It's been raining!

I am happy to report that it has been raining in the Barossa - finally!! We have had around 2.5 inches (65mm) in the last 4 days and it has been wonderful! The grass is already starting to grow so hopefully in a few days the landscape will have a lovely green tinge to it instead of plain old brown.

With the rain came some cooler weather and we lit the loungeroom fire for the first time. There is something very soothing about a log fire and we found that it also helped to keep that end of the house (where the bedrooms are) a little bit warmer overnight. So today we had 1.5 tonnes of Balranald Redgum delivered. Not quite sure how long that much will last us for but will keep you posted.

The cooler weather marks the start of the warm desserts. After a trip to the Farmer's Market I returned with some rhubarb to add to some stewed apple for a Rhubarb and Apple Crumble.
I have been trying to find a crumble recipe that I like and I finally found one on the weekend. It must be an Australian thing to have rolled oats in your crumble topping, but that's the way I like it.

Crumble Topping

1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
100g butter, softened.

Using your hands, rub together the oats, brown sugar, flour and butter to make a crumbly topping. Sprinkle over fruit of your choice - could be stewed apple, stewed rhubarb, mixed berries, tinned peaches....whatever takes your fancy - and bake for 30min at 180C or until golden. Serve with icecream, cream, custard or yoghurt.

Now if you want to use less butter then you can...I used 50g and it was fine!

Lest We Forget

As tomorrow is Anzac Day I thought I would get into the kitchen and make a batch of Anzac biscuits. These are a favourite in our house at any time of the year but are all the more special when made for this occasion. There are many variations to the recipe, with some using more sugar or golden syrup and I have even seen a recipe that uses Almond meal! This is the recipe that I use.

ANZAC Biscuits

125g butter

1 tblsp golden syrup

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup coconut (dessicated or shredded)

2 tblsp boiling water

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

Preheat the oven to 160C.

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, rolled oats and coconut.

In a small saucepan melt the butter and golden syrup.

Mix together the water and the bicarb of soda and add to the melted butter and syrup.

Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well. Roll mix into balls and place on a lined baking tray leaving room for spreading. Flatten slightly.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before placing on a baking rack.

Mystery solved...

So the mystery eucalypt is....

EUCALYPTUS LEHMANNII or the BUSHY YATE

Thank goodness for the library and Eucalypts Vol 1 by Stan Kelly! And the weird thing is...when I opened the book it fell open at that exact page....spooky.

Anyway the Bushy Yate is actually native to WA but seems to do very well here...probably because it is also drought and frost resistant. It is a really interesting looking plant and the seed pods are hard and spiky...not at all fun to tread on...just ask Ben!

Identifying Eucalypts

Found this flower on a Eucalypt in the garden. am intrigued as to what it is as I haven't seen this species before. The flowers are large and grouped together...the flower ball is about the size of a tennis ball! The closest I can get to an identification is Eucalptus Annulata....but to me the flowers and nuts are too big to be Annulata....the google search continues.....

Still doing the figgy thing

As the fig season is almost at it's end I have been busily trying to get the most out of the fruit that is left. I have done several batches of crystallised figs now and have another batch to do tomorrow. The quality is a bit hit and miss - sometimes too toffeed, sometimes nice and soft. I am aiming for the nice and soft as they are easier on the teeth and are much better when you chocolate dip them! I have had some success with the chocolate dipping. I am choosing to use 63% dark chocolate for the dipping which is very yummy. I managed to sell a dozen bags of choc dipped figs next door at the Winery over Easter. Am contemplating whether to do more or not. They are quite labour intense in parts and hubby is enjoying the undipped ones too much.

I successfully ovendried some figs too (thanks Stephanie Alexander!). They are quite dry though - more like fig chips than the storebought dried ones.

Through the crystallising process I am left with the crystallising liquid which is a gorgeous pink colour. I had been freezing it to use later to marinate pork or something. After a bit of thought I decided to see if I could make a Fig Jelly out of it and.....it worked! Very nice on your morning toast or on a cheese platter.

Lastly....Fig and Lemon Preserve!

I like this recipe because the jam doesn't end up as sweet and the lemon gives it a bit of zing!

1.6kg ripe figs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 tblsp lemon zest
1 cup water

Cut the figs into quarters.

Place into a saucepan with the other ingredients. Bring slowly to a simmer and simmer for 15mins or until the figs are soft.

Break any large pieces of fig and keep cooking slowly for another 10mins or so until thick.

Bottle into sterilised jars immediately.

Time is flying....

I can't believe that it is the middle of April already!



We have been busy these past few weeks with visitors. Hubby's parents came down to see us before Easter and then we had friends from Sydney visit over Easter. Lovely times.



The Barossa Vintage Festival has been on too - a week of Food, Wine and Festivities. The festival is only held every 2 years so we feel very fortunate to be here at the right time. We went to Carnival at Seppeltsfield



as well as the Lyndoch Family day and the Yalumba Harvest Market.
There were lots of things to do at the local wineries too.

I helped my neighbours with their Tapas day last Thursday. Lots of food preparation but lots of fun too