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Life on two acres of arid dirt, on the edge of the Australian outback.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

A Well Used Cook Book - Apple Roly Poly

My mum gave me this recipe book way back when, it says 1978 on the cover.  I think it may have been placed in my glory box for when I left home. 

I love these types of tried and true recipes. There are many lovely recipes from ladies that were willing to share their favourites. 

I like to collect these types of recipe books whenever I can. Usually they are sold for fundraising for schools, churches and the like.

This was the main recipe book I used when first starting out on my own.  As you can see it has been well used. Pages are torn, stained and starting to fall out.  I probably should do something about saving it from disrepair before it is too late.


One of my favourite desserts in this book is the Apple Roly Poly recipe.

APPLE ROLY POLY

Rub 2oz butter into 1 cup of SR Flour, add pinch of salt, mix to a stiff dough with some milk.  Roll out and cover with grated apple and sugar.  Roll up and cut into slices 1" thick. Place side by side in pie dish.  Pour over 1 tbspn golden syrup, 1 dspn butter, 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup of hot water.  Bake until golden brown.

The dough rolled out and
topped with grated apple

 and sugar 
(I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon)

 Rolled up.

Sliced.

 Placed in baking dish.

Syrup added.

Baked until golden.

 Serve with cream or ice-cream, or both. 
ENJOY!!

Do you have favourite recipe books?  




Saturday, April 11, 2015

Around Here


 Hello everyone,

I spent a lovely Easter with my parents... Hubby was working so I packed some clothes and away I went. It is so nice to spend one on one time with these special people. They are getting older and so far have had fairly good health. They live a simple life with simple needs, are very independent and I love them dearly.  There are only two of us children in the family. My elder brother and myself. My brother lives in Queensland and doesn't get to visit us very often, and I know my parents miss him. They live an hour and a half away, west of here.

My dad is a hoarder as you can see by the "junk" in this picture.  He had these roosters given to him and wanted to know whether we wanted any to breed from. They were very pretty but as we have our own at the moment, we didn't take any. 


 I brought this box of apples, bananas and tomatoes home with me.
Mum and Dad are friends with the local IGA grocery store owner and any excess food is given to them to do with what they choose.  Sometimes it is too much for just the two of them so I get the benefit too and their chooks get the rest.

 There were strawberries too. 
I have frozen the bananas and strawberries for using in smoothies.


 And some quinces.  I will slow cook these to make a Quince Compote which is totally delicous!

 Let me introduce you to our newest member of the family.  I have been looking after this little girl this week as her mother rejected her.  She is only a few days old and just adorable. My daughter is her new mum, and I get to babysit when mum is busy. I will have her here again tomorrow.  
 She is yet to be named...

 She has a bit of a problem with her front legs, but has been checked over by the vet and he thinks that they should come right eventually. Don't you just love her little jumper?



 Hubby and I went for a drive today.  It is gorgeous weather at the moment, so we decided to head for the hills, visit with friends and go to the Laura Folk Fair for a look.  On the way home we came through Port Germein Gorge road.  Last year they had a devastating fire go through the area (the Bangor Fire). It burned for a month before heavy rain finally put it out. This is what we saw today.  It must have been horrific and hard to imagine a fire inferno raging through these hills.

This is what remains of the Yacka plants on the side of this hill...


 It looks so barren now, when usually it is so green.


 There are patches of green starting to show through.











 We noticed lots of new trees have been planted through the area, but they will take years to grow.
 Out of the hills and the ocean over yonder look so calm and blue.

Autumn,
my all time favourite time of year J


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Where did March go?

Gee these days all I seem to manage is lots of photos with  an update of our doings. 
My days have been so full of activity that I am not managing to do regular posts. The weather has been really pleasant, as one would expect for Autumn.  We are still getting warmer days, but they are so much nicer. Yesterday it reached 40C (104F) but it didn't feel that hot, even though I did need to put the air conditioner on for a little while.  Today was warm too, but now it is looking a lot like rain.  My fingers are tightly crossed.

My daughter has arrived home safely on Australian soil.  She left London the night of the latest air crash, so it was a stressful time. For me anyway, but that's what mothers do when their chickies are away from the nest. Here is Sarah's "baby" not looking too impressed about being dumped at Nanna's.

I have my new lens, but most times my photos are captured on my phone as I carry it with me.  The quality is not as good as my Canon because I only have a cheap phone...

We have rockmelons galore, but they are so yummy and healthy, so I am not complaining!

And still picking capsicums and the occasional tomato...

 Some sunflowers at my parents place...we went for a visit.

 Here is a piece of machinery (harvester) that my dad has restored.  I will take more photos next time, so I can show you how clever he is...

 Home grown tomatoes from my mum J

Morning sunshine...




 I saved my Valentine's Day flowers, dried them and popped them into a blue vase J


Pretty



I am loving my new wind chimes.

Making use of an old retro teapot...

Succulents rule!

Weekending with my friend Wendy. 
We went to the farmers markets in a nearby town and enjoyed a tour around our area.  I packed my lunch, camera and hat and off we went.

 And I came home with this lot.

Saw some of these on our way home, 
there they were just grazing in the paddock

 



Strawberries were on special, so I bought them and soaked thoroughly in water and vinegar then froze on a tray and later put them into bags. These will be used for my daily smoothies.  After the recent scare with frozen berries here in Australia, this is how I will be doing mine from now on.



  I am getting my health in check and claiming my life back.  I have grown tired of feeling lousy, so it is time for change.  Less screen time, more exercise and mainly a diet of vegan/plant based food. I started my new life change over a month ago and I am feeling fantastic!

This is what my healthy looks like. Small portion of stir fry veggies and brown rice, sourdough bread with real honey and a glass of clear rainwater.

 Healthy pizza. 

Zucchini burger and greek salad.

Healthy fruit and nut log.

Healthy and delicious chocolate fruit and nut balls.
 

I am enjoying eating lots of raw fruits and veggies, and my body is loving it!

Hubby has been busy working on his shed, the end is near now. Here he is fixing a water leak we had last week.  The leak was right at the base of the tree.

And with Jennifer Aniston last week in Adelaide lol!

Hope he doesn't slip. 
It was a bit tight trying to put tin up on the shed on the weekend, but he did it and survived!

Beautiful sunrises this time of year J

Hope everyone is well.  

Blessings to you all,