Fantabulous Omelettes and The Case of The Missing Taste Buds!!!

Well to start with, we tried the new and improved version of the wedding cupcakes last night and initially I was disappointed. I put raspberry jelly crystals into the raspberry swirl mix to give it more of a raspberry kick and whilst they were delicious, I still wasn't getting that raspberry-ness...but OH seemed to think he could tell the difference. So just incase he was saying it to shut me up, I took some to work today and purposely didn't tell people what flavour they were...and was greeted with lots of 'ooohh the raspberry in these is delicious'.....I mean seriously what has happened to my taste buds? Is it everything that I'm missing or is it just my rapsberry ones that have bitten the dust...and even that is not awesome, I love raspberries, raspberries and cream, chocolate raspberry brownies, raspberry jam, raspberry ice cream, not to mention I only just discovered the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm and have barely made a dent in my plan to eat my way through their entire menu...this is a disaster! So I am not entirely sure what to do. I am trying to hunt down some raspberry essence and I might try adding that to the cake mix and see what that does.

Moving on to something that always makes me feel better in a taste bud crisis...Hot Chocolate! I found this recipe a few weeks ago and after a tweek here and there, we have a version that OH is firmly in love with and so far he has had one nearly every day! I must admit though, it is pretty damn good!

You will need

1 cup of skim milk
1 tspn of caster sugar
a small handful of chocolate (I used milk chocolate baking melts)
1 tbspn of cream
marshmallows

Combine milk and sugar and heat in microwave on high for 1-2 minutes or until boiling.
Meanwhile place chocolate into a heat proof mug.
Pour milk mixture over chocolate, add cream, top with marshmallows and serve immediately!

It is so very yummy and great for snuggling up on the couch with. We have also tried this with a bit of creme de menthe or a bit of malibu added in at the end and it is to die for! But for non alcoholic versions you could just use mint or coconut essence!

Earlier in the week we felt like an easy tea so we decided on some omelettes with brocolli (from our own vegie patch!!) and some pumpkin. I am going to try and tone down my excitement here, but these were the best omelettes I have ever made in my entire life...no exaggeration what-so-ever! I think I mentioned recently that I have become a fresh herb convert? Well I had some thyme and oregano in the fridge so we thought we would just make a simple cheese and herb omelette.

We used the following for each omelette:

2 eggs
1 tspn fresh chopped herbs (we used thyme and oregano)
about 1/4 of a cup of grated cheese
1/4 brown onion diced

Combine it all together in a bowl or jug and stir really really well.

Then we cheated and chucked ours in the omelette maker for about 7-8 mins or until they are puffed and golden.

OH added some finely diced tomato to his as well.




And really just the simpleness of the cheese and the herbs was delicious. Previously I have always tried to overload my omelettes with flavour by adding ham and chutney and tomato and garlic and salt and pepper and whatever else I could get my hands on and the result was always lacklustre, but this simple combination was by far the out and out winner. More brownie points for the fresh herbs in my book!

Oh and the brocolli from our garden was spectacular, a bit softer then supermarket brocolli but just bursting with flavour. We boiled ours for about 5-10 mins and just served it with a little bit of butter. Things always taste so much better when you have grown them yourself I think.

And have I mentioned lately how much I love pumpkin? We just cooked ours in the microwave until it was tender and same deal, served it with a bit of butter and it was great. Funny how some of your most memorable meals are the simple ones hey!

What is your most memorable meal?

Em x

Sunday Round Up.....

