Our Red House

Maggie Beer Inspired Creme Caramel

2012-02-26T17:44:00.003+10:30

(This post is dedicated to Ymke, who asked for the recipe a month ago, and Fiona, who reminded me this morning that I haven't blogged in a long time!)

Creme caramel is my favourite dessert to make at the moment - primarily because it is my favourite to eat. I adore it. When I was a child, my mother would sometimes buy those little plastic tubs of creme caramel, which I thought were delicious, but home-made creme caramel is much nicer - and surprisingly easy to make.

In Maggie's Harvest, Maggie Beer recommends that the caramel be cooked almost to the point of burning. However, I find this too strong and take the caramel off the heat earlier, when it's medium brown rather than dark brown.

The recipe I am sharing is inspired by Maggie's, although I cheat by using pure vanilla extract rather than a vanilla bean. Also, I use a 20cm round cake tin rather than small pots.

Creme Caramel (inspired by Maggie Beer)
125g (1/2 C) sugar
125ml (1/2 C) water
-
4 eggs
125g (1/2 C) caster sugar
250ml cream
300ml milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Caramel
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture begins to boil. Continue to heat until the caramel becomes a medium brown colour - it will change quickly so watch carefully. Pour the hot caramel into a round cake tin and swirl around the edges. Do this quickly as the caramel becomes hard very rapidly.

Custard
Preheat oven to moderate (180C/350F, slightly less if your oven is fan forced.) Fill and boil your kettle. Put the caramel-lined cake tin in a baking dish.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together. Heat the milk and cream together until almost boiling. Slowly tip the hot milk and cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Now pour the custard mixture into your cake tin and put the baking dish (with the cake tin inside) into the oven, with the oven door open. Next pour the boiling water into the baking dish so it comes about halfway up the sides of the cake tin - you could do this step before you put the baking dish in the oven but then you would have a very heavy dish to carry.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until set. Allow to cool in the water-bath, then refrigerate over night. Run a knife around the edge before turning out onto a plate.

I find this quantity serves eight people easily.

Brighton Beach

2012-01-29T08:30:00.000+10:30

We spent Friday evening at Brighton Beach with my brother and his family, who live in Sweden.

While we Adelaideans are keen for a cool change after weeks of hot, dry weather, my brother's family relishes every moment of hot weather they get.

And coming from a freezing winter with less than four hours of daylight each day, who can blame them?

Green and Gold Cupcakes

2012-01-28T16:26:00.001+10:30

Green and gold cupcakes for my sister-in-law Ymke who became an Australian citizen last week. Congratulations Ymke!

And congratulations to all the other new Aussies out there!

Dig for Victory

2012-01-26T12:01:00.001+10:30

I found this old World War Two 'Dig for Victory' film on YouTube and thought it fascinating. I even learnt a gardening tip or two.

Dining Room Tour

2012-01-23T22:28:00.001+10:30

The last time I posted pictures of our dining room we were using it as a study. It's still a study, but we use it for other purposes as well.

As you can see, the sideboard that used to be in the lounge room is now in the dining room. We moved the sideboard to make way for our new couches.

The blue arm chair has also been moved from the lounge room. That sunny corner is a lovely place to read.

All the furniture that you can see in this picture came to us from my husband's grandparents. The sideboard, china cabinet and dining setting were made by Rosenstengel in the 1930s. (You can see a similar dining table to ours in this picture, from the State Library of Queensland archives.)

Moving slightly to the left, you can see the fireplace, which is on the other side of the fireplace in yesterday's post. The row of books on the mantel is a set of the Modern World Encyclopaedia from 1935. I bought the set in an op. shop.

Turning around you will notice that we have put a desk behind the door - a great way to keep the inevitable office clutter out of sight of the hall.

Finally, a closer look at the china cabinet. I love that picture of my youngest at 8 months crawling towards the camera with his tongue gleefully poking out.

