After The Rains

Once Upon a Time, in Early Summer.

We had good rain,  three days in a row,  water was everywhere in our backyard.  I almost could not get to the herb garden, I needed the oregano and mint for my cooking.  Anyway, I got there, I got the fresh herbs but my goodness, I was soaked wet.

After the rains, the cool breeze is always very welcoming in summer, and the sun shines and keeps us warm and feeling good. The rain has stopped, and my back yard looks so green now.  The hedges, trees and bushes are so lush,  The plants overgrow, the roses start flowering again, I saw a few red roses, and the Just Joy rose is in flower too.

It was good being in the backyard, pottering around looking at
what was happening there, but you could not help it just do that, in the end, I did a little job, some places need to be tidied up.

Rayner was also busy with the hedges, and topiaries, now the place does look smart.   My tomato plants need sticks, I did that give a new tall and strong sticks to make them stand straight. Both were self-seeds,  I am curious what sort of tomatoes are they, time will tell.

After The Rains in The Backyard.

Now, we have to cut the grass every second day, it grows so quick at Spring.
It seems I always tell the same story, the same garden.  It can be annoying, I know that.  But thanks for stopping by visiting this site.

Green and bright colour of nasturtiums after the rain

While the grounds are wet after the rain, the best thing to do is weeding and fertilising.  Pulling out the nasty weed while the soil is moist is effortless so easy, I had to make the best of it.

After the rains, it is chilly but fresh outside, loving it. 

To make the best is my Spirits.

Thanks for visiting
Susy

The Cooking of The Roast Turkey

Hot Roast Dinner.
Simple stuffing and herbs butter for this roast turkey is so delicious, moist and no fuss.  Enjoy the recipe and happy cooking.

Recipe

Roast Turkey with Herbs

Ingredients

A Whole Turkey Bird, no 42-45, wash and clean thoroughly.

Fresh herbs bay leaf, thyme, sage and 100 g butter, a pinch of salt

Chop the herbs accept the bay, softened the butter, add some salt,  Mix all together.  Keep aside.

Before stuffing the bird, rub the cavity with some of the herb butter mixtures.  The leftover is used for massaging the skin of the turkey, before baking.

Stuffing:
255 g mincemeat
2 tablespoons oil
1 chopped shallot, and a half cup chopped celery
1/2 cup stock
Mixed fresh herbs: fennel leaves, thyme, parsley and rosemary
2 bread rolls, sliced and chopped
1 large egg and a handful of mixed nuts (almond, pistachio, cashew)
Salt to taste

Cook the mince with the oil until brown, add in the shallot and celery, and cook three minutes further.

Add in the stock, and the mixed herb and cook for two minutes.  The mixture is moist and wet in this stage.  Add in the chopped bread, salt to taste, mix and cook for another two minutes.  Keep aside to cool  When it is cold, add in the mixed nuts, egg and mix together.

Stuffed the bird in the neck and in the cavity, put the stuffing loosely.  Tie the legs together with the kitchen string.

For baking, you need:

baking paper, kitchen string

baking tray and mixed aroma vegetable,

- sliced carrots, onions, apple, celery

Place the aroma mixed, on the trivet and put the chicken on top
Add two cups of water on the tray.

The turkey is ready to be roasted, but wrap it with the baking paper loosely and cover it with foil.  Bake in low, medium heat at 160 degrees C for three hours.

The turkey is baking in the oven, and it will take for three hours

Roasting the turkey at the last 33 minute, take the tray out, get rid of the cover, baste with the glaze mixture and put it back in the oven to brown.

The turkey will be golden brown, and it reads with the thermometer at 85 degrees C inside the meat to say that it is cooked.

When it is cooked, take it out to rest for 33 minutes before serving.

Garnish the turkey with fresh herbs and ad in the other garnishes, such as potatoes, sweet potato etc.

Roast Turkey is Served

Roasted the whole bird always looks festive, it is handsome for any celebration.  

Christmas in July?  Have a Happy Celebration.

It may be it is the recipe for you.  Happy Cooking.

Until Next Post

Susy

Pizza and Bread

Unsuccessful Baking Day.

The dream for a perfect pizza has failed.  Yesterday we had a homemade one, it was not very successful, but tasty enough; however, the dough was rather tight.  Over kneading was the answer (I thought).
I promised to myself I must do it again. I will have my dream pizza, that is the perfect pizza with thin-crispy based and delicious topping.
The grated cheeses were added to the topping, and also the result was not very satisfying.


