Another year....and not many posts more!

It has been a long long time since I have posted to my own blog- shame on me!

Now I am teaching at a little country school and am about to bring home my first puppy...so I may try and keep track of her development on here- might have to change this to the Border Collie gaa gaa blog, we'll see.

Tomorrow is the first day we will meet our girl, she is coming from Borregoperro Border Collies (www.bordercolliestasmania.com)- so far we have been kept in the loop with one picture a week- but that is not enough!

Time for play tomorrow!

Ravioli alla Val Camonica

A deliciously extravagant ravioli from northern Italia!

When I was staying in Val Camonica with my namesake's family, it was Luisa's papa's birthday. Guided by Luisa's mamma we made the family's signature dish! With equal parts bread crumbs and parmesan (300g), some prosciutto, parsley, lemon rind, garlic, an apricot kernel, some mixed spice, stock and some eggs as the filling, the finished pasta is served with a delicious coating of melted lard, prosciutto rind (made nice and crispy), butter and sage leaves and even more parmesan! Talk about woh a! So full, so heavy, so satisfied! Afterwards this is what we had to do..a lovely walk through the Italian country side, dreaming about renovating old Italian farmhouses and living on ravioli and bread and salad and fruit and biscotti....for ever.

It was an intense experience that I tried to recreate in my own kitchen. I replaced the prosciutto with 'not bacon' which worked surprisingly well and instead of using the lard and rind I just coated the pasta in melted butter with sage. It worked really well- I was surprised with myself!

Can you believe we finished off the meal with creme brulee? Also my first attempt, and surprisingly good- just wish I had a kitchen blow torch to caramelise the sugar properly! We were so full!

Miss Saigon Bake Off!

Hello! Did you see Miss Saigon, at the Theatre Royal in Hobart? what a wonderful show it was! And there was good stuff going on back stage too...the Miss Saigon Bake Off! Cast members brought goodness to the dressing rooms nearly every night to keep their tummies happy! The last night was Rowan's turn...so we went mad and made this! And these...a star for each of the stars- yum! Thank you to our friends P and J for their help!

Frustration is rife!

Hello! I am dying to update my blog, I have moved house, created a new vege patch, taken pictures of it with a lovely new camera, felted my first vest but I can't tell anyone about it properly cause I am trying to do assignments! Oh it is heartbreaking! I will be back once this semester is out of the way!

The wonderful place in which we live- Tasmania!

Inspiration for the beginning of the week. A little look back at a wonderful weekend walking in Mount Field National Park- ahhhhh...just to be there now!

Quincey Quincey Quincey paste!

One day recently, I took the plunge, I had never touched a raw quince before but I decided to make quince paste! What a good decision! Yum! My Method! Roughly chop up all the quinces and place them in a large saucepan, cover them with water. Add two strips of lemon peel (1cm/ 4cm, no white pith) (and a vanilla pod if you have one, I didn't though) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and let cook until the quince pieces can be broken with a fork (30-40 minutes). Then strain off the water, throw away the vanilla but keep the lemon peel with the quince. Next, you need to puree the quince pieces, I did this with a bamix, of course you can use a blender or food processor. Then, measure the quince puree, this is how you work out how much sugar you need, add as much sugar as there is quince (ie, 5 cups of quince, 5 cups of sugar). Heat the quince and sugar on a medium to low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has completely dissolved. Now add the 3 table spoons of lemon juice. Cook the puree over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 1-1 1/2 hours, until the quince paste is very thick and has a deep orange pink color. it gets even darker than this, I just forgot to take the picture! Now, once it is very thick, spread it into lined pans, I put mine into a slice tin and into some patty pans. Cook in an oven at a about 50 degrees Celsius, very low, to dry it out and help it set. This seemed to take a long time for me and part way through I moved the paste that was in the slice tins onto flat trays and I spread it out further (to about 1.5 centimetres) as it just didn't seem like it was ever going to set! Once they felt 'right', solid and not very liquidy (I know I use good, proper terms here!) pull it out and let cool. I then wrapped mine up in kitchen paper and now keep it in the fridge- it is the best thing to just have a stash of! I love it! With brie! Camembert! goats cheese! vintage cheddar! it constitutes a meal in itself in my opinion! I hope you make it and love it as much as I do! Wooo hooo!!