First Post at The Daily Tiffin

I have posted my first 'article' entitled The Joy of Christmas over at The Daily Tiffin. It's a writeup about Christmas and some ideas on how to get the kids involved at Christmas time as well as what to cook for Christmas Dinner. I also talk a little about the Christmas Traditions in my family over the years and now.

There's also a recipe for Chicken Pie and some pics of the other food ideas for Christmas. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

10,000 and counting!

Woo Hoo!!
This blog has reached 10,000 hits. Who would have thought?
Okay, so 10,000 is really not such a big number if you compare it to the Amazon.com and Martha Stewart or other famous websites/blogs.

But that's exaclty the point. I'm not famous and to me, 10,000 hits in just under a year is pretty special. So I hope you keep coming to visit, and I hope I can sustain your interest as well!

So thank you to everybody for your support thus far!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes Indeed! It's my 40th Birthday today, the 29th of November 2007. I think it's kind of incredible to be turning 40 because in no way do I feel 40. Okay, Okay, so I've got some grey hairs and my stomach is getting bigger and I've got aches and pains here and there...which I suppose are signs of being 40!

But really, I don't feel 40 - at least not mentally! I kind of wonder where all the time has gone, but there is no denying it. I'm 40 and its great to be 40!

They say that life begins at 40 but I don't know about that. What I do know is that to coincide with my 40th Birthday, I have a few changes happening to my blogging life.

Firstly, you would have noticed the new "Read More...(Expand this post)" text in red. And if you are reading this, you would have figured out that I can now expand and collapse my posts so that I can fit more posts on the screen. And No, I'm not an IT genius. You too can get this widget for blogspot at hackosphere.blogspot.com.

Secondly, it gives me great pleasure to 'announce' that I have been asked to contribute to The Daily Tiffin as a co-administrator for the blog. The Daily Tiffin is the Brainchild of the dynamic Meeta K who is the founder of this blog. Its a blog about family life, food and fun as well as other issues relating to kids and families in general. At last count, there are 13 people that co-administer this blog with around 6 other regular contributors. So that puts me in the company of 18 women!! Now isn't that something special!! :) My very first post on The Daily Tiffin will be out on the 30th November, so please check it out.

Well, nothing major really, just some improvements and new things to write about. I'm quite excited about these changes just like I'm quite excited about turning 40 and hoping to see more improvements in my own life.

So Happy Birthday to me!

Tender Potato Bread

Welcome back folks to another exciting edition of the Daring Bakers....!

Having conquered my fear of yeast and bread, I was actually quite excited by this month's challenge hosted by the great Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups. She chose to challenge us with Tender Potato Bread, a recipe from Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour & Tradition Around the World by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Now November was a particularly busy month for me. Very, very busy in fact that I ALMOST considered giving this months challenge a miss. Then, just this weekend I thought I'd give it a whirl and see if I could rise to the challenge.

We had all been warned that working with this dough was going to be different. First of all, it used potatoes. Now I've heard of potato bread that is sweet but the specific instructions here were that this recipe HAD to be savoury. I'd never used potato to make bread before so that was the first concern.

The second concern was that we were told that the amount of potato used could greatly affect the texture. We were told to use 8 ounces (for amateurs) and not more than 16 ounces (for experienced bread makers). I decided to go with 12 ounces but after washing and paring the potatoes, I weighed them again and they had lost 2 ounces. Now if only that would work for me, I could give up doing this Daring Baker stuff and open a Weight Loss Centre. First customer of course - ME!

Third concern, this dough was a soft dough and very, very sticky. Again, NO experience with soft, sticky dough. I would need to wing it. See, I always knew I should have gone to Flight school. So many things in life I seem to wing. Since I seem to wing thing so well, I should have just made it into a career. I blame my father for not letting me go to Flight school. I could be a professional Wing Man today....

And he digresses yet again!! Yes, Ladies and Gentleman, the man has a disease. He cannot stay on topic and true to form, he digresses....!

Anyway, Oh dear, I've actually lost track of what I wanted to say. Oh yes, 3 concerns and lastly, time. So much to do, so little time.

So, I washed the potatoes, peeled them, cut them, boiled them till very soft and everything looked like it was going well.

Then I mashed the potatoes, added in the potato water, let it rest added in the flour and yeast, let it rest, added in the butter and the whole wheat flour and another two cups of flour. Alls Quiet on the Western Front.

