Devils on horseback

These are a great hors d'oeuvre to take along to a pot-luck dinner as a starter or just to put out with drinks for friends (and then you can say "help yourself to hors d'oeuvres" which is better than "want some onion dip with those chips Cheryl"). They are super easy to make and are really yum!
 
INGREDIENTS:

• 24 large prunes
• 24 pieces of streaky bacon cut in half
• 1/3 cup crumbled cheese (blue or Stilton is best)

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place 24 toothpicks in a small bowl filled with water; let soak 15 minutes. Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper and put a wire rack into the tray (a wire cake rack works really well) set aside. The paper is so you don't spend the rest of the afternoon scrubbing the tray when you should be getting ready for your guests.
Halve prunes lengthwise being careful not to cut all the way through. Place a small amount of cheese in the centre of each prune. Wrap a piece of bacon around each date. Secure bacon with a toothpick.
Place dates onto the wire rack. Bake until bacon is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy xx
A

Meatloaf for farmers

This is a recipe that Ree Drummond (the Pioneer woman) put on her website and described as 'cowboy approved' so I thought that the farmer would appreciate it. When we get a cattle beast done on the farm, it is always a bit of a mission to figure out what you are going to do with so much mince, so I was stoked to make this discovery. Meatloaf usually makes me think of the small windowless buildings my dear mother used to produce from time to time, however this has a really nice texture and is a bit more like yummy meat patties rather than dense loaf.Thanks also to Pip and George for volunteering to tackle so much meatloaf!

INGREDIENTS:
Meatloaf:

• 1 cup Milk
• 6 slices White Bread
• 800g  Beef Mince
• 1 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt (I use smoked salt)
• 3/4 teaspoons Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1/3 cup Finely chopped Flat-leaf Parsley
• 4 eggs
• Garlic (optional)
• 10 slices streaky/regular Bacon

Sauce:

• 1-1/2 cup Tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
• Tabasco To Taste

METHOD:
Preheat oven to180 degrees Celsius.

It looks gross but bare with me here

In a bowl, put bread and milk. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.

Place the mince, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, garlic (if you choose) and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.
This is the fun bit: With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined.  The bread will munch up and become a part of the mixture, you may have to break up any big bits.

Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan (I don't have one so put tin foil on the draining rack of my deep oven pan and poked some holes in it, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil as well to avoid a big mess!)

Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf. I used home-kill bacon from my wonderful father's farm because it is so darn good, but you can use any kind, streaky bacon is probably the best and easiest to wrap the loaf in.

Make the sauce: add tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/2 of the mixture over the top of the bacon. Spread with a spoon.
Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another 1/2 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

Serve with mashed or hedgehog potatoes.

Enjoy xx

A

TIPS:

• This is a BIG meatloaf so either invite people for tea or use the leftovers for sandwiches the next day(s)
• It may be easier to mush up the bread before adding everything else, I find that you get lumps of bread otherwise (as you can see in my pictures)

Join the Jelly revolution!

I don't care that I live in the country and that the style of these fabulous little shoes will be lost on most, because I HAVE to own them (don't tell the farmer)!

Wendy and Holly jelly shoes are a fantastic way of re-living a piece of your childhood. Admittedly they are a bit different to the last pair of jellies I had at age 4; pink with sparkles! Now though they make them aiming to provide stylish comfort and a bit of fun! I'm thinking that I could crank these from the boat to the bar too, so comfy and hose-able! They are only available in selected shoes stores, a full list of stockists and more styles are available online at www.wendyhollyshoes.cart.net.au

Might need these ones too!!

Have these ones, which was the beginning of the love affair....

Almond beans

This is one of my favourites- ok the farmer usually opts for something else, but I think he is just the product of boarding school diets that didn't stretch to yummy sides like this one!! This is a great way of making a boring veg a dinner party star!!

INGREDIENTS:

• fresh green beans, trimmed into about 3cm lengths
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• about 3 Tblsp slivered almonds

METHOD:

I like my green beans pretty much raw but if you like you can steam the beans for a minute to soften them up. In a small frying pan or wok, add a splash of Olive oil and your beans. Toss together over a medium heat until you get a sizzle. Add the almonds and toss together. Be careful not to burn the almonds, the oil will begin to come out of them and they smell amazing, this is when they are perfect- a minute more and you have burning!!

TIPS:

• This is a great side with chicken or game dishes. The rich flavour of the almonds is a great way to bring some life to a meal
• Add finely sliced crispy bacon and sliced roasted red capsicums to this dish to make a great side salad

Chocolate Sauce pudding

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 heaped Tblsp cocoa
• 4 Tblsp melted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 4 heaped Tblsp cocoa (again)
• 2 cups boiling water

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.  To make the pudding, sift flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa into a mixing bowl. Add butter, milk and vanilla and mix well. Pour into a buttered dish (approx 25cm dish is what I use)
Combine in another bowl the brown sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle this onto the pudding. Pour over boiling water and bake for 40 minutes.

yum!

