Cubes & costumes

Going green?

In case you didn't know, it's book week in schools and public libraries, all over Australia. It's an opportunity to celebrate all things, books! At Peter's school it was dress-up day, today. Where you could choose to be a favourite character from a book, or just what inspires you.

Simply July

 A bouquet

July comes after the hump of mid year. That means the shortest days of winter are behind us in Australia. So there's much to look forward to, in the coming Spring. July is when I usually receive flowers from my husband, because it's my birthday. Forty-five, this year. The mid year, of my mid life. It sounds so formal, when put like that. For me, it's really an opportunity to reflect on the fact, I've HAD this long.

See, I almost drowned when I was younger - somewhere between seven and nine.

Off, with a bang!

The May, birthday parties for our children, have come and gone. But not without their respective dramas. David had his car damaged, while parking at Grand Central in Toowoomba - a major shopping complex. It was a hit and run, that had the paint scraped on his car door, and the mirror dangling.

It happened the day before Peter's birthday too. David was collecting last minute party supplies. It's going to be an expensive birthday, after paying the $600 excess on our car insurance. But it wasn't going to ruin our day, because cars are just things. Money comes and goes. Parties however, are about making lasting memories. Those were the important things, to invest our thoughts and feelings into.

So what of the amigurumi present, I was fervently crocheting, for his big day...

Hurry up Luigi, get dressed!

Thanks to this clever crochet pattern, I made Mario, in about a week. I had a bunch of other stuff to do, in between. So Mario patiently awaited the arrival of his brother Luigi. Thankfully, it only took about 3 days to make him. Because who can resit the Mario brothers, right?

Two men & an egg!

Not long after Luigi was finished, I had my sights set on making a Yoshi egg. Apologies to those unfamiliar, with the Mario Brothers franchise. This will all sound like gobbledygook! But strangely enough, Yoshi is a dinosaur (a happy go lucky guy) who has this ability to devour his friends and enemies, and turn them into eggs.

Normally, it's Mario's job to avoid Yoshi in the various platform games, but in this case, they make excellent babysitters! So why would Yoshi want to eat them?

The Mario gang

Luckily, the Mario Brothers, were almost the same size as Yoshi - who was an official Merchandise plushie, Peter got from his uncle, several birthday's ago. How were the amigurumi plushies, received? Well, Peter takes them to bed every night, they get up every morning and eat breakfast with him. He calls them his best friends, and even talks with them.

I was hoping he'd like them, but I was amazed how MUCH he does! Which makes the amount of time I put into them, extremely worthwhile. We seriously could have saved us some money, avoiding the other toys we purchased. They have barely had a look in.

I had a lot of fun, making the Mario brothers, too. I could easily become addicted to making amigurumi. But more than that, it was really nice to be able to give my son, something I made with my hands.

Firsts

It has been a month since my last post, but it was to be expected. As I had immersed myself in a paid, online art course, for a whole month. It finally concluded. Simultaneously however, there was another big change we had to adjust to, as a family.

A big day for Peter, arrived. Somewhat like...

 His first day, coming home to the bush...

His first day, as a super hero...

To finally, his first day of school!

Yes, he started school this year! Oh my. Big changes. I wasn't going to embarrass him today though (or his big sister) by dragging out the camera, to immortalise his first day on the school bus. I'm a little nervous for him, because the bus and getting to school, is a huge responsibility. It's no small feat.

Living where we do in the bush, the bus has to come early. Everyone out the door, by 7am! His bus arrives at school, an hour and a half, before school starts. There's a time, they must sit in a supervised area, and a time they go and play. 

I'm a little nervous, because he has to remember to put his bag, outside his classroom, before he goes and plays. The rest of his day - from getting his lunch to finding his library bag to return his book, hinges on him putting it in the right place. I've been showing him for the past month where it is, and he still gets a little confused. Today, is the deep end of the pool though.

Yikes, it's hard, letting these little ones, go. Growing up is automatic! Ensuring they can find their way, is what pulls at the heartstrings. I look forward to hearing about his day, when dad brings him home, this afternoon!

