project 157.........creamed spinach

For me there is no better vegetable than spinach!  It is just a pity that so few people like spinach!.....but my sister who hardly eats veggies, eats spinach!  Can you believe it!  So I cooked her one of my favourite recipes.  I sometimes even cook large amounts of this, and freeze it in portion sizes.  I even use these frozen packets to make soup!

Use 35g butter, 35g flour and 380 ml of milk to make a white sauce and season it with salt, black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg...... keep aside.

Blanche 750 g of spinach in boiling water, remove and dip in ice water.  Put it in the food processor and blend it.  Mix the white sauce into it and bake in a tin foil covered oven dish for 15 minutes.  Stir well before serving.  Taste just as good as a favourite chain stores food chains creamed spinach.

project 156 cooking venison

My sister came to visit me this passed week.  Without her new hubby as he has stuff to do on the farm.  She brought me a leg of spring buck, and I had to cook it the one evening.

It was divine!  I'm going to share with the ones who are so fortunate to sometimes get some venison as a gift.....

I stuff the meat with rosemary, lots of whole garlic cloves and bacon. I just poke some holes with a knife.  Don,t be stingy on stuffing as it can never be too much!  Too little yes!  You can buy the fatty bit from your local butcher.  I buy a decent piece and keep it in the freezer until I need it, and then just cube it.

I then rub the whole piece of meat with olive oil, rub it with coarse salt and coarse freshly grounded black pepper.  I then take a packet of breakfast bacon and pin it all around the meat with toothpicks. 

Place it in your roasting pan, add some coriander seeds in your pan, two cloves and some red wine. I like to add a hand of the bacon blocks to the wine as well, as I make my sauce/gravy with it afterwards.  Place the lid on top and start to cook it at about 100*C in the oven for a few hours.  You can increase the heat to 140*C after some time, but the idea is to cook it slowly.  I prefer doing it overnight at 100*C as I get tempted during the day to increase the heat when I start getting the great smell!  It really makes you hungry!

You can add some extra wine if the wine evaporates, but if you cook it slowly, it won't be a problem.

When finished cooking, I pour the liquid in a normal pan and add a hand full of peppercorns. Then mix a little flour with a little bit of fresh red wine, add it to the liquid and thicken it.  Add a little fresh cream to make a lovely creamy wine pepper sauce.  Yum yum yum!

The photo was taken when I took it out of the oven before I made the gravy and removed the toothpicks!

project 155.........rusted garden ornament........

I decided to go the natural way of rusting a metal piece, than to apply paint to get the effect.  More time consuming, but same end result.  Just had to wait a little before sharing it.

I tried everything but I just can not rotate this photo!  Please forgive!  I hope you get the idea!



I used an empty coffee tin to cut the letters 'L O V E' and some hearts.  I then tied them together with pieces of wire and hung them on my garden chairs filled with succulents and waited....it is nicely weathered by now......see the result.....

Project 154********ginger coconut chicken

This recipe had its origin from the book 'Zhoozsh!' by Jeremy & Jacqui Mansfield.  I think if I ever had to do a recipe book, it will be something like this, as it is easy to do....no fuss with a lot of steps to get to the end results.....photo's and stories that's enjoyable giving a background to every recipe....

The original recipe is a ginger coco chicken soup.  I made that before as well, liked the taste and ended up making a few adaptions until I ended up with whole pieces of chicken in a white coconut sauce.

I cooked the chicken in the microwave for 10 minutes.  I then browned it a little in olive oil, and kept it aside.  I then browned some onions in the same pot and then added 2 tbsp of freshly crushed ginger(my middle son loves chopping! So I give him this job!  You land up with finely crushed ginger root!  Even finer than the stuff you buy!  I soon learnt that you can not give him everything to chop except if you want juice!  But the ginger works well!)

Add 1 tsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp of finely chopped chili and boil for a few minutes.  Add your chicken to this  mixture with a packet of mushrooms, 2 tbsp of fish sauce(yes it is smelly, but the end result is worth it!), 2 tbsp of lemon juice and a tin of coconut cream.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes.  Garnish with parsley.....serve with rice....green salad.....

Not close to the original soup, but just as tasty!

Project 153: Rosy fairy lights

I made a girly string of fairy lights when I still had my little shop.  The other day I found them again after looking for something else.  I had to share it, as most of the stuff I share are not girly girly......

As you know by now..... I am a mother of many boys....and the friends are boys......and all of my friends only have boys....the whole family only has boys..... so you land up not having a lot of girly things around you!  Especially not pink!  It can still be slightly girly, but oh boy!  Just not pink!