But I had forgotten that I was in the East and not the West. So perhaps all was NOT so quiet. The enemy was lurking just beyong the trenches.....

You see this is EXACTLY the point where I had to start to wing things. The recipe said "At this point you have used 4 cups of the possible 8 ½ cups suggested by the recipe." and I was supposed to "incorporae flour as needed to prevent sticking". But we had been told that the final dough was going to be sticky. So how? How now brown cow?

And so I kneaded and added flour and kneaded and added more flour and kneaded some more. It all started to come together and I thought it was all good. I had forgotten to measure how much flour I had incorporated but by the way I was adding flour, I put it at a total of about 7 cups.

Now it was time to proof it and I left it to sit while I went about my other business. After about 1.5 hours, it had more than doubled and I turned it out to knead again. The flour was extremely sticky and also rather moist. Very moist in fact. My fingers were sticky and gooey and so I decided to just plop 2/3 of the dough into a large pan and shape it into a Focaccia.

Then I tried to roll the remaining dough into rolls but the dough was just too darned sticky. This is where I started using expletives. Beep. Beeping Hell and Beep, Beep, Beep! I was Beeping so much I could have been the Beeping Roadrunner! I added more flour but it was still too Beeping sticky to roll. Beep. Beep. Beep!

Then a light bulb went off in my head! And I was no longer the Roadrunner but Wile E.Coyote (remember how he used to get an idea and a lightbulb would light up over his head? You dont remember? Am I than old???!) Anyway, the idea was to drop the dough on to the pan like drop biscuits. Very clever I thought to myself. Well done Agent 99.

So I left everything to proof again and went to clean up and found that my sink was clogged. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!! Beep. Beep! Beep!! BEEEEP!!!!

But that's another story and I don't think any of you are really interested in my clogged sink. Such uncaring people.... humph. That's another reason for the lack of in-progress photos. No silly. Not because you don't care about my sink but precisely Because of the clogged sink! I wasn't going to risk getting dough on my precious Digital SLR.

After half an hour, the dough had risen beautifully. I popped the Focaccia in the oven after seasoning it with oregano and seasoned salt. After baking it, it had risen very nicely and I popped it out and let it cool while I baked the rolls.

So! Daring Baker Challenge completed. Well almost, because the proof of the pudding is in the eating and in this case, the proof of the potato bread is in the eating. Pardon the pun about proofing there..... Yes, yes, I'm really in a funny mood tonight. Absolutely Bloody Hilarious!

The Focaccia was tasty. Very tasty indeed although I thought it may have been a little undercooked. However, it tasted a darn site better the next morning.


The rolls were nicer though. Very soft and with a nice crumb. Only problem though, the rolls tasted a little bland and this is where I realised I had forgotten the second tablespoon of salt. Actually, I added in another TEAspoon of salt rather than TABLEspoon. I.D.i.O.T. The small 'i' in the centre is just to emphasise how small I felt at my lack of cleverness. I always tell my children not to say 'stupid', so
just in case they read this in years to come.....



There was a LOT of bread so the next morning, which is this morning (at time of writing that is) unless you believe strongly in the Theory of Quantum Physics in which case Time can be manipulated but only if you really understand it and you cant really understand it if you claim to do so and I really dont know what I'm talking about so maybe I didnt even eat the potato bread this morning......or understand Quantum Physics for that matter. Which I dont. And never claimed to do.

So! Another succesful Daring Bakers Challenge. Well sort off, as I think I needed more flour and I should have added that tablespoon of salt. Nonetheless, I took the Focaccia to my parents house where they, along with my aunts who were there, were rather astounded at the Tender Potato Focaccia. My father asked if I had bought a breadmaker and I proudly puffed out my chest, sucked my stomach in and declared - "The only breadmaker I have are these hands."

Thanks Tanna for a great challenge although I seriously, seriously doubt I will ever make this again. But the thing is, now I know I CAN make it and that's all because of you...and of course, that in essence, is one of the reasons why I AM a Daring Baker!!!!

Check out the rest of the fabulous team at the Daring Bakers Blogroll

Fruit Tarts

One of my son's favourites is Fruit Tarts. So when he asked for fruit tarts for his birthday, we couldn't well refuse could we?

The Fruit Tarts are basically a shortcrust shell filled with custard and then topped with sliced fruits before being covered in a thin apricot jam glaze.