In the meantime, there's plenty to keep me busy - outside and inside. I look forward to blogging a little more regularly, again.

You know the day!

If you're Australian, you know today is Australia Day. While some may enjoy the beach, have a barbecue, or indulge a few drinks - nothing feels more patriotic, than baking!

I'm not talking about your Lamingtons, Pavalovas, or even your favourite shrimp on the barbecue, garlic sauce recipe. I don't even want to see your grandma's favourite pumpkin scones! While ALL equally delicious, they're just not as patriotic as Bonza Biscuits.

If you don't have an Australia shaped, cookie cutter, yet, please accept my commiserations. Because you simply cannot bake these Bonza Biscuits, without them. It just wouldn't be patriotic. But feel free to bake them however you want, on any day, but this!

I've adapted a favourite recipe that seems to be kicking around the homemakers forums, a lot: Condensed Milk Biscuits. Only I've spiced them up, to taste more like Honey Jumbles!

Every Bonza Biscuit, must come with The Great Australian Bight...Bite! So you have to eat from the bottom of the biscuit, up. It's mandatory. Keep your teeth AWAY from the Top End. Okay. We're not invading the country, we're eating it! 

So maybe it's a little weird, consuming your own continent and all, on this great day of celebration. But dammit, Australia Day, is all about weird! It's in the constitution. Somewhere underneath the hopping rodent, and flightless bird.

Let me translate for my readers, abroad. The two animals on our National Coat of Arms, are a Kangaroo and Emu. They kind of like to stand around, guarding the six State badges, to keep them in line. Kangaroos are natural boxers, and Emus inherited their talons from velocoraptors. You seriously, don't want to mess with them. Seriously! I'm not pulling your leg.

Back to the Bonza Biscuits...

500g butter
1 can condensed milk (390-400g)
1 cup white sugar
4 1/4 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup custard powder
2 tabs Horlicks or Vanilla Sustagen (powdered milk, otherwise)
1 tab ground ginger
1 tab ground cinnamon
finely grated zest of 2 small-med, oranges.

1. Cream, first 3 ingredients together
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, until dough is formed
3. Cut dough in half, wrap one and put in the freezer, for another day
4. With remaining dough, roll to 6mm thickness, and cut out shapes
5. Space on 3 trays, and bake 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius
6. Rotate and alternate trays, half way. Cool on wire racks


Icing:

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 egg white
squeeze lemon juice
4 drops blue, food colouring

1. Place ingredients in bowl. Stir until slightly runny, and smooth
2. Add more liquid if too stiff
3. Dip biscuits in icing, or apply with a knife - depends how soft they are
4. Make a separate batch of white icing - reduce to 1 cup icing sugar
5. Place in piping bag: pipe around edges, Union jack and Southern Cross

It makes a lot of biscuits! If you're going to be having a lot of guests, you just might want to bake up the whole batch of dough. Otherwise, take it out of the freezer, for another days baking - and thaw before use.

So how are you celebrating Australia Day, that makes you feel patriotic? Or how do you celebrate your own national day? What I like about being Australian, is how we all talk funny. Even between our own States.

Queensland: "drink fountain". New South Wales: "bubbler". Now you know why the Kangaroo and Emu, are employed.


Disclaimer: Kangaroos are marsupials, not rodents. But the emu is still flightless. If they weren't, they'd sure give those drop-bears a run for their money!

Festive times

Unequivocally, it's beginning to look a lot like...well...you know ~

It's up!

The Christmas tree finds it's way into the living room, in early December. The decorations come out, and we all seem to get a little more giddy. Not entirely because presents are anticipated, but because it's a family tradition.

We're another year older, but this time of the year, never seems to age. Whoever makes up your family, whether you celebrate, big or small, it's simply a reminder to take the time to DO things together.

Even if it's just to send a package off in the mail, or call someone to remind them, you're thinking about what they're up to. Technology can allow us those special luxuries. Whatever you do, however you do it - be sure to do it, together.

