Creative Projects - Knitted Patchwork Blanket

This project has turned into a MONSTER. My original intention was to make a throw rug until... it needed another column for balance, another shade to add depth and texture and cream strips to add definition. Now, it's closer in size to a bedspread!

Created from pure wool, it will be very cosy - on a couch or a bed. Riley likes it already and I haven't finished putting it together yet!

Keeping It Simple - Pumpkin Soup

I never plant pumpkins but I always seem to end up with a garden swathed in pumpkin vines. This year they've even climbed my silver birches and produced 'aerial pumpkins'!


One of my favourite ways to cook these freebie pumpkins is Pumpkin Soup.

Chopped Golden Nugget Pumpkin

My recipe is simple:

1. Saute onions in the fat/oil of your choice. I prefer either lard or chicken fat but if neither is available I use butter.
2. Add chopped pumpkin and cook for about 5 mins.
3. Add enough chicken stock to more than cover the vegies.
4. Add a chopped potato or two.
5. Add a tablespoon or two of tomato concentrate (homemade or commercial)
6. Simmer until pumpkin and potato are completely cooked.
7. Add salt and pepper to your own taste.
8. Puree.

Pumpkin Soup with fresh baked Wholemeal Bread

Serve with freshly baked bread for simple yet luxurious meal.

Treats that Nourish Body and Soul

One of my favourite treats is 'salty maple syrup almonds', you can find the recipe here. It was pure serendipity that brought these treats into my world.


I love almonds, but they don't love me. Each time I ate them: raw, roasted, scorched, it didn't matter, I felt worse. I wasn't about to give up though so I did some research and discovered that soaking nuts (and seeds) makes them far more digestible by:

• Neutralising the natural enzyme inhibitors in the nut
• Enabling the body to absorb more vitamins
• Breaking down the gluten so digestion is much easier, and
• Reducing phytic acid, which inhibits the absorption of vital minerals.

I'm a fussy soul though, and I wanted the almonds to be full of flavour. That's how Salty Maple Syrup Almonds were created. And, not only are they very tasty, they're also full of vitamins and minerals. Just make sure you use real maple syrup and preferably Celtic salt as these ingredients are packed with nutrients, too.


They take a little while to roast so I usually have them in the oven while I'm also baking other things. 


Try them, and let me know what you think.

Waste Not, Want Not - Banana Muffins

Like many people whose parents were born during the great depression, I was raised with the adage "waste not, want not..." as a permanent echo. This seems to be a value we've lost. How often have you cleaned out the fridge or pantry and discovered a whole basket load of food that needs to be thrown out because it's either past its 'use by date' or has at the very least, seen better days? Have you ever totalled up the cost?

In the spirit of not wasting anything if I can help it, I do my best to ensure perishable food gets used as it comes through the door rather than going into the fridge (this is easier when you have a kitchen garden) but there are always occasions when I find myself with food that either has to be used today or put in the compost tomorrow.

Bananas are a regular feature on that list. Here's a great idea for using some over-ripe bananas. These muffins are 'Texas' sized in Robert Gordon muffin wrappers.

Banana Muffins sprinkled with rapadura sugar and ready for the oven

Banana muffins straight out of the oven

The recipe for the muffins is a simple one:
Ingredients
1 + 1/2 of plain flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of melted butter
200 mls whole milk
1 egg
2 mashed bananas

Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix milk, egg and melted butter together in a jug.
Using a knife, stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just mixed.
Spoon mixture in muffin pans and bake for 15-20 mins for normal size muffins or 25+ minutes for Texas sized. I usually sprinkle some rapadura sugar on top before baking for some added texture.

What food item regularly features on your throw out list? Why? And, can you find new ways to use the ingredient rather than throw it out?

Asking these questions and then acting on the answers can add another piece to your own patchwork economics. Money you don't throw out is money that can be used constructively to build a resilient financial future for yourself and your family.

Finding Abundance

In an uncertain economy, it's easy to become caught up in feelings of lack and helplessness but, an early morning stroll through the garden offers up an endless aray of abundance.

A productive garden offers so much more than just it's productivity. Yes, it will save you extraordinary amounts of money, and provide you with chemical, pesticide and to a certain extent 'corporate free' food. A productive garden is also a never-ending lesson in abundance.

Here are just a few glimpses of the abundance nature has sent my way.

Unknown variety of apple

Broccoli side shoot - ready to be picked

Starkrimson cherries - first crop

Unknown variety of lemon

Chilcotin raspberries

Strawberries

Colour - Rose 'Rhapsody in Blue'

What's your garden's potential for abundance?

Morning Tea - A Simple Luxury

There's not too much in life that beats taking the time to enjoy a good cup of coffee and home-made cake!

Robert Gordon paper baking cups add a little finesse to simple cup cakes

The cakes were made using a basic butter cake mix:

Ingredients
125 gm butter
125 gm caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
190 gm self-raising flour
85 ml milk

Method
Set oven at 180 degrees celcius.
Prepare cake pan or paper baking cups.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Gradually add eggs, beating well.
Stir in flour and milk alternatively. Stir gently but thoroughly.
Bake until sides shrink slightly from the sides of the pan and a skewer comes out clean and dry. Cake 35 - 40 minutes. Cup cakes 15 - 20 minutes. Please Note: these times are approximate.
Cool on a rack before icing (optional).

Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and an extra 40 mls of milk for chocolate flavoured cup cakes. Yummmmm!

Make sure you take some time today to enjoy a simple luxury, too.