Author: Judith

my blog is plainandsimpleblog.com
book reviews · health and wellbeing · recipes

Rosemary

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Rosemary has been an asset to me over the years. Not only for boosting the flavour of many a lamb roast, but also for the most reputable nutritional guidance one could ever hope to receive. The former of course, being the glossy green herb and the latter, Dr Rosemary Stanton OAM, one of Australia’s leading nutritionists.

Rosemary Stanton received her OAM (medal of the Order of Australia) for her services to community health. She has dispensed, across the decades, sound evidence-based information regarding food and nutrition, and during sessions of nutritional wagon falls, it is her books I turn to with a cup of lemon balm tea. My advocacy of her work is not solely based on her most recent enlightening book, The Choice Guide to Food, but by virtue of the fact that, dietary recommendations she has made in her early career and over the years, still stand today –  whilst a multitude of other nutritional claims and fads have come and gone.

When a delve into the science of human nutrition is required, we need the information to be delivered in simple terms, so we have the ability to surface with knowledge that is relevant and practical for us to live by. Rosemary’s style of writing supports this. I was thrilled to discover in her latest publication, not only does she cover food from the view of our physical health, but also for that of the health of our budget and  the planet.

To boost your own nutritional wellbeing, incorporate a couple of her recipes into your weekly meal rotation, they can be found in many of her publications or in various pages on the web. Here is her farmhouse soup from which to launch.

Let’s not overlook, however, the other rosemary who has also done a fine job throughout her career in my kitchen. Scattered over roasted potato wedges, blended through soups and kneaded into bread dough, Rosmarinus officinalis could also qualify for her own medal – for services to our taste buds.

Postscript: this post was written with a salute to Remembrance Day

recipes

Custard

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Not sure about you, but anything custardy really takes my fancy.

Vanilla slices, tarts, croissants and buns all plump with custard, beckon whenever I pass a bakery window. Even a simply produced stove top pouring custard can add a whole new dimension to a slice of cake nearing its ‘best before’. Indeed, custard ladled over any pudding gets the thumbs up from me.

Passionfruit Custard Slice is a true culinary treat – the passionfruit tang harmonises perfectly with the creamy filling. Add to it the nice crisp crunch of the base, and to coin Jamie Oliver, it will brighten up your life.

The foundation of the slice consists of lattice biscuits – not to be confused with the lattice from this post. (Buried in the deep recesses of my memory, I can recall as a child, my auntie serving these biscuits as a dessert smothered in hot stewed rhubarb and cream). Do you have a lattice biscuit memory?

Piled up on your prettiest serving plate, these slices are the perfect accompaniment to rich coffee, warm friends and hot gossip.

1 packet Arnott’s Lattice biscuits
1/3 cup custard powder
2 cups milk
1/4 cup castor sugar
2 cups icing sugar
pulp of 2-3 passionfruit (dependent on how juicy yours are)

  1. Lay 9 biscuits on the base of a tray (in 3×3 rows) lined with baking paper.
  2. In a saucepan, mix custard powder with 1/4 cup of the milk until it is completely blended.
  3. Add the rest of the milk and the sugar and stir over a medium heat until the custard comes to the boil. Reduce heat and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
  4. Leave custard to cool slightly with plastic wrap over the top to stop skin forming.
  5. Pour warm custard over the biscuits and arrange another 9 biscuit layer over the top.
  6. Refrigerate until set (approx 1 hour).
  7. Sift icing sugar into a bowl and add passionfruit pulp a spoonful at a time, mixing well. Icing needs to be thick rather than runny so it sets well on top. Spread icing over the top biscuit layer and refrigerate until icing has set.
  8. Cut into squares using the shape of the biscuits as your guide. Makes 9

Postscript: …or in bed with a cup of tea and a magazine.

craft

Wrap

Judith4 Comments

Anticipation claims a good fifty percent of the enjoyment of receiving a gift. Peeling away a colourful sheath to reveal hidden treasure will capture even the most seasoned adult’s attention. Watch children at Christmastime tear open long-awaited santa deliveries, immersed in the thrill of expectation.

Despite the profusion of sophisticated giftwrap and the related trimmings available, I find brown paper parcels particularly appealing. Maybe this links back to a time before postpacks, when parcels were sent in the mail securely wrapped for the journey in their crisp brown coatings and neutral twine lacing.  Ours usually arrived addressed in the unmistakable curled handwriting of my grandmother, and I knew to expect some new ‘woollens’, a newsy letter and a lovely soft toy upon opening.

