Easter treats

Last week I was asked by Countdown Supermarkets to come up with a couple of Easter baking treats to share. I do my weekly groceries shop at Countdown using their online delivery service (LOVE this service) and have done so for a few years now so it was great to be asked to share some ideas! I'm all for baking that is easy and that appeals to kids so I chose two recipes that will be handy for you to have-  it's always good to have an easy cupcake recipe for kids parties or celebrations/ holidays/ birthdays, and a basic sugar cookie recipe will always come in handy too. So my two recipes are:

Easter Egg Nest Chocolate Cupcakes

and

Easter Egg Cookies

Thanks to Countdown I was able to buy the goodies in this pic to make my two recipes- they have a huge range of Easter treats in store now, plus they always have a great range of baking and decorating products. 

I spotted so many great Easter eggs for the kids when I was in there the other day so I thought I'd share some of them with you as well...

All Blacks easter egg, Peter Rabbit, Lindt Pirate Bunny and Easter Egg, Fire Station easter egg box

Ferero Rocher Bunny (one for us mums :), Kinder Surprise Maxi egg with toy, Robin Edible Eggs (comes with pens that you can decorate the eggs with), Mr Men book and easter eggs

I also spotted these cut out bunnies - only $4 for 25 sheets of them which I'm going to use for my next kids craft class, and would also be ideal for teachers! Countdown also had some cute little buckets so I bought this mint one for our easter egg hunt.

So here are my recipes...

Easter Egg Cookies

Kids will love these as they can have fun decorating them using icing pens and cake decorations.

125g butter, softened

1/2 cup of caster sugar

1 egg

half a teaspoon of vanilla essence

1 cup plain flour

1 cup self raising flour

Icing pens ( I bought the box of glitter pens and the trio of chocolate icing pens)

Soft sugar pearl cake decorations

Pettinice ready to roll fondant icing

Water or glucose syrup

Preheat oven to 160 C or 140 C fan

Line two baking trays with baking paper

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix

Add the flours and fold in to form a dough

Place your dough on a piece of baking paper and add another piece of baking paper on top

Roll your dough to about 5mm thick

Using an easter egg shaped cookie cutter cut out eggs and place on the prepared baking trays

Re-roll dough and repeat until you've used all the dough

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden

Cool on a wire rack

Roll out a chunk of the Pettinice icing as thin as possible and use the easter egg cookie cutter to again cut out egg shapes. Use either water (brush onto the back of the fondant eggs) or glucose syrup to stick the fondant egg to the cookie. This is optional- you could just leave the cookies as is to decorate.

Decorate using the icing pens and sprinkles

Easter Egg Nest Chocolate Cupcakes

These delicious chocolate treats are perfect for Easter and your kids will love the little nest of eggs!

Makes approx 18 medium sized cupcakes

1 and a half cups of Self Raising Flour
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup of milk
2 eggs
125g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract.

1. Preheat oven to 180oC conventional or 160oC fan-bake. 
2. Line cupcake tins with 18 cupcake cases
3. Melt butter. 
4. Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat on medium speed for five minutes

5. Spoon tablespoon size into muffin tins or cup cake cases.   I find an ice-cream scoop the perfect size to fill the cupcake cases- one big scoop per cupcake is enough.

Bake for approx 15 minutes or until cakes spring back lightly when touched- or check using skewer. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

100grams softened butter

2 cups Icing Sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon hot water

1. Cream the butter until pale and fluffy

2. Beat in the icing sugar ( I use an electric beater) one cup at a time

3. Add the hot water if needed

4. Use an icing bag with icing tip (you can buy these at Countdown- look for 'disposable icing bags' - they come with different icing tips.) Cut the pointy part of the bag off (see pic) 

and place tip inside the bag and push it through the hole you've cut.  

Fill up the bag with the chocolate icing

5. Ice your cupcakes

6. Decorate using broken pieces of flake to make the nest, and add two mini eggs on top, or one mini creme egg

I hope you like these recipes - would love to hear if you make either or both of them! Countdown is going to help you with that by giving every mousehouse reader a $5 off voucher to use with your next online order! (just put the code in the box that says 'coupon code' at check out)

Here's the code : YUM

And check out Countdown's Pinterest Page for loads more delicious recipe ideas http://www.pinterest.com/countdownnz/ 

and for Easter recipes their "Eggscellent Easter" pin board is full of great ideas!  http://www.pinterest.com/countdownnz/eggscellent-easter/

Happy Easter!