That is why this string has been forgotten!  It's pink!

I used a cheap string of fairy lights.  I then used leftover ribbons and pieces of lace to make flowers.  I ruffled them together at the bottom with a piece of cotton, and then used cotton thread to fasten them around the lights.


If I only had a little girl......!

Project 152********snackwich scones with corned beef**********

I published the snackwich scones before, but I made it with corned beef yesterday, and it was so nice, that I decided to share the altered recipe as well!

I used a tin of corned beef, 8 tbsp oil, 2 eggs, 2 cups of flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese.  Mix everything together.  Place small amounts in your snackwich toaster and cook until done.  Makes about 18.

Quick and easy lunch for hungry boys!

Project 151: a beaded aliceband

I used my same stove wire for this one!

I bought a packet with different coloured alice bands as I wanted to add some flowers to them.  I landed up doing other things with them and still did not add a flower to even one!

This one was a little effort, but the end product was quite nice, as it is different.

I used seed beads and my fine wire.  I stringed one bead at a time, then twisting it a few times.  I then twisted it twice around the alice band, repeating the whole process over and over until the whole thing was covered tightly.  I then glued some ric rac braid on the inside, as I thought the wires can pull your hair!  It finished it off neatly.

Project 150: 2013 calenders

We have quite a large family.....4 brothers and sisters and a stepbrother as well, as my mom got married again years after my own father passed away. 

All except my one brother are married and then again except for one all has kids.

On my husbands side there are four kids as well.

So to remember all the birthdays and wedding anniversaries sometimes become a problem.  My brother phoned me two years ago on his birthday 'Sis, happy birthday to me!' 

Last year nobody phoned me on my wedding anniversary, so I decided to make calenders for the whole family adding all the important dates, things like matric exams, etc. and public holidays.  I added the seasonal sports as well, so that we all can remember to ask how it is going with the boys sports as well.  Yes, we have a lot of boys in this family, and only my stepbrother has girls!

I love doodling, so I doodled at night when it was quiet at work and made all the months differently.

I then made photo copies and went to the local stationary shop to ring bind them with see through covers.


My husband thought it was a stupid idea, but after seeing the end result, he requested some for the church as well!  Luckily I saved the original, and will take all the families names out and enter the church members birthdays!

Project 149: crochet a wire bracelet

I used a very fine silver wire to do this.  Don't laugh!  I went to the electric department in the hardware shop and looked for a wire with these fine silver wires inside!  I found a stove wire, removed the rubber covering and had a nice bunch of very fine wires!

I cut them in about 60 cm pieces to make it easier to work with.  I strung some beads onto it and started crocheting with a normal crochet hook, spreading the beads evenly.  It depends on yourself how wide you want it.  Simply start with chain stitches to the desired width.  Continue with chain stitches  when you turn, just do slip stitches here and there.  When you come to the end of a piece of wire work the ends into the finished part and start with a new piece of wire.  Fasten your findings at the end by stringing the wires through the crochet piece.  Quite pretty!

project 148: frozen cheesecake

Now was I impressed with this!  I never attempted anything like this before, and could not believe the end product!  Looked very professional!

125 ml pineapple juice
10 ml gelatin powder
1 container of cream cheese
1 tin of caramel treat
10 ml vanilla
250 ml fresh cream
roasted coconut shavings-for the top
fruit to serve it with

Crust:
 1 packet tennis biscuits crushed
60 ml roasted coconut
80 ml melted butter

Prepare the crust by mixing all the crust ingredients together.  Press it into a round cake pan that you have lined with baking paper.

Pour half of the juice in a bowel.  Add the gelatin and soak for a few minutes.  Heat it through in the microwave until dissolved and add rest of juice.

Beat the cheese and the caramel together, then add the juice slowly.

Mix the vanilla with the cream and beat it until stiff forming soft peaks.  Add together with the caramel mixture and fold it in lightly.

Pour onto the crust and seal the pan with glad wrap.  Place in the freezer and freeze it until hard.

The original recipe from the Ideas magazine said you should use a clamp pan, but I do not have one.  I used a normal round pan, and just removed the cake about 15 minutes before I needed it.  I used baking paper on the sides as well.  I placed a plate on top, and the cake came out easily.  I then simply placed another plate on the crust and turned the whole thing around again.  Worked well!

Finish it off by spreading the coconut shavings on top.  Dish up with fresh fruit.

Project 147: sangria

What do you do with a red wine you do not like?  Make sangria!  And even the ones criticising the wine drink it!

