Ginger Beer & Back with a bang!

 

Grandma, Phyllis, looking pretty in pink!

So, Finally! Bessie Pearl's Ledger is back for 2011. We'll see how it goes. I have to be honest, our new 'kitchen' is a little retarded for even thinking about cooking in.  Some people might see this diminished kitchen size as going backwards in life, after all, aren't we meant to grow up, buy kitchen aides, good knives and woks? And have enough space to enjoy spending time in the kitchen?

I am not being sarcastic. I truly think for people who enjoy cooking this is an earnest & totally understandable goal.

But, for us, who both like to cook, it comes down to whether or not we want to live in New York City, or cook in it. We found a little 'Clubhouse' -as we like to call it - where we feel ok to not cook as much. So, now the city is our living room. Our kitchen. (Ok, well you can cook a little, but it is totally about making something that is enough for one meal!)...

However, amidst the setback of said small kitchen, I was determined to make something from the ledger and get back to you guys. I have missed you terribly!

Now, before we start, -  a confession. Sometimes, I am not a very patient person. To some of you, I know, that sounds quite hilarious because in all reality I am a very patient person (Yes, even at the New York Post Office... mostly!).  But the very patient person has that 'other side' too. I first noticed it in myself when I was 19 and took an airbrushing class. I just could not get the ink to flow out of the brush consistently, and it was driving me nutty. I tried a few times, and then in complete exasperation I just pushed the nozzle as hard as I could and essentially blobbed ink over my work. A big blob. That ran down the page. There was no 'airbrushig' to be seen. Nope that wasn't for me.

I tell you this story, because upon making Ginger Beer, I was in a similar mind frame. The kitchen was too small. I hardly had room to bruise the ginger, had no pot big enough to boil the required water, forgot more limes. No strainer in this apartment. Couldn't find a good recipe that really explained what I was meant to do.

So, I just thought, fuckit ('scuse the French) - I don't need more lime, to strain the ginger, to fill a whole bottle with ginger beer mix. SO I ended up with this mix that came 3/4 to the top of a bottle, was FULL of bits of ginger and looked kinda gross. I put it in the back of the cupboard for its 48 hours and promptly forgot about it. I remembered 5 days later. Hoped that my ginger beer was gonna be really spicy, you know, the kind where the ginger spice gets up your nose? Oooh, I love spicy ginger beer, - it is never spicy enough! Somehow, in my mind, because I left it longer, it just meant that it was gonna be really pickled. Spicy and alcoholic!

I pulled it out from the back of the cupboard (oh yeah, important to the story, I had just gotten outta the shower and was only towel-clad, when I get something in my mind I don't wait!) brought it over to the bench, looked apprehensively at all the sediment and started to flip the lid.

WHEN IT EXPLODED!!!!!

I mean, anyone ever tried the old mentos / diet coke trick? In a tiny apartment? With your face in the bottle?

SCARED THE FREAKIN' SHIT OUT OF ME.

And, ginger definitely went up my nose.

And on the roof, into the living room, all over every plate and cup we own, all over my face, washed hair, clean body. I probably had the neighbours wondering who got shot, it was SO loud and SO powerful and I am SO lucky that nothing worse, like glass shattering everywhere as well, happened.

Am I gonna try it again?

Hell yeah.

(With a little patience this time. Perhaps I will borrow a friends kitchen!?)

Welcome to the 2011 edition of Bessie Pearl's Ledger. !!!


Ginger Beer

2 gallons cold water
2 lbs white sugar
2 oz whole white ginger bruised
2 tsp acid
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 Tbs yeast
white of two eggs
12 bottles

Happy Holidays 2010 & See you in 2011

Grandma, Phyllis, with her husband-to-be Keeny, when they were kids in the Western Australian goldfields

I think this photo of my Grandma when she was young is just awesome! To me it sums up such a great spirit of merriment, having fun, laughing and being able to laugh at yourself.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas (and holiday season if you don't celebrate Christmas!) and all the best for a fantastic 2011. I look so forward to sharing more recipes & food love with you (yes, that little book has more recipes!!), and thank you so much for reading this year. This ledger and blog has really been a kind of therapy for me, and it has been so rewarding to share it here. All of your feedback has been so encouraging and loving, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I'll be back in the New Year, but in the meantime, you can guarantee that I will be eating up a storm over the holidays. Did I tell you Mum brought over Tim Tams and Kingstons from my sister. Oh yes, there is cookie heaven going on in Harlem (they are pretty much all open at once!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Mum's Vegetable Soup

 

My Grandfather, Kyran "Keeny" Brennan

It got cold. All of a sudden and with a bitterness that reminds me why I don't like winter. And it's only December!! But, it has been so nice to have my Mum here, and although I have been really busy with work and rehearsals we have fit in time to go shopping and hang out.

Today we were right by Fairway, so we popped in and Mum just grabbed a whole bunch of vegies (with me all the way saying to hurry up because I hated Fairway (and I love it, too!) and everyone getting in everyone's way. It is a seriously weirdly set up store - not the general layout on a grid, but just a confusing mess of produce everywhere that always makes me dizzy! Anyway, she just picked out good looking vegies to make up a soup for dinner on this cozying day.

We have also been shopping for other things besides food. Today, nearly a week into her visit, I actually bought my first gift for someone. Hallelujah! But, I can't disclose any more, because you know, you never know who might be reading, and what I might give away. Right, sis?

So, this soup - cooked the way I learned and like to cook (just chuck everything in!) was delicious. You can put whatever you like in it, but I love  having potato and pumpkin - for me, that's a must! So, these are the vegetables we picked out, and this was so nice to enjoy this freezing evening. (We were meant to get the tree tonight, but I wussed out! Better get onto that! Now that there's something that can go under there, until I send it!)

PS. Sorry for the late post this week, I had thought I hit the 'publish' button, but I obviously didn't!

