Macaroon Masterclass Marathon

Have you ever made Macaroons before? I hadn't ... until yesterday when my friend let me loose in her kitchen for a 5 hour Macaroon Masterclass Marathon!

5 hours! Who knew they would take that long to make?!? But there was a lunch break for fish and chips on the balcony (and a couple of slip ups along the way!).

I have been 'volunteered' to make 40 macaroons for a baby shower in June .. with no idea how to go about it. My friend attended a cooking class a few years ago, and even though she hasn't made macaroons since, I figured she was the best person to show me how :)

My friend decided on Salted Caramel Macaroons (it is a flavour obsession of hers). So first up making the caramel …. lots of sugar, cream and butter. The salt is added later. Easy.

It was all relatively simple (but time consuming) until the sugar and water had to be cooked to precisely 118 degrees before being added to the soft peaked egg whites. I did the first attempt … which ended in a pan full of snow.

Once the sugar syrup reached the correct temp all the liquid appeared to evaporate very rapidly, leaving behind fluffy white sugar. My friend's second attempt wasn't much better … only she added yellow food colouring, so it just looked like someone had peed in the snow!

Third time lucky … we figured out sugar crystals were forming on the bottom of the thermometer therefore giving us an incorrect reading!!

The baking was an epic endeavour … 130 macaroon halves. Lucky my friend has a monster cooker so we could rock two ovens!

Making the macaroon 'sandwich' was the fun part. Actually it was all fun! Great company, learning a new skill (learning - definitely not mastering), laughs and tasty treats at the end. I am glad I only need to make 40 for the baby shower … and I have found a recipe that does not require cooking the sugar - might give that one a try next weekend.

Hope you are all having a fun and Happy Easter too :)

luv neen x

Weekend snapshots

Snapshots from a weekend in Canberra …

1. dinner to celebrate John's birthday and our friends moving home from New Zealand. 

(the tablecloth was ironically found in an op shop in Parkes - western NSW - for $1)

2. a visit to the Australian War Memorial - such an emotional place.

3 & 4. Housewarming gifts - draft stoppers to cover the gaps under the doors. I used rice as the filling. 

5. A draft stopper (snake) finding its way into the toy box. This one is child friendly and stuffed with odds and ends (wool, felt, material, toy stuffing). 

Before heading home my friend and I joined in the 'Walk to De-Feet MND' this morning … a 5.5km walk along the edge of Lake Burley Griffin. A community event to raise awareness and money for Motor Neurone Disease. A great way to end my quick visit, a walk in a beautiful place to support a worthy cause close to my friend's heart. 

Thank you for a great weekend E, S & S!!

luv neen x

Weekend snapshots

1. Growing chives in a Johnson's tea cup

2. Growing the lollipop granny stripe and harvesting a lot of lettuce

3. Practicing embroidery stitches on this op shop find

4. A lollipop rainbow

And enjoying the sunshine after a week of rain!

luv neen 

Taking Stock 001

As it's been quite a while since I visited this space I thought I would join along with Pip's taking stock over at Meet me at Mikes. It's a great way to get back into the blogging groove.

Here are my thoughts jotted down at the end of the weekend …

Making : a lollipop granny stripe blanket

Cooking : slow roasted shoulder of lamb for Sunday dinner

Drinking : too much soft drink, a habit I am trying to break

Reading: Constructing Grounded Theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis (yes, it is as boring as it sounds!!)

Wanting: time to do some sewing ... perhaps next weekend

Looking: through the pages of Mum's Better Homes & Gardens magazine

Playing: 'dots' on the iPad

Deciding: on what direction I would like my blog to take

Wishing: my niece a quick recovery post surgery

Enjoying: gardening in the rain

Waiting: for an anticipated letter to arrive - I love snail mail

Liking: my growing hair (why did I decide to cut it last year?!?)

Wondering: which colour to use next in the lollipop blanket ... pink, blue, orange, purple, green …

Loving: John :)

Pondering: the next op shop find

Considering: making beanies for the Alice Springs Beanie Festival ... maybe next year …

Watching: Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman re-runs … again

Hoping: for a good garlic harvest, we have planted 100 cloves!

