There is nothing more satisfying than gifting food. For me it is one of those life's simple pleasures, that comes with an abundance of love and gratitude, given to special people that make a difference in our lives.
This year, my 3rd was no exception and I decided to carry on my little tradition that I started two Christmases ago when we arrived back in New Zealand. Although this year was frantic and a weebit stressful, as we had just moved house 2 weeks before Christmas!
I have neglected my blog, although I have been taking photos of the food I have been cooking and the baking that has been done, sitting down and putting it alltogetheron my blog has just been an impossibility. Today has been the first time in over a month, that I have decided to finish all the draftsof my posts and publish them!
So apologies for my lateness, but I hope you will enjoy my posts. Idid not manage the last post for 2013 and wishing all my readers a merry Christmas, but I will post theserather late Christmas blogs in the hope that it gives you ideas for the next festive event or foodie gift that you decide to make.
I made my gifts this year of the Christmas fudge, coconut ice and mini mince pies, I found some gold star platters and tied them all up in cellophane and shimmery ribbon, perfect Christmas gift.
TheChristmas fudge has a dedicated post , the coconut ice is a yummy very sweet treat that is a must over Christmas.
Lots of versions around, this one wasthe best.
I have seen versions of this gorgeous fudge and decided that this was by far the easiest and most Christmassy. this is adapted from Natalie Oldfield. I love that it combines all the colour of Christmas and I have then added a touch of sparkle which just gives it a touch of festive decadence.
You can add any combination of berries and nuts, may be some glace cherries and marshmallow for a rocky road fudge and maybe use dark chocolate too, experiment, that is what its all about.
I made a whole batch of this and gave it away as Christmas gifts, so personal and satisfying.
I love sugar in my tea and coffee, but having 4-5 cups a day, with a teaspoon of sugar, you do the maths! I'm seriously thinking this is not good for my health and well being. So I started to look at other options, I came across coco sugar at a neighbour's house, and decided to give it a go.
So it's fine in tea/coffee, it resembles natural sugar in colour and texture, so I thought I would try baking with it, the result was great. Coco sugar is derived from the sap of the coconut palm tree, and has a lower GI (glycemic index) than sugar, so healthier for you. I would probably use it for denser cakes like banana, apple or carrot cake, and stick to the refined sugars for your sponges and light cakes. If you are watching your sugar intake give this a go. I adapted this from the Edmonds cook book as it had 1/2 cup of sugar, my other recipe I love using has 1 cup, so I used this
Wow, I cannot believe how time flies, first you have a tiny wriggly bundle in your arms and before you know it, they are taller than you!
My son Adam turned 12 last week, and he just wanted some friends over to hang out, shoot some baskets and watch movies on the media screen in the lounge. So we decided to do it over the long weekend, was it wise having six 12/13 yr olds sleep over....ummmm I don't know if any of us got any sleep! But they had a great time hanging out and being boys.
I love baking cakes for both my children on their birthdays, but I must admit it's getting harder to figure out what they like without being too childish (for a 12 yr old that is!) So when I saw something like this on a fb page, I decided to have a go.
Really simple, I used my no fail chocolate cake recipe ( in one of the earlier entries), made three cakes - using 23 cm cake tins, and sandwiched them with chocolate icing.
I made a simple chocolate icing, using butter, cocoa, icing sugar and boiling water. And crumb coated the cake. In hind sight though butter icing is also a good option.
After crumb coating I attached the chocolate wafers, and six types of chocolates, jaffas, maltesers, pebbles chocolate covered raisins and some mint balls and white chocolate drops.
I honestly haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I am here, and feeling very guilty about not blogging and keeping up with my regular posts. I do have an excuse, a valid one I might add. We are in the process of selling our home and buying another one. A very stressful process, causing me a lot of anxiety and grief, and far too much time being spent in the car going through open homes, hence the lack of posts.
But you have to eat, it really does not matter how stressful your life is, you need to feed the family, so with this in mind I turn to quick and simple dishes that are nutritious and full of flavour. I love parcel food, its a great easy concept for a busy life, it's one that I first saw in one of Jamie Oliver's earlier books. He used chicken, but you can use any meat/fish. I love this one as salmon is packed full of goodness and does not require too much flavouring.
Here I have used two marinades a simple parsley one ( for the children) and one with chilli flakes for a kick (for moi)
Spicy Lamb kebabs is one of my children's favourite meals. It's easy to prepare and perfect for a mid week "fast food" option. You can make these up and freeze them before or after cooking them, and defrost as you need them. They can be eaten hot or cold, served with warm pita bread, salad, and a yogurt dip. I also serve them with potato wedges.
A couple of great refreshing side dishes that go with any Indian meal, that needs the heat toning down.