Megan

A housewarming party-nibbles and drinks ideas

We had a a fun night on Sat for our housewarming party so I thought I'd share some of the finger food/appetizers and drinks we did for the party in case you are thinking of having a party or wanting to bring some nibbles to someone elses!


Food

COLD

* 2 x crostini- I bought a bag of crostini already made but if I was doing them again I would try and make them myself in advance, the ones we bought were too small and way too crunchy we both thought, although they all did get eaten!

Our crostini toppings...

- Olive tapenade with chopped up cherry tomatoes and shaving of parmesan
- Sundried capsicum tapenade with little square of feta and basil leaf

Cheese ball and crackers, crostini

* Cheese ball and crackers-I made my first ever cheese ball after seeing Vanessa's on her blog ages ago- it was yum and nice and easy too thanks Vanessa!- here is her recipe http://thebubbalinokitchen.com/2013/06/cheese-ball

*nibbles platter- Lisa's kumara and pumpkin dip, chips, pita bread crisps, bagel bites, green stuffed olives, capsicum slices

*Blini's- cream cheese, salmon and dill blini's- you can buy blini's frozen at Nosh or the supermarket if you don't want to make them yourself- we bought them and they were great

HOT

* 'Scrummy Scroodles'

These are tasty little savoury muffin type treats that a friends mother in law gave me the recipe for. I made them on Friday and they just got heated up in the oven during the party. Here is the recipe

1/2 cup chopped bacon    
2 cups grated cheese
1 pkt onion and bacon soup
1 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
500g sour cream

Mix all ingredients. Bake for approx 20 mins in mini muffin pans at 180deg.  Freezes well.

It made me at least 36 mini muffins but I don't think I put quite enough filling in each muffin hole so next time I would put more mixture in so would probably get about 24-30 from this recipe.

*Samosa's and spring rolls

I didn't get a photo of these but we served these Shore Mariner vegetable samosa's and spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce- these are always a popular thing to serve at a gathering! They're at the supermarket and Nosh, there are other brands that do them as well but this brand was recommended to me.

* Sundried tomato and feta dip with chilli and lime wedges- we were going to do these later in the evening as well but didn't in the end...

We also had a few friends bring some delicious nibbles- my sister did pork belly cut up into bite sized chunks which was a BIG hit, and another friends hubby Andy made mini caesar salads on those little serving dishes which were really tasty- cute idea too to make an appetiser from a meal! Wish I'd taken a photo but they sort of looked like the mini caesar salads below but he served each one on one of these little serving dishes -I couldn't find them online in NZ but these are the exact ones Andy used http://plasticcontainercity.com/black-plastic-mini-tear-drop-dish-10-per-pack.htm




Drinks

* Bubbles, wine and beer-I set up our dining table with glasses with a few bins underneath for empties.

* Apple, ginger and cranberry mocktail for the drivers/pregnant ladies- I used this recipe without the vodka http://www.whatkatieate.com/recipes/apple-ginger-and-cranberry-vodka-cocktail. To keep the cocktail cold without it going watery I made ice cubes out of the apple juice and the cranberry juice. I added a few sprigs of mint as well.

* Vodka Jellies- these are always a fun thing to bring out later in the evening- I made some and my friend made some too- here's my 'recipe' for them

1 packet jelly
One and a half cups boiling water
Half a cup vodka

Mix the jelly and the boiling water, when cooled add the half cup of vodka then place in the fridge to set. If you want to make them stronger use 1 cup boiling water and 1 cup vodka.

Makes approx 22 30ml jellies (you can buy the plastic shot glasses from the supermarket)

So there you go, some ideas for your next gathering :) Have a great week!
Megan

Ben's potato salad

My hubby made up this recipe for a really yummy potato salad so I thought I'd share it with you- it is me and Amelie's favourite potato dish at the moment, and I can even manage to make it myself on occasion ;)  Great for a tasty side dish or a BBQ  (can't believe it's still BBQ weather here and its nearly April!)

Ben's Potato Salad

Ingredients

Perla potatoes or other gourmet size potatoes

Mayonnaise (we love Best Foods mayonnaise)

1 Red onion

Capers (a handful)

Bacon- fried and cut into little bits

Chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Instructions

Cook as many perla potatoes as you'll need in boiling water until tender but not over boiled, then leave to cool down.

When cool, cut each potato in half and add enough mayonnaise to generously cover the potatoes, then add finely diced red onion, chopped capers, the fried bacon bits, chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste. YUM!!