Moving into 2012, plain paper and string strikes a sustainability chord. No inks or bleach and fresh flowers that will eventually be returned to the earth, sits well with me.

If you arm yourself with a few rolls brown paper and a large ball of twine, this will serve as your gift wrapping kit, to cover all ages, occasions and gender. Look to your garden for the finishing touches – herbs, flowers, autumn leaves and pods – to personalise your package that will be eagerly anticipated.

Postscript: if you ‘garnish’ your gifts in other ways – do tell!

recipes

Pomodoro

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Characteristics of a good friend: reliable, flexible, of substance, mood elevating. Homemade tomato sauce is therefore an exceptional ally.

What’s more, it is extremely reassuring to know you have this chum in the freezer, as within a short space of defrosting time, you can be nursing a fresh bowl of pasta al pomodoro. My stash is often called upon on pizza night – sloshed over simple homemade bases with a selection of delicacies on top – divine. Equally good as a bed for the humble meatball, this sauce just keeps on giving.

All angst concerning overripe tomatoes threatening to be wasted is alleviated. These specimens make the most delectable sauce. With summer approaching you are bound to be confronted with garden surplus or irresistible market deals – make lots, freeze plenty and feel smug.

1/4 cup olive oil
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
sea salt and black pepper
small bunch fresh oregano leaves, torn

Heat the oil in saucepan over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes and simmer until they become pulpy and the sauce begins to thicken. Add garlic, stir through and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir through oregano. Using a stick blender, puree to a consistency you are happy with. I like mine to contain plenty of tomato chunks. Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups.

personal style

Gallop

Judith4 Comments

Whilst some claim it’s the jockeys and the horses and yet others believe it is the betting and the winnings, quite frankly, I’m here to tell you it’s all about the hats. I defy you to attend any glamour racing event – such as our imminent Melbourne Cup – and not be halted in your tracks by the spectacle of headwear on parade.

Fortunately, many ladies in our town are keen race-goers at this time of year and that leads to a high turnover of hats. Thus, there is rarely any difficulty picking up a post-race beauty in our local recycle shop for a sliver of its original price tag (see above). After a few jets from the steam iron and a bit of feather-fluffing, your pre-paraded beauty is ready for its next outing.

Hats are treated so respectfully on race days, that it’s very likely you will be able to find a second-hand one in pristine condition. Scour your local recycle boutiques (popping up far more frequently these days) and you may be delighted by what is on offer. Flowers, feathers and the like can easily be updated if they are a little tired, and to create your ensemble, begin with your hat and match an outfit to it – far simpler than the reverse.

Of course, the greater percentage of us will not actually be trackside ‘at the race that stops a nation’, but rather gathered with convivial company at a backyard barbeque or around a picnic table sharing cheese, bread and wine. Nevertheless don you hat proudly and feel special. It is a special day and you are part of it.

gardening · homemaking

Bloom

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The Spring Racing Carnival is on our doorstep, and how do I know this? Why, I have just clipped my first bunch of roses for the season of course.

Not to be confused with the splendor of the Flemington Race Track, our roses are looking pretty good this year, and I believe it may be due more to favorable weather conditions combined with neglect rather than any horticultural prowess on my part. I will take credit, however, for the arrangement.

What a strange dichotomy the rose-bush is – the bulk of the year spent as a spiky, jutting, nondescript cane and then almost overnight, metamorphosing into a lavish leaved bush filled with unfurling colorful jewels. Their appearance is so sudden and display so elegant, that even the routine journey to the office is punctuated with pleasant garden glimpses.

Roses have the ability to laugh in the face of colour scheme edicts. Pile their clashing colours into a vase and you are immediately rewarded with an object of beauty, that becomes the focal point of the room and the elevator of spirits to all who enter.

These are tea roses and to me, bestow far greater beauty and fragrance (and economy) than the hothouse variety. This season, bring a bunch of your blooms indoors and try not to smile as you walk past your posy.

health and wellbeing

Slow

Judith1 Comment

Observe the pace of a snail and you may not be particularly impressed. Plant a row of seedlings and witness the magnitude of the decimation the following morning. Conclusion: speed is not a prerequisite to achievement. Are hares and tortoises ringing bells here?

To say we have a lot to do is an understatement. We carry large bags filled with tasks and as quickly as we offload them, new bags with bigger bulges are waiting to be collected. The obvious answer to this is to work faster, harder and smarter and then surely we will get ahead of those bags. Not so – the bags keep coming – and this is a good thing really, as this is the essence of life. We are going about our business.

Believe it or not, the snail has his (relative) bags too. His approach is a measured and steady one, and without haste or anxiety he works through his bag and accepts the next one the following day.

