RICE BUBBLE SLICE

Forget about the kids this is definately for adults as well . Grease a medium sized slice pan ( 27 cm x 17 cm ) and line with baking paper , hanging over the two long sides . melt 125 gm of butter / marg in a small saucepan . Add 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 and 1/2 cups of chopped date ( or 1 cup of date paste ) . Stir well and bring to the boil , reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of rice bubbles and stir to combine .(I have used museli and super seed clusters and the recipe works just as well ) Spread into the pan and press to smooth with the back of a spoon . Refrigerate till set . Remove from the pan and slice into squares . Delicious ...enjoy !

ANOTHER TWO ROSES OPENED

There are so many roses in bud , today June Park made her appearance along with Just Joey. In difficult and unsure times, my garden and rose garden are giving me so much pleasure .

A VERY WINDY DAY AT THE MANOR

What a day .. it was non stop gusty winds . The roses were being thrust right and left but they never gave up their buds . The ever flowering crucifix orchid looks so fragile but never falters regardless of conditions . Amazingly there are still some blossoms left on the quince tree after all the wind . The fig tree is already in baby fruit . I think I'll be able to add to the opened roses list tomorrow .

SMOKED SALMON RISOTTO

Heat 2 tbs of rice bran oil in a frypan and heat over a medium heat . Add 2 chopped onions , 1 tbs of minced garlic and 1/2 tsp of ground turmeric . Cook until the onions soften . Add 320 gm of short grain rice and 1 red capsicum trimmed and chopped , stir through . Add 750 ml of fish stock and continue stirring until rice is tendr and the liquid is absorbed . Stir in 3 chopped spring onions , 1 tbs of fresh basil ,1 tbs of fresh chives and 10 slices of smoked salmon , cut into strips . Season with dried dill . Serve immediately .

ARANCHINI (RICE BALLS )

This is my version of aranchini , I prepare the rice balls with sweet potato (kumara). You will need 1 cup of precooked brown rice , 1 cup of sweet poato mash (puree), 125 gms of precooked chicken cut into slices . Now place the chicken pieces into your processor along with 1/2 cup of the sweet potato puree , 1/4 cup of grated cheese 1/4 cup of milk and blend until smooth . transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the rice . Roll the mixture into small balls . In a shallow bowl beat 1 egg with the remaining 1/2 cup of sweet potato puree . In a separate bowl place 1 and 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs ( I used almond and tamari crumb ). Now dip the balls one at a time in the egg mixture , then roll them in the crumbs to make an even coating . Heat your fry pan over a medium heat with a few glugs of rice bran oil . Add the rice balls and cook for 5 minutes , turning occasionally and cook until browned and crisp all over ... Serve warm . First time I ever made these was on Masterchef in a Lygon Street challenge ...that one we survived and thanks to Samira's sales tactics , we raised alot of money for charity .

THE ROSES ARE IN BUD AT THE MANOR

I love gardening and roses most of all . The rose buds are swelling and slowly unfurling , it's a time of expectancy and excitement . Over the weekend I decided to catalogue my roses , which means I now have to identify the roses as they bloom . Let me tell you roses are not always easily identified , just like in cooking , not all flours are flours ! So the first project was to make a physical plan on paper of the layout of the garden beds and position of the roses ....this took a great deal of time as I need guidelines and the hard copy of my garden design looks different on paper to reality ! To date there are four roses in bloom . 1. Peace 2. Pristine 3. Pink Peace 4. Redgold Everyday will bring a new opening ....

WEET - BIX FUDGE MUFFINS

Place 125 gm of butter/ marg , 2 tbs of milk and 1 cup of castor sugar in a small saucepan . Heat over a low heat and stir until the butter / marg is melted and the sugar is dissolved . In a separate bowl crumble 7 weet-bix biscuits , 5 tbs of powdered milk , 2 tbs of cocoa and 1 cup of shredded coconut . Pour the wet mixture onto the dry mixture . mix well . Spoon into muffin pans and sprinkle with a little extra coconut . Chill in the refrigerator until set .