Friday, March 30, 2012

Baking, Slow Cooking, Fast Food

Banana and Zuchinni Muffins, a gift for a friend with sad news.
Using some of the garlic harvest.  A bamboo steamer makes an excellent storage container for the bulbs that were lacking stems to plait.

Cherry tomatoes ready for slow roasting.  Halved, salt and peppered, garlic cloves scattered between.  Bake slowly for 2-3 hours on 100 degrees Celsius.I have read recipes that suggested drizzling with oil but I forgot and found it wasn't really necessary.




The little Bowerbird loves garlic, she ate 12 cloves and stank of garlic for two days - some of the cloves could have been a bit more cooked but came out as the tomatoes were done.  It's amazing how they impart their flavour to the things around them, even when in their papery parcels. All that garlic must have served the Little Bowerbird well as the first of the Autumn bugs is doing the rounds in our house, and she's the only one who has been spared.

The biggest Bowerbird couldn't stop eating these slow roasted tomatoes and she doesn't even like tomatoes. So sweet, intense, delicious. I couldn't stop pecking at them.  We had some with pasta and some smeared on toast with marinated fetta.  I froze a bag as well. A great quick way of preserving some of the harvest. I've already made a huge batch of chutney and have another harvest basket demanding my attention.


More home grown tomatoes cooking.  The green ones are green zebras, this year they are huge and quite thin skinned, only lasting a few days when picked, but very tasty.
Used my slow cooked tomato, onion and garlic mix for a pasta sauce and a vegie lasagne.
The home grown carrots keep giving.
An unanniversary dinner.  We never married, so we celebrate the day we met, 21 years ago on the 21st, sounds auspicious.  Wine, takeaway wood fired pizzas, devoured on picnic rugs in the lounge room. Because I was sick of cooking and dishes, and feeling a little lazy, I had the revelation of using newspaper for plates - straight to the compost when finished. Special I know. We rarely get takeaway so this was quite a treat, and our local pizza place under new ownership produced some pretty tasty pizzas.

We've talked about going out for a desert share plate at Mr Carsisi in Kyneton, to continue the celebration, but have all been hunkering in with colds. I got the most beautiful gift from Mr Bowerbird of 20hrs bossing about the house or garden (he even laminated it for me with a month expiry date). Where to begin. So much to do so little time.

I am still daydreaming about that desert share plate. We've had it twice and I am in love.

2 comments:

  1. My partner and I aren't married either and I am often jealous of married friends anniversaries. I like the idea of having it on the date we met the only problem is I'm not really sure when it was I reckon I could work out the year and perhaps the month but the day might be more problematic. Perhaps we shoudl flip a coin, we are only up to 16 years though - as long as we pick a date by 20 years I'll be happy.

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  2. What a fun night pizza picnic.....
    20 hrs of time in the garden Wow!!!
    that's better than a bunch of half dead flowers from Coles.

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In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
Margaret Atwood

“She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
"Winter is dead.”
― A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young