Al Olio

It's been a gruelling couple of days at the shop. I have my summer sale on and people have been going crazy over the recycled children's clothing. Weird because it sat there for the last 4-5 months and didn't budge, now all of a sudden it's on sale and they're swarming like bee's. I don't think I could have fitted any more women in my shop this morning. Mum's with kids, there mum's tagging along watching the little ones who insist on trying to run off out the door (luckily I have a child gate locking them in).

By 11am (I open at 10am) I had met my sales target for the day. Brilliant! Now I can sit back and relax. Wrong, wrong wrong! I check my emails and 3 suppliers want me to go to viewings of Summer 2012/13 stock. What! This summer is not even over. This is something I've learnt. You buy 6 months in advance and designers design 9-12 months in advance. Lucky I'm an organiser so planning this far in advance is kind of fun. Although I've already forgotten what I bought for winter 2012.......

Hubby had an overnight installation job (he works in IT) so I feel like I've hardly seen him the last couple of days. We wave at each other in the driveway and kiss each other when we get a second. Because of the type of work he does and who he works for he often has trips away. Unfortunately we are both away one week or another for most of February and Miss E will be in a one parent household for most of the month. Great timing since she's decided to be super clingy now.

So to unwind tonight I thought I'd make myself a late supper of Spagetti Al Olio with a little chilli, relax in front of my laptop and catch up on my blog. I love cooking. There's something so relaxing and cathartic about creating something special to sit and enjoy at the end of a hectic day. Well I put way too much chilli in the spagetti and now my mouth in on fire! All I can do is laugh.

Life is busy and throws us challenges every day. It's how we handle them that matters.  How do you unwind?

Food Stuffs and Raspberry Muffins

I always like to keep a few essentials handy in my pantry and freezer for unexpected meals and sweets, and to make things that little bit more interesting on the table. Here's a few:

Roasted Pumpkin (or Butternut Pumpkin to be exact).

I add this to tarts with spinach and feta cheese for a quick and simple meal. Pumpkin is a great addition to salads mixed with some pine nuts, rocket and goats cheese.

I roast a whole butternut pumpkin, cut into small cubes, toss with olive oil in a pan lined with baking paper, and cook at 200'C for about 30 mins. It should still be slightly firm, not mushy.

It's also a great vegetable for our toddler and having it cubed and already cooked means I can defrost the amount she needs, mix with some peas and corn and maybe some chicken and viola!



Garlic Infused Olive Oil

This is really easy and here I've used an empty Peanut Butter plastic jar to store it in. You might choose something prettier. Very simply put 4-6 cloves of garlic in the jar and fill with Extra virgin Olive Oil.

I use this on salads, on lamb cutlets before cooking, in my bolognaise sauce and loads more dishes that call for garlic. It just gives the dish that extra bit of flavour.

Frozen Raspberries

I always keep a packet or two of frozen berries in the freezer. You can make loads of dishes with them, from quick parfaits to berry topped ice-cream, to muffins.



Here's the recipe for the wholemeal raspberry muffins I made today:

200g of frozen raspberries

2 cups of wholemeal self raising flour

1 cup of plain flour

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

11/3 cups of whole milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Grease a 12 hole muffin pan. Pre-heat oven to 200'C.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the raspberries for later. Add the rest to your remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until just combined with a large metal spoon (I add the raspberries last so they don't break up).

Spoon mixture into prepared tin and top each muffin with the remaining raspberries (pressing in slightly). Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Turn onto wire rack to cool.

These muffins will keep for 3-4 days in a sealed container.