TIPS:

• This serves 6-8 people and is best with plain unsweetened yoghurt (Clearwater's organic is the best) or vanilla ice cream
• Although it is tempting to add chocolate to this recipe, you will find that it is rich enough and it will go quite sticky/sloppy and heavy if you do

Enjoy xx
A

Chocolate sauce pudding is not all that attractive but it is so good!!!

Make your empties go another round

Wooden swappa crates are pretty easy to find, ask your local pub if they have any spare

A crate way (I crack myself up!) of storing your books is to build these cool beer crate shelves. I haven't attached them to anything, all I did was water blast the rough bits off them (coarse sandpaper would do the same job) and painted them the same colour as our walls. Success!! Apart from a bit of paint, these are free bookshelves. If you can't find the beer crates that have no bottles in them, you will just have to buy them full of beer..... not a bad outcome really. These are a funky addition to a student flat or to a house like ours that can't really decide on just one style. You can stack them in any way and move them easily.
They also make me feel like I am still young enough to have beer paraphernalia, but mature enough to disguise it as furniture!!

I think that I might add another row to this one to make it a bit higher

Pan gravy- no packet!!

INGREDIENTS:

• Pan juices from a roast
• 2 Tblsp cornflour
• salt
• pepper
• mixed herbs (optional)
• 4 Tblsp cold water (must be cold)
• more water (out of the peas is the best)

METHOD:

Take your roast out of the pan and put on a meat tray. Drain as much of the fat off the pan as you can. It will be the clear stuff at the top, pour into a metal or glass container so you can give it to the birds (down your sink isn't a good idea unless you have a cute plumber!?)
In a shaker or container with lid (a jar is sufficient) put the cornflour, salt, pepper and herbs. Add the cold water to this, if it is not cold you will get paste like kids use for paper mache- not good. Shake like heck until it is all mixed up and pour into the pan. Place the pan on a low heat on the stove top. Constantly stir the gravy, I use my 'gravy fork' which is an old fork bent at the top so that you can get some good pressure for scraping the crunchy bits off the pan. A whisk works fine also. Keep stirring until the gravy starts to thicken and then slowly add the rest of the water until you have about a cup and a half of gravy. The longer you boil it, the thicker it will be so just make it to how you like it.

This is my gravy fork, just bend an old one you have at home and you will have created a handy addition to your kitchen tools drawer!!

TIPS:

• You may want to add something to help  make the gravy a darker colour- you can use a bit of Bisto (don't tell cause it's technically cheating), Marmite or BBQ sauce also works well. You don't need much, it is to colour not flavour!
• Depending on what you are serving the gravy with you may want to add some cooked onions or mushrooms as well.
• Chicken gravy won't need any help with colour and should be pale in colour, beef on the other hand should be a rich brown

How to take up pants

As I am not tall, it’s very rare that I find pants that aren’t too long, and yet the petite ranges were not designed for these thighs! So, as I have to shorten my pants every time I buy a pair, I thought you might like to see how I do it.

The ‘regular’ way of taking up pants involves ‘invisible’ stitching (i.e. only catching a couple of threads of the outside fabric). This is tricky, time-consuming, and if you’re not very careful, you can still see the stitches on the outside.

My method leaves a visible hem on the outside, but I don’t see anything wrong with one neat line of stitching, and for everyday or casual pants/jeans, it can even leave a nicer finish than the hidden method. Maybe you won’t want to use this method for your best interview suit, but I use it for everything else!

YOU WILL NEED:

• sewing machine
• thread that matches the colour of your pants
• seam gauge (if you don’t have one, a measuring tape or ruler will do)
• scissors
• straight pins
• sewing needle
• iron

METHOD:
Try on your pants so you can see how long they need to be. Note: remember to wear shoes while you do this, or your pants will look too short when you wear them with shoes!

Fold up the pants to the length you want them to be (it helps if you have a mirror so you can see where they will fall when you are standing up straight) or get someone to pin them for you. Adjust until you’re happy that they don’t scrape the floor but aren’t going to be too short either. Remember different heel heights will affect the apparent length, so keep that in mind.

pin the pants to the length you want them

Pin the back of your pants only (at the heel)- you do this because the front is too hard to tell length with. Use just one pin to stop the turn-up from falling down when you take off the pants. This is just to give you the required length, so don’t worry about being neat. I sometimes put pins right around just to hold the place. Have a final length check after pinning. Okay, now you can get changed, or sew in underpants- whatever you are comfortable in (and don’t prick yourself on the pins!).

measure the amount you are taking off

Pin the fold to the right length all the way around

Measure the length of the turn-up on each leg. They should be the same, but if they aren’t, pick a measurement midway between the two.


If they are very different, you should probably try the pants on again and check which one is right! Make a note of your measurement.

Make sure both legs are the same length!

Fold up the bottom of each leg, to the length you measured above, and pin in place. Check the two to make sure they are the same

Make the cut so you have about 3-4cm of turn up left

Iron the fold so it is pressed into a crease. You can make a mark about an 4cm all the way around but i usually just take the plunge for the next bit, because you are hiding it anyway. Be brave – this is the scary part! Cut the turn-up about 3 to 4 cm from the edge, but be careful not to cut through both layers of fabric – just the turned up part – otherwise you’ll end up with long shorts!

