Settling in, and simple pleasures!

Taking a few minutes to share shome thoughts.....

After being on the road for 2 years....living in a house again has been an experience! It's so weird to hear the rain on the roof and not on the canvas just inches from your head! It is so nice to be safe and warm inside as the thunder and lightning roll around the hills. It is absolutely amazing to have our own flushing toilet, to not have to re-pack all our shower gear every time we have a shower... When we unpacked our 80L fridge/freezer into the Fridge/Freezer (on loan form my sister) it was just comical how much room there was. We all celebrated by making up cordial and placing in the fridge so that we could drink it chilled! Imagine that....chilled drinks after drinking cordial at room temperature for 2 years! This is so appreciated! The other thrill has been to utilise the oven. It has had quite a work out! From Roasts to Cakes and Bickies. Everyone is enjoying having an oven again. Can't wait to make a Quiche in it :) I had to rediscover all our old favourite recipes. I have carried only 2 Cookbooks around Australia with us. The "MBC MOPS Family Secrets Recipe Book" and Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen's "Classic Country Collection." Amazingly, that has been all we have needed on the road. I have used both regularly. Practical recipes. Flo's book has the best damper recipe! But that is another story. My family have enjoyed coming home from school to home-cooked goodies. I thought I'd share one of the recently enjoyed favourites....

My favourite recipe for an easy Chocloate Cake...

1 Cup Self/Raising Flour (I use White Wings Gluten Free)

1 Cup Castor Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

3 Tablespoons Cocoa

3 Tablespoons Butter (I use Nuttelex as we are Dairy Free)

1/2 Cup Milk (I use Zymil Lactose Free)

2 Eggs

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl for 4 minutes. Pour mixture into a well-greased 20cm cake tin. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes. I use good quality baking paper as I can't be bothered to grease and flour cake tins, and much prefer less washing up anyway... I am wondering if this mixture will make good mini muffins for lunchboxes. Hmm will have to experiment. As for icing, my Mum (Bless her) taught me a simple icing recipe when I was a young girl making a mess in the family kitchen. It is a keeper, I encourage you to try it out. Simple, but functional.....

Mum's Quick Fail-Proof ICING

2 Cups Icing Sugar

1 teaspoon Butter (again, I use Nuttelex)

2 Tablespoons of either Juice, Diluted Cordial or Water. (Any flavour of juice or cordial will suffice, although Raspberry cordial is awesome with Chocolate Icing....Just saying!)

[For Chocolate Icing : add 1 Tablespoon of Cocoa and a drop or two of Vanilla Essence]

Combine all ingredients and mix to a smooth consistency. You will need more liquid, so add more 1 Tablespoon at a time, until you reach the right consistency. Yummo!