Oops, I Did It Again!

Long time readers may recall the infamous cake disaster of Feb '11. If you don't, you can refresh your memory here.
Well sadly, and quite unbelievably, I've done it again. You'd think I would have learnt to outsource this particular task after the last time.
Recently it was Mims' 9th birthday. We had a combined birthday celebration in the park with her friend, who was also turning nine.
Between me and the other mother we easily halved the tasks. Originally, Sharon recommended that I do the party bags and she would do the cake, owing to her having the advantage of a mythically large cake tin.
Mim had, however, already been looking at birthday cakes and picked out something she loved. 'Oh, well ah, actually, Sharon,' I said, with a little more pomp and circumstance than I meant to, 'Mim has actually chosen a cake design she wants, so do you mind if I do the cake instead?'.
Sharon is very fun and easy going so had no problem with that. I didn't give it another thought, oddly, despite 'the incident' in Feb '11 when it was Peach's birthday.
Mim had picked out what I rather deludedly considered a simple cake. It looked like a series of three iced butter cakes, all slightly different sizes and atop one another, rather grand looking, with some fresh flowers on top.
I only had two tins, one was bigger than the other but they were different depths, error one. In hindsight I also realise that there was not a big enough size difference between the two, and added to that, when they came out of the oven they were different heights. The smaller one being the higher one.
Even at this stage the fact I was on the cusp of another disaster had not become apparent to me. I carried on happily. I professionally sliced the top off the larger cake and turned it over so it was (kind of) a flat surface for the other one to sit on. The smaller one however, was oddly shaped. It had barely any sides, it just rose from the base to the top.
I couldn't really slice the top off, because it would still have sloping sides - are you following?
Anyway, I didn't see this as a massive issue. I carried on, putting bamboo skewers through the two cakes to hold them together.
Then I iced the cake, doing the 'crumb layer' first, which you then freeze, fixing all the crumbs in place before the proper icing goes on. I was smugly explaining this professional approach to anyone who walked through the kitchen.
Once the cake came out of the freezer I put on the final pink icing. It was a bit runny, so I adusted it and kept going. Once finished, I was starting to twig. I looked at the cake in front of me, my head involuntarily turned to the side, like an inquisitive labrador.
Mim walked through the kitchen and looked at my 'creation'. 'What's that? Did you ice a hat?'
Due to the sloping sides on the top cake, it did look like a hat. I could deny it no longer. I got some impromptu marshmallows out and put them around the perimeter.
Darn! I said....or words to that effect.
It was one of the most hideous cakes I've ever seen in my life. A close rival to the Feb '11 cake disaster.

I swear I turned my back for a milli-second and when I looked at the cake again, the marshmallows had all moved, like they were trying to get away or something. The icing was melting. I stuck the whole thing in the freezer.
I told my husband what happened and he opened the door to see for himself. Silence. Then a weak, 'it's ok'.
Things didn't improve. The cake didn't magically right itself in the quiet dark of the freezer compartment. Just before we left for the park I got out the fresh flowers to put on top. A resounding 'nooooo' came from my unsupportive onlookers. They told me the flowers were too pretty to put on the cake. What they meant was, the flowers would have been wasted sitting on top of such an ugly beast. The phrase, 'you can't polish a turd' came to mind.
Off we went to the park. We set up our trestle table and I popped the pretty flowers on the table in a vase instead. Apart from my own actual kin, everyone at the party was very supportive when I pointed out the cake.

The afternoon was not exactly cooling down and occasionally the odd kind passer by would stop to push the sliding marshmallows back on top.
I showed Sharon my cake, the very special design that I insisted on making myself. She leaned in, 'Does it have stretch marks?'

And yes, I think if you look closely at it, then yes, it does have stretch marks.

New Cushions and Angel Food Cake

I picked up some new cushions yesterday from the lady who makes our cushions. I had to get new covers made for some cane footstools. They came up beautifully, albeit very safe. There's nothing avant garde about this stuff.

She also made the rectangular spotted cushion on the chair, and the square one at the back, which is actually silk. I'm using a lot of 'peacock blue' in this room, so Perry the Peacock feels at home.
This cushion below is very large and for the floor. It's a heavy duty, outdoor canvas, so it'll be handy out by the pool in Summer too.

This floral fabric is far more beautiful in person than in the photo. They have blue ticking on the back. I've had three made and later this week will have to trek down to my least favourite shop in the world, Ikea, to pick up some feather inserts. I think they are about $10 for the 60cm x 40cm size?