It has been a long few weeks in our household so OH and I decided to take ourselves away for a day trip yesterday. We got up bright and early and had some fruit toast (essential weekend brekkie) and tea and went on our merry way. Fast forward three hours and we were at the other end of Tassie and sitting in the car park at a place called Kart Mania. I was terrified but OH was mega excited so I kept my concerns to myself. My concerns mainly focused around the fact that many many years ago at the local show, I was going on the dodgem cars and I somehow managed to get one that was possessed...I'm not joking, the damn thing kept going backwards...and dodgem cars don't even have a reverse, it was terrible! So now I associate that with dodgems, go karts etc...they are all evil and I am not capable of driving any of them. But by the time I snapped out of my painful flashbacks, I was sitting in the drivers seat, belted in, helmet on and engine running. All sorts of things were going through my mind like oh god what if I stall, what if I crash, what if I putt around like a nanna....but I turned around to look at OH and even with his helmet on I could see he was grinning from ear to ear...and honestly he wouldn't put me in a dangerous situation so I put my foot down and off we went! For the first few laps I was cautious and nervous, but then I got the hang of it and even though OH did lap me several times, I was having a blast and was even a little disappointed when our turn was up! It was awesome fun though : ) And I'm so glad I actually got out there and did it, there was nothing to be afraid of after all! I might even try the dodgems at the show again this year....maybe.

After that we took ourselves down the road to Christmass Hills Raspberry Farm for lunch coz quite frankly we were cold and hungry. We had never been there before but I have always heard people rave about it. We were given a table near a cosy wood fire and settled in to check out the menu. Everything somehow involved raspberries, there were raspberry bangers and mash, toasties with raspberry chilli sauce, wraps, salads, eggs, bacon, french toast stuffed with fresh raspberries and nutella, not to mention the dessert page - raspberry sundaes, raspberry waffles, ice cream, crepes, pancakes - it was fantastic but terrible at the same time, there was not a single thing on this menu that I didn't want to try! So we settled for raspberry hot chocolates for starters and OH had a lamb and roast vegie wrap while I had mushies stuffed with cream cheese and capsicum served with raspberry chilli sauce....mmmmmmmm.

Our hot chocolates were divine, when they came out they had a sprinkle of rapsberry dust over the top, and you can see the thick layer of chocolate and raspberry syrup on the bottom. The taste was sensational, there was a hint of raspberry but not enough for it to be over powering, it was still a hot chocolate after all!

OH's lamb wrap looked awesome, even to me coz I don't go much on lamb, and I was pleasantly suprised because it had roast pumpkin and eggplant and local fetta cheese in it, yet OH devoured it happily without the slightest 'dirty eggplant' comment! My mushies came out looking equally tempting, cutting into one the cream cheese (also from a local producer) filling just oozed out and it had so much flavour from the capsicum and zucchini mixed through it. My meal also came with a small dish of rapsberry chilli sauce which only had a subtle hint of chilli but it was the perfect accompaniment to the mushies.


I can't wait to go again, so many things on the menu I want to try!! It was honestly one of those places where you nearly broke your neck looking at all the different meals coming out of the kitchen. Plus they also have a great selection of raspberry syrups, sauces, jams, vinegars, lip balms, body butters, ice creams and sorbets for you to buy on your way out. We didn't succumb this time, but next time will be a different story!

Today was a lazy Sunday. I met a friend for coffee this morning and we talked for a few hours, I love being able to sit and talk with someone about nothing imparticular and then all of a sudden noticing that you've been there for 3 hours! Then this afternoon I had a new cupcake recipe I wanted to try. It involved mixing a pack of jelly crystals through the batter and I don't know if I have been under a rock but I had never heard of that before so when I saw Strawberries and Cream jelly crystals in the supermarket today I have to admit I was a little bit excited. I tried one when they were fresh out of the oven and was impressed with how much flavour the jelly crystals really give them, they actually tasted like strawberries and cream! Am thinking port wine will be a good one to try next!

So here is the recipe for Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

125g butter
2 tbspns caster sugar
1pkt jelly crystals
2 eggs
2 tbspns milk
1 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup plain flour

Preheat oven to 160C (fan forced) and line a 12 cup muffin tray.
Cream butter, sugar and jelly crystals until pale and creamy.
Add eggs and beat well.
Add milk and flours. Combine mix well.
Bake for 20 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

I decorated mine with a dollop of vanilla frosting and a strawberry starburst lolly : )



Well thats it for me!

This weeks menu includes Vegie Risotto, a trip to the parentals, Chow Mein and OH has promised a Chicken Curry...which in turn meant I promised to attempt Golden Syrup Dumplings!!

Night all xx