Strawberry cardamom smoothies, baked duck eggs and resolutions

 

Being more of an even than an odd number girl, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that, 2016 is going to be a goodie. And that any of the rough edges of 2015 will be smoothed away by new efficiencies, practices and resolve. Well at least that the plan.

The Christmas and January break for us, has involved lots of great catch ups with with friends and family, both here and in Sydney, and as much as possible, and with out being completely anti-social, I’ve been trying to read more and also catch up on my favourite podcasts in an attempt to fill up the old inspiration reserves, which to be honest, were running pretty low by the end of last year. And it worked. I’m buzzing with new ideas, pep, and goals. Yes. I. Am. But still working on when or how they will all be realised.

So here below, (and please don’t bother reading if you find all of this a bit too self-serving and annoying), are my goals for this blog and my work in 2016;

1. hI am going to learn how to create video content for the blog; everything from demonstrating cooking methods I love to interviews with farmers, cooks, producers and people that inspire me and will I know, do the same for you.
2. I am going to learn how to be a good public speaker. I won’t say better because I’m not even proficient at this skill – at all.
3. I am going to be more efficient with my time and not spend hours wandering around the interwebs when I should be editing recipes or replying to emails. See number 4. And as part of this point, my semi-regular Friday List will be morphing into a fortnightly Friday Favourites list. Much as I love collecting great recipes and reads to share with you guys, compiling these lists every weeks was becoming really time consuming.  So from this year onwards, I’ll post as often as I can, but mostly fortnightly, a favourites list that will include not only websites and blogs I love but also podcasts, books, ideas, events people, foods and experiences that are, in this writers’ very humble opinion, worth sharing.
4. I will reply to comments and emails as they come in, not days or weeks later (I’m so so sorry If I owe you a reply, my slackness in this arena is something I really am going to work on this year).
5. I will turn my phone off at 5.30pm and not look st again until after the kids are fed and asleep. And even then only a bit.

The recipes and pictures below are from our most recent Local is Lovely Workshop. We have three new workshops scheduled for this year, the first one in March has but one spot left and the remaining two are filling up so if interested, please, take a look at the workshops page and let me know if you have any queries at all. I promise to write right back (see point 5 above). Sophiex

Strawberry, almond and cardamom ‘nutties’

We had these at a breakfast picnic on a clear, gorgeous summer morning. They were cold, sweet, full of goodness but not at all smooth. No sir. I’d made fresh almond milk in bulk and our not at all high-powered-blender wasn’t up to the job of rendering the nuts completely smooth. Also, I was let down by a makeshift nut bag (now isn’t that a great sentence). Using an old muslin wrap from the box of baby things I hang on to for visiting little people, I’d squeezed a tad too hard and there was an eruption of pulp into the milk.

They were still delicious, if not smooth. Thank you to the lovely Melanie of HoutenPlank for being such a lovely model in this pic!

I’m on a big smoothie kick so far this year and am making a version of the one below every morning week but with white peaches and a kick of ginger. Serves 2.

2 cups fresh or store bought almond milk (or cow’s milk if you prefer)
1 cup tasty, fresh strawberries (they are amazing at the moment!)
1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom
1/2 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup almonds
Honey, to taste

Combine everything in a blender, high powered or not, and blitz until well combined.

Baked eggs with tomato sauce, pesto and goat’s curd

This is hardly a recipe, more of an assembly job – and one of the easiest, yummiest things you can serve a crowd in the morning, or any time of the day really!

Make up a basic tomato sauce (fry off a diced brown onion until translucent, add a couple of cloves of garlic and then 6 x peeled and diced tomatoes or two tins of diced tomatoes, a pinch of chilli, a splash of balsamic and season to taste then cook on low for about 25 minutes), then spread this on the base of a baking dish. Crack 6 x duck or chicken eggs into the tomato sauce, drizzle with olive oil and bake until the eggs are just cooked. Dot the dish with goat’s curd and pesto and serve with croutons or fresh sourdough slices.