I had 12 egg whites in the freezer left over from various things I've made, so I whipped up an Angel Food Cake. I've never had one before, so I'm not sure if I got it right? It's like a cross between meringe and sponge cake? It has almond extract in it, which I'm not mad about. I think I'd leave that out if ever I find myself at a loose end with 12 egg whites on hand - hopefully I won't.

I actually can't find the recipe I used, but if you click here you'll find another one which sounds good. It's called Angel Food Cake because there's no fat in it, but there's a truckload of sugar.

Adios Amigos!

A fascinating hobby

Lady Hackett's Household Guide was published in 1940. This was Gwennie's copy, or maybe even her mother's?

I've mentioned it before. I collect old recipe books. Before you click away, wait. It's actually very fascinating. Cookbooks are barometers of a society's wealth, health, fashions and values. Cookbooks can become family heirlooms and a source of nostalgia. Meals can equal memories. Recreating recipes can transport us back in time to Grandma's table or our childhood birthday dinner.
I have recipe books from the late 1800s. Many of the recipes could be recreated now and look very much of our time, while other recipes include ingredients that have long fallen
 It's chock-ful-o-handwritten recipes and magazine clippings. This one is not just a recipe book, but a guide on how to run a house; how to make boots last longer, how to re-use this and that. Lady Hackett discusses treating snake bites and toothaches. She details home hygiene and arming your family with healthy habits like getting enough fresh air and taking daily exercise.
She includes recipes, although they are mostly the ones that have either become extinct or are now only available in high end restaurants under fancier names; beef tea custard, chicken custard, jellied chicken, fricassee of tripe and devilled pig's feet.

This is Best of the Bake-Off Recipes, 1969.

Let me tell you, you'd be the most popular girl in the room if you put this Bacon and Sausage Plait on the table at Sunday Brunch.

Bacon and Sausage Plait
Pastry
3 cups plain flour, 1/2 teas salt, 6 oz butter, approx 1/4 cup water.
Filling
2 boiled eggs, salt, pepper, 1/2 teas powdered sage or basil, 1/2 lb bacon rashers, 1/2 lb pork sausage meat, beaten egg for glazing
Pastry: Sift flour and salt into mixing bowl, rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add water, mix to firm dough. Turn on to a floured board and knead well. Roll out the pastry to 10 inch square.
Filling: Chop bacon and hard-boiled eggs, mix with remaing filling ingredients (except egg glazing), and place down the centre of pastry. Cut pastry on each side of filling into diagonal 1/2 inch strips; brush with egg. Lift alternate strips over the sausage mixture to form roll resembling a plait. Brush with egg, sprinkle with salt. Bake in hot oven 30-40 minutes.

I'm not sure if The Big Party Cookbook refers to the book itself, which is quite large, or whether it's to be used for huge gatherings?

Either way, take these Weisswurst Kebabs or Cocktail Banana Kebabs and Stuffed Sausages to your next barbecue invitation and you'll surely win yourself a husband.

Anyone who did Home Economics or 'Home Arts' as it was sold to us at my school, will be familiar with this ubiquitous little ditty. Day to Day Cookery, in all it's many revisions, was the text du jour of school kitchens - and maybe it still is? This one is from 1985.
Something I used to find hysterical as a teenager, and sady still do, is the recipe for a sandwich with....wait for it....eight steps! Step 4 is 'Cover with second slice and press together firmly'. You may be wondering how there could possibly be a further four steps after that one. I don't want to spoil it, just in case you want to read it at some stage.

Hints on Healthy Living by Dr Ulric Williams was written around 1931, I think. It has recipes with the focus being on good health. It is incredible to think of how many books have rehashed this same information in the last 82 years.
Dr Williams recommends eating as much of your food raw as possible and exercising daily. He includes recipes based on vegetables, fish, nuts and lentils. Sound familiar?

I love these little fundraising booklets published by kindergartens and schools. This one is from Mater Dei School in Ashgrove, published in 1991. Although that doesn't sound like very long ago, you'd be surprised how dated the recipes seem.

Davis Dainty Dishes was published in 1937. It has beautiful coloured illustrations of some of the recipes which seem extremely elaborate and surprisingly modern even now - orange ice cream, peach ice cream. Others are very much of their time; beetroot mould, salmon in jelly and lemon aspic.

On the other spectrum, the recipes in Square Meals for the Family (1939) are downright nauseating. First case in point, Sheep's Head and Barley Broth. Can you imagine coaxing your children to eat that?

There's also recipes for Beef Heart, Stuffed & Roasted (as if that makes it any more appealing), Tripe & Onions and Liver Paste for Sandwiches.

There's an advertisement in Square Meals for the Family from the Brisbane City Council Electricity Supply Department enticing people to have their electricity put on. It reads:

"Electricity scores. Your Matchless Servant - Electricity.