Living Room Tour - Updated

2012-01-22T08:41:00.002+10:30

Although I have posted pictures of our front living room a few times in the past couple of years, I haven't given a detailed tour since just after we moved in, in March 2010. Well, today's the day!

Late in 2011 we finally bought a couple of couches for this room, which meant moving the existing furniture around. This is now a calm, pleasant room to read quietly or listen to music, especially on hot, Adelaide summer days.

The couch under the window is a sofa-bed -- very useful as we don't have a guest room.

The coffee table was given to me recently by a friend who was decluttering before moving interstate. It belonged to her grandmother. It's a little small for the space but suits our other old furniture and serves its purpose well.

We put our stereo on an old traymobile that belonged to my husband's grandparents. A family member sent us the traymobile last year and we didn't have a spot or use for it until we thought of the stereo.

Looking from the other direction, you can see the fireplace. We still haven't bought a mirror or picture to hang over the fireplace -- all in good time!

The piano is still tucked behind the door that leads to the hallway.

That's the end of today's tour. Tomorrow I'll share some recent photos of our dining room.

Saving Jars

2012-01-16T08:30:00.000+10:30

I remember from my childhood that my mother would save jars which she would use to store the marmalade and lemon butter she made each winter from our orange and lemon trees.

Similarly, my grandmother collected jars for marmalade and lemon butter. She would also send the grandchildren to the local park to harvest wild plums that she would turn into plum jam.

some of my collection

Collecting used jars is certainly the cheapest way to provide packaging for home-made jams, pickles, sauces and other produce. They are also useful for storing pantry items, especially the larger ones such as pickle jars. My only problem is that I can't seem to throw any jars out, so I have shelves of them waiting to be used.

Before saving any jars it is important to check that there are no cracks or chips in the glass and that the seal in the lid hasn't been damaged. I soak the jars to remove the labels.

I sterilise the jars before using them by washing them in hot, soapy water, rinsing them, standing them upside down to dry, then putting them on an oven tray in a slow oven until they are completely dry.

I tip the hot jam (or other preserve) into the hot jars and screw the lids on immediately. A seal should form in the lids which will cause them to indent slightly in the middle. If no seal forms the jar should be put in the fridge and used fairly quickly.

Do you save jars too? What do you use them for?

Plum Jam

2012-01-15T14:03:00.000+10:30

Last weekend I harvested the plums on the satsuma plum tree that I planted in the winter of 2009. Although the plums were smaller than those on a more mature tree, they were too heavy for the thin branches of such a young tree. Some of the poor little branches were nearly touching the ground.

When I weighed the fruit it came to just under 1 1/2 kilos, which was a perfect amount for making a few jars of plum jam.

This recipe comes from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook (1970). It is given as written in the cookbook apart from the measurements, where I have given metric as well as the original imperial. This quantity made about 5 1/2 jars.

Plum Jam

3lb (1.4 kg) plums

3/4 pint (450 ml) water

2 1/2 lb (1.3 kg) sugar

juice half lemon

Wash plums, cut in half, remove stones. Place in large saucepan with the water and 3/4lb sugar. Cook gently until plums are tender, stirring occasionally. Add remaining sugar, stir over low heat until sugar dissolves; add lemon juice. Boil rapidly until jam jells when tested on a cold saucer, (approximately 1 hour). Pour into hot sterilised jars, seal.

How Necessary is an Electric Mixer?

2012-01-13T10:21:00.000+10:30

Last weekend my 15 year old Sunbeam Mixmaster died half way through beating up a cake batter.

I am now left wondering whether I should replace it. Most cakes are made easily enough with a wooden spoon, a rotary beater, or a whisk. The only things that I could have trouble mixing by hand are meringues and pavlovas, which require a lot of beating over a long period of time.

I admit that I love the look of those big Kitchen Aid mixers with lots of attachments, but they are hundreds of dollars and definitely a 'want' rather than a 'need'. I also like some of the vintage-looking models, such as this one by Sunbeam.

My daughter thinks I should buy a hand-held electric mixer. She points out that they can be used with any bowl, unlike the bench-top models.

