Hot Cross Buns for Easter :)

I always toyed with the idea of making Hot Cross Buns for Easter, but this year it was a necessity, I forgot to buy them and thought all the shops would be closed today. Reasoning that you can't possibly not have Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday, it looked like the time had come for homemade.

This is not an enormous hot cross bun shown in the picture, I also made a rye, linseed and sunflower seed loaf at the same time. Though, that's not a bad idea....




Ingredients:

Buns:
4 cups of plain strong white bread flour
2 sachets of dry yeast (14 grams)
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of soft brown sugar
300 grams of natural youghurt
1/4 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of mixed spice
1 cup of mixed dried fruit

Crosses & glaze:
1/2 cup of plain flour
1/3 cup of water
marmalade

* Place butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted, add yoghurt and milk and heat until just warm, do not heat past this point.

* Mix all other ingredients except the egg and the fruit in a large bowl.

* Add butter/yoghurt/milk mixture to the bowl.

* Lightly beat the egg and add that to the bowl.

* Mix until dough has just formed and then add the fruit.

* Knead until smooth and elastic (squash it with the palm of your hand, fold in half, turn a quarter turn clockwise and repeat- for about 10 minutes).

* Form a ball and place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover and allow to sit in a warm place until dough has doubled in size (about 1 hour).

* Punch fist into the centre of the dough and knead for only a minute, too much kneading at this point will make the dough tough and it won't rise as well.

* Divide in half and again until you have 16 equal portions.

* Without working them too much, form each portion into a rough ball.

* Grease a slice tin (approx 28cm long x 18cm wide x 3cm deep) with butter. Place portions in neat rows in the tin.

* Cover and set aside to rise again in a warm place for about another hour.

* Once the buns have doubled in size again, make the mixture for the crosses. Mix the flour and water together into a smooth paste (get rid of any lumps). Place in a piping bag fitted with a medium plain tube and slowly pipe the paste in long lines across the buns to form crosses.

* Bake for 20-30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, or until the tops have started to turn golden brown.

* Brush the tops with marmalade to make them glossy.

Absolutely the best fresh from the oven with butter, enjoy and Happy Easter!

Lectric Soda

We are selling our house, which means that areas which haven't been cleaned in a long time are now getting some much needed attention!

I wasn't too keen on purchasing an arsenal of toxic cleaning products from the supermarket to get the job done, I hate the smell of them and I know that they are not healthy.

The search for a better option led to the discovery of another wonderful product with multiple uses- Lectric Soda.



This wonderful water softener is a completely natural product that contains no dyes or phosphates and is so safe to use that you can add it to the water you cook your vegetables in or your dish-washing water.

It has so many other, varied uses too; cleaning and deodorizing wood (tables, chopping boards, benches), cleaning silverware and even treating roses for blackspot in the garden.

However, my two favourite uses are these:

It is an AMAZING degreaser! Mixing 1/4 cup of crystals in very hot water will get the horrible kitchen grease off just about anything! Soak rangehood screens or exhaust fan covers or wipe down the walls and watch the grease come off incredibly easily.

Anyone else have venetian blinds? Cleaning them is not something I was looking forward to, but I took them down and put about half a cupful of Lectric Soda in hot water in the bath and soaked each blind individually. The accumulated grease and dust wiped off immediately, making an annoying task less painful.

The best use?

Relax your weary limbs after all that cleaning and put half a cupful in a bath for yourself at the end of the day with a few drops of your favourite essential oil. Ahhhhhhh.....!

Amazing Beetroot Relish

This recipe was born of necessity really. Being the sort of person who enjoys the process of making food from scratch (jams, preserves, sauces, etc), I am often given fresh produce with the intention that I make it into something delicious.

In this case, it was fresh beetroot pulled up from my Aunt's vegetable garden and apples plucked from my Grandfather's apple tree, given to me within the space of an afternoon, that prompted me to develop a recipe to use both. 

Beetroot Relish isn't something that people generally drool over, but I have tweaked and tasted this recipe to within an inch of its life. I first served it when friends came over for a midsummer barbeque, with wafer crackers and a delicious Greek sheep's feta. We were sitting outside, at a table under a huge shady tree, and I was deep in conversation when I heard the exclamation, "THAT.is.INCREDIBLE!!!!". Someone had just tried the relish. 

