14 December 2016

Sewing, baking and travelling

Hello my friends. I've had a busy week here working on Christmas sewing, mending, gardening and ripping out most of our tomato bushes, tidying up my workroom, cooking and baking. The main event though is preparing to drive to Wollongong to visit my dear friend Rose who is very ill.  Hanno will stay at home with Jamie and Gracie. Consequently, there will be no Weekend Reading this week because I haven't had time to do much reading. This will be my last post until mid next week.

A little bunny in sundress and undies for someone special.


I thought I'd share a very simple but versatile recipe with you today. It's something I whipped up during the week and it fed us for three meals.  It's a pastry-free quiche.  




The basic recipe is a mixture of: 
  • 8 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)
  • 250ml (one cup) cream
  • crushed garlic
  • salt and pepper
Into that mix add whatever vegetables you have on hand that you like the taste of or need to use.  I had some asparagus that sat on top of the egg mix. In the egg mixture, pre-cooked in a frying pan, were:
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • parsley, chopped
  • 1 red capsicum, chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 4 mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 zucchini, chopped
but the choice of vegetables depends on what you have on hand. It will work with most vegies. Pour the mixture into an oven-proof container and bake in a 170C oven until it's golden brown on top and still has a slight wobble.

I also like to use cooked sweet potato or potato with a scattering of peas. It's delicious hot but I prefer it on the following days, cold from the fridge.  It would be an excellent lunch box meal because it travels well.  


Above is a photo of the last ginger syrup I made. I made an interesting discovery with this syrup. I left it on the stove top, covered in a saucepan, for 48 hours instead of the 24 hours I usually leave it. They were warm days. When I poured the liquid into the storage bottle I noticed a few bubbles and was pleased that it had started to ferment. After two days in the cupboard, there were more bubbles so I released the gasses in the glass bottle and moved it into the fridge to slow down the fermentation process. I always use plastic bottles when I make ginger beer. When I made it up and tasted it, it was delicious! It was smooth with a more complex, slightly alcoholic flavour than the ginger syrup I usually make. Now I have two bottles - one my usual syrup and one that has natural fermentation. I think I'll put in some more work on the next batch of ginger syrup and see where that takes me.

And finally, I realised a couple of days ago though that the second instalment of the Great British Sewing Bee wasn't shown here last Saturday, so I wrote to the TV channel and asked why.  Email back today says it continues this Saturday at 7pm. It will be followed by the Great Chelsea Garden Challenge. If you live in Australia, was it on where you live?

Don't forget, I'll be away for a week. I'll see you next Wednesday.


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28 comments

  1. Travel safe - enjoy the trip. A good time to put on your favourite music and 'let rip' in the car to some Amy Winehouse!

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    1. I would laugh out loud to this if I didn't have a sleeping baby on me :-)
      -Kelly B

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  2. Give my love and best wishes to Rose, she has been in my prayers. If she is well enough to be interested you may like to let her know I am still very slowly continuing her decluttering challenge from earlier this year, with regards to shredding old paperwork (I had no idea I had so much stored).

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  3. Safe travels and I hope your friend is much better very soon!

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  4. Woop wooop!!!! Thank you for doing the hard yards and finding out about the Great British Sewing Bee! I was wondering why it wasn't shown last week. Thank you again.

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  5. Have a great and safe trip, Rhonda!

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  6. The sweet rabbit you have made and dressed is so cute! She will make a beautiful gift for Christmas.
    I hope your friend Rose feels a lot better when she sees you. She will be in my prayers. Have a safe journey, please take some breaks on the way, it is a long drive, take care.
    Thanks for the recipe I'm going to cook this for dinner tonight!

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  7. Safe trip Rhonda, the little bunny is gorgeous! Please give dear Rose all our love and best wishes. I think of her daily and continue to hold her in my prayers.

    xx

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  8. have a safe trip & wish Rose well for me too,
    hope she has a speedy recovery
    love the bunny, a lovely gift
    see you next week
    thanx for sharing
    selina from kilkivan qld

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  9. Hello Rhonda
    Just wondering what book hosts your lovely ginger beer recipe? The syrup looks delicious! Thanks for another great blog post.

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    1. Cara, are you the Cara I met the other day? Here is the recipe for ginger beer here on the blog: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/making-ginger-beer-from-scratch.html and this is the ginger syrup: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com.au/2016/11/growing-and-using-ginger.html

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  10. Safe travels Rhonda. I tried to track down the Great British Sewing Bee but couldn't find it on Free to Air. Which channel are you watching it on at your home? I'll try to catch it this Saturday. Your quiche looks delicious. Have a wonderful and fulfilling Christmas. I'm not sure if I will be blogging over Christmas as we will be with family.

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    1. It's on GEM-92. This is the link to the first episode https://www.9now.com.au/the-great-british-sewing-bee/season-1/episode-1

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  11. Please tell Rose that I am praying for her recovery and miss her wonderful spirit

    Anna from Pleasant View Schoolhouse

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  12. Rhonda, I really like the look of the whole lengths of asparagus in your pastry free quiche. I hope you can bring some comfort and laughs to Rose. I don't live that far from Rose and the weather has been good here, I hope it stays this way for your stay.

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  13. Safe travels, Rhonda, and please give Rose all our love.

    Your rabbit is darling. I just took up embroidery and can't believe how relaxing it is! My oldest daughter is learning with me and we've been making ornaments together.
    -Jaime

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  14. Thankyou for the link to the show, I enjoyed it!

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  15. Safe trip to spend time with your friend. I like the look of that recipe. I cook for one usually so I plan to halve the recipe, make it with the 4 eggs, but I'm always looking for another way to use the harvest from my allotment and this dish fits the bill.

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  16. That recipe sounds really good. I am always looking for recipes that I can cook for my son. He is a diabetic and so many things are full of carbs which he needs to avoid. All the vegies you suggested are ones that he can have and he loves eggs and cheese.

    I'll be trying that soon.

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  17. Love the lady bunny! Prayers for Rose and for safe travel for you. Carolyn in Florida

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  18. Please know that your weekend reading will be sadly missed in Michigan but please give hugs and good thoughts to Rose when you see her. Love the crustless quiche, thank you.

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  19. Thanks for the information regarding the Great British Sewing Bee. Best wishes to your friend Rose and safe travels.

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  20. :-((((( Great British Sewing Bee is not showing up on either the guide on the TV for showing tonight and nor is it showing up on the online TV guide - it looks like its going to be a rerun of some Brady Bunch flick. Booorrring!

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  21. Oh, Rhonda Jean, I am so sorry to read about Rose! Much love and prayers for her (and will keep her close in prayer right on) and for you as you travel ♥

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  22. I thought I'd somehow managed to miss the Great British Sewing Bee last week, I was not happy (it's on tonight for sure, well it's listed in the TV guide so we'll soon find out).

    Merry Christmas everyone.

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  23. I hope you and Rose have a good visit. It's nice to see the snapshots from your busy week - and another lovely bunny! Beth in MN

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  24. Rhonda, could you tell me where you got the pattern for your bunny girl? I think I need to make one!

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