Steamed Sponge Cake

A photo of a slice of Steamed Sponge Cake.

We had a couple of friends over in May and I have been meaning to write and tell you about the fantastic Steamed Sponge Cake I made for dessert, but you know how it goes – the rabbits had babies, the ducks sat on eggs way too long, the sheep continue to behave as though they have no brain cells whatsoever – life got in the way! This dessert / cake is so easy and delicious – I’ve made it several times now and it is great every time so I have decided to share the recipe. But first, some stories…

Curry Buffet Dinner for 12 - Part 2

Today's recipes are: Potato Curry Soup; and Compressed Ginger Rice
A photo of a Potato Curry Soup.

A photo of compressed ginger rice.

As promised yesterday, here are more of my curry recipes. Today you get the Potato Curry Soup recipe and then the Compressed Ginger Rice recipe. You can serve both of them on any occasion – they don’t have to be part of an Indian evening. The soup is velvety smooth and delicately spiced – everyone asked for the recipe – and the Ginger rice is great because you can prepare it ahead of time and warm it in the oven at your leisure. But first the stories…

Curry Buffet Dinner for 12 - Part 1

Today's recipes are: Meatball Curry; and Lentil Curry
Photo of a curry buffet plate.

How about a Curry Extravaganza for your next dinner party? My menu included: Potato Curry Soup – a total winner that even non-curry people love as it is velvety smooth and delicately spiced – as a Starter, then for the main course a Prawn Curry, Meatball Curry, Lentil Curry, Compressed ginger rice, and Green beans with sesame oil. You can prepare them the day before if you like, as curries definitely improve if you let them sit a bit. But first some stories…

Crab, avocado and radish salad with Ponzu dressing

Photo of crab salad with Ponzu dressing.

As I mentioned in older posts, I was in the USofA at the beginning of the year and joined up with 2 of my 3 American sisters. While at The Cape (Cape Cod to be precise), Lynn and I went out for Chinese and she introduced me to a Crab, Avocado and Radish Salad. It was deevine to say the very least and I have since been looking for a recipe.

Fish Chowder made the Narragansett way

Photo of Fish Chowder.

As I mentioned in my last post, we had my in-laws to stay for a few weeks and were able to celebrate my brother-in-law’s 42nd birthday with friends, 16 of us to be precise. For this special event, I made a Narragansett Fish Chowder for starters, stuffed smoked salmon parcels for an in-between course, and then smoked chicken and salads for the main course. I had Sally and Em bring the desserts – very clever on my part as they were both delicious. All recipes will follow in due course!

Joerg's Cypriot grilled meat / Pork Kebab

kebab on grill

Today’s recipe: Joerg’s Cypriot grilled meat / Pork Kebab

When people are hard at work, they need to be well fed so we have been pulling out all the stops this past week to keep our work force in good spirits. And we all love braaing (barbecuing) so yesterday we got out the grill we brought back from Cyprus last year and made a special Pork Kebab and drank German wheat beer (Hefeweizen).

Fish Cakes, Napoleon's favourite

Today's recipe is: Napoleon's Fish Cakes

Fish Cakes

Okay, so maybe they weren’t exactly historically speaking his favorite, but if he were in exile today, they would be. For sure. I mean, how could they not be?? (Sigh) It seems I am once again getting ahead of myself so I will attempt to start at the beginning. You see, I made Napoleon fishcakes for supper last night and they got me remembering……….

Curried Minced / Ground Beef and Vetkoek

My beloved baby sister, Alison, (who makes THE BEST Curried Minced Beef and Vetkoek in the world)her husband, Marius, and 2 children are now living in New Zealand which is a real bummer for me as I haven’t seen her in over 3 years. My wonderful niece and nephew, Bianca and Martius (who clearly take after me!) are also sorely missed by their crazy aunt. My darling sister suffered a bad stroke last year at the (very young) age of 38 (and yet another this week), but is pulling through with humour and charm. Headline: Strokes and sex changes. Read more to find out what this means….

Ducklings are born to us

duck Rosie on pond

It’s been a hectic week on the duckling front this week although the problems actually started three months ago when Rexie hurt his leg and couldn’t do his manly duties with the Rosie’s. Let me explain. We have 6 Indian Runner ducks comprising of one male, Rexie, and five females, all conveniently called Rosie. Now the girls started laying eggs in the early spring and I was soon getting desperate for egg recipes.

Tomato Chili Jam

Die Tomatoes, Die!!
A photo of bottled Tomato Chili Jam.

As you may remember, I mentioned in my “Asparagus time” post what a good gardener Joerg is. Our tomato production is no exception to this rule and is something that has to be seen to be believed. Currently there are only little green bullets on the bushes, but soon I’ll be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes so I thought I’d start giving you some tomato recipes so that you to will be ready when the season really gets going. Last year was the weather year from hell as it rained almost non-stop and always at the wrong times and this was disastrous for the tomatoes. With tomato blight ravaging the country, there was not a single person in our state/department with tomatoes. We had hundreds.