Don't cry, I know it's Christmas

Normally, Christmas decorations are the jurisdiction of my family. They always were the ones to jump in, get it done and have fun while doing it. But for some reason, this year, I found myself indulging in Christmas decorating too.

The families are coming to visit this year, and it felt downright hospitable, to get involved in the decorating. So I did. And for the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Find meaning in anything you do

In our preparations for family, we somehow turned the house, inside out too - removing things, we're not really sure WHY we stored in the first place. The living areas have looked like a cyclone hit, for the past month or so. Still, it was good to clean out the cobwebs, and appreciate what was truly valuable to us.

In that collection of "things", we found our colourful metal owl, someone had discarded many moons ago. Which may have to do with the fact, it's head had been detached from it's body. We always meant to get around to fixing it, but poor headless owl, languished in the cupboard, as all our unfinished projects, tend to do!

A bit of super epoxy glue later, and owl is ready to see Christmas for the first time.

A new (to us) star

We purchased a couple of new Christmas decorations this year, and David found a woven star, from the local thrift store. Plus, he got it for half price! It's one of my favourites now. I wanted something less glittery, and more organic. It keeps repaired owl, company, on top of the fridge.

This year, David and I, have come to appreciate, not only how we want to spend Christmas; but also, how we wish to spend the rest of our days. The owl and star, have come to represent those aspirations - or how to acquire what needs re-purposing, and become involved in adding value them. Not for the intentions of hoarding, but to replace some of the frantic shopping, that seems to accompany this time of year. ANY time of year, really, if you find a reason to.

We wanted this Christmas to be a humble affair, but nonetheless, found ourselves, spending countless hours at a shopping centre (Mall) and buying coffees, plus hideous cakes (preservatives anyone) to escape the crowds. It was in stark contrasts, to the lucky find in the thrift store, and simply adding glue to something we already had.

 A decoration, given by a family member

After the shopping centre fiasco, we couldn't wait to get back home, to the house we took the time to decorate together. It was so peaceful, and undemanding, in comparison. Plus, the coffee didn't taste burnt! David has a "Super dad" mug, tucked away in the cupboard, and I pull out my lone Willow teacup (minus the set). Both were thrift store finds, as well. They serve us hot beverages, with more pizazz than any franchise ground, coffee bean.

No offense to anyone who actually likes franchise coffee - sometimes it can taste sensational! But ask me what I prefer, and I look forward to my lone Willow cup, waiting for me in the cupboard or dish rack. Because I actually get to participate in making the coffee, and the memorable stories behind what I drink it in.

Home. Christmas. Family. Community. Just participate and make it more of what you enjoy. We'll be entertaining this idea, more deeply over the holidays. Anyway...

...to all

Is there a Christmas/Holiday tradition you look forward to, or would like to change? I have a few up my sleeve, which I look forward to implementing.

Happy Kumquat

This was a post I originally meant to submit on Saturday (my birthday) but I had a few things happening on the weekend, to do with - you guessed it - my birthday. It's a few days late, but nonetheless meaningful to me. Because it's a story about the...

Evolution of a Kumquat tree.

As tiny as it was, back in 2008, I first wrote about this dwarf fruit tree, in a post titled, Dreams awaken where I wrote...

"This was my favourite find, a Marumi Kumquat! I've always wanted to try a Kumquat and as it happened, the nursery had one in a display pot, in fruit! The lady welcomed me to try one. The flavour was incredible. Just as your face screws up from the bitterness, a delayed sweetness suddenly hits your pallet. I can imagine a marmalade or two from this wonderous bush!"

And what a beautiful marmalade, it did make! I was going to write about it, the second time I made it. Unfortunately, we tend to snack from the tree, before we can collect enough fruit, to make another batch. But it is like no other marmalade I've ever tasted. A small, fiddly fruit to work with, but ever so worth the effort, once you taste it!