I still had some plums!  So I removed the pips and soaked the plums in strawberry liqueur overnight.  You can use anything you like though to soak your fruit, and you can use any other fruit as well.  I just happen to have plums and strawberry liqueur!

About half an hour before you need it, mix 1 litre of red wine, 2 litres of lemonade/sprite/ginger ale and your soaked fruit(with the liqueur) together and pour in jugs.  Serve with lots of ice.

Even my mom drinks this and she hates red wine! I did not know if she was aware of the alcoholic fact of the sangria until she offered some to my under age teenagers!  I had to stop her!

Project 146: plums in red wine

Having such a lot of plums.......had to test this!

2 pieces cinnamon sticks
1 litre dry red wine

400g caramel sugar
6 whole cloves
2 star aniseed
1.6kg plums

Add together the cinnamon, wine, sugar, cloves and aniseed.  Heat slowly and stir for sugar to dissolve and then simmer for 5 minutes.

Prick your plums with a toothpick and add to the syrup.  Heat through slowly.

Place your plums in a layer in a bowel/dish and pour the wine over.  close with glad wrap and allow to stand for 12 hours. 

After 12 hours, heat through again and place back in your bowel again. seal it again after pouring the liquid over again.

After 12 hours, repeat the whole process again and then bottle it when still hot pouring the wine syrup over and seal immediately.  Allow to stand for 4 weeks before eating.  Can't wait to open it as it smells divine!

Project 145.....plum jam

Still plum recipes!

This was a great success and I'll surely make it again if I am blessed with plums again.  My kids like it, as well as my friends son.  And if the boys eat it, it is worthwhile doing it again.

Remove the pips and half your plums.  Weigh the amount of plums.  For every 1kg add 250 ml of water and bring to the boil until very soft at a low temperature.  You can even do this overnight in your slow cooker.  When very soft add 1kg of white sugar for every kg.  Bring to boil on medium heat until thick.  Stir with times.  Start testing it for softball stadium after 8 minutes. Remove the foam if necessary.  Bottle warm and seal immediately.

Project144: plum jelly

Years ago they had an advert on TV with woman fron the 1800's cooking in the kitchen.  Somebody asked 'what did they do for work?'.......'They cooked!'......'And what did they do for fun?'......'They baked!'......

At work they laugh at me because I bake, cook jams and do pickles when I can not sleep at night!  I hate lying in bed tossing and turning!  It feels like a waste of time!  I'll usually pray for a while(I believe that things coming to your mind to pray for at 2-3 in the mornings really need your prayer!  Not stated in the Bible anywhere, just one of my habits!....and I do not think such a bad one!)......If I am still lying awake after an hour, I just get up and go straight to the centre of our household.....the kitchen.....and I find myself something to do!

I've been lying awake since two this morning, so I decided to come and do my favourite baby marrow and patty pan pickles, as I harvested quite a lot during my night duty week.  Too much for the family to eat it fresh and I don't believe in freezing them as they become soggy after defrosting.

I started by filling the washing machine and turned the dishwasher on after adding the boys last coffee mugs of the night.  I then made myself a nice cup of coffee and decided to drink it first in front of the computer before starting with the pickles.....started blogging!  Is this addictive?  I wonder.....

I'm quickly going to share what I did my last off week during a sleepless night!

One of my friends are blessed with this enormous plum tree in her back yard.  Year after year she waste all the fruit as it is too much for her alone and she is not the domestic type!  She is a paramedic and lives for her job!  She is an excellent one though......

So she decided that I am more domesticated and pitched up at work with almost 10 kg's of plums!....For me to do something with! 

There has been so much, my kids polished half....has diarrhoea of the overdose...I've cooked jam....bottled whole ones in a wine sauce and cooked plum jelly!  All of them a great success!  I'll share the other two as well!  But not now as I want to do my pickles!

Here's the jelly recipe.....

Cut your plums in smaller pieces without removing the skins and the pips.  Measure the amount and use 200ml of water for every 1 litre of plums.  Cook it over medium heat until soft. 

I do not have a jelly bags, so I used a muslin cloth in a sieve to drain it.  Discard whatever stays behind in your sieve.  Now measure your filtrate.

For every litre of filtrate use 200g of white sugar.  Heat slowly and stir it in the beginning until sugar is dissolved.

Cook it without stirring it until soft ball stadium(when you put a small amount on a cold saucer and it forms a firm ball without running).  Scoop off the foam from the top when necessary.

Bottle when hot in sterilised jars and allow to cool down before sealing it.

Now let me be off to do my pickles.........

