Another UFI almost finished

Leannes House, pattern by Leanne Beasley designs

Last night I sat at my sewing machine until I had finished sewing all nine blocks together, then added the sashing, yah, I have  finished "Leannes House" quilt top.  I think I will hand quilt this one with perle thread, this will become my go anywhere project, I sure hope it doesn't take me another six years to finish the quilting.   It is going to be nice to cuddle under this while quilting, we have been having cold frosty nights for the past couple of days, I cannot complain about the beautiful sunny days though, oh, maybe just one small complaint, we haven't had any rain.  I sure hope we aren't going back into drought again, I've just established my garden.    Now to go shopping for the fabric for the backing, nothing in my stash is pretty enough for this quilt  Sorry I couldn't take a better photo, there was a breeze and I tried to snap between the wind blowing the quilt.

Problem solved, I hope.

After all the worry and hassle with the company that installed my solar panels and inverter, it seems I won't have to deal with them to have the inverter replaced.   The son who does everything made a few phone calls today and because the inverter is still under warranty  it seems I can by pass the company I am having all the problems with, and have another company  install a new unit.   My fingers and toes are crossed that this will will happen.    On a much brighter note I have just finished block nine of  "Leannes House" quilt, now to square up all the other blocks and sew them together, I should have the top finished this week, providing there are no interruptions.

Penang curry

The son who does everything has give his permission for me to give you his recipe for Penang curry.  This curry is full of flavour and has little heat so it is good to serve to children as well as those adults who don't like it hot hehee. We ate this for dinner tonight and everyone wanted more.

Curry paste

PENANG CURRY: Serves 6
Paste:
 6 large sweet red chillies
6 cloves garlic
1 red onion
1 tbls cumin
1 tsp white pepper
2 lemon grass (white stem)
1 tbls galangal or fresh ginger
6 roots coriander with leaves
2 tsp shrimp paste
2 tbls roasted peanuts
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz

1 kg chicken thighs ( cubed)
1 tin coconut cream (do not shake the tin)
1 can coconut milk
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 1/2 tbls fish sauce
60 ml lime juice
4 kaffir leaves (shredded)
3 - 4 tbls palm sugar
1 tblsp Peanut oil
Open coconut cream, it is important not to shake the can, pour the oil from the can into the wok and heat with the peanut oil, add 6 heaped tablespoons of the curry past mix to the wok and fry for 5 minutes.  Add the cubed chicken and stir through the paste until coated evenly.  Once chicken is sealed add the rest of the coconut cream, coconut milk, kaffir leaves and peanut butter.  Reduce heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes untill the sauce has reduced and thickend a little. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar.  Serve with steamed rice and roti.  Enjoy, I know we did.

The baking in me!

There is nothing like a cold day to bring out the baking in me.  Yesterday it was cookies and today a chicken vegetable pie.   I had the filling simmering on the stove top when the son who does everything called in with an invitation to dinner, he is cooking one of his curries and I love a good homemade curry,  how could I refuse.  I finished baking the pie, I used a rectangle sized dish to fit in all the filling and then had to join the pastry to fit the dish,  it looks rustic but the filling tastes good, I'm looking forward to tomorrow night, and I will also have leftovers for the freezer.    It is a shame that I won't be eating this tonight but, after all who would turn down an ivitation for dinner,  a meal I didn't have to cook.   With that decided I think it will also be a good idea to take those cookies for the kids to finish off.

Cookies, cookies, cookies

After a late breakfast this morning and having nothing else planned for the day I decided to go to the shopping centre, have a coffee and just wander around, do some window shopping.    As you can imagine I didn't just window shop, I bought a book, a bargain book at just $10 . The title of this book grabbed me before I had even opened it to have a browse, "1 Dough, 100 Cookies" written by Linda Doeser , take 1 basic recipe and make 100 kinds of cookies.  I needed another coffee to be able to sit and look through this before I left the shops.   I would need to stock up on supplies, you see I was already planning what to bake before that coffee was finished.     Something my nana baked often,  Almond and Raspberry jam drops, with everything I needed, it was home to my kitchen.     Let me just say that these are so easy to make, twenty minutes later I had twenty five raspberry and apricot drops.    I thought I had enough raspberry jam, but I was almost out so half of the drops are apricot.     These are buttery, almond, and with a little jam not too sweet little drops of yummy.

Almond and raspberry jam drops:

Makes about 25

225g/8oz butter, softened
140g/5oz caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp almond extract
280g/10oz plain flour
55g/2oz almonds, toasted and chopped
55g/20z chopped mixed peel  (I left this out, and it hasn't affected the finished cookie)
4tblsp raspberry jam (or any jam you have on hand)

Preheat oven to 190C / 375F. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment
Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon ,( I used a hand mixer) then beat in the egg yolk and almond extract.  Sift together the flour and a small pinch of salt into the mixture, add the almond and mix peel if you use it and stir until thoroughly combined.
Scoop tablespoons of the mixture and shape into balls with your hands, then put them onto the trays.  Using the end of a wooden spoon make a hollow in the centre of each one and fill with jam.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. leave to cool on the baking trays, then using an egg lifter slide them onto wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy

Addictive almonds

We have had the most amazing Autumn day here, the cold, frosty, foggy morning has given way to beautiful sunshine.     Since my daughter and grandson left after having lunch with me, I've been sitting outside reading but had to come inside for a drink, it was becoming too warm, and thats when I remembered the almonds I bought yesterday.  I opened the pack of Tamari roasted almonds, tasted a couple and now I need someone to please help me, these are so addictive I cannot stop eating them.    I've said before I am not a sweet tooth, I love everything savoury and crunchy and these are definately savoury and crunchy, I think I could replace a packet of chips for these.   I'm now trying to convince myself that these are very healthy, ok, maybe not in the amount that I have just eaten.   Closing the lid and hiding them in the pantry, hopefully I will forget about them for a couple of days, maybe.

Little feet

Look what I found on my camera this morning, two little feet in their sneakers, as well as other random photos of things from around the house including his toys and the television program he was looking at on Saturday morning.   He took my camera from my desk while I was busy, some of the photos were quite good, nice and focused but most were just blurry and obviously taken in a rush.  When I came across this one I loved it and had to show you.