Wednesday, December 9, 2009

School Holidays - Hungry Hoards To Feed?


Teenagers are bottomless pits. If you are looking for healthy lunch and snack ideas to feed the hungry hoards these school holidays then head to our friendly forum for lots of great recipe ideas. Forum member Terry's curry noodle bowl is quick, ecomomical and most tasty. Better still it fills those hungry tums. We like to add chopped up chicken or ham to ours also.


Terry's Curry Noodle Bowl

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 x 75 g Woolworths Chicken Flavoured Instant Noodles
2 x 75 g Woolworths Oriental Flavoured Instant Noodles
4 cups Woolworths Liquid Vegetable Stock
2 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons Ayam Red Curry Paste
500 g packet Birds Eye Stir Fry Thai Style Frozen Vegetables

Method

Break noodles in a bowl. Combine season packets, stock and curry paste in a large saucepan. Add water and bring to boil, stirring regularly. Add noodles and
vegetables. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until noodles are tender and vegetables are tender but crisp.



http://lickyalipsdelish.com/

A Christmas Wish


Seasons Greetings to all our special blogging/forum friends. Warmest wishes for a wonderful, relaxing Christmas and a safe and prosperous new year!

Hugs


Kimmie & Heartpoet
x



A Christmas Wish

There's a Christmas chorus stirring in the pre-dawn's glow to white

And the kookaburras wonder at the black to blue sky light

In these days that stretch from midnight to the edge of desert's heat

Across the land to oceans and the sandbar's shifting beat

And back across the Nullabor through the Simpson to the Rock

Along the fringe of tropics to the daylight saving clock

That reminds us of the passage, of a year that's slipped away,

Of touches now on distant shore, of things still left to say,

Of cuddles left lamenting in the shadows of the chance

And kisses left there waiting at the edge of starlight's dance

Yet Christmas oh this Christmas - the time is almost near

We can almost see the angels as they gather up the year

And the hope and wonder rises in our moonlight, heavens gold,

As we're blessed with new days rising in the arms of dawn's sweet fold

So Merry Merry Christmas - may your troubles ever cease,

May rainbows fill your every day - and your dreams be filled with peace


Heartpoet


*Gorgeous, free clipart from *The Graphics Fairy*

Sweet Treat - Aromatic Sugars



Aromatic Sugars

You will need...

White granulated sugar
Aromatic edibles of your preference such as: scented geranium leaves, rose petals, lemon/lime or orange peel, vanilla beans. Pretty small glass jars with tightly sealing lids that are clean and dry.

You then need to...

Layer sugar with aromatic edibles. Make up small batches, and let them sit for a few days in tightly lidded jars while the scents infuse the sugar. One jar or a selection of jars makes a delightful present for whomever you think would enjoy a little sweetness in their day. Perfect pressie for the foodie in your life.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Can I Tempt You With Dessert?





Following on from my earlier post today, can I now tempt you with a dessert? ;]
All lovingly made by our fabulous forum members and awaiting your perusual.



http://lickyalipsdelish.com/

Pondering Dinner Tonight?






Pondering what to make for dinner tonight?

Then check the photo's of these delish meals out. All lovingly made by our forum members and the actual photo's of the meals prepared (not a photo from a paid image source) and recipe posted in our forum. Come check out our forum for inspiration for tonight's dinner.



http://lickyalipsdelish.com/

Monday, December 7, 2009

Herbal Medicinal Drops


I adore Lisa's blog with the fabulous name of "5 Orange Potatoes," tis such an interesting read. I have had a tickle in my throat the last day or so and intend to make her recipe for herbal medicinal drops, they sound and look fabulous! Here is Lisa's recipe from her blog post and also her photo of the finished product. Link to Lisa's blog to follow the recipe.

Hugs

Kimmie
x


"We made herbal candy (medicinal drops) for the first time last week. Little bit challenging I must admit, but fun and tasty! Our candy was basically a peppermint candy with a bit of beebalm, thyme, and sage added for a cold fighting punch.

What you need:
4 cups dried herb(s) of your choice
4 cups water
3-4 cups honey
cream of tartar
candy thermometer
large soup pot
jelly roll pan or candy molds
parchment paper or non-stick spray
confectioner’s sugar or arrow root powder

Directions:

1. Make a strong tea infusion by using 1 cup dried herbs to 1 cup water. Our herb combination was 3 1/2 cups dried peppermint, 1/4 cup sage, 1/4 cup beebalm and 4 tablespoons thyme. Put herbs directly into the water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for about an hour. Strain herbs from the tea. We were left with 2 1/2 cups of tea.

2. Put the tea back into a LARGE soup pot, add 1 1/2 cups honey for each cup of tea. I had 2 1/2 cups of tea so I added close to 4 cups of honey to the tea. Add 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar for each cup of tea.


3. Turn the stove on high and bring the mixture to a boil. You want the temperature of the honey/tea mixture to reach 300 degrees. This is where the challenge came for us. Once the mixture was boiling, the bubbles wanted to go over the edge of the pot; I would turn down the heat, then the temperature wouldn’t rise. So I would turn up the heat again, more boil over…..vicious cycle. I thought about quiting at one point, but all that honey down the drain would be wrong, so we persevered. We finally found a temperature where the temperature would climb and the bubbles wouldn’t reach the edge of the pan. It took us about 45 minutes to get to 300 degrees!

4. Finally, after reaching 300 degrees, pour the syrup onto a parchment lined jelly roll pan (or use a non-stick spray, you don’t want your candy to stick). There are special candy molds you can use as well, just make sure it can handle the 300 degree heat of the syrup! You could use a spoon and mix the bubble layer into the thicker bottom layer, but I preferred to keep the bubble on top to create a pretty layered look when the candy hardened.

5. The hardest part for the little ladies was waiting for the candy to cool and harden! I eventually put it in the freezer to quicken the process, and to keep the little ladies out of the syrup! Sticky fingers were all around!

6. Once the candy hardens, break it into pieces and coat in confectioner’s sugar or arrow root powder to keep the candies from sticking to each other. Our candy is soft and chewy when it reaches room temperature so I store it in the freezer. The candies should keep for at least 6 months stored in the freezer.

*Recipe cooking temp will need to be adjusted for us Aussies.



http://www.5orangepotatoes.com/blog/

Ingredient Of The Week - Bacon


Bacon is the featured "Ingredient Of The Week" this week in our websites forum. Each week our members share their family favourite recipes based around the ingredient chosen. Do you have any delish recipes using bacon to share with us? If so please pop by our forum soon.

Sunny smiles


Kimmie

:]


http://lickyalipsdelish.com/

*Pig Gif - free clipart from:
http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/animals/pigs/