Lemon Meringue Pie

   Lemon meringue pie can be a little tricky to make but it tastes delicious and looks very impressive. I have included my recipe for the pie below:

for the pastry you will need...

250g plain flour
180g cold butter (cut into cubes)
50g custard powder
1 egg
splash of milk
pinch of salt

sift the flour and custard powder into a large mixing bowl. add butter and massage into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it becomes breadcrumb like in consistency. make a well in the centre and add egg and milk slowly, stirring with a butter knife. knead until pastry is a smooth ball and wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

for the lemon curd you will need:

5 level table spoons cornflour
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
230ml water
60g butter (cut into cubes)
3 large egg yolks + 1 whole egg

in a saucepan combine the cornflour, lemon juice and water and stir till smooth. place the saucepan on the heat and bring to the boil while stirring. reduce heat and keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick and jelly like, remove from the heat and stir in the egg yolks, whole eggs and butter. refrigerate this mixture until cold. (usually the mixture sets firm but if it does not appear to be firm enough you can either add 1 more whole egg or more butter. wait until the mixture is cool before you make this decision as it will become firmer as it cools)

for the meringue you will need:

3 large egg whites 
3/4 cup sugar

beat eggs in electric mixer until they form soft peaks, gradually add sugar and continue mixing until meringue is firm

to put it all together:

grease a pie flan. roll out pastry on floured surface and line flan with it. place a sheet of baking paper over the pastry and shake some heavy beans or uncooked rice over the covered base. then back your pastry at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. The rice will weight the pastry down so it does not rise while you are baking the base.

allow the pastry shell to cool before adding the curd. finally, heap the meringue on top (sometimes I make extra meringue just to make it look more impressive) then spread evenly over the curd. use the back of a spoon to make peaks in the meringue or any other pattern you wish. return pie to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until meringue beings to brown slightly. chill in fridge until cool...
serve!

see, it's not so hard

Presents

1001 books to read before you die

     So I have always been fascinated with the 1001 books to read before you die list and have read quite a lot of them over the years but it has only been recently that I have made a concerted effort to actually try and conquer it! Now I know that I will never read the entire list and that I will not only read books from this list as there are so many wonderful books out there that need to be read. However I have decided that trying to will be extremely satisfying.

      I worked at a locally run for charity book sale recently and managed to grab a whole box full of them and in the last week I have read through quite a few of them. I am rarely disappointed with them as most of the books are well written and some include a touch of the bizzare.... which brings me to... "Like Water for Chocolate" which, according to one review I read, is supposed to be a book of "magic realism". What is really was is something else entirely.

    The story itself was really absorbing and everything I usually look for in a book, descriptions of characters, foods and daily life wrapped into an intriguing plot....and then something bizarre happens. Reality distorts and things like chickens attacking each other and every one throwing up at a wedding and tears so volatile that it creates a waterfall are incorporated into the story. And this is where I find it hard to reconcile. The reality is so simple and normal and although the story does have as slight  undercurrent of fantasy running through it, the jolt into the fantastic is so severe that I found myself blinking and turning back pages to see what I had missed. Then the story settles back into itself with no obvious repercussions or questions about what just happened and a tendency for the characters to take these bizarre events all in their stride.

I found this book not unlike being buffeted by a wave in what I thought was a still lake...

    Overall I can see the appeal this book has and it certainly played with my head in a way no book ever has quite done before but after reading the thing I had a headache and a curious sensation of unhinged reality for quite some time afterwards...

   

tulips

     Over my holidays I found myself getting a little bit bored but was still too lazy to actually leave the the house. I came across a website with origami instructions and decided to make some flowers. I had some old books that a friend of mine had dropped off at my place and I pulled one of these apart to use as paper. The result was gorgeous. I twisted up some wire from old coat hangers and stuck it in a cute bottle I found and attached my tulips. I was quite pleased with the finished product. The instructions for the tulip are here http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-traditional-tulip.html I also did some made out of some maps that James didn't want any more and they turned out rather cute.

Op-shop goodies

I enjoy spending my time in dusty old shops rummaging through trinkets and knick knacks. One of my greatest pleasures in life is finding a gorgeous little something for next to nothing. From vintage furniture and crockery to home made clothing and linens I have picked up some great treasures for next to nothing. Here is just a sample of some of the things I love

I love the pineapple motif and wooden handles on this bag.

My brother’s Fiance bought these from an op-shop in the Gold Coast and wrapped them up for me for Christmas. Best present ever.

This is ashtray fish. Ashtray fish lives on a pattered tile in my bathroom with beads in his his mouth.

The Great Mulberry Adventure

I love trees in full fruit. So many different possibilities and enough fruit to do it all!!!! James has a mulberry tree which fruited last spring and off I went with a ladder and a torch (yes I chose to do this particular fruit picking at night because I'm practical) and ended up with a large cardboard box full of succulent berries. Not to mention purple fingertips and lips.

So. I did the only thing I could do.........

I made a pie!

To make the filling I first covered about a kilo of mulberries with 2 cups of sugar and left them sit for a few hours. This draws liquid out of the berries. The whole lot was thrown in a pot and boiled for about 10 minutes.

I used my regular pastry recipe

Pumpkin Scones

A few months back we had an excess of pumpkin, 2 whole pumpkins for 2 people is just crazy talk. Amongst having roast pumpkin, caramelised pumpkin or mashed pumpkin with every meal, a triple batch of pumpkin soup and an assortment of various pumpkin dips, I decided that pumpkin scones were on the menu.

I just used a really simple recipe for these. You will need:

1 cup of mashed pumpkin

2 1/2 cups SR flour

55g butter

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

Set oven to 200 c

Beat butter and sugar together until pale yellow and creamy, add pumpkin, egg and milk and mix well. Add flour slowly, mixing as you go.

Flour a bench and knead the dough before rolling it out. Use a small glass to cut circles out of dough and place on lined baking tray.

Bake for 15 mins