Simply Wonderful

I have only attempted to make a sponge cake once before and, let's just say that it wasn't a raging success. I don't have that 'lightness of hand' that is so necessary for fluffy sponges and it took many many many attempts before I mastered the art of scones. I don't think it helped much that a certain eldest offspring of mine was determined to "help stir" the sponge mixture and his hand is most definitely not light LOL.

So it was with some trepidation that I approached this recipe. I'd torn it from a magazine half planning to make it and half dreaming that it might magically spring from the page ready-made. I finally worked up the courage and decided to take it for dessert to a bbq with friends. Oh my, this is simply wonderful.

The sponge was so fluffy and light - everything you could want in a sponge. It wasn't difficult to make and the couple of extra steps added so much to the end result that it was well worth the effort. I have to say that, while it was lovely for dessert, it really came into it's own the next day (we all ended up with a little bit of the leftovers) when the flavour of the filling had worked through the cake. This is a delightfully delicious addition to my repertoire and I'll be trotting it out again, I just have to work out when.

Mascarpone and Fig Sponge
(Pan di Spagna con Fichi e Mascarpone)
Australian Table, July 2006

5 eggs, separated

1 cup caster sugar

2/3 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour

1 cup fig jam

Mascarpone Filling

2 eggwhites

500g mascarpone, at room temperature

2 tablespoon icing sugar, plus extra icing sugar to dust

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and lightly flour a 24cm springform pan.

2. Using an electric beater, beat egg yolks and half of the caster sugar for 5 minutes, until pale and thick. Gently fold twice-sifted flour and cornflour through yolk mixture.

3. Using an electric beater, beat eggwhites until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until thick and glossy. Fold into yolk mixture. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool.

4. To make Mascarpone Filling, beat eggwhites using an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Gently fold mascarpone and icing sugar through eggwhites. Using a serrated brad knife, cut cake into three layers. Spread half of jam over base and top with half of Mascarpone filling. Repeat layers once more, finishing with top of cake. Dust with extra icing sugar before serving.

It's A Winner

I put off making this lasagne dish for three weeks because I assumed that it would be difficult and that the kids probably wouldn't like it anyway. Offspring #2 is being particularly fussy at the moment and it's driving me a bit nuts. It's all typical two-year-old behaviour but, my goodness, does it get on my nerves when I have chosen a recipe I'm sure she'll love only for her to have a taste, say "nooooooooo" or even worse, "yuk" (pretty much guaranteed to make my blood boil) and push it away. Anyway, I finally bit the bullet and tried this one out and it was delicious and really simple to make. It took me about an hour and a half from grabbing out the chopping board to putting the meal on the table but you could easily prepare it the night before. Hubby and I loved it and Offspring #1 polished his off and asked for seconds so I knew I was on a winner there. #2 did well until she came across the pumpkin, which she has decided is the foulest vegetable known to man, after which she refused to eat any more. Sadly for her, I love pumpkin so it tends to find it's way into any number of dishes and she's just going to have to get used to it!

Here's the recipe. I'm giving it to you as it appeared in the magazine but I halved it which fed the four of us for one night and left enough for dinner for Hubby and I the next night. I forgot to add the onion but we didn't miss it, so I won't bother to put it in next time round.

Vegetable and Ricotta Lasagne
Australian Table, July 2007

1 medium kumara, peeled, sliced

400g pumpkin, peeled, sliced

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

1 large onion, sliced

2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthways

2 carrots, sliced lengthways

3 medium potatoes, peeled, sliced

575g jar bolgnese pasta sauce

1 kg ricotta

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 packet instant lasagne sheets

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Cook vegetables in a steamer over boiling water on medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes, until soft.

2. Cover base of a 12-cup baking dish with one-third of vegetables. Season to taste with a little salt and a good griding of black pepper.

3. top with one-third each of pasta sauce, ricotta, parmesan and lasagne sheets. Repeat layers, finishing with parmesan. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Serve with mixed salad leaves.

Look What Happens...

When Dad takes you for a haircut.

According to Offspring #1 the barber was "a bit crazy" and instead of one spike he gave him two! Don't worry, it's only gel and the haircut underneath (while a little shorter than I would have asked for!) is quite normal. Oh, and the grubbiness around his face? Mostly peanut butter with a dash of jam. More influences from his Dad!

Happy Birthday to...

Max.

Our beautiful Max had his tenth birthday today and what else could we do but celebrate?

He received gifts of tennis balls, homemade cards and pictures from his human brother and sister and a lovely juicy bone.

We also made a birthday cake for the human members of the family. It was a chocolate fudge cake that was a little disappointing taste-wise but it looked great.

And if the applause and general noise level was any indication, the cheer squad was impressed.

We even had some friends over to help blow out the candles and join in the party.

Yeah we're kind of insane, but in a good way!

What A Fantastic Holiday!

We're back, obviously! We had the best time. There was lots of relaxing, several afternoon naps for the whole family, lots of playing on the beach, animal sightings and just heaps of fun!

We stayed in a lovely villa.

It had everything we needed and lots of room to spread out.

It even had a spa, which the kids thought was a terrific swimming pool.

The kids did get colds while we were away and we had a couple of less than restful nights but nice long naps the next day helped. The weather was gorgeous - 5 or so degrees cooler than here, so around 30C, and quite cool at night. I hadn't packed any cool weather stuff and have to admit that I wouldn't have minded a pull-over one or two nights.

Offspring #1 was hugely excited to see emus (yeah, we thought it was pretty good too!). They come right into town as the weather warms up and can be quite a nuisance. We saw a couple in town, in people's front yards, but this lot were just on the outskirts.

#1 was also excited to see kangaroos from his bedroom window each morning. In fact he was so excited that he had to wake us up and tell us all about it... at 5.30 in the morning! We were slightly less excited LOL.

We spent lots of time playing at the beach. We went down to Coral Bay, which is about an hour south of Exmouth and is just gorgeous. Sadly my batteries died as we got there and of course I'd left the spare set at the villa :( However we also visited beaches close to Exmouth where the boys had a go at fishing (no luck) and #2 and I played in the shallows and built sand castles. At this spot the tide was out and we had a shallow little pool sheltered by a ring of coral, beyond that was the beautiful aqua water which was protected by another ring of coral, hence the name The Coral Coast.

Hubby, Offspring #2 and I have come home with lovely golden tans - I think #2 just needs to walk past the window to tan up, she certainly doesn't get her colouring from me - but #1, despite all the time he spent outside, is still our Neon Boy with his blindingly white little body. I always thought I had fair skin but his defies all of the sun's attempts. We were all covered in sun-screen and wore our rashies and hats at all times. Here we see Neon Boy with his beloved sister/ arch nemesis, Brown Girl in the Tub

We had bbq's and bought fish and chips, went out for dinner, played mini-golf and ate ice-creams.

We went for lovely walks, did lots of sight-seeing and had an absolute ball.

We haven't crossed Exmouth off our list of holiday destinations because... we loved it so much we're planning to go back.