"You'll have to give me the recipe for that!", "Oh my god!", "I don't even like beetroot, but that is delicious". 

Since the first batch I have given away many jars and received numerous requests for the recipe. I love hearing appreciative stories of how it impressed the in-laws at a family gathering or how much someone enjoyed making it, or which farmer's market had the best beetroot. 

To me, it encapsulates everything I love about food, the fact that the fresh ingredients were grown in family gardens, the willingness to share an abundance, the magic of turning beautiful fresh produce into something delectable. 

With so much low quality, processed, 'convenience' food readily available, this is the sort of food that gets people thinking and talking about how important and enjoyable it is to eat fresh, quality food, preferably grown for free in your own backyard.


Ingredients:

1kg of fresh beetroot (about 5 large ones).

600g of Granny Smith apples (about 6)

2 large brown onions

400ml good white wine vinegar

100ml apple cider vinegar

2 cups of water

1 and a quarter cups (packed) of soft brown sugar

3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

3 teaspoons of salt

a small bunch of fresh thyme

Method:

* Peel the beetroot and grate into a large saucepan (or use a food processor). I use a coarse grater. Wear gloves if you don't fancy having lovely purple hands.

* Peel and core the apples and grate them into the saucepan.

* Peel the onions and grate them into the saucepan.

* Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, lemon juice and water. Stir well to ensure all ingredients are evenly mixed.

* Rub the small bunch of thyme between your hands over the saucepan so that just the little leaves fall off (or strip them off if you're patient). If any little stalks fall into the mixture, pull them out.

* Place the saucepan on medium heat until all of the sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes) then stir, put a lid on the saucepan and turn the heat up to high. 

* The mixture should be boiling for about half an hour or until the beetroot is very soft and there is only a little liquid at the bottom, which should be quite thick and syrupy. Stir often to ensure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan.

* Place about 6 clean, medium to large jars on a baking tray and put them in the oven for approximately 20 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius (without the lids).

* When the relish is ready, bring the jars out of the oven and, using an oven mitt, spoon the mixture into the jars whilst it is still hot. 

* Screw the lids on firmly and turn the jars upside down for a few minutes, then stand them the right way up again and leave to cool. This process heats the lid and allows the jar to seal properly.

* When cool, wash the jars off. Label and date them. 

* It is best to leave the relish in a cool dark place for about a month to allow the flavours to develop, but it is delicious even if you eat it straight away. 

* Serve on crackers with a good quality blue cheese, on hamburgers instead of traditional beetroot slices or blend equal parts beetroot relish with cashews and sheep's feta for totally more-ish dip!

* Enjoy!

We all need to be spoilt sometimes and my husband and I had a wonderful experience recently at the Peninsula Hot Springs in Fingal. These natural hot springs contain thermal mineral waters and the pools are of varying temperatures.You can spend a very relaxing day trying them all out until you find your favourite.

There are two main public bathing areas and several private pools available for hire. We spent the day in the Spa Dreaming Centre, which is for guests 16 years and over. It has six different thermal pools to try, a fantastic day spa and a restaurant supplying super healthy and delicious meals.

The bathing area includes a large pool called 'the grotto' which has a 'bubble spa couch' at one end. There was also the 'hot pool' which is above 39 degrees Celsius, the 'falling water massage' which has bamboo tubes for pouring warm water on your shoulders, the indoor pool and the 'barrel bath', made from a very large old wine barrel.

There are also 2 saunas, (infared and traditional), a Zen Chi massage bed and a cold plunge pool to cool off in. This, teamed with a lovely natural setting amongst the tea trees, relaxed and comfortable decor and dozens of deck chairs, sunloungers and daybeds, is enough to make anyone relaxed and happy.

We were both given a fluffy white robe and a very modern locker key on arrival, shown to our respective change rooms so that we could shower, change into our bathers and then have a quick bathe before our massages. We chose the 'miji kodo' massage, which is based on traditional Australian aboriginal massage practices, the masseuse performed a 'smoking ceremony' at the beginning of the massage and used native aromatic oils that smelled just incredible. 

Lunch was delicious, I had a prawn salad with prosciutto and avocado, my husband had the mussel pot with homemade dips and bread. 

Then it was back to the pools for an afternoon of soaking and relaxation. I highly recommend the Peninsula Hot Springs to anyone needing a bit of rest and rejuvenation! 

