CC Spicy Chai Tea

I remember my first taste of chai.  It was on a food co-op camp when I was a student.  It was in a ramshackle place in the country with a grassy yard.  My fellow students were mostly non-conformists who wanted to change the world; the type to wear chunky knits and fun hats, who would go to rallies, and eat tofu and sprouts.  Everyone sat around in the yard, playing guitars and drums, brushing each others hair and talking about life, the universe and everything.

In those days life seemed simple.  Black and white.  Good and bad.  Capitalists and lefties.  We didn't need to eat meat or dairy.  There were alternatives.  Large pots stewed on the stove.  One was full of soy chai.  I said I didn't like milk and someone suggested I try soy instead.  I had a sip of the soy chai.  It tasted just like milk to me.  Horrid!  I love spices.  Yet I've been shy of chai ever sense because it is so often milky.

The latest theme of the Cookbook Challenge is Cup.  I unashamedly was quite literal about interpreting it.  No lateral thinking with mousses or souffles in cups.  I rifled through my cookbook for a drink ideas.  I had to look hard.  Beverages are the sections of my cookbooks that I usually ignore in favour of baking and soups.  I am lazy about drinks.  Blogging has made me rethink my approach to liquids every now and again.

I love hot spicy drinks in winter.  Mulled wine, spiced mead, hot port.  Yes, boozy warm drinks are just the way to keep out the cold.  I also love herbal tea but have not drunk them much lately.  So when flicking through How it All Vegan, I was taken by a recipe for Spicy Chai Tea.  It was made by simmering spices, adding some peppermint tea (or orange pekoe but that is too much tannin for me) and then adding some sweetner and milk.  The ingredients were pantry staples.  I thought I would try the Chai without the milk.

I had to clean out a disused teapot that made me nostalgic for my early days of blogging.  It has a great wire mesh strainer in it.  It was a simple recipe and yet I didn't get it quite right.  When I poured the tea into the teapot, I spilled rather a lot.  Fortunately I did it on the sink so it was easy enough to clear up.  I still got 2 mugs of drink.  Spicy, warming, slightly sweet.  It needed a spoonful of honey but was lovely without the milk. See what my fellow cookbook challengees made here.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Chocolate custard crumble
This time two years ago: What does home mean to you?
This time three years ago: Split Pea Soup goes Asian
This time four years ago: Nubbly Bread and Hearty German Soup

Spicy Chai Tea
Adapted from How it All Vegan
serves 2-4

4 cups of water
1 tsp cardomom seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp cloves
1 heaped tsp of chunks of fresh ginger
1 cinnamon quill
2 peppermint teabags
honey or other sweetener to serve

Place water and spices in a medium saucepan.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat.  Put teabags in and cover pot so they can steep for about 5-10 minutes.  Strain into teapot and serve hot in mugs.

On the Stereo:
Recollections: the very best of Rick Wakeman (1973-1979)

Smoky tomato soup and recent cooking

There has been quite a lot of cooking lately at Chez GGG.  Today I want to report on a few golden oldies that are worth repeating.  I am trying to resist the blogging urge to try new recipes - though there are many to tempt me - and return to some favourites.  I like the stories that go with food and am going to tell a few that weave their ways around what I have made lately.  I also love my new recipes and have one for a smoky tomato lentil soup at the end of the post.

Roast potatoes, roast beetroot, brussels sprouts, chickpeas and other vegetables went into a lovely rogan josh.  I made it before heading off on an interstate trip last week.  A vegetable filled curry was just what I needed before heading into the culinary wilderness of travel.  I took a photo of the sandwich that I had on the plane (above).  I ordered a vegetarian meal and got one of the worst plane meals ever - roast vegetables on gluten free bread.  Curiosity made me taste it but I didn't eat much.  Cold soggy gf bread is never ever a good idea.  Ironically the best meal of the trip were the freshly cooked chips at the airport before flying home.

Back home Little Dolly still loves Sylvia's food.  You can see her here with one of Sylvia's bracelets arranged to make her look like she is wearing superstar sunglasses.  This week I've made mock turtle slice, potato scones, split pea soup and potato bread.  Great comfort food for the cold weather.  Every time Sylvia has had a slice of mock turtle slice, Dolly must have one.

