Daisy's Sweet Tomato Relish

Hello! I made some relish-my first time! It turned out great so I thought I would share the recipe with you. Sort of. I did add a bit more here and there and tasted as I went.
It is loosely based on a recipe that was given to me by a school mum. It's actually her mum's recipe and I first tasted this relish when I bought a jar of it at our school fete last year. It was such a hit at our place that I boldly asked for the recipe.

2kg ripe tomatoes
(I used an assortment of roma, vine tomatoes and cherry tomatoes because that is what  had on hand)
250g brown onion
1 1/2 tbls curry powder
1 1/2 tbls dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups sugar
1 tbls cornflour
white vinegar to barely cover.

Place tomatoes in boiling water and then peel off skins. Cut into pieces.
Cut onions.Place tomatoes and onions in pot and barely cover with white vinegar.
Boil for 5-10 minutes.
Mix curry, mustard, cayenne and cornflour  into a little bit of vinegar. Mix into thin paste.
Add to pot along with sugar and boil for 1 hour, checking and stirring and making sure it does not stick.

Bella LOVES this relish! She is loves it on a meat and salad sandwich, she eats it on toast, she loves it with crackers and cheese and last night she ate it with sour cream and chicken sausages. Yum!

It makes a nice quantity so be sure to pop some in a jar and share it with a lovely friend.

Making lately

A little floral skirt for a sweet little friend of Lulu's.

Some pretty gift tags...so happy to be cutting into a badly damaged tablecloth from the oppy.

Upcycled envelopes. Love making these.
I think there might be some therapy in all the cutting, folding and sticking.

Banana bread, baked weekly at our place. Lasts no more than a couple of days.

Talin's crowns. With all my heart I believe every thought, wish, prayer, facebook message, dollar, crown counts. It does! It all counts and whatever you can do to show some support to little Talin and his family counts.

Have a wonderful week!

Christmas Pudding

For as long as I can remember, we have always enjoyed a frozen pudding as part of our Christmas lunch.
They look beautiful all plated up, they taste delicious and they are really simple to make.

Last night I whipped one up to take to my sis-in-laws.We'll be going to her place for Christmas dinner.
Our niece has Coeliac Disease and because there are not many ingredients in this dessert, I was able to find gluten free. I hope you enjoy it Pippi.

Frozen Christmas Pudding

2L tub of Vanilla icecream
box of bakery meringues
450g packet of frozen mixed berries 
packet of white choc chips

Leave the icecream sit at room temp a while. You want it to be just soft enough to mix ingredients through.
Put ice cream into a large mixing bowl.
Add meringues-I used about 2/3 of  100g box and mix into icecream, chopping through some of them.
Add a cup of choc bits and mix through.
Finally, add the frozen berries. I save them for last because they need to stay frozen and in tact.
Just stir them though gently.

Line a pudding tin with glad wrap (for easy removal later)
Pour mix into tin and press down firmly with metal spoon
Place in the freezer

To serve, place on a plate and drizzle with a berry coulis  and maybe a few berries for good measure.
Enjoy!

Peppermint Bark

Easy peasy Peppermint Bark was on the menu for today.
Crushing the candy canes with a hammer brought much joy to all three.

Peppermint Bark
packet of white chocolate melts
candy canes
peppermint essence (optional)

Melt choc buttons in microwave
Add 1/2 tsp peppermint essence-if you want to
Crush candy canes-we used 8, using a hammer. Pop them in a zip lock bag to crush... clingwrap worked too!
Stir candy cane into chocolate mix, save a little bit for sprinkling on top
Spread over a piece of baking paper and sprinkle with remaining candy cane

Pop in the fridge and break into pieces once set.
Easy peasy!

Oh did I mention how much I love school holidays?!
I've been staying in my jami's until lunchtime most days.
The little two have pretty much spent all week running around in their undies.
Bella asked for a tonne of plaits to make frizzy hair.
We have been eating dinner outside every night.
There has been A LOT of swimming.

I dropped some bags of stuff to the oppy yesterday. I spotted a cheery tablecloth on my way out.
With not a cent in my purse, I raced out to the car to scrape together $2.00
I love it's bright colours and floral print.

Hope your week is lovely too.

Easter treats

A little bit of Easter making. So easy and so cute!

I used a packet of choc chips, 2 x packets of fried noodles and some little speckled eggs.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave and stir in the noodles.
Spoon the mixture into patty pans to make your little nest. I stuck my finger in the middle trying to make it more 'nest like'.
Pop them in the fridge until they set.
Peel off patty pans and adorn your chocolate nest with some sweet speckled eggs.

In true Lea fashion, I decided to add some peanut butter to the mix part way through. I just added a tablespoon, popped it back in the mic and melted it through. Next time, I'll add it at the beginning:)

Happy Easter!