What a beautiful time of day the early morning is! We went to the beach before breakfast on a day that turned out to be in the mid 30's, C. Just gorgeous. Almost I am persuaded that all that gritty awful feeling sand and salt is worth it, after all.
7 Layer Dip - The Taste of Summer!
This recipe is very simple, very healthy, and I find that most people love it and many ask for the recipe after trying it. Variations of it abound: you can mash the beans or leave them whole, use whatever ingredients you have on hand as long as you stick with the salsa / sour cream / cheese mix. Big thanks to my dear friend BB for introducing me to this dish some years ago.
1 large tin of red kidney beans, drained - spread in base of pie dish
1 jar mild salsa (or hot if you prefer) - mix about 3/4 of the jar with the beans
Sour cream - spread a few generous dollops evenly over the salsa/beans
optional: 1 avocado - mash, spread over beans and salsa
Diced veggies of your choice - this bit takes the longest.
I used capsicum (red and green), tomato, lebanese cucumber, grated carrot. Use whatever veggies your family likes.
Top the lot with grated tasty cheese, serve with corn chips.
At the beach near dusk.
My breakfast on New Year's Day: lentil sprouts with fresh mango and fruit and nut gorp. Absolutely delicious.
Spiced nuts:
2 cups mixed raw nuts
3/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 cup dried fruit
1/2 - 1 cup unsweetened carob pieces
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon cold pressed olive oil
1 teaspoon good salt (vegetable salt works well)
Toss the oil through the nuts until they are well coated. Toss again to coat with the garam masala and the salt. Bake in a moderate oven until the nuts are lightly golden, allow to cool. Mix in the dried fruit and carob pieces. Dare yourself to eat just one handful :)
A panoramic shot of the beach, a lovely sheltered cove.
Ess made this wonderful meal from her Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food cookbook (highly recommended), with couscous, chickpeas, and sheep milk yogurt.
Do give Jamie's site a visit - he is doing a marvellous work and is even giving confidence to people like me who are generally completely tone deaf in a kitchen sense.
Bread rolls made from 100% freshly ground biodynamic organic wheat. They were delicious, and as light and fluffy as wholewheat has a right to be. How I wish they would turn out like this every time! Garlic butter goes beautifully with these, nice and warm from the oven.
Book covers: a great gift idea, and really good for protecting the book you're reading while it's being jostled around from place to place. These covers were padded with an old woolen blanket (except the middle one, that one uses ordinary synthetic wadding)
My new rag bag. The inspiration for this came from Jewells, at Eyes of Wonder, based on her clothes peg bag. I'd like to do another one with proper set in sleeves, with a more prairie dress look to it.
Some ocean scenes from Port Elliot in South Australia. I love SA; it has a character all its own that I miss. Different in so many subtle ways from NSW, though each has its own charm. SA has the distinction of being the place that nurtured me from birth to maturity, so there are memories woven into the very fabric of the place which are a comfort somehow.
A scene I love that is within walking distance from where I live.