Megan x

vege soup with a touch of magic

I am obsessed with making vege soup lately, especially after discovering Ray McVinnie's recipe for a yoghurt and mint topping that takes vege soup from yum to absolutely delicious!!! It is so good on a winter's night with copious amounts of cheese on toast. This recipe makes heaps- if you are making some for you and some to share then about 3 soup ladles full is enough for 1 adult. You should get enough out of this recipe for about 6-8 adult servings.

Vege soup

4 carrots peeled and chopped

few sticks of celery chopped

2 onions finely chopped

4 cups chicken stock

4 large potatoes peeled and chopped
4 frozen spinach portions (I buy Talleys from the supermarket)

Ray McVinnie's yoghurt and mint soup topping recipe (enough for 4 soup servings)

100ml olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

zest of one lemon

quarter cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

3 tablespoons chopped mint

salt and pepper

150 ml plain unsweetened yoghurt

1. Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of a large pot. Chop up the onions, celery and carrots and cook in the pot for about 5 minutes or until onion is clear.
2. Pour in your chicken stock and bring to the boil.
3. Add your chopped potatoes and frozen spinach. Bring back to the boil and simmer for about 30-40 minutes until veges are well cooked. You may need to add a little water if your stock doesn't quite cover your veges.
4. When cooked, lightly mash your veges.

To make the olive oil topping - mix the olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, parsley and mint in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Serve the soup with a large dollop of plain unsweetened yoghurt and plenty of the oil mixture on top.
Magic!
Megan x

Ben's tomato and olive pasta

This is my hubby's recipe for a delicious, easy pasta meal - its a great meal to make when there's not much else in the pantry or fridge (and a good one for Make Do May!)  The girls and Jack like this meal too which is a bonus. 

Penne pasta- enough for 4

2 rashers of bacon chopped into pieces (optional)

1 diced onion
1 clove finely chopped garlic
Chopped veges- beans, carrots, capsicum, courgette, broccoli
2 Tins crushed tomatoes
Kalamata olives-as many as you would like!

1. In a pot put water on to boil for the pasta.  Add pasta when water is boiling. When the pasta is cooked drain and set aside until adding to the pan with tomatoes and olives.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a wide based saucepan fry the bacon.
3. Add onion and garlic and cook until clear
5. Add your veges and stir fry until cooked (you can add a dash of water to the pan if the veges starts drying out and sticking to the pan)
6. Add tins of tomatoes and olives and your cooked pasta
7. Simmer for 5 minutes

For more meal ideas read my Meal Planning post here :)
Megan x

Organised Home Challenge: Meal Planning

It's been a little while since I wrote my last 'organised home challenge' post- just over a year actually! The last one was just before I had Jack and there has not been much organised home stuff going on since then that's for sure. But with Jack now nearly 1 and my eldest starting school I am hoping to make my life a little more organised again. I was inspired to start some meal planning after reading this post on the blog Modern Parents Messy Kids.  I was also reading Annabel Langbein's cook book Free Range in the City and she mentions meal planning and having a weekly plan eg: chicken on tuesdays, slow cooker wed night etc which really appealed to me. The other reasons I want to get into meal planning are

• we cook the same meals a lot and forget about all the other meals we can also cook
• it was taking me ages to choose meals for the week when I did the grocery shopping
• wanting to be more organised so we have all the ingredients we need for dinner and it is at least prepared during the day (if not cooked)
• want to do more cooking of double meals so every 2nd week we don't have to do actually do a lot of cooking
• trying new recipes
• giving the kids a wide variety of meals so they get used to different ingredients and food from different places - I love the idea of having themed dinner nights eg: Mexican night-eat nacho's, listen to mexican music (thank you YouTube!), look on a map to see where Mexico is, have little flags, learn some Spanish words eg: please, thank you, make up a menu etc.

So first off I made a big list of all the meals we already cook or want to cook and sorted them into

Mince, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Lamb, Fish, Pasta, Pizza, Eggs, Salads, Vegetarian and Soups. I used some of our recipe books, my recipe file and searched online for recipes too. 

Then I made up a blank table with a weekly plan (This might not work out every week but at least its a start!)

Mon- Lamb or Pasta

Tues- Mince

Wed- Chicken

Thurs- Beef or soup 

Fri- Fish, Pork or Sausages

Sat- try new recipe or cook a treat meal eg: steak

Sun- easy meal- eggs, soup etc

You can download my (very simple) blank weekly meal plan here- I've also got spaces for trying a new desert each week (really need to learn some more desert recipes as apple crumble is pretty much my only one!)  and baking for the week.