Mum's Vegie Soup

1 large onion (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 parsnip
1 large carrot
1/2 swede (white)
1/2 turnip
1 celeriac
1/2 butternut squash (large chunks)
2 white potatoes (skin on - large chunks)
2 red potatoes (skin on - large chunks)
1 small kumera (large cubes)
2 kohlrabi (save leaves - chop and add 15 minutes before serving)
1 dried red chilli
1 jalapeno chilli
1 Tbs worstershire sauce
2 ltr water
salt / pepper


~ Sweat onions and garlic in 2 Tbs oil, add vegies and water
~ Bring to boil and simmer for about an hour, or more

Fave Food Friday - Thanksgiving Dinner

OK, so I finally realised, as I mentioned in last week's post, that I don't actually like Turkey all that much (although I do like the sleepiness it demands after its ingestion). So you may be wondering how come my Thanksgiving dinner made it to Fave Food Friday? Well, I ask you, how can it not? The good china is used, wine flows freely, the delicious smell of food has had me salivating all day, and everyone has chipped in to make something yummy to eat. Then this plate gets set in front of you and it looks so beautiful, and the anticipation is too much.

I might have to cook a roast for Christmas....

Dried Apricot Jam

 

My pretty Mum, Karyn 

Yay, my Mum is here in New York! She arrived last night to me boiling up the Apricot Jam!! The first thing she said (after hugs & love) was that (my) Grandma (her Mum) used to make it for her Dad because he really loved it.. How cool - info on hand at the time of making - I LOVE IT!! I hope we will make some Christmas treats together - we were talking about Christmas Cakes last night, only Mum likes the fake green cherries! Can you believe it? I can't even stand the regular fake cherries, let alone the green ones. Probably why I never cared for Xmas Cake (but will try and make it, just for you guys)...

So, without further ado - the dried Apricot Jam that Keeny loved.

(And now I am getting back to the movie everyone is watching and continuing to write my holiday cards. I might have a Tim Tam!! A short post this week - I am sure you don't mind me holding back for once!! heehee!)

Dried Apricot Jam

6 lb dried apricot

12 cups water

6 lb sugar

~ soak dried apricots in water overnight

~ boil apricots in water

~ once brought to boil, add sugar

~ boil 2 hours (ok jam makers - last time I did this with the lemon jam, I let it boil over by mistake, and this time I just let it simmer and it didn't set....  can I re-boil it to set it? PS. I think I learnt .... don't simmer, but watch it while it boils!!)

~ put in sterilised jars and let cool, then seal

Mrs Hamilton's Ginger Bread

My Grandma Phyllis, and her little brother Mostyn circa 1920

I know, I know, - Thanksgiving is no excuse for not posting for the past two weeks! Nor is getting busier at work. I'm sorry - I've missed you all!! I am already making the next post, just so I don't fall behind, - let's get this story back on the road!

Yes, Thanksgiving! I am sorry that you missed out if you are in Australia, or somewhere else besides the States (I say Australia off the bat, because I am from there, and hope that one day we co-opt some sort of Thanksgiving-esque holiday where the weather is cold and everyone sits inside and eats themselves silly). There is not much else to Thanksgiving, in essence, and I love it. No gift-giving (which ok, I do like gifts, but it's nice to not have that pressure), no religious overtones (a holiday for everyone!) and a BIG roast dinner!! AWESOME! I love it. It is my most favourite holiday, - imagine, all you have to do is cook, and eat. And I give a LOT of thanks that I can do that. 

We went upstate NY to our friends place, which was so lovely.  I love heading up there on the train, with my husband and my little green overnight bag that I scored at a garage sale to meet up with our much-loved friend (who loves to bake, and who has helped me with BPL a little along the way!). Going for Thanksgiving was an extra special treat. 

I don't even really like turkey. Can you believe it? Seriously, I thought about it this Thanksgiving. And realised that turkey is my least favourite meat!! Haha! But, I do like eating a little of it each November and just love everything else that goes with it, food and other. And then watching movies and feeling sleepy afterward. And then, I don't have turkey again for a year! Roast Lamb is my most favourite. Then Pork. Then Beef. Chicken. Turducken (actually, that should be near top!)... So, anyway, it is good when I don't cook a turkey, because I end up throwing a lot of it out. Even after the pot pies, soups and the etc. etc. etc. My favourite food at Thanksgiving is my husband's Pecan Pie. I'm sorry, but it is the best. No one can beat it! haha! He made me another one once we got home, so we could enjoy it again. 

So, what do you think I have been eating - Pecan Pie or Ginger Bread? I'll give you one guess.

(Answer: both) .... heehee!

Mrs Hamilton's Ginger Bread

3 cups flour

1 small cup sugar

1 large cup treacle (I substituted 1/2 cup light corn syrup and 1/2 cup honey)

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1 cup milk

1 Tbs butter

2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbs ground ginger

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

~ Beat eggs

~ Heat milk and add soda

~ Mix all dry ingredients

~ Mix treacle and melted butter in hot milk

~ Mix all ingredients

~ If too moist add more flour

~ Bake in moderate oven for 1 hour .....(I did 350f for 45 mins)

This cake is really nice. I added cream cheese icing on top, which was a nice mix of flavours. It is a dense cake, actually more like a ginger bread biscuit, but in a cake!! I think next time I will add carrots and walnuts, - I am starting to get a little antsy with the basic recipes!!

Here's the Ginger Bread and the Pecan Pie we've been munching on this week

Fave Food Friday - CousCous from Cafe Gitane

Everyone tells you when you get to NY that at Cafe Gitane you will find the best coffee in NY. The closest cuppa to the good ol' flat white from home you can get. They also serve Vegemite baguettes. I don't what the connection is, it's a French Moroccan cafe / bistro, but I don't care. It brought me there 9 1/2 years ago, and I have been going back ever since. I don't drink the coffee or eat the baguettes any more, I only get the couscous. Every time.