2008

Our Kumquat tree was planted in the ground, on the same day as my 34th birthday. So it's a birthday present, of sorts. But one that keeps giving, every year. Whoever said, money doesn't grow on trees, obviously weren't giving them their due diligence. I wrote in my original post...

"These weren't just a business transaction - they were an investment in our future. We didn't feel the least bit guilty coming home with 6 kinds of citrus trees." 

And haven't they all been so productive? None died, so we didn't lose money on our original investment - but now we're having more reliable, decent sized crops to consume. So they're saving money on our grocery bill, and helping to feed the native animals too. The ones who don't mind munching on citrus, that is.

Settling in - Kumquat, front

Some four months after being put in the ground, we built a chicken coop, put down some other plants, and added hard-scaping. The paving was a great idea, but I wasn't quite sure if I'd end up regretting those rocks. My fears were confirmed, when the weeds still came up - but they're a lot easier to pull. And I really like the rocks being a permanent mulch.

The rocks ensure the ground is always kept cool underneath, even when they heat on the surface. Which can cause condensation overnight, when the temperatures cool again. This is important for citrus trees, as they have a mat of fibrous roots, close to the surface, which need to be prevented from drying out. Rock mulch worked, while it was such such a wee tree.

Of course, it's done some growing, in the 9 years which followed...

2017 - the Kumquat is now taller than me

{click to enlarge}

It's now mulched with coffee grounds, prunings and sticks, on top of the original rocks. I'm glad we had the vision, all those years ago, to spend birthday money on fruit bearing trees. It's my birthday today (mmm...try last Saturday), and not quite a decade since I first planted that tree. It's such a privilege to be able to live in the same place, for so long, to watch it's evolution.

It's had it's sacrifices along the way, but that's the deal in life. You have to give up some things, so you can concentrate on others. Because we cannot do it all. By focusing on getting a few things right, though, we can build on the rest as we go. I like to build with trees in my garden, because they age with me. We evolve together. But one day, they will out live me.

Seedling Moringa tree

So I'm planting more tree seeds and fruit-bearing, shrub seeds (which I purchased, recently) in my nursery. Just to continue more of that evolution together. In another decade, I hope to be able to show, more of those trees' stories. Like what we learned together about the environment, aging and bearing fruit.

Come to think of it, I have memories of photographs, of my younger grandparents, standing next to fruit trees. They were probably around my age too. One picture was taken next to a papaya (paw-paw) tree, and another photo later on, taken next to a grapefruit. My grandparents have now passed on, but I know the grapefruit is still bearing - and the paw-paw, probably had a bazillion babies, by now.

Do you remember any photographs in your family history, taken next to fruit trees?

Celebrations

I sure have some catching up to do with you all, now our kids' birthday's are done for the year. They were both born in May, 10 years apart. For the first time, we combined their birthday's, just for this year. As we didn't know when David was likely to get another weekend off work.

We were madly preparing in the meantime, to receive some friends and relatives, in a house that we'd just finished doing some major work to - like painting the wrap around verandah.

The verandah - front door

It turned out pretty neat in the end, which I'll detail more about in another post. But we were really stoked to have a properly sealed surface to received guests.

The day before, I gave a few troubled spots a quick mop (all due to toad poo!) and because of the lovely new paint job, it was no trouble at all. So quick to clean! Made all those weeks of preparation and painting, worthwhile.

I received a lot of positive comments, and learned from a relative, how we saved ourselves thousands by doing it ourselves. We paid $1600 in materials, but prices would have started from $4000, for a contractor.

On the big day

But about that party...before breakfast, both our kids tried to go undercover, so we wouldn't notice them. Unfortunately, I found Owl Gal and Spidey Boy, out of their natural habitat - a tree (although Spidey was looking to relocate near the dubious waterspout) so their cover was blown. They put those spidey senses and owl eyes, to good use, and helped dad, put up decorations.

Sarah's friends were great - adopting her younger brother to involve in their games, like chasing girls with water guns! But that's not all. When they weren't running in the bush, there were piñatas to swat!