Project 143-marshmallow salad

Yea, it's correct!  Marshmallow salad!

My friend always make this for church functions.....any function.....her salad gets finished first......and is always ordered for the next function again!  We love our 'braais'(other parts in the world has BB Q's) and this one goes well with the meat.  I never told my family that I can actually make this as I thought it will be demanded more often.  After all, if they eat it too often what will Carien make for church do's?

But I made it the other day.....and have no excuse anymore!  The only excuse I have is that the tiny marshmallows are not always readily available!  Wonder for how long I will get away with it!  It's not that I don't want to make it though.....they just tend to eat this only and ignore all the other stuff!

Mix together mini marshmallows(I used three small packets for 8 people as a side dish.  I bought it from Clicks), 500ml of grenadilla yogurt and 410g pineapple pieces(tinned).  I used the liquid in another recipe.....

Mix everything together and keep in the fridge until serving.  I just mixed everything 10 minutes before eating it.....soooooo easy! 

Project 142******pineapple pie/bake

I saw this on google and decided to try it.  Delicious! I am definitely going to make it again!

The original recipe had tinned crushed pineapples, but I used a fresh one, as I had it in the house.  It worked well, so you can decide what you want to use.

Peel and crush your pineapple and place it in the bottom of your pie dish.  Butter or spray your dish first to prevent it from sticking.

Mix together 1 cup of grated cheese(Yes, it is correct! Cheese!), 5 tablespoons of flour and 1/2 cup of sugar and spread it over the pineapple.  Then crush a packet  of salt biscuits(I used Tux) and spread it on top.  Then melt 1/2 cup of butter and pour it over.  Bake it for 3/4 of an hour at 180*C.  Serve hot or cold as a side dish with meat.  Great!

project 141:cleaning silverware

I love to pick up bargains at second hand shops.  Over the years I have picked up some really good silver cutlery for next to nothing.  I also have some pieces I have inherited from grandmothers, mothers and friends.  Jee, but I hate cleaning them, and I always taste the detergent afterwards.

I decided to use antique stuff  on my Christmas table and had to clean the cutlery.  I decided to use a method I have heard about a lot, but personally never tried it.  I soaked it in tartaric acid with water for 10 minutes, then uses a thick tartaric acid and water paste on some fine steel wool and scrubbed it lightly.  Within minutes the stuff was shining!  I can not believe I have never done this before!  And there is no after taste!

I suffer from eczema on my hands, and I must admit the tartaric acid is quite hard on your hands.  So if you have a problem with your hands, rather use gloves.

project 140: end of the month asparagus pie.....

Ever stood in front of your grocery cupboard and not knowing what you want to do as it is almost empty?

Well, this is what came up over the weekend as I have not done my shopping yet as I was working the week before and only planned to shop on Monday....

As from a previous post, fresh asparagus can not be beaten.....but for emergencies their pale brothers in a tin are eatable....especially at the end of the month....

How many of you can still remember the end-of-the- month salticrax advert on TV?  It started off with salticrax with salmon and caviar in the beginning of the month....then salticrax with cottage cheese and lettuce in the middle of the month....then you get the marmite salticrax at the end of the month...?  This is almost like that.....

Spread out a roll of puff pastry on a baking tray......add some sorted onions and a tin of asparagus pieces....in the beginning of the month you can add ham or bacon and fresh asparagus if in season.....save the liquid and mix in a few eggs and a teaspoon of baking powder, salt and pepper and some grated cheese if you want to....sprinkle some crushed potato crisps on top of it.....I  save all the leftovers during the month in a plastic bin, and crush it in the food processor when I need some for a topping.  I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top of it, as my other cheese were finished, but a good layer of grated cheese on top is simply the best!  Bake at 180*C until golden brown......my hubby even eats it for breakfast the next morning if there are leftovers.....

Project 139______beaded earrings________

I made these to match my pink necklace, but have never worn them together as the earring make their own statement....together with the necklace it is just too much!

I used crafters wire and started by stringing one or two beads at a time and then making a small twist that the beads are almost on a wire stem.  As usual, I worked without a plan, and just formed the earring until I was satisfied.  There after I attached it to an earring finding.

It is quite difficult to get both exactly the same, but to make it easier remember the sequence you worked with, and give for example only five twists at a time, then you will get them more or less the same.

I don't buy earrings anymore and just make a pair in a colour I need.  Except for these pink ones, I have a green, a red and a grey pair as well that were all custom made for a specific need......and it is satisfying when you walk in a shop and someone comments 'nice earrings'.  I love to say 'my own handwork'!