And I take everyone that comes to town there just so I can go.

Now, I can walk there. (Well, come January!!). It will take me 10 minutes. My tummy is rumbling just thinking about it.

Tea Buns

clockwise from top left: ??, Grandma, Kyron Brennan Snr (her father-in-law), Roger-the-dog & Dianna McGushin

I have been loving drinking tea again.

I quit drinking coffee earlier this year, as I had a suspicion that it was a cause of some skin problems I had been tackling since I was 22. That was the same year I started wearing sunscreen every day, the time I started using beauty products (make-up, cleansers, moisturisers and all those grown up smelly things!), and the time I started drinking coffee regularly. I stopped doing those other things, to test it out, and it was somewhat successful. Then I stopped drinking coffee and the results were amazing! I think my poor liver has been trying to tell me something a long time. Finally, I stopped listening to the dermatologists & the beauty product advertising and listened to my body. No more coffee = awesomeness!

But, as usual, I digress.

I have been loving drinking tea again. Earl Grey especially! And the Tea Buns, which I think are pretty much scones, were a perfect addition to my afternoon tea today. And I needed afternoon tea today. I think I should still be on my afternoon tea break actually. Right, after this, back on break!! We've had a very hectic week. We found a steal of an apartment downtown, and have been clawing and fighting our way to signing its lease.

Let me tell you, apartment hunting in NY is not that fun. First of all, there are all the dodgy listings you have to navigate through (which once you get used to them, you can spot them a mile all over the place, very annoying!). You know, the ones where the 'owner' tells you that they are in London on business and if you send them the deposit and first month's rent (the usual money required to secure an apt in NY), they will FedEx you the keys. Ah, yeah.

Then there's the beautiful, huge apartments in the best area. That you go and see and find out that the train rides right past the front window, is tiny and totally falling down (which is saying alot, because NY apartments are mostly all falling down as it is!), and is the most skanky hell hole you can imagine. It especially is comforting when the landlord tells you that they do all the repairs, so you don't have to worry.. (No, sorry sir, you don't have to worry about me, because your apartment sux!).

Then there's the broker fees. Usually 12% of the yearly rent, the onus is on the tenant to pay this. NY real estate is such a rat race, that the owner doesn't even have to pay the broker! I had one that wanted $2500, for them to show you the apartment for 5 minutes. People actually pay this! (Don't get me wrong, broker's should get paid!!! But, it is just sucky that the tenant pays it....)

So, what you wanna find is that apartment that is in a good area, that is livable (believe me, there are a lot of unlivable apartments!!), and if you can score it, rent stabilised. That means that the landlord cannot jack up the rent hundreds of dollars on you just because the area you live in got popular. And believe me, they will.

Well, we got it!! A super cute and very charming apartment over 150 blocks closer to work & friends than where we are now (my hour-15 minute commute to work is gonna be 15 minutes now!! Yay!), and in an area that we are looking forward to being in. We scored the deal all NY'ers dream of, and I am so relieved. After a week of waiting, we found out this morning we got it! Woohoo!

My Grandma would have thought I was crazy!! I think the rest of my family will!! Sometimes I wonder myself, - what the heck are you doing in NY, Nerissa? Well, come January I will be walking to all my favourite spots, drinking tea at the cafe downstairs, eating next door, catching shows at the many nearby venues and living in the greatest city in the world!!!

Now, back to that cuppa and tea bun.

Tea Buns

1 egg well beaten

1 Tbsp sugar

1 ditto of melted butter

2 ditto of cream of cream of tartar

1 ditto soda

2 cups of flour

1 cup of milk

1 pinch salt

~ eggs beaten, sugar and milk well beaten

(~ cook for 8 minutes in 425f oven)

I do something wrong in preparing these sorts of things. I am sure they are meant to rise, but mine were kinda flat! Still good though! So, I am not writing any more method than what BPL wrote, and then the time & temperature, which I researched. I might have to invest in that science of food book, so I can get this stuff down. 

I can't find the camera cord!!!! As soon as I do, I will post this week's pic! (Sorry, but my sister always texts me from Australia if the post is not up by the time she gets to work. I think I might just get her! xx). 

Fave Food Friday - Chocolate Cake

I don't care. I admit it. I love chocolate. Chocolate anything. Cake, biscuits, milk, sauce, chocolate by itself.

We thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot for some promo shots (for my other love besides eating, singing!) of me eating chocolate cake. They never saw the light of day!! I was too embarrassed at how much the little piggy it is obvious that I am when it comes to devouring chocolate cake. (Or most food for that matter!). This one captures my chocolate addiction quite well, I think.

Yes, I ate the whole thing.

I got to go to The Martha Stewart Show this week!! My lovely & talented friend Lotta Jansdotter was on as a guest - it was sooooo exciting. Everyone in the audience got a copy her new book, Lotta Jansdotter's Handmade Living, and a copy of the recipe book, Baked. Thank goodness, after we all sat there and watched Martha make (& eat!) a Mississippi Mud Cake.  Thanks for inviting me Lotta! Now I can eat mud cake as I pour over your beautiful book, and you (and all of you others out there who know my addictions!) must know how happy that makes me!!!!