Sylvia is starting to learn that if she doesn't eat her broccoli and cauliflower there is no piece of slice after dinner.  Yet, today I spoke to a dietician about calcium in Sylvia's diet and asked if condensed milk had much calcium in it.  Only after I asked the question did I realised it sounded like I was giving her condensed milk by the spoonful rather than the occasional piece of slice with condensed milk in the topping.

On the weekend we went to Sylvia's cousin, Baby A's, first birthday celebration.  This was a quiet barbecue with family and friends before the kids birthday on the weekend.  The cheesecake birthday cake was delicious.  Erica made gf chocolate caramel slice for the gf members of the family but it was loved by all.  Lots of great food, though the kids loved the giant bag of cheezels from Costco.

I took along some Zimsterne biscuits.  I reduced the sugar to half a cup but baked them a bit long in the hope that they would go golden brown.  Sylvia loved them and I thought there were worse things she could eat than biscuits full of ground nuts.  

E and Sylvia couldn't get enough a dancing cat.  They are both suckers for anything feline.  I was just happy that it hasn't made its way into our house.  My favourite part was watching the kids open the presents.  Baby A is a bit young to get it but she managed to do the wide eyed, open mouthed look of delight at her presents.  Sylvia gave her a cuggle of Little Dolly but was very excited to see that Baby A got her own Dolly among the presents.  She keeps telling me that Baby A has a purple dolly.

Lastly I made a smoky tomato and lentil soup recently.  It was adapted from a soup that Mel made. I had a bag of hydroponic tomatoes from the Kinglake Farmers Market that needed to be used.  No doubt the good tomatoes contributed to the excellence of the soup but I must also acknowledge Mel's wisdom in adding enough lentils to thicken the soup to make it substantial without overwhelming it.

I made the soup one night prior to my friend Kathleen coming for lunch.  It was just what we needed on a cold autumn day.  A casual lunch.  Nourishing but not too distracting.  We always have lots to catch up on.  Good food is a way of letting visitors know they are welcome.  Especially helpful when Sylvia was running around, as we ate, asking when Kathleen was going.

Sylvia had eaten earlier.  But she does find it hard to concentrate on a meal without wandering off to feed dolly or "do a few things".  When we ate the soup for dinner she was treating the kitchen table as a tunnel to crawl through.  Probably just as well to take my mind off my terrible adaption of Ricki's Muffins with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Green Onions (my fault for making too many substitutions).  They were edible but too dry and didn't go with the soup.  Just not a recipe to repeat.  Unlike the soup which I intend to make again as soon as I have some extra-ripe tomatoes.

 Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: NCR Zucchini Salad and a Digression
This time two years ago: GF Apricot and Cranberry Cake
This time three years ago: Polenta Quinoa Sticks with Rhubarb Sauce
This time four years ago: Gingerbread in a cookie

Smoky tomato & lentil soup
adapted from Veganise This
Serves about 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small onions (or a leek), chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
2 small parsnips, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1kg fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 cups stock
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
handful of basil leaves (I didn't have these but wish I did)
1 heaped tsp stock powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 cup red lentils
pesto to serve

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot and fry onions, celery, parsnips, carrot and garlic for about 10 minutes over low heat or until softened.  Add tomatoes, stock, water, bay leaf, stock powder, paprika.  Check seasoning.  Bring to boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add red lentils and simmer another 15 minutes until lentils are soft.  Discard bay leave and blend soup until smooth (I used a hand held blender).  Stir through a spoonful or two of pesto before serving (or add as a garnish to individual servings). 

On the stereo:
Ballads: The Moody Blues

Maple scones and trash and treasure

Last weekend we went to the Coburg Trash and Treasure Market.  These sorts of markets are known as car boot sales in the UK.  People bring all sorts of curious old (and not so old) stuff to sell.  An old oven, feijoas, underwear, kitchenware, religious pictures, rotary phones.  We made a few purchases: old magazines for me, talking books for E, a toy shopping trolley for Sylvia, a bracelet for dolly, a little coffee table for us all and a new serving plate for me.  You can see the plate above.  It is the sort of pretty plate on which ladies might serve scones.

