### ### Pancakes ### Pancake ratio 100g plain flour 2 eggs 300ml semi-skimmed milk 1 tbsp sunflower

oil or vegetabl e, plus extra for frying pinch salt http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3374/perfect-pancakes Blending in the flour: Put the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bow l and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the middle, then pour in ab out 50ml milk and 1 tbsp oil. Start whisking from the centre, gradually drawing the flour into the eggs, milk and oil. Once all the flour is incorporated, beat until you have a smooth, thick paste. Add a little more milk if it is too stiff to beat. Finishing the batter: Add a good splash of milk and whisk to loosen the thick ba tter. While still whisking, pour in a steady stream of the remaining milk. Conti nue pouring and whisking until you have a batter that is the consistency of slig htly thick single cream. Traditionally, people would say to now leave the batter for 30 mins, to allow the starch in the flour to swell, but there s no need. Getting the right thickness: Heat the pan over a moderate heat, then wipe it wit h oiled kitchen paper. Ladle some batter into the pan, tilting the pan to move t he mixture around for a thin and even layer. Quickly pour any excess batter into a jug, return the pan to the heat, then leave to cook, undisturbed, for about 3 0 secs. Pour the excess batter from the jug back into the mixing bowl. If the pa n is the right temperature, the pancake should turn golden underneath after abou t 30 secs and will be ready to turn. Flipping pancakes: Hold the pan handle, ease a fish slice under the pancake, the n quickly lift and flip it over. Make sure the pancake is lying flat against bas e of the pan with no folds, then cook for another 30 secs before turning out ont o a warm plate. Continue with the rest of the batter, serving them as you cook o r stack onto a plate. You can freeze the pancakes for 1 month, wrapped in cling film or make them up to a day ahead.

Blender panckaes 450ml skim milk 150g caster sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 teaspoon van illa essence 2 cups (250g) plain flour 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/1454/blender-pancakes.aspx Place milk, sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla in the blender. Add flour and baking po wder. Blend until smooth. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using approximately 4 tablespoons for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

### ### Nova Scotia Brown Bread ### Nova Scotia Brown Bread

You can find lots of variations of this recipe online, but this one is our famil y recipe. Enjoy! 1 package yeast (I use rapid rise) dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 2 tablespoons shortening 1/2 cup molasses (Crosby s from Canada is my favorite) 2 cups boiling water 1 teaspoon salt Approx. 6 cups unbleached flour 1. Grease a large bowl. 2. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. 3. Put oats, shortening, molasses, and salt in a large bowl. 4. Pour boiling water over all, and stir to melt shortening. 5. Stir in 1 to 2 cups of flour. Add yeast mixture, and continuing adding flour to make a stiff dough. 6. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead. Shape dough into a ball and p lace it in the greased bowl. 7. Cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise in a draft-free place until double in size. 8. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead again. Cut dough in half, a nd shape each half into a loaf. 9. Place in greased loaf pans and let rise again, until dough crests the top of the pans. 10. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from pans, butter the to ps of the loaves, and allow to cool on racks. Eat it warm for best results. ### ### Pesto ### Perfect Basil Pesto Pasta Serves 2 1 cup fresh basil leaves, firmly packed 1/2 cup flat Italian parsley, stems removed, firmly packed 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup pine nuts (or walnuts or almonds) 1 large clove garlic, quartered 1/4 cup olive oil 4-6 ounces pasta Combine basil and parsley in a Cuisinart (or blender) until well blended. Add Pa rmesan cheese and blend. Add pine nuts and garlic, blend until combined. Add oli ve oil just a bit at a time until smooth and creamy. Cook pasta according to instructions on box. Toss enough of the pesto to fully c oat pasta, to taste (you ll probably have some leftover). Serve warm. ### ### Ratatouille ####

So this is basically just ratatouille, but it takes less attention (because you roast the vegies in the oven) and it tastes better (because you roast the vegies in the oven). The perfect day for this would be a cool day during the summer, j ust after you ve been to the farmer s market and got a pile of really gorgeous high summ er vegies. Uh huh. Or you could do like I did, and make it on a pretty warm day and totally overheat your kitchen. Whatevs, it s good enough to be worth it. So, here s how it goes. First, chop the following into bite-sized chunks: 1 2 2 1 large eggplant medium zucchini capsicums (1 red, 1 green) large or 2 small onions

