Matters of the heart and a quick cheese souffle~

Strange weather patterns happening here in the Eastern Cape.
Great for a little decorating and..... making souffles is always comforting in this wet weather.

  
The Recipe~
4 eggs separated
1 cup of strong cheddar cheese, or cheese of your choice....I also added a half a cup of parmessan and first greased the souffle dish then dusted with some of this parmessan.
140ml milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg.

Melt the butter and flour and mix 'til a smooth paste. Add the milk. Stirring all the time and bring to the boil.
Add the cheese, salt , pepper and nutmeg and the egg yolks one at a time. Mix well.
Whisk the egg whites  stiffly and fold into the mixture. Pour into the souffle dish that has been lined with the Parmessan cheese (tip from Ina Garten). Run your finger around the dish so as to allow the the souffle to rise
evenly.
Bake for 30minutes in the centre of the oven set at 200deg C.
Remove and serve immediately with a green salad.

Some tips:
Eggs at room temperature.
If the souffle is left in the oven too long, it becomes tough and leathery. It should be slightly moist and frothy in the centre.

A little bit of Christmas joy for my heart all the way from Canada.....Oh what a spoil....I am forever thankful to you Monique! Please visit Monique here~......she must surely be the most gracious blogging friend I have ever met.. Truely Monique, a piece of beauty...you are so talented.

And matters of the heart....a special visitor is flying home in a couple of  hours.....we can't wait to see you, our Wes!



Enjoy your weekends and take care!
Shel

Couscous Salad~

A warm coucous and veg salad~

The recipe~
3 Sweet peppers (mixed colours)
Aubergine
Butternut
Sweet potato
Chickpeas
Chopped Walnuts
1 cup of Couscous
2 cups of boiling water or stock.
A stick of cinnamon
1 tsp tumeric
1 red chilli
1tsp each garlic, ginger and lemon zest
Basil, parsley, rocket roughly torn
Olive oil and lemon juice (half a lemon)
Sea salt and pepper

Soak the couscous in the water with the stick of cinnamon....keep using a fork to separate the grains to prevent from becoming lumpy....I do use less water.
Roast the vegetables that have been diced with olive oil, salt, pepper, tumeric and other spices...I like to add a dash of honey too!
To construct...lay the bed of couscous on a platter.
Mx the roasted veg and chick peas and arrange on the top.
Sprinkle over the nuts, leaves and pour over lemon juice and a dash more of olive oil.
I like to garnish with roasted vine tomatoes and a crumble of feta cheese..

Delicious both hot or cold.

PS  you can improvise....I think there are many alternatives you could add or even leave out!

Shel

 

Soul Food~ Advent 1

Advent 1.....

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and his name shall be called Emmanuel" .... Mat 1: 23

Flowers in loving memory of my dad~
St John's Methodist Church, Havelock Street, Port Elizabeth.

Food for my soul~ My dad.

My dad.......

one year has quietly slipped by.

22 July 1938 ....25 November 2010

Treasured memories held close to my heart for eternity.

At the end of the day......what matters most....
How well you lived
How well you loved.

You were a shining example to us all!

Love you dad .... for you I am eternally thankful.

Childhood memories~

Whilst waiting to decorate my little cottage for Christmas and promising to bring you many photos, I have been reminiscing about my childhood~
My fondest memories are of my junior school years spent at Sacred Heart Convent in East London....
I loved the nuns, they were my absolute world....I was always mystified of their whereabouts, how they dressed, their preciseness and their baking and sewing skills of all things!

This is also where my love for classical music and dance developed....I took piano and violin lessons at the school with dear old Sister Elizabeth! (Anything but dear..I might add....I have a vivid memory of been slapped over the knuckles if I hadn't practised my scales )....but, on the whole....they were good memories.....
The fondest being of....en route from the school building to the music block, I had to walk past the abbey kitchen...the sweet smells that came wafting from that kitchen is probably what brought about my love for cooking and baking...not that I'm that good at it...but I do LOVE being in that part of my home.
Those nuns were truely spoilt from the end products of that kitchen....and I can still smell those biscuits they used to bake at least twice a week!! Simple butter biscuits that were very moreish!!
Here is my interpretation of them.....using the Linzer cookie recipe....however, not adorned as so many of my fellow bloggers do!
Plain and simple...but Oh.....so delicious......

The recipe~

11/4 cups softened unsalted butter

2/3 cups of sugar

2 cups sifted flour

13/4 cups ground almond

a pinch of cinnamon

5 tbsp apricot jam should you wish to sandwich together.

Dusting of icing sugar

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in half the flour at a time....almonds and cinnamon next.

Continue to beat until dough becomes slightly stiff.

Shape in a ball and refigerate for a half hour.

On a lightly floured board, roll out until1/8 inch thick.

Cut out shapes.

Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 180deg C for approx 10 to 15 minutes.

Cool and sandwich together some and dust with confectioner's sugar.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American bloggers and friends......

for you....I am thankful!

See you soon

Shel

I am joining Rose Chintz Cottage for tea and

Tablescape Thursday

Acorn cakelets and a new season~

When I saw these here, I knew I just had to have one of those moulds.....
alas, living in South Africa, does have its restrictions, so my son managed to locate it on EBay....
here is the result and a recipe I used.

Here is the recipe I used (attached to the cakelet tin)...It worked for me.

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup milk

1tsp vanilla

125g unsalted butter

1/2 cup of maple sugar(I used treacle)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

all ingredients at room temp.

Preheat oven to 180deg C. Grease and flour the acorn cakelet pan.

Sift together the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a small bowl wisk tog. the milk and vanilla.

Beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, a little at a time.

Add the flour mixture alternating with the milk.

Spoon 1 tablsp of batter into each acornlet. Bake until the toothpick comes out clean, about 10min.

Transfer the cakelets to a wire rack in the pan and allow to cool in the pan for 15 mins before removing.

Cutie pies!!

A new season in our lives.....we now have one foot in the Fair Cape's door....our older son has relocated to Cape Town.....in all honesty, I am struggling with getting my head around this!
The beginning of a beautiful new life for him....
For us, well the saying holds true....if you love someone, let him go.............

There is nothing like a dream to create the future....Victor Hugo.

Shel

Morning has broken

Summer has broken and my garden is enjoying all the splendour........

How good and gracious is our Lord most high.

God is worthy of our highest praise!

                  The most photographed dog- on- Solomon I know!.............Chloe

These travelled all the way from Cape Town  for me from my son's heart....he knows how I love them..... little jewels in a box.......

Just a few more....I hope you don't mind....

I'm in love with these vibrant colours this summer....

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these."  Matthew 6: 28-30

Enjoy your Sunday.

Shel

I will be joining  Seasonal Sundays today. Please join me there.