Mrs Shield's Pills

"The Four Generations"

top l to r: My Grandma, Phyllis and her mother B. Pearl, bottom l to r: My Aunty Pam and her great-Grandma, my great-great Grandma, Maryanne

I used to love looking at this photo when I was a little girl. I mean loooovvvvee. I would stare it out all the time, and marvel at how my Grandma, a young woman in this photo, looked like her Mother and Grandmother. I mean seriously, when I was a little girl she looked like her Grandma. Who was this young woman? Would I grow up to look like her? (It turns out, no!). Would I have a daughter who I could take a photo like this with? (It turns out, no! No kids, and obviously no longer the 4th generation is alive). How fascinating and wonderful the march of time and generations - I felt so close to them all when I looked at this photo. Like I belonged to a secret club that were these four women (I was, of course, always sad that my Mum wasn't in this photo - she came along much later, when my Grandma was 42! Don't know if she was quite expecting that!!).... I can't explain what I felt, it is hard to explain exactly what it was you felt as a young child with your adult 'glasses' on. Anyway, I am still amazed by it. I know, it is probably just me, because this is my family! But to have a photo of 4 generations of women in my family, and to go a little crazy looking at my Aunty Pam and Mum now, who bear the same resemblance as their predecessors - it makes me feel so many things... Loved is one of them. Part of something beautiful, life!, is another. Small and insignificant, and yet somehow special anyway is another...

This will be the cover of my book one day.

I didn't cook again this week! eek! Will you still love me? Did anyone make the Sultana Cake last week? 

This 'recipe' is in the back of the ledger, - it is totally fascinating and I would love to find more information about it, if anyone knows any...  I am scared of it! - it sounds like an old wives brew (yes, I am imagining a steamy cauldron) - I don't know exactly what for, - but I think it was a remedy for either constipation, menopause, or...erm... to make sure you got your period each month. Who knows exactly? The research I have done leads me to several conclusions!! But, maybe the secret lays?

I do wish those women up there could tell me what it was.. maybe I'll have to call and ask Aunty Pam and see if she knows what this crazy drink is!! (I love that you mix it with Gin!!)

Mrs Shield's Pills

1/4 oz Hiera Picra (meant to literally mean, Bitter Pill)

1/4 oz Jalop (Jalapa, from Mexico, a purgative??)

1/4 oz Rhubarb (great for hot flashes and heartburn)

1/4 oz Bitter Aloes (another purgative)

1/4 oz Ground Ginger (a cure for constipation...)

3 coconut (??? I think that is what it says??)

~ Mix with gin

Tim Tams & Coffee

Welcome to the new day of posting - Food Friday! This is where I can tell you about something favourite of mine to eat, and we can all drool together.

I love Tim Tams, and miss them so much!! This pic is of one of those 'new' tim tams with the mint in them. Yum. With coffee, which I also miss (I stopped drinking it earlier this year - best decision I ever made), and in another one of my favourite mugs, from my friend Lotta Jansdotter.

I kinda want this picture for breakfast, but I suppose I will be ok with the omelet my husband just cooked me! haha!! (YUM!!). ~ Runs to eat omelet while hot ~

Good Sultana Cake

My Grandma Phyllis, (this is how I remember her), in 1984 - age 73

There are a couple of newer photos in the collection that I have, but I always feel like they aren't 'old' enough. There is something so romantic about old black & white photos, that I am just fascinated by. Probably because they go beyond 'me' and my 'youth'. ..... I thought I was young, but I guess I am not that young anymore. People are calling me ma'am! And, the other day I was at Urban Outfitters, singing along to a cover of some 80's song when it dawned upon me that this music was being marketed to people who didn't hear it the first time around. Like when Mum thought it was funny when I showed an interest in the Beatles, and The Doors. I also knew it when I saw an 80's looking outfit marked as 'vintage'. Hmph. Anyway, so I thought we would remember Grandma from the 'vintage' 80's today.

Grandma was awesome at helping me with my homework back in the 80's. She was super patient and would especially encourage me in Maths, which I wasn't so great at as a kid, and reading, which I was. I liked doing my homework, and I loved doing it with her. We'd sit at the dining room table and she would help me do the lot. Then we'd eat some total comfort-food dinner, like beef stew or rissoles (with peas and mashed potato, of course!) Later, when I was in high school I would go and stay over at her place once or twice a week to keep her company, eat her dinners and be a little closer to my school (and erm, my boyfriend! The truth comes out!)... I remember telling her that old age was the reason that she couldn't taste her food as well anymore, that I had just learnt that in Human Biology, funny, the same day she complained to me about it! The things we say without thinking when we're young!

So, eat your food. Taste it! Enjoy it! Savour it while you can!

And this week, for you all, homework!!! 

What?

Yes, you heard me. 

I have had quite a busy week - I had my first concert as part of the Gamelan Orchestra I am in, fun!, and on top of that a bit of extra work-work, and I haven't had time to bake at all. I wanted to make the Good Sultana Cake, but haven' been able to yet, - so your homework, if you feel like doing it (Grandma won't mind if you don't, and I won't bug you either!) is to sort out this week's recipe. I will write it as it is in the ledger, and if you want to to try it out, that'd be great! And let me know how you get on, - post me a picture, tell me the cooking temperature - you know, all of that!! You can do it here, or Bessie Pearl's Ledger now also has a Facebook Page here.

Good Sultana Cake

3 lb's flour

1 1/2 lbs sultanas 

2 lbs of butter

2 lbs of sugar

20 eggs  (ok, really???? I would probably research that a lot!)

little lemon peel

That's all I got! Ready, get set,,, go!! (And good luck!)

German Nut Cake

 

My Grandma (Phyllis) in her cute suit

This cake was so yummy! Even though there are no nuts IN the cake, and putting them in the icing is optional, German Nut Cake is a winner.

Guys, seriously. I am making something full of butter, eggs, flour and sugar at least once every week. (And eating it!). That, on top of Ben & Jerry's limited edition Flourless Chocolate Cake icecream, - I am turning my little family into fatties.

(On another very serious note, if you like chocolate you must find this icecream. We like our icecream over here, but it isn't often that we'll buy the same flavour more than twice in a row. It's limited edition, so I might have to go stock up. Yes. Yes, I am very serious!).

Sorry I didn't talk about the cake very much. It is very good. But sometimes, something else is just that bit better. 

Oh, and PS - I FOUND MILO AT THE CORNER STORE!!! Oh you can imagine the chocolate hyperness going on over here....

