I love cooking!

It's my 'thing'. I love everything about it... the choosing of recipes and meals, shopping for the ingredients, the produce, the preparation, the aromas, i just love it all the whole process! Nothing makes me happier than to use fresh, local ingredients to create healthy, wholesome meals for my family. The kitchen is definitely one of my favourite rooms in the house, when i am cooking i feel happy and positive, everything i am striving for in life. I am going to start adding a few photos of meals i've made every now and then and i'll hopefully be able to include the recipes too. Enjoy!

This was our dinner tonight, nothing out of the ordinary for us, we love salad and we love to share! Zucchini, Pumpkin & Bacon Slice with homemade Garlic Bread and a salad plate.

For the garlic bread, i used a brought french stick and filled it with a mix of butter, garlic, chives and continental parsley - delicious!

This is my basic Zucchini Slice recipe, i've just substituted some of the zucchini for pumpkin this time.

Zucchini Slice

Ingredients (serves 15)

• 5 eggs
• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour, sifted
• 375g zucchini, grated
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 200g rindless bacon, chopped
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil

 Method:

• Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 30 x 20cm lamington pan.
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl until combined. Add the flour and beat until smooth, then add zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese and oil and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

This is a dessert i made a couple of weeks ago to take to a friends for dinner, alas me and one of my boys didn't make it due to him being sick but the tart made it and it was a massive hit!

  

Strawberry & White Chocolate Tart

Shortcrust pastry

Serves 10
Cooking Time Prep time 10 mins, cook 25 mins (plus chilling, resting)

250 gm	(1 2/3 cups) plain flour
190 gm	unsalted butter, coarsely chopped, chilled
1	egg yolk

1	Process flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form.
2	Add egg yolk and enough chilled water (about 3-4 tsp) and process until mixture just forms a dough (2-4 seconds).
3	Turn pastry onto a floured surface and lightly knead with the heel of your hand until the pastry comes together.
4	Form pastry into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (2-3 hours).
5	Roll pastry, using a rolling pin, on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick.
6	Brush excess flour from pastry with a pastry brush, then use pastry cutters to cut lining for individual cases or roll pastry backwards over rolling pin to lift pastry and line large tart case. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to rest.
7	Preheat oven to 200C. Blind bake pastry until golden (15-25 minutes), then cool on a wire rack.

Note Makes forty 4cm tartlets, six 12cm tartlets or a 25cm tart.

Tart Filling

1 block of good quality white chocolate (cadbury dream or whittakers is great)

1 tub of sour cream

Fresh strawberries or raspberries

Melt chocolate over water bath, stir in sour cream and whisk until smooth. Pour into cooled tart shell and refrigerate until firm (approximately 2hrs). Top with halved fresh strawberries or raspberries.

Enjoy! This is now one of my favourite desserts, it's so quick and easy and versatile!

Until next time...