Di-licious

I'm not really a fan of quinoa. Like a lot of you, I jumped on the superfood bandwagon to see what all the fuss was about but when it came to the taste, I just went meh. I think it smells too, but maybe that's just me. Unsurprisingly I have quinoa flakes languishing in my pantry. Finding something I could 'hide' them in became a mission. Hello PQR (pear, quinoa & raspberry) muffins. Muffins are not only easy to make, they're also the perfect lunchbox treat because they are completely freezable. I've made a big batch these school holidays ready for the next school term. I prefer to make my muffins with wholemeal flour. That way there is absolutely no confusion with cupcakes (which to my mind a lot of those cafe bought-in muffins seem to be masquerading as). Teamed up with quinoa flakes and oats, they have real texture. Pear chunks, raspberries and a modest amount of brown sugar make them just sweet enough. And while they might sound healthy (and...

A couple of days ago my deep freezer was caked in ice. Mystery bags of long forgotten food lurked at the bottom; their once snappy labels fallen off. I've been talking about emptying the freezer for a while now but it took longer than I'd anticipated. Now that its finally clean and frost free, I'm determined to stay on top of what's inside. These are the 5 steps I'm following to stay on top of what's in my freezers. 1. Stock up on freezer containers and bags.   I bought a 50-pack of oblong takeaway containers, multi sized ziplock bags and multi sized freezer bags. 2. Buy good quality permanent markers.  I've tried using adhesive labels on containers but they either fall off while in the freezer or leave a sticky residue on the containers when you wash them afterwards. Permanent markers stay put and are easy to read on frozen items. My marker of choice is the Sharpie Pro (they write on wet surfaces!) 3. Make a   "What's in the freezer" list and...

The lovely Ginny over at Small Things  created Yarn Along, a blogger link up for the yarn obsessed, to share what they've been making and reading each week. Although it's essentially a knitting club, Ginny has welcomed crocheters as well so here I am. Last week I finished my entry for the Country Women's Association (CWA) of Victoria State Exhibition - a red cowl. It's been entered into the Scarves category and I'll find out next Friday how I went. I made the cowl out of 12ply acrylic yarn and only took a couple of days to make up. The pattern, from the 1st issue of Simply Crochet magazine , includes a button placket but I decided to keep this one plain. What I love about the pattern is the mock cable effect. So do my fellow CWA branch members - they've asked me to teach them how to do it! If you're on Ravelry, you can get more information about the pattern here . I'm also reading about CWA. On my bedside table is " Great Australian CWA Stories ...

One of the greatest pleasures of baking is sharing the spoils. I bake for family, friends, neighbours and charity. When I found out about the Sweet Swap , I couldn't sign up fast enough. Linking up with fellow Australian food theme bloggers to share some sweet love and get a little in return - who wouldn't want to get sweet parcels in the mail? It's been like Xmas in July. The same week I got my matches I accidently killed my blog. Having already committed to the swap, I resolved to start my blog again so I could take part properly. Organiser Amanda was very understanding - thank you. Choosing what to make was probably the hardest part. It needed to be a completely new recipe that I'd never blogged about, taste fabulous and be resilient enough to survive being posted in the mail. I decided on Di-licious Mini Rum Balls. These rum balls were particularly special because I used walnuts I’d handpicked from my brother in law’s house in Ballarat. I must confe...