German Nut Cake

(transcribed as is, sans the calligraphy pen)

Not quite 1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 lbs butter, 

beat butter & sugar is a cream

add 3 egg well beaten

1 cup self raising flour

3 Tbs Fry's cocoa (do they still have that?)

1 of ground cinnamon

1/2 of mixed spice

bake in sandwich tins for 10 or 15 minutes

For filling

Melt 1/4 butter in a saucepan

Add 1/2 lbs icing sugar

let stand till almost cool then spread between cake and on top and sprinkle with ground cocoanut or ground nut (we used both desiccated coconut and crushed walnuts)

Wool Blanket

photograph by vintage's shop on etsy

I like doing this Monday post of fun things I've found!

It's getting cold in NY. The seasons are so funny here. One day it's Summer, then next Autumn. Then you turn around shivering in your winter coat. It seems to happen quite abruptly, - one day you're laughing at everyone in their 'Fall' clothes when it is way too hot, the next day you're freezing and wondering where your boots and jumpers are? I am never prepared for these big changes!

Anyway, I started thinking about warm blankets and cozying up, and I remembered this really cool blanket that Grandma had. It was sort of like the one above, except maybe a little bigger and perhaps a little heavier. When we were at her house (which was incredibly and impeccably spick and span), watching tv, or colouring-in, playing cards or jacks (yes, we played jacks, with real (lamb) knucklebones too!) or eating a snack in the lounge room, we had to sit on the rug. Sort of like an inside picnic! Only that wasn't the reasoning behind the blanket, we had to constrain ourselves from spreading out our messy child-ness! I am serious. The blanket wasn't even opened up, it was folded, probably in quarter, so we actually didn't have that much space!! Haha!  Somehow we didn't ever mind it, and looking back, it does seem like it was a bit of an inside picnic!!

But, is that why I am such a messy grown-up?

This wool blanket is for sale here

(Mrs T. Bowley's) Irresistible Biscuits

 Mum in the 60's

Mrs T. Bowley's Irresistible biscuits are suspiciously like the Nellie Biscuits I made a few weeks ago... Hmmm, has it finally happened that the consistency of the appearance of flour, butter & sugar has manifested itself in the same thing called something else?.... I knew it! What will be next? I hope it won't be soon, that wouldn't be much fun, would it?

Sorry I missed a few episodes of BP'sL. I have actually been away on holidays! We had the loveliest week in the Outer Banks, NC. And, like most vacations my husband and I have, we ate some really delicious food. I, as usual, made sure there were some photos of the food as well! I was looking back over all my photos recently, and realised that I have so many food pics from all over the world. (And quite a few of me scoffing myself!). There is quite a collection!! I am thinking of adding to the blog a day of 'food photos' from different places. Then I will have an excuse to go out (or not, staying in pics are good too!), take photos of yummy food and yes, eat that yummy food! What do you think?

I love going out to eat. If something becomes a favourite dish, then we do our best in this household to learn how to make it. So, we eat pretty well around here!

But, back to the holiday. The Outer Banks are best known for their seafood, - crab in particular. Man, did we eat a bit of crab. We started on the way down with lump crab cake sandwiches, moved onto Crab Grenades (with Wasabi sauce, hello yum!) and ended with Alaskan King Crab legs. Those suckers were huge! I am glad when we used to go crabbing when I was a kid that we weren't pulling those guys up. I think I would still be having crab nightmares.

Anyway, now I am fairly (not totally!) beachified again. Nothing like some salt air and beach walks to put me back on the ground. Thanks, North Carolina, I needed that!

(Mrs T. Bowley's) Irresistible Biscuits

1 1/2 lb flour
1/2 lb butter
3/4 lb sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Mode (yes! there was a mode this time!)

~ Beat butter & sugar to a cream
~ Then add milk & eggs well beaten
~ Rub soda & cream tartar into flour
~ Mix altogether to a paste and roll thin
~ Bake in a moderate oven until they are brown & crisp

Silver Cutlery

photograph by Angie's Iris on Etsy

Before she died, my Grandma passed down a cutlery set just like this one to me. It is beautiful. I was 18 when she gave it to me with the strict instructions that I should never use it, and only 'keep it for good'. My Grandma was really funny like that. We wouldn't even be allowed to play with our presents on Christmas morning if she had it her way, so that we could keep them looked after. (OK, well, she would say we could play with one thing only! That was way too hard!). Obviously she didn't really win that fight, as we had a mother that had gone through that as a child as well and wouldn't stand for it! But still, we were very used to hearing it, so when she said that to me I scoffed in my head, thinking, of course I will use it, it's beautiful and should be used!
My inherited cutlery set was the first thing my Grandma ever bought herself. She paid for it from savings from her very first job at age 18. That makes my cutlery set 81 years old. You can imagine, right, that of course I have never once used it. It is sitting with my stuff (what little of it is still there) in Australia, getting older, waiting for that special occasion. (Which obviously wasn't graduation, immigration or marriage...maybe if I ever win a Grammy??). 

Still, I feel particularly grown up to own something like this. Even if it is stashed away!

(You can buy the one above here)

Friar Tuck Biscuit Jar

My Grandma had one of these on top of her fridge when we were kids, only I think hers said, "Thou shalt not steal". I don't know what made me think of it, perhaps because I have been making so many biscuits, and don't have a cool cookie jar to put them in (well, actually, that's not true, I do. Only it is SO massive that it always feels like it is empty. Which is not how you want the biscuit barrel to be, right?).  We used to always think it looked like our Pop (my Grandma got remarried after Keeny died), who was a very jolly man, Sandy Bell. How can you not be jolly with a name like that? This guys for sale, click on him if you want him!