Marvelling: at these fun and creative beanies

Needing: nothing that I can think of right now

Smelling: the garlic and rosemary wafting from the oven

Wearing: an old crochet top handed down from my sister

Following: some inspiring crafty blogs such as this one, and this one

Noticing: a few weeds poking their heads up in the herb garden

Knowing: I have a fun weekend planned in Canberra soon

Thinking: about sewing draft stoppers for a friend

Sorting: through the craft supplies - they are getting out of hand

Buying: groceries

Bookmarking: this op shop web site, a great resource when you are exploring new places

Disliking: working 5 days a week :)

Opening: a bottle of red wine to go with dinner

Giggling: at my crazy conure Ned

Snacking: on chips (another habit to break)

Wishing: the weekend would last forever

Helping: Dad in the kitchen ... he is washing and I am wiping the dinner dishes

Hearing: the thunder rumbling as a storm moves overhead

Feeling: happy to be back blogging :)


Luv Neen

Pear & Apple Crumble with Vanilla Bean & Elderflower Icecream

After a few of Sydney's warmest July days since 1928, the weather has turned chilli once again. And what better way is there to warm up than with a yummy crumble for dessert.

I had a few overripe pears that needed to be used, so after a google search for pear crumble I based my recipe on this one.

For the stewed fruit:
2 Granny Smith apples
3 pears (not sure of the variety but they were very sweet)
250ml water
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp cinnamon (I used ground)
100g brown sugar

Combine all but fruit. Simmer until slightly syrupy (about 8min). Add fruit and simmer until slightly tender. Drain and put the stewed fruit in a pie dish with a little of the syrup.

For the crumble:
80g unsalted butter
120g plain flour
80g brown sugar
40g rolled oats
65g walnuts, coarsely chopped
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking powder

Preheat oven at 180*C. Combine butter and flour with your fingers to make 'crumbs'. Add all other ingredients and mix.

Top fruit with the crumb mix and bake until golden brown (about 25min).

I served the crumble warm with Maggie Beer's vanilla been and elderflower ice cream. It was the perfect accompaniment to the crumble. Along with ginger, lemongrass and rosella tea :)

I hope you are all finding tasty ways to stay warm this winter. 

Luv Neen x

Op Shop Tieke Tour

I love days that take you places you didn't plan and that's what happened to me today. I woke up planning to do uni study and perhaps a bit of house work. Instead I ended up in the car on a 'tieke' tour of op shops around the northern beaches suburbs of Sydney.

Op shops in this area can be rather expensive ... especially once you reach Narrabeen. So instead we stayed south and explored Manly, Balgowlah and Forrestville ... and found some bargains :)

This beautiful crochet doily was in Manly with a price tag of $5. 

$5!! I couldn't believe my eyes. It would cost a lot more just for the cotton, not to mention the time it takes to make such an amazing piece. It reminded me of doilies my grandmother made. She favoured the 'pineapple' design.

While searching the op shops, John and I head straight for the crockery section first. For a while now I have been wanting to make up an 'odd' dinner set of random plates ... I was thinking of having flowers as the common feature as I inherited a few pretty china violet plates from my grandmother. While I love them, John is not keen on a full set of china plates :)

However ever since being introduced to the vintage Johnson of Australia stoneware by Zara I have started to collect them. And the bonus is they appeals to both John and myself. While we have found a few random plates in our search, today we struck gold!

An 'almost' complete set of Johnson of Australia.

It is a huge frill when you are looking for something specific and find it. It is an even bigger frill to find it at a bargain price! Turns out this little op shop in Forrestville was having a 50% off sale! So we bought this lovely collection for 60 cents a piece :)

Naturally I put it to use straight away. I swear dinner has never tasted better :

Luv Neen 

Minnie's Lemon Butter

In the backyard of the old country house, where I stayed (and worked) during my holidays, grew a large lemon tree, whose branches were loaded with lovely juicy lemons :) Naturally I came home with a bucket full so had to look around for ways to preserve them.

My grandmother, Minnie, was celebrated for making lemon butter (especially by my father who loves the stuff). So I looked through her old recipe book and came across this recipe. 

With the internet providing conversions from pounds, ounces and fluid ounces (fluid ounces???), I filled up Minnie's double saucepan and produced 4 jars of lemon butter. 

I call it lemon butter but it is also known as lemon curd and is apparently good on toast, in tarts, and how about a lemon pie?? While I was never a fan of lemon butter as a kid, I might just be converted with this sweet tasting jar of sunshine :)

Luv Neen x