Very Berry Muffins!

This has to be the best muffin recipe I have ever come across. They are so deliciously colourful. Whenever I make a batch they never last very long, which has to be a good sign!

The original recipe was found at taste.com.au. But as all good home-made treats go, aspects of how you make them change slightly each time. After making this one countless times this is what I've found works for me. All that's needed now is a cup for tea and a good friend to chat with. Enjoy!

Onions take centre stage!

Perfect side dish.

My advice for these roasted onions is to not be shy on the pepper! Delicious! Definitely can not go wrong!

...Now to Jam!

Raw, cooked, fried, dried, roasted, caramelised or put them in stir-fry. Stick them in soups, dips, salads, baked dishes, jam, and the list goes on. Where would we be without onions!

Everyone uses them regularly. With that said I don't think they are used much as the main ingredient. And with that said here's some recipes that do...

I wrote these recipes for the Ceres Fair Food recipe page, which you can find here...

http://www.ceresfairfood.org.au/recipes/

How to test jam or sterilise jars - 'click here'

Homemade Fettuccine...

This is my first attempt at making pasta. The recipe above is written by Neil Perry.

Generally a basic pasta dough recipe is based about 100g of flour & 1 egg per person.

I actually ended up putting the eggs and flour in a food processor and blending it that way, as kneading it on the bench = too hard basket!(I may have used too much flour which would have made it difficult).

In the end, voila! This was last nights dinner...

(note the bottled cherry tomatoes in the pasta sauce, so yum)

Next time maybe pumpkin cannelloni from Martha Goes Green!

Muffins for Soup!

Here's a photo for mixture consistency ...

It never occurred to me to ditch the bread and have muffins with soup, but I'm told apparently it's not all that unusual!

Here's a recipe for some delicious savoury muffins that I photographed (and ate) on Sunday with some homemade tomato soup... very yum!

This recipe is written by Ruth Friedlander for Ceres Fair Food.

Check out the recipe here...

http://www.ceresfairfood.org.au/recipe/zucchini-polenta-and-parmesan-muffins/

Or more Ceres/Martha Goes Green recipes here...

http://www.ceresfairfood.org.au/recipes/

Fancy zucchini flowers.

It seems I have only blogged about food so far ... can't be a bad thing I'm sure. Everybody's got to eat! And at the moment everybody's talking about zucchini flowers! The Italians were the first to use them and these days stuff them with a soft cheese like ricotta, mascarpone or fresh goats cheese. The greeks stuff them with rice and the mexicans prefer them over zucchinis which they often cook in soups or used as a filling for quesadillas. All 'n all they're a bit fancy!

Bottle it up...

Recently a friend bottled some cherry tomatoes from their very abundant garden. I have heaps of cherry tomatoes in my garden too (more than I need for salads) so decided to do the same.

Super easy!

If you're wondering what the floaty white bits are ... I didn't have garlic cloves so used a bit of crushed garlic instead. Although there is nothing wrong with it next time I'll prob go with cloves!

make some rhubarb jam! Yum

Rhubarb ... it seems the only logical thing to do with it is to stick it in a pie or in an apple crumble. I have loads of it in my garden at the moment, more than I'd ever need for a pie or crumble so Jam it is...

Here's a recipe I used to make it. It doesn't matter if the rhubarb you have is green, it will still taste the same although the jam won't be ruby red.

I'd suggest adding a bit of ginger to this recipe, (I didn't but think it would be nice)about 3 tablespoons of finely chopped upcandied ginger.

What do you need?

500g rhubarb stems (washed & chopped)

2 1/4 cups caster sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla essence

The How-to...

In a glass bowl combine all ingredients. Cover and set aside to infuse overnight.

Transfer to a large saucepan. Bring to the boil on the medium heat.

Use a large metal spoon to skim any froth from the surface.

Cook, stirring, for 30 minutes or until the jam jells when tested.

Spoon the hot jam mixture into clean, dry jars. Seal and invert for 2 minutes.

Turn upright and set aside to cool.

Jam Know How...

To test if the jam is ready, place 1 teaspoon of the jam on a chilled saucer and place in the freezer for 1-2 minutes or until cooled to room temperature. Lightly push the jam with your finger. If the surface wrinkles, it's ready.

To sterilise glass jars, wash the jar and lid in warm soapy water and rinse. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in oven preheated to 100°C until dry. Use straight from the oven.

•