Ginger Pudding (& Sticky Date Pudding)

My Granddad, Keeny Brennan, with Chris(tmas) the cocky

I LOVE this photo. It is one of my favourites! I never knew my grandfather, but I knew Chris the cocky! He was a Christmas present to my Mum when she was about five. Chris was a talking cocky who used to live in the laundry. Laundries in the olden days in Australia (and I guess some places still today) had toilets in them (or a w/c - which I had to inform someone what that was the other day. I felt old, or maybe just Aussie, you don't see them so much over here), and whenever someone went into use the bathroom he would say, "What you doing in there?"! He also used to say Mum's name, and a slew of other things. He would dance like cockies do. I know, it seems weird to have a pet cocky, and kind of cruel, but a lot of people had them back then I suppose. I love pink and grey galahs - which is what Chris was, they are kooky and fun and they make me smile! Apparently, Chris died young at about 50. Is that why there are so many in Australia?

Besides birds, I also love pudding. To be precise I love Sticky Date Pudding. Whenever I am in Melbourne I have to go to Segovia's especially. I was kinda bummed that the ledger seemed to have date-everything-else-but-pudding, but about 10 million other types of pudding. So, I thought Ginger Pudding sounded good instead. I've never made pudding before - I didn't know how the heck to do it, and BP's ledger really didn't help much. In fact, I think it was a wonky recipe, as there weren't any eggs in it!! So, I did a bit of research and did what I could. It worked! But my pudding was a hard lump of ginger rock bread, dry as anything. It sat in the fridge for a while before it was sadly tossed. Sorry BP, this one was a total dud!

I had a dream where Grandma told me that the secret was the you put treacle in the bottom of the bowl before steaming it. Does anyone know if that is true? Wouldn't that be awesome if it was!! I would totally try it again if that were true!!

Anyway, so then I decided I needed Sticky Date Pudding to commiserate. So, here it is! We have been eating it all week, and haven't invited one single person over to enjoy it with us! Little piggies over here!! (But it was sooooo good!). So, we have been gorging ourselves on SDP and Mad Men. Can't get enough of either of those this week.!! Next time we'll have people over to share, I promise.

See you next week. Cook this if you can. It's easy! You don't even have to steam it, it's an oven jobby.

And PS. I got the recipe here.

Oh, and PPS. Pudding in Australia is sometimes not the same as pudding in America!! (And sometimes, it is).

Sticky Date Pudding

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

1 1/4 cup chopped pitted dates

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

~ Preheat 350 f

~ Place dates in saucepan & cover with water (approx. 1 1/2 cups). Bring to boil & simmer 3 minutes

~ Add baking soda to date mixture (it will bubble)

~ Cream butter, sugar & eggs (1 at a time)

~ Gently mix flour, salt, vanilla. Slowly stir in baking powder & 1/4 cup of the liquid from the dates, until thick like pancake batter

~ Drain the rest of date liquid and discard. Stir dates into mixture

~ Bake 30 - 40 minutes in a buttered 9" round baking pan (I used small pie tins for individual servings)

Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup cream

1/2 + 1 Tbsn brown packed sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

~ Combine. Bring to boil. Reduce and simmer for 3 minutes


~ Serve with cream or vanilla icecream

Ginger Pudding


take 2 cups of flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 dessertspoon ginger
a piece of butter the size of a walnut rubbed into the flour
2 dessertspoon treacle
1 tsp bicarb soda, dissolved in a little milk


~ Mix to the consistency of batter
~ Pour into battered mould
~ Steam 3 hours
~ Serve with sweet sauce or custard


I added egg, as obviously with just these ingredients it isn't very wet... I am still in the dark about how it should be...! Anyone?
But oh well, here's the sticky date version...

Owl Mug

This is one of my favourite mugs. I have a thing for mugs, more than shoes actually. Having a lovely mug to choose from every morning makes a happy start to my day. I don't drink coffee anymore, luckily I like tea. (Earl Grey, or Mate with Peppermint are my favourite right now). I bought this at a garage sale for a nickel!.. Sometimes it's the simple pleasures...

Sausage Rolls

 Brennan (My Grandpa, Keeny Brennan's, parents) residence in Kalgoorlie

I started making sausage rolls about a-year-and-a-half ago. I had been wanting to make them in forever, but I never knew how. And every time I would ask my Grandma Campbell (my Dad's Mum) how to make them, she would say, "Everyone knows how to make sausage rolls", to which I would reply, "I don't" and she would say, "They're so easy Nerissa"....  And that is about as far as the conversation would go. I would get frustrated and feel like I was 4 again, asking her "But, WHY Grandma?" to which she always would say, "Because Y is a crooked letter" (she always stumped me, I never knew what to say to that. The point, I do believe! I also shut up quick smart when I would ask what was for dinner and she would say "a wigwam for a gooses bridle". Huh?! Total brilliance! I'd love to hear what old sayings your Grandparents gave you! They're always so awesome, especially across countries..).

- Anyway, it was like she was holding back some secret information that she didn't want to share with me, with that ever present twinkle in her eye! I felt like this because her sausage rolls are the best. AND she also used to own a pie shop (nb. Australian pies mean meat, not sweet!) where she made both pies and sausage rolls, (among other sweet deliciousness), so I knew she was an expert. Finally, I got a little bit of info from her. Like, that she used to roll out her dough through a hand-wringer but that that got too much work, so she jimmied up a motor to the wringer and let it do all the work. And how much butter you should use in puff pastry, and why you may as well just buy the pastry because who wants to do all that anymore? And how she used to buy 'pie seasoning' to make her pies taste so good, but then they stopped making it, and pies were never the same. THEN she started telling me all about vanilla slices... although I may have to have another consultation on that because I can't remember a thing - there was too much drool going on to actually take it all in.

Anyway, I didn't really get any sausage roll info that was particularly useful, so I just researched them for myself. I bought the pastry and tried out a few things. I am very popular when I make these. And let me insist that they taste awesome with the home made tomato sauce! 