Spidey versus Spidey

They both had one each, and after they were broken open - friends and adults got into the act, and started tossing what was left of the piñatas around. Trees were climbed, slopes traversed, water-guns hotly fought over, and even over-sized frizbees were thrown.

Just one of the benefits, living on five acres. Where you can run amok without bothering the neighbours. It was a great day, we were told many times. Which is really a testimony of the people who attended. Because we only provided the place and food - they provided the company and entertainment.

And what of that quilt, I had been working on, for months in advance for my daughter...?

On the bed

Well, it was close. I missed her birthday, deadline, but I had a few more days until the weekend, when we had the party. I had a cotton thread, hold-up, thanks to the shipping company's dodgey, label. I couldn't sew without "cotton" thread. I lost an entire day's sewing, thanks to them. But I didn't lose hope. Having located new cotton coated, synthetic thread at a local shop, I kept plugging away, until I got most of it done.

Free-motion quilting

Sarah loved the quilting, so much, she's asked me to show her how it's done. So I've marked that in for next weekend.

She was thrilled, I made one of her favourite characters, instead of the special emblem, the game is well known for. In my research of quilting, I've found it's the uniqueness of a quilt, which makes it so appealing. So I couldn't put just anything on it. It had to be something special. The quilt brought us closer together, and I think, inspired my daughter to try things, just because you can. Because it means something to you.

All in all, it was a great day, filled with lots of fun, and cherished memories. The youngest at the party was 4, and the eldest 97! Now the slow rhythms of our bush existence, will preside again. I'm really looking forward to that - our very ordinary lives, sometimes doing extraordinary things.

The Christmas post

So Christmas came and went. What a blur. It was an infusion of desperation, to get everything ready for visitors, plus, a mixture of old traditions which made it feel like Christmas. I will get to those traditions later, but we started Christmas a few days early, by opening a present Peter was given last year from his uncle.

 Having fun with a chalk board

He was a little too small then, to be put in charge of chalk, but at two 'n a-half now, he's only broken them a couple of times. Which just makes the chalk easier for small hands to hold. He loved drawing and erasing his work. A step was required to help him reach the top of his board. There was drawing paper on the other side, but he was more fascinated with the chalk board.

We were planning a barbeque for Christmas lunch, so on Christmas eve, we got the old barbeque out, to see how she went.

 Mud adobe village

When we popped the top however, we found mud wasp central! I wondered why I hadn't seen them building on the house bricks, like usual. Thankfully, after some cleaner, elbow grease and determination, the barbeque was ready to cook on Christmas day. Thank you David. Though it was a family affair to clean up the mud wasp nests, from the verandah.

But now its time for my favourite part - those old traditions, which always tells me its Christmas.

Gingerbread

Like baking gingerbread men! Only this year, they had a twist. Not only did I give them blue overalls, but they were also gluten free. They didn't taste like gluten free either. The trick was the moist dough, which needed chilling to work with. Otherwise the dough would stick to everything.

Lots of gingerbread

There were enough gingerbread men to last after Boxing day. Peter was funny when we first gave him one though, as he didn't want to eat it. He wanted to play with it instead, and got stressed when he saw any of us eating one. He got over it by the next day though, and happily ate them like any other biscuit.

I was also up early Christmas morning, to make a special treat, thanks to this recipe.

Fresh bread

We used our own cherry tomatoes and basil, to make this delicious loaf taste even better! I was grateful for all those volunteer tomatoes which I was able to raid the evening before.

Ready to go in the oven

I did something different to my loaf, than the recipe called for, as I like the pull-apart ability of, well, a pull-apart loaf. In my baking days, we would call these peasant loaves. If you want to know the technique of how to make one, I demonstrated in this tutorial. Though you probably want to lay your slices against one another, like the above picture - which was taken after an hour of proving (or, "rising", for the baking novice).