Homemade Bath Bombs

My 3 year old loves bubble bath. No surprises there I'm sure, but trying to find some that doesn't have a ridiculously long list of chemical ingredients? Well it might surprise you how difficult that is.

I have found a great alternative way to make bath-time fun- Homemade bath bombs!

Kids love how they fizz and they leave a lovely layer of nourishing almond oil on the skin. If you like you can add rose petals or body glitter for extra fun. You can even add lavender oil as a 'before bed' relaxant if that suits your purposes.

They are also great for adults and make really nice gifts.

Here is the recipe:

* Brush the inside of a set of silicone moulds with almond oil. There are so many shapes to choose from- I like to use stars and have a mould with 6 stars approx 8cm across.

* In a glass bowl mix 10 tablespoons of bicarb soda and 3 tablespoons of citric acid. 

* Then add 9 teaspoons of cold-pressed almond oil, 5 drops of whatever essential oil you like and 3-4 drops of food colouring if you like colour.

* Wearing rubber gloves, mix together thoroughly and pack firmly into the moulds.

* Put aside for 2-3 days to dry completely then remove carefully from the mould and add one to your bath.

* This recipe makes about 4 bath bombs.

Enjoy!! 

Healthier household cleaning....and it smells good!

Had to share another great product I've come across, with multiple uses!

Eucalyptus oil has long been known as a useful product for the removal of stubborn greasy/gummy substances, but we have found another few uses for it.

We were always those annoying people to come and stay with, you know, the ones who don't leave any smelly spray in the loo to cover the unpleasant odour of life's necessary activities...

Well, I have always been opposed to cans of chemical-laden room deodorants. Not to get all hippy or anything, but they actually smell toxic to me, so I have avoided using them where I can, including not buying them for use in my own house.

My brother, who is well and truly in the camp of covering life's unpleasant odours with as much deodorant as possible was so put out by my attitude that he actually started to bring his own toilet spray whenever he and his wife came to stay!! Imagine!!

Something had to be done. After telling him that his spray wasn't welcome, I compromised and began searching for a better option and we've found one: Eucalyptus Oil in spray form.


This is a great product, it smells good, it is a natural disinfectant and it can be used for cleaning. You can use it as a stain remover on your clothes and as I mentioned before, it is a great degreaser for kitchen cupboards.

For me it's right up there with vinegar and bicarb soda in my healthier home cleaning arsenal.

Funnily enough it is actually found in the medicine section of the supermarket, not the cleaning section, but it is well worth the search.

Homemade Bread

I have always wanted to make my own bread, nothing like the smell of it baking and how soft and delicious it is fresh from the oven. The effect of paying upwards of $6 for a decent loaf these days is further inducement.

Some of the lovely ladies in my mother's group make their own bread and have been bringing it to share at our get-togethers. It is absolutely delicious and they promised me it is also easy, cheap and relatively quick to make. 

This inspired me to finally give it a try, so I asked for the recipe and last night I attempted to make my first loaf of bread. And what do you know? Success!!! 

I was so proud of my first little loaf. It reminded me of scones, particularly fresh from the oven.

For this one I used basic wheat flour, but even if you use organic spelt flour or any other specialty flour it works out at about $1.20-$3.20 a loaf. The recipe:

300grams of wholemeal flour

200grams of plain flour

300mls room temperature water

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

1 x 7gram packet of Tandaco brand dry yeast

* Mix all dry ingredients together

* Add tepid water gradually and turn mixture out onto a lightly floured bench to knead

* Knead well.

* Form dough into a ball, place on a breadboard, cover with a clean tea towel and then set in a warm place to rise for about 30-40 minutes.

* Knead dough again and place into a greased loaf tin (butter or olive oil), score the top with a sharp knife diagonally a few times and brush with butter or olive oil.

 * Leave to rise in a warmish place for at least another 40 minutes (can be much longer though).

* Place in a pre-heated 200-210 degree Celsius oven for approx 20-25 minutes or until top is golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

* Turn bread out of tin and place on a wire rack to cool.

* Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting the end off and slathering with butter :)

The type of flour you use is all up to you, this is just a standard wholemeal loaf. 

I am actually really excited to try a few variations, like spice and dried fruit or olives and chilli flakes, the options are almost endless!!

Have a great time making this, I have really enjoyed it and will be making plenty more of my own fresh bread in future! Mmmm....