Put them in a big roasting pan, then add: a whole head of garlic, broken into cloves and skinned about a tablespoon of dried oregano a teaspoon of dried pepper flakes pepper and salt lots of olive oil Bung it in the oven at around 180C/350F. Leave it there for, oh, and hour or so. Check it every so often and turn everything over with a spatula once or twice. Basically you want everything to be soft right through, and browning in places. When it gets to that point, throw in a jar of passata (Italian tomato sauce), or a can of crushed or diced tomatoes, whatever you ve got. I added a punnet of fresh cherry tomatoes, too, because I had them handy. Basically, a pile of tomatoey go odness is what you want here, and then back in the oven it goes. This is the point where I put a pot of water on to boil and cooked some linguine , so I guess it was about another fifteen minutes til we called it done. I strai ned the linguine and tossed it with some olive oil, then took the ratatouille ou t of the oven and tasted it. It needed more salt, and the secret ingredient: a g ood slosh of balsamic vinegar, mixed through it all with a bit more olive oil ri ght at the end. ### ### Dips ### Dip Ingredients from Castlemaine Dips =============== Basil and Fetta (25% Fetta, 25% Neufchatel, 25% Sour Cream, 20% Sunflower Oil, 5 % Basil) Beetroot (40% beetroot, 40% chickpeas, 10% Sunflower Oil, 5% Lemon Juice, 5% Vin egar) Parley and Garlic (35% Neufchatel Cheese, 30% Sour Cream, 15% Sunflower Oil, 10% Garlic, 5% Parley) Carrot (55% Chickpeas, 25% Carrot, 10% Sunflower Oil, 5% Lemon Juice, 5% Vinegar ) Pumpkin and Basil (50% Chickpeas, 30% Pumpkin, 10% Sunflower Oil, 5% Basil, 5% V inegar) ### ### Cheese ### Make your own cheese. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cheese-at-Home

2 cups of milk(powder or cows milk) 10 tsps vinegar or lemon juices Salt Pour the two cups of milk in the saucepan with pepper, margarine, sugar and then slowly bringing the milk to a boil while stirring constantly. It is very import ant to constantly stir the milk or it will burn. Turn the burner off once the milk is boiling, but leave the saucepan on the elem ent or gas grate. Add 10 teaspoons vinegar/lemon juice to the boiling milk, at which point the mil k should turn into curds and whey. Curds are the solid part, whey is the liquid part. Stir well with spoon and let it sit on the element for 5-10 minutes. Pass the curds and whey through cheesecloth or a handkerchief to separate the cu rds from the whey. The curds will be the cheese. Drain and press the cheese using the cloth to get most of the moisture out. Open the cloth and add a pinch of salt if desired. Mix the cheese and salt and then press again to remove any extra moisture. Put the cheese in a mold or just leave it in a ball type form. Leave it in ball form for putting in fresh green salads and in a mold to make sliced cheese for e xample.If you put it in a mold do it fast so that the cheese will mold easier ot herwise it will harden and not mold as easily. ### ### Broken Glass Cupcake ### Jelly Worms Red jelly. Pour mixture through straws bound with elastic band. Release the worm s with a bit of warm water. Broken Glass Cupcakes Ingredients 1 Can white frosting 1 Box Red Velvet Cake Mix Sugar Glass: 2 cups water 1 cup light corn syrup 3 1/2 cups white sugar 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar Edible Blood: 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/4 cup water, or more as needed 15 drops red food coloring 3 drops blue food coloring

Directions Prepare Red Velvet Cake Mix According to box, line cupcake tins with paper cupca ke liners.

