See I have this purple thing lurking in my fridge basket. It’s an aubergine or eggplant.
I ate one once. It was oily and nasty. I haven’t dared try it since.
Shizuoka Gourmet might just be the one to change all that with his lovely sounding recipe of eggplant in sweet and sour sauce.
I’ll report back on how I get on or not as the case may be.
I’ve been wanting to try and make miso soup for some time now. It’s one of my favourite soups, but I’ve been held back by thinking that it was terribly difficult to make. I discovered today that this is not the case!
I bought some brown miso paste and I had some instant dashi stock and dried seaweed in the house.
I made up 1 litre of dashi and poured it into a saucepan over a medium heat. I then placed 5 teaspoons of miso paste in a bowl. (This is allowing 1 teaspoon of miso for every cup of liquid) I added two ladles of hot dashi to the miso and stirred it to dissolve the miso to a thin paste, I then poured the miso paste into the saucepan and whisked it in.
To the miso soup I added chopped mushrooms, shredded chinese leaves and the shredded seaweed. I heated the miso until the vegetables were cooked but being careful not to boil the miso as this destroys the natural yeasts in the paste.
Very satisfying and I’ll look forward to this for breakfast in the morning 
Thought I’d try making porridge in my rice cooker.
Set it up last night, there were no instructions in my Sanyo manual for porridge so I thought I’d use the risotto setting.
Fine, measured in the oats, 1 cup. Next milk, added it up to the 1 cup line for risotto. Set the timer so it would be ready for 6 am this morning and off to be d I trotted.
This morning, lovely smells coming from the kitchen. Walked in and the keep warm light on the rice cooker was blinking like crazy. Strange I thought, walked over to check out my breakfast and was greeted with a boiled over cooker, milk and oats all over the place. What a mess to clean up at 6am when barely awake.
So what did I do wrong? Answers on a postcard please……….
Will I try again, maybe if I can get the ratio correct. Oh and for the record my rice cooker is a sanyo 5.5 cup fuzzy logic machine.
The porridge that was left in the pot was delish by the way!
I have a very easy, very tasty recipe for you today. Best of all it’s quick and healthy too!
Broccoli Soup
2 heads of broccoli
1 litre stock
1 teaspoon garlic granules or 1 clove fresh garlic.
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Place oil in a pot and heat gently.
Chop up all the broccoli, including the stalks. Chop the stalks quite fine so that they cook quickly.
Add broccoli to the oil and saute briefly. (If using fresh garlic, add at this point)
Add stock to pot.
Add garlic granules.
Simmer on medium heat until broccoli is soft and tender.
Whizz in a blender or with a stick blender until smooth.
Serve with fresh crusty bread or croutons.
For a non-healthy addition, add a swirl of cream or creme fraiche.
Enjoy!
Today I was spoiled rotten.
Small sprog started the day by making me breakfast in bed.
I spent the day with my Mum and we were ladies that do lunch!
Hubs took over the kitchen and made tea, while the kids organised desert.
All in all a very nice day!
This is the beautiful card that small sprog made for me
Is this recipe possibly the worlds carrot cake?
I don’t know exactly, possibly it is. All of our mob sure liked it!!
Here’s where you find the recipe, right over here with Chef John at Food Wishes.
The only piece of advice I can add to this post tonight………
Use a proper cake pan. Don’t use a pyrex dish as I did.
The cake sticks to the pyrex dish, no matter how much you grease it.
I learned the hard way (I guess that’s why there’s no pictures of my finished cake then? It wasn’t a pretty sight)
Ok, go off and bake people, don’t blame me if you like the cake so much that you have to go off and eat half of it in one go. I almost did that, but then I stopped. Just.
Any wonder I’m joining weight watchers next week. *sigh*
pictorial evidence that I can actually crochet a little bit, well sort of.
I spotted this on another blog I read and I just had to share it with you ……
A woman, renewing her driver’s license at the Motor Registration office,
Was asked by the counter clerk to state her occupation.
She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
‘What I mean is,’ explained the counter clerk,
‘do you have a job or are you just a ..?’
‘Of course I have a job,’ snapped the woman.
‘I’m a Mum.’
‘We don’t list ‘Mum’ as an occupation,
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Medicare office.
‘What is your occupation?’ she probed. What made me say it? I do not know.The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like,
‘Official Interrogator’ or ‘Town Registrar.’
The words simply popped out.
‘I’m a Research Associate in the field of
Child Development and Human Relations..’
The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and
Looked up as though she had not heard right.
I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.
Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written,
In bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
‘Might I ask,’ said the clerk with new interest,
‘just what you do in your field?’
Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice,
I heard myself reply,
‘I have a continuing program of research,
(what mother doesn’t)
In the laboratory and in the field,
(normally I would have said indoors and out).
I’m working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family)
And already have four credits (all daughters).
Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities,
(any mother care to disagree?)
And I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it).
But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are
More of a satisfaction rather than just money.’
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she
Completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career,
I was greeted by my lab assistants — ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model,
(a 6 month old baby) in the child development program,
Testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!
And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than ‘just another Mum.’ Motherhood!
What a glorious career!
Especially when there’s a title on the door.
Does this make grandmothers
‘Senior Research associates in the field of
Child Development and Human Relations’
And great grandmothers
‘Executive Senior Research Associates?’
I think so!!!
I also think it makes Aunts
‘Associate Research Assistants.’
