TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS FARE FEAST.......

Saurday  21st ......  Margaret from Sale   has booked `a tradional Christmas fare feast`.
Margaret explained her guests are conservative in their food tastes
the menu is to be  tradional Christmas food ,

The requirement then is  for the meal to be HO HO  not HO HUM

The feast will be  served over 5 courses.....

1.........chicken drummette served on tabouleh lined bruschetta

2.........pork belly with apple chutney

3........succulent turkey breast on a brie crumble  and cranberry smear together with pumpkin chips.

4.........Roast beef  and horseradish creme   with   rosemary roasted potato  and stuffing.

Salads........
1...... mixed garden fresh leaves , tomatoes, and onions
2.....baby beets, feta, pumpkin and lentil

5........Trio of  desserts..

1. sticky date  pudding
1. crème brule
1.zesty lemon sorbet  with mint.

I  am looking forward to presenting your occasion.

 

WHAT A WEEK

 THURSDAY 12TH..DEC

The art show at Kosciusko Primary School was amazing and it was so well attended by parents, family and friends.
There were lots of tasty morsals on offer made by the students ,10 willing helpers who worked expediently and enthusiastically, following my directions.
It was a job well done kids .
The cook and her apprentices produced 33 platters served by 5 very sharp looking and friendly waiters who did an excellent job in front of house service....

FRIDAY 13TH .....Happy 23rd birthday Dale , family and friends gathered to celebrate and  spent an excellent evening being entertained and fed at Traralgon Teppinaki..
The chocolate walnut whirl cake was a hit ...

SATURDAY 14TH.......

Off  to Seaton to prepare and serve the Banquet without Borders...
The 5 serves were perfect , I was so happy with what and how it was presented .
I am developing a sense of achievement with all I cook but definitely not complacency. There is still so much to learn.

SUNDAY  15TH ......
Breakfast with the family before they all head off to their homes and lives in Melbourne .
bye Ella and Max ......missing you already.

MONDAY 16TH ....

Work and washing to fold , the xmas lights are resplendent, our house and garden are just like a fairy wonderland.

TUESDAY 17TH ......
My work collegue and friend Tran is relocating to Sydney so we dined on stuffed quail for lunch .
Don`t give up the fight , the cause is worth the effort . I`ll miss you Tran .
Lots of visitors to our garden to see the xmas lights, the candy canes are being shared .

WEDNESDAY..18TH
Happy birthday Samira .....
Our house won the xmas light display competition.
Xmas dinner with my work collegues at the Terrace Café ...part of Century Inn.., Traralgon.
Very nice ,
Xmas wishes to all and goodbye, many changes are in store for next year...
I`m excited.

THURSDAY 19TH DEC...
Henny my long time pet chook .
A beautiful Isa brown...
Henny died today...
It is sad, but death is part of lifes journey.


 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMIRA

  Dear Samira

Happy birthday for the 18th Dec..
Remember all those nights we sat on our bedroom floor reading , talking , eating nuts ,chocolates and  drinking tea ........
What were my words Samira ...?
I told you , that your life would never be the same again....you are a special person with a gift .
Continue your journey  Samira , your path will be long.

Love
Noelene

CHANGES....FOR THE BETTER

Good bye to the old way.......I got caught up  posting blogs and pics of my meals ....when seriously it doesn't matter .
I love to cook and to create , but to spend time on electronic media recording it  means jack to me, when I am so pressed for time in my garden and doing what I love to do .cook. (and I still have so much to learn.)
The people I want to reach  are the ones doing it tough ...the ones who cant afford salmon  or chia seeds or don`t have an understanding of the basics , maybe there is a language barrier, or there are genuine circumstances of addiction ,poor communication skills.... there are a lot of people out there with eating disorders, and what of the families with disabled kids ..and don`t forget the aged or  people affected by a mental disorder....people who just want direction , an invitation to an open house , to  be supported ,encouraged and taught  without judgement.
These people need to eat , they have a right to enjoy good food not just eat to be filled.
The people I want to reach may not even have a home computer, if any body out there has read my blog , help me to make a difference , enrich our lives by reaching out and sharing our knowledge on cooking in a community kitchen ......there is a professional kitchen in the Churchill Hub that goes largely unused  , we have  resident senior citizens in Hazelwood House with a wealth of knowledge on cooking they could be sharing with all of us .
I get invited regularly to do cooking demos in Melb, why can`t we band together and approach any one of  the multitude of local producers to demonstrate the use of their produce in a cooking demonstration in the foyer of one the shopping outlets.
We have a very productive local  scrap booking group , why can`t we have the same networking on producing a community recipe book, or just a cooking club based on the same format as a book club.

Please phone me on 0407561192 or email me  at....... tree_hugger8620@hotmail.com to show your support or interest....this is a `feel good ` venture as you will get so much more out of participating  than whatever you contribute .

I am working on dates for  continuing the home cooking classes early next year ...I will use the blog to announce the dates and my son Paul will post them on FB as soon as they are released .

Cheers
Noelene
 

LET `S HAVE A LOOK .......

Aromatic Roo Curry

Soft Salmon Tacos

Mongolian Beef with Snow Peas

Quick Chicken Tagine

Sausages and Braised Lentils

SAUSAGES WITH BRAISED LENTILS.

Place one cup of dried  French lentils in to 3 cups of boiling water
Boil till lentils start to soften and water reduces  ( about 20 minutes )
To the reduced  lentil stock add
2. cloves of garlic chopped,
1. glass of white wine
continue to simmer on a low heat..
 Brown 3 red or brown onions with a drizzle of oil in a hot pan, once the onions soften ,
add
 4 slices of chopped prosciutto
2. small carrots thinly sliced
2. stalks of celery  thinly sliced
Mix all together  and transfer to the lentil mix
Cover with a lid slightly ajar , keeping the pan on a low heat

Now prepare your sausages ... I used kangaroo sausages ( 8 to a pack )
Straight under the griller and cook through

Before you plate up quickly prepare a balsamic glaze to round out the flavours....
Mix a half a cup of white balsamic vinegar with  180 g of fig jam ( fig jam will do when figs are out of season ) in a bowl with 2 tbs of water.

To serve plate the lentils on a serving dish , lay the sausages at an angle  across the lentils and drizzle glaze over the lot ..
Enjoy

PORK RILLETTES....(..PORK HOCK LEFT OVERS FROM THE OX TAIL BROTH )

Remember my mantra, ...no waste....

Continued from the previous post.....The pork hocks are on absorbent paper  and you have the discarded fat from the stock in a bowl.
Remove the rind off the the hocks  and using two forks shred the pork meat .
Now line a 1 litre terrine dish  ( mine is rectangular) with 3 sheets of cling film length wise and again width wise ...with extra for  over hang .
Melt the discarded pork fat and pour over the shredded pork, adding 2 thinly sliced cornichons and gently mix.
Season with a little salt  and white pepper.
Wrap the cling film over the mix and refrigerate till the pork fat is firm..
This can be kept in the refrigerator up to one week.....
Now this can be served knife spread on any crusty fresh bread ( accompanied  with a chilled white wine  , or a room temperature red) , as an appetiser or along side the the ox tail broth ...
Enjoy