Fig and Rosemary Buns

Yesterday we had some of our favourite little play-daters over for an afternoon of fun at the local park. They're delightful kiddies and the four little people play really well together. The fact that frequent disciplining is not necessary is a true silver lining as it means the mummies are able to have a real conversation and catch up. Hallelujah! 

I made these little buns for afternoon tea. They're quick and I had a busy day so that was I important. By quick I should clarify that I mean there isn't a lot of time in the preparation. Like all bread based recipes, time to prove is needed.

I made a standard bread recipe from 1 cup of spelt flour, and once it had risen a little, added 1 cup of chopped figs and various other mixed dried fruits, and two sprigs of rosemary (finely chopped). 

If I was making these for grown ups, I would have served them with a really good extra virgin olive oil "butter" or Meredith goats cheese.

Strawberry and Chocolate Ganache Cake

I've had a few requests for this recipe and, truth be told, I've been meaning to blog it since July 19, when I made this as a birthday "cake" for my gluten intolerant MIL.

While it is rich, if you are using good quality ingredients, it's a delicious alternative to a more traditional "cake".

NB this is made in a 10cm spring form cake pan.

Ingredients-

About 1.5 Punnets of fresh strawberries

200g organic dark chocolate block

30g organic stick butter

30ml pure cream 

Grease and line the spring form pan as you would if baking a cake. Combine chocolate and butter in a bone dry bowl and microwave for two minutes or until completely melted. Stir with a bone dry spoon until combined then add cream and continue stirring until it becomes dark and glossy.

Slice strawberries into spring form tin and pour chocolate over. Set in fridge for an hour or so.

To serve, run a paring knife around tin and gently ease open then turn out. 

There are some great variations you can try, for example, other fruits and nuts, to get the perfect "cake" for you. Enjoy! 

Apple and cheese "sandwiches"

These were one of my favourite snacks as a kid- apple and cheese. The crisp tartness of a perfect apple, combined with the sharp, fullness of a good aged cheddar...delicious!

Pasta making with I terremoti

I love the idea of cooking with my kids, but in reality, it is a complex ratio. I find my energy levels and spare time have to perfectly synthesise with their enthusiasm and attention spans, and I also have to have specific ingredients to hand. Pasta is one recipe though that is always a pleasure to cook with little people. It's an exercise in purely tactile fun, and because it's reasonably cheap, it's not terribly important if some of the dough goes to waste. There are opportunities for measuring and stirring, cracking eggs, kneading and rolling, cutting (with supervision and assistance), and watching it boil (from a safe distance). Kids can jump in and out depending on their interest and skills level. And my little ragazzi are always enraptured with pasta for dinner. It never fails to please.

With the kids' help, this took twenty five minutes from first measure of flour to first fork in bowl of fully cooked dinner. 

To start with, combine 1.5 cups organic spelt flour in a bowl with one egg and 3/4 cup filtered water. Stir until combined an elastic feeling dough forms.

Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and set out your implements- rolling pins all 'round! 

Roll and roll and roll until as thin as you can get it. Children will need adults to finish theirs off, in my experience, but it's a whole lot of fun for them to get it as pancake like as possible.

NB- the really little ones will just eat the raw dough. Oh boy! 

Once it's big and flat, it's time to cut it into ribbons. Choose a thickness that works for you and cut away. I'm pretty "rustic" at this stage (that's a code word for rushing!) so just slice quickly and haphazardly, achieving a lovely bundle of differing width noodles.

Look at that! Just like you'd buy in a deli, except so much better!! My son loved the cutting process-

Look how proud he is! Emme is not so sure.

Pop the pasta into a pot of rapidly boiling water and cook for around five minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your ingredients for the sauce. I am in no way this prepared under normal circumstances, but I had my wonderful mum staying last week. It meant lots of fun and help with the smalls, but it also meant fresh made organic ricotta. Mum is incredible in the kitchen. Adventurous and very clever. Anyway, she whipped up ricotta faster than I could make a pot of tea, and so I stirred that, together with some prosciutto di Parma, and broccoli and parsley from the garden, together in a saucepan over high heat until the prosciutto was cooked. I added the pasta and a glug of organic EVOO. And voila! All done.

Thumbelina.

I have to preface this post with this disclaimer: I'm watching the news, seeing heinous and unimaginable violence in Egypt. How can I not be aware that I'm about to wax lyrical about a very first world problem? And yet, being a mum is a bit like re-defining the borders of your universe. Suddenly, your axis is tilted by miniature people who have the power to still your heart with one tiny look or mewling cry. 

My little girl is sweet and petite. At her twelve month check up, we discovered she had slipped from the 25th percentile to the fifth, and my lovely GP (herself a mum to a little girl, and very reassuringly not alarmist) suggested we bring her back in a month's time to check her growth again. You may remember, this spurred me into pâté making revulsion in an effort to bulk the wee lass up.

It sort of worked- the next month she gained a smidgen of weight and grew a few millimetres. "One more month," the gp said calmly, not sold on my liver solution. 

Well, last night, I took her back to the doctor for the next check up. I am miserable to say that she has not gained a single gram, nor grown even a speck, in one month. This puts her on the very bottom of the growth charts. 

I know, I know. 

There are teeny tiny people everywhere and she is probably one of them. But I am a foodie! An eater and food-maker from way back. I have long prided myself on my culinary love, and furthermore, worked slavishly to impart a love of good, wholesome foods to my children. 

That is what worries me more. My little darling is a great eater. She loves her food. My gp says that if another month of static or near static growth passes then we will have to start investigating, just in case she isn't metabolising properly. 

Has anyone else experienced this? I try to deny my naturally neurotic nature but sometimes it's just too strong. My brain is saying she is just perfectly petite, but my heart has started to tilt a little on its child-centric axis.. I think this might partly come back to being diabetic. How can I not forever carry a burden of guilt for the crappy start I gave my kids? Despite maintaining a near perfect HBa1C during both pregnancies, there were complications and difficulties and so now I feel this tummy tumble of worry and responsibility....have I done this to her? Is this my fault? 

Banana and coconut muffins

These little guys take about ten minutes to prepare and fifteen to cook. They're super fluffy and my miniatures love them. 

I mixed 2 cups of organic spelt flour with 3 teaspoons gf baking powder, and 1 tablespoon Manuka honey, then stirred until well combined. In a separate bowl I mashed together two bananas and incorporated them into the flour mix, then added 1 whisked egg and 400ml organic coconut cream. Stir with a wooden spoon but very gently and only in five motions or so. Too much stirring beats out any potential muffin mixes have to be fluffy and light, and you'll just get rubber. 

I baked in a 200' Celsius fan forced oven for about fifteen minutes (or until a skewer inserted came out clean). 

No sugar and so kid- friendly.