So, for anyone who loves Sausage Rolls, but doesn't know how to make them, here you go... My secret ingredient for both pies and sausage rolls? I don't mind sharing it. Vegemite.

Next try? Jamie Oliver's Sausage Rolls.. Bet they're awesome (and he uses bought puff pastry too!)


Sausage Rolls

1 lb sausage meat (ground pork, or you can use actual sausages and cut them out of the casing. The more seasoned the meat, the better. If it isn't seasoned, season to your taste - salt, pepper and whatever you like!)
1 small onion (if you want!)
2 eggs (one for pastry, one for mix)
1/3 cup milk (milk & breadcrumbs aren't mandatory, they just beef out the mixture)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 sheets frozen puff pastry

~ basically all you really need is the meat and the puff pastry. Everything else is to taste, so experiment!
~ chop onion finely, mix with meat & 1 beaten egg
~ mix milk and breadcrumbs until milk is absorbed, add to meat mixture
~ divide pastry sheet into 3 along folds (the sheets that I get are folded into thirds, if yours aren't, just make long strips)
~ put meat mixture along middle and roll up like a log (I spread vegemite on the pastry first)
~ seal with brushed egg
~ cut to the size you like - they can be fairly long, or bite size (party sausage rolls we call them!), and pierce a steam hole in each
~ brush with egg or milk
~ bake in a pre-heated oven (350 f) for 20 - 30 minutes, - until puffed and golden brown
~ serve with tomato sauce (ketchup) - there's a great recipe here from the ledger!

Lemon Jam

mum at school

 

I am always surprised when I go to buy lemons in New York. They're kinda expensive.. Well, ok, not in the scheme of things, but comparatively they are. When you come from a place where there are so many lemon trees that kids have lemon fights over backyard fences, or instead of throwing balls you throw your dog a lemon (that one's really great - when they can't help but bite into it!! haha! Endless amusement) and people would leave buckets, and I mean buckets, of lemons out on the curb for anyone to take, it is weird to pay $2 for 3 lemons. No wonder there are so many lemon-y recipes in the ledger. (And tomato-y. But that's another story!).

Last year when we went home to Australia for a visit, we were picking limes like it was going outta fashion. And serving ourselves up great cocktails with fresh limes. Oh summer in Oz!

I miss the smell of citrus trees, and I didn't even realise it until the lime adventures last year. So fresh and clean mixed with all that fresh salty sea air and eucalyptus. I can't wait to get some fish and chips with some squeezes of free lemons and go down to the beach to watch the sun set.

In the meantime, lemon jam!! (If life serves you up a bunch of lemons, you could also make this - it has just as much sugar!! Oh, and life hasn't served me any lemons lately, so don't worry,  - I just found out I got into the Gamelan orchestra here in NY, which means added inspiration for a music project I have up my sleeve!! Yay! Not to mention some more sentimentality for me after a childhood spent running around sandy laneways and gorging myself on nasi bunkus and banana juices, gamelan always in my subconscious). Very excited.

Oh, and a word of caution back on the lemon jam. Don't put this onto boil and not watch it. This lovely photo ended with me cleaning caramelised sugar off the stove top. It still turned out ok, I haven't tasted it yet as it is setting - hopefully with still enough sugar to actually turn to jam!.. We'll see. I'll report back soon.

Until next week!

Lemon Jam

12 lemons
4 oranges
12 lb sugar

~ slice the lemons & oranges into thin slices and put into bowl
~ add 8 pints water
~ let it soak all night
~ put on boil with sugar
~ boil 3/4 of an hour

Nellie Biscuits

My Mum, Karyn, as a little girl in Esperance, WA

I love this photo of my Mum, it looks so much like my little sister I think! This blog has been so lovely for thinking about family, remembering fun times, and remembering my Grandma, imagining my Great-Grandma and generally feeling very reminiscent, sometimes too much so, for my home and family and the past. I have always loved the past. But, there are so many things I love about my life now, some of which I wanted to share today.

I love the Rollerskaters at Central Park! They come out during the summer and disco-skate the day away every weekend. I love watching them, it is terribly fascinating and infectious. Sometimes I think I should join in, but I don't want to, I think I get more enjoyment out of watching, and I would probably have a crash if I were watching & skating. 

I love the guy who sings Beatles tunes in the subway tunnel between 6th & 7th ave. He is always there, and always so happy singing his Beatles songs. Sometimes I don't know if it is the acoustics, or if there are songs he ain't so great at, but he always makes me smile and think of the Balinese cover bands, if you've seen one you'll know what I mean. 

I love seeing the Statue of Liberty (aka The Green Lady) and Brooklyn Bridge as I am on the train going over the Manhattan Bridge. 

I love eating Couscous at Cafe Gitane, and breaking my 'no coffee' rule when I go there. (One of the best places for a good coffee in the city! OK, coffee is getting better all over, but theirs has been great for the 9 years I've been here, so I send them the love!). On food, I also love Mamoun's. Hello, awesome cheap falafel sandwich that I can take to Washington Square Park to see the little kid busking on a piano (yes, a real one. They wheel it out from somewhere!). Oh, and, I also love Bonnie's Buffalo Chicken Wings, and even though it now takes me an hour to get to them, we still like going to Brooklyn for them! (Open up in Harlem guys!)

I love the bike path that runs along the Hudson. Even though my bike is crap. (OK, it is really the user! I can't even say my bike is crap anymore because I got a new one for my birthday. From my Dad. Same colour as my first bike and all. He said he thought it was funny to buy his grown up daughter a bike!). It is so nice to ride along the river and see the city on one side, the Hudson on the other!

I love Yoga Today. They teach the best yoga classes online, and make me happy that I can practice every day if I want to without worrying about not being able to afford yoga classes.

And I love writing this blog. It really makes me smile to cook and eat and talk. I made these Nellie Biscuits Tuesday night. We had some friends over to our place, and got cooked for!! Having no dessert to serve, I whipped these up. There were quite a few! When I got home from work the next afternoon there was this little one waiting for me. And it made me happy that everyone liked my biscuits and ate them up. Yum Yum!