As we walked around the stalls, Sylvia wanted to know when we were going to go to the market and have little pancakes.  (A reasonable question after enjoying poffertjes on our last two market trips.)  On the way home, I went to the bakery but didn't have enough cash to buy much, so I told E that I would make scones.  Making scones is tricky with our current routines.  Scones are for afternoon tea.  However Sylvia sleeps in the afternoon.  I have to either make them straight after lunch or late in the afternoon if Sylvia is to help.  She loves to help.  So we made them just before dinner.

I chose the maple syrup scones that I made from Rose Bakery's Breakfast Lunch and Tea cookbook.  They looked interesting with the addition of maple syrup and oats.  I hadn't noticed just how much butter they had until we started baking.

Sylvia had a lovely time helping.  She even wore her apron.  Dolly sat beside us in her new shopping trolley.  Sylvia was delighted to find that when she pressed a scone cutter into the dough she made a scone.  She also loves arranging scones on the tray.  I always put them in the centre and crowd them around that one but Sylvia likes to line the scones around the edge of the tray.  You may notice in the picture below that I had to rearrange them my way.

Rose Carrarini, the author of the cookbook, says this is her favourite scone recipe.  We weren't over the moon about them.  I suspect that it didn't help that they had cooled considerably by the time we ate them after dinner.  The large amount of butter in the recipe made them quite solid and short - more biscuit than scone texture.  I prefer scones to be light and fluffy, made with just a wee bit of butter.  They seemed more American than Australian or British, which might be why Deb loved them and C didn't.
 

I was running out of plain flour and baking powder so I left them out and used self raising flour instead.  I tried a scone with promite which I enjoyed but they were best with some syrupy stewed plums.  The scones were on the dry side and were much improved with some juicy barely sweet fruit.  E just had syrup because he is not such a fan of fruit.  I served them on my new plate (see top pic). A perfect accompaniment to the first episode of the new television series Downton Abbey.

I probably wont make these scones again.  I have no doubt however that I will try more scones from this lovely cookbook.  And I am definitely watching episode two of the sumptuous period costume drama.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Advice for Gluten Free beginners and kids
This time two years ago: Butterscotch and Banner Surprises
This time three years ago: Shamburgers
This time four years ago: Kraut Rock Cupcakes

Maple syrup and oat scones
Adapted from Rose Bakery's Breakfast Lunch and Tea
Makes about 12-15 scones

1 and 3/4 cups self raising white flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
160g unsalted butter
4 tbsp maple syrup
about 4 tbsp milk or buttermilk
1 egg beaten or 1 tbsp milk

Mix flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Rub in butter with fingertips.  Mix in maple syrup and milk until the dough comes together into a ball - add a little extra milk if dry and a little extra flour if sticky.  Lightly knead on a floured board.  Roll out to about 1-2cm thick.  Cut into rounds with a scone cutter or the floured rim of a glass (about 5cm diameter).  Arrange on a lightly greased tray with scones almost touching.  Glaze with a beaten egg or milk (I use milk).  Bake at 200 C for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  I think these are best eaten warm.

On the Stereo:
The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes: Vera Lynn and Kenneth McKellar.

Plum Gingerbread Sponge Pudding

It has been an autumn of stewed plums.  Plums have featured in puddings, in smoothies, in slices, even on scones.  So when I finally made a recipes I had bookmarked for Rhubarb Gingerbread Sponge Pudding, I found myself substituting plums for rhubarb.  It seemed right. 

Sylvia has shared my enthusiasm for plums.  She loves stoning them and quite a few get eaten along the way.  She also helped stir the pudding.  I haven't been making puddings very often lately.  We have been trying to eat dinner with Sylvia, though it doesn't always happen.  If we don't manage to eat with Sylvia, we often find ourselves eating after 8pm.  Fitting in desserts is tricky.

The night I made this pudding, I decided to make pizza on Turkish bread.  Anything challenging would have put an end to my plans to serve sweets (as my family would call dessert).  However I had bought the last hurrah of autumn's plums and they had to be used.  I thought it if I started early, Sylvia might have been able to join in eating sweets with us.  My timing wasn't quite right.  She loved eating the stewed plums while we ate the pizza.