Divide cake batter between lined cupcake tins. Bake according to box instructions. Let cool and frost cupcakes with white frost ing. Make the sugar glass. Mix 2 cups water, 1 cup corn syrup, white sugar, and cream of tartar in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Use a candy thermometer and boi l sugar syrup until temperature reaches 300 degrees (hard ball), stirring consta ntly. The mixture will thicken as water evaporates. When sugar reaches 300 degre es, quickly pour onto a metal baking pan. Cool until completely hardened. Break into "shards" using a meat mallet. Make the edible blood. Mix together 1/2 cup corn syrup and cornstarch in a large bowl. Slowly stir in the 1/4 cup of water, adding more if necessary, until the corn syrup mixture has thickened to the consistency of blood. Stir in the red an d blue food coloring. Stab each frosted cupcake with a few shards of broken sugar glass. Drizzle on dr ops of "blood" to complete the effect. ### ### Chocolate Lasagne ### Chocolate Lasagna INGREDIENTS 1 package regular Oreo cookies (Not Double Stuff) 6 Tablespoon butter, melted 1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 Tablespoons cold milk 1- 12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided 2 3.9 ounce packages Chocolate Instant Pudding. 3 1/4 cups cold milk 1 and 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips DIRECTIONS 1. Begin by crushing 36 Oreo cookies. I used my food processor for this, but you could also place them in a large ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. When the Oreos have turned into fine crumbs, you are done. 2. Transfer the Oreo crumbs to a large bowl. Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter and use a fork to incorporate the butter into the cookie crumbs. When the butte r is distributed, transfer the mixture to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Press the c rumbs into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator while you wo rk on the additional layers. 3. Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add in 2 Tablespoon s of milk, and sugar, and mix well. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip. Spread thi s mixture over the crust. 4. In a bowl, combine chocolate instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk. W hisk for several minutes until the pudding starts to thicken. Use a spatula to s pread the mixture over the previous cream cheese layer. Allow the dessert to res t for about 5 minutes so that the pudding can firm up further. 5. Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips ev enly over the top. Place in the freezer for 1 hour, or the refrigerator for 4 ho urs before serving. about 36 cookies

### ### Tina's Soups ### Spiced Pumpkin Soup 1 cubed butternut pumpkin 1 diced onion juice & rind of 1 lemon 3 tablespoons of korma paste 1lt vegie stock. Fry onion, add paste, add butternut pumpkin & lemon rind. Once everything is wel l coated add lemon juice & stock. Cook til you can mush the pumpkin against the side of the pan with the back of a spoon & blend the bejeesus out of it. Serve w ith coriander, sour cream & lemon wedge. Beef Minestrone 2 onions diced 4 bacon rashers diced 1 kg chuck steak diced 1 carrot 2 zucchinis 2 celery sticks 1 tin four bean mix 1 green capsicum 1 red capsicum 2 tins diced tomatoes tablesppon of mixed herbs & a couple of bay leaves 2lts beef stock Caramalise the onions. add bacon & saute, add beef & cook until browned. Chuck i t all in the slow cooker. Add vegie stock to deglaze pan, then add to slow cooke r. Shove everything else in the slow cooker & cook for 12 hours. Serve with chopped parsley & shaved parmesan French Onion Soup 500g brown onions sliced 100g butter 3 tbsp flour 2 tsp sugar 2 tbs soy 2 tbs tomato paste 2 tbs worchester sauce 1/2 cup sherry (or brandy) 1lt vegie stock. Slowly brown the onions in the melted butter. This should take at least 25 minut es, stirring regularly so it doesn't catch. Add sugar & stir for another 5-10 mi nutes. Add flour & stir till all encorporated. Mix soy, worchester, tom paste & sherry together & stir through. Add vegie stock a bit at a time to prevent lumps forming in the flour. Cook for a good 2 hours. Serve with garlic croutons & grated cheese. ### ### Mosquito Repellant ### HOME MADE MOSQUITO REPELLENT (ALSO FOR ANTS & FLEAS) (And free from chemicals that poison the body) Ingredients:

1/2 litre of alcohol 100 gram of whole cloves 100 ml of baby oil or similar (almond, sesame, chamomile, lavender, fennel etc) Preparation: Leave cloves to marinate in alcohol four days Stir every morning and evening After 4 days add the oil It's now ready to use. How to use: Gently rub a few drops into the skin of the arms and legs. Observe the mosquitoes fleeing the room. Repels fleas on pets too.