Tag Archives: fruit

Kitchen Diary

FRUIT BUNS

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These buns are quick, easy and delicious either hot or cold, iced or un-iced.DSC_1977

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon yeast
  • 1/2 cup sugar or honey
  • 1 tablespoon bread improver
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sultanas/mixed fruit/chopped dry fruit
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 500 ml warm water

Mix dry ingredients and add fruit. Add wet ingredients and then mix until mixture forms into a dough.

Place dough on floured surface and need until smooth.

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Here is a picture of the dough on my bench.

Pull off bits of dough and roll into balls and place into either greased or lined tin.

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Here the rolls are ready to rise.

Leave the rolls to rise until almost double in size.

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Rolls risen and ready to bake.

Place rolls into moderate oven (180 degrees C) and bake for approximately 30 minutes.

When done rolls will sound hollow when tapped.

Enjoy!!

PS I always take mine out and turn into tea towel and cover until cool.

PPS These can be iced or served plain, whatever you prefer.

PPPS This recipe can be used for plain savoury rolls as well.

Down on the Farm Diary

DOWN ON THE FARM UPDATE #3

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I thought it was about time I did another Down on the Farm Update, as it has been quite a while since the last one.

It is summer here and the land has really browned off.  We have had some rain this past week (over an inch) and there is some green pick starting to show up in the paddocks.

We have our piglets in a feed lot in our cattle yards, and they are growing really well.  There are some with names such as “sausage”, “prosciutto”, “smokey” and our favourite “spit”.

IMG_0760We have sold a few and another couple are sold awaiting collection, but there will be plenty left to butcher for us.  The last sausages we made were such a success we will probably do these again.

We keep our big pigs, 3 sows and a boar out in the crop paddock and they are enjoying being out there.  When they are big they don’t crawl through fences, so they are content where they are.  Two of the sows are due to have piglets any day now.

IMG_0761Here is my husband with one of our milking cows.  We are feeding them a mixture of oaten and wheat hay and this really keeps them milking well. We milk once a day and each cow is averaging about 10 litres a milking.  We then let them out for the day for them to feed their calves and then lock them up again at night with the calf still in the paddock.

IMG_0776My husband really enjoys milking them and he always gets more milk when he does it.  Most of the milk goes to the piglets, we use some for our cheese making and for use in the house and the cats get a little bit as well.

We are wanting to put in more fruit trees this Autumn and the picture below shows the area where they are going to go.  The pigs and dairy cows have been in there and have eaten it right down so it is almost time to plough it up before the green growth starts coming back.

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We had planted fruit trees the first year we moved in but didn’t realize how wet it was, so we did lose a few. This new area is right next to the old area and we will join them up and hopefully have nice mowed grass between the rows.  We want to put in berries as well this year and will have them in this area so they will be fenced off and protected from wandering stock.

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We have a couple of different plum trees and they are both laden with fruit. I am looking forward to them being my next preserving project.

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That’s my update for now – more to come later.

We have lots of plans and ideas and we are excited to see how it all plays out.

Hope your farm/homestead is going well and you are enjoying the fruits of your labour.

Blessings

 

 

Tips and Hints

TRAVELLING TIPS

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Since we have just completed driving a 2080 km round trip to Canberra and back I thought I would write some very handy tips that help when travelling long distances.

The gang at the bottom on the Black Mountain Telecommunications and Observation Tower
The gang at the bottom of the Black Mountain Telecommunications and Observation Tower in Canberra.

THINGS TO DO:

  1. Take and drink plenty of water;
  2. Stop every couple of hours and walk around – necessary for keeping the circulation going in your body – also necessary for toilet stops (because of all the water you are drinking);
  3. Take plenty of healthy snacks:  vegetable sticks and dip, fruit, nuts and dried fruit;
  4. Be prepared, cut your fruit and vegetables up and have it in handy containers or zip lock bags;
  5. Take wipes, or damp face washers to wipe sticky fingers;

OurRange_Deli_DeliPlatters_320_10THINGS NOT TO DO:

  1. Eat heaps of carbohydrates and greasy junk food, especially white bread and hot chips;
  2. Eat heaps of sweet lollies;
  3. Just drink soft drinks and sweet beverages;

These are a few hints to just give you an idea.  Basically to save money and have healthier choices  take your own snacks.  It seems to me the minute you get in the car you want to chew on something, my husband finds chewing keeps him awake whilst driving.  I find I eat too many carbs and it makes my ankles and feet swell and this is just plain annoying.

Now because I didn’t follow any of my own advice and keep to the above tips I am now going to have to do a detox to get my system back to normal.

A detox could include doing the following:

  1. Maybe do a juice fast, just a day or so;
  2. Cut out dairy and sugar;
  3. Stop eating potatoes and white bread – maybe get some sprouted grain bread to eat for a few days;
  4. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.

I am not a doctor or health professional, the above tips are things that I find works for me.  If you want to try a juice fast or something more severe please check out with your doctor first.

I hope next time you are travelling that it goes well and you arrive safe and sane!!

This post is linked up here…

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