This inspirational video was created by Make Bread.

I’m very excited to see the first strawberry flowers in our container garden:  the berry season in upon us!  We will have just enough of our strawberries to taste, but usually go to the berry farms to pick larger quantities.  The best way to enjoy berries is to eat them fresh on their own or in fruit salads.  Also, we make a lot of berry ice cream, freeze some (raspberries freeze well) and of course, make one of my favourite summer desserts: berry pudding.

Berry pudding (also called summer pudding) is packed with goodness and bursting with flavour.  It is a perfect dessert for a hot Australian Christmas that falls in the middle of the berry season and by far healthier and more refreshing than a traditional Christmas pudding.  Its crimson red colour and green garnish match perfectly the traditional Christmas theme.

The summer berry pudding recipe

The berry pudding is really easy to prepare.  There are only three ingredients needed plus cream to serve:

• 10 slices of day old white bread, 1cm (1/2in) thick
• 1 kg (2.2 lb) mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, redcurrants or other)
• 60 g (2.1 oz) sugar
• cream to serve, fresh berries, mint or similar for decoration

Serves 6-8

For the above quantity you’ll need a 1.5 l (6 cups) capacity bowl.   For smaller or individual puddings, here is the ratio I use to adjust the ingredients:

For every 250g or fruit use 10g of sugar and 1 cup (250ml) capacity dish.  Simply remember

250g – 10g – 250ml

The quantity for bread is a bit trickier to give as it depends on the type of bread and the slice thickness.  However, if you make individual puddings, you’ll need more bread.

The Method

1. Slice the bread and remove the crusts.  Place the first slice at the base of the bowl and then the rest around, overlapping slightly



2. Put the berries and the sugar in the saucepan and bring to boil.  Simmer for about 5 minutes or till juices start to run.  Spoon slightly cooled fruit mixture into the bread lined bowl.  If there is plenty of juice, leave some for serving.
3. Cover the top with the remaining bread slices (fold over side slices first).
4. Put a plate on the bowl and weigh it down with whatever is in the fridge: milk cartons, jars of jam or bottles of sauces.  Refrigerate for at least 6-8 hours or even better overnight (great dessert to prepare ahead for a busy day).  To catch any juices oozing over the brim, put a plate underneath the bowl.
5. To serve, remove the plate, loosen the sides of the pudding with a spatula or a knife, place the serving plate on the top and invert the pudding onto the plate.  Pour the reserved juice if any left, decorate with fresh berries, mint leaves or to your liking.  I’ve used pineapple sage leaves to decorate my summer berry pudding on the picture above.  Serve with whipped cream.

The pudding on the picture I made in January this year and is slightly smaller (4 cup capacity).  Besides being easy to make, healthy and really yummy, the pudding is a great way to use some dried out bread.  For more idea on how to use the old bread read the post 12 ways to use up old bread.

Few more tips:

Bread: A homemade white loaf or one from the baker works better than a pre-sliced sandwich or toast bread (too soft to hold the shape), wholemeal, seeded, some sourdough or breads with large holes like ciabbata.  Make sure not to press or flatten the slices when arranging in the bowl or they won’t soak up the juice.  This especially applies to shop bought white toast bread.

Sweet breads like brioche are also suitable for the summer berry pudding.

Fruit: Frozen berries can be used too.  Prepare it the same way as fresh berries.

You can substitute 1/3 to 1/2 of the berry quantity needed with some other type of fruit like peaches or plums if berries are too pricey or you’re short of the amount needed.

Bowl: glass or ceramic (china) bowl works well, but you can use any provided it’s not too big or too deep so you don’t end up with a pudding that is difficult to serve or collapses.  No need to line the bowl with the cling wrap or to oil it.

Freezing: Berry pudding freezes well, but allow the time in the fridge first to let the bread to soak up juices before freezing.

Food intolerance: Served without cream this dessert is dairy free.  Substitute coconut cream for whipped cream if desired.  If you use gluten free bread, summer berry pudding becomes an healthy and easy gluten free dessert.

Enjoy!

Orange cake is a special treat, especially in winter when cakes with apples and pears dominate.  Many recipes involve boiling the orange for an hour or so – the length of the process always puts me off.

