Jam!

My parents have a mandarin tree which always bears the sweetest mandarins I have ever tasted. Usually providing way more fruit then even our family of 6 plus all of our respective friends and loved ones can handle so a few days ago I made some mandarin jam and in the first day my family managed to eat a whole jar of it, it was so easy to make and so delicious that I decided to make another batch today.

You will need:

8 medium to large mandarins

3 1/2 cups water

the juice of one lemon

1k sugar

peel the mandarins and leave to soak for a few hours in the water and lemon juice. after soaking, bring the mandarins to the boil and then allow to simmer until they are tender. While simmering, soak your jars in very hot water, this aids in sealing the jars after jam is poured in. Add the sugar and stir through until it is dissolved. bring to a rapid boil in order for the sugar to reduce and thicken, you will have to keep a strict eye on it once the sugar is in as it can burn very quickly (I had to throw away my first batch even after my auntie told me 4 times to be very careful) stir often and turn the heat down if bubbling too much. Test the mixture in a shallow dish of cool water, when it is jellylike and stays together in the dish, remove it from heat. pour into the jars and put the lid on immediately.

Key Lime Pie

James gave me some limes a few weeks ago and all they have been doing is sitting in the fridge. As I had such great success with my lemon meringue pie over easter (still waiting for my brother to give me the pics so I haven't been able to post the recipe yet) I decided to make another citrus pie... and of course what pie should I make with limes but the famous American Key Lime Pie....

You will need:

1 packet shredded wheat biscuits

100g butter

1 tin condensed milk

2/3 cup of cream

4 good size limes (the juice and the zest are both used)

4 medium eggs

oven preheated to 170 degrees celsius

a greased pie dish

I started by crushing the biscuits up finely and adding the butter (melted) to the mix and pressed it all into the base and sides of the pie dish. It's ideal to push the mixture in quite firmly so it sticks. Put this in the fridge to chill

Lightly beat the eggs and then whisk the cream into them, add the condensed milk and lime juice and zest and mix through

traditionally green food colouring is a no no. but hey... it just looks so pretty (I only added 3 drops, any more and you have a pie that looks like it's made from playdough)

Pour the mixture into the pie dish and bake for about 15 mins.

Allow to cool and then pop in the fridge for a couple of hours.

soup and seafood

So the other day James and I went to Sunnybank for lunch.. we went to our favourite Japanese restaurant there and our food was amazing as always. I had Tempura prawn and veggie udon and James had a Miso based egg noodle soup. We had sweet potato's which had been crystalised in honey and a pot of Japanese green tea... heaven