At the moment I am planning to go without an electric mixer for a while to see how I manage.

What do you think?

Is an electric mixer necessary for someone who does a lot of baking? What model do you recommend?

Five Years

2011-12-17T21:45:00.000+10:30

Amazingly, this Christmas marks five years years since my father died. Christmas Eve 2011 is eight years to the day since he found out he had inoperable lung cancer.

To recognise this anniversary I am reprinting the article below, which I published on this blog back in 2007.

My Father's Gift

My father was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer on Christmas Eve 2003. He had not smoked in 40 years. For three years he fought with chemotherapy and immense, quiet courage.

In late September 2006 he learned that he had bone cancer also.

Two weeks before Christmas last year (2006), my husband suggested we drive to Sydney for Christmas week. My parents' home is a couple of hours north of Sydney at the beach. We knew accommodation would be difficult to find for a family of six so close to Christmas, which falls in the Australian summer, yet amazingly our prayers were answered on my second phone call, and for about half what we expected to pay. The flat we rented was 100 metres from the beach and a short walk from my parents' house.

Despite having seen him in October, I was shocked by the deterioration in Dad's condition. He was so frail, so thin. His skin felt scaly as I stroked his hand in the white hospital ward. His head was cold when I kissed it. I visited several times over the week; we made small talk as he slipped in and out of sleep.

Dad was a highly intelligent man, a doctor and a great thinker. He would only take panadol, knowing the effect morphine would have on his mind.

Sometimes he became serious; his mind was active while his body destroyed itself. He said he could not understand why things had gone wrong; he had done everything the doctors had asked. He said, short of a miracle, my mother would be a widow within three weeks.

Dad had always defined himself as an agnostic. A rational man, he found a literal resurrection impossible to grasp. Yet towards the end he requested chaplains and sought prayer.

On our last day on the coast B and I visited the hospital with all the children. After a time, Dad suggested they go outside; I could stay and assist him with his meal.

Dad struggled to speak. He said he had talked to my brothers and my mother and I was the last. He said he wanted to be "on a straight track" with everyone and asked my forgiveness for any harm he had ever done me. He was so sorry, so sad about the past. He blamed himself for things I had long forgotten. I was not an easy child, and our hot-headed personalities had often clashed. We talked, and I reassured him as best as I could that everything was all right. Crying silently, I told him how much I loved him. Three or four days later Dad became confused and distressed. On January 21 he died.

I learnt more in those minutes about love and grace, compassion, repentance and forgiveness than in a lifetime of sermons, lectures and books.

So many people die suddenly; so many people die hugging grievances. My father, visibly struggling to channel his thoughts and knowing I was returning home to Melbourne, that this was the last time, gave me, and indeed, all of us, the gift of peace

Creating Christmas 2011 at Our Red House

2011-12-15T21:15:00.003+10:30

1. gingerbread men, 2. gingerbread house, 3. tree, 4. mantel, 5. vintage felt bear, 6. vintage felt elephant, 7. angel (kinder made years ago), 8. vintage felt snowman, 9. felt bear, 10. vintage felt Santa cardholder, 11. decorating the house, 12. gingerbread men

Constructing a Gingerbread House

2011-12-11T22:25:00.001+10:30

The last time I made a gingerbread house for Christmas was back in 2000 and it was a disaster. It was an extremely hot day and the icing just would not set and the roof kept sliding off. Eventually the whole thing collapsed and I told my then very small children that we would eat it as it was. They remember the collapsed gingerbread house to this day.

This year, after more than a decade of gingerbread house-free Christmases, I decided to try making one again. I discovered that the icing recipe I used the first time was probably no good as it was just icing sugar and lemon juice. This time I made royal icing (3 cups icing sugar beaten until stiff with 2 egg whites). Royal icing sets as hard as a rock. I also read that it helps to prop up the walls with canned goods when constructing the house.

