Little Lemon Meringue Pies (and Thoughts on School Formals)

School formals in 2013 are much more complicated (and elongated) affairs than when I was at school. 

To begin with, when I was a teenager, formals were only for year 12s, while these days year 11s often attend as well.

Where we spent money on a dress, shoes and having our hair done, these days there are manicures, pedicures, professional make up and fake tans to consider.

When I was at school, girls were collected by their partner (or their partner and his mum or dad if he couldn't drive) and travelled directly to the formal.  

These days there is usually a before party, a trip on a limo or party bus, the formal itself, and then an after-party that requires an entirely different outfit.

Tonight my daughter went to her school formal.  Fortunately for my bank account, she only wanted a frock and hairdo, not the manicures, pedicures and so on that so many of her friends insisted upon. 

We did agree to host a before party, and along with various savoury canapes I made little lemon meringue pies.

They were easy and fun to make.  I prepared shortcrust pastry and cut it to fit cupcake tins.  I filled the unbaked pastry shells with home-made lemon curd which I already had in the fridge and baked the tarts for 20 minutes in a moderate oven.

When the lemon tarts came out of the oven I removed them from the cupcake tins and put them on an oven tray.  I made meringue from 3 egg whites and 2/3 cup sugar and piped it on top of the tarts, then they went back in a moderately slow oven for about 15 minutes.

These tarts were definitely the most popular thing we served tonight.

Isn't she lovely?

Finally, a Mirror

My husband I are really slow when it comes to buying furnishings for our home.

For nearly two years after we moved into our house in March 2010 we had very little furniture in our sitting room.

In late 2011 we finally bought the two sofas you see below.  The china cabinet, which belonged to my husband's grandparents, was sent to us by a family member and the coffee table was a gift from a friend moving interstate.  It had come to her from her grandmother.

For three years there was a big gap over the fireplace.  We knew that we wanted to hang a mirror there, but it took us a long time to get around to buying one.

Finally, a few weeks ago we bought a mirror.  Its gilt border works well with our colour scheme and I think it will hang over that mantel for a long, long time. We bought the mirror from a very small, dusty, local shop and the man who sold it looked thrilled to have made a sale.

Now I would like a rug for the family room and then I will be done decorating.  For a while, at least.

F

A Very Local Pumpkin Salad

Once a month I attend a food swap at a local park.  People bring food they have grown in their gardens, we lay it all out on a table, then everybody takes what they want.

This salad was a result of the March swap.  Every ingredient apart from the feta, garlic, olive oil (which was South Australian), salt and pepper either came from my garden or from a backyard within a few hundred metres of my home.

The salad was utterly delicious.

Pumpkin and Feta salad

Pumpkin (diced, massaged with olive oil and roasted on an oven tray for 30 minutes)
A few cloves garlic (roast in their skins with the pumpkin, then squeeze out into the salad)
Capsicum (chargrilled, then peeled and sliced)
Eggplant (sliced thinly then fried or grilled)
Rocket
Spring onions (diced)

The above ingredients were combined with a salad dressing made from a dash of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Scones

Inspired by my backyard pumpkin glut, this week I made pumpkin scones for the first time in several years.  The scones were a hit, especially when served dripping in butter and golden syrup. 

The beauty of pumpkin scones is that they don't really taste of pumpkin, which means my kids will eat them.  Especially when I don't actually tell the said kids that the scones they are eating have pumpkin in them.

The recipe I use comes from Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion, 1996.  I previously published the recipe here, although this time I made small individual scones rather that a large round cut in wedges.

A Glut of Pumpkins

My garden is overflowing with pumpkins.

None were planted by me.  They all rose out of the worm castings I used to fertilise my tomatoes last November.

They're mostly Queensland Blues, I think, although at least one Kent has made an appearance.

Faced with a glut that we will be eating for months, I am looking for recipes that use pumpkin.  And I am sure I will feature quite a few pumpkin recipes over the next little while.

If you have any suggestions for pumpkin recipes, either sweet or savoury, I 'd be very grateful if you would share them with me.

Saturday Pizza Night

Saturday night is often pizza night at our red house.

I make a double quantity of a simple pizza dough and roll it out to fit two large rectangular trays.

Usually I make a vegetarian pizza and one with some kind of meat, such as bacon or ham.

Last night the vegetarian pizza was topped with caramelised onion and garlic; tomatoes, grilled squash, silverbeet and basil from the garden; and some pre-cooked slices of potato.  The other pizza had bacon, ham, caramelised onion and tomato.


If I don't have mozzarella cheese on hand I grate a little of whatever cheese I have.  Last night I used colby.  Then it was into a very hot oven for 12-15 minutes.

The advantage of home-made pizza is that it is cheap and you can control the quality of toppings and the amount of cheese used, leading to a healthier meal.  And home-made pizza tastes really good.

Back from a Blogging Break

Walking from Middleton to Port Elliot, January 2013

I realised that I hadn't blogged for a long time when I logged into my Blogger account today and discovered 76 spam comments awaiting moderation.

I deleted the whole lot and now feel ready for a fresh start.

Anyhow, here's a brief update on life at our red house.

I'm still working four days a week and juggling family life, the house and garden, and a range of other commitments.  Life is busy but fun. 

In 2012 my eldest son finished school with a fantastic ATAR (Australian tertiary admission rank) and a merit (perfect score) in physics. He will begin university in March, doing a double degree in electrical/electronic engineering and mathematical/computer sciences.  At this stage he plans to major in maths.

My daughter is 16 and in year 11.  She combines a part-time job, schoolwork and a very active social life with apparent ease.

My second son is in year 9 and enjoys sailing and debating.  Tomorrow he will compete in his first regatta as skipper.

Finally, my youngest is nine and the most cheerful, happy young fellow you could ever meet.  He is a joy to us all.