~Cook Up With donna......and Irina~ No 23

My latest cook up with donna hay and Irina saw me using the Spices Cinnamon and Star Anise 

Green Apples

and the last of the Season's Mandarins

All from this beautiful issue of donna hay magazine No 69 Jun/July 2013

Beautiful in that there are some lovely Flourless Cakes recipes in it.......Perfect for Gluten Free people

The menu......Mandarin and Soy Braised Ribs

Boiled Rice

Red Cabbage

Fennel 

Telegraph Cucumber with Fennel Tips

Spiced Layered Apple Cake

I started off by slicing the apples in my new super-duper Food Processor

Look how beautiful the apple slices look......seeds'n all!!!

I used Rapadura Sugar instead of White Sugar

The apples had to be held down by cans when finished cooking

donna's version above

and my version ready to be chilled for Dessert

Now it's back to work preparing the Ribs

All done now

Red Cabbage

and Cucumber

And here'tis......all ready

And the flavour combinations were just delicious!!!

The Layered Apple Cake was just sublime nice and cold

With or without some Whipped Cream!!!

I love doing these cook ups especially now that Irina has joined me

If you want to join in just leave a comment or email

It's all easy.......just cook something from the latest magazine and blog it!!!

Bon Appetit......Dzintra

~Happy Birthday JoJo~

A couple of weeks ago JoJo celebrated her birthday.......the event of the year in this house!!!

We celebrated with a Wiggles Birthday Cake

The day started off cold for coastal style......8 degrees centigrade

raining.......bleak........blowy......boats bobbing up and down but a calmness at the same time 

Sometimes I just love these sort of days!!!

Perhaps the boat in the foreground 'Crazy Diamond' is a Pink Floyd fan

JoJo is a Floyd fan as well, as we all are!!!

Pancakes for breakfast

At JoJo's request she wanted to go to her favourite Restaurant in Canberra......La Scala

Mind you she requested this back in February so we thought why not......lots of time to get ready for it!!!

Pasta for lunch for JoJo

And gluten free for me......Salad plus Fat Chips

Check out the size of these chips!!!

We happened upon a Hospitality Shop and JoJo saw the biggest potato masher ever!!!

Back to La Scala for dinner

and Dessert

Plus we saw a huge bottle of wine also

Must be the day for Big Stuff!!!

We also took her to see The Phantom of the Opera which opened the night we went to see it at the Canberra Theatre

What a brilliant show this was......we just loved it

Free-Rain Theatre has successfully won the rights to stage the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera in Canberra and negotiated with two nationally and internationally recognised, musical theatre stars for the lead roles and the services of one of Australia’s most accomplished young theatre directors.

The role of the Phantom will be played by Michael Cormick who has won international and national acclaim for lead roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Romeo & Juliet, Chess, Evita, and most recently; End of the Rainbow for the Edinburgh Festival and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End production of The Woman in White.

Julie Lea Goodwin who will play the role of Christine has appeared in the role in 200 performances opposite Anthony Warlow on the Australasian tour and also starred as Maria in West Side Story. 

text from the theatre's site

There was enough Wiggles Cake left

for JoJo to take a small portion in to her Day Programme!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORGEOUS GIRL JOJO

with lots of love xoxoxo

~Cook Up with Donna Hay (19)...new Ice Cream Maker and Stitching Update~

I can't believe I've done it again......I've injured my knee again so have been taking it really easy these last few days......Again I am so thankful that Mr Armchair was able to be around to take care of JoJo (and me) while I rested my leg.  He is back at work today and I'm hobbling around here......

Just as well that last week I did a Cook Up from donna hay magazine Issue 65 Oct/Nov 2012

Irina has joined me and Vicki in doing a Cook Up from donna's magazine

The menu was ~Sticky Black Pepper Pork (with a Cucumber and Bean Sprout Salad) and Basic Lemon Tart~

Recipe for Sticky Black Pepper Pork over here

Recipe for Tart over here

Sticky Black Pepper Pork with Salad of Cucumbers, Bean Sprouts, Mint Leaves and Coriander

Lemon Wedges to serve and some Baked Potatoes in Foil

mmmm, very delicious

Lemon Tart setting 

Sliced with a Mint Leaf from the garden

together with Vanilla Ice Cream made with a new ice cream maker Mr Armchair bought for me

JoJo has dairy issues and I have gluten issues so we had been talking about this for a while and what a surprise it was to finally receive one

I experimented with the ice cream mix and used Almond Milk instead of Cow's Milk 

and Rapadura Sugar instead of Caster Sugar and the result was delicious lending itself to the addition of    coffee which I will add another time

Because the only process that rapadura undergoes is the evaporation of liquid, it retains far more vitamins and minerals than refined white sugar. Specifically, rapadura is high in iron, which is essential to the blood oxygenation. Rapadura is also high in silica, potassium, calcium and magnesium in comparison with other sugar alternatives. 

(source over here)

A lovely soft and mellow colour......

And on the stitching front not a lot happening although I have started a little 10" Zippered Pouch after seeing Susan do a few

Tutorial over here

The fabric is Etchings by Moda

How gorgeous is this.................with Eiffel Tower and all

Beautiful writing

I've cut it out and started but waiting till I can bend my knee a little more at the machine!!

Till next time......Dzintra xo