Yesterday my daughter Emma drew up the template for the pieces on graph paper and last night I baked the gingerbread. This morning, with some trepidation, we constructed and decorated the cake.

It worked, fortunately, although next time I think I will make the roof line less steep. Then I won't have to stand propping up the roof while the icing holding it up sets.

Have you ever made a gingerbread house? Do you have any tips?

Birthday Breakfast for a Beautiful Girl (and an update)

2011-12-10T09:50:00.002+10:30

Today is my beautiful daughter's 15th birthday and she asked for breakfast in bed. As she makes me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day and my birthdays, I could hardly refuse.

Emma asked for waffles with strawberries and strawberry sauce. She wanted ice cream but no cream. I added in a strawberry milkshake for good measure. It was a lot of fun preparing Gran's tea tray with dishes, cutlery and old embroidered linen, and Em was thrilled with the result. I think this might be the start of a new tradition in our family.

Update: I thought I should explain why I haven't been blogging lately, despite lots of blog-worthy material with Christmas approaching. Since my last post in mid November my youngest son, Will (8) has been very sick and ended up having an emergency appendectomy on 29 November. He is recovering well but is quite pale and thin still.

As you can imagine, I haven't had much time to visit other blogs but hope to come and 'see' you all again over the next few weeks.

Home-made Coconut and Olive Oil Soap

2011-11-13T12:51:00.004+10:30

Yesterday for the first time I made home-made cold-pressed soap, using Rhonda's tutorial found here.

Before I began I was quite nervous as there seem to be so many soap-making disaster stories on the internet. However, perhaps due to the excellence of Rhonda's instructions, I had no difficulty at all and, indeed, wondered why I had never tried making soap before. I think I might even make another batch today.

I spent about $10 on ingredients (olive oil, caustic soda and copha) and the recipe made 30 ordinary-sized cakes of soap. For the mould I used a plastic container I already owned, so there was no extra expense. To mix the soap I used my old stick blender, and it did a great job.

The soap has a lovely, clean smell and doesn't smell at all like the rather peppery olive oil which is the main ingredient. I like the idea of using such a pure, simple product on my skin and in my home, rather than commercial products that are so often laden with mysterious chemicals.

The soap will now need about six weeks to cure, when it will be ready just in time for some of it to be given as home-made Christmas gifts.

Bananas at Last

2011-10-30T13:57:00.000+10:30

When I came home from the supermarket with bananas, my daughter said, "we must be rich, we have bananas".

It's felt like that this year, hasn't it, with bananas often $13-$15 a kilo since the cyclones last summer. Like most Australians, I suspect, we had gone many months without bananas prior to this recent splurge.

My brother, who moved to Sweden mid-year bought Chilean bananas at $1.95 per kilo and wrote on his Facebook page, "Finally, affordable bananas."

While I am overall opposed to the importation of fruit we Aussies can grow ourselves, I'm not clear why we protect the banana industry when we don't, for instance, protect the apple industry against cheaper imports.

Thankfully, prices are now dropping and should hopefully be normal in the next month or two - that is, until the next cyclone season.

Spring Roses

2011-10-08T22:28:00.000+10:30

Freshly cut; waiting to go into the house.

Magical Mystery Birthday Tour

2011-10-03T11:54:00.001+10:30

Yesterday was my birthday, a birthday filled with surprises.

For weeks my husband had told me that we were going out somewhere on the day, but he wouldn't say where. He said he wasn't going to buy me a present in advance, because there would be things to buy when we arrived at our destination.

As we drove up Main North Road I quickly worked out that we were heading for the Barossa Valley, although I didn't know which part. Eventually, the sign for "The Pheasant Farm" gave the game away - we were having lunch at Maggie Beer's famous Pheasant Farm!

This was a most wonderful surprise as I have been a fan of Maggie Beer for years. I thoroughly enjoyed my game terrine and the post-lunch walk around the lake.

After lunch, B told the kids that today was Mum's day and that our next activity was to go antiquing (their idea of torture). I had a lovely time wandering through a number of antique shops in the little Barossa towns we passed through. We also visited the Barossa Museum at Tanunda, full of fascinating artifacts from the early German settlers.

