For the love of food...

I love food and everything about it - cooking, baking and definatly trying out new things... This is just somewhere to post my trials, my fails and my successes!

[kmh84]

Cooooookie

Everyone loves a good cookie.. especially a Cookie Time cookie. 

Delicious golden brown soft chewy cookies.... and they taste just like the real thing!!

Recipe:

225 grams butter 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 2 tablespoons hot water 2 teaspoons vanilla essence 3 1/4 cup plain flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 packet dark chocolate chips or 1 block dark chocolate cut into chunks

Method:

Add the softened butter and sugar into a cake mixer and cream until light and fluffy. Add in eggs 1 by 1 mixing well to combine after each addition. Add in hot water, vanilla and beat till combined.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients in batches until combined into a dough. Chop the chocolate up and stir through the dough.

Roll into balls approximately 1 tablespoon in size and space eqaully on a baking sheet.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for approximately 15-20 minutes or until cooked.

[kmh84]

Making vanilla essence

I brought some vanilla pods from Heilala Vanilla - boy they smelt so much better than the last lot I brought like real vanilla.

To make the Vanilla extract (this make 1L)

10 vanilla pods 1L vodka 10 teaspoons of sugar

Split your vailla bean length ways and scrap out the seeds 

Placing both the seeds and the bean into the jar

Once you have done that you need to add the vodka into the jar

Then add in the 10 teaspoons of sugar

Then you need to shake the jar to mix the sugar into the vodka

Then store the jar in a dark place for 2 months, shaking every 2 weeks.

[kmh84]

Wise man that Dr Seuss!! #drseuss #drseussquotes #read #knowledge #kids #wisdom #sotrue

[kmh84]

Nutritionust approved Chocolate Brownie #healthy #yummy #goodforyou #nobutter #foodstagram #instafood #foodporn

[kmh84]

Left over casserole pie #leftovers #cleverbaker #nifty #foodfantasy #foodstagram #instafood

[kmh84]

Cauliflower and Broccoli cheese pots #yummy #dinner #instafood #foodstagram #cauliflower #broccoli

[kmh84]

Gooey Caramel Anzac slice

So got this email a couple of weeks ago from Chelsea for a Gooey Caramel Anzac slice. Since I had already made Anzac biscuits a week earlier thought I would make this on Anzac Day.

I am not a fan of baking slices - i think that far too many things can go wrong when making them, but this was fairly easy to make... even the caramel was alright to make.

Only downside to making this was Kevin now wants me to make Chocolate Caramel Slice - MISTAKE!!

[kmh84]

Meringue

I found a pretty simple recipe in a Coles magazine that I found in Australia when I was over there last August. Since I had a couple of spare hours I decided to whip up the recipe. After baking the meringue it looks like the sugar wasn't combined enough into the meringue.

Ethan was at a disco so it was planned to have this for dessert, I stacked them up with whipped cream and then topped them with chocolate chips

[kmh84]

Choux pastry

I have always wanted to try making a choux pastry after watching Jacques Pepin make one of Food TV, it seemed fairly easy. I thought it looked a lot like making a roux. Well after making my banana cake today I had decided to try making some eclairs and profiteroles. The eclairs were a great failure!! They were no where near wide enough to slice open and fill. My profiteroles on the other hand turned out pretty cute!

These little beauties had their tops sliced off and were filled with custard and some fresh raspberries and then dusted with icing sugar!!

With my eclairs being such a fail, these ill beauties were exactly what they were meant to be! No longer am I afraid of choux pastry...

[kmh84]

[kmh84]

No fuss whipped cream...

Here’s one of my favourite tips from the October 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens, which I have been re-reading to skim over their muffin tin recipes. I came across a recipe where you can whip cream without a whisk? ABSOLUTELY! All you need to do is: 1. Put a large screw-top jar in the freezer for 20 minutes 2. Remove the jar and pour the cream. Screw tightly and shake for your life 3. After 30 seconds you’ll have soft peaks and after 1 minute, you’ll have firm peaks!! It's that easy!!

[kmh84]

"Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music" ~ Julia Child