Nellie Biscuits

2 cups of flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp bicarb soda

2 oz butter or lard (4 TBS)

1 cup sugar

1 eggs and a little milk

there was absolutely nothing else on this recipe, so I looked up other cookies and saw they were a very simple cookie dough, that you really could add anything too. So, I was able to garner the rest from there..

~ cream butter & sugar

~ add flour, cream of tartar and bicarb soda

~ beat egg and add a little milk

~ rounded teaspoon of dough makes a good size

~ cook for 10 minutes in 375 f oven

~ add icing, or whatever you would like, or leave them plain

German Biscuits

My Aunty Pam, BP's Granddaughter

Oh god! Can someone can help me next time I have to make biscuits (cookies)? I am SO bad with dough. We've already discussed how crap I am at pastry, well, buttery biscuit dough is also something I fight with. It is one area where I simply have no patience. I just want to throw the rolling pin at the wall. Show that dough!! If it wants to stick to everything, then it can stick to the wall!! haha!

I know it is probably my fault, perhaps I never listened to any cooking tutorials my Grandma, or Mum tried to give me (I mean, I know I never listened to the knitting, crocheting and sewing talks!). But how come I don't know all the little tricks by now? I think if I were a woman back in the day the other ladies would have talked about me behind my back. Sure, we would have been friends, but they would laugh at my baking (not my cooking, I am an ok cook!). They would come over for afternoon tea and wonder what the heck I was serving them. It would probably taste ok, but it would look terrible. They might politely spit it into their hankies when I wasn't looking. 

But, I am an optimist. I do think that by the time I am of Grandmother age (whether I am someone's real Grandma or not) I will be good. There will be people who, after I die, will remember my cooking. That will make me happy!! I always think of my life in its current state and see if it will be something that I will enjoy looking back on when I am in my rocking chair, knitting (??!!) and chatting with my husband, sister or girlfriends while an apple pie cools on the window sill. I know, when I am older I should be still out there and enjoying my life, and I hope I will be. But I do hope I get to rock on that chair and think back to when I couldn't roll out those damn German Biscuits (or Empire Biscuits, as they were re-named during the war - which I think is pretty funny!) and enjoy remembering Bessie Pearls' Ledger and how much fun it was.


Later - I re-made these biscuits today! They were so yummy, and I knew that I hadn't done them right the first time. I think they were probably a little too small this time, but I think they're much closer to what they are supposed to be - little buttery shortbread-esque biscuits that you sort of want to pop into your mouth all at once. Go on! Do it!

German Biscuits

4 oz flour (1/2 cup)

2 oz butter (4 TBS)

1 oz sugar (2 TBS)

1 tsp water

~ Mix together & roll into thin paste (it was so sticky!! I couldn't roll it. I had to roll it into little balls and flatten them. On the second take, I rolled the dough into a long 'snake' and then cut small pieces off. I then rolled them into balls again, but they were much smaller - I think more suited to this biscuit.)
~ I learned what I think is the method from a Swedish Sweets book. So these worked waaaay better the second time I tried them.  Cream the butter & sugar, then add the flour a little at a time. Some recipes said to rest the dough in the fridge for half an hour, others didn't. I didn't. Why? Because I am impatient!!

~ Cut size required (I think they should be small, there's not much dough)

~ Bake in moderate oven (350 f for 8 - 10 mins)

~ Put raspberry jam between two layers

~ Add icing on top if you like

 

these are the second batch - small and cute, sans icing which we found too sweet!

Indigestion Cure

My Grandfather, Kyran 'Keeny' Brennan, in his stylish car

I am so lucky! I really scoff things down sometimes, but I don't ever seem to get indigestion. If I do, it is something that just goes along with eating, that I have no clue about. 

Grandma taught us to eat fast. It is really quite terrible. She would pit my sister and I against each other, - telling us whoever ate their food the fastest would be the winner (no prize necessary, it's sibling rivalry remember!). I think it was more a ploy to get my sister, a picky eater, to finish her food. But all it really did was instill a habit in me, a veritable garbage disposal, of eating quickly, - I would competitively devour my meal, hungering for the recognition of being the 'winner' while my sister would pout and scowl, barely touching a thing. So, yes, I always 'won'. But, I don't think anyone really won in the end. Grandma's plan never worked (even when it did move into actual prizes), my sister would still end up with dessert (always unfair in my mind!), I would be an unfulfilled winner (c'mon, I am not that bad - absolutely no competition is not that fun. It's like busting your balls in a running race, only to look back and see that the competition fell down due to exhaustion, and meanwhile you are only running against yourself, (you were thinking you were doing a great job), when in reality, you don't know if you really deserve to win....! And how come the exhausted fellow gets a medal when he didn't even breathe near the finish line?), and Grandma was frustrated at not getting my sister to eat, again. 

So, now, I still eat fast. After years of working in the hospitality, retail and entertainment industries, where you get a quick break, always ready to rush out and greet & help people if they need you, the habit is hard to shake. The only way to make me slow down is to get me to start talking. That'll always do it!

I don't know if my sister is still a picky eater. She'll have to tell you that. I know there are way more things she doesn't like than me, (hmm, well, I can only think of pizza because it is always surprising to me!!). I do know that she is looking forward to being in a place that has a bigger kitchen, so she can cook more. Her kitchen right now is awful. I mean, really awful. I wouldn't cook in there either. So, I look forward to her cooking too. Maybe, even though we're oceans apart, once she's set up she can join me on this journey. Nothing would make me happier!

Indigestion Cure

1 TBS pure honey dissolved in about half a glass of cold water & 1 tsp of tincture of myrrh. 

~ or ~

1 tsp of honey dissolved in a tumbler of cold water, taken with dinner.