Hello November!

Pinch and a punch for the first of the month!

The first day of November has been painful like every Monday; drag my self out of bed, get to school and start the day with a hearty dose of grammar. Not much school or even the year left now, how time flies when you are having fun!

Speaking of fun, take a walk through my front door, down the hallways and enter my kitchen!

Lets see, since I have last posted the main things I have cooked... first would be Rhubarb Tarts, Mum had stewed some Rhubarb so I thawed out some frozen pastry in a whirl of inspiration and ended up with four mini tarts. I put a bit of brown sugar on top and it caramelized nicely. They were that nice balance between sweet and that bit of sour! 

Tasty Rhubarb Tarts!

Next up was Thai Green Curry, which was this weeks recipe for the "Saturday afternoon cook" when my friend comes over before she heads to church and we cook dinner together. I really enjoy those afternoons and the curry was really nice as well. While the recipe I used says you don't need to cook the chicken first, I did to avoid that slight tang of raw meat in the finished dish. I also dislike fresh coriander, so did not add that in - but those in my family who do like it added it in to thier own and assure me it gave a wonderful flavour. I'll take your word for it guys!

Finally we have Sweet Pumpkin Pie! I am Australian and it sure ain't Thanksgiving but I felt like making a pie and we had a pumpkin that needed using. I used a Kent pumpkin even though the recipe specified butternut but it still tasted good. A nice easy and relaxing dish to make, I will certainly make this one again! The pastry I used was a packet mix (yes - I feel ashamed just admitting it!) but turned out being quite nice, I only used it because I was short on time - when I repeat this recipe I will make it from scratch myself. 

Sweet Pumpkin Pie - I apologize for the blur!

So, that is all from me for now. I will try and post the recipe and pictures of the curry tomorrow.

Until then!

Ims x

Foods of Korea and egg rice

I am lucky enough to be friends with two wonderful Korean girls. They both are incredibly kind and patient as I stumble over the Korean words they are trying to teach me!
Anyway, on Saturday night I was invited to one of the girls' house for dinner. Her mum is really nice and an amazing cook. For dinner we had kimchi (spicy pickled/fermented cabbage), rice and this amazing chicken dish with noodles made from sweet potato. It was absolutely fantastic, I ate so much I thought I would burst! I had never had that type of noodle before, they were really tasty! They are semi-transparent and  really absorb the flavor of the food they are cooked with.
So, a massive thank you to my friend and her family for having me over, not laughing at my horrendous attempt to speak your beautiful language and cooking me amazing food! Sa lang hae!

This morning I got out of bed late and felt like cooking! So I decided to make myself egg rice. I added diced fried onion, red capsicum and soy for flavor. I made extra so I can have it tomorrow for breakfast, yum! This dish is particularly good because you can add anything you want to it. For me it means a quick and healthy breakfast. I am really slow on school mornings, so I normally end up skipping breakfast. Hopefully being able to prepare the night before will help me to be more organised and actually eat breakfast!
I normally use 1 1/2 cup cooked rice and 2 eggs per person, but it just depends on how hungry you are!

On a sweet note, I made each of my friends a 'happy first day back at school' parcel. Each one has in it three mini cup cakes in vanilla butter cake and chocolate butter cake (Butter cake + cocoa!) and about 7 of the lemon cookies I made with my cookie gun. The first day back at school is always hard and tiring, so I am hoping that these tasty treats baked in love eases the pain for my friends! On the down side, my hand is sore from using the cookie gun so much! But the look on my friend's faces when they see the parcels will be worth it I am sure!

Well, another post over and done with, I have done so many already! But with school starting I am sure they shall become less frequent, I will aim to have a new one every week, even if it is short. Let's just hope life doesn't interfere to much!
Over and out,
Ims x