Still Smiling, A Weekend Away and OPAM

 The Grand Final celebrations keep going. 

Nelson and the lovely Jameson off to the 

Eltham Football Club Presentation Night. 

That winning smile still hasn't left his face!

Noel and I headed up to Beechworth in country Victoria 

for a few days and stayed with his brother and wife. 

We had perfect weather the whole time 

(apparently it poured and was cold in Melbourne on Friday!). 

Saturday we went to our niece's cafe for some scones. 

Best scones in town! See those lovely tea cups? 

They used to belong to my mother-in-law. 

It's always nicer to have tea in proper tea cups.

This is Betsy (and Bella at the back). 

Look at those big beautiful eyes.

Beverley and Ian have this beautiful wood fired stove. 

I made a couple of quiches. This was the first time 

I have ever cooked in one of these. 

Makes you realised how hard it was in the 

old days keeping the temperature constant.

Managed to get a little stitching done too. 

This is block 3 of Jenny's Phyllis May's Kitchen.

 Block 4 that I finished last week.

 

 Now for September OPAM. 

One finish with Billie's baby quilt.

Thanks to Kris at Tag Along Teddies for keeping us inspired.

What's For Dinner?

 Today is What's For Dinner Wednesday 

with Cath over at Cath@Home.

 

 I picked up this free seafood cookbook at Woolworths 

and the Rustic Seafood Patties caught my eye.

 They were quick to put together. 

The longest part was chopping up the marinara mix.

 They were delicious and I'll definitely be making them again.

Rustic Seafood Patties

500g marinara mix, coarsely chopped

1½ cups panko breadcrumbs

2 tbs Birch & Waite Whole Egg Mayonnaise, 

plus extra to serve

2 spring onions

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

1 tbs capers, rinsed, chopped

1 lemon, rind finely grated, cut into wedges

1 egg, lightly beaten

Vegetable oil to shallow fry

Green salad to serve

Combine marinara mix, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, spring onion, parsley, capers, lemon rind and egg in a bowl.

Shape into small patties. Place on a baking tray lined 

with baking paper. Chill for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook patties, in batches, for 4-5 minutes each side until golden.

Serve with green salad, extra mayonnaise 

and lemon wedges.

Notes from the cook 

• I didn't have any spring onions, so I just chopped up some red onion. 
• I just used the mayonnaise I had in the fridge.  
• I also left the capers out.

Pop over and say hello to Cath. This week she has a 

Baked Chorizo Risotto recipe she is sharing.

What's For Dinner?

I'm joining Cath over at Cath@Home for her  

What's For Dinner Wednesday. 

Cath shares some delicious recipes and tips.

Today I'm sharing my Tuna Slice recipe. This is a recipe my Mum would make when we were still at home. It is quick and easy and can be prepared early in the day and just popped in the oven when you're ready. It's lovely the next day too. 

Christine's Tuna Slice

 425g tin tuna, drained

1 onion, chopped

3 eggs, lightly beaten

125g savoury biscuits, crushed 

(water crackers, savoury shapes, any leftover crackers)

1 cup milk

125g grated tasty cheese

Curry powder to taste

Extra grated cheese for top

 

Combine all ingredients and place into greased dish 

(I use a pyrex rectangle baking dish).   

Sprinkle extra grated cheese on top.

 

Bake in moderate oven 30 minutes or until golden brown.   

Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Can be served either hot or cold.  

Great for picnics.

 

I served ours up with herby potato wedges,

peas, corn and carrots. It's also lovely with salad.

Head over here to Cath's to see what other 

yummy recipes have been linked up.

Choc Chip Biscuits!

At our blog get together last week, the topic of biscuits came up (not sure how or by whom). I had a couple of requests for my choc chip biscuits recipe. I thought others may like to have the recipe too, so here it is.

  

Christine’s Choc Chip Biscuits

1 cup sugar

125g butter

1 egg, beaten

1-2 tbs coffee and chicory essence (optional)

¾ cup dark choc chips

1¾ cup SR flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and coffee essence. Mix. Add choc chips. Mix. Add flour and mix together.

Roll into walnut size balls and place on oven tray.

Bake in moderate oven (180⁰C) about 18 minutes or until golden brown. Loosen biscuits while warm, cool on trays. 

** The Coffee and Chicory Essence gives a lovely flavour and colour to the biscuits. It doesn't have an over-powering flavour of coffee. 

Variation - Choc Choc Chip Biscuits

  

Replace dark choc chips with white choc chips.

Add ¼ cup cocoa with flour.