of sunlight soap
3) Add 10-20 drops of essential oil (I used rose).

Ready to use! I did two loads of washing today with a 35ml scoop per load and both came out clean and fresh. I'm not very good at math but I usually buy the EcoStore powder at around $7 for 500g. Roughly I made about the same amount for less than $3. One day I will get really good at maths and work it out properly!

Liquid Hand Soap
1) Grate 1 bar of soap
2) Add 1 cup of boiling water and whisk until combined. Leave for 1 hour.
3) After this time the mixture should have solidified again. Add another 1 cup of boiling water and whisk a bit more this time. Leave for an hour.
4) The soap should be more of a liquid consistency now. Water it down with more boiling water or heat up in the microwave or in a pot if it is too runny.
5) Pour into hand pump bottle ready to dispense.

My mixture was quite runny as I think my bar of soap was a bit on the small side so I heated it up a bit. It is still cooling at the moment and I've decided that if it doesn't thicken I'll just add some more soap to it and heat it up again. This is a probably a good way to use up those old bits of soap that you never seem to finish. I'm sure you could add essential oil to it too.

DIY Washing Powder and Hand Soap