So I thought I'd share my list with you- you could copy and paste it and modify to suit your family if you want.  Some meals in my list have links to a recipe online and as I share/find more recipes I will link to them here. 

I found lots of recipes on the websites below plus a few more like Masterchef, other TV cooking shows and celebrity chef websites too like Jaime Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Annabel Langbein. 

http://www.realstock.co.nz

http://www.foodlovers.co.nz

http://foodinaminute.co.nz

http://www.taste.com.au/

http://www.foodie.co.nz/

MINCE

• Cottage pie
• Meatballs with noodles and tomato sauce
• Meatloaf with mash and peas
• Lasagne
• Homemade cheeseburgers
• Nacho’s MEXICAN
• Taco’s MEXICAN
• Spaghetti Bolognase ITALIAN
• Baked potatoes with mince and cheese
• Chilli Con Carne

CHICKEN

• Chicken Fajita’s MEXICAN
• Slow baked italian chicken (Donna hay recipe)
• Roast chicken with roast potatoes and peas
• Chicken Noodle and Pea soup 
• Chicken drumsticks baked in oven with morocCan seasoning with couscous and roast vegetables (onion, carrot, pumpkin, capsicum, courgette) MOROCCAN
• Crumbed chicken drumsticks with homemade coleslaw
  http://chelseawinter.co.nz/crumbed-chicken-drumstick-recipe/
• Chicken cassoulet FRENCH
• Chicken stir fry with asian egg noodles and vegetables ASIAN
• Chicken Curry (Butter chicken/korma/balti/rogan josh) with naan bread INDIAN
• Chicken Schnitzel
• Chicken Pita Pockets
• Chicken Parmagiana ITALIAN
• Chicken Fricasse FRENCH
• Chicken Fried Rice ASIAN
• Chicken marylands/drumsticks, tomato and olives casserole
• Chelsea Winter Italian chicken and potato bake with mozarella and vinaigrette
• Roasted chicken breast with creamy herb sauce
• Gypsy Chicken
• Chicken Tenders Wraps

BEEF

• Beef and guinness casserole
• Whole scotch fillet with sauce vierge 
• Crumbed beef schnitzel, noodles and corn/peas combo
• Beef stir fry with rice and vegetables ASIAN
• Steak with creamy peppercorn sauce and potato gratin (Annabelle Langbein recipe)
• Steak Sandwiches
• BBQ Sausages
• Hearty Beef Minestrone
• Beef Bourginon
• Curried Sausages
• Beef and Vege Pot Pies
• Crockpot Potato and Sausage Casserole
• Tomato and beef casserole slowcooker recipe
• Creamy mustard sauce beef stir fry

PORK

• Pork sausages, cannellini beans and tomato stew 
• Pork chops, noodles, and peas
• Roast pork
• Pork belly
• Bacon bagels
• Pork Pops with sweet chilli sauce
• Pea and ham risotto
• Hot Dogs
• Scotch eggs

LAMB

• Roast Lamb
• Butterfly Lamb
• Lamb cutlets/lamb rack-with potato rosti's
• Greek style lamb kebabs GREEK 
• Greek style Lamb Steaks with cannellini mash GREEK
• Lamb and rosemary Potato Pie
• Moussaka GREEK
• Moroccan lamb stew MOROCCAN
• Lamb Kofta’s GREEK
• Greek style meatballs in tomato sauce
• Lamb wraps
• warm lamb salad
• Slow cooked lamb and lentils

FISH

•  Crumbed or pan fried fish, french fries and peas or salad

PASTA

• Macaroni cheese with bacon
• Carbonara
• Tomato and olive penne pasta 
• Pea and ham rissoto
• Sundried tomato and cream penne pasta
• Ravioli

PIZZA

• Homemade Pizza’s

EGGS

• Bacon and egg pie
• Breakfast dinner- eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, breakfast sausages
• Omelette
• Boiled/poached/scrambled eggs
• Cheese, bacon and spaghetti pie
• Eggie Surprise (poached egg on toast with spaghetti on top)

SALADS

• Chorizo and potato salad 
• Caesar Salad 
• Greek salad
• Potato salad

VEGETARIAN

•  Falafel with pita bread, salad and yoghurt dressing MIDDLE EASTERN
•  Quiche with bread rolls and salad/peas/beans
•  Frittata 
•  Vegetarian Chilli
•  Vegetable soup with yoghurt and olive oil, garlic and herb topping with cheese on toast 
• Corn fritters with sweet chilli sauce