Lately, when I see the ‘To Do’ list lengthening on my notebook, I have been looking to the snail and deliberately reducing speed. Rather than tearing through one chore at a hare’s pace with my mind on the next, I’m finding that taking my time and considering the task at hand means I can be more effective and content. Many things that are done at break-neck speed are often not done well and yes, while they can be ticked off, an underlying sense of dissatisfaction lurks.

What I have come to recognise is these bags are actually filled with pieces of life. Whether they be peeling potatoes, making time to catch up with a friend or driving to the office, they are all using allocated life time and this is far too important to be lost in an unconscious blur of scampering rabbit’s feet.

I encourage you to take it slowly this week and make like the snail. As my mother often says, life is a marathon, not a sprint, and as usual she’s right.

Postscript: I must give credit to the in-house wildlife photographer for today’s image, my daughter Adelaide.

family · health and wellbeing

Swing

Judith2 Comments

Whoever coined the phrase ‘what you lose on the swings, you make up on the roundabouts’, could only have been referring to the loss of troubles and cares, because really there is nothing more to be lost and so much to be gained from a whizz through the air on a backyard swing.

Did you have a childhood swing? Mine was a modest affair – a small plank of pine board with holes drilled either side for the fastening rope to be threaded through and secured. Attached to a cherry plum tree, this swing took me many places and waited patiently in all weathers for my return.

Our present day swing sports great technological advancement since those days – now resplendent with its yellow synthetic seat. Other than that, the rope is similar, as far as I know trees are still trees, and from what I observe through my kitchen window, the youthful passengers are transported on similar journeys.

With christmas on the horizon and if you don’t already have one, a backyard swing is a wonderful family gift. While seasonal toys may break, lose pieces, run out of battery power or simply fall out of favor, your loyal swing, transcending ‘ages and stages’, will be only too happy to be part of another childhood experience.

recipes

Scones

JudithLeave a comment

Even when the pantry and the refrigerator are looking threadbare, you can usually pull together the constituents of a batch of scones to appease the ravenous.

It seems an urban myth has been circulating over the years, claiming an elusive secret to producing the ‘perfect scone’, and having made many batches fairly easily I wonder why. This theory can be immediately dispelled however, by following this foolproof recipe.

There are no end of scone recipes out there in the universe, accompanied by the mandatory dos and don’ts. This recipe makes 8 large great scones (or additional smaller ones for the less piggy), quickly and simply. Not sure if they are perfect but they taste delish and all disappear on the day.

2 cups SR Flour
pinch salt
30g butter (straight from refrigerator) chopped
1 cup milk
extra milk for brushing

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Sift flour and salt into bowl. Add butter and rub it through the flour with fingertips until it disappears and no lumps remain. Pour in milk and stir through with a knife until a sticky dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead only a few times until you have a circular pat about 4cm thick (use extra flour if you need to). Using a scone cutter or glass, press out your scones and lay them close to one another on a greased tray. Brush tops with extra milk. Place in the oven and reduce temperature to 200 degrees C. Bake for approximately 15 – 20 mins, or until brown on top.

Providing the perfect backdrop for homemade jams and preserves or as the youngest member in our family requests –  plain with butter – scones are the quintessential comfort food – no secret about that.

recipes

Fizz

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Soft drink really isn’t our cup of tea.

Correction – my cup of tea, as I’m sure if you canvassed the junior members of the household there may be a different response. Making fresh raspberry cordial is my way of meeting them half way and on a warm afternoon, served with chilled soda and a sprig of mint, there are no complaints.

Using those same raspberries that decorate my breakfast bowl, lemon juice and some sugar, you can whip up almost two bottles of luscious red syrup, which look particularly attractive in the door of the refrigerator. Experiment with other varieties of frozen berries –  the mixed berry packs make delicious cordial too.

5 cups water
2 cups sugar
juice of 1 lemon
500 grams frozen raspberries

Pour water into a large bowl, add sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Stir in lemon juice. Place berries in a separate bowl and add a cup of the sugar syrup. Using a stick blender, puree the berries completely. Pour the berry mix back into the main sugar syrup bowl and stir. Using a funnel, decant the mixture into bottle(s). Chill.

To make the drinks up, pour as much as you like (over ice is nice), throw in some fresh mint leaves and top with soda water or sparkling mineral water.

If you have an aversion to loads of disposable plastic bottles circulating through your home, as I do, I can recommend the bubbler we use below – one bottle, loads of tap water and a constant supply of sparkling liquid.

Postscript: I prefer mine stirred not shaken…