The more you use, the cheaper it becomes."

That concept has ended in tears!



 This Vogue Australia Cook Book (1969) is the height of sophistication. It includes classic French recipes like Le Coq Au Vin and Boeuf a la Bourguignonne. The book lists entire menus for specific dinner parties, many of which have also stood the test of time.

Beetroot salad with capers

Le coq au vin

Scalloped potatoes

Cheeseboard with water biscuits

Sliced preserved oranges

Other books like Cakes & Cake Decorating (1965) are demonstrative of the fashions of the day, and give us a little giggle.

Graham Kerr is a classic. The Graham Kerr Cookbook, as you can imagine with a recipe book from a man, is very meat-oriented.

And finally....are you still awake?

And finally, my favourite. The Australian Women's Weekly Original Cookbook (1977). As there have been over 800,000 sold, I'm sure you're familiar with it. This was my Mum's cookbook when I was growing up and she cooked up many a special meal from its pages.

I find old cookbooks very interesting, however, I completely understand if you don't. I hope you weren't completely and utterly bored to tears.

Lavender cakes and a productive weekend

We had a productive weekend with a tiny reshuffle to bring the outdoors in.

These black floors really suck up the light, so it's good to introduce light whenever possible.

I am madly in love with this cookbook at the moment. Delicious Simply the Best by Valli Little.

Just in the last few days I've made the roasted tomato soup. If you make it, I'd suggest sieving it before serving. Tonight I made the baked bouillabaisse which is cooked in paper. For my husband's  birthday cake I made the Orange Lavender Syrup Cake. Very good. Highly recommended.

This is the recipe.
250g unsalted butter, softened (don't be afraid)
1 cup castger sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup sifted plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
finely grated zest and juice of two oranges
250g fine semolina
120g thick Greek style yoghurt
250g strawberries (although, as you can see I used figs)
For the syrup
finely grated zest and juice of two oranges
1 tablespoon of dried lavender flowers (I used a handful of fresh ones)
2 cinnamon quills
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
Preheat oven to 170. Greease a 23cm round springform pan, line the base with baking paper and lightly dust the sides with flour, shaking off excess.
Beat the butter and sugar until thick and pale. Add the eggs one at a time, then fold in the flour and baking powder, followed by the orange zest, semolina and almond meal.
Add orange juice and yoghurt and gently stir until combined. Pour into pan and bake for an hour until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for five minutes.
For the syrum combine all the ingredients in a saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until it reduces a bit and slightly thickens.
Prick the cake with a skewer repeatedly and pour over half the syrup.
Toss the fruit in the remaining syrup and use to serve.
I served the cake and fruit with the syrup drained from the fruit and some double cream.
Serves 6-8.

Oranges and lemons

Lots of people I have spoken to recently have said they've been in the mood to bake up a storm lately. It's because of our beautiful weather I think. It's not too hot to have the oven on, and with the chilly temps on the way, we know our winter coat of blubber won't need to be bared for a few more months.
Eat up!
How do you improve on a fresh salad of rocket, tomatos and cucumbers with a light simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing?

Why, top it with some grilled crispy skinned salmon and danish feta of course.

I grew that rocket by the way. It's easy peasy. If I can do it, you can too. The little flecks of yellow are marigold petals, I grew them too.
It's the season for citrus. I've been whipping up one orange cake after another. It's a special gift I have, give me a low calorie, healthy food and I'll show you how to add calories, sugar and fat in a jiffy!
This is my latest favourite, it's a whole orange and coconut cake from Miss Donna Hay. Notice, there's a bite taken out of it. I almost devoured this piece before I remembered to take a photo. It's so easy, here's how.

Whole orange and coconut cake

2 navel oranges, (washed or ideally, organic)
185g butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
3 eggs
1 cup desicatted coconut
1 1/2 cups s. r. flour, sifted (or not)
Preheat oven to 160 and prepare a 22cm round cake tin with non stick baking paper.
Place the two whole oranges in a bowl with water and microwave for 15 minutes. Tip out the water and roughly chop the oranges so you can scoop out any seeds.
Blend the whole oranges in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Mix in your butter and sugar, eggs, coconut and flour and whisk til smooth.
Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or double cream and my orange syrup.

Orange syrup

In a small saucepan boil a cup fresh orange juice and 1 cup of sugar for about 10 minutes until it becomes thicker and syrupy. Cool and use to pour over pieces of cake before serving.

Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern orange cake

This is the cake I usually make. I'm including the recipe for our ceoliac friends because it's gluten free.
2 large oranges, washed
6 eggs, beaten
250g ground almonds (almond meal)
250g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder.

