Viewing entries tagged with 'ginger'
Best Ever Porridge with a touch of Ayurveda
It seems to be true that as you get older your digestion becomes more sensitive and reactive. I used to be able to eat anything and in large quantities and suffer no consequences. Now I need to eat in a conscious way and choose carefully what I put into my body. Don't get me wrong, for the most part of my adult life I've endeavered to eat organic wholefood. However, these days there seems to be an increasing overload of weird stuff that goes into or onto our bodies no matter what we do. One of my daughters rang the other day to tell me she had read the label of the 'organic' rice milk that she had been enjoying of late and there it was. To her disappointment they were using canola oil. As my other daughter told me recently when talking about food "you have to choose your battles". Taking into account the high prices of everything so-called organically produced, for most regular families to make those healthy choices it must feel almost unachievable.
PLUM SAUCE
I've finally got around to making another batch of plum sauce. The last precious bottle was consumed nearly a year ago and by gosh I've missed it. I don't care for any of the commercially made sauces. I use my plum sauce on burgers, sausages, fried eggs (divine), and pan fried potatoes. I do have plum trees but they haven't got to the age yet of producing enough plums for sauce or jam making. I had some plums given to me last season and was too busy at the time to make them into sauce. They keep well enough frozen for sauce making so I freeze them in 2.7kg (6lb) lots until I'm ready and psyched for a day in the kitchen. Today was that day. It was cold and rainy, and Molly, my eldest daughter was visiting. We had planned to do some house painting. Instead we stoked up the fire, and spent a day inside cooking and eating. For recipe read the full post.
Christmas cake
Making my christmas cake is something I look forward to each November. For me it is the first marker of the festive season. Every year I use a different recipe. Years ago I would diligently follow recipes searching for the perfect one. These days I'm inspired by one of my daughters who makes amazing cakes but never repeats a recipe. Most of her baking is a spontaneous affair. She understands the chemistry of cake making and creates recipes as she goes along. A few years back she made christmas cakes as christmas presents. About 12 cakes from memory, with three variations. It was hard to choose which one of the three variations was most delectable. In her usual style she has no record of the specifics, and I've been trying to recreate them ever since. My favorite essentials are chunks of dark chocolate and ginger and this time I have used coriander and cardamom powder. Another element is my home made mixed peel delicious and far superior in flavour to the shop bought stuff. It has added a cointreau like flavour to the raw mixture. I confess I licked the bowl clean! For more details read the full post.
Ala's Chicken Noodle soup
Last week my youngest, who is twenty three years young and a nurse to boot, rang me up for this family recipe. She was getting a cold and this was the medicine she was after. It really only has six ingredients so very quick and easy to make but serves a mighty punch. I've just eaten a bowl as I made it today. And yes I am fully satisfied, my tummy is full and my nose and head are clear. Here's why.
Spicy Pear and Ginger Chutney
Everyone in our family loves to eat home-made chutney and relish....peach chutney, fresh fig chutney, pear chutney, quince chutney, apple and date chutney, tomato relish, beetroot relish, feijoa chutney, plum chutney and tamarillo chutney. When a chutney making session is in progress ahhh the different smells, you can almost see them! The tendrils of aroma curling up and around in the air. The spices, the fruit, the vinegar it's intoxicating! I had a session yesterday. I made a spicy pear chutney and a feijoa chutney. The feijoa is a green egg-shaped fruit that originally came from South America but we kiwis (yes that's what we call ourselves here in NZ) have taken it as our own. It's a childhood tradition come end of summer to be able to sit under the feijoa tree in the backyard and eat the fallen fruit until you can eat no more. This spicy pear chutney I made yesterday is one of my personal favourites, and to make it you need,
More than just a lemon drink
When you are getting a cold, a sore throat, a cough or the flu this drink is wonderful. I make it in a huge mug and have one mug at least three times a day, if am suffering from any of the above. It feels so good to get this down you. Soothing, warming and definately healing. The trick is to get into a nice warm bed after drinking and you will work up a bit of heat and a sweat, which means your body is getting rid of toxins and also helping to kill the bugs. Garlic is a powerful natural antibiotic, and lemons a source of Vitamin C. Honey soothes and heals raw tissue such as a sore throat. For more details read the full post
Chilblains
CHILBLAINS (Pernio) Yes it’s the season for chilblains. I have never suffered from them myself but my youngest daughter suffered from them between the age of about 12 and 18. Strangely enough it took us quite a while to realise what they were. No-one in our family had ever had them before. Most of the time there was hardly anything to see just a puffiness - a slight discoloration of purpley-red, and a shiny look to the affected toes and of course she complained of itchiness, burning pain and sensitivity.
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