So I have been back for just over 2 weeks and its so hard to get back to routine and normality. I miss my family, and I miss my mum's cooking! While we were away celebrating my sister, Farah's wedding, we had lots of family occasions to celebrate. One of these were the civil ceremony of my sister, where we had a vintage themed lunch, with some Indian food for good measure, I'm just going to post some photos of that special day
Well here it is if you missed getting yourself a copy of the magazine. The team at NZ House & garden did a fabulous job.
Recipes & Text - Ashia Ismail-Singer
Food Styling - Bernadette Hogg
Photographs - Manja Wachsmuth
Who doesn't salivate at the word chocolate brownie, that gooey warm chocolate on the inside and chewy on the outside, perfect warm with ice cream as dessert on a cold evening ( oranytime for that matter) don't let me stop you from indulging, our brownies do not survive in the tins for very long!
I love baking brownies, they are easy and require no fuss, a perfect delight, cold, for a picnic or equally moreish warmed and served with cream or ice cream. Definately a one pot wonder. There are so many versions out there, this is divine!
This is a great meal to do when you have a large number to feed, or simply don't have the time to cook, just chuck everything in a tray and you will have a lovely heart warming meal.
It is adapted from Delia's sausage, thyme and apple bake. The sausages she uses are pork andthen she compliments it with thyme and apple. I don't eat pork so have often made it with beef or lamb sausages. And used rosemary, but i still use the apple. And this time I also added chunks of carrot, I don't usually, but it actually tasted great.
Well what a busy and exciting month it's been. With the food feature in NZ House and Garden - June issue and then an interview with the Breeze radio as a follow up!
If you have missed the radio interview, it is on their website now, so if you go on to Auckland Breeze Radio website it's there on the homepage, they have called it "Ashia's Dream" . They have done a fabulous job with it, it's great! here is the link too :
http://www.thebreeze.co.nz/Regions/Auckland/Home/tabid/76/Default.aspx
I feel I have really neglected my blog since my last entry. Life has been pretty hectic, with the children back at school and the days getting shorter it seems there are never enough hours in the day! I have been cooking, I promise, scrumptious, slow cooked meals and warm hearty dinners and pies and casseroles. All from my range of cookbooks and magazines that I collect and plenty from my own cookbook that is waiting very patiently to get published. Although I am very excited because this month NZ House & Garden has published a food feature, with some of my recipes. It's called "Spice of Life" and it looks (and tastes) divine! Thank you so much to Sally Butters and her team for a fabulous job! Go out and get a copy its on sale now in the shops.
Well Mothers Day (In NZ, Australia and USA) is actually this Sunday. I am still trying to get used to all the different dates for all the different celebrations now that we are living in New Zealand. But I think dates aside, I don't really need any excuse to bake. I will do this quite happily in any hemishpere on any date!
What a perfect way to say thank you to your mum, by giving her something home baked. (By all means indulge her with store bought presents too...we all like getting spoilt!)
Red velvet cupcakes is the epitome of indulgence in cupcakes, I feel. That luxurious deep red (I know they don't quite look that gorgeous deep red yet, more like a dark pink that cant quite decide which colour it really is). The secret is in the baking, then the colour morphs into the deep red velvet.
With the colder weather coming I like nothing more than to have gorgeous comfort food, pies, pastries, soups, casseroles and slow cooked dinners.
These pies are great as you can prepare them and freeze them. When you are stuck for what to cook, just pop them into the oven straight from the freezer!
You can use any filling you like, I make a spicy vegetarian filling using, potatoes, peas and carrots or this meat version.
This year Easter is not in the school holidays and it's a welcome mini break for the children. It's been a hot start to the year and with lots of changes happening, we are in definite need of some r & r.
My son Adam is playing basketball in the Easter Tournament, and in between that we will be out spending time with friends at the beach and paddling on a SUP and our kayak. And of course the kids will be indulging in an Easter egg or two!
I enjoy planning my meals for the week, but sometimes, I run out of ideas, after school I want to feed the children reasonably early ( dependent on what school activity is going on that particular day) and I don't really want to be cooking two different meals for them and then us. And meals around the family table are not always possible.... I do try....but some days it is just an impossibility.
I have neglected my blog, and feel awful for not posting. It's been a busy summer with lots of picnics and trips to some amazing beaches. We are a real beachy family, the kids are water babies, and love spending time together, just chilling! This summer, in NewZealand has been fabulous, but sometimes when it's very hot, you just don't feel like cooking. Salads are a great way to enjoy fresh ingredients and are quick and easy to prepare.
This gorgeous salad, adapted from Annabel Langein, is a lovely fresh sensation of textures and tastes. It requires paw paw, which I love, brings back memories of my childhood in Malawi, where it was abundant. But if you don't have it or you don't like it you can replace it with mangoes.