The dough has risen well, the toppings were tasty, the sauce was flavoursome, but the pizza was not perfect.

The Pictures

Very wholesome-looking home-baked pizza, yes it was not too bad, but I would like to bake a better one next time.

The other half of the dough was used for bread rolls.  Crusty, buttery bread rolls were meant to be, but again, due to over kneaded the dough, the rolls had a good crust but were not fluffy in the middle.

Next baking day, the pizza is going to be better so the bread rolls.

The cheese which used for the pizza was purchased from Supermarket, and they were disappointing, as the mozzarella was not appropriately melted, but the taste was good enough.

However, the cheese was creamy and delicious.




Pizza Night
The second round of baking pizza using the leftover ingredients was better, and it was a treat and inexpensive.

Quinoa (Updated)

It is a healthy vegetable protein that I introduced to my family early this year, and they love it.  It does not take time to cook and can be served so many ways, as a salad, or as a main meal, garnished with cheeses or meat or fish.

Susy Quinoa Salad

2 cups cooked quinoa

Mixed  chopped roasted onion, capsicum and carrots, about a cup

Fresh herbs, mints and thyme

Dressing: 2 tablespoon olive oil, teaspoon salt and 1 lime juice

Salad green, endive, lettuce (anything you like)

Mix all together, add with 2 tablespoon cottage cheese for garnish, and extra greens.

Put sliced lime for extra fresh flavour.

Steamed quinoa served with salmon that I cooked was a perfect dish for the end of the week meal.  I followed the recipe of the packet, but at the end cooking process, I added a dash of salt and olive oil, for a cup of quinoa it took about 12 minutes and the pan fry salmon took 6 minutes cooking for almost well done.

Steamed Quinoa with Pan Fry Salmon

 Other dishes would be delightful to prepare are steamed quinoa served with mushrooms or sauteed vegetable with tofu.  Quinoa rolls with filling, sliced to serve as finger food.

Indeed we like quinoa, we may have it regularly from now on.

A lot more vegetables we like, as we have them daily, we take any vegetables in season.

One of the vegetables that I love is zucchini.  Here is the dish that suitable for Summer and Autumn cooking.  The recipe is for you.  Please hold on to it, you may like to try it when the season is here.

Cooking with Zucchini
Boiled, steamed, pan-fried, deep-fried and roasted zucchini is delicious. It's amazingly a humble vegetable, but we can do so much.  This year I don't have zucchini plants in my vegetable patch, but for you who have, and able to harvest, I have some recipes to share.  I did a lot last year as my harvest were plenty.

Here it is one of the recipes of my Zucchini Dishes.

Ricotta Cheese Loaf Wrapped in Zucchini

Recipe

A Small loaf tin

Baking paper

1 tablespoon oil to oil the tin.

Heat oven to 175 degrees C

Ingredients;

A large size zucchini, sliced thinly

Sprinkle with some salt, and let it rest for 45 minutes to sweat

Wipe the sweat with a tissue or a clean cloth to dry, keep aside

The cheese filling

150 g ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs, chives, dills and oregano

3 eggs

1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil

white pepper and salt to taste

(mix all ingredients together until all combined)

To assemble:

Oiled the tin and line with baking paper

Place the sliced zucchini vertically and overlapping on the tin until cover the whole tin

spoon the filling on it

cover the filling mixture by enclosing the zucchini on top

Place extra slice zucchini to cover the filling totally and drizzle with more oil

Cover the tin with baking paper

Bake in a hot preheated oven at 175 degrees C for 40 minutes

Take it out, rest for 16 minutes or more

Turn it over on a plate

Serve: Hot or cold, cut into slices.



An excellent Summer dish, it is good to serve with a salad and herb bread. 

You could cook this dish in winter as well, but the fresh zucchini won't be readily available at the market, and also it is costly.

Happy Cooking!
Susy

Pink Is The Colour! (Updated)

One of my Orchid plants, the Cymbidium with buds which is written 'pink' on the label now showing off the actual colour. I was so excited and looking forward to seeing the flowers when they are in full bloom.  And indeed some of the buds are open and do you know what it is not pink at all, instead, the right colour is yellowish-green, ooh!  Such a filing system, it could well be the label was accidentally landed on the pot, anyway, it is all good,  The flowers are looking good enough, some of the buds have dropped, drying out though.  Obviously, there is a problem for the plant that needs to be fixed.

