Minestrone Soup

2 Onions

3 Carrots

3 Sticks Celery

250g Potatoes

2 Zucchini

90g Green Beans

250g Cabbage

1/2 cup Oil*

40g Butter*

5 cups Water

1 Chicken Stock Cube

3 Beef Stock Cubes

2x 400g cans Whole Tomatoes

1 can Cannellini Beans

Salt and Pepper

Peel and finely chop onions, carrots, celery, peel and dice potatoes, dice zucchini, top and tail beans and chop into small pieces and shred cabbage.

Heat oil and butter in large pan ( *I only used 1 tbl spn of each )

Cook onions over medium heat until pale golden brown.

Add carrots and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Repeat this procedure with the potatoes, then the celery, zucchini, beans and cabbage.

Stir in water, crumbled stock cubes and undrained, mashed tomatoes.

Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until soup is thick.

During the last 15mins of cooking stir in the drained and rinsed cannellini beans.

Season with salt and pepper.

If desired grated parmesan cheese can be stirred into the soup before serving.

120 calories per 1 cup serve
I used My Fitness Pal's    Recipe Calculator to work out the calories for this meal

Recipe from my very old version of The Australian Womens Weekly Italian Cooking Class Cookbook

Chocolate & Marshmallow WHOOPIES

125g butter, at room temperature

• 160g (1 cup, lightly packed) brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 50g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 300g (2 cups) plain flour
• 330ml (1 1/3 cups) buttermilk

MARSHMALLOW FILLING

• 3 egg whites
• 270g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar
• 2 tbs glucose syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 190°C.
• Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper
• Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until pale and creamy
• Beat in the egg
• Stir in the cocoa and bicarbonate of soda to combine
• Use a metal spoon to fold in flour and buttermilk, in alternating batches, until just smooth
• The mixture should be a little stiff
• Use a 3cm-diameter ice-cream scoop* to place rounds of the mixture onto prepared trays, leaving 5cm for spreading. Use your finger to smooth mixture around the edges
• Bake, swapping the trays halfway through cooking, for 10 minutes** or until firm.
• Cool slightly then place on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Repeat, in 2 more batches, with remaining mixture

• To make the filling
• Whisk the egg whites, sugar, glucose, vanilla and salt in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water for 10 minutes or until a ribbon trail forms when whisk is lifted
• Transfer the marshmallow mixture to a clean bowl
• Use an electric beater to beat for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has cooled, is thick and holds it shape
• Place whoopies, base-side up, on a clean work surface
• Spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm fluted nozzle
• Pipe filling onto half the whoopies, leaving a 2mm edge
• Place the remaining whoopies on top and press lightly to sandwich together
• Place the whoopies in the fridge until you’re ready to serve them

* I piped the whoopie mixture onto the trays.

** I baked for 6 minutes because I think mine were a little smaller

Recipe from Taste.com.au

Pad Thai Noodles - Annabel Langbein

1 Packet Pad Thai Noodles 200g

6 Tbl spn Fish Sauce

1/2 cup Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce

4 t spn Peanut Butter

20g Garlic Paste

1/2 tspn Chilli Paste

Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast

4 eggs, Lightly Beaten

2 Sping Onions Finely Sliced

Bean Sprouts

.............................................1 Tbl spn Coriander

................................................1/2 cup Peanuts, Crushed

To Serve

Lemon or Lime Juice

Combine fish sauce, chilli sauce and peanut butter. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok or frypan and stir-fry garlic, chillies, chicken over high heat 2-4 minutes until cooked.

Add beaten eggs and stir-fry until scrambled and just set.

Cook Noodles as directed on package

Drain and add to pan.

Lower the heat.

Add sauce mixture and toss for 1-2 minutes over medium heat to fully coat.

Mix in most of the spring onions, bean sprouts, coriander and peanuts (reserve some of these for garnish).

Toss over heat for a minute to combine.

Serve in bowls topped with reserved garnishes.

Squeeze over lemon/lime juice.

Serve small bowls of chopped peanuts and/or chilli sauce for people to help themselves.

Serves 4

Original Recipe From Annabel Langbein

I've made a few changes for the ease of cooking, to suit the tastes of my family and the feeding of 4

Chocolate Pudding (warm or cold)

• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 cups nonfat or low-fat milk, divided
• 2/3 cup sugar, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Lightly beat egg with a fork in a medium bowl.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/3 cup sugar and salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup milk until blended. Whisk the simmering milk mixture into the cocoa mixture. Pour the mixture back into the pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and glossy, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Whisk about 1 cup of the hot cocoa mixture into the beaten egg. Return the egg mixture to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until steaming and thickened, about 2 minutes. (Do not boil.) Whisk in vanilla. Serve warm.

TIPS & NOTES

• Make Ahead Tip: Pour the pudding into a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate for up to 3 days; serve cold.

Recipe from Eating Well

A Pirate Birthday Party - Treasure Chest Cake

THE CAKE - Chocolate Cake Recipe Here

The Base

The Detail

The Colouring - we painted on a mixture of 'Cake Decorators Rose Spirit' combined with 'AmeriColor 104 Chocolate Brown'

The Assembly

The End Product!

THE FOOD

Pirate Cookies

Rocky Road - A Must For Every Christmas

Chocolate Melts

Marshmallows

Jelly Lollies (I like to use Raspberries)

Unsalted Peanuts - optional

Quantities?????

Whatever you like really.

I usually do 1 large 500g bag of marshmallows, 2 packets of lollies, a couple of handfulls of nuts to about 3 x 375g bags of melts

Cut marshmallow and lollies in 1/2 and combine them with the peanuts in a bowl

Melt all the chocolate in a separate bowl

Pour 3/4 of the melted chocolate in with the marshmallows etc and stir until everything is coated well.

Before the chocolate sets spoon onto a tray lined with baking paper and even it all out so there are no big gaps between the marshmallows and it resembles a block.

Spoon the remaining 1/4 of melted chocolate over the top, swirling and smoothing to give a nice finish

Allow to set and cut into pieces to serve

Sometimes I like to drizzle melted white chocolate over the top

Christmas Cake Pops

Made with Oreo and Cream Cheese Truffles (Reindeer Poo)

See recipe here

Make truffles as per recipe above or make you own if you already have a favourite

Place rolled truffle balls into the freezer to firm up a little

When firm dip 1/2 - 3/4 of a truffle ball into the melted milk chocolate and before chocolate sets dip the tip of a stick into melted chocolate and insert straight into the ball. (This will stop the truffle sliding down the stick as the set chocolate will hold them in place)

Repeat for each ball and allow to set.

Now dip the top 1/2 of each ball into melted white chocolate and decorate before the chocolate sets.

I used holly made from fondant icing coloured with gel food colouring. The leaves were cut using a cutter purchased from a cake decorating shop and the berries were individually rolled by hand (boy was that a job lol)

By placing each cake pop (stick) into a styrofoam block once you have dipped them into the white chocolate makes it easier to decorate them and it is also a nice way for presentation if you pre wrap the styrofoam block in christmas paper.