This flourless orange cake recipe is simple and the cake is all done and ready to eat in less than 1 hour. In addition it’s gluten free and dairy free – great for people with Celiac disease and lactose intolerance.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 170g (¾ cup, 6 oz) sugar
• 2 tablespoon vanilla sugar, bought or homemade.
• Juice and rind form 1 large organic orange,
• 300g (2¾-3 cup, 10 oz) ground almonds (almond meal)

Glaze (optional)

• 200g (7 oz) orange marmalade
• Juice and rind form 1 organic orange

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F)
2. Separate the eggs and beat the eggwhite until soft peaks form.
3. Add yolks, beat for a few more minutes.  Beating the eggwhites first on its own speeds up the process.
4. With the mixer on, gradually add sugar and vanilla sugar until the mixture is pale and all the sugar has been dissolved.
5. Add juice and orange rind, mix briefly.
6. Fold the almond meal carefully trough the batter.
7. Pour the mixture into a 25 cm (10 in) round cake springform tin, lined with baking paper or greased and sprinkled with ground almonds – save some baking paper (see photo below).  For a higher cake, choose a smaller tin.  I used 28 cm (11 in) as I like thinner slices and the cake bakes quicker.



8. Bake for 20 minutes.  A tin smaller than 28 cm might need additional time.
9. Run a knife around the edges and loosen the springform ring.  Let the cake cool down slightly then transfer carefully onto the cooling rack or serving plate. Because there is no flour in the cake, it won’t be springy but rather soft and crumbly.

While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze:

1. Warm the orange marmalade slightly.
2. Add the orange juice and rind and incorporate well.
3. Spread onto the  slightly cooled cake.

The orange cake looks more attractive with the glaze, but I often skip it as it is bursting with flavour on its own.

Enjoy!

Sataraš (pronounced sah-tah-rush) is a quick and simple vegetarian recipe very popular in South-Eastern Europe.  It is easy to make and usually prepared during the summer and early autumn days when there are plenty of capsicums (peppers) and ripe tomatoes in the garden.

Sataraš has four main ingredients: brown onions, capsicum (pepper), tomatoes and garlic.  Optional ingredients are eggplant (aubergine), parsley or eggs, but I prefer it in its simplest version.

The best capsicums for sataraš are pale yellow capsicums, also known as Hungarian (on the picture below).  They are very fragrant, have mild taste, thin skin and cook quickly.  If you can’t find them, use yellow or red capsicums.

I’ve recently prepared sataraš from the last batch of autumn crop and can’t wait till the next season.  I don’t like to make it during the winter though when the ingredients are out of season.  Somehow it doesn’t taste right.

The recipe:

For this easy and healthy vegetarian dish you need:

• 2 large brown onions, sliced into wedges
• 10-12 yellow Hungarian, or 4-6 large red capsicums, sliced,
• 3 medium size ripe tomatoes, cut into slices, peeled and deseeded if preferred, but not necessary
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions:

1.      Put the oil into a large pan over medium heat and add the onions.

2.      Cook the onions until translucent (but not brown) mixing occasionally

3.      Add sliced capsicum, turn the heat up and stir-fry until the capsicum softens, about 3-4 minutes.  Here I added one green capsicum as well.

4.      Add sliced tomatoes, fry for a minute, then cover and lover the heat.  Simmer for further 5 minutes.

5.      Put the sliced garlic into the pan, season with salt and pepper, cover, and give it a couple of minutes for the garlic to cook and to infuse the flavour.

There you are:  simple and healthy vegetarian dish ready in less than 30 minutes!

Serve sataraš with a fresh crusty bread or with rice.  It’s suitable for freezing.

During the holidays, as many parents know, kids expect you to entertain them from morning till dawn.  Unless the day is action packed, it’s a “boring” day and “I don’t have anything to do” day.

On one of those days, we made a batch of homemade playdough (play dough).  In summer, we tend to spend more time outside and kids didn’t play with it for a while.  Not only  did the playdough keep them occupied for hours – to mum and dad’s delight, but also there is an educational element to it: development of fine motor skills, blending colours, exploring senses like touch and feel, to name a few.

Instructions on how to make homemade playdough:

This is a simple no cook playdough recipe which you can make within minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup boiling water
• natural or food colouring (eg. beetroot, turmeric powder), optional

Note:  Increase the above amounts two or three times for more playdough which can be divided and coloured differently.

