Writing Letters

Ours is a digital world. Our lives are fast and we have technology to make them faster. In all this mess we seem to forget the important things.
I don't know a single person who sends letters in the (snail) mail anymore, even though receiving something in the mail (other than a bill) is one of the best feelings in the world.
Reconnect with someone who have moved interstate or overseas. You may not get a reply, but just knowing you made someone's day can brighten your own.
With this in mind, I'm going to use this idea in a slightly different way. The special person in my life is my one-year-old cousin and goddaughter.
Since she's too young to read and would probably eat anything I give her, I've come up with a plan. I got this idea from a friend's 21st, whose dad wrote him a letter on the day he was born and then read it during the speeches. His mum got a group of his close friends to write him letters, put it in a scrapbook and each person read their letter out during speeches as well. It ended up being his favourite present.
For Kiara I am going to write her a letter every year around her birthday, make it all pretty, put it in an equally-pretty sealed box and give it to her on her 21st birthday.
Imagine receiving a present 21 years in the making!

The first step is to find your materials in your local Arts & Crafts store.. I've gone with a pink flower theme.

Here you can see I've got two different types of paper, an envelope, some stick on jewels, some pins to attach the paper together and some heart sparkles.

I used a stencil to make her name the centrepiece of the page and wrote my message underneath. This year I've just gone with a simple poem about how happy I am to be her godmother.

Using gel pens I wrote it all out.. it's best to get a few spare pages so you can test your different pens. Using gel pens on glossy paper with stencils can often lead to smudges so you have to be very careful and clean the pen tip and stencil after every turn, allowing the ink to dry before doing the next letter. After I finished writing the letter I added my little stick on jewels for decoration.

Happy 1st Birthday. Here I've used the other paper I have, using my stencil again, but with my silver paint-pen. Paint-pens are even more difficult to use than gel pens.. This took me a while to get it right!

Stick both pages together using one of the pins, decorate your envelope and put inside.

As a last little touch I added 4 photos of us in her first year.. This one is my favourite and is the first time I ever held her! 

Have a go at writing letters to your loved ones!

Happy Making!

Naé Danielle..

Apple Crunch

This recipe I recently rediscovered after finding there was no bread or milk in the house for breakfast. It's simple, quick and uses mostly staple items from the pantry, so you don't even have to go shopping for ingredients!
The truly great thing about this recipe is that it can double as a snack or dessert and it comes in at 351 calories! Yum!

INGREDIENTS:

1 apple, cored and sliced (You can replace the apple with pear or use a mixture of both)
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of quick oats (fast cooking oats)
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/8 of a teaspoon ground cinammon
1 tablespoon reduced-fat margarine/butter, softened

METHOD:

The oven should be preheated to 175°C. Place the sliced apples into a small baking tray, covering the bottom.

I chose to use a red apple, because I like the sweeter taste. If I was cooking an apple pie I would use green apples. Combine all the dry ingredients into a small bowl.

 Rub in the margarine with your fingers (you can use a fork but using your fingers works better) until the mixture starts too look like crumbs.

Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The fruit should be tender when pierced and my mixture crunchy. Take out of the oven and allow to slightly cool.

One of the bowls I made, served with yogurt! So tasty! A quick and easy snack, meal or dessert!

Give it a try and tell me how you go!

Happy Cooking!

Naé Danielle..

Pumpkin and Feta Arancini Balls

I've always loved Arancini balls, but this is the first time I've ever made them. It was more work than I expected, but it was definitely worth it!

INGREDIENTS:

250g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed into 1cm pieces
3 cups of chicken stock
1 small brown onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
100g feta, crumbled
2 tbs finely shredded sage
1/2 cup plain flour
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup dried (packaged) breadcrumbs

METHOD:

Place the pumpkin on a baking paper covered oven tray and drizzle with some oil. Place into oven on 180°C until tender (Approx. 20mins).

Once it's done bring it out and allow to cool.
Place the stock into a saucepan, bring to boil and then allow it to simmer. Put some oil into a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until tender. Add the rice and stir until the rice appears glassy. Add the wine and stir until completely absorbed.
I don't know anything about wine, but I used one I've heard tastes fantastic and a colleague of mine makes! I've given this away as presents before and have always heard amazing things!

Pimpernel Vineyards.

Once the wine has been absorbed add a ladle of stock, stir in until absorbed and repeat until all stock is used. 

The rice should now be nice and creamy. Set aside risotto mixture to cool.

Once the rice is completely cooled add the pumpkin, feta and sage and mix.

Set up a work station with the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in separate bowls.

It took all my will power not to just eat the risotto..

 Take some of the risotto and roll into a ball in your hands. 

 Coat in flour.

 Cover in egg.

Roll in breadcrumbs until completely covered.

Repeat with all the mixture, place onto a tray covered in baking paper and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Heat some oil in a pan and place the risotto balls in, turning to evenly cook each side. If you have a deep fryer you can use go ahead, I don't know how to use the one at home and mum wasn't there to ask!
Once cooked, eat!

Yum!

The pumpkin and feta arancini balls can be eaten with salad or on their own. Either way, it's a very tasty snack/meal!

Have a go at cooking some yourself. You could even put in some different ingredients!

Happy Cooking!

Naé Danielle..

Gouda Cookies

I came across this recipe and thought I like cheese and cookies.. why not give this a shot?
I ended up with a tasty cookie that my family loved!

INGREDIENTS:

1 2/3 cups of grated Gouda cheese.
1 cup of flour
3 1/2 tbsp of baking powder
A pinch of black pepper
A pinch of nutmeg

METHOD:

Prepare all the ingredients to start off with. The oven should be set at 200°C.
Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until all the ingredients are combined. The mixture will be very crumbly (and messy!), so make sure you're prepared.

This is how crumbly the mixture is!

Once you take it out of the blender, press it together into a flat circle, wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

To be honest, I'm not sure what putting it in the fridge actually did, because once I took it out, my mixture still looked like this

In any case I kept cooking! Spread some flour on a board and place your 'disc' on top. Roll out the mixture thinly and use a cookie cutter until all the mixture is used up. I found that a rolling pin was no help with my mixture, so I used my hands instead.

I made my cookies way too thick! I didn't realise how much they would rise in the oven!

Place onto a tray lined with baking paper and place in oven. In about 10 minutes the cookies should turn slightly golden brown. Remove and allow to cool.
Serve with grapes, cream cheese, or anything that goes with cheese cookies!

Have a go at making these cookies yourself! Have you got any ideas for making this recipe easier to manage? Maybe some form of liquid?


Happy Cooking!


Naé Danielle..