Cook the oranges as per the recipe above and blend until smooth. Preheat oven to 190 and prepare a 24cm spring form pan.  Blend the oranges and remaining ingredients until smooth in a food processor. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. If the cake is still very wet, cook a little longer. Cool in the tin before turning out.

Also on the subject of citrus, here's my recipe for Lemon Butter, you may know it as Lemon Curd, and I have a friend who also calls it Lemon Cheese, which is a bit off putting.

Lemon Butter

2 large lemons
100g unsalted butter
175g white sugar
3 eggs light whisked and strained (whatever you do, don't skip this step)

Finely zest and juice the two lemons (a good dose of zest is essential for success). In a heavy based saucepan, or double boiler, combine all the ingredients and stir constantly* until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon - usually 10-15 minutes. Do not allow it to boil or it will curdle. Pour into small, hot sterilised jars.
*I know all recipes say to 'stir constantly' but I think this may be an urban myth. Years ago when I had just started stirring some lemon butter our dog, Charlie, decided to half kill a blue tongue lizard outside the kitchen window. The poor thing was in agony, so I had to leave the lemon butter, run up the road to get  'old Fred' (every street needs one), who promptly came down and put the lizard out of its misery.
When I got back to the lemon butter, it had been unstirred for some time and it was just fine. Whenever I make lemon butter now I still think of Charlie, Fred and the blue tongue lizard, none of whom are with us anymore.

Speaking of lemons, I had a baby shower to go to this morning, and in the spirit of disorganisation, I decided to stop by the Trading Circle in Paddington on the way to pick up a gift. It's meant to open at 10am, but by 10.15am I was still standing outside waiting. I decided to go to a shop close by and get a present instead - this entire shop was on sale, I think they're moving. I picked something out, out of desperation and asked the lady working there if she could gift wrap it. She gave me a look of disdain and said they offered gift wrapping but not on sale items. I left without anything because by now it was nearly 10.30am and I was already half an hour late.
Third time lucky. At another shop further up near the antiques centre (something & something??) I managed to find a little toy car and had it wrapped.
Retailers, come in closer, let me tell you something from this side of the fence, if you don't want people to buy stuff on line (even though it's half the price), then open your shops on time and offer some service - we're a captive audience once we walk through your doors.
Enjoy your oranges and lemons.

Finally, getting frugal

I know it's heading on towards the end of February, but with birthdays out of the way, I've finally been able to partake in Frugal February.
The first thing I did was find every single bill we had and pay them all, thus eliminating any pretension that we have more money than we really do.
I have also made a concerted effort to avoid any type of retail outlet, removing all temptation to snatch up the latest bargain, which always seems to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
In order to fill my usually consumer motivated days, I've instead been house-bound, sifting and sorting, tossing and filing, re-arranging and consolidating. The satisfaction and clear-headedness that comes with this sort of work is as good as 10 counselling sessions.
I've been ruthless with what I'm throwing out and what's in the boot to take to the Salvos. This exercise makes you mindful of what you drag home to the cave in future. When we first moved into our house we found a pile of old shopping bags in one of the rooms. They'd been there so long that a lot of the bags had disintegrated and looked like a pile of feathers. Within this pile we found Gwennie's haul of past shopping trips, she had a particular penchant for white pants.
Finding her old shopping, all unopened from 15 years before, it was clear that these were not items essential to Gwennie's life. They were excess, something to do, a medication.
But I digress, I sorted my bathroom drawers out and found about 38 half finished bottles of hair products of all sorts (I'm still searching for something that works on my hair). Day creams that were 7/8 finished and the like. I put a huge glass vase on the bathroom cupboard and I've put everything in there that needs to be used up. It's oddly satisfying to smear on the last of the sunscreen from a bottle and toss it in the bin. It genuinely seems like the house is getting bigger.
My frugalness has also extended to the kitchen. Much like my wardrobe, the pantry has a lot of food, but nothing to eat - dried lentils, bottles of tahini, cracked wheat, more varieties of flour than I knew existed (especially considering they're in my own cupboard). The fridge too is fantastically stocked with bottles containing five capers and others with three sun-dried tomatoes.
I've set about cooking, making recipes specifically to use up some of this food. I churned out these for dinner.