The stewed plums were delicious with the addition of maple syrup.  Their depth of flavour worked well with the spicy sponge topping.  I didn't quite get the recipe right.  In my rush, I got the amount of sugar wrong, accidentally used self raising flour, ran out of golden syrup and found it needed more time than the recipe suggested.  I wondered if it was because I didn't drain the fruit well enough.  However it still tasted good.

I also used some apples that my mum had given me from her tree.  It seemed quite floury to eat fresh but tasted wonderful when stewed.  We finally had our dessert late while watching the telly.   E was very impressed - though he could have done with less fruit.  We both decided plums were far better than rhubarb in this pudding.  It lasted us a few nights so Sylvia got a chance to taste it but picked at it with less enthusiasm than when she just had stewed plums.  I loved it and highly recommend it as a great winter warmer.

I am sending this recipe to Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes who is resurrecting the Bookmarked Recipes event, that was founded by Ruth.  The event encourages bloggers to share recipes that they have bookmarked (and haven't we all so many bookmarked recipes to try).

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Banana Weetbix Muffins for Sylvia
This time two years ago: Apricot Crumble: a moveable feast
This time three years ago: Rabbiting on about Cheese and Rarebit!
This time four years ago: WHB: Reconciliation damper, snags and dead horse

Plum Gingerbread Sponge Pudding
Pudding adapted from Stephanie Alexander and stewed plums adapted from Bettina Jenkins
Serve 6-8

Stewed plums:

• 800 to 1 kg plums
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Stewed apples:

• 2 red apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1-2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp rice syrup

Gingerbread pudding:

• 125g butter
• 3 tbsp brown sugar (I misread and used 1/3 cup coconut sugar)
• 1/3 cup golden syrup (or black treacle) - I used half each
• 1 egg
• 185g plain flour (I misread and used self raising flour)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• grating of fresh nutmeg
• pinch salt
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

To stew the plums: Place vanilla, cinnamon, maple syrup and water in medium saucepan.  My cinnamon quill was quite flaky so I crushed it into a tea infuser so it was easier to remove at the end.  Simmer for about 6 minutes until syrupy, though mine was not very.  While syrup is simmering, wash, stone and quarter plums.  Add chopped plums to syrup and cook until just soft - about 5 minutes.  Remove cinnamon quill and discard. 

To stew apples: Place apples, water and rice syrup in a small saucepan.  Bring to the boil and gently cook for a few minutes until apples are softened.  Check if they are sweet enough.  My apples were very sweet but others might need a bit of extra sweetening.

To make the pudding:  Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (I did this by hand).  Stir in golden syrup and/or treacle, and then the egg.  Fold in the flour, spices and salt.  Dissolve bicarb of soda in the milk (the recipe suggested heating the milk but I didn't do this).  Add to the batter and mix until combined.

To assemble:  Preheat oven to 180 C.  Grease a large square baking dish.  Mix the apples with the plums.  Drain off as much liquid as possible.  (Keep the liquid as a sweetener for smoothies or other dishes.)  Tip the fruit into the base of the baking dish.  Spoon the batter over the fruit and smooth with the back of a spoon.  Cook for 35-65 minutes (The recipe said 35 minutes but after that time my batter seemed uncooked when I stuck a spoon in to serve, despite a skewer coming out cleanly when testing it.  I cooked it another 30 minutes.)  Serve with cream, if desired.

On the stereo:
we bring you a king with a head of gold: dark britannia II: Various artists

Design Dilemmas

Thank you to those who have left kind comments on my blog about my recent design tweaking.  I don't have time to write up some of my recent recipes so am indulging in another introspective post about the blog.  This post was written in 2011 to share the history of my blog designs and a few reflections.  I update it when I change my header.

I don't spend money on my blog (other than on photography and food) so my design is the result of my limited technical skills.  The above photo is the design on my blog for the first couple of years (2007-2011).  It took me that long to work out how to upload a banner photo.

