Walking Today

Hi all

Been walking today and went to a National Trust property

Today we went to Buckland Abbey in Devon

It's a lovely place to visit.

We enjoyed just wandering around and also going up to the orchard and

just sitting and enjoying the peace.

Managed to get a few photo's which is pretty cool.

I've recently gone back to using film camera's again which I have seriously missed.

I today have used just a basic camera with no zoom just a fixed plastic lens...lol

can't wait to see how they turn out.

I also used my slr which is great have missed using that in the last couple of years.

Also of course used the digital and when I get a battery for it I'll be using a basic zoom 35mm film camera again.

Anyway here is a small collage I have put together of our walk in Buckland abbey

I will also be posting a few photo's by Paul..

Tell you though not bad for someone who's black blind. He got some better shots than me...

I think sometimes because Paul can't see it frees him up a bit to just take photo after photo without thinking about what he's shooting therefore getting some very interesting shots....

Well that's about it today

thanks for looking

Hugs Michelle

New Recipe-Pork & corn Sausages with Salsa

Hi All

Hope you've all had a good week so far.

It's been bit up and down and all over the place here

We had a convention over the weekend.

It was a good convention and really enjoyed it

But due to circumstances and situation there are aspects of life we're not happy about

which unfortunately causes distresses for us...

and yet there isn't a lot we can do to change those circumstances

which is more than frustrating to say the least. We always try to make the best

of it but, changes are always slow to happen.

Well not to worry, we'll keep working on things...

In the meantime I found a great recipe that I am trying this evening

and thought I'd share it will post some photo's this evening when I've

finished making it.

The recipe is one from Family Circle Recipe Encyclopedia

Chicken and Corn Sausages With Salsa

I have of course as usual changed the recipe Michelle style...lol

I used

500g Pork Mince

3/4 cup Bread crumbs

100g creamed corn

1 tbsp fresh herbs eg chives or parsely

or like I did use dried herbs as I didn't have fresh herbs to use

1/2 cup cornmeal

a dash of chipotle sauce

a dash of soy sauce

Preheat oven to 180 degree

Line tray with foil and lightly oil

Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine thoroughly

divide into 9-12 sausages and shape so they are about 5 inches long

Mixture will be moist but should be able to hold together well

Bake in oven for 35 minutes turning occasionally until cooked

Ok now for the salsa

changed as usual Michelle Style...

2 large tomatoes well chopped

1 medium onion finely diced

1/2 red capsicum finely diced

1 cob corn with corn removed or use frozen if necessar

1 clove garlic crushed

2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped finely

1/2 tbsp orange juice

1/2 tbsp lemon or lime juice

smal amount of olive oil (not necessary sometimes I use sometimes I don't)

pepper to taste

salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix well

put in fridge for hour

serve at room temperature

Well that's about it. Hope you enjoy

images will be posted later

Hug Michelle

Caramalised Pork Asian Style

Hi all

Tried a new recipe last night from inspiration off Chef John from Foodwishes.com

My recipe again has been changed Michelle style...lol

Basically we started trying to make bacon again but the recipe we used for the bacon was wrong proportionately... we got it off the web...

My recipes always fail when I try someone else’s...lol

Every recipe that fails when I cook only fails when I follow recipe step by step...
Really must stop doing that (following others recipes step by step) lol...
know it doesn’t work for me...lol

Anyway back to the recipe I did...



I had a lovely piece of pork belly about 1-1kg

Used ¼ cup salt

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

10 juniper berries crushed

Good grinding of black pepper


Mix everything together really well

Smear the belly with the mixture all over leave nothing uncovered. Put it into a Ziploc bag and leave 24 hours and then turn over

Liquid will build up leave it in the bag. Do not get rid of the liquid.

Leave for further 24 hours and turn again and then for final 24 hours and turn again.

Next day rinse off the belly and pat dry and then slow roast in the oven at 170 degrees for about 1 ½ hours and
then turn the temp up to 200 degrees and cook for further ½ hour and
turn the oven off and leave in the oven for a further ½ hour – 45 minutes.


I have used an electric oven in all my cooking so everyone should know their own ovens adjust times accordingly

Once cooled put in the refrigerator overnight


Unfortunately as usual I very rarely measure so the second part of the recipe is approximate

Now for the second part of the recipe

I have used a very good handful brown sugar just under ¼ cup

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp rice vinegar

Good splash about 1 ½ tbsp fish sauce

½ chilli finely diced

Good 1 to 1 ½ inch piece of ginger finely grated

2 large cloves garlic crushed

3 large spring onions large sliced

½ chilli left as is

About ½ cup water


Cooked rice to serve




First Dice your pork into good sized pieces and then gently fry to brown
Turn every so often but whilst pork is frying off mix all your ingredients together except the ½ chilli and the diced spring onion that hasn’t been diced and the water

Once the pork is a lovely brown colour add your mixture and cook off for a few minutes to really coat the pork

After a minute or two add your water, the other half the chilli and the spring onions and bring to a boil remember to keep stirring so the pork doesn’t over cook as it’s already cooked.

Allow this to boil and reduce to a lovely sauce that coats the pork as well

Serve nice and hot.



