gingerbread

This makes a LOT of gingerbread, so make sure you have a large air tight container to let it rise in overnight. It keeps for days, once made. I left some (saved some) in the fridge for up to a week...it's that good it won't last long at all! You'll have requests for more!

Mum's Gingerbread

1kg Honey
500g Sugar
4 Eggs
1tsp Allspice
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Ginger
4 Tsp Bi-Carb Soda
8 Cups Plain Flour

Mix thoroughly. Leave covered overnight.
Cookin a moderate oven (180C-375F) until ready, light or dark depending on your preference – leave room for spreading on tray.

tourtière, round one

Being in Canada now, my husband is showing me the ways of French cuisine, and all things HE likes to eat! This pie seems a little strange to me, even though i'm an Australian and we LOVE pie!

But, i like new flavours and challenges, so i decided to make it, from scratch, following the recipe exactly. Which i found at my favourite source of all things "Canadian", Canadian Living, the recipe is HERE This is an interesting resource for someone like me who knows all things Australian and some other cultures, but here it's a culture in itself, being a much more colder climate than i'm used to! Brisbanes winter is like a combination of spring and autumn here!

It was great! A little strong on the spices, which i think i would tone down a little next time, and maybe add a little more mushroom and an extra stick of celery to beef it up a little.

I'd definately make this again, we had some with mash potatoes and gravy, and some with a side salad. My husband likes his tomato sauce, or as they say here "ketchup", which i don't personally like to put on anything, considering i like to think everything i cook tastes so good that you don't need it! He did say it didn't need it *yay* , with the gravy but out of habit he put some on when we didn't have gravy =)

chocolate pinwheels

Pinwheel or scroll cookies look great, there are so many variations you could apply to this design and have a lot of fun with it. I have always wanted to try and make these, they look a lot harder than it is!

Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies
Recipe from:- Hershey's

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 cup Cocoa
• 4-1/2 teaspoons butter or margarine, melted

1. Beat 1/2 cup softened butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until soft dough forms.

2. Remove half the dough to medium bowl; blend in ground almonds and almond extract, if desired. Add cocoa and melted butter to remaining dough; blend well. Divide each dough in half. Refrigerate doughs, if necessary, until firm enough to handle.

3. Between 2 pieces of wax paper, roll one portion almond dough into 8-inch square; repeat procedure with one portion chocolate dough. Remove top sheets of wax paper; invert almond dough onto chocolate dough. Peel off top sheet of wax paper; roll up lightly. Repeat procedure with remaining doughs. Wrap both rolls in wax paper or plastic wrap; refrigerate 4 to 5 hours or until firm.

4. Heat oven to 350°F. Cut rolls into 1/4-inch slices; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

5. Bake 9 to 12 minutes or just until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 5 dozen cookies.

profiteroles

There are my little gems, little balls of choux paste waiting to grow into big puffs that i can fill with custard cream and dip in chocolate! I absolutely love watching them grow =)

Here is the first batch out of the oven...oh so lovely puffs!

The recipe i used for these, as my cookbooks were all packed up ready to be shipped to Canada, was from my trusty australian TASTE website, which has never failed me yet.

And a second shot a little closer up....look how golden and wonderful they are =)

The final step is to fill them and dip them in chocolate, or just give them a sprinkling of icing sugar, these babies are quite versatile! I often like to put chocolate custard, vanilla custard, cointreau custard or just fresh cream.