Pin under so that you end up with a 2cm turn up with no raw edges visible

With your remaining 4cm turn-up, begin to fold the raw edge inside, so you end up with a 2cm turn-up with no raw edges visible. Pin in place as you go.

Continue folding and pinning all around the bottoms of both legs. You can iron this fold in place before sewing (I like to, it makes the sewing part easier) or just sew it at this point.

Use the guidelines on your machine to get a nice straight line

Set up your sewing machine with a thread colour that matches the main colour in your fabric, for both the top and bobbin threads. Set it to a medium length straight stitch.

Using the 1cm guide on your sewing machine (or whichever guide is just less than the fold size) & sew around the bottom of each leg. When you get back to the start, sew over your first couple of stitches and then finish off.

Pull the loose threads to the wrong side of the fabric. You can knot them together for added security, if desired, then thread them through a sewing needle. Push the needle into the turned up fabric, and out a couple of inches further along.

Pull thread ends to the inside side of the leg and cut off

Pull the thread ends to make fabric scrunch up slightly, then snip off the threads flush with the fabric, so they disappear inside the fabric when you pull it flat.

Turn the pants right side out and admire your handiwork!

Chicken thighs stuffed with apricot, cream cheese & thyme stuffing

Seasonal eating is so rewarding and this is one meal you could hang a medal on. In the height of summer, get some friends over and serve up this surprisingly easy and incredibly tasty meal. Central Otago summer fruits and veges from the garden..... yummo!

SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Chicken thighs (you can use breasts but thighs are tastier) more if you think one wont be enough- the farmer eats two
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 100g cream cheese (I just use half a tub)
• 3 apricots chopped finely
• 2 Tblsp fresh thyme
• 2 strips of streaky bacon per thigh

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on the work surface, put one chicken thigh folded out flat on the plastic and then cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Beat the hell out of it with a rolling pin until it is flattened out and approximately twice the size. Take the plastic wrap off and place to one side. Repeat for all of the thighs. Now mix the bread crumbs, cream cheese, apricots and thyme together in a bowl for the stuffing.
Cut a piece of tin foil for each piece of chicken (about 20cm lengths). On your first piece of tin foil place two strips of bacon and place a chicken thigh on top of them. Put a few heaped spoons of the stuffing mixture onto the chicken thigh and spread out. Then roll up the bacon, chicken and stuffing, leaving it wrapped in the tin foil like a little parcel. Fold up the ends to seal. Repeat for all of the chicken thighs. Bake for 40 minutes, turning over half way through. Unwrap the parcels and quickly brown the outside in a pan before serving.

TIPS:

• Serve with fresh seasonal veges and apricot sauce
• Nice with a good crisp Sauvignon Blanc

BBQ Meat Patties

Humble beef patties are a staple at any BBQ, particularly fantastic for bulking up the offerings for a large group without further mortgaging the farm! Flavour is key and you can get pretty ballsy with beef mince, so get adventurous, add the flavours your family loves and if all else fails just add garlic!

INGREDIENTS:

• 500gm beef or lamb mince (a little fat is not a bad thing when it comes to patties)
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt & pepper
• 2 Tblsp fresh herbs (I use parsley, thyme and chives)
• 1 egg 
• 1 clove fresh chopped garlic (optional)

METHOD:

Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl. Mix together with your hands (clean ones of course) until all of the mixture is combined. Roll into balls just a bit bigger than the size of a golf ball and then squish down into patties. Cook in a pan or on the barbecue.
TIPS:

• You can add other sauces for flavour, sometimes I use sweet chilli, tomato, Barbecue, or mint if you are using lamb mince
• To bind the patties for gluten free person, or just to be extra healthy you can use flax fibre/ LSA in the place of the bread crumbs
• If you make big fat patties then it is a good idea to bake them for a bit in the oven to cook them through. If you cooked them right through on the barbecue the outside would probably be a bit charred! 

Potato Cakes

Meat and three veg is the basis of many meals in our house and countless others that have working men grace their table-sides and although the farmer is pretty good at trying new foods, there is always a look of a little disappoint if there is an absence of spud on his plate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the meat/three veg meal, however sometimes it's nice to have a bit of variety. This is an easy way to achieve compromise; the farmer gets his beloved potato and I get away from the boiled spud!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 potatoes of medium size, scrubbed but skin on
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 2 Tblsp fresh chopped chives and parsley

METHOD:

Put the potatoes into the food processor and use the chopping blade (don't bother with the grating one, it just makes more dishes!) and whiz on full power until the potatoes are all chopped up. Add the remaining ingredients and mix them in. In a large pan heat some oil or butter and put large spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan and cook until golden, then turn to cook the other side. Because the potatoes you started with were raw, I bake these on 180degree Celsius for 10-15mins to cook through.

TIPS:

• You can add a finely diced onion to add to the taste
• To make these an addition to a big cooked breakfast, add some chopped bacon and cut the potatoes a bit chunkier to make rustic style hash browns