In a bowl mix all dry ingredients.

Add oil, liquid colouring and boiling water (warn kids if they are helping!) and stir until it all comes together.

This is a proper way. As you can see above, I usually put dry and wet ingredients all at once and then stir. Here I added a bit of beetroot juice, but, oops, forgot to add oil.  Still it came good.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it becomes smooth. If the playdough is still too hot to touch, leave to cool a bit.

Divide into several portions and add different colouring few drops at the time to each. Knead well into the playdough.

Store in an airtight container after play time.  It will dry out quickly otherwise.

Last step, but not the least, have fun and play with your kids (for a little while)! It’s very therapeutic for adults, too, as you can see in the picture below !

On the McKenzie’s Cream of tartar packet there is cooked playdough recipe if you prefer this method:

2 cups four

4 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 cup salt

food colouring

2 cups of water

Mix the above ingredients in a saucepan, and stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until the mixture congeals.

Few more tips:

• For a textured playdough, add some oats, dried lavender or herbs.
• Add a few drops of natural cooking essence like orange, peppermint or almond for a nice smell, but omit if that will tempt small kids into eating the playdough – it IS natural, but way too salty.
• If the kids manage to eat some, don’t be alarmed, it won’t hurt them, they’ll just be very thirsty!
• Be alarmed if they eat commercial playdough – it is full of chemicals, with a weird sweet smell.
• Once the playdough starts to smell rancid, dries out or gets very dirty, it’s time to make another batch.

A lot in this post!

We are big fans of u-pick or pick your own fruit and  berries.  U-pick means you go to the farms and pick the fruit yourself.  It is good in many ways:

• buying locally
• the freshest produce
• reducing rubbish (with byo containers)
• money goes direct to the farmer, no middleman
• fruit tastes great without time spent in refrigerators
• low food mileage attached, provided you don’t travel for hours to the farms
• great outing and fun for the kids
• cheaper produce – buying in bulk.

Farmgate  buying is similar:  you buy fruit or veggies at the farm, but already picked, mostly freshly that same day.  We usually combine u-pick and farmgate.

Our two favourite areas for u-pick in Melbourne region are the Dandenongs (blueberries, cherries, peaches, beans, raspberries) and Kinglake (raspberries, strawberries).

If you are a reader from Australia, you might have guessed the connection between frozen raspberry yogurt and bushfires.  As mentioned, we often went to Kinglake for raspberries u-pick.  Kinglake is a small town burned in the February bushfires.  The famous Kinglake raspberry farm has been partly destroyed, but several plots have survived and now have autumn raspberries for u-pick.

We went there last week.  The idea was to support farms and business that have survived and/or reopened.  We had to brace ourselves for what we were about to see:  vast areas of burned trees and houses.  Hard to describe.  We were the only people picking on the farm that afternoon: weird feeling knowing that on such a beautiful, school holiday day the farm would be so busy.  However, people still aren’t sure if it’s OK to come.

Talking to the locals, they would love to see more people coming, to boost the local business activity.  So, if you live in the Melbourne area, it would be great to visit the bushfire affected communities and spend some money: pick the fruit, have a lunch or coffee, support business running.   See on the internet or call first to check if the roads are open to where you intend to go. For more info about Kinglake raspberries visit their website:

http://www.kinglake-raspberries.com.au/index.htm

The freshly picked raspberries at our place have almost disappeared: we ate most of them, froze some and made a batch of frozen raspberry yogurt.

Here is the frozen raspberry yogurt recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup natural yogurt
• 300 g (0.6 lb) fresh raspberries
• 150 g (0.3 lb) caster sugar or icing (confectionery) sugar

Method:

1. Mash or puree the raspberries.  Sieve to remove the pips, optional
2. Add sugar and yogurt to the raspberries and mix together.
3. Pour into the ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer instructions.
4. Optional: add grated white chocolate when the mixture starts to freeze.
5. Transfer to a freezer safe container and keep in the freezer.

Frozen yogurt is healthier alternative to ice cream.  Our kids love it as much as ice cream and are happy with a serve of frozen yogurt (especially if it has white chocolate bits).  If you don’t have the ice cream machine, you can freeze the yogurt in the freezer, but have to mix it several times during the freezing process with a hand blender or fork to break the ice crystals.  Use frozen raspberries if fresh aren’t in season.

