Mothers’ Day all wrapped up

Mothers’ Day is under two weeks away now. So…if you are keen to give something a bit different to your Mum/your mother-in-law/grandmother/partner or self, then….what about a wrapped copy of my book ($35) with a pretty postcard tucked in for free.

And just for Mothers’ Day, I’ve also printed up another small run of postcards featuring all four of the tree paintings my own mother, artist Annie Herron (below) created for the book. Please indicate which season you’d like when ordering and I’ll pop it in (blank, ready to be written on!). To purchase, please visit my online store. And still on things motherly, I also wanted to talk a bit about my own.

My Mum Annie not only illustrated many pages in the book, she also contributed hours of advice, was a sound sounding board and also allowed me to include two of her best recipes; the ice cream pudding that appears in the Summer chapter and a rhubarb and ginger jam that pops up in Winters’ pages (and pasted below). Thank you so much Mum for all your help, creativity and support in all that I do.

Mum’s Rhubarb and ginger jam

Makes about 4 1/2 cups jam
Prep 10 mins
Cook 20 mins

My Mum Annie is an incredible jam maker. Her jams always set perfectly and she seems able to whip up a batch while doing ten different things and making it all look so easy. Here is her rhubarb and ginger recipe. It’s particularly good with the wholemeal pikelets below.

1kg rhubarb
1 1/2 cups sugar
Juice and zest of one lemon
3cm piece ginger, grated

Place the rhubarb, sugar and lemon zest and juice in a large ceramic or glass bowl and toss to combine. Cover and leave to macerate for at least an hour.

When ready to make the jam, pour fruit and sugar into your wide pan and add the ginger. Bring to a rapid boil and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes. It will be ready when you can draw the spatula through the middle of the pan and the fruit takes it’s time to fill the space left behind. Spoon fruit into sterilized jars and seal.

Mum’s jam-making tips

• Make jam in small batches, no more than 2kg fruit at a time. This helps preserve the fruit’s fresh flavour and colour.
• Use a low, wide pan if possible. A 30cm diameter saucepan with high sides is ideal. This will allow more more surface area which means shorter cooking time and hopefully less sugar to reach setting point!
• Store jam in small-ish jars, this means, of course, you have more jars to go around, and jam makes a fantastic present!

Wholemeal pikelets

These pikelets are by far my children’s favourite treat for afternoon tea so I make them often and keep the leftovers for school recess bags, usually spread and sandwiched with butter and jam.

1 egg
1 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
A little oil

Optional extras
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 tsp caster sugar

Whisk everything together until you have a thick, smooth batter. Heat a frying pan on medium and add a splash of oil. Drop batter on the hot pan a couple of tablespoonfuls at a time. As soon as the pikelets begin to bubble, flip them over for a minute on the other side. Set aside covered loosely with foil before serving with jam and butter.