Ag May ...

I love to travel.   I travel to experience different cultures.   I travel to see new sights.   I travel to meet new people.   I travel to catch up with my friends and family.   And I travel for the food.   Actually, I really travel for the food and everything else is a bonus.   But, you know… don’t tell anyone, especially my relatives. One of the foods that I discovered while overseas in the U.S of A was the soft pretzel.   And the soft pretzel, still warm, lightly salted, served with a luscious caramel dipping sauce.   Thank you Auntie Anne’s. Ok – so I would travel to the States just for Auntie Anne’s and In-an-out Burger and for the “biscuits with gravy” and for the pastrami sandwiches.   And for the ribs.   And for the chicken wings with buffalo sauce.   And to be able to eat raw broccoli dipped in ranch without anyone pulling faces!!! And yes, I would travel to Hong Kong just for the mango with sago in coconut...

As in a Winter Wrap Up – thanks to MyLittle Pony. I am currently obsessed with the Frozen soundtrack and My Little Pony soundtrack.   The songs from My Little Pony, the creation of which is headed up by Danial Ingram are so good; so appealing; and dare I say sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by appreciative adults.   Just call me a Brony! Seriously, give it a go.   You might be pleasantly surprised.   Anyways, there’s this song about a Winter Wrap Up.   Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up – cos tomorrow Spring is here.   So we’re doing a Winter Wrap Up Par-tay! Any excuse to get the cousins together and the adults joining in, really. And so, with some Winter decorations, and an extensive menu, we celebrated the coming of Spring. And part of the menu was this scrumptious Blueberry Custard Pie . For some reason, we don’t seem to have a lot of pie down in these parts.   Café offerings seem to trend towards cupcakes, cakes, c...

But it was definitely inspired by one... I do love me my Picnics .  Wafer with cream, covered in caramel, surrounded by peanuts and smothered in chocolate.  Oooh, baby! I have no problems with buying these deliciousness, but I can't bring it home or share them with my girls due to the peanuts.  (Ironically, we do have PB in the house... but we're talking about Picnics here, not my sense of logic!) Here's my breakdown of this love affair.  Cream wafers - always a good start.  Caramel, yes please.  Peanuts... hmmm, I like the bite and the salty counterpart it offers to the rest of the confection.  Chocolate, which *gasp* can be a bit too much, but still a necessity. So... this is what I came up with.  My homemade deliciousness (although the wafers are store-bought)... Store bought wafers - I haven't found a recipe for these babies.  So, store bought for now. Buttercream - simple American Buttercream, but I get to control...

Apparently, this is what you are if you serve these snacks to your kids... So, I'm not because I don't.  However... In a bid to get more ideas, and to make sure that Little Miss M enjoys her school lunches, I asked her to look out for foods that her friends are eating that she might like to try.  And she described this to me. Don't get me wrong.  I love my junk food.  But if I can (and it's cost effective), I try to make our food and snacks.  So, I came up with this... See... I give my kids junk food.  I just make it myself.  And this is junk.  Melted marshmallows and butter is the glue that holds this snack together.  Yum! Melted marshmallows and butter.  Stir in Rice Bubbles until all is evenly coated and not too much glue to spare.  Stuff it into a muffin tray, sprinkle with other toppings if you so desire, and leave it to harden a bit before taking out and storing in an air-tight container. It's a "once-in-a...

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Dear Husband.  This Is Your Life!! Clockwise: Rare time of girls playing happily together. Your twins - A Ram Sam Sam Climbing out of reach, Little Miss M Three in the Bed and the little one said... Face stuffing - a not so rare occasion Rumball cake!

