Birdseed bars

This recipe I got from Annabel Langbeins "Simple Pleasures" TV show. It makes HEAPS and is frankly "just delicious!"

On a baking tray mix together:
- 2 cups of rolled oats
- 1 cup of sunflower seeds
- 1 cup of pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup of sesame seeds

Toast in an oven at 180deg C for 5 mins. I substituted half of the pumpkin seeds for some linseed. When done add 1 cup of dried fruit. I did half dried cranberries, half sultanas.

In a small pot, melt together:
- 120g butter
- 6 T Golden syrup or honey
- 8 T Raw sugar
- 1/3 C peanut butter or condensed milk

Stir as it heats and simmer for 5 mins on a low heat.

Add the hot caramel to the toasted seed mix. Work fast as it moulds quickly. Transfer the mixture into a lined Swiss roll tin or baking tray and press flat.

Let cool in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. When cool, cut into bars. Store in an airtight container till all gone!! Haha.

I couldn't believe how much it made!

Birdseed bars

Homegrown

My garden is abundant with things to eat at the moment.

Every evening I go down to the garden to collect something for dinner.

I feel just like Annabel Langbein the organic cook (minus the fake ponsonby accent and designer gumboots).

The gherkins have grown incredibly well. I am up to my 4th batch of preserving and I have given some to the neighbours and to a work colleague so that they can pickle their own. The telegraph cucumber is trying to compete!

I am growing beans for the first time and they have climbed right to the top of my bamboo teepee.

The salad ingredients are prolific and my beetroot are growing magnificently.

I have 6 different types of potatoes growing. They all taste so good boiled with a little bit of butter and salt.

The tomatoes have grown better outside this year than in the conservatory yet the chili plants are lapping up the heat.

Gardening and growing from seed is so rewarding.
 
I have plenty to eat and plenty to give away and that's how it should be.

Homegrown

Meat and 3 Vege

There is a new gourmet butcher in Wadestown that opened just before Christmas. They only sell free-range and organic meat.

One of the best things about the place is that the butcher wears a traditional blue and white apron with a straw boater hat. They also use paper bags which is awesome. It feels really good to support local business but also to eat organic meat.

Tonight we are having sirloin steak with mushrooms, beans and new potatoes another A.L recipe. The potatoes I just dug up about half an hour ago. I have 6 different varieties growing and I can't quite remember in which order I planted them. They taste delicious either way.

Oh and I can't not mention the wine that accompanies the dish. It is from South Australia and is a Shiraz. Quarisa, 30 Mile. Had lots of gold, silver and bronze stickers on it and its rather tasty.

Meat and 3 Vege

Domestic Goddess

There is nothing like the smell of beetroot cooking.

We had a couple of beetroot in the fridge leftover from some other recipes so I cooked them up this morning in some salty water and have preserved them in vinegar ready to use in 3 weeks time. I also had a marmalade disaster.

I have made marmalade about 4 times now and each time I can never work out the setting point. I either bottle it too early or leave it too late until it blackens the bottom of my pot. It seems like its one of those split-second decisions between perfection and disaster!!

However I decided to bottle it and have it as a caramelised version. Perhaps not the one I give away!!

Thanks to the neighbours for their generous supply of grapefruit and lemons. I have been a bit of a preserving queen lately. I tried Annabel Langbein's recipe for preserved lemons. Very quick and easy so I'll let you know what they taste like in one of her "delushious" recipes!!

Note: ways to get burnt jam off bottom of pot - boil vinegar and baking soda on top of it. If the stain is still stubborn try soaking it in washing powder.

Domestic Goddess