The Orchid Sits Beautifully Inside the House.

The Healthy Looking Buds, Worth Waiting For to See the Bloom

Some of the buds are open, and the colour is not pink, yellowish-green tint instead.

Yellow Cymbidium, instead of Pink Cymbidium

The rest of the orchids are having a rest, only a few orchids are in flowers,  Two potted which are in bud are still outside, hope they are survived during the cold weather especially we have had heavy frost.  The unfortunate one is the Australian orchid-Dendrobium Speciosum, it has not been flowering for the past few years as they did not have fair treatment.  I was told it needs warmth during wintertime, ideally it should be inside in the protecting place.  Must attend to it otherwise, it won't be any flowers in the future.  On that note, I am pleased with the flowers that I could have this year.
To the orchid collectors and growers, I wish you all the very best, enjoy your plants and the flowers.

The Bonus
The red Cymbidium-Kibano Edna, there had two stems of flowers when I purchased, and Now, it is flowering, and there are three.  I must have done something right.

Red Cymbidium-Kibano Edna

This is what happens in our place. When the orchids are in flowers, they are domineering the space inside the house.  It can sit anywhere as long as suitable for them, just like the red orchid here, it sits on the dining table.

Must decide where shall it put the other two, which both are still outside.  Decision and Decision!

Trial and Error is the game.
No, it is not about Orchid Plants.
The Fiddle Fig tree that I have been caring for years don't look right, the leaves are droopy they don't have the strength, I thought.  Adding Epson salt could be the answer.
Indeed, it worked, added Epson salt mixed with water to the soil.  The reaction was quick, the leaves become stronger, no longer droopy and lazy.  The tree looks better, standing tall proudly.  What a Bonus!  I am sure you are glad, Susan, to know about it.  Now, what I have to do is to maintain the best.  Spring is the time to give the fertiliser for healthy growth, I must remember.
The Fiddle Fig Tree stands tall among the house plants, which is visible behind the red orchid.



Indeed, It is Pink.  A Hot Pink.

Cyclamen-Hot Pink Flower

For the consolation, this Cyclamen with the hot pink flowers adorns the front room beautifully.
Last year it did flower well too, it is a very faithful plant, and very easy to care for.

Try to get one of those everyone, thinking of you girls, Mel, Jane and Susan.  By the way, how is your indoor plant going?

The hot pink flower eventually will die down, that is the time to be moving outside, and it will look after itself, and even the leaves of this Cyclamen will be there no more only the bulb remains.  I must label the pot properly, 'Pink", so it won't' be any surprises no more.  The truth was, I did not know what the colour was.

Talking about colours, all bright colours are alive and encouraging.

The Pink and other Colours brighten up the Winter. Beautiful!



Updating:
The Australian Orchid, Dendrobium Speciousum.

Every day is getting colder, the winter sets in and the frost-damaged lots of plants, especially the leaves.  Winter tasks in the garden soon have to be done, particularly pruning the roses.  Number one, this is what I did, to care for my Dendobrium Speciousum, two of those plants were growing outside that sit under the trees, they look alright, but the fact is they have not been flowering for a few years, as I mentioned earlier, they do need a warm place during the wintertime.

 Outside Under the Trees.

The sizeable potted plant stay, it is too heavy to be moved, I must do something about which is fit for it, but the small potted orchid is inside the house now, to keep the plant warmer, the suitable environment.

Preparation

Washing the pot and cleaning the plant where needed had to be done correctly.

Two Pictures of a Plant

The Warm Place a Suitable Environment

Now, it is inside the house at the warm place and well protected from the frost and the wind. Proper care and fair treatment for it was given I am sure the orchid plant will flourish well.

I have noticed that the orchid plant has new growth, they look like new spikes.  Here come the flowers.  That would be fantastic.

Looking forward to having flowers of the Dendobrium Speciousum, with its lovely fragrance.

The Flower

Gorgeous flowers of the Dendobrium Speciosum (below), the picture was taken the time it was in flower a few years ago.  Beautiful Yellow Colour.

Dendrobium speciosum, its fragrance imparts gently in the room.

The Australian native orchids in flower at the later year around September /October.



I am pleased to update the post, I must catch up again when the orchid flowers are in full blooms.
Susy