The Muffin Man? Yes, the Muffin Man?  Do you know the Muffin Man that lives in my house? Cheese and Poppy Seed Muffins Yes - it's my Dear Husband.  Now, my Dear Husband is an accomplished cook in his own right.  Unfortunately, for some silly reason (that reason being me!), he is rarely in the kitchen.  My mind is always 10 days ahead with the meals that I'm going to cook.  I don't know why I don't "assign" any meals to my Dear Husband to cook for us.  But now that I've stated "aloud" this flaw in my personality, I think I'm going to start doing something about it. Blueberry Muffins Anyways - my Dear Husband does sometimes make it into the kitchen.  Lately, it's during those early morning wake up calls when he is kind enough to take the girls and give me a little bit of a sleep in.  And what does he do with the girls?  He bakes muffins for breakfast!!!  Isn't he a treasure? Raspberry Muffins And what's more - he...

That is the question... I have a new addiction (surprise, surprise!).  While I still favour Morning Tea and Afternoon Tea and all of its delights, I have recently been replacing the mandatory "tea and cake" with an Iced Tea or an Iced Coffee. These tea delights are so wonderfully refreshing on those hot summer days.  And it satisfies my "drink and sweet" craving in one shot - which saves me on baking time and calorie count (like I do that anyway!). Seriously, I could drink Iced Tea or Iced Coffee all day, but I have limited it to either Morning Tea or Afternoon Tea.  Got to keep it special!  (Hence the continued use of CAPITALS :) ). The best thing is that these drinks are so easy to make at home and, to my taste buds and stomach anyway, are a lot better than most of the ones that you can find in your local cafe.  I can control the strength, the milkiness, the sweetness to suit my picky palate. The other best thing is that I no longer feel the ...

Hi Cousin C!  It was lovely to have you over and make some Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with you!!!  (oops - sorry no pics of that one). So, a bit more time was spent in the kitchen this past week.  It was a pleasant time in the kitchen.  On the menu board was Cinnamon Pull-Apart for an afternoon tea at a friend's house.  Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes made with the little ones.  Caramel Popcorn for a little self-indulgence.  And then German Pancakes, Aussie Meat Pies and Filipino Adobo - I went international this past week!  Also, we finished the last of our Farmer's Market steak cuts, so that will be the last of our steak indulgences until next month. Sizewise - not really a party pie, and not really a four 'n' twenty pie; more like a muffin pie !  (Ps new recipe) Cheesy ham and broccoli pasta - soooo yum! Garlic and Basil pesto salmon with rice furikake - good for the body; good for the soul.  Yep - that's my "I need ...

The baking this month has slowed down a bit... how do I know that?  Well, my list for the "big shop" this weekend did not include the 4kg of flour and 1.5kg of butter that it would normally.  When I put it like that - that's quite a bit of baking, huh?  Rest assured, my baked goods are usually shared around and not just consumed in the Ag May household. But, I'm feeling the baking thing coming on.  The cooler weather is definitely helping along in this department.  So watch this space in the next coming weeks... But for the past week it has been slightly warmer and I've been focussing on some more non-edible crafting.  So very simple meals this past week :- Poached chicken with salad and greens   Spanish Tortilla with salad and greens Taco Salad (own recipe - will include next time) Steak (fresh from the Farmers Market) with 3-ingredient pasta and salad Polvoron (filipino sweet treat) Handmade breakfast - handmade sc...

Another week, another menu.  When I have the time, menu planning is a joy.  When I don't, it's a big sad sigh.  This week, with the fam being sick - self included, neither the mind nor the body were very much into food.  But looking back, it was not too bad.   Honey Butter Pork with rice and greens Steak with an Argentine Rub served with cheesy pasta and peas, corn and carrots. Shepherds Pie (own recipe - will post next time) Poached Pears with King Island Dairy Vanilla Bean Yoghurt and chocolate sauce We also had some Arros Caldo (chicken congee - filipino style) - good for whatever ails you.   And we served up a meal of potato pikelets (my sis called them blinis) with horseradish sour cream and smoked salmon (for entree) and roast beef and veg (for the main) to my darling sis as a housewarming meal.  Happy New Home, sis!!!  I'm annoyed that I forgot to take photos, but we were running late and I got hungry. To sta...