Monday Already??

Look who was waiting to greet me this morning when I got home from dropping daisyboy7 off to school (via assembly, coffee with a friend, grocery shopping and the post office).

For those who aren't familiar with our wildlife this is a carpet python about 6 feet in length and a boy ( you can tell by their tail - the ones with a skinny bit on the end are the boys - and the ones with the fat stubby tail end are the girls).

This railing is at our front door - needless to say daisyboy4 has remembered to shut the screen door everytime he has ventured outside today - thinking I should buy a plastic snake to keep this habit up!LOL

This one looks a bit skinny wish I was cool with snakes so I could let him in to eat the little critter that I spotted in the house last night.

Today was a day of getting organised I am out with daisyboy11at school tonight for a year 8 information evening, then tomorrow night for daisygirls school concert, then Wednesday at my patchworking group and Thursday at a parents only orientation day for prep for daisyboy4.

So today I cooked - I got dinner ready for tonight and decided to use up some eggs and make quiche for tomorrow night (taking one piece out for my lunch today). I resisted the temptation to buy frozen pastry sheets I always used to make my own pastry and then in the last few years I got lazy.

So with four cups of flour, 250g of butter, a food processer some water and five minutes I made enough pastry for 3 quiche and a piece left over to freeze for another day. Shortcrust pastry freezes really well. So then I decided to make another four cup batch - now I have frozen pastry!!

I used a combination of duck eggs ( the big white ones) and hen eggs for my quiche I love the flavour of the duck eggs and I try to use them for my baking if I have them because they make fruit cakes and tea breads a really great texture. Here is what they look like cracked - the duck eggs have very little white but lots of yolk.

The duck eggs are on the right and on the left are two normal size hen eggs.

I also made two batches of fridge biscuits for the freezer and two coffee cakes for the kids for afternoon teas.

Fridge Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

155g butter or margarine

3/4 cup castor sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
1 x 55g egg lightly beaten

1/3 cup currants extra sugar

Sift flour and baking powder together.

Cream butter, sugar and orange rind until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg.

Stir in currants and flour until the mix clings together.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and form into a log shape with your hands (about 5cm in diameter). Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 2 hours then slice thinly and dust with extra sugar before baking in a moderate oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 48

I keep the wax paper wrapped logs in an airtight container in the freezer. You can keep them in there up to six months.

I make a few different flavours and I write on the paper with a laundry marker what they are.

Choc chip - omit orange rind and currants add 20g exra butter or some olive oil and a cup of choclate or carob chips.

Choc walnut - omit orange rind (and currants although I leave them in this one) and take out three tablespoons of flour and substitute with cocoa powder, then add extra 20 g butter or some olive oil and stir in a cup of walnuts ( or hazelnuts)

Orange pistachio (these make great teachers gifts for christmas) - use the recipe as is omitting currants and add a cup of pistachio nut kernels.

Cinnamon and coffee - omit orange peel and currants - and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and three tablespoons of cold brewed coffee ( you may need to add a little bit more flour)

Off to get the rest of the Monday jobs done.

daisymum