Recipe made two loaves

They came out beautifully too. Though I would deviate from the baking times the recipe called for as well. It recommended 40-45 minutes. Mine were starting to be overdone by 30 minutes - which is when I pulled them out. They did taste really delicious, I'm told. I couldn't eat any, given they're full of gluten.

When my in-laws learned I had baked the loaves myself, my mother-in-law exclaimed, she needed to change addresses. ;)

Tomatoes in the kitchen

I was grateful for our volunteer tomatoes again, when I had enough to slice for our barbeque steak burgers. I picked them in the morning and sat them on the stove, which wasn't going to be used that day. I didn't realise until I posted this picture, how they complimented the tea towel and hand towel, David gave me for Christmas.

I really had to push myself to make the treats I did, as we were pressed for time. I'm glad I did though, because it wouldn't have felt like Christmas otherwise. Nothing says, home, quite like a tin full of gingerbread men, tomatoes from the garden and fresh loaves, dripping with cheese.

I hope your Christmas was a time of joy, even if it wasn't a time for peace and quite. Stay safe over the holidays, everyone.

If I could turn back time

So a couple of days ago, it was my birthday. Two decades, plus one! Is it just me, or do the cakes get smaller, the older you get?

Well, that's probably a good thing too!

If I could turn back time, I would stay to myself - be exactly who you are. You're a plodder and a dreamer - you've tried being other things but it never stuck. You'll move a few mountains of dirt, you'll live 26 years with diabetes and have those two children, you never thought you could. Not to mention, the guy who you thought would never find you attractive, will want to hug you every day and fall into bed, right next to you, every night.

The cakes might get smaller, but my appetite for living, will only increase with age.

If you could turn back time, what would you say to yourself, to address any fears you might have had back then?

Officially a tott!

 Back from the markets

Someone turned two this weekend. They went to the local markets with dad to buy some yummy fruit, and picked out a handmade wooden train, made from a local craftsman.

9" cake (made gluten free)

The night before, I was busy making New York Baked Cheesecake, adding the black cherry topping this morning. Which made this little Mister, quite a happy chappy!

Someone likes cake

Given that his sister's birthday was a few weeks earlier, he seemed to know what blowing out the candle was, without needing any prompting from us. Even before we got the candles on, he was practicing his blowing at the cake. But it was more fun when everyone joined in!

Make a wish

Then it was time to taste the cake. We think our little Mister liked it. Frankly, so did we! Second helpings anyone?

Mmmm...

Still, there was plenty of leftovers for tomorrow, and probably the next day, and the day after that!

Never mind the mess!

It was a quiet day, with no special activities except the local markets, but we have been a busy family lately.  We still had a delicious cake though, blew out candles and even got a round of block playing (and demolishing) in with Dad.

My birthday is the last in the family, but thankfully still a few months away! No more cake!


UPDATE: I have a link to the cheesecake recipe. I tweaked it a little, by adding an extra 1/4 cup of crushed biscuits to the base, as well as another tablespoon of butter. For the cherry topping, I added an extra tablespoon of sugar, as well as 2 teaspoons of arrowroot flour to the cherry syrup, and simmered for a minute, before removing from the heat and gently stirring the cherries back in. That's because I couldn't find "cherry pie" filling, only black cherries in syrup.

When it baked, it rose over the tin but didn't spill over. Once it cooled a little out of the oven I was able to gently push the "muffin top" back into the tin. If I made this again, I would put a strip of oiled baking paper, around the edge of the springform pan, to hold it all in.

Almost a teen

A certain young lass, celebrated her 12th birthday, yesterday! She got to select her own cake from the Cheesecake shop (Cookies & Cream torte...shhh) and it was delissimo! She received a Manga comic book and Bobble-head figure, from one of her favourite Anime series (at least I think its Anime) from us.

At one point, both our kids were sitting on the couch reading their favourite books, and we had to pinch ourselves. Two readers! Ten years apart and still able to share something special.

The whole day was incredibly special, in fact. We immersed ourselves in family time (a rarity) even grabbing an afternoon stroll between lunch and cake!