Pork is Lovely and tender and delicious with the rice

Very very yummy

Hard to see the coating on this photo as it's a very light colour but it's a very delicious recipe.

Thanks for looking

Have a great day

Hugs Michelle

Homemade Cheese and Crackers

Hi all

well yesterday I thought I’d try my hand at basic cheese making and it was so easy and so much fun.

The results were delish!

Today I thought to go with the cheese I had made I would make some homemade crackers.
Well I am very happy with the results of those as well. Again it was so easy.

Really don’t know why haven’t tried it before. Sure I’ve been meaning to for ages but I just kept putting off. Guess I thought it would be more work than it was

Anyway if you are looking for a lovely snack completely homemade you really can’t go wrong with making your own cheese and crackers and I’ll guarantee there will be no leftovers.

This is a basic recipe I used to make cheese I only had a little milk so can’t give amounts

However ingredients for cheese
Milk
Lemon
Salt
I used chives (optional)

Add good grinding of salt to milk and then

Gently heat your milk up stirring regularly till little bubbles are forming and steam is coming of the milk you don’t want it to boil.

Turn the heat off and squeeze lemon juice into milk to cause the curds and whey to separate

Once completely separate drain your curds through cheese cloth discarding the whey

Once the mixtures has cooled a little, fold and hang your cheese cloth with the curds in it so that the rest of the whey drains away this takes about or so depending on how big a batch you make

Once all the whey has been drained take your curds out of the cheesecloth and you have cheese.

Here I put it into a bowl and tasted for seasoning.

I added another good grinding of salt and lots and lots of fresh chives.

I then potted it and refrigerated overnight

So easy and so tasty.

Now onto the Crackers again this recipe is so easy

Here’s the basic recipe I used for crackers

As usual I change my recipes so I can only give you guestimates as I rarely weigh or measure

11/2 cups Plain Flour

Good ½ cup Parmesan

¼ cup sesame seeds

3 tbsp soy sauce

½ cup I used groundnut oil
(use vegetable, olive whatever you like)

3 tbsp water
or more as needed

good grinding black pepper about ¼ tsp

Salt

Put all your dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well

Now add your oil and soy sauce and mix well

Add your water or as much water as needed to get a very soft pliable dough

Rest your dough for short time if able to

Gently roll out your dough to cracker thickness or a thickness you like and cut into shapes

Place on baking tray. I used greaseproof paper makes it so much easier

Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes

Now you can add a grinding of salt before putting crackers in the oven or you can add a grinding of salt after you have taken them out or can omit the salt altogether as the parmesan and soy give it plently of flavour.

Experiment have fun this is just a basic recipe

So easy and so delish.

Anyway those are my two recipes for fresh cheese and crackers

Have fun and experiment

Hugs Michelle

Recipe - Saltana Cake

Hi all

Well here is a nice and easy recipe

Unfortunately I'm not a person who weighs or measures much

so these are approximate amounts

This is a very moist and delicious cake and so easy to make

I tend to use flavoured teas to give variety to this cake

anyway hope you enjoy

Hugs Michelle


Back again

Got to further cooking today and decided I'd try my hand at cheese making. I really am

surprised at how easy it is just to create some basic cheese.

so here is a quick pic of the cheese I have potted I will be serving it for dinner tonight as starter.

I am so very happy I mean it's a basic cheese but I've never done it before so am thrilled that it's turned out and so far with a tiny taste test tastes delish.

anyway here's a small pic I will serve with crakers etc later will show it unpotted

thanks for looking

I used chives as a flavouring for this cheese as well.

Lots and lots of fresh chives. Next time when I do a bigger batch will do garlic and herbs

have a good day

Hugs Michelle

Walking

HI all
Today we went for another walk through a bit of a woodland.
This time Stray Park. It's taken a while to get Paul to go for a proper walk through
this area as he's never really felt that it's a place he wanted to walk.
However it was a lovely walk along the riverside and through the wooded area
We did both manage to get many photo's and here is one that I took
I will be tubing some of my photo's and putting them up on my other blog so keep an eye 0ut for that.
On other new the Bacon that we started to make a couple of days ago is coming along well and very happy with it thus far. Of course as always the final product taste is the telling of whether it worked as well as we hoped.
Anyway will leave you with that a look at the photo I took. Please do not try to take or use the photo thank you. It is copyright to myself
If I make any of the photo's available for use they will be on my other blog http://michellescreativemess.blogspot.com/ and with the Terms of Use available
I will also post a photo or two my husband took.
thanks Michelle

Welcome

Hi All

Firstly welcome to our blog
This blog is for Paul and myself to remark comment or blog on changes we are making in our life,
recipes we have tried, food we have produced, or changes we have made as people.
It's about growing as people and if someone else gets a good recipe or help from the blog an added bonus.
We have been incorporating little and big changes in our life for awhile and thought we'd start to keep a record of them to see how far things have come.
As everyone probably relalises change comes slowly and sometimes you don't even see the changes and are not even sure your moving forward, so this blog is designed not only to record our achievements or unfortunately failures but also to see where changes have occured in our lives and how far we have moved on.
It's not just about food or changes that way it's about things we've seen or done as well. It's our lives in a short read.
Well we hope you enjoy and that you visit regularly
Hugs Michelle