New Site

Hi everyone

A quick post to let you know I have moved this site (with the help of yet another angel )  to:

http://www.soulfoodjourney.com/

Please follow me there.... the journey is about to begin!

xx

Pear & Almond Frangipane Torte

Just for you Shaun.
I chose this one because it's the only one I can find a photo of, but I'll share my Chocolate Mud cake soon - it's a winner!!

Pastry:
250gm plain flour
125gm unsalted butter
1 egg
50gm castor sugar
1/2 tbls water

Mix the egg, sugar and water together with a fork and place flour & butter in a food processor. Slowly add the liquid untl the pasrty forms a ball.
Set aside untl ready. The fridge is probably the best place.

Filling:
250gm unsalted butter
250gm castor sugar
4 eggs
60gm flour (plain)
250gm ground almonds
Pear halves (fresh or tinned can be used)

Process the butter and sugar in food processor, slowly add eggs one at a time and once incorporated, add the rest of your dry ingredients.

Use a 10inch flan tin with the fluted sides.
Roll pastry out (use a sprinkling of icing sugar to stop it from sticking to bench or rolling pin) and place in tin. Press in with fingers if needed.

Add your filling and then place pear halves (or slices if prefered) over the filling and bake for approx 40-50min at 170 Celsius.

Once cooked you can glaze the top with heated apricot jam watered down a little and sprinkle some toasted flaked almonds around the edges.
Dust with icing sugar.

EAT!!

Changes

To prepare for our next upcoming journey throughout Thailand, Laos & Cambodia I have made a few changes to this blog site.
Let me know what you think.
I have navigated Picasa to allow a slide show of photos to be accessed here. So much to learn!

In case you're behind on the news.... I am packing up the house and moving States - from Victoria to a much warmer Brisbane. However we are detouring via SE Asia (as you do) throughout the month of December which will provide much more fodder for SoulFood Journey.

Sign up for regular updates including recipes as I hope to attend cooking schools in Thailand and Cambodia, insights into backpacking with two young children, and hopefully avoid flooding.

We arrive December 1 and head into our new home of Brisbane on the 1st of January, a new start for a new year.

See you soon......... will have to get back to the packing

Lisa

Quandry

Friends can be said to "fall in like" with as profound a thud as romantic partners fall in love.  ~Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Hmmmm...... I read this today and it got me wondering......

Should this preceed the 'romantic' stuff??
Is it better if any romantic relationship begins this way?
How do you then tell/know the difference?.... cause surely some of these profound friendships are exactly that - friendships with no more attached to them.
How great would it be should this begin a romantic relationship though - but then we're hesitant because we don't want to lose the friendship....

Anyone got any answers??

Does it make a difference to the longevity if a relationship begins with friendship or do we still believe in lasting lust/love at first sight??

What do you do now?

What do you do now?
After you've been hurled violently onto your knees
Thrown down, used like a gauntlet by the Gods
To now navigate the twisted, tangled and menacing forest floor
In the darkness where despots lurk
Stripped bare, covered in the filthy dirt, scars too young from
New flesh torn open
Wounds so deep they expose raw nerves,veins,tissue and arteries
They must either learn to heal or rot and decay
Left or Right?
All the while having to move forward or else the darkness devours you
And you suddenly no longer exist. Not as you were.

What if you clear that hideous forest?
You unravel yourself from the vines and tangled roots
That seemed so very reluctant to release you
The wounds heal and all but disappear
Only a faint but easily forgotton reminder remains
You take refuge in a cocoon of sorts
To rest, regain your strength and shed what is left to shed
A task that must be undertaken solo

What if one day you emerge
Bright new wings eagerly beating to and fro
No wounds to see and a glint in the eye
A knowing smile to be shared with all
Bathing in golden sunlight
Overseeing your domain from atop the highest heights
Stronger, wiser, more powerful, yet more peaceful
Believing in life, love and the universe

What do you do now?

Zucchini Omlette Bake

A very tasty, quick, affordable and easy dish to serve to the family

My children loved this as did I.

I always choose Organic and/or Free Range where I can.

1 very large zucchini or 2-3 smaller ones - grated

about 80gms good quality tasty cheese - grated

1 can creamed corn
I brown onion - diced and caramelised in olive oil or butter

7 large eggs

fresh or dried thyme (I used fresh from the garden - leaves from 2 twigs)

salt/pepper to taste

Mix together all ingredients and place in a greased baking dish and cook in medium temp oven (about 170 Celsius) for approx 30-40 min, until just set.

You can serve with some Rocket or Sorrel from the garden dressed in good quality EVOO.

Shedding

Well, the last couple of weeks have been interesting yet again. Not by any major event but just what has been stirred up within me. It kind of follows on from that last blog about facing fears and battling some of the remnants and demons of that.

I felt I was throwing up those walls again and really couldn’t understand why? Wasn’t I through that? Hadn’t I learnt?

The more I delved, the more I realised ....... oh gosh, it’s not easy admitting this...... But I realised that I didn’t feel worthy or deserving and had a fair amount of self doubt. Of course this came to me one night in the bath - just about falling asleep in the heady aroma of Cherry Blossom and steam rising in the darkness, but determined to understand what was going on.

Why not just be open to any possibility? Why frame things in a manner that instantly dismisses whatever may unfold. Like a guillotine ready to drop at a moments notice.

Of course. It all comes back to - Fear! Damn it!

Wow - this is harder than I thought, but each day I learn just a little bit more.

So, at last weeks meditation I had a vision where I saw myself as I was when I was 25ish. I looked happy, and of course, younger. I also saw the “fountain of youth” and understood this symbolised that I am slowly freeing myself up from the weight, the weight of years gone by which in turn is making me feel younger. Hmmmm

Then the New Moon hit at around 4.30am on the 31st (Sunday). Now whether you believe in the energy or symbolism of this, I have to say it’s been an interesting time since it hit.

Not only is my divorce now final (just a little Woohoo here please), but I also found out that I have to move from this house that has been my home for the last 8 years. Not that that is a bad thing - It is definitely time for it for so many reasons, but don’t you find it funny how things just all seem to happen in big waves.

As I went for a 10k (yep!! 10k’s -woohoo) run today, I realised I was in the process of shedding. A bit like a snake shedding it’s old, cracked and no longer wanted or needed skin. The process takes energy and can be a wee bit tiring, but I’m getting rid of the old crap and morphing into a revitalised new me - a newer and younger version (as per the meditation), but wiser thankfully. 

So, watch out world!!!