It's chicken breast stuffed with philly cheese, s-d tomatoes, olives, parmesan and fetta. It was then going to be elegantly wrapped in filo, but when the pastry was finally thawed I realised it had gone all funky, and the little rolled up chicken breasts were already stuffed, and sat quivering on the kitchen bench, so I had to come up with something.
I got Stephanie Alexander down and looked up puff pastry, but the first line read something like..'this is a very involved process', so I snapped that shut and 'thunk on it'.
My only option was to whizz up some pizza dough and do a calzone type thingy, and it worked a treat. Plus, Mim has something jazzy to put in her lunchbox today.
I served them with a salad made from vegetables the guinea pigs probably would have rejected, but the girls are a pair of salad dodgers anyway.
My car is on the agenda, it looks like a family of six lives in it on any given day. Time for a tart up!

Recommendations

Can anyone recommend a caterer who works in Briz-vegas and does a good cocktail style event? I have been investigating them, and there's so many, and such a contrast in price that it's making me nervous. I think some referrals are the way to go here.
Thank god for Frugal February because it's going to be a Merry March! I'm going to need to hoard some cash.
Recommendations anyone?

Eyebrows, salmon and butterflies

Like 99% of the population right now, my husband and I are what is best described as 'detoxing'. It's actually a welcome relief after Christmas. Too many nights of going to bed feeling as stuffed as the Christmas turkey can take its toll.
I've been in the kitchen whipping up spa-style food, low in everything. Because old habits die hard, and because I am (only technically speaking) a Catholic, we had fish for dinner last night, being Friday and all.
I created this salmon and soba noodle salad. Light, fragrant, delish! I'm sure some food has medicinal qualities, which work instantly.

I started with two big slabs of fresh pink salmon.

To make the noodle salad, first of all use a vegetable peeler to slice thin pieces of carrot, cucumber and thinly sliced red onion. Put them in a bowl and mix through a teaspoon of salt. Set aside to pickle for at least half an hour, an hour ideally.

Cook your soba noodles and run through cold water to cool them. Add the drained pickled carrot, cucumber and red onion. Throw in some mint leaves (or coriander, or both) and some sliced mango.

To make the dresser mix a tablespoon of honey, 1/4 cup tamari (gluten free soy sauce), 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar and three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Toss through the noodles.

Cook your salmon in some hot olive oil, adding in some crushed peanuts at the end.

Then you've just got to assemble it on the plate.

My husband has added the eyebrows to the front of the house. Previously, it looked like this.

Now it looks like this. Whether they're on your house or your face, eyebrows are important.

Finally, I got this little gem at Target for $12. Despite my current decluttering projects in various rooms, I just

couldn't leave this behind.

Unnatural Disasters and Cyclone Yasi

We are into day 2, birthday cake 3, of our week long 4th birthday celebrations.
Tomorrow we are having our playgroup friends around to celebrate Peach's birthday, yet again. We have been in the same playgroup for more than five years. Now tots that once pulled each other's hair in the portacot are in school uniforms, and their younger siblings are tottering around.
Some of us, me included, are unfortunately running out of children and this will be my last year as a legitimate playgroup member.
Today I made myself a list, and ran around the house like I had a motor on my rear end. I felt quite smug that I'd got everything ticked off. I even made the birthday cake and layered it with jam and cream (whipped by hand, thank you very much).
Feeling the efficiency charging through my veins I thought I would just whip up the icing and decorate the cake before the children went to bed.
Hells bells! The disaster that now lies grimly in my fridge is almost beyond belief. I had to laugh....or else I would have cried. It will surely get some laughs in the morning.
I am trapped too. I can't just duck out and get another one, everyone is arriving just after nine.
Have put quite the gallery together so you can really appreciate how bad it is. My fatal errors included:
- not taking enough care
- not making enough icing
- making the icing too thick
- cutting the layers of the cake too thin
- not having a proper plan in my head when I started
- not concentrating
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Please learn from my mistakes.
Before I wheel out the beast, let me firstly show you what I normally churn out. It's not great, but passable.

This is the Frankenstein thing I created this afternoon.....from all angles....it's bad, very.

Then the avalanche....

This is a blurry, unflattering photo of me trying to stick it back together, which I liken to lying down in front of a runaway train to stop it. Notice how close it is to the side of the bench. I'm not sure if I was subconsciously trying to push it off, or the poor thing was trying to jump! See my look of panic.

Let me tell you, there's going to be a lot of wide eyes and hands over the mouth tomorrow when I unveil this baby.
As a social experiment, I don't think I'll give them a heads up. I'll just put it on the table and check out the reactions.

In summary, as we like to say, 'Nevermind, it doesn't matter'.

This is a photo of our house from an angle I've never seen before - compliments of a tiny, budding photographer. (actually looking at it now, I feel I should point out that the tiny photographer is not the cat)

Tonight, at the bottom end of the state, we will be thinking of all those at the top end.  Wishing you a safe and uneventful night.