When I announce Pancakes for breakfast! our kids ask immediately: thick or thin? Thin pancakes are actually crepes and thick are pancakes. Considered as a French specialty, crepes are widespread and very common throughout continental Europe: if you order pancakes, chances are you’ll get crepes.

Our son likes “thin” pancakes (read crepes) and our daughter “thick” ones, pancakes, that is. So when I make the latter, I thin out the last batch of the batter to runny consistency and make a few crepe-like pancakes. But still have to alternate between the two varieties.

My favourite pancake recipe is with buttermilk. Buttermilk pancakes are thick and spongy with less fat needed to achieve the softness. There is always buttermilk in our fridge as I make my own buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute it with regular milk (1 cup) mixed with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, apple cider or vinegar and let it stand 5-10 minutes.

The buttermilk pancake recipe:

2 cups plain flour (if using self raising flour, omit bicarb and baking powder)

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 tablespoon melted butter or oil

2 cups buttermilk

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Beat the eggs and add melted butter or oil.
3. Add one cup of buttermilk to the eggs, mix well.
4. Pour buttermilk and eggs mixture into dry ingredients and mix all quickly into a thick batter with a whisker. By adding half the required liquid first the batter will be smooth and without clumps.
5. Now add the second cup of buttermilk and incorporate gently. Add more buttermilk if the batter is too thick.
6. At this stage you can add some corn, herbs, grated cheese or carrot for savoury or chopped fruit or berries for the sweet version.
7. Pour the batter into medium hot oiled pan or griddle – about ¼ of cup or more for larger pancakes. Cook as many at the time as you can fit in your pan without sticking together.
8. Turn over when bubbles appear on the top and cook the other side until golden.
9. Serve warm.

This is a simple buttermilk pancake recipe without sugar. We love it with avocado or other savoury spreads as well as jam or honey, hence the jam will lend the sweetness. To make sweet pancake batter just add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar to the flour when mixing dry ingredients.

Once upon a time, bicarb soda (Sodium Bicarbonate, Bi-Carb Soda, baking soda) in our household would be used for baking exclusively. Then, I started to use it instead of commercial cleaning products. Then, as a good natural tooth cleaning powder. And so on. There is a long list of all the different ways I use it now. And still use it for baking as well. I love that stuff.

Recently I found out a new use for the bicarb soda: as a natural body deodorant! Becoming aware of aluminum and other chemicals in the commercial deodorants and antiperspirants years ago, I’ve switched to natural and organic ones. However, the price tag and the plastic packaging got me into searching for a simple natural deodorant recipe. I’ve found several, but too complicated to make. Then I came across a great post about using baking powder as a natural deodorant. I gave it a go, and it worked well for me.

It’s pretty simple:

Put some baking soda in a container and using a brush or a powder puff apply on clean, dry skin. If you find pure bicarb soda irritating, after shaving for example, mix in some corn starch (so far, I’ve been using pure bicarb). Infusing it with essential oils makes a nice, lightly scented powder. Pure lavender essential oil is mild and safe to use on your skin. Add 2-3 drops to a quarter cup of bicarb, shake well to distribute and let stand few days before using. Apply as necessary.

I have a new batch of bicarb soda being infused with vanilla bean, the same way I make my own vanilla sugar. It smells really nice so far; I hope it will retain that heavenly vanilla scent I’m addicted to after applying it!

Since using bicarb powder soda as a deodorant, I haven’t looked back. And the benefits:

• It works even in hot weather
• It’s natural
• Inexpensive
• Readily available
• Waste reduction / less packaging.

Do you have a favourite natural deodorant or recipe for one?  Please leave your comment below.

Updates:

Vanilla scented bicarb has a lovely scent!

My husband switched to bicarb too and finds it really effective.

Pesto can be made using mortar and pestle, chopped with a herb cutting knife (takes a while) or in a food processor.

To make fresh basil pesto sauce you’ll need following ingredients:

• A large bunch of basil (about 3-4 cups of leaves)
• 3 cloves of garlic (add more or less depending on taste)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup roasted pine nuts (cashews, macadamia nuts or roasted almonds)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino
• 1/2 cup good quality olive oil
• Sea salt

Use the quantities as a guide only and don’t be afraid to experiment.  To be honest, I don’t follow the recipe anymore.   I just pick some basil leaves from the garden, add few cloves of garlic, salt, nuts, Parmesan or Pecorino cheese and some good olive oil.  Traditionally, pine nuts are used in basil pesto recipe, but I often substitute macadamia or cashew nuts for pine nuts.