Fruit Tarts are really a team effort in my home. I dont have the patience to make tart shells but The Lovely Wife does. She makes the dough herself and then patiently presses the dough into the moulds. I dont mind helping with this, just as long as I don't have to do too many! She however, doesnt quite have the confidence to make custard, even the Birds Custard Powder variety - so that is my department. This time, even Sarah jumped on the bandwagon and helped to make the tart shells!

Stuffed Lumaconi

Michael's birthday this year fell on a Thursday and the previous night we had a conversation that went something like this.

Mike: "Dads, can we go out for dinner tomorrow?"
"Sure! Where would you like to go?"
Mike: "I don't know. I don't know all the names of the places"
"Well, what would you like to eat?"
Mike: "..errr.... Can we have pasta?"
"Tell you what Mike. Instead of going out for Pasta, why don't I make you some pasta instead?"
Mike: "Can you? I like Daddy's pasta better!"
"Sure boy, I'll try and get home a little early and I'll make you dinner. What kind of pasta would you like?"
Mike: "I think I like Daddy's creamy pasta..oh! no, no.. I think the tomatoey pasta is better."
"Why don't I make you a special pasta. Something you've never had before?"
Mike: "Like what Dads?"
"Like a pasta tube filled with meat, spinach and cheese all covered in tomato sauce"
Mike: "Mmmmmm! That sounds yummy" (as he rubbed his tummy)

And so I planned to make my son a Cannelloni dish although I've never made Cannelloni before. The plan was to make the filling out of beef with some spinach thrown in and then some cheese sauce mixed in. I would then bake the whole thing in a tomato based sauce infused with loads of mushrooms.

Since the Lovely Wife had taken the day off from work, I asked her to get me the pasta and the ingredients I would need. Unfortunately, she couldn't find Cannelloni anywhere and so she bought some large shells, otherwise known as Lumaconi. I'd never seen nor used Lumaconi before so a quick Internet search revealed that Lumaconi are also known as Snail Shell pasta. That would make absolute sense since aside from looking very much like snail shells, Lumaca actually means snails.



You'd have gathered by now that I don't have specific recipes for anything and it's all just a smidgen of this and a dash of that but I'll try and reproduce it as accurately as possible! This is quite a large recipe and I managed to get two and a half baking trays worth of Stuffed Lumaconi!

Ingredients:
For the meat filling:
500g Minced Beef
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
250 g chopped spinach (I use fresh spinach that is blanched and then chopped)
200 g cheddar cheese
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
300 g milk
Salt

For the tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic
400 g button mushrooms
3 bay leaves
4 large tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
Black Pepper
Salt


Method:
Fry the garlic and onions till soft. Add in the ground beef and cook well. Add in the cooked chopped spinach. Mix well. Set aside. Make the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan. Add in the flour cook till smooth. Add in the milk. Bring mixture to the boil. Sauce will thicken. Add in cheese and season with salt. Add cheese sauce into the beef. Set aside.



Slice mushrooms thinly. Sautee garlic and bay leaves till fragrant. Add in mushrooms and cook till juices come out. Add in fresh tomatoes and cook till soft. Add in stewed tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer till sauce thickens.

Cook the Lumaconi till al dente. Rinse with cool water and drain. Place meat mixture into a piping bag or other piping device and pipe into the cooked shells.



Place a thin layer of sauce on a baking dish and arrange the shells in the dish. Cover the shells with remaining sauce and bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 30 minutes. I covered the dish with some foil as I felt there wasn't enough sauce to completely cover the Lumaconi and I was afraid the pasta would be crusty.



The Lumaconi turned out fantastic. It was very tasty albeit a little bit rich. The combination of flavours was just right and after eating 5 shells, I was stuffed! My mother joined us for dinner that night and she enjoyed the Stuffed Lumaconi too.


As for the birthday boy, he thoroughly enjoyed this 'new pasta'. He managed to finish 6 shells all by himself! A rather mean feat considering how filling this dish was.



I worry sometimes that I might be spoiling the kids as far as food goes coz I never had any 'gourmet' pasta for my sixth birthday! Then again, there's nothing wrong with being exposed to good food at a young age and developing a 'refined palate'....!


I've also submitted this as an entry to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by my lovely friend Ruth over at Onceuponafeast.blogpsot.com. It's my EIGHTH entry Ruth!!

Note: Incidentally, for all you English and grammar purists out there (I'm normally one of them!) my kids call me Dads (Yes. with an 's') intentionally. Sometimes even Mum or Mummy becomes Mums. Don't ask me why - but it's kinda cute, so I let it be!