How time flies. My plan was to do a post a week but I was feeling rather lazy last week and when my buba was sleeping I slept too! My husband has stopped setting his alarm in the morning because our little girl wakes up at 5 am every morning. Fortunately she has been informed about day light savings! Anyway, I am back on board today and I wanted to share a famliy favourite. It is very tasty, quick and easy to make. I used home made pesto, you can find my recipe here.Enjoy

-Ax

Three Layered Cup Cake

 

I am a little excited about this one. I was first inspired to make some kind of layered cake by my local cafe. They make amazing cupcakes with loads of icing and have crazy flavour combinations. Of course I usually arrive at the cafe very early in the morning and well, let's face it, cake is not really a breakfast food. Especially when you are trying to be a good role model for your little ones.

This 3 layer cake consist of: Layer 1; meringue, layer 2; cookies and cream ice cream and layer 3: chocolate sponge. All yum on their own and a true indulgence together.

- Ax

P.S 'we seat eight'  is slowly merging with my other design blog Martha Jean. You can check it out here.

Roast Jerusalem Artichoke and Goats Cheese Salad

I discovered Jerusalem Artichokes about a year ago. They are a super yummy vegie. Here is some info about the nobbly root. Interestingly they are neither from the city of Jerusalem, nor an artichoke.  The name comes from a Italian word 'girasole' meaning sunflower because are the editable root of a sunflower! They are native to North America. They are in season now, If you are interested in having a taste I would get a move on, otherwise you will have to wait until next season. 

Golden Syrup Dumplings

Hello, It has been a while! 

Here is an oldie but a goodie. Golden Syrup Dumpling are perfect for that cold winter night, when you are safe and warm, nestled in front of a warm fire. This is usually what I request when going to my mums for dinner during the winter months. mmm they make me feel all warm and fuzzy...he he.

 

Hot Cross Buns with Apricot and Pear

Yeah! Easter is here. I love that Easter gives you an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast! Thanks to my new little mate, the Easter bunny with be visiting and hiding chocolate all over the place. Anyway, enough about chocolate. Hot cross buns also equals Easter and yumminess! I say the more fruit the better. If you would like to eat these buns after Easter, try piping a circle instead of a cross.....enjoy the Easter break and these fruity buns

Almond, Orange and Chocolate Cake

Well, yes. It seems I have a problem...It's called cake. I am loving a little cake with a warm cup of tea these days. Never in my life have I loved cake so much! I just can't resist. The cake above is very rich a little cream is a good accompaniment.  

Baked Ricotta and Slow Roasted Thyme Tomatoes

 

 Hi All, here is a little light lunch meal that is easy and a little bit more special than the usual cheese and tomato toasties. The ricotta and tomatoes go great together. I have teamed them up with prosciutto and crunchy fresh bread, in an attempt to keep it simple. The pair are an excellent accompaniment on any share plate.

Egg and Bacon Pie

I really wanted to share the absolute delight of this bacon I brought from my local farmers market. It comes from a farm in West Gippsland, in Eastern Victoria, known as Gypsy Pig. They breed pigs and produce magnificent free range pork products. I have been very keen to get my hands on some free range bacon as I had been promised that the taste would be amazing.  The bacon, not surprisingly tastes like bacon, but better, stronger and full of flavour. I made this little egg and bacon pie for lunch for me and my brother and it was quickly devoured. You could sever it with a little green salad and tomato chutney.

Brownies

 

Well, Hello there!  If you are feeling like you need a little extra joy in your

life, then I would suggest a little brownie might do the trick. Even if you feel that your joy levels are quite high, I would still insist that you try out these brownies. 

 

The Salad Season

 

We are well and truly into the salad season. Our lovely friends had us over for a BBQ on the weekend, our friends are lucky enough to have a fantastic deck over looking the marina, and an even more fantastic veggie patch (which I am always so jealous of!) I whipped up these salads for the occasion. The beautiful tomatos and herbs came from their garden. Everything seems to taste better when it come straight from the mud.


I brought the garlic from the local farmers market. It is amazing. I would recommend buying locally grown garlic. Although, I do warn you, you may not be able to go back to that imported stuff. There is nothing wrong with the garlic if it has a pinkish tinge - Garlic is supposed to look like that.

Morrocan Chicken with Pesto Rice

 

Hi all, 

This is one of my favourite dishes to share with friends. You can serve it warm, so that means you can prepare it just before guests arrive instead of running around the kitchen. It's also great for those balmy nights and goes down nicely with a little white vino. - enjoy!

 

Pesto

Pesto, how good is pesto? It is very hard to find a classic style pesto in the supermarkets. Most commercially made pesto's use cashews instead of pine nuts, probably because cashews are cheaper. Pesto is so easy to make and well worth the effort! Your taste buds will be especially pleased.

Pikelets with Raspberry and Pear Compote & Mascarpone Cheese

One of my fondest memories as a child was Sunday morning breakfast. My mum would cook pikelets and my brothers, sister and I would hover around the kitchen stove and watch as mum cooked up an abundance of golden pikelets. We usually topped them with lemon and sugar.

Nowadays I serve pikelets with a raspberry and pear compote and for a touch a indulgence I add mascarpone cheese. Of course you can top them with anything your heart desires. It is very easy to make mascarpone cheese although you do need to prepare it a few days earlier. If you don’t have time to prepare it before hand, you can always buy it instead.