SOUPS

•  Chorizo and lentil soup
•  Chicken, vegetable and pasta soup
•  Minestrone 
•  French onion soup FRENCH
• Chicken Noodle and Pea Soup

Easy kids meals

• Picky-tea- boiled eggs, sausages, cheese, carrot and gherkin sticks, sausage rolls?
• Sushi

The other thing I've finally done is set up a master list for my grocery shopping- I shop online with Countdown.  I was re-inventing the wheel every week adding the same stuff and the same amounts to my basket so now I can just add all of that straight away and then add any other extras we need plus the ingredients for dinners. Can't wait to see how much quicker it is next week having that done!
Have you been doing any organising lately or have any organising you want to do? Or do you have  a favourite dinner or desert recipe on your blog that you'd like to share? Or just some more ideas for meals or categogories?  Leave a comment and you'll be in to win this cute tea towel set :)

Thanks for reading and happy organising!
Megan

Meals for new mums

It was really lovely to read a comment from Lisa at Sweet Georgia and the Crafty Squirrel recently saying that some of the recipes I have put on my blog have become family favourites-they are mostly my hubby's recipes as he is a far better cook than I am!  It's been a while since I shared a recipe on here but this one by NZ chef Ray McVinnie is one I've been meaning to share for ages as it's a real goodie.

Chicken Fricassée by Ray McVinnie

There are 5 reasons why I love cooking this meal for a friend who has just had a baby.

1.  It is all cooked in the one pot.
2.  A whole meal- meat, potatoes and veges- is in this dish so all a new mum or dad has to do is heat it up- there's no need to add anything.
3. Toddlers and children will eat this meal as well- well mine luckily do and my friends' 19 month old did as well!
4. If you break it up with a fork it's also a great meal for a baby- Jack loved it tonight (being on the tramp with his crazy sisters for nearly an hour might have helped him build up an appetite though!)
5. The chicken, bacon, baby potatoes and creamy sauce make it a really tasty dinner which is a nice treat for new parents.

This recipe comes from Ray McVinnie's cookbook 'Everyday Sunday' (his collected recipes from the Sunday Star Times 'Sunday' magazine).  

I have found it enough for 4 adults and 2 or 3 children +baby as well. There are a lot of ingredients but it is an easy meal to cook.

"Fricassée is a French term for a traditional dish of white meat like chicken or veal in a creamy sauce with vegetables."

3 tbls olive oil
3/4 tsp dried tarragon
3 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 stick celery, thinly sliced
1 leek, thinly sliced
5 rashers rindless bacon, chopped
300 g button mushrooms, halved
6 skinned and boned single chicken breasts, each cut into 3 across the grain of the meat
125ml dry white wine
12 baby waxy potatoes, well scrubbed
750ml chicken stock
3 tbls cornflour mixed with 3 tbls water
250ml fresh cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup coarsly chopped chervil (or parsley), plus exta for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a large, wide, deep pan over moderate heat. Add the tarragon, garlic, onion, carrot, celery, leek, bacon and mushrooms. Fry gently, without browning, for about 10 minutes until the onion is soft.
2. Add the chicken and mix well, letting the chicken colour all over. Add the wine and let it bubble then add the potatoes and chicken stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are tender.
3.  Bring back to the boil and stir in the cornflour slurry to thicken the fricassee.  Stir in the cream and bring back to the boil again.
4. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add the chervil and mix well. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes so the chicken absorbs the sauce.
5. Serve sprinkled with extra chervil.

Other meals I can think of that are good to take around to new mums are lasagne, shepherds/cottage pie, meatloaf, chicken soup, chicken pie, sausage, bean and tomato stew- would love to hear of more ideas- (maybe you have a recipe on your blog and could put a link to it?)

Megan x

New Years Eve party drinks

Just sneaking in one more post for 2011;) I've been meaning to share some party drink recipes I've come across lately and today's Herald had some more so I thought I'd share them in case you are wanting to make some party drinks for tomorrow night.  Some have rather fancy ingredients but I guess a good liquor store should stock them ?! I prefer recipes where you make it all in a jug/pitcher so there are some of these and some where you make them in each guests individual glass.

Cocktails

White Wine Sangria

from Womans Day magazine Dec 12
1 cup apple liqueur
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 cups pineapple juice
1 pomegranate, seeded
1 pear, cored and finely chopped
1 green apple, cored and chopped
1 lime, finely slices
750ml bottle chilled white wine
ice to serve

1. In a jug, combine liqueur and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves.
2. Add juice and fruit, chill. Top up with wine and serve over ice.

