Great excitement today! Robert decided to fire up the bread oven for its first baking run. Good idea - it meant that we had people on hand in the cooking class to trial the first pizzas to come out of it, including a gluten free one. It cooks like a dream. It's not so fiercely hot … Continue reading The Bread Oven

So here's how the ricotta turned out, made from the whey after making the halloumi. Very pleased with it - next time a little more salt for my taste, but texture was very good, the real deal.

I've been having fun making cheeses recently, so thought I'd make some halloumi a few days ago. I didn't have enough pasteurised milk on hand so made up the difference with UHT milk. I'd always wondered if that would work. Not a good move, don't try this. However, second attempt worked brilliantly. It tastes amazing … Continue reading Halloumi

How pretty is this valley! Just arrived home a few minutes ago to see a summer mist creeping up the hillsides. Raced inside for the camera - the photos don't really do it justice, so beautiful. However they are good enough to share to show what we enjoy here in this lush and fertile Derwent … Continue reading Idyllic Valley

Some of the activity in the Making and Baking Yeast Goods class today. By the time we finished baking, it reminded me of the Disney Wizard's apprentice cartoon - only this wasn't soapsuds, it was bread on every available bit of bench space and spilling out of every oven. There was Monkey Bun (of course!), … Continue reading Making and Baking Yeast goods

Many thanks to everyone for their concern for our Della. You will be pleased to know that the post-op report from the vet was good. Today for the first time since the attack she toddled up to the cooking school door while a class was in progress (she is ever-hopeful that it's sausage making day). … Continue reading Great expectations

The produce this year is stunning, both in the garden and in the surrounding Derwent Valley in general. The shelves and benches in the cooking school are loaded down with preserves and all the storage cupboards in the house are groaning with their overload of filled jars. I'll stock up the roadside stall with a … Continue reading Bottling and Preserving!

With all the recent happenings here, I neglected to write about a lovely day we spent recently travelling a short way up the east coast. Situated between Buckland and Orford is a beautiful bushland garden, open to the public.  It's certainly is worth a visit. I think children would love exploring here. All credit to … Continue reading Bushland Garden

The next episode is so bad and ugly in nature that I can hardly bear to write about it. Our poor old beagle Della was attacked unmercifully by another dog. I have never seen anything so vicious in my life - manic, unprovoked rage by the offending animal. With a vet bill of thousands, which … Continue reading Bad and downright Ugly

Well, things really have been busy around here.   I'm going to put up a couple of posts to make up for lost time - by the end you will see why I entitled this the good, the bad and the downright ugly. The good thing about this busy time is the happy fact that … Continue reading The Good, the Bad and the Ugly