the Nest

Birthday Pavlova

Emily — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:40:48 +0000

It was Fergals birthday today- he is one day older than I, and unfortunately for him there have been many a year that I almost forgot about our birthdays- no, actually, it was more a case of being oblivious that it was the end of April already. But this year I was organised!-ish! So I had a presents, cards, and when he came home from work: this pavlova.

Such a simple and delicious dessert!

To start, preheat the oven to 180′C. Take the whites of 5 eggs (make sure that not a speck of yellow gets in with the whites). With a balloon whisk, whip up the whites until stiff, and then, for every egg, you add in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Whisk until the whites and sugar form glossy white peaks. Into this, whip 1 tablespoon of cornflour and a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Onto a tray prepared with greaseproof paper, spoon out the stiff mixture, spreading it out to cover the tray (it will be approximately 2 inches high) Put this into the oven, and turn it down to 100′C, cooking for an hour and a half.

Leave it in the oven for as long as possible once cooked without opening the door. Then, when ready, spread oodles of cream on top, decorate with fruit (I used tinned mandarins here) and delicious pieces of crumbled chocolate.

Yum!

Yarn Along (of sorts)

Emily — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:27:53 +0000

(My boy, the rockstar. Oh, and Grace has decided that since her name was “Apple Dumpling” when she was a fairy, that she is reverting back to that name from today)

It is good to know that high production rates are not confined to one side of my family gene pool. As you may know, my sister is a veritable crochet machine; my father, whose wildly successful painting blog is updated several times a week with new paintings, instruction, and time-lapse films for each painting; and now, my mother is knitting at the speed of light… I am talking serious production here… a couple of garments a week!!!

So, while I’m filing this as a Yarn Along, it isn’t strictly my yarning… but my mothers. Having said that, I am going to learn to knit this year and cardigans and sleeveless tops are my aim.

On the book front, I’m reading “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” and read “Room” by Emma Donoghue in a day- I couldn’t put it down. It’s rare you read a book like that…

(there is only so much of sitting in a highchair that a boy can handle (approximately three minutes in our house) But he is still so hilariously cute when he has a tantrum. Note Apple Dumpling making a hasty exit)

A Few Moments of Bliss

Emily — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:20:07 +0000

While our little boy sat in his chair for a few moments today, I had a chance to:

:: have a cup of tea

:: eat a bar of Green & Blacks chocolate that a dear friend sent me

:: do a bit of doodling (I had started this last night: we were watching something a bit scary, so during those bits I would be scribbling furiously)

The bowl of eggs in the background are calling me, I need to bake today. More for my head than my stomach, needless to say…

Our little chap, despite his top teeth coming through and causing him plenty of grief, is still delighting us with his beaming smiles at every turn…

(thank goodness for Homeopathy- I must say this mantra 100 times a day; every time he gets fussy and upset I give him a little remedy and he instantly settles)

I planted a few roses and clematis today in the warm sun.

::Bliss::

Sophie’s Lemonade

Emily — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:27:58 +0000

Before I succumbed to The Illness, I had ordered several lemons in our organic-veg box, with great plans for lemon drizzle cake, lemon meringue and lemon and garlic broccoli. But they languished for a week with the apples looking like blobs of summer amongst the earthy green apples until our small men decided to make lemonade.

This lemonade is a recipe my friend Sophie gave me, and in its making brought great memories and hopes of a warm summer

Sophie’s Lemonade

zest and juice of 5 lemons

1 lb of sugar

2 litres water

2 tablespoons citric acid

Mix the zest, sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves. Let this sit for a couple of hours, then sieve, add the lemon juice and citric acid.

Dilute to drink, delicious with ice in the shade of an old tree on a warm day!

Speedy Spicy Sausage Pasta

Emily — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:55:03 +0000

I have been sick for the past few days… (after everyone else had been sick in turns) and so haven’t felt like donning my apron and starting into meals that take anything other than the merest of thought (for me, it is usually the thinking of what we eat and how I’ll make it that takes the most of my energy) so this ticked all the boxes.

It is becoming slghtly obsessive eating though, I do wake thinking about it; unfortunately my kids are starting to look for a bit of variety in their diet…

This recipe comes third-hand: my friend Bernadette originally got it from Cherry Menlove (great blog despite the dodgy sounding name), made it her own, then I made my own version via Bernadettes… a sign of a great recipe!!

We don’t love very spicy food, so up the chilli sauce and add a few chillis to your own requirements.

Speedy Spicy Sausage Pasta

1 onion chopped

1 Chorizo sausage, cut into thin rounds

garlic, crushed (I use 3-4 cloves)

2 tins of tomatoes

2 tablespoon tomato puree

chopped herbs (I used approx 1 tablespoon of basil and 1 tablespoon of mixed dried herbs)

Sweet chilli sauce

Ball of Mozzarella (approx 15g)

500g Pasta cooke to al dente

The How-To:

Quickly fry the onion in a little oil, then when softened, add the sausage and garlic. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn, add the tomatoes, tomato puree, herbs.

Stir in the sweet chilli sauce to your requirements, then pour the whole lot over the pasta.

Break up the mozzarella, and add it to the dish before ladling large portions into waiting bowls.

You could stretch this by using 1 kg of pasta, and having dinner for a couple of days!