For a red wine sangria recipe check out this one here (there are lots more cocktail and mocktail recipes on here too www.thebartender.co.nz)

Pimms Jug
From NZ Herald Dec 30 - recipes by Frankie Walker from The Mix (lots more recipes and tips on this website)
Take a jug or long drink glass, fill it with ice. Mix in one part Pimms No 1 cup with three parts chilled lemonade. Add some mint, cucumber, orange or strawberry.

Summer Breeze

Recipe is for either glass or jug

1 and a half parts vodka

half part elderflower cordial

2 parts apple juice or apple cider

2 parts white grapefuit juice

grapefruit wedge to garnish

1. Fill a highball glass with ice and squeeze in a wedge of grapefruit. Add vodka, elderflower cordial and apple juice and top with grapefruit juice. Stir well and serve.

Passionfruit Mojito

Recipe is per glass

20 ml Monin Passion fruit puree

60 ml white rum

100ml perrier lime

Half of a fresh lime

10 mint leaves

crushed ice

Muddle lime wedges, lime and passion fruit puree in the bottom of a glass. Add crushed ice. Top up with rum, stir gently and add Perrier lime water. Top up with more crushed ice and decorate with fresh mint sprig

Champagne Cocktail

Recipe is per glass

15 ml gin

10 ml lemon juice

5 ml sugar syrup

30 ml fresh pomegranate juice

Build the ingredients in a chilled champagne flute, top with champagne and garnish with lemon zest.

Russian Spring Punch

From inthespirit.co.uk

12 shots of vodka

3 shots of Creme de Cassis

1 bottle of champagne or sparkling white wine

Ice

1. Fill glasses with ice

2. Mix vodka and creme de cassis in jug

3. Add champagne to jug just before serving to retain the fizz

4. Serve in glasses and garnish with lemon slice or raspberries

Cosmopolitan cocktail

From KidSpot.co.nz

Recipe is per glass

half of a lime, chopped

30 mls of vodka

60 mls of cranberry juice

10 mls of lime juice

crushed ice

orange zest

Muddle chopped lime in glass (I'm guessing that squeezing lime into the glass will suffice for those without 'muddlers'!), pour vodka, cranberry juice and lime juice into glass. Top with crushed ice and orange zest.

Mocktails


Vanilla Apple Dry Mocktail (serves 8)

from Womans Day magazine Dec 12

4 limes, cut into wedges
2 cups apple juice
2 tablespoons vanilla syrup
Ice
1 litre ginger ale
Green apple slices, to serve

1. Squeeze half a lime into each glass. Add quarter of a cup apple juice and 1 teaspoon syrup to each. Stir to combine. Add ice and top up with ginger ale. Serve with apple slices

Raspberry Watermelon Crush (serves 8)

from Womans Day magazine Dec 12

1 kg seedless watermelon, rind removed, chopped
500 g frozen raspberries
1 bunch of mint leaves, plus extra to serve
1 litre lemonade, chilled

1. Cover watermelon with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes
2. In a bowl, mix watermelon, raspberries and mint together until well combined. Spoon evenly into glasses. Top up with lemonade and serve with mint leaves.

Have a great night and Happy New Year!
Megan

lemon and ginger syrup

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've been here, and I've missed it! We had a break last week and then this week I've had the classic winter cold that has left me feeling a bit worse for wear- hopefully nearing the end now though. Anyway, I came across this inspiring blog the other day full of recipes and other lovely things so I decided to have a go at making the lemon and ginger syrup (I am loving fresh ginger at the moment!) It was nice and easy to make, tastes delicious and my little ones loved it too.
I found the bottles from Briscoes and used these cute labels from Mixing Ink (they were featured in the latest Homestyle magazine).

This would be a lovely gift with a cute mug wouldn't it :)

I'm new to the whole preserving thing so I've got a question about sterilising jars and bottles. I found these instructions for sterilising but was surprised with how much you have to do to sterilise a bottle! I would have thought that cleaning them and putting them in the pot of boiling water was enough. Does anyone know a quicker way to sterilise or have any other tips?

And if you've got a cold at the moment too Wendyl Nissen has some great tips in her latest newsletter and on her website- I like the idea of a hot bath with some essential oils like eucalyptus, lavender and peppermint!

Have a great weekend!
Megan x