Merry

Candied spiced almonds and cashews, exactly like what they sell at German Christmas markets, that I made and wrapped for Christmas presents.
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas, mine certainly has been. Tomorrow I'm off to Melbourne for a few days, then to Lismore/ Byron Bay for New Year's Eve + a few days. Please let me know of any must visit places (cafes, shops, sights) that you might know in either Melbourne or Byron!

SWEET #2

These are really yummy, easy and both are no-bake; perfect, old-fashioned summery petit fours.

RICORDO

I had this pasta for the first time whilst travelling in Sardinia last year. Sardinia is a fairly large island off the coast of Italy which often gets overshadowed its slightly-more-famous sibling island, Sicily. This sauce is delicious and very quick to make.

Mediterranean Pesto:

(serves one)

NEED:

100g spaghetti

50g sun dried tomatoes

50g pitted marinated olives

handful grated parmesan

small handful basil leaves

olive oil

lemon juice

DO:

Cook spaghetti until al dente (12ish minutes)

Pop sun dried tomatoes, olives (make sure they're all pitted), basil leaves, dash olive oil and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds (but not too long) until ingredients are finely chopped.

Stir pesto mixture and parmesan through warm pasta & serve.

AUTUMN IN SPRING

CINNAMON & RED WINE POACHED PEARS

NEED:

• 4 brown (beurre bosc) pears
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup red wine
• 1.5 cups sugar (brown or white)
• 1 cinnamon quill/ 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• plain yoghurt
• nuts (any kind)

DO:

• Add water, wine and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring so the sugar dissolves
• Meanwhile, peel pears, leaving stem on ('cause it looks pretty)
• Place pears and cinnamon in the pot and cover with a square of baking paper (or half-cover with lid) and let simmer for about 30 minutes, turning pears occasionally
• Serve warm with some of the liquid, as well as a few spoons of yoghurt & sprinkled with chopped nuts.

Taken with a Canon 600D

The weather in Sydney has been pretty miserable for the past few days and it's hard to believe that summer is only a week away. Suitably, this recipe is very Autumny and perfect for days like today. As a dessert it's very healthy (I may or may not have had this for breakfast). I find the yoghurt balances the sweetness of the poaching liquid out nicely and the nuts add interesting texture. The taste reminds me of drinking mulled wine at some of the amazing German Christmas markets last year.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

I didn't really feel homesick much while in Europe last year, but one of the few moments I remember missing home a lot was when my mum sent me some homemade Anzac biscuits. This recipe is based loosely on a classic Anzac biscuit one, but made better with coconut and almonds (is that an unaustralian thing to say?). Anyway, it's good. Not overly sweet, they're ridiculously addictive, especially whilst warm & you can almost fool yourself that they're healthy...

OAT, COCONUT & ALMOND COOKIES

Need:

• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 0.5 cup desiccated coconut
• 0.5 cup brown sugar
• 125g butter (vegan = coconut oil)
• 3 tablespoons golden syrup
• 0.5 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• flaked almonds

Do:

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius
• Combine oats, flour, sugar & coconut
• Melt butter with golden syrup in a saucepan/ in the microwave
• Mix bicarb soda with boiling water and add to butter mixture
• Combine with dry ingredients
• Spread mixture over two trays lined with baking paper (the mixture will be quite dry) (you can make them into cookies at this stage but I find it's much easier to just cut them once baked, plus long shapes make for optimal tea/coffee dunking)
• Sprinkle almonds
• Bake for about 15 minutes (longer if you don't want them as chewy)
• Cool slightly (it'll be very soft when taken out but will harden in a few minutes), as soon as it's cool enough to handle, cut into rectangles. Or leave as one huge biscuit if you prefer.

Taken on Canon 600D