Throughout the day the sun shone gently on us as we passed vineyard after vineyard, the leaves newly emerging on the grapevines. In the orchards the stone-fruit and apple trees were in blossom or had delicate, new leaves. The entire landscape was green and lush after the winter rains.

Some birthdays pass by uneventfully, but this one was one I will never forget.

Changes

2011-09-30T20:23:00.000+09:30

rose-scented geranium

There are some years when nothing much seems to happen and life moves with a steady and gentle pace and there are other years where change is constant and exhausting.

While 2011 has not required the radical changes of 2008, when we moved interstate and started a completely new life, it has certainly been a period of transition and uncertainty.

Both my husband and I have changed jobs this year, and the kids have experienced changes in their lives too.

However, I am so thankful that we are all together in a house that we love and are slowly building strong networks in Adelaide. Although I had never considered living here before it became a necessity, Adelaide is now home.

Doors

2011-09-27T17:54:00.000+09:30

Some new doors are opening in our lives. I wonder where they will lead?

Just as Difficult

2011-09-26T18:00:00.001+09:30

People say that young children are difficult to photograph because they won't stay still, but I think foraging chooks are easily as bad. When the earth is full of bugs and worms, posing sedately just isn't an option.

Victoria Sandwich with Lemon Butter

2011-09-25T18:00:00.003+09:30

A Victoria Sandwich is, of course, not a sandwich made with bread and butter, but a type of sponge cake.

I made this one for afternoon tea on Friday, however unlike last time, I used our chooks' eggs rather than ducks' eggs.

The lemon butter (or curd) is made from my favourite lemon butter recipe ever, which I posted here.

The First

2011-09-24T17:48:00.003+09:30

The first yellow rose of spring

and the first peach rose.

A Little Jar of Lavender

2011-08-29T14:26:00.001+09:30

Straight from the garden, a sweetly-scented gift from my two youngest sons.

Solar Panels

2011-08-28T13:25:00.002+09:30

image courtesy of www.techvert.com

In early June, 18 solar panels were installed on the roof of our house (a 3 kilowatt system).

Over the past few days I have noticed with much excitement that we are generating more electricity than we are using every day, and it's still late winter. We currently have the old-fashioned type of meter with a dial that spins backwards when we produce more than we use - a fantastic sight!

In September, ETSA (our state's electricity infrastructure provider), will (finally, after more than 3 months) install a smart meter that will mean that we are paid extra for any electricity that we return to the grid.

From now on, in spring and autumn when the days are relatively long and almost always sunny, I am pretty sure we will have no electricity bills, and may even make a profit. The same is true for summer, although I expect that during heatwaves the air conditioner will probably use up most of the solar power produced.

In the long term, with electricity prices rising exponentially, I believe the solar panels will prove to have been a very wise investment, especially as we were able to benefit from Government rebates that reduced the cost considerably. The benefit for the environment will be significant too, of course, in a brown-coal dependent state like South Australia.

Since having solar panels installed, I have become much more aware of which appliances use a lot of power, and am trying to restrict their use. I am much more conscious, for example, of only using the oven when several things are cooking, and not just to heat one item.

Do you have solar panels? How have your electricity bills been affected?

Nectarine Blossom

2011-08-27T09:24:00.004+09:30

The nectarine tree I planted in the back corner of the garden not long ago has just started to flower. Such delicate, pale pink blossoms!

I chose a nectarine rather than a peach because my children prefer the smooth skins. The variety is Goldmine, a late season, self-fertile variety with red skin and white fruit.

Another reason I selected this variety is because the fruit is 'freestone'. This means that when the fruit is being processed for jam or bottling, the seeds slide away easily from the flesh. If the variety is 'clingstone' the seeds will cling to the flesh, making processing much more frustrating, in my experience.

I am now itching for the rest of my baby fruit trees to flower. Spring, I love you so much!