Our little man's birthday, is just a few weeks away now. Our two treasures, both born in May.

Culinary traditions

What could I do on my 40th birthday, to challenge my comfort zone and yet still preserve some of that tradition, which is in keeping with my character? Make Choko Chutney of course! I know- I should be inviting everyone around for a huge party, to receive the obligatory jokes about growing old, being over the hill and how my physique will go down the hill with me. But (believe it or not) that's not how I like to celebrate...*wink*

I had some chokos that were starting to sprout and it seemed such a waste not to use any. Plus Choko Chutney reminded me of my teenage years, when mum would make a special batch after harvesting the vine. I would eat Chutney on toast, meat sandwiches and even in the curries mum would make for dinner. If I was going to relive any part of my youth at 40, I wanted it to be through the divine experience and satisfaction of food.

So it was I followed an old recipe, threw in a few flavouring modifications of my own, and ended up with 4.5 litres (4.7 quarts) of Chutney - nicely canned and labeled in the pantry. It was a little frustrating to make, as I didn't have proper canning equipment, but it was also deeply satisfying after it was done. Especially when it came to the tasting! On my gluten free toast now, it still reminds me of my teenage years - memories of hot toast in the cold mornings, before walking to school.

With years of experience behind me as a baker though, I decided to use the Chutney in making a peasant loaf. So new memories to make for a new era. This loaf was not a gluten free recipe, I was a little naughty by tasting it - but it was a real hit at morning tea, I hear, at one of David's Doctor Who Club meetings.

It uses a standard bread recipe (I used sourdough) for one large loaf, but the dough is cut in half, to make two peasant loaves. I'll let the pictures do the explaining though...

Roll halved dough into a 30cm long rectangle, smear chutney & sprinkle cheese

Roll into a sausage lengthwise, then place on greased tray ~ seam down

Use sharp scissors to cut into dough on an angle ~ avoid cutting bottom seam

Push slices to alternative sides then prove 30-60 minutes depending on temperature

~ Do the same for second loaf ~

Sprinkle with cheese before baking in preheated oven

I would have liked mine to prove longer, but was on a deadline

bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees C

Freshly baked and placed in a basket, on top of a clean towel 
and 2 layers of butchers paper ~ wrap paper over to keep warm

This basket was a birthday present from my family, I made the gingham cloth

It made transporting the freshly baked peasant loaves to the meeting, easy

If you're interested in the Chutney recipe, you can find the one I used here: and my modifications are:

1/3 cup salt (reduced from 1 cup)
1 tab mustard seed
2 tabs mixed spice (or all spice)
6 tabs cornflour

I also opted to use the sultanas, as it does add some more sweetness. I cut the salt back to a half-cup, and covered the veg with water instead, to soak overnight. You will need at least a 6 litre pot for cooking. I didn't have one, so used my slow cooker instead. Took me a little longer to boil, but it was all I could find to fit it all.

If you want chunky style, chop your chokos small, as they won't disintegrate after cooking. Choko is special like that, as it will continue to hold its form. The recipe linked to, suggests using a potato masher if you want a smoother chutney, but I used my metal stick blender instead. Made short work of the chokos. I would recommend a smooth chutney, as its easier to spread on bread. I also found the chunks didn't really carry the flavours as well.

If you think it tastes too vinegary, then wait a week before eating. I've already opened my second jar though. I love it a lot. So does David. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to get my daughter to try it. Alas. Peter also squished up his nose too, so I only give him the slightest smear when he shares my morning toast. He loved it in the curry I made the other night though!

The Choko Chutney experience, was really about me getting to relive part of my youth. That time in my life when I didn't know I was going to become a mum of two and find my sweetheart. Back then, it was about finishing school and not freezing my kneecaps off, on the way to it. The Choko vine my mum used to harvest every year, would shade my quail run, where I was successfully raising several batches of young - or the parents were. Now my personal Choko vine shades the chicken coop.

Some things just don't change, no matter how old you get...