Citrus cheesecake

This afternoon we are heading the park for a pizza picnic in celebration of my mother-in-law's birthday.  I offered to make a birthday cake and she selected this recipe.  Unfortunately the local IGA didn't stock the CSR Smart Sugar blend so I substituted with caster sugar.  Hopefully it still tastes okay.  I was a little concerned with my oven, it's not fan forced and cooking cakes can be unreliable.  Especially when you are trying to slow cook something at a moderate temperature.  But I am really pleased with how it has turned out.  Aesthetically at least, the taste verdict will need to wait until later in the day.

Baked cheesecake

I made this Baked Lemon Cheesecake last week to take to a friend's place for dinner.  If you think cheesecake is on your too hard list, think again.  You can't really get much simpler than this recipe and its great for the hip pocket (but maybe not the hips).  I'm going to try it next time with some violet crumble instead of the lemon.

Cream cheese is a great thing to keep stashed in the fridge, it usually has a really long used by date.  Same thing with some arrowroot or other plain type biscuits.  These are some simple ingredients that you can have on hand to make some scrumptious desserts.

Pip's chocloate cake and Chicken Master Blaster

Finally got to spend some time in the kitchen again this weekend.  Whipped up a gluten free version of my easy lemon meringue pie for a lunch with friends.  To make this recipe gluten free you need 1 1/2 boxes of the Freelicious tea biscuits. 

I also cooked a recommendation from my lovely friend Kynwyn:  Nick's Chicken Master Blaster. It was really yummy even though I accidentally left out the mustard.  The kids did eat it, but it was a bit of a struggle.  Someone complained that it contained salad (shallots) - I mean really boys!  Leftovers for the adults tonight, while we watch the huge TV line up of The Block then Underbelly.  Not to mention I have a bottle of my favourite wine The Rolling Sauvignon Blanc Semillon.

On top of all that I managed to whip up Pip's easy chocolate cake recipe (sans icing).  Took me ages to make as I was gas-bagging to a friend at the same time.  But it worked out nicely.  I used a ring tin (because my round cake tins were buried too far in the cupboard for my liking).  I probably should have lined the base because ring tins are always harder to get the cake out of.

COOOOOOOOKIES!

I'm in the market for some kitchen artwork from the They Draw and Cook website (much to my husband's disgust).  I want a picture that I like but the recipe has to be good too.   This quest led me to try out the COOOOOOOOKIES! by Pietro Duchi recipe last night.  I added choc chips and it was really easy.  Not sure if I was meant to but I melted the butter and used 125g which came pretty close to the 6.5 tablespoons. I figured there was no other reasonable way to measure out tablespoons of butter.  Anyway the recipe worked well but I am not so in love with the artwork, I am after something with a bit more colour.

Take a look at the other ones that are high on my list to try out:

Banana bread by Amy McKay
Black coffee by Pedro Menezes 
Summer vegetable soup by Ekaterina Muratova

But what I would really love is for someone to do one of my favourite apple pie recipe... any takers?

Easy apple pie: (this is an adaptation of this recipe, just a bit simpler and if you work smartly only 1 bowl to wash up plus the pie dish!)

• 1 tin pie apple
• 125g butter melted
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup raw sugar plus an extra tablespoon

1. Spread the pie apple into a pie dish and sprinkle the tablespoon of raw sugar on top
2. In a large bowl, melt the butter
3. Add the flour, sugar and egg and mix well
4. Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the apple, doesn't matter if there is not enough to cover all the way to the edges, just spread it roughly over the apple as in the picture below
5. Put in a 170C oven until the top turns a lovely golden colour - I usually set the time for 45 minutes then check on it regularly
6. Serve with cream or ice cream

Sticky date pudding

It was good, albeit cramped, to have friends over last night.  Some mad menu reshuffling this week has resulted in a really well stocked freezer so I had plenty to work with.  We had crumbed chicken wings (I picked up a stack of these for a bargain $2) and sausages on the BBQ, old faithful potato bake, salad and for dessert, sticky date pudding. The pudding was pretty yum, although a bit light on sauce (maybe I cooked it too long??) - I even enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast this morning.

And for those of you who wonder why I nearly always feed our guests sausages??  It is because most of them have children under 5, and I am yet to meet a child who doesn't at least eat a sausage sandwich.

Mmmmm, Lemon Meringue

Wednesday I had so many things to do and people coming for dinner.  I had planned to make my usual lemon meringue pie, but I just didn't have the energy.  So I hunted around for a quicker option and came across a great, quick, easy recipe that tasted absolutely fantastic!  Highly recommended and no making pastry or lemon curd from scratch.  I will definitely be making this one again!

Entertaining on a budget

One benefit of this blog is that I have no need to make apologies for a not-so-special dinner party menu.  Last night we had people over and on the menu was, nibbles, sausage hot pot (suggestion from my Facebook page, thanks @Bowhite), rice and Easy apple pie.

Sausage hot pot:

• 8 cooked thin sausages cut into bit size pieces (do yourself a favour, only by sausages from the butcher!)
• 800ml jar passata
• 1 onion diced
• 1/2 cup dried surprise peas
• 1 tin mushrooms (or small fresh button mushys left whole)
• 1/4 teaspoon (or just a sprinkle if your not keen on too much) chilli powder
• 1 clove crushed garlic

Put everything together in the slow cooker and put it on low for about 6 hours.  Serve with rice and grated cheese.

Easy apple pie: (this is an adaptation of this recipe, just a bit simpler and if you work smartly only 1 bowl to wash up plus the pie dish!)

• 1 tin pie apple
• 125g butter melted
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup raw sugar plus an extra tablespoon

1. Spread the pie apple into a pie dish and sprinkle the tablespoon of raw sugar on top
2. In a large bowl, melt the butter
3. Add the flour, sugar and egg and mix well
4. Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the apple, doesn't matter if there is not enough to cover all the way to the edges, just spread it roughly over the apple as in the picture below
5. Put in a 170C oven until the top turns a lovely golden colour - I usually set the time for 45 minutes then check on it regularly
6. Serve with cream or ice cream

 

Food, free to a good home!

I think one of the best things about starting this blog has been that now all my friends and family know that I am on the hunt for budget busting deals.  People have bought me their leftover fruit and veg before they head on holidays, or have been sharing their fresh eggs, herbs and vegetables that they have grown.  Today I was the happy recipient of 2L of milk just past its best before date (but tasting fine).  So this evening I am making slow cooker rice pudding. I have made nicer rice puddings before, but this is so very easy to make I think its a decent trade off.  I follow the recipe as directed but halve the amount of butter used.

With my roast chicken dinner  with fresh rosemary cooking in the oven and the slow cooker going on the bench, the house is smelling so lovely and cosy.

Key lime pie

The best thing about Easter is catching up with friends and family.  And there is never a better reason to cook a feast, although this weekend I didn't have much spare time on my hands.  I had been given some limes and eggs last weekend and wanted to make a key lime pie.  Luckily I've had one flagged for a while in the 4 Ingredients book (if you don't have the book I found this site where the authors revealed this recipe). I literally made this entire pie (cooking time and all) in less than 20 minutes.

And for the person who asked why is it called key lime pie? Wikipedia...

**Note, if you used gluten free biscuits you can easily make this one gluten free