Here is a step by step guide on how to make your own basil pesto sauce:

1. Pick the leaves and wash them in a bowl of water.  Dry immediately in a colander and then on a clean tea towel.  The leaves will turn black if left in the water for too long.

2. Put basil leaves, nuts of your choice and salt into food processor.  Blend it until finely chopped.

3. Add grated Parmesan and crushed garlic.  Whiz it until combined.

4. Add olive oil and process again.  For a smooth pesto, run the food processor for a bit longer.

5. Voilá!

Basil pesto can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.  At my place it disappears mysteriously after a couple of days !  Pesto is suitable for freezing.

Some ideas for basil pesto use:

• spread it on a fresh crusty bread
• great tossed with pasta
• wonderful with tomatoes
• top bruschetta with pesto
• great alternative to butter or margarine in sandwiches
• substitute basil pesto for tomato sauce on homemade pizza:



• add pesto to Béchamel sauce when making lasagna
• serve with grilled fish, chicken or mushrooms.

Bon Appétit

2010 Basil Pesto Update

This year most of our basil is coming from our container garden at home and from only two plants:

As you can see one is green and the other – purple!  Nevertheless, purple pesto has the same great taste.  I really love this purple variety.  Its gorgeous, strong colour is great contrast to green leaves and makes an  unusual garnish.

So far, I’ve made about 4 batches of pesto from these two basil plants and they still keep on growing thanks to a sunny spot and homemade compost.

I have not attempted to make purple basil pesto yet.  I’ll give it a shot next time I make pesto to see the colour.  The pesto from green and purple leaves is still green (a bit darker green).  You can see small purple freckles:

Basil is one of the herbs that doesn’t like cold, so make the most of it while you have it in the garden. For the winter days, if you have oversupply of basil, freeze some. I usually put them into smaller containers or in an ice cube tray.

The best way to enjoy freshly made basil pesto is to put it on some crusty homemade bread.  Our daughter gives this batch of homemade pesto thumbs up!

I do hope this guide has been useful, please leave a comment below if you have any thoughts or tips on how to make basil pesto sauce.

I love buttermilk and I love to have it in the fridge all the time! Buttermilk is easy to digest, great for cooking (just made buttermilk pancakes – yum), goes well with savory food like pies and is great in salad dressing.

Traditional buttermilk was a byproduct from churning cream into butter – that’s how it got the name. Nowadays, buttermilk we buy from the shops is rather cultured low fat milk using lactic acid bacteria.

If you love buttermilk and buy it frequently, here is my easy homemade buttermilk recipe:

• To start with, you need a small carton of buttermilk – 1-2 cups and milk (I use full fat milk)
• Pour milk into a bowl
• Add buttermilk: as a rough guide use 1 cup of buttermilk to 1 litre of milk, mix well
• Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for about 24 hours (or overnight if very hot)
• Check for consistency – once fermented it should be slightly thick and smell pleasantly sour
• Use beaters or whisk and mix for a few minutes until smooth and free of lumps
• Pour back in a clean milk plastic bottle or any container you can easily pour form.
• NOTE: if you pour the buttermilk back into original milk bottle, label it as buttermilk to avoid confusion or someone can get sour over a sour coffee!
• Store the buttermilk in the fridge – when cold it will thicken a bit more.
• When you almost have used it all, save the last cup or so and repeat the process – it’s like a bottomless jug of buttermilk!

I have repeated the same process for months using only one carton at the start. I have tried the same method with kefir and it worked.

Buttermilk keeps 2-3 weeks in the fridge, but check regularly. Make the quantity according to your consumption and it’s better to make a fresh batch more often. If you made 3 litres for instance and used more than half, pour what’s left into a smaller container.

If the buttermilk starts to smell unpleasantly sour, discard and start with a new batch form beginning.

Also, by buying organic buttermilk for a start and organic milk first every time after, you are making your own organic buttermilk – and you can save considerable amount.

Note:  To make buttermilk form scratch you need raw milk!

Please leave a comment below if you have any thoughts or further ideas on how to make homemade buttermilk.