I was very excited when I first worked out how to put a photo on my banner.  And colour.  You can probably see that I love green.  As with most of my changes on my blog, it happened through playing around with the Blogger templates when I had a bit of spare time and chancing upon what I wanted.

Then just recently I came across the new Blogger templates and started tweaking again.  Once my banner was up, my new aim was to get some background on the sides.  The above picture is an approximation of the design I chanced upon.  I sort of liked it but it just wasn't me.  In particular I wasn't happy about white print on black background, which seems harder to read.

I have recently read a Gerry McGovern article saying that "redesign is out, continuous improvement is in".  (If you have an interest in hearing up the latest thinking on websites, I'd highly recommend subscribing to Gerry McGovern and Jakob Nielsen's newsletters.)  In this piece it advises against radical change because people don't like change.  This article made sense of why I felt uncomfortable every time I saw my new image.

So I returned to my old image and updated it.  I love the backgrounds on the page tabs and posts.  I love the look of the Shabby Blog backgrounds.  I have tried a few other side patterns but they were all too bold and took the eye away from my blog.  That seemed wrong.  So I am staying with the more subtle dots for now.

However I am not sure about my colours.  They are in the ball park but I have been tweaking them.  I got even more confused when I checked them on my work computer and the hue was different than at home.  So I am not even sure what colours you are seeing when you read this.

So for those who are wondering if I will keep trying on new blog outfits, the answer is no.  I may continue to make small changes to the design, especially the colours.  My big dream now is to fix the position my blog banner which is too low and needs to be in the centre.  There is always something!  But it will be baby steps, as always.  After all, people, continuous improvement is in!

Update: February 2012 - I have updated the design again so at least my banner fits across the page.

Update: July 2012 - I removed my shabby blogs wallpaper and replaced it with one from Blogger as I had read some bad things about shabby blogs!  The problem with changing the Blogger background wallpaper is that it then resets all the other fonts and backgrounds which means they all need to be customised again!  May still look out for other wallpapers but this will do for now.

More screen grabs (photos) of design changes at Drop Down Menus and Blog Changes (July 2013).

April 2014: I have done away with the background wallpaper and have a new clean modern look.  See above.

August 2014: I updated my banner for the first time in 2 years.  I have kept some of the previous banner in it.

April 2024 - almost 10 years afer my last blog header change, I found the energy to redesign the blog header, using an online design program (fotoshop) rather than just a collage of photos.  You can still glimpse the design of the Celtic green plate that has been in every blog header since 2011.

This blog is archived by the National Library of Australia's Pandora archive.  You can see previous styles there.

Shoots, Eats and Blogs (Top 10 List)

Blogging means:

1. Inspiration. Blogging inspires me when I don't know what to make for dinner. I turned to blogging because I was fed up with the same old vegetarian recipes in magazines and cookbooks. I never tire of the recipes I find on blogs. Since starting blogging my cooking has being more varied, more interesting and I can always find somewhere to eat out.

2. Adventure. Food bloggers are intrepid explorers in the blogosphere in search of the exotic and the novel.  I love cruising a food store in search the delight of an unusual ingredient I have read about.  A blog event can have me on the sofa surrounded by cookbooks in search of something fancy-schmancy or kooky or of a new dietary persuasion.  Blogging has taken me off the beaten track and into some strange but fascinating places.

3. Learning. Blogging has made me more curious. When writing up recipes for the blog, I pay more attention to ingredients, techniques and my mistakes.  In turn this helps me build on ideas and redress problems. Since starting my blog, I have developed recipes, picked up tips from other bloggers, and learnt a thing or two about others' food heroes such as Dan Lepard in the UK and Annabel Langbein in the NZ.

4. Presentation. Never my strong point, but I have made more of an effort to 'plate up' my food for the blog.  I confess I usually get the pretty plate and E gets the messier one.  I probably wouldn't bother as much if I was not going to photograph it and share it.  Though I do love colours and patterns, so it is satisfying when my photos are pleasing to both the eye and the stomach.

5. Patience.  Blogging means never eating as soon as food reaches the plate.  Dinner sits steaming.  I tell E to start without me (that is why he gets the ugly plate of food).  I point and shoot with my camera.  Usually I take a few photos and feel it is good enough.  I am too hungry to be a perfectionist.  I want to sit and enjoy the meal with E.  More patience is required when I have time to set up food to photograph.  Even more patience if Sylvia is anywhere near me.

6. Photography.  I have always enjoyed taking photos.  However I have never taken so many photos as I have done since starting my food blog.  I have learnt a few tricks but have much to learn yet.  Since I have decided not to put faces of family and friends on my blog, I have to think of other ways to represent people visually.  Blogging has made me value photographing more than just smiling faces. 

7. Bright lights.  Who wants mood lighting when you want to photograph your meal!  Since I started my blog, I have found that the fluorescent light above the kitchen table is my friend.  (Shh don't tell anyone as I don't think this is the right way to photograph food!)  When we eat out, I look for a brightly lit seat so I can get a decent photograph.  Window seats, summer nights, brightly lit kitchens all delight me. 

8. Connections.  The connections with other bloggers has enriched my cooking and my life.  Blog rolls, links, blog events and comments are all part of the way the internet works as a web of ideas and joins up like-minded individuals to form a sense of community.  My blog has brought me a wealth of friendships, support, feedback, comments, suggestions and ideas.

9. Sharing.  Far from isolating me (as some in the media would have you believe), blogging has encouraged me to share food with others.  Food bloggers tend to make more food than they can eat and I am no exception.  I am always happy to bring a dish to a gathering, though I will also often ask, "what do you think about this?"

10. Differences.  Blogging has taught me a lot about national and regional differences.  Having lived in the UK, I had thought the differences with Brits in cooking were because we were so like Americans.  However, blogging has given me a sense of the Australian cuisine as being more unique than I thought.  Just watch Australians and Americans discussing pumpkins, biscuits or grilling and you will wonder if they are even talking the same language. Makes me feel like a cosmopolitan foodie!

I started writing this post a long time ago.  It was inspired by Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella.  Check out her entertaining three posts about Things you should know about Food Bloggers.

Weekend eats: hotcakes, plums, eggs and beetroot

It was been a quiet weekend here.  Too cold and wet to feel like venturing outside.  The washing we hung out was so damp that we brought it inside to dry in front of the heater.  Just the weather to bake and fry and eat in a warm home.  We have had lots of pancakes and purple and porridge.  Sylvia has discovered boiled eggs.  Lots to taste.  Lots to learn. 

I tried the Rose Bakery's ricotta hotcakes during the week and they were great.  (Quite similar to Bill Granger's famous ricotta hotcakes.)  Sylvia loved them so much that she told me we must make them again.  I enjoyed them but prefer using only one bowl for pancakes and no electric beaters.  I halved the recipe and had half a tub of ricotta leftover to make another batch on the weekend.

 

These pancakes are great with stewed plums.  I stewed some plums with pomegranate and strawberry juice during the week and more with barley malt syrup and golden syrup on the weekend.  The first batch were best.  Sylvia loved them.  She ate less of the latter which were more molassesy but still loves making them.  Sitting down in the morning to chop and stew plums with a toddler is fun.  Quite a few get eaten before they are stewed but I don't mind.

The mess is incredible.  Sylvia eats stewed plums with her hands.  I offer a spoon.  She ignores it.  Perhaps she likes to get mucky because one of her other favourite things right now is spending hours at the sink washing her hands.  She also loves asking where we are (eg "is this a shop?" in the middle of the supermarket) and stomping in puddles with her ladybird gumboots.  Everything takes forever.  I never have enough time for lunch.  I had meant to make her something savoury but we ended up just eating pancakes and plums for lunch, with a few chunks of cheese.  It wasn't that sweet.  Yet it didn't seem like a proper meal.

I tried a different approach on the weekend.  I didn't want to make all the pancakes savoury so I added tomatoes, peas and cheese when I fried them.  Since then I have found a similar idea for vegan savoury pancakes that uses even more vegetables.  It means we still had half the pancake batter to make a sweet version to follow.

The savoury pancakes needed to cool slightly before eating or the sizzling tomatoes would take the skin off your tongue.  But they were so good.  The peas and cheese were ok but the tomatoes were the best.  They were like tomato jam with a hint of charcoal.  Plus, if you put two on a plate with a grape (top photo) they looked like like an owl.  Sylvia wasn't so impressed with the tomatoes.  She just wanted pancakes.

On Saturday night I roasted potatoes and beetroots that I bought at Kinglake Farmers Market and boiled some brussels sprouts.  (Leftovers went into curry.)  I serve them with chickpeas and chilli non carne.  It was a wonderful meal but brings up two issues with feeding children.  One is how many of us remembering our mothers boiling vegetables until they were soft and soggy.  I have tried boiling vegetables until just cooked but sylvia wants hers really soft so I have started to boil some vegetables more than I might usually.

The other issue is about colour and food.  I see so many people giving tips about avoiding beetroot stains on their hands.  However I don't mind beetroot stains on my hands.  They amuse me.  They amuse Sylvia too.  She was intent on only eating the roast potatoes (and they were fantastic).  Then she wanted pink hands like mine.  She learnt that if she bit the beetroot and rubbed it on her hand it would turn pink.  I showed her if she rubbed a chickpea on her beetroot she would have purple chickpeas.  This way she ate the beetroot and lots of chickpeas.  Hurrah for purple food!

Lastly, I confess that I also lack the basic skill of boiling an egg.  I've never liked eggs.  E has started making Sylvia boiled eggs.  She asked me to boil her an egg while he slept in.  I failed dismally.  The egg was gooey inside.  I put it in the microwave and it sort of burst out of the shell in an eggy cloud.  Sylvia ate the white but wasn't keen on the yolk.  (Incidentally, I always thought an egg would blow the door off a microwave until I saw Jack Dee microwaving his celebrity eggs and they just made disappointingly small explosions.)

I am sending the Ricotta Hotcakes with Stewed Plums to Ren of Fabulicious Food who is hosting a new event called Simple and Seasonal.  I thought she might like to see what the other half of the world is eating in May.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: WHB Plums: a history, trivia and a cake
This time two years ago: Blueberry Soup with Heavenly Yoghurt
This time three years ago: Promoting Promite
This time four years ago: Posh Bread & Cheese Supper

Ricotta Hotcakes
From Rose Bakery's Breakfast, Lunch, Tea
serves 2-4

2 eggs, separated
100g (about half a tub) of ricotta
3/8 cup milk
1/2 cup plain white flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
a little butter for the frypan

Separate eggs so the whites are in a small mixing bowl and the yolks are in a medium mixing bowl.  Use electric beaters to beat the egg whites until they are at stiff peak stage.  Now beat together the yolks, milk and ricotta.  Stir the dry ingredients into the ricotta mixture and then gently fold in the egg whites.  Heat a large frypan over medium heat and lightly grease with butter (I often use a piece of kitchen paper to rub a little butter over it so there isn't too much.)  Spoon dessertspoonfuls of batter into the pan and cook until the mixture bubbles.  Flip over and cook another minute or two until golden brown on both sides.  I think I did four batches of 5-6.

Savoury tomato pancakes: Slice up some cherry tomatoes.  Drop slices (flat side down) onto the pan at regular intervals and cook for about 1 minute on a medium high heat.  Drop a spoonful of pancake batter over the tomatoes and cook for about 4-5 minutes until mixture is bubbling.  Drop some frozen peas and grated cheese on the uncooked side and flip.  Cook another minute or two.  The cheese side wont brown so much where the cheese is and the tomatoes will look burnt but taste great.

Sweet plum pancakes: top with stewed plums below and a drizzle of maple syrup if desired.

Stewed plums

5-6 plums
juice of 1 pomegranate and 3 strawberries
shake of cinnamon
1 dessertspoon rice malt syrup
1 tsp apple concentrate

Place juice, cinnamon, syrup and apple concentrate in a medium saucepan.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes until syrupy.  While the liquids are cooking, stone and chop the plums.  Add plums to syrup and gently cook for about 6-10 minutes until fruit softens.  Serve warm or room temperature.

On the Stereo:
Heavy Horses: Jethro Tull