My Beautiful Girl

Spring is a glorious time of year in Brisbane. Shannon Plummer of Wet Nose Fotos has recently taken a number of photos of my beautiful baby girl, so click here for the sneak peak.

Happy 5th Birthday Baci!

My gorgeous baby girl turns five today and I can't believe how quickly the years have passed. It only feels like yesterday when I picked up this determined little fuzz ball from the Gold Coast. There has never been a dull moment since she arrived, so to celebrate I thought I would share with you some of my favourite images.

Baci is amazingly independent creature with a stubborn trip. I can recall as a 12 week old pup, I reprimanded her for climbing the stairs which would reduce most dogs to a quiver. But this tiny fuzz ball emitted a growl and continued. I had to install a sheet of laminated chipboard, until she decided climbing the stairs was painful and futile. Being my faithful kitchen companion, Baci is often underfoot and still back chats when I trip over her and rouse her from her sleep or a forging adventure!

Here is a photo of Baci at three months old, during the "ugly" puppy stage. All legs! You can see from the photos that Baci sports a Marilyn Monroe freckle on the side of her face.

This is one of my favourite photos Baci and she is six month old in this photograph. I shot this photo early in the morning, before taking her to the vet to be desexed. Needless to say she probably thought I was the worst Mother in the world, no breakfast and a vet trip!

This photo was taken by Ryan when Baci was two and a half years old. I think it captures her exuberance and spirit. Happiest of birthdays to my beautiful girl!

Hey look Mum! I'm on the Internet!

I'm pretty excited this evening as Shannon from Wet Nose Fotos gave us a plug on her blog. Check out how people with clever fingers and a lot of style layout their blog, but most of all check out her photography as it is amazing!

Rocky Road

Kath celebrated her fabulous 30th birthday on the weekend so I thought I would make her a gift worthy of her, the perfect Rocky Road. I'm fussy when it comes to Rocky Road, I like dark chocolate, lots of nuts and fluffy marshmallows. I find addition of Turkish Delight can be hit and miss depending on the sweet but then I found this box of Divan Rose and Lemon Turkish Delight at Black Pearl Epicure and they are amazing. Tasty, gorgeous presentation, lovingly crafted and each cube is the perfect size.

As you can see the rose and lemon flavours are separate and though they are the perfect size for the Turkish Delight lover, I decided to chop each cube in half.

Here is the Turkish Delight combined with 100g of pistachios, 100g of almonds and 250g vanilla marshmallows (I used this recipe to make them and think the homemade version give a better finish). I then rolled the mixture in 500g of melted dark chocolate, smooth it before allowing it to set on a tray lined with greased baking paper. I popped it into the fridge for three hours before cutting it into logs.

I wrapped my log of Rocky Road in cellophane and finished it off with some bold silk cord. Have a go yourself.

It's been a while since I posted a photograph of Baci. So here's one of her surveying her backyard domain.

Chicken and Cheese Dog Treats

You would think this is the face that launched a thousand pet treats but you're wrong. I'm off to visit Dean, Skye and their new baby, a Golden Labrador puppy named Penny and made her a bag of Chicken and Cheese Dog Treats. These treats are modelled off this recipe and I've fine tuned them with the help of Baci. So easy to make and most of the ingredients are already in your pantry.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 75g unsalted butter
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup polenta
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon powered chicken stock
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 and 1/2 cups of plain flour

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease four cookie trays. In a large bowl add the rolled oats, butter and the cup of boiling water. Allow the mixture to stand for 10 minutes.

Then add the polenta, sugar, powered chicken stock, milk, cheese and egg and mix well. After the mixture is combined add the flour in one cup at a time. Knead lightly until it forms a soft dough.

Roll the dough to a 5mm thickness on a floured surface and cut with your favourite cookie cutter shapes. Space the shapes evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Allow them to cool before storing them in an airtight container. At this point, you might want to give a few to your faithful friend as they probably at your feet drooling over the cheesy aroma.

Lamb Osso Bucco

For New Year's Eve I made an amazing three hour slow cooked Osso Bucco from Matt Moran's cook book 'When I get home.' It had wonderful flavours but I had my doubts if I would cook something as elaborate for my work lunches, but as I was flicking through a Garry Rhodes cook book my little brother had borrowed from the library this recipe for lamb Osso Bucco caught my eye. The cooking time was half of the Matt Moran version so I thought I would give it a go.

The recipe called for lamb leg but I decided to purchase lamb chump chops as they were on special. Lamb chump chops sound rather unappealing but is the equivalent of the rump in steak. It isn't as tender some of the other cuts but full of flavour. I seasoned the chops and lightly dusted them in flour before browning them in a saucepan.

I then browned the onion, celery and added roma tomatoes. The recipe asked for the tomatos to be deseeded but I usually ignore this request. Once the vegetables were soften, I then added the wine, orange juice, orange zest, bay leaf and consomme. I then brough the items to a boil before braising the Osso Bucco in the oven for 1 and a half hours.

The finished product is amazingly tender and a lot less fuss than my first attempt at Osso Bucco.

Miss Baci thinks stolen tennis balls are just as tasty ... but perhaps a little more fun.

Closet Hippy Mum

I admit it, I'm a closet hippy Mum who dilligently subscribes her child a grain free diet. No I don't have a love child, but I do however have a lovable delinquent Border Collie named Baci who loves ... EVERYTHING! I'm almost certain that this dog thinks in caps locks.

A TRIP TO THE BEACH IN THE MINI?! MY FAVOURITE THING!
STOLEN THE NEIGHBOUR'S KIDS BALL! MY FAVOURITE THING!
FOOD! MY FAVOURITE THING!

And so the list goes on ... but why did I sign up my dog to such a diet? I believe that wild dogs rarely consume grain and the only time this occurs is when they tuck into a small portion of the stomach contents of their kill. I've considered feeding Ziwipeak, which comprises of air dried, human grade lamb or venison, free of antibiotics, but unfortunately it costs a bomb and until I'm supreme Marketing overlord of the world, unaffordable. I've also tried many other formulas including K9 Natural Freeze Dried Food, which is a great solution if you are mobile or camping, as it's feather light. You have rehydrate the food with warm water which tends to take valuable time when you are trying to dash out the door for work.

So where does this leave me? It leaves me with Artemis Fresh Mix Maximal Dog. It comes in 13.6kg bags which you can have delivered to your door. It's also a good quality kibble and Miss Baci has been happily eating it for years. However sometimes you want to give your dog something different and I used to feed the odd can of Nature's Gift, but then I found a tin of Artemis Fresh Mix in my latest delivery. It's the perfect size for a medium size dog and like the dry food, a nutritious option.

I was thinking recently if I subscribed to the same philosophy of historical eating that I really shouldn't be eating dairy as the Chinese have survived for years without it. However I like creamy french brie with a sliver of quince paste on a feather light cracker ... so it's not happening. So occasionally I still bake the odd treat for Baci and she finds her grain by stealing duck food and unceremoniously rolling in duck poo. Bless my dumb dog.

Zucchini Slice

I was called to arms this morning so I decided to make a tray of Zucchini Slice for Baked Relief. Zucchinis cost a bomb at the moment but it's quicker and healthier than making a Quiche. Zucchini Slice is dead easy, able to be consumed hot or cold. Want to have a go yourself? Try this recipe from Taste.com.au.

Miss Baci wishes this rain would go away as it means no afternoon running and a higher likelihood of a bath as it's hard work to keep those white socks pretty. But it's better than storms!

Candied Orange Slices Battle: Part One

As there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat and there are also many ways to candy fruit. In the quest for understanding, I've decided to test two recipes. The first is from the Repressed Pastry Chef and the second is from Brownie Points: a good girl's notebook of her culinary world. The Repressed Pastry Chef's method is quicker. It's as simple as dissolving some sugar in water, adding the orange slices, reducing the liquid until you are left with beautiful gem-like candied orange slices, which you can enjoy au naturale or dipped in dark chocolate. However I was also intrigued by Brownie Points' idea of immersing the orange slices in sugar syrup and lovingly adding 100g of sugar daily over two weeks. So to determine which method is best, I'm pitting Candied Orange Slices against Candied Orange Slices and here is how part one played out:

Brownie Points Immersion Method: Some lovely Valencia Oranges, sliced and then halved.

Brownie Points Immersion Method: Blanching the orange slices in boiling water. I then cooled these in iced water before transferring them into an air tighter container and immersing them in sugar syrup.

Repressed Pastry Chef Method: After dissolving the sugar in water, I added the orange slices.

Repressed Pastry Chef Method: This is my favourite stage. When the liquid has dissolved you are left with gorgeous translucent orange slices.

So at the end of the Candied Orange Slices Battle: Part One, the Brownie Points Method embarks on its two weeks of immersion, while the Orange Slices subjected to the Repressed Pastry Chef method have been rolled in sugar and stored in an air tight container. Which Candied Orange Slices Method will rein supreme? Return in a couple of weeks to find out!

While we're waiting, I'll introduce you to Miss Baci. Miss Baci is an attentive kitchen assistant, who would just love me to drop something edible.