Banana Muffins

 

Ingredients

4 large bananas ripe. (fresh or frozen)

1 cup brown sugar
2 tbs coconut oil/butter

1 egg

2 cups plain wholemeal flour
2 tbs milk
1 pinch salt

5 teaspoons  baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch of salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Put everything into food processor

Blitz till thoroughly mixed

 

Makes 12 large or 24 small muffins.

 

Its 2014 and the Mango tree is thriving.

Its 2014 and the mango tree is full of bloom Mango Tree 2014

2014

2014

2014

A month later and its loaded with fruit.

Yesterday my friend who we bought the house off visited us.  She loved the garden and the blog.  Most of all she loved the mango tree which had been a gift to see it thriving blessed her immensely. We thought it was a Bowen Mango and Val confirmed this.  Wow I’m really looking forward to seeing the fruit grow and ripen.

It was  wonderful to see her and talk with her again.  For me she was one of those people who as soon as we met we knew and liked one another.  She knew from the moment she met us that her house was right for us.  I always knew I loved her house.  So when it was time for her to leave we bought the house and I just love living here.

Surprisingly Nutritious Vegetable Damper Recipe

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Originally posted on Jerry Coleby-Williams:
This damper recipe includes green pawpaw (Carica papaya) and Warrigal greens (Tetragonia tetragonioides), which are currently abundant in my garden. Both are self-sown crops. Served either as damper or used as a pizza base, this…

Banana cake

This is a delicious banana cake. An amalgamation of a number of recipes. I love the fact that it uses cups of bananas. Very easy to use frozen bananas

Mango tree 2014

The mango tree is absolutely bursting with blossom. If you could only photo smells and sound. When your next to the tree. The smell is so rich and beautiful, the sun is warm and the bees are humming.

Chinese pork shank soup

4 boned pork shanks  (from a Chinese butcher)

1kg of pork bones (from Chinese butcher)

bunch of Asian greens

1 cup black turtle beans

pack of 2 minute noodles

7 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of mirin

2 star anise

2 cinnamon sticks

3″ piece peeled ginger

3 tablespoons brown sugar

sesame oil

for serving. Sliced spring onion, fried onion and fried garlic

Bring a pot of water to the boil add the bones and the shanks.  Boil for 5 minutes rinse and drain.

This is one of the big differences between a Chinese soup and a western soup. Instead of browning the meat and the bones they  are blanched. This removes  the scum that clouds the stock.

Place the soy sauce, mirin, the spices  and 2 tbs brown sugar in the pressure cooker.

add the drained meat and bones

add the turtle beans

cover with cold water to just below the maximum

pressure cook on high pressure for 1 hour.

Remove shanks, with a small amount of the cooking liquid, roughly slice them into small pieces

add sesame oil into  a frying pan. Add sliced meat, liquid and 1tbs sugar. Cook until liquid is gone and meat browns in mixture

add greens to pressure cooker cook on high for 5 mins

cook 2 minute noodles

TO SERVE

add a scoop of cooked noodles to bowl, add soup with one or two of the bones. Top with cooked meat, sliced shallots, fried onion and fried garlic.

Chinese Pork Shank Soup ready to cook

Chinese Pork Shank soup cooked in about 1 hour.

Store a watermelon.

Big watermelons are a challenge.

Where do you keep them? They take a huge amount of fridge space and are heavy.

We lived in Esk a few years ago. A watermelon growing area. I miss buying huge watermelons for $2 at the farm gate.

A farmer told us this. Put the watermelon in a shady spot in the garden, until your ready to eat it.

We did this at Christmas a couple of weeks before we bought the watermelon popped it on some straw in the garden.

We didn’t eat it till about 10 days after Christmas.

The one in the photo I bought 10 days ago. From the back of a farmers ute. Very fresh.

I’m using it tonight for a family dinner.

Finally the Mango’s are starting to ripen

It hasn’t been the hottest summer on record. They have been slow to ripen. Logan food gardeners who are about 30 mins away have their mangos in the freezers already.

However the size and taste is incredible. They are so sweet. This tree is truly my favourite in the garden.

2013/14 mangos.

Finally starting to ripen.

I think they have taken longer in the bags. Though there is no sign of fruit fly. I’m not sure if I would use them again. We have about 30 mangos on the tree still. I’m not sure what kind they are but they are very sweet.