A Rambling Sort of Post...

This was our dinner on Sunday night. It was a "We've had a long day in the garden and can't be bothered with any major cooking", type of dinner. It was PURPLE porridge!! We had a handful of frozen blueberries and bilberries left over from something so I chucked them in the pot as the porridge was cooking. Then topped with peach slices and juice...YUM!

And it was stirred with my new favourite spoon, a gift from my Dad to all his girls for Christmas. He made these from pine lining boards that he had lying around and with that flat edge you don't get ANY porridge sticking.

The kids have all the Lego out at the moment (not that it ever entirely gets put away - sigh!), and these are some of their latest creations. Miss 11's jungle glider...

FJ's hover craft...

The disguiser (their name, not mine), closed...

And now open...

And various creations of Blondie's...

And the best invention EVER!! Easy reading chapter books designed for BOYS!!!!! Boys can be such reluctant readers if the subject doesn't interest them. And trust me, most early readers do not hold a boy's attention for long. Zac Power, however, has not been put down, since FJ discovered that they had a series aimed at his level. He is now my latest bookworm.

Aunties - please send my eldest good vibes tomorrow - she has her final audition and interview for the music scholarship program, and is understandably nervous. The trombone has not been put down since she got home.

Blondie invents a new recipe - sort of!!

My little blondie loves to bake and cook. She especially loves her aunt's (The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady) chocolate brownies. Well on Monday night she decided to make another batch and Mummy was not supervising properly and this is the result...!

She substituted raw sugar for the brown sugar, and mixed it into the butter while the butter was still melting, which I think started to caramalise it. Then she realised we had no eggs left - we'd just had omelets for dinner. "Mummy - what can I use instead of eggs?"

Well, a cake book I had said that a dssp of custard powder mixed with a tbsp milk makes an acceptable substitute for eggs - hmm.

OK - so the butter didn't combine with the flour, the sugar has all caramalised - but it is jaw-breakingly good. It has the brownie flavour, odd bits are chewy and the rest is like hard toffee.

YUM!!!

Spinach and Rice Pie

This is all that's left of dinner - and that's only because I stopped them eating the last bit as I wanted some for lunch tomorrow. I can't remember where I got this recipe but it SOO good. Universal approval is hard to come by in my house, but this meal gets it...

SPINACH AND RICE PIE

3/4 cup rice (we use brown)

50 g butter

1/2 cup sliced spring onions

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups hot milk

1 cup cooked spinach, chopped (I also grate in about half a zucchini)

1 1/2 cups grated tasty cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Cook rice by your method of choice, and allow to cool. I usually steam my spinach and zucchini over the top of the rice pot at the same time. Melt butter in a pan and cook spring onions until soft. Beat eggs in a large bowl, add rice, spring onions and butter, and remaining ingredients (I usually add a good grate of nutmeg, too). Pour into a greased 23 cm pie dish. Bake at 190 degrees celcius for 35-40 minutes, until pie is lightly set. Leave